Shema Yisrael Home
Page

              Fish&Soup.jpg - 12464 Bytes Subscribe

   by Jacob Solomon

This Week's Parsha | Previous issues | Welcome - Please Read!  
e-mail:jacobsol@netvision.net.il


PARASHAT ACHAREI-MOT 5776


'I will settle them on their land. They will never again be uprooted from the land that I have given them, says the Lord your G-d.' (Amos 9:15)

Guided Tour…

Amos came from a humble background - he was a sheep breeder from Tekoa, near Bethlehem. Although he hailed from Judah, he was involved with the people of the Northern Kingdom - Israel. Despite his unremarkable origins, his work in bringing the message of G-d to the people proved to be too much for the priests of the Northern Kingdom who practiced paganism at their shrine at Bethel. Having publicly declared that the House of Jeroboam - the Northern Kingdom - would die by the sword, and that the pagan temples would be destroyed (Amos 7:9), he is denounced to the king and banished from Bethel. Before this came into effect he still managed to deliver his final defiant message that clearly foretold the destruction of the Northern Kingdom under the Assyrians, which was to take place in 722 BCE.

It seems that Amos was the first of all the prophets whose words were recorded in detail in writing for posterity - preceding Isaiah and Hosea. He delivered his messages from G-d to the people in the later period of the Divided Kingdom: during the reigns of Kings Uzzia of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel (Amos 1:1). That would put his period of activity between 788 and 750 BCE - some thirty or more years before the demise of the Kingdom of Israel and its enforced exile under Shalmenezzer V of the Assyrian Empire.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel reached its peak during that period, and both the texts and the archaeological records indicate that it was far more prosperous than the Southern Kingdom of the remaining two tribes. Amos delivered his prophecies to an affluent society. There was pride, plenty, and splendor in the land, cities, and palaces. There were grave social injustices against which Amos delivered the Word of G-d. As the text relates, the rich adorned their summer and winter palaces with ivory and costly furniture, on which they reclined and feasted. They planted vineyards and anointed themselves with precious oils. Amos compared their women - who were addicted to wine - to fat cows. The poor, by contrast, were ruthlessly exploited: because their judges were corrupt, the poor were afflicted, and sold into slavery.

In the Haftara, Amos' prophecies against the Northern Kingdom become most intense. For he tells the sinful nation that their transgressions have made them strangers to G-d, and thus there is no reason why He should not punish him in accord with their transgressions. That he once took them our of Egypt should have made them His loyal servants, but their way of life had become no better than the surrounding Philistines and Arameans. Nevertheless, says G-d, He will only punish those who deserve it. "Just as a pebble shakes back and forth in the sieve, but does not fall to the ground, so I will shake the House of Israel back and forth through all the nations." (9:9) Ibn Ezra and the Radak hold that this sifting is a metaphor for Israel's purification though exile. For the chaff that falls away represents the wicked who will fall by the wayside during the difficult exile, whereas the fat kernels of grain or the pebbles that remain in the sieve represent the righteous, who will eventually participate in the Final Redemption.

Amos' final prophecy describes that Redemption. Its details do not show any change of the natural order, but the existing order will develop to the full. Thus nature itself will participate to make the farmer's work productive beyond his greatest expectations. The land will give such abundant crops that the farmers will not manage to complete the harvest by the time the next planting season begins. And the Israelites in returning to their land, will remain there, permanently, for all time.

What type of person was Amos? The opening verse of the Book states that he was a shepherd - nothing more. In the Guide for the Perplexed (32:2), the Rambam states that prophecy only comes to those specially endowed with the rare essential mental and emotional capacities, or to those who have developed those faculties through study and consistent and persistent character refinement. It is not within the reach of simple herdsmen per se. Abarbanel, however, disagrees with the Rambam. He quotes that opening verse as proof that he was a plain shepherd - nothing more. He argues, holding that prophecy is a force that emanates directly from G-d. Without that, no person on his own accord can deduce what He has decreed. Hence there is no need for the Rambam's pre-requisites: if G-d so dictates, anyone - even a simpleton, may deliver valid prophecy.

D'var Torah

There is nothing supernatural about Amos' vision of the Redemption. As mentioned earlier, his Word from G-d emphasizes nature delivering its full potential within its existing laws. The valleys - where the soils are most fertile - will yield abundant grain. The hills, whose climate is milder and whose soils are poorer, will nevertheless support rich dairy farms and vineyards. And within the environment of agricultural prosperity and economic security, the Israelites will re-establish themselves in the Holy Land: this time forever.

That ideal brings the following question. The whole succession of events above contradicts the previous spiritual experience of the Jewish people. History has shown that the Torah Nation's major formative processes did not take place under conditions of abundance, or during times when the Israelites were well established in their own Land. The Israelite, and later the Jewish nation started with the individual, Abraham. His teachings and values were developed and revealed to an entire nation under Moses, and at the Revelation at Mount Sinai. They were reaffirmed and further developed after serious lapses and exile under Ezra, during the early Persian Period. And they became adapted for the long exile following the Destruction of the Second Temple by the Rabbis of the Talmud. In each stage, the Israelites were either outside the Holy Land or surviving there under foreign dominion.

By contrast, when the Israelites were firmly established in their homeland under their own rule, they appeared to find it extremely difficult to remain loyal to their lofty position as light to all other nations - especially when times were good. The rot began to set in towards the end of King Solomon's reign, and it appeared in an enlarged form after the Division of the Kingdom - both in the Northern Kingdom, under the Houses of Omri and Jehu, and in the Southern Kingdom, under kings such as Hezekiah's son, Menasseh. It reappeared again under the Maccabean kings, such as Alexander Janneus.

Amos' vision does not mention a charismatic Messianic type leader. Its whole emphasis is on precisely the two things that in the past encouraged the Israelites to forget their special role in the Creation, and thus earn yet another exile - settled, prosperous life in the Holy Land, under their own rule. How may that be a structure for true spiritual progress?

The end of the Book of Leviticus, with its description of the idyllic blessings that await the Israelites if they fulfil their Covenant with G-d, suggest an approach. As part of the reward:

'Your threshing will last until vintage and your vintage will last until the sowing'. (Leviticus 26:5)

Rashi explains that the prosperity will be so great that people will be still threshing the grain when the time comes to harvest the grapes. The grape season will be so successful that people will be still processing the grapes when it is time to cut down the crops. The agricultural land will be so productive that the seasons in the farmers' year will overlap: as the Haftara itself puts it: 'the ploughman will meet up with the reaper, and the treader of grapes with the seed carrier.' (9:13) People will work, but they will experience success in their work.

The Netziv of Volyzhyn develops this idea further, and his idea explains how the forms of prosperity mentioned in the Haftara are spiritually beneficial to the Israelites. He emphasises that the constant activity is an essential part of the blessing. When people are busy, they sense fulfillment - they enjoy the health that comes with full, personally satisfying employment. That is the meaning of the end of the blessing in Leviticus (ibid): 'you shall eat bread to satisfaction.' The food will be on the table, affording the contented feeling of having been honestly earned. With plenty of economically useful and psychologically fulfilling activities, the Israelites will indeed feel 'planted on their land' - they will be happy to be there, and not travel abroad to seek employment. Thus they will 'live securely in their land' (Lev. ibid).

But the real rot sets in when the economy becomes over-prosperous - causing idleness… The Netziv specifies that indolence encourages people to seek amusement and stimulation. They lose their discipline of home, routine, and community. That increases the dangers of sin, and even has ill effects on physical well-being.

The above discussion gives the essential element to make 'settled, prosperous life in the Holy Land, under their own rule' a spiritual as well as and economic success. People will continue to work hard, experience prosperity, and in the process come closer to G-d by seeing His Hand in guiding their success.

Written by Jacob Solomon. Tel 02 673 7998. E-mail: jacobsol@netvision.net.il for any points you wish to raise and/or to join those that receive this Parasha sheet every week.

Also by Jacob Solomon:
Between the Fish and the Soup

Test Yourself - Questions and Answers

e-mail: jacobsol@netvision.net.il

Shema Yisrael Home
    Page

This article is provided as part of Shema Yisrael Torah Network
Permission is granted to redistribute electronically or on paper,
provided that this notice is included intact.

For information on subscriptions, archives, and
other Shema Yisrael
Classes, send mail to parsha@shemayisrael.co.il

http://www.shemayisrael.co.il

Jerusalem, Israel

732-370-3344