Hashkama: Reflections on Nehemiah’s Return
At a time when Britain is facing great economic stress, on the Hebrew calendar we are in the Jewish year 5783. The year began on the evening of 5th-6th September 2021 with the New year Feast of Rosh HaShanah, and ends with the Feast of Tabernacles, on 26th September, 2022. It is particularly special, since 5783 is a shmita, or the biblical “release” year. It is a year the Torah mandates as a sabbatical year for the land. It is still observed by many farmers in Israel, who let their fields lie fallow and leave fruit trees for the picking. Some farmers use a work-round which has been approved by the Chief Rabbinate. This allows them to continue farming, but the fruit and vegetables grown will be considered “sanctified.” Those households that observe the laws of shmita are careful not to waste their produce (disposing pits, peel, and even the rotten fruit with great care). It is a reminder that the land is a gift. It is not only the land that is affected, it is supposed to also reboot the people. Every seven years all financial debts are to be completely cancelled: “Every creditor shall forgive debts owed him by his fellow; he shall not press his fellow or kinsman to repay” (Deuteronomy 15:1-2).
Nehemiah
Nehemiah set about restoring financial parity when he returned from exile. The situation during the intervening years between the Jews’ return to Zion was such that, the society had become polarized. Not unlike these days really, where in the western world we have our elites that control and who are buying up everything, and the east have their oligarchs. A small minority of Jews controlled most of the land and assets. The remaining Jews, on the whole, were indebted to the elites of their time. They charged interest on the loans, ignoring the biblical injunction against the practice of usury: “If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest” (Exodus 22:25).
A debtor that was unable to repay the loan had to forfeit his land. In extreme cases of poverty, he was reduced to selling himself or his family into slavery. One doesn’t have to be over imaginative to see such a condition emerging, not necessarily to the Jews, but to the world. I think it is a possibility. Nehemiah organised a public meeting, gathering together the entire populace. Addressing the assembly, he strongly advocated that they vote on a proposal. The proposal was that the rich would cancel the debts of the poor; they should restore land previously owned by the poor, and desist from charging interest on loans. Farm land is being purchased in the UK by insurance companies and the National Trust. The family farms are being forced to sell-up as legislation makes it impossible for them to continue. It is to our loss as a nation, and we will live to regret it if changes are not soon made. The majority at Nehemiah’s meeting were made up of poor peasants, and they carried the vote. Nehemiah successfully compelled the rich to declare a public oath to uphold their promise – “Then they said, ‘We will give it back and will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you say.’ So I called the priests and took an oath from them that they would do according to this promise. I also shook out the front of my garment and said, ‘Thus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions who does not fulfil this promise; even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.’ And all the assembly said, ‘Amen!’ And they praised the Lord. Then the people did according to this promise” (Nehemiah 5:12-13).
The Edict of Cyrus
A copy of the Edict of Cyrus was discovered in an excavation of the city of Babylon, in1878. The baked-clay cuneiform cylinder on which the edict is recorded is on display in the British Museum, London.
After Cyrus King of Persia conquered Babylonia in 539 BC, he, at the instigation of God, gave the Jews the opportunity to return to their homeland and to rebuild their holy Temple. (Ezra 1:1-5). It was a complete reversal of the policy held by the Babylonian captors. Yet, the vast majority of the Jews declined the generous offer. I wonder how many fleeing Ukraine will return to their homeland at the first chance? Life in Babylon was very good, so why would you want to leave? They had adopted the Babylonian language, dress, and customs. Certainly, they retained their Jewish identity, but everything was so good where they were. They had done what the prophet Jeremiah had told them to do (Jeremiah 29:4-7). The Babylonian Jewish community would go on to become the centre of world Jewry from the 10th Century CE until 2,500 years later. It was then forced to flee after the establishment of the next Jewish commonwealth, in the 20th Century. Between 1951 and 1952 over 130,000 Iraqi Jews were taken to Israel in “Operation Ezra and Nehemiah.” The Jews in Babylon had been given the opportunity to leave under King Cyrus, to go to their undeveloped, unknown homeland. The Jewish State of Israel has been a reality since 1948, but like those in Babylon, many Jews have chosen not to live in Israel. Though they prayed and earnestly desired and hoped for the establishment of the Jewish state to call home, the reality is that many have chosen not to go home. History is repeating itself, so to speak, only on a grander scale. Life in exile became an acceptable alternative.
The Jews who made the arduous journey back to their ancestral homeland in the 6th century BC were a mixture of those motivated idealistically and religiously, along with those that had not been very successful living in Babylon. Though tens of thousands made the move to Israel, the vast majority remained in Babylon. Those who did return were led by Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest. Their first sight of Jerusalem was the ruins of a city without walls. The land was devastated and sparsely populated by poor Jews who had not been exiled. There were also the Samaritans, some of which were hostile to the returning Jews.
Ezra had returned with a meagre fifteen hundred people to supplement the small Jewish population living in Judea. Artaxerxes (464-425 BC) had allowed him to reconstruct the walls of Jerusalem, appoint officials, to reinspire and re-educate the Jews about their religion. There were ongoing problems with the Samaritans and intermarriage, with the Samaritans becoming implacable foes. Nehemiah was to arrive in 445 BC, before the walls were rebuilt. Nehemiah was an extremely powerful courtier as a “cupbearer for the king.” However, he gave all of that up to help his fellow Jews (Nehemiah 2:1-5). The king appointed Nehemiah to governor of Judea. On his arrival in Jerusalem, he was confronted with several major issues.
Safety First
Nehemiah did not rush into Jerusalem with all picks blazing. He took stock of the whole situation, tackling the physical security of the Jews first; then set to work on rebuilding the city walls before attempting anything else. He achieved his goal in an amazing fifty-two days (Nehemiah 6:15-16). The bible speaks of a future time when the Jews will be living in peace and security in unwalled villages, when an enemy will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’ (Ezekiel 38:11). Nehemiah is known in Judaism as one who “raised up for us the walls that were fallen and set up the gates and bars, and raised up our homes again.”
Having rebuilt the city walls, Nehemiah tackled the various problems he faced. We have mentioned one already. The next was the socio-religious issue of intermarriage. Intermarriage was a major concern during both Ezra and Nehemiah’s tenures. Marriage and re-marriage issues exist in the Church today, but there are no Nehemiah’s around to tackle them, so they are ignored or glossed over. Intermarriage had reached serious proportions and was of great concern during the emerging second commonwealth. Considerable intermarriage had taken place among the common people and among the priestly families. Nehemiah attempted to introduce endogamy (marriage only within the group). He felt that intermarriage was a threat to the survival of the Jewish nation. In ancient times, foreign wives were allowed to bring their household gods into their husbands’ homes – not good practice in a Jewish home.
Ezra and Nehemiah established the supremacy of Torah as the guide for the Jewish people and nation. They forged decisions by public assembly of the people concerning important facets of Judaism. The entire Jewish population of Judaea supported the renewal of the covenant by publicly promising to obey the Torah, refrain from intermarriage, keep the Sabbath, and support the Temple. The public meetings, included the Great Assembly [Knesset HaGedolah], consisting of 120 members (a symbolic number constituting ten members from each of the twelve tribes). It ultimately developed into the Sanhedrin, with the scribes becoming the leaders.
A brief introduction to the Scribes…
The scribe was the title of the new Jewish communal leader in Babylonia. They replaced the hereditary positions that the kings and priests of Judea had previously enjoyed. The scribes attained leadership positions among the Jews based solely on their ability to learn, teach, and inspire. Leadership was based on ability rather than hereditary rights or divine inspiration for the very first time.
…And the Samaritans
The Samaritans were introduced into Samaria from the Assyrian Empire in 721 BC. Once there, they joined members of the ten tribes of Israel who had not been exiled. Some of them at least married into the indigenous non-Jewish population. They formed a break-away sect of Judaism centred on Mount Gerizim in Samaria. They claimed descent from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
Nehemiah reclaimed the Torah from the oligarchy and restored it to the people. In the ancient world and until recent times, the idea of making education available to all classes was unique to the Jews. Nehemiah, with the assistance of Ezra the Scribe, organized public readings and Torah-teaching sessions on market days. One commentator said: “The greatest innovation of the leaders in this period was transferring the divine service from the Temple to the home and community.” Nehemiah also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, or what is commonly known as The Season of our Joy.
“The Joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).
Blessings and shalom
Malcolm [18.03.2022]
