Rabbi Freedman’s Shabbat Message

One of the great turning points in Jewish history, in fact in the history of religious life throughout the Western World was the end of prophecy. The word נָבִיא Navi had been used from the time of Abraham and Moses to describe someone who was spiritually gifted and able to receive the word of God. The prophet having received these messages proceeded, either in writing or via the spoken word, to communicate them to other people.

The word itself seems to be derived from the Hebrew verb בוא to come – in the causative or Hiphil conjugation it takes on the meaning to bring. So it seems that the word of God came to the prophet and then he or she brought that message to the people.

It is interesting, from a linguistic point of view that a very similar sounding word to the Hebrew word בוא bo is the word בּוּעָה buah – meaning a bubble. Although spelt with an ayin ע instead of an aleph א, the words could be related since both these letters are termed gutturals (sounds produced in the back of the throat or vocal tract). In the Hebrew language letters from the same group often interchange with each other. For example in the group known as the labials (because one has to use one’s lips to create the sound) two of the letters in that group, the letter mem מ and the letter pe פ appear to be interchangeable in the words מלט malat and פלט palat both meaning to escape. So back to בּוּעָה buah, meaning a bubble – which in English is closely related to the word ‘babble’ – one could hypothesise that prophecy came upon an individual when God’s words bubbled up inside the prophet, until the moment they could no longer be contained within the individual, at which point the prophet babbled forth the words almost uncontrollably until God’s message had been delivered.

So prophecy became an integral part of the Biblical era. In fact the Hebrew Bible is divided into three sections, the Torah, generally translated as The Law, the Nevi’im or The Books of the Prophets, and the Ketuvim sometimes known by its Greek name The Hagiographa, but more commonly known as The Writings. It is the initial letters of these three words Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim that give us the acronym תּנ”ך TaNaKh, an abbreviated way of saying The Hebrew Bible.

The central section – The Prophets includes a number of historical books – Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings, but in some regards the most significant part of the Nevi’im are the works of the literary prophets who committed their oracles to writing. They include the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and also the twelve minor prophets (so-called only because their books were shorter in length, not because they were in any way qualitatively or spiritually inferior). These seers delivered their works over the course of many centuries beginning with Isaiah, Hosea, Amos and Micah who lived in the 8th century BCE right the way through to Ezekiel, Zechariah, Haggai and Malachi who prophesied throughout the Babylonian captivity from roughly 600 to 400 BCE or even later.

At some point in later Jewish history the rabbis felt it was important for the messages in these books, historical as well as prophetical, to become part of the sacred services on Shabbat, Festivals and Fast Days – and so they introduced a reading from the Nevi’im to accompany the reading of the Torah. This additional textual reading became known as the Haftarah, a word that means ‘Completion’ – since the reading from the prophets on those days completed the biblical readings.

One should add however that not everyone agrees with this explanation. According to a medieval work known as Machzor Vitry the term Haftarah means to be released from or exempt from a religious obligation as in the Hebrew word – פָּטוּר patur. If this is the correct meaning, it seems that at some point in history the Haftarah was introduced as a substitute for Torah reading.

Either way, it remains a religious obligation to read the Haftarah each week and appreciate its message. This week is particularly interesting. The Haftarah for Shabbat Hagadol is not linked to a particular Torah reading, but was selected by the sages to be read each year on the Shabbat before Pesach. What makes it even more interesting is that its author was the prophet Malachi – the last of the prophets, after whose work – prophecy ceased from Israel. With this in mind, one could argue that this Haftarah lays the foundations for the post-Biblical period. The prophet’s speech contains three themes.

Part 1 can be subtitled as The Judgment. In this sub-section the prophet begins with a theme that runs throughout much of biblical literature – the assertion of divine favour and reconciliation. However, this is followed immediately by a denunciation of the people for their sins – once again, a theme found in many biblical books.

Part 2 could be described as Hope for the Reverent. Alongside the sinners are the righteous concerning whom God assures, will be remembered and rewarded on the Day of Judgment.

Finally Part 3 in which God tells the people to be ever mindful of Moses’ teachings:

זִכְרוּ תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה עַבְדִּי אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִי אוֹתוֹ בְחֹרֵב עַל-כָּל-יִשְׂרָאֵל חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים
Remember the Torah of Moses My servant, commanded at Sinai for all Israel; namely, the statutes and ordinances. (Malachi 3: 22)

The connection with Pesach comes towards the end where God announces that Elijah will appear before the final judgment day to bring redemption and reconciliation for all. The Haftarah ends on this note of healing. It seems the perfect segue to the post-biblical period, which from a Judaic perspective changed direction abruptly from the prose, poetry and prophecy of Biblical literature, from a religion of universal moral values, towards a particularistic religion filled with regulations and instructions of a much more practical nature. Judaism in this period turned towards the minutiae of law in the form of halakha.

Why did this happen? What were the changing circumstances that resulted in the need for a revised Judaism and an end of prophecy? The rabbis argued that prophecy ended due to the spiritual decline of the Judeans following the destruction of the Temple and the Babylonian captivity (see TB Sanhedrin 11a). It was clear therefore, that urgent remedial action was called for to renew and reconstitute Judaism in this somewhat precarious environment.

This idea is supported by a statement in the Talmud in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korkha who held the opinion that Malachi (lit. my angel or my messenger) was none other than the biblical titan, Ezra – a man often described as a second Moses (see TB Megillah 13a). Within the same section of Gemara, Rav Naḥman concurred with Rabbi Yehoshua’s assessment and as proof compared the words of the prophet Malachi with the actions of Ezra the Scribe, both of which appear to reflect identical ideas and concerns.

If Rabbi Yehoshua’s view is correct, then it is worth considering the similarities between Ezra the Scribe and Moses the Lawgiver – for Ezra was a man who rebuilt Judaism following the ignominy of the Babylonian exile, just as Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt from a world of tyranny and bondage; here was a man who felt compelled to teach the dispirited and disheartened Judeans the importance of Jewish Law, just as Moses had brought the Torah down from Sinai for a people rescued from slavery; and here was a man who fearlessly imposed the strictures of Jewish law upon a somewhat degenerate and troublesome population, just as Moses, more than once, felt the need to enforce his rulings on a stubborn and rebellious Bnei Yisrael.

Upon his return from Babylon to Jerusalem (around 458 BCE) Ezra found a struggling, demoralized community that had fallen into spiritual apathy and moral compromise. He was shocked to find so many Judean men had married women from the surrounding foreign nations, violating religious tradition and risking an acculturation of Judaism.

Attempting to repair the situation, Ezra turned to the law. He brought together the most respected scholars in the land and established the אַנְשֵׁי כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה the Men of the Great Assembly – an institution that was run by sages rather than prophets, that considered the long-term future of the Jewish people was inexorably connected to the observance of Jewish Law. The Anshe Knesset Hagdolah eventually created a new type of leader: one who bore the title rabbi or teacher. It was to be the rabbis who would guide and sustain the fortunes of the Jewish people for the next 2000 years of Jewish history, through exile and return.

Often called the father of Judaism, Ezra is viewed as having saved the Torah and Judaism from being forgotten, bridging the gap between the exile and the Second Temple era. The authority previously held by prophets moved to the sages or Chachamim. The study of Torah and the development of the Oral Law (Mishnah and Talmud) replaced direct revelation as the primary means of knowing God’s will. This was altogether a different kind of authority: rabbis did not claim to be prophets receiving new messages; instead, they claimed to interpret the existing, sealed canon.

This era favoured the Wise One over the Prophet and debate over revelation. For over two thousand years Ezra’s Judaism has survived and flourished.

Malachi, called for a return to Mosaic Law – Ezra taught the people how to apply it – they addressed the same issues, they spoke the same language, and they wished for the same outcome, because they were quite possibly one and the same person with one voice and one concern.

The Five Books of Moses had introduced hundreds of laws but more often than not they were written in terse language and the instructions were rather vague. Three examples:

1) The Torah states that one should not work on Shabbat but nowhere does the Torah define exactly what is meant by this – not until, that is, the post-Biblical era when the Men of the Great Assembly, and the sages who followed them, explained that there are 39 principle types of labour to be avoided on Shabbat.

2) The Torah instructs farmers to leave a corner of their fields for the poor – but does not define how large or small the area of that corner should be.

3) The Torah legislates that lost property should be returned to its original owner, but the application of such a law is only explained in detail much later on by the rabbis.

The final product of all these deliberations became known as the Mishna or Oral Law – a compilation of laws covering agriculture and prayer, holy days, civil and criminal law, family life, temple practice and matters of purity and impurity – eventually it morphed into even larger volumes of legal discussion known as the Talmud and these in turn were codified by the great authorities of Jewish law in the Middle Ages.

Malachi may well have been the last of the prophets – but if Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korkha is right – then he was also the man who reconstructed Judaism and set it on its new trajectory – one that would last even longer than the biblical age.

Shabbat Hagadol is one of only two occasions in the year when we read the prophet Malachi in synagogue. Perhaps it is worth considering how special this man was and how he changed the course of Jewish history. He was the last of the prophets and the first of the sages, which may just be the reason why we call this Shabbat – Shabbat Hagadol – the Shabbat of the Great One – for here was a prophet and a scribe who changed Jewish life forever.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi David Freedman