Divine Justice

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The Testimony of Ha'azinu
Rabbi Chanoch Waxman | 31 minutes
What is the purpose of the text of Haazinu and the "heavens and earth" serving in a witnessing capacity? Haazinu presents divine justice - and reminds Bnei Yisrael that the "measure for measure" horrors during a time of "Hester Panim" - times when God hides His Face - are still bracketed by past and future Divine healing. Haazinu, juxtaposed with the "Luchot Ha-Edut" (Tablets of Testimony) is a testament to the eternal and lasting covenantal connection between God and Israel.
Mizmor 9
David and His Multi-colored Message
Rabbi Avi Baumol
The ambiguity of the title of Mizmor 9 and the possible inconsistency between the title and the rest of the Mizmor are discussed. The possibility that ambiguity is used as an intended literary toll is presented.
Turbulence in the Northern Kingdom
Rabbi Alex Israel
Our chapter depicts the instability of the Northern kingdom. Each house of royalty is brought to an abrupt end by bloody assassinations, as opportunists seize the throne time after time. If God approved of Basha’s act of deposing the royal House of Yerovam, then why is Basha condemned later for the self same act? Was it divinely ordained and approved or was it an act of evil? Does the fact that this result was decreed by God free Basha from responsibility? The choice of Shomron as the capital by Omri puts the capital on the main trade route from north to south.
Yehezkel’s Prophetic Mission
Dr. Tova Ganzel
Yehezkel is told at the outset that he is being sent to the nation to convey God’s word, for them to know that a prophet was among them before the Destruction. But the people dwelling in Jerusalem – like those in Babylon – will not change their ways. The role of the prophet is not to bring about repentance but rather to convey God’s word and thereby justify the imminent punishment. Therefore when he is commanded to eat the scroll, he is ambivalent. Just as the scroll contains lamentations, with no hint of redemption, so too Yehezkel’s prophecy includes, initially, only the coming of the Destruction.

Nonetheless, there is a message that the prophet addresses to each individual in his generation: the Temple is going to be destroyed, and the nation will be exiled from its land, but every person bears personal responsibility for his own fate, because even at this most bitter time there will be those who will die and those who will be saved. Every individual is responsible for his own actions. Yehezkel must therefore carry out his mission even if the nation’s fate is already sealed.
Is God a Judge, an Enemy, or a Source of Faith?
Rabbi Alex Israel
תאריך פרסום: תשע"ב | | Hour and 10 minutes
Our aim is to look into the heart of the collection of laments in the book of Eikha and to seek Hashem. We embark on a daring study wherein we ask: Where is God in the midst of the terrible suffering of the destruction of Jerusalem? We compare the first three chapters of Eikha, and look at the kinna recited on the night of Tisha b'Av. We discover that God is personified in different ways. Each personification acts as another layer in the depiction of God’s involvement in the Hurban.
Not Without Cause Have I Done
Dr. Tova Ganzel
The prophet begins by describing the famine that will befall the city; then the wild animals that will pass through the land, followed by the sword, and finally, the pestilence. Describing these imminent afflictions raises the question of whether any righteous people will survive the onslaught. And if so, might their families also be saved in their merit, as in similar situations described in the Torah?

The prophetic response to this question is that if indeed there are any righteous individuals to be found in the city, they alone will be saved. The inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be saved by virtue of the righteous present there. Through the comparison to Noah, the anticipated Destruction seems even more devastating than the Flood. Noah saved his entire family, but now even that possibility does not exist.

Ultimately, there are some survivors of the destruction of Jerusalem. But they are left alive not by virtue of the righteous individuals, but because of God’s desire that the terrible actions and the resulting punishment of the inhabitants of the city be made known.
The Soul that Sins – It Shall Die
Dr. Tova Ganzel
The people of Yehezkel’s generation claimed that since the destruction was inevitable, their individual actions no longer had any importance and it made no difference whether they remained loyal to God’s commandments or not. Others believed that “The way of the Lord is unfair”. Therefore Yehezkel repeats and emphasizes the responsibility of every individual for his actions and the life-and-death consequences that follow. Yehezkel concludes by stating that the people’s claim – that the son dies because of the sins of the father – is simply incorrect.

The prophet also declares that the gates of repentance remain open to the individual. These verses are quite unusual given that nowhere in the book is there any call for the people to mend their ways so that God will not destroy His Temple. Although the prophet here calls upon the people to repent, he offers no promise that this will prevent the destruction; he only speaks of deliverance from the death for the sinners when the destruction comes.

The sins brought about the imminent destruction of the city according to Yehezkel are idolatry, sexual immorality and bloodshed. Yehezkel does not seem to attribute the destruction of the First Temple to the social transgressions of the nation as a whole – in neither the prophecies before nor after the Destruction.

In Chapter 22 as the Destruction of Jerusalem draws nearer the prophet appears to place more of an emphasis on the personal responsibility that the leaders of the people bear for their actions, along with the dire consequences of their corrupt leadership for the nation as a whole. This chapter attributes sins both social and religious in nature to the office-bearers in leadership positions. Thus, the fate of the city is sealed because of idolatry, sexual immorality, bloodshed, and – finally – the deeds of the leadership.
The Theology of Eikha
Dr. Yael Ziegler
Human Suffering in Eikha
Dr. Yael Ziegler
The Structure of the Book of Eikha
Dr. Yael Ziegler
Sefer Yonah - Everyman's Teshuva
Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein
תאריך פרסום: תשע"ה | |
Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein analyzes the “pshat“ storyline of Sefer Yona and brings midrashic sources, too, to tease out the big ideas about teshuva that come to the fore in this short book. What is the nature of teshuva? What is teshuva all about? What is considered legitimate teshuva and what is not? A pattern of teshuva of some sort, Divine salvation, and a dialogue between God and Yona ensues. Yona may yearn for strict judgment, but God takes account of human fallibility and tempers justice with mercy. On Yom Kippur afternoon, we plead for God to have mercy regardless of whether our teshuva is human and flawed, or objectively ideal.
God Descends to Judge Sodom - Seeking the Good
Rabbi David Silverberg
God, Avraham, and Sodom: Defending Sinners
Rabbi David Silverberg
Rav Soloveitchik's Interpretation of Sefer Iyov
Rabbi Yair Kahn | Hour and 10 minutes
Sefer Iyov is one of the more challenging books in Tanakh. What is the meaning of the conclusion and how does it solve the difficult problems raised throughout the sefer? This lesson focuses on Rav Soloveichik’s interpretations in his works “Kol Dodi Dofek” and “Out of the Whirlwind” and deal with the themes of evil, suffering, Divine justice, and the lessons we can learn after the Holocaust.
Ramban on Mishpatim: "Justice Belongs to God"
Rabbi Ezra Bick | 34 minutes
We will look at a comment of the Ramban on a pasuk that does not exist, but first we will look at one that does. We begin with the verse about the indentured servant who does not wish to leave his master. He is to be taken before judges in order to continue his arrangements – but the judges are referred to as “Elohim.” Why is this word used? The judges are God’s agents, as it were – but are they more than that? We find some interesting philosophical questions and insights about interplay between the fallibility or infallibility of judges – and God, the ultimate Judge.