Prophecy and Prayer

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1. The Personal Dimension of Yirmiyahu’s Prophecy

   Part I

   Rabbi David Sabato

   Yirmiyahu stands out among the prophets with the descriptions of the deep involvement of his personal life with his prophecies. There is no other prophet whose prophecies are described as inseparably connected to the prophet's personal life as those of Yirmiyahu.

   Embedded among Yirmiyahu's chapters of prophecy are his personal prayers, in which he pours out his supplications before God and reveals his doubts and troubles. A tension exists between Yirmiyahu the prophet, who is not permitted to cry in front of the people, because this would contradict his standing and his mission, and Yirmiyahu the representative of his people, who identifies with their grief and suffering and secretly weeps with them day and night. On the one hand he transmits God’s prophecies of destruction. On the other hand he attempts to rip up the decree of evil through his prayers. On numerous occasions God halts his prayers, but not because of a deficiency in Yirmiyahu, but because of the nation's inability to repent.

2. The Last Days of Jerusalem

   Part 1

   Rabbi David Sabato

   King Tzidkiyahu requests of Yirmiyahu to pray on behalf of the city, which is under siege, and Yirmiyahu refuses to do so. This scenario is reminiscent of Hizkiyahu’s request of Yishyahu to pray when the city is facing an Assyrian siege.  While Yishyahu answers Hizkiyahu’s request affirmatively, Yirmiyahu refuses Tzidkiyahu’s request.

   This difference is reflected in the circumstances surrounding the request. Unlike Hizkiyahu, who performs actions of repair and repentance, rending his garments and going to the Temple, Tzidkiyahu contents himself with sending messengers to Yirmiyahu with the request to repeat the miracle from the days of Hizkiyahu. Whereas Hizkiyahu sets God's honor in the center and prays for the cessation of the insults hurled at God by the king of Ashur, Tzidkiyahu asks Yirmiyahu to pray for him and the people.

   When the Babylonian siege is lifted due to Egyptian intervention - an event that was viewed as miraculous, but was ultimately temporary - Yirmiyahu attempts to leave the city fearing he would be arrested as a false prophet.  He fails to leave and is accused of attempting to defect to the enemy by none other than the grandson of Hananya ben Azzur. This accusation reflects the perception of officials and princes of Jerusalem, who saw Yirmiyahu as a traitor who was helping the Babylonians against his people. This fundamental misunderstanding of the people and their ministers concerning Yirmiyahu's objectives has accompanied Yirmiyahu throughout his mission.

3. The Assassination of Gedalya

   Part 2

   Rabbi David Sabato

   There has been no mention of Yirmiyahu since his meeting with Nevuzar'adan; we do not know how he reacted to the assassination and the events that preceded it. The text, as it were, has made Yirmiyahu disappear. On the other hand, in contrast to the period that preceded the destruction when the people bluntly and repeatedly rejected the words of Yirmiyahu, here they seek the word of God from his mouth. It seems that now they are finally ready to listen to him and receive the word of God from his mouth.

   Yirmiyahu urges Yohanan and his men to remain in Eretz Yisrael and warns them against going down to Egypt. This reverses the prophetic message that Yirmiyahu preached during the years that preceded the destruction – that of submission and acceptance and encouraging life in exile. But now the time has come for building and planting in Eretz Yisrael.

   The second part of Yirmiyahu's words, which is several times longer, moves on to the negative side – the refusal to remain in the land and its consequences. Yirmiyahu senses the mood of the people and their inclination to go down to Egypt, and he begins to warn them not to go down to Egypt. The warning is repeated and intensified from one stage to the next. There is a fundamental contradiction between the building and reconstruction of Eretz Yisrael and the descent to Egypt.

   Not only do they refuse to listen to him, contrary to their own declaration, but they accuse him of speaking falsely to them. Yirmiyahu is accused here with the same old accusation levelled against him by his opponents – that he is a false prophet who seeks the detriment of his people. Yohanan wisely sought the word of God from the mouth of Yirmiyahu, but lacked the strength to listen to it. His timidity, his irresoluteness, and his little faith made him a partner in the self-destruction of the remnant of Yehuda.

4. Yirmiyahu's Prayers and the People

   Rabbi David Sabato

5. Praying for Jerusalem: Yirmiyahu and Tzidkiyahu vs. Yeshayahu and Hizkiyahu

   Rabbi David Sabato

6. Post-Gedalya Fallout: Yirmiyahu Warns Against Fleeing Israel

   Rabbi David Sabato

7. Nehemya Wards Off his Enemies

   Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky

   Prophecy is on the wane. In this transitional moment, the book of Nehemya invokes the term “navi” in both ambiguous and shifting ways. Prophecy still exists, but it casts a far shorter shadow than in earlier ages.

   During the time of the patriarchs and Moshe, prophecy certainly existed. Indeed, Moshe himself was the greatest of prophets. Nonetheless, Moshe’s primary mode of leadership was not necessarily exercised in the way of the later prophets. The same may be said of the patriarchs. Similarly, as the Biblical period ebbs away, prophecy continues to exist, but no longer represents a major mode of Jewish leadership. It is appropriate, therefore, that just as the earliest usages of navi are unclear, so too in Ezra-Nehemya, we find ambiguous usages of the word that gradually transition away from prophecy.

   While divine reward and punishment still figure heavily in Ezra-Nehemya, Sanbalat and Tovia’s concern for tarnishing Nehemya’s reputation has a strikingly modern ring to it; they wished to embroil him in scandal. As before, here too we find evidence that the transition to a post-prophetic period is well underway.