The Writing on the Wall

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1. The Writing on the Wall

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   Opinions vary regarding the precise chronology of the Babylonian dynasty. The kingdom of Babylon is limited to seventy years when no such limitation existed with any previous empire. Belshatzar’s pride and confidence leads him to drink out of the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash. This is similar to the Sages’s description of Ahashverosh’s behavior. Koresh’s desire to send the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash with the Jews back to Israel may have stemmed from a desire to remove the vessels that brought about Belshatzar’s downfall. Daryavesh’s age of sixty two when he assumes the throne of the empire means his birth corresponds with the first time Nevukhadnetzar first entered the Beit HaMikdash.