Lineage of the Returnees to Zion

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1. The Census

   Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky

   The chapter neatly captures the fundamental tension running throughout all the accomplishments of the Shivat Tzion community. While the people’s achievements are remarkable, it is always a struggle, achieved against the backdrop of the significant challenges plaguing the community.

   The Jewish return to Zion seventy years after the destruction is nothing short of miraculous. Still, fewer than 50,000 people in total returned, most of whom were lacking in means, leaving the community undermanned and lacking in resources to fend for itself.

   The glaring gaps in the community’s genealogical records speak directly to some of the key challenges facing the community: intermarriage, mass ignorance, and the concomitant need to establish religious bona fides.

2. Ezra Arrives on the Scene

   Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky

   Ezra chapter 7 finally introduces us to Ezra himself. During the reign of Artaxerxes, Ezra led a group of Jews on aliya. Ezra is referred to as both Kohen and scholar. There is particular emphasis on the role of the priestly teacher in the works of Shivat Tzion. This represents a larger shift away from charismatic priestly and prophetic roles toward an emphasis on Torah. The fact that Ezra is identified as a Kohen without reference to the Temple service accentuates the transition underway.

   Whereas in the opening section of Ezra, the only form of worship practiced by the Jews is that of sacrifice, Ezra ushers in a new emphasis on Torah study and observance. This shift foreshadows the revolution on which Ezra was about to embark.

   Ezra deflects credit from himself toward God. This theme of hashgacha – that while God no longer performs open miracles, He nonetheless profoundly influences world events – pervades the literature of Shivat Tzion. While prophecy may be waning, divine inspiration remains, so too God continues to guide earthly events.

   Absolute divine clarity is declining. In that vacuum, divinely-inspired personal reminisces rise to the fore.

3. Is Religious Freedom Enough? Early 2nd Temple Polemics (Hagai, Zekharia, Ezra)

   Rabbi Gad Dishi | Hour and 10 minutes

   When Darius the Great ascends the throne of Persia a fateful debate rages beneath the surface amongst the Jewish leadership. Should they be grateful  and suffice with the right of return and religious freedom Persia awarded or should they risk it all and join a multi-regional revolt to achieve political freedom and the reestablishment of the Jewish monarchy? The shiur provides an introduction discussing timeline in the Bible, Empires dealt with in the Bible, and who were the Jewish leaders of Yehud under Darius. The introduction is followed by pointing out a number of oddities and seeming contradictions regarding the depiction of events as relayed by Hagai, Zekhariah, Malakhi and Ezra. These difficulties are resolved by analyzing the shifting balance of power between Yehoshua Kohen Gadol and Zerubavel and a planned rebellion against Paras. Archaeological evidence is used to buttress the claim of a possible rebellion. The shiur ends with a possible biblical message for future generations.