Tanach Thoughts

One quick idea I heard yesterday. I started university earlier this week. Things are really hectic right now as I'm trying to find my bearings. but I wanted to share a fascinating thought I heard from one of my lecturers yesterday. His name is Prof. Eyal Regev , and although he seems to hold some Biblical Criticism views which I do not like, his class was very interesting. We began by studying the early Second Temple period, and he noted something about Chaggai 2:1-9 . In those verses, Chaggai, speaking for Hashem, tells the people in Yerushalayim not to be upset that the new Temple isn't as nice as the old one (for those that could remember it). He promised them in the name of Hashem that eventually, the Temple will be the glory of the whole world. Regev pointed out this promise was never fulfilled in the Second Temple era. It's true that during Herod's time, the Temple received a serious facelift, but still two things were missing from Hashem's promise: a. The She...

In Yechezkel it's stated a number of times that the only branch of kohanim that remained loyal to Hashem were the sons of Tzaddok. It has been interpreted by some to mean that from that point on, only the sons of Tzaddok can be Kohanim Gedolim (High Priests). The cult in the Dead Sea were big fans of the sons of Tzaddok, and apparently were very much against the House of Chashmonai for taking the High Priesthood for themselves, apparently stealing the sons of Tzaddok's right to the post. So who was Tzaddok? Most believe that Tzaddok refers to the KG in the time of Shlomo. After the KG Evyatar sided with Adoniyah, Shlomo fired him and sent him to Anatot ( Melachim 1:2:26-27 ), and Tzaddok stepped in his stead ( ibid. 35 ). Another option is Tzaddok II, a descendant of the first ( Divrei Hayamim 1:5:38 ). A third option was suggested by Rabbi Tanchum Hayerushalmi in his commentary on Chaggai 1:1: "עם אותו יהושע בן יהוצדק הכהן, מפני שהוא יורש הכהונה, שהרי יהוצדק אביו היה כהן ...