The Tanakh Podcast

What was inside the Holy of Holies?Did Solomon make adjustments to the Ark of the Covenant?What was inside the Ark of the Covenant?

Today we speak about a whole groups of new additions to the Temple: Bronze pillars, a huge water receptacle called the "Yam", a new altar far larger than Moses' original, 10 tables, 10 basins, ten Menorahs. Why do we need all this furniture?What was the permissibility of these new additions to the Sanctuary?

Today we discuss 4 topics.1. The identification of the Temple altar as a historic site of sacrifice.2. The image of the palm tree as a Judean royal symbol3. Interesting Hebrew words in ch.2 and 34. The "outward facing" cherubs.

Solomon wastes no time. He organizes a lobor force and gets to work on the Temple project. He appeals to Hiram, King of Tyre, asking him to provide timber to build the Temple.In today's podcast we discuss the contrast and divergence between the account of the Solomon-Hiram alliance in the Book of Kings/Melakhim, and here in Divrei Hayamim.

In this chapter, Solomon travels to Gibeon to bring sacrifices there.What is Gibeon? Why is Solomon sacrificing there?How does this play a role in Solomon's life? In the story of the Temple?

With this chapter Solomon is crowned and David dies.The final lines that we hear from David are incorporated into our prayer book. It is a chapter that talks about the participation of the nation, about the motivations of the heart, and about God's greatness.

This is the account of 1. Shelomo's accession to the throne2. The transmission of the Temple project from David to Shelomo

This chapter moves on from the Temple and itemizes four areas of David's national infrastructure:1. The army reserves2. Tribal leaders3. Stewards of the king4. David's Cabinet and Advisory

Our chapter continues to delineate the roles of the Levites. Three roles are described:1. Guards and gatekeepers2. Treasurers and Officials responsible for the storehouses3. Magistrates and Law Enforcement (Police)We shall discuss the need for guards and gatekeepers in the Temple.

In our chapter, Kind David organizes the musical guilds of the Levites, yet again dividing them into 24 groups. We hear names familiar from Tehillim - Heman, Yedutoun and Assaf. But we will focus on the verb nb"a or נב"א which seems to be indicative of prophecy, and yet, here expresses music. What is the relationship between music and prophecy?

In this chapter we see a list of the twenty-four "orders" or guilds, our "houses" of the priesthood.What were these groups? How did this division into priestly sub-groups work?

In Chapter 23 David takes a census of the Levites and assigns them to one of four divisions:1. Management and supervision of the Construction of the Temple2. Shoftim and Shotrim - Law (and order)3. Gatekeepers4. Song and musicWe also read about Moshe's sons and grabdchildren for the first time in Tanakh! And this is where we meet Rechavia

David passes the baton to Solomon and instructs him to build the Mikdash. In this chapter we hear David instructing Solomon what his priorities should be.

In this sweeping story of sin, atonement, sacrifice and atonement, the site of the Temple will be discovered and purchased by David Hamelech.See also our commentary to Shmuel Bet ch,24

Chapter 20 re-narrates various military escapades of David and his warriors.We shall address two particular details:1. The royal crown of Ammon; why the Tanakh wants to tell us about it., and the legends that were told.2. Who killed Goliath? We shall see how Divrei Hayamim resolves a particularly thorny contradiction in the Book of Samuel.

Diplomatic insults, proxies, war cameraderie, war strategy. This chapter looks like current events!David sends an official delegation to console Hanun, King of Ammon, after the death of his father.Hannun uses this as an opportunity to shame David and ti declare war.David sends the army under Yoav's leadership.What we see next is a masterclass of how to function under testing circumstances. See the parallel chapter in 2 Samuel ch.10 and our podcast on that chapter. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2waGIgHXDfDGPiNfYCFK5d?si=6161b641a8e243ad

Today while the subject of the chapter is David's wars, we focus upon David's spiritual values:1. Not taking the masses of horses for war purposes - as instructed by the Torah2. Not amassing wealth but dedicating it to the Temple.3. Establishing a regime of Justice and Compassion. In this regard, King David is an unusual warlord.

In our chapter, David requests to build the Temple, a "house" for God.God defers the request. No David cannot build the House, says God, but "I will build YOU a house" - your son will succeed you and "He will build ME a house.Today we discuss this reciprocal relationship between the Divine and the Worldly, and we talk about the theology of Divrei Hayamim - that the Throne of David is the embodiment of God's sovereignty.See also our podcast on Shmuel Bet ch.7https://open.spotify.com/episode/0nRIHjRIXgJoiApSUPEWQV?si=4c252f35b52a42f9

David installs the Aron in Jerusalem. What type of worship will take place there? If we take our cue from Divrei Hayamim it is music, song! This is the first time that a fixed liturgy has been instituted to be recited daily. This prayer is actually in our daily siddur!

Chapter 15 depicts the (successful) procession of the Aron to Jerusalem. The account in Sefer Shmuel (Book of Samuel ch.6) is so passionate. Our chapter is so technical, filled as it is with names and roles of the Levitical families. Beyond Chronicles' seeming obsession with names, what drives our chapter differently to the narrative in Shmuel?

In this chapter, David discerns that God is with him, by means of foreign recognition of his rule, and by his victory over the Philistines.

David tries to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. But there is a tragedy which brings the celebratory national procession to an abrupt end.What is the place of this episode in the broader storyline of Sefer Divrei Hayamim?

Reading the details of this chapter we encounter some unique features of the tribes of Binyamin, Gad and Yissachar.

Divrei Hayamim is a master of rewriting history, and ch.11-12 is a masterpiece. On the backdrop of David's coronation in Hevron, Divrei Hayamim gives us the perfect unity of Israel, all rallied around David, Jerusalem - and all designated by God. In practice, history was far more messy, but there is a difference between history and collective memory.

The narrative segment of Divrei Hayamim opens with Shaul's tragic death. This is the only story of Saul's life. why does Div Hayamim choose to begin at this exact point? Since the author of Div. Hayamim is a very discerning historian, highly attentive to his task, the choice of a beginning must be deliberate and meaningful. What is he trying to communicate?

Our chapter is concerned with:1. The inhabitants of Jerusalem... especially the Levitic role2. The genealogy of King Saul.We will focus on the particular responsibilities of the Levitic guilds, holding traditions which stretch from Samuel and the Tabernacle in Shiloh until the end of the Second Temple.

Does Divrei Hayamim venerate the tribe of Benjamin or see them somehow as defective? The answer is complex as we shall see.

Why is there so little information on the settlements of the tribes Yissachar, Naftali and Asher? The key information is a military roster from David's army, not a register of villages and towns.And we shall visit verse 21 and a curious Midrash about the Tribe of Efrayim who left Egypt too early and who were massacred.

Chapter 5-6 depict the tribe of Levi. Divrei Hayamim introduces the musical flair of the Levites and the introduction of music into the arena of the Temple, it would seem by King David.

The genealogy of Reuven contains many classic theological features of Divrei Hayamim. We bring these into focus.

Divrei Hayamim I ch.4 is filled yet again with names. Whereas much of teh detail here seem incosequential to us, Midrash uses these texts as a commentary about some of the familiar heroes of Tanakh.

This genealogical list gives us the family tree of the House of David.It is amazing what one can learn from a simple list of names.

From the universal we turn to the family tree of Yehuda and we meed personalities like Achan, Hur, Betzalel, Calev and ... David, later to be king.Today we describe how several of the chapter's features match the agenda of Divrei Hayamim.

In this podcast we offer an introduction to the structure and themes of Divrei Hayamim.

Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem and finds that Toviah has a office in the Temple (- he throws him out -) , that Shabbat is being widely broken in Jerusalem, and that intermarriage continues among the elites of the city.We discuss the manner in which the rabbinic tradition took these areas of weakness and enacted new laws to bolster religious observance. It might be that Judaism has only survived due to these changes.

The walls of Jerusalem are dedicated with pomp and circumstance in a double procession, concluding with a feast at the Temple.Why are the walls not merely ...walls? Why do they have religious significance?

In this chapter, a lottery is made and one out of ten families are "volunteered" to live in Jerusalem!

At the end of the national "happening" in Jerusalem, Ezra and Nehemiah have the people sign a covenant committing themselves to Torah and religious observance.What are the implications of this moment?

Before the people disband, they dress in sackcloth and confess their sins before God.The Levites lead a heartfelt prayer reviewing Jewish history - the people's rebellious nature, and God's forbearance and mercy.

It is the 1st of Tishrei - what we call Rosh Hashannah.Ezra and Nehemiah join hands and arrange a huge gathering in which the Torah is brought out of the Temple and read and translated. The text emphasizes that Ezra took special measures to have the people understand the sacred text - he translated and explained it - and that the people did indeed comprehend. This is the beginning, the first step of Torah Study as a key tool of Jewish life and continuity.

The bulk of ch.7 is roster, a list of the community, which is essentially identical to Ezra ch.2. So we will take this opportunity to speak about the Samaritans and explain how they fit in to the world of Shivat Zion - the Return to Zion.

Sanvallat and Toviah and Geshem try to use everything in their power to frame Nehamiah, to defame him, possibly even to assassinate or physically attack him, as they engage in conspiracy and lies to see if they can deter the building of Jerusalem's walls.

The people cry out to Nehemiah because due to poverty and outstanding loans, their children and their farms are being siezed by lenders and loansharks. Nehemiah turns his attention to rectifying the situation.

The enemies of Judah see that the building of Jerusalem's city wall is progressing. They threaten military action. As a result, Nehemiah has to divide the human resources - half the people will be on guard duty and half will continue to build: "Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. "

Nehemiah divides the building of the wall between various villages, groups, families and guilds. In this way, each group works autonomously while everyone is coordinated into a national project. This is a great example of a successful collaboration.There is much that can be learned from this chapter. We will spend some time speaking about the location of King David's tomb.

Nehemiah receives a royal commission and is posted as governor of Yehud. As soon as he arrives, he goes out alone at night to survey the city walls, embarking on his most important project - rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

We jump 13 years forward and meet Nehemia, a devout Jews in Shushan who works for the king. He hears about the derelict state of Jerusalem and the low situation of the Jews living there, he prays and resolves to do something to rectify the situation.

Ezra is looking for a solution to the rampant intermarriage within the community.He calls the community to a summit in Jerusalem. But it all goes rather wrong when they gather in a winter rainstorm. They take some measures to resolve the issue, but the impression is that the response is merely cosmetic. We leave Ezra with the feeling that this challenge is far from resolved.

No sooner has Ezra arrived in Jerusalem, he is informed that the community is intermarrying at a rapid rate; the leaders are the greatest culprits. Ezra falls to his knees in prayer.In this podcast we will speak about the novel philosophical perception of intermarriage offered by Ezra, something quite different from that which we see in the Torah.

Ezra makes Aliyah with an entourage of approximately 10,00 people. This group consists of Kohanim (priests), Leviin, Israelites, and Netinim - a non-Jewish group who were adjunct to the Temple. Ezra brings teachers. He brings silver and gild and sacrifices. This is an Aliyah that seeks to boost Jerusalem's central institution, it seeks to bolster Jerusalem numerically, financially, spiritually and to raise the morale of the returnees.

This chapter introduces Ezra as a religious figure, recognized by Persian royalty and government, who sets his heart on boosting and rehabilitating religious life in Jerusalem.