The Optimism of Zechariah on Shabbat Chanukah

The prophecy: of Zechariah is extremely enigmatic, because it contains visions resembling a dream that requires an interpretation. We cannot ascertain the truth of its interpretation until the teacher of righteousness comes. Nonetheless, I will put my heart to reconciling the verses, one by one, according to the interpretations that resemble it and following the interpretation of Jonathan .

Were we to find some ancient book that related what occurred in those days in their wars we would be like a blind man feeling along a wall to say, 'Perhaps this is what motivated this prophecy' But now, we have nothing on which to lean.

(1) In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, this word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo: (2) The LORD was very angry with your fathers. (3) Say to them further: Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Turn back to me—says the LORD of Hosts—and I will turn back to you—said the LORD of Hosts. (4) Do not be like your fathers! For when the earlier prophets called to them, “Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Come, turn back from your evil ways and your evil deeds, they did not obey or give heed to Me—declares the LORD. (5) Where are your fathers now? And did the prophets live forever? (6) But the warnings and the decrees with which I charged My servants the prophets overtook your fathers—did they not?—and in the end they had to admit, ‘The LORD has dealt with us according to our ways and our deeds, just as He purposed.’”

(7) On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the second year of Darius—the month of Shebat—this word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo: (8) In the night, I had a vision. I saw a man, mounted on a bay horse, standing among the myrtles in the Deep, and behind him were bay, sorrel, and white horses. (9) I asked, “What are those, my lord?” And the angel who talked with me answered, “I will let you know what they are.” (10) Then the man who was standing among the myrtles spoke up and said, “These were sent out by the LORD to roam the earth.” (11) And in fact, they reported to the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtles, “We have roamed the earth, and have found all the earth dwelling in tranquility.” ..... (16) Assuredly, thus said the LORD: I graciously return to Jerusalem. My House shall be built in her—declares the LORD of Hosts—the measuring line is being applied to Jerusalem. (17) Proclaim further: Thus said the LORD of Hosts: My towns shall yet overflow with bounty. For the LORD will again comfort Zion; He will choose Jerusalem again.”

(1) I looked up, and I saw four horns. (2) I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are those?” “Those,” he replied, “are the horns that tossed Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” (3) Then the LORD showed me four smiths. (4) “What are they coming to do?” I asked. He replied: “Those are the horns that tossed Judah, so that no man could raise his head; and these men have come to throw them into a panic, to hew down the horns of the nations that raise a horn against the land of Judah, to toss it.”

(5) I looked up, and I saw a man holding a measuring line. (6) “Where are you going?” I asked. “To measure Jerusalem,” he replied, “to see how long and wide it is to be.” (7) But the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him. (8) The former said to him, “Run to that young man and tell him: “Jerusalem shall be peopled as a city without walls, so many shall be the men and cattle it contains. (9) And I Myself—declares the LORD—will be a wall of fire all around it, and I will be a glory inside it.

(4) Thus said the LORD of Hosts: There shall yet be old men and women in the squares of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. (5) And the squares of the city shall be crowded with boys and girls playing in the squares.

(7) Thus said the LORD of Hosts: I will rescue My people from the lands of the east and from the lands of the west, (8) and I will bring them home to dwell in Jerusalem. They shall be My people, and I will be their God—in truth and sincerity.

(15) so, at this time, I have turned and planned to do good to Jerusalem and to the House of Judah. Have no fear!

(1) The officers of the people settled in Jerusalem; the rest of the people cast lots for one out of ten to come and settle in the holy city of Jerusalem, and the other nine-tenths to stay in the towns. (2) The people gave their blessing to all the men who willingly settled in Jerusalem.

(10) “Away, away! Flee from the land of the north—says the LORD—though I swept you [there] like the four winds of heaven—declares the LORD.” (11) Away, escape, O Zion, you who dwell in Fair Babylon! (12) For thus said the LORD of Hosts—He who sent me after glory—concerning the nations that have taken you as spoil: “Whoever touches you touches the pupil of his [God's] own eye. (13) For I will lift My hand against them, and they shall be spoil for those they enslaved.”—Then you shall know that I was sent by the LORD of Hosts. (14) Shout for joy, Fair Zion! For lo, I come; and I will dwell in your midst—declares the LORD. (15) In that day many nations will attach themselves to the LORD and become His people, and He will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that I was sent to you by the LORD of Hosts. (16) The LORD will take Judah to Himself as His portion in the Holy Land, and He will choose Jerusalem once more. (17) Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD! For He is roused from His holy habitation.

Reish Lakish said to him: My God! I hate you Babylonians, as it is written: “If she be a wall we will build a silver turret upon her, if she be a door we will cover her with boards of cedar” (Song of Songs 8:9). This is the meaning of the verse as it applies to the Jewish people: Had you rendered yourselves a solid bloc like a wall and all ascended to Eretz Yisrael in the days of Ezra, you would have been likened to silver, which rot does not infest, in the sense that you would have merited experiencing the Divine Presence in all its glory. Now that you ascended like doors, and only some of you came to Eretz Yisrael, you are likened to cedar, which rot infests, and you merit experiencing only partial revelation of the Divine Presence. ...Rabbi Abba said: Just as little remains from a cedar tree infested by this worm, similarly, all that remained from the Divine Presence during the Second Temple period was a Divine Voice, as it was taught in a baraita: After the last prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi died, the Divine Spirit of prophetic revelation departed from the Jewish people, and they were still utilizing a Divine Voice, which they heard as an echo of prophecy.... Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: That is not the reason; even had they all ascended in the days of Ezra, the Divine Presence would not have rested in the Second Temple.

(1) He further showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the LORD, and the Accuser standing at his right to accuse him. (2) But [the angel of] the LORD said to the Accuser, “The LORD rebuke you, O Accuser; may the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! For this is a brand plucked from the fire.” (3) Now Joshua was clothed in filthy garments when he stood before the angel. (4) The latter spoke up and said to his attendants, “Take the filthy garments off him!” And he said to him, “See, I have removed your guilt from you, and you shall be clothed in [priestly] robes.” (5) Then he gave the order, “Let a pure diadem be placed on his head.” And they placed the pure diadem on his head and clothed him in [priestly] garments, as the angel of the LORD stood by. (6) And the angel of the LORD charged Joshua as follows: (7) “Thus said the LORD of Hosts: If you walk in My paths and keep My charge, you in turn will rule My House and guard My courts, and I will permit you to move about among these attendants. (8) Hearken well, O High Priest Joshua, you and your fellow priests sitting before you! For those men are a sign that I am going to bring My servant the Branch. (9) For mark well this stone which I place before Joshua, a single stone with seven eyes. I will execute its engraving—declares the LORD of Hosts—and I will remove that country’s guilt in a single day. (10) In that day—declares the LORD of Hosts—you will be inviting each other to the shade of vines and fig trees.”

(1) The angel who talked with me came back and woke me as a man is wakened from sleep. (2) He said to me, “What do you see?” And I answered, “I see a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl above it. The lamps on it are seven in number, and the lamps above it have seven pipes; (3) and by it are two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and one on its left.” (4) I, in turn, asked the angel who talked with me, “What do those things mean, my lord?” (5) “Do you not know what those things mean?” asked the angel who talked with me; and I said, “No, my lord.” (6) Then he explained to me as follows:

“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit—said the LORD of Hosts. (7) Whoever you are, O great mountain in the path of Zerubbabel, turn into level ground! For he shall produce that excellent stone; it shall be greeted with shouts of ‘Beautiful! Beautiful!’” (8) And the word of the LORD came to me: (9) “Zerubbabel’s hands have founded this House and Zerubbabel’s hands shall complete it. Then you shall know that it was the LORD of Hosts who sent me to you. (10) Does anyone scorn a day of small beginnings? When they see the stone of distinction in the hand of Zerubbabel, they shall rejoice.

“Those seven are the eyes of the LORD, ranging over the whole earth.” (11) “And what,” I asked him, “are those two olive trees, one on the right and one on the left of the lampstand?” (12) And I further asked him, “What are the two tops of the olive trees that feed their gold through those two golden tubes?” (13) He asked me, “Don’t you know what they are?” And I replied, “No, my lord.” (14) Then he explained, “They are the two anointed dignitaries who attend the Lord of all the earth.”

So you are My witnesses —declares the LORD— And I am God.

(5) Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said, “Now look up and note this other object that is approaching.” (6) I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “This tub that is approaching—this,” said he, “is their eye in all the land.” (7) And behold, a disk of lead was lifted, revealing a woman seated inside the tub. (8) “That,” he said, “is Wickedness”; and, thrusting her down into the tub, he pressed the leaden weight into its mouth. (9) I looked up again and saw two women come soaring with the wind in their wings—they had wings like those of a stork—and carry off the tub between earth and sky. (10) “Where are they taking the tub?” I asked the angel who talked with me. (11) And he answered, “To build a shrine for it in the land of Shinar; [a stand] shall be erected for it, and it shall be set down there upon the stand.”

A form of a fiery lion cub came forth from the chamber of the Holy of Holies. Zechariah the prophet said to the Jewish people: This is the evil inclination for idol worship, as it is stated in the verse that refers to this event: “And he said: This is the evil one” (Zechariah 5:8). The use of the word “this” indicates that the evil inclination was perceived in a physical form. When they caught hold of it one of its hairs fell, and it let out a shriek of pain that was heard for four hundred parasangs. They said: What should we do to kill it? Perhaps, Heaven forfend, they will have mercy upon him from Heaven, since it cries out so much. The prophet said to them: Throw it into a container made of lead and seal the opening with lead, since lead absorbs sound. As it is stated: “And he said: This is the evil one. And he cast it down into the midst of the measure, and he cast a stone of lead upon its opening” (Zechariah 5:8).

(1) In the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah— (2) when Bethel-sharezer and Regem-melech and his men sent to entreat the favor of the LORD, (3) [and] to address this inquiry to the priests of the House of the LORD and to the prophets: “Shall I weep and practice abstinence in the fifth month, as I have been doing all these years?” (4) Thereupon the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me: (5) Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months all these seventy years, did you fast for my benefit? (6) And when you eat and drink, who but you does the eating, and who but you does the drinking?

(18) And the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying, (19) Thus said the LORD of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth month, the fast of the seventh month, and the fast of the tenth month shall become occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah; but you must love honesty and integrity.

(3) Thus said the LORD: I have returned to Zion, and I will dwell in Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the City of Faithfulness, and the mount of the LORD of Hosts the Holy Mount. (4) Thus said the LORD of Hosts: There shall yet be old men and women in the squares of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. (5) And the squares of the city shall be crowded with boys and girls playing in the squares. (6) Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Though it will seem impossible to the remnant of this people in those days, shall it also be impossible to Me?—declares the LORD of Hosts. (7) Thus said the LORD of Hosts: I will rescue My people from the lands of the east and from the lands of the west, (8) and I will bring them home to dwell in Jerusalem. They shall be My people, and I will be their God—in truth and sincerity.

(14) For thus said the LORD of Hosts: Just as I planned to afflict you and did not relent when your fathers provoked Me to anger—said the LORD of Hosts— (15) so, at this time, I have turned and planned to do good to Jerusalem and to the House of Judah. Have no fear!

Rabbi Hillel says: There is no Messiah coming for the Jewish people, as they already ate from him, as all the prophecies relating to the Messiah were already fulfilled, during the days of Hezekiah. Rav Yosef says: May the Master forgive Rabbi Hillel for stating matters with no basis. With regard to Hezekiah, when was his reign? It was during the First Temple period. Whereas Zechariah ben Berechiah, the prophet, prophesied during the Second Temple period and said: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; shout, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your king will come to you; he is just and victorious; lowly and riding upon a donkey and upon a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).

The verse states: “When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry” (Esther 4:1). The Gemara asks: What did Mordecai say when he cried out? Rav said: He said that Haman has risen above Ahasuerus, for he saw that Haman had become even stronger than Ahasuerus himself, and that he controlled all affairs of the empire. And Shmuel said: The upper King has prevailed over the lower king, saying this euphemistically and insinuating just the opposite. In other words, it would appear that Ahasuerus, the lower king, has prevailed over the higher King, God in Heaven, Who desires good for the Jewish people.