The Tanakh Podcast

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. "