Tanach Thoughts

A couple of days ago I read a great essay by Yairah Amit . Amit argued that the story of Shmuel's becoming a prophet as described in Shmuel 1:3:1-21  reflects matters of interest and comes to answer subjects that were debated in the circles of the prophets of Yisrael. In short: Prophets were rare in the time of the judges. People generally turned to the kohanim (priests) for guidance. The story is designed in a way that shows the divine providence leaving the kohanim and passing over to the prophets. Prophecy was individualistic, i.e., only the prophet could hear Hashem talking to him. In another essay I saw today by Chaim Gevaryahu, he argued (based on similar prior suggestions) that most prophets of the early days made a living off of donations from people who came to them, or they wandered from town to town and city to city collecting donations. This can be seen in several instances in Tanach, including by Eliyahu, Elisha, Shmuel, Achiyah Hashiloni and more. Now, about a year ag...

לעילוי נשמת אברהם בן ישראל יצחק Post in memory of Avraham ben Yisrael Yitzchak Last night, my grandmother's brother died. This comes in the wake of the passing of my grandfather less than two years ago and the passing of one of my aunts less than a year ago. All very sudden and health-related, but nothing due to corona. This post is dedicated in his memory. Some time ago, I noticed that there was a typical sort of eulogy or lament in Tanach. It is referred as "הוי אחי" - "Oh, my brother". It's only mentioned twice in Tanach - in Kings and Yirmiyahu, but there's also a sort of - offshoot, I guess? that appears later in Yirmiyahu as well, which is a eulogy that seems to have been reserved for royalty, and that's the "הוי אדון" - "Oh, [my] lord" eulogy. Here are the verses (this translation uses the variants "alas" and "ah" instead of "oh"): "He laid the corpse in his own burial place; and they lame...

Since finishing Yechezkel a few days ago, I've found myself thinking a bit about the contrast between him and Yirmiyahu. Both were priests, but boy did they live different lives.  Yirmiyahu does not want to be a prophet. In fact, prophecy is essentially forced upon him time and again. There are days in which he bows in acceptance and others in which he buckles. Yirmiyahu is described in the gemara as a prophet who is "entirely destruction". The plain meaning of the phrase is that all of his prophecies have to do with destruction. However, in a deeper sense, there is something destroyed about Yirmiyahu himself. Something fragmented. Yechezkel is different. Though there's mention of Yechezkel being appalled at some of the things Hashem commands him to do, there's not a hint that he was not interested in prophecy. He accepts it willingly. Yechezkel is really the classic prophet. He gravitates to the leadership role thrusted upon him. He is a natural teacher. He is r...