tanach? Flashcards
order
assyria yishayahu yirmiyahu bavel conquers more yirmiyahu N exiles yechezkel 586--BHMK destroyed assassination of Gedaliah Cyrus--539 Cambyses Darius 520--second BHMK rebuilt Xerxes Ezra Nechemia Artaxerxes
mindset exiles
When they were evacuated, it was kmo the Holocaust; they didn’t know where they were going, and they could only take what they could carry
The Beit Hamikdash was a symbol of religious and national life. When it was destroyed, the people are shattered, they feel like failure, like they failed Hashem, feel helpless, confused, isolated, loss of purpose.
Passively sad in Bavel about missing Yerushalayim
Hate Bavel
The Cyrus Cylinder Content - motivation; different things it mandates; what it does not mandate
Motivation-propaganda/show how great Cyrus is, Cyrus says the only reason that he is letting them go back is because Marduk(his god) is telling him to
Mandates that they can return and build
The historical one says that there’ll be peace and order with all the nations but it doesn’t explicitly mention the Jews/Israel/Jerusalem
Question: Why do the cylinders say that Marduk was the one to let them go back if in the Navi, Ezra writes that Cyrus said it was because of Hashem?
Answers: Could be that either each cylinder was written slightly differently, or that Ezra was simply writing it as Hashem because he saw it as a miracle.
Specific terms of the proclamation Ezra chapters 1 and 6
1–Cyrus says go up and build it for Hashem or something, anyone who stays behind will give donations
6–lists dimensions and says $ will come from king’s treasury—thank you Avigayil if you’re reading this!
Ezra 1 – what can be learned from here about the first aliyah
The jews in bavel had assimilated, even though they still kept some of their jewish identity, but it wasn’t a thriving community
Why did so few people make aliyah?
They got comfortable, since it came from a secular king, many people didn’t believe in it, it was only 67 years, not 70 yet.
Done with the king’s permission
Supported by any Jews who didn’t go up by mandate of the king
Purpose to build the BHMK
who made aliyah – the makeup of the group, professions and backgrounds
Yehuda + Binyamin + Kohanim + Leviim + Netanim? Singers gatekeepers: Netinim--servants of the temple Shlomo’s servants People of uncertain lineage Questionable kohanim 30k vs 42360 bc some came from other tribes backgrounds?
Possible reasons for the detailed listing of these genealogies
To see who was left??
When you list people out, it’s more impactful—these people made the decision to come. It gives them respect and praise
יוחסין—tracking lineage
The motivation for starting with building the Mizbeach
Ibn Ezra–to use it to pray God should help them
Rashi–to show that they were doing everything w/ permission of the king
Malbim–starting small to attract everyone in so they could defend themselves bc they were small
The permissibility of starting with the Mizbeach and not the building
Yes allowed–3 neviim, Chaggai Zecharia and Malachi, and Malachi told them it’s ok to use mizbeiach w/o BHMK (Zevachim 62.)
The possible significance of the dates
Finished mizbayach around the time of yom kippur and rosh hashana
They started building in Iyar which is same month that Shlomo built 1st BMK
Crying bc:
2nd wasn’t as great as the 1st
It reminded them of 1st/better times
Differences from worksheet:
Yoma 9 (main point, but read the OG)– everyone should have came up and made aliyah but since they didn’t there was not as much kedusha, and the reason Nevuah disappeared was bc the bhmk was built at the will of כרש more than the will of the Jewish people
Rashi: second bhmk was much smaller, a few of the things from the first BHMK were missing now - ex. the Shechina didn’t rest there, barely any neviim…
Aron w/ kruvim and kaporet, fire, shechina, ruach hakodesh, urim vtumim
Who were they?
Samaritans, native people there who considered themselves Jews.
Possible reasons that they offered to help build
they considered themselves sort of Jewish and wanted to worship (shituf)
Rashi- sabotage from within and stop their work (like Arabs in Efrat)
Metzudat David or Tzion not sure- befriend them and know their hearts desires so they could tattle to the king to get the work to stop
Malbim- They wanna worship with the Jews so the Jews will join them and worship their gods - tricky peeps
