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1. Multiple Reflections Upon the Fast of Tammuz

   Rabbi Dr. Aharon Adler

   תאריך פרסום: תשע"ג | |

   Turning to the book of Zekharya, we begin with a question posed to the prophet: are the fast days still to be in place after the exile? An ambiguous and lengthy answer ends with the response that they will be transformed into days of joy. Conspicuously absent in the answer is a time frame. To better understand what is going on, we explore what happened on the day commemorated by the “fast of the fourth month.” Excerpts from poetry of Ibn Gabirol, among other sources, contribute to a richer picture of what the fast day is about.

2. The First Dream

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   According to the conventional interpretation by the Sages, the Four Kingdoms refer to Babylon, Persia/Medes, Greece, and Rome. Later interpretations extend Rome into Christianity, while others combine Rome with Greece, allowing the fourth kingdom to be Yishma’el - Islam. These interpretations assume that the prophecy ends with a Jewish kingdom in the end of the days and therefore must span throughout human history. An alternative interpretation suggests that the four kingdoms are Babylon, Persia/Medes, Alexander the Great, and the Diadochi kingdom which comprises the Ptolemy and the Selucids, and the dream extends itself to the kingdom of the Hashmona’im. Many prophecies deviate from their initial intentions due to man’s deviation from God’s path, and are destined to be fulfilled in the future.

3. The Vision of the Four Beasts

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   The Sages and many commentators are in agreement that the four beasts in Daniel’s dream parallel the four kingdoms described in Nevukhadnetzar’s dream. An alternative interpretation suggest that that the first three beasts are parables for Nevukhadnetzar - the lion, his son Evil Merodakh - the bear, and his son Belshatzar – the final king of Babylon - represented by the leopard. The fourth beast represents the kingdom of Persia and the ten horns of the beast represent the ten successive rulers of Persia. The new horn that sprouts and uproots the existing one represents Alexander the Great and the Greek Empire.