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| Artwork: Public Execution, by Anthony Palumbo |
Sefer Yeshayahu begins with an account of his 86-year prophetic career:
The vision of Yeshayahu ben Amotz, which he saw concerning Yehudah and Yerushalayim, in the days of Uziyahu, Yosam, Achaz, and Yechizkiyahu, kings of Yehudah (1:1).
In truth, Yeshayahu prophesied during the reign of a fifth king: the evil King Menashe, son of the righteous King Chizkiyahu - or "Yechizkiyahu," as the pasuk calls him here. Menashe's mother was Cheftzi-bah (II Melachim 21:1), the daughter of Yeshayahu (see Rashi on Bava Basra 15a, d"h Chizkiyah v'siyato). In other words, Menashe was Yeshayahu's grandson.
Seeing as how Yeshayahu was alive when the kingship passed from Chizkiyahu to Menashe, why doesn't the introductory pasuk mention that Yeshayahu prophesied into the beginning of Menashe's reign? Factually speaking, the answer is simple: because he didn't prophesy during that time. But why didn't he prophesy during Menashe's reign? Certainly, there was a need for a navi at that time!
Rashi, on our pasuk, provides the shocking answer: because Menashe killed him! That's right: the grandson killed his own grandfather, who was also one of the greatest neviim of all time! The source of this tragic report of Yeshayahu's end is a midrash in Yevamos 49a:
Menashe killed Yeshaya. Rava said: He brought him to trial and killed him. He said to him: "Moshe, your teacher, said: ‘For man cannot see Me and live’ (Shemos 33:20) – and yet you said: ‘I saw Hashem sitting on a throne, high and lifted up’ (Yeshaya 6:1). Moshe, your teacher, said: '[For which is a great nation that has a God Who is close to it,] as is Hashem, our God, whenever we call to Him!' (Devarim 4:7) – and yet, you said: 'Seek Hashem when He can be found; call upon Him when He is near' (Yeshaya 55:6). Moshe, your teacher, said: ‘The number of your days I will fill’ (Devarim 23:26) – and yet, you said: ‘I will add fifteen years to your life’ (II Melachim 20:6)."
Yeshaya said [to himself]: “I know that whatever I answer to him, he will not accept, and that if I do answer him, I would only cause him to be an intentional [murderer].” Thereupon he uttered [God’s] Name and was swallowed up by a cedar tree.
So [Menashe's men] brought the cedar tree and split it [with an axe]. When [the axe] reached [Yeshayahu's] mouth, he died. [His death was brought about by a blow to the mouth] because of what he said: "and I dwell among a people of impure lips" (Yeshaya 6:5).
I will admit right up front that I don't know what Chazal intended to teach in this midrash. I acknowledge that what I am about to say might be (or at least, border on) drash rather than pshat. Still, I'd like to express the thoughts that I had when I first read this midrash because I believe they have value, whether or not they reflect Chazal's intent.
According to this Gemara, Menashe didn't openly attempt to murder Yeshayahu. Instead, he put him on trial, accused him of heresy, and supported his allegations with "proofs" from Torah. Even more astounding is the Gemara's assumption that Menashe's arguments were not merely a pretext. Apparently, Menashe genuinely believed that Yeshayahu's words contradicted Torah - as is evident from the fact that Yeshayahu considered him to be a shofech damim b'shogeg (an unintentional murderer).
When I considered all of these points, I couldn't help but notice the parallels to the predicament we face today. Just as Menashe, the political leader of the Jewish people, brought charges of heresy against Yeshayahu, who embodied the true ideas and values of Torah, so too, there are respected leaders within the Jewish community who strive to discredit those who strive to teach and live according to the true Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu. It has gotten to the point where yesodei ha'Torah are regarded as apikorsus (heresy), and are the cause of accusations against those who hold these views.
And just as Menashe brought "proofs" from Torah to substantiate his claims against Yeshayahu - extremely flimsy "proofs" that any intelligent Torah-educated Jew could easily refute - so too, there are many vocal individuals who believe that their own notions about Judaism represent the true dvar Hashem, and who attempt to support their claims with counterfeit "proofs."
And just like Menashe, whose destructive behavior was b'shogeg (unintentional), the same is unfortunately true of many of the Jewish leaders today. A friend of mine once lamented that ours is a generation of baalei batim lead by baalei batim.
When I thought about our current state of affairs and the grim parallels to the midrash about Menashe, I couldn't help but wonder how we will ever survive. How can the true Torah be resurrected? "Can these bones come to life?" (Yechezkel 37:3). If actual neviim were censored - and, in Yeshayahu's case, murdered - by the wicked leadership in their day, while the Beis ha'Mikdash still stood and the Sanhedrin was still extant and the Mesorah was still intact, what hope do we have?
There is only one source of hope we can draw upon: the prophetic promises of the ultimate geulah, repeated throughout the neviim - especially by Yeshayahu, himself. Were it not for the prophetic assurances of redemption, I would be completely convinced of our impending doom. I am reminded of the famous midrash in Makkos 24b:
Another time they (Rabban Gamliel, R' Elazar ben Azariah, R' Yehoshua, and R' Akiva) were going up together to Yerushalayim. When they reached Har ha'Tzofim they rent their garments. When they reached Har ha'Bayis (the Temple Mount) they saw a fox coming out of the place where the Kodesh ha'Kodashim (Holy of Holies) had been located. They began to cry, but R' Akiva laughed.
"Why are you laughing?" they asked.
"Why are you crying?" R' Akiva retorted.
They answered, "The place about which the Torah says, 'Any foreigner who approaches it shall die' (Bamidbar 1:51) has now foxes treading on it - shouldn't we cry?
Replied R' Akiva, "This is why I am laughing. It was written: 'I appointed trustworthy witnesses for myself: Uriah ha'Kohen and Zechariah ben Yeverechyahu' (Yeshaya 8:2). Now what does Uriah have to do with Zechariah? Uriah lived during the time of the first Mikdash and Zechariah lived during the time of the second Mikdash - and yet, the verse makes the [later] prophecy of Zechariah dependent on the [earlier] prophecy of Uriah! In the [earlier] prophecy in the days of Uriah it says, 'Therefore, because of you, Tzion will be plowed over like a field' (Michah 3:12). In Zechariah it says, 'Thus said Hashem, Master of Legions: "Old men and old women will once again sit in the streets of Yerushalayim"' (Zechariah 8:4). As long as Uriah's prophecy had not been fulfilled, I was afraid that the prophecy of Zechariah might not be fulfilled; now that Uriah's prophecy has come true, I am sure that Zechariah's prophecy will also come true."
At this they said to him, "Akiva, you have comforted us! Akiva, you have comforted us!"
Perhaps we can draw comfort in a similar manner from the prophecies of Yeshayahu. Yeshayahu prophesied about our nation that "the wisdom of its wise men will be lost, and the understanding of its understanding men will be concealed" (Yeshaya 29:14). We have seen this prophecy unfold over the past two millennia, and it is truer today than it ever was before. But rather than lose hope, we can take solace in the fact that just as Yeshayahu's dire prophecies have come true, so will his prophecies about the ultimate redemption: "They will neither injure nor destroy in all of My holy mountain, for the world will be filled with knowledge of Hashem, like water covering the sea bed" (Isaiah 11:9).
Today is the 10th of Av. On this day, thousands of years ago, the Beis ha'Mikdash was still burning. It continues burning today. May the words of Yeshayahu, and all of the neviim who prophesied about the ultimate redemption, speedily be fulfilled in our days.
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