פירוש על יואל 1:1

to Joel son of Pethuel—The son of Samuel the prophet who persuaded God with his prayer (פִתָּה לְאֵל) . Some say that this prophecy was said in those seven years in which Elisha said: “For the Lord has decreed a famine etc.” and they took place during the days of Jehoram son of Ahab.

1. The first prophecy in Sefer Yoel begins with "Hashem initially spoke to Yoel..." and goes until "on that day I will pour out my prophecy..." (ie- the first theme in the prophecy in the book of Yoel is in perakim 1-2). And this prophecy is split into 4 sections. A) "the Word of Gd came to Yoel" B)"gird yourself and lament oh priests" C)"Let the sound of the shofar ring out in Zion and blow a loud blast" D)"blow a shofar in Zion and make a fast". And I see the following 6 questions through which I will explain the prophecy.

The first question- if, as it appears from the text and as the commentaries agree upon, this prophecy truly deals with the produce eaten by the locusts, we have to explain how the navi makes this a great mourning that is so intense. To the point that several times we see that all the food of the year is lost and there will be a destruction of the land. But in Shemot (10:14), the Torah tells us that the locust plague was unique in that there was never before like it and there will never be afterwards. And if so, we need to explain what Yoel says about this current plague that "like it there never was and afterwards there will not be in the years of all generations". A possible (rejected) explanation is that the quote in Shemot is referring to the plague of locusts being unique in the land of Egypt. This explanation is rejected due to the fact that the Torah says about the plague of hail (Shemot 9:24) that there was never like 'in the land of Egypt' specifically.

The second question-if this prophecy is a dirge about the lost produce whey does it say "they have laid my vines to waste and splintered my fig trees (1:7)" did the prophecy need to specify these fruits when it already says "the country is ravaged, the ground must mourn (1:10)" and it says "the produce of the field is lost" and therefore if so, what's the connection specifically to the grape and figs.

The third question- why the does the prophet specifically point out the mourning of the kohanim in several pesukin (1:9, 1:13, 2:17). For surely, despite the famine, they did not stop the mincha offering and libation, because we see elsewhere in navi and in Daniel that the mincha offering was never stopped until the day of the destruction and when Jerusalem was beseiged. And therefore if in the days of Yoel there was a 7 year famine and a 4 year famine in the days of Yehoram ben Achav with accompanying locusts like the commentaries tell us until the mincha offering ceased. It becomes difficult to reconcile these two famines with the pasuk in Daniel.

..The fourth question-if the famine and the locusts were so much more intense than the famine in the days of Yehoram ben Achav and in the days of Elisha and in the days of Menashe, we have to ask how this wasn't mentioned at all in Sefer Malchim. And even more so, why didn't Yirmiyahu record prophecy about it, when his prophecy seems to sometimes mention some less intense things. And even in Divrei Hayimim it doesn't discuss this famine.

The fifth question. If there was a famine and locusts continually for 4 years or 7 years like it says followed by years of plenty why does the prophet refer to it as the DAY of Gd when he says "because the day of Gd is nearing. A day of darkness and despiar. A day of clouds and smoke (2:2)" and it also says "for great is the day of Gd ". This makes it seem like it the locusts will be on one day alone and then leave and not return.

The sixth question- if all the troubles were only caused by the locusts that came up and ate all the produce, like it seems from the words of the pesukim, why does it say also the animals in the field long for it because "the springs of water are dried up" and "fire has consumed the pastures in the wilderness". And it says afterwards, "The children of Zion will rejoice and be glad with Hashem, their Gd, because he has given you the early rain in His Kindness and send you the seasonal rains (2:23)". This makes it seem like the famine was caused by a lack of rain and not from the locusts mentioned earlier. I will now explain the pesukim according to these 6 questions.

The overarching intention of this nevuah is, as the commentaries say, to tell about the famine in the days of Yoram ben Achav like it says in Melachim II (8:1) "and Elisha spoke to the woman who he lived at her house and said get up and go with your family and live in another land because Hashem is bringing a famine on the land for 7 years." And it seems that the first 4 years were the years of the locust, which were then followed by 3 years with no rain. And therefore the prophet mentions the locusts and the rain. This is the opinion of the Radak in perek 100 in Taanis. And according to my opinion, this prophecy does not come to dirge and explaine a famine and and is not about the locusts in Judah and Jerusalem. Because it is difficult to explain how this prophet would tell about such an intense famine that is only glossed over in Malachim and isn't even discussed the locusts or the rain. Therefore, I will explain these pesukim as loshon drash.

The truth of the matter, according to me, is that the prophet was coming to tell us about the 4 kingdoms (Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome) and because they all affected Israel and ruled in Jerusalem, therefore this dirge was made to tell about the bad that will occur during these exiles. That Nevuchad Netzer first destroyed it. And even though Persia did not destroy the temple, they commanded to stop rebuilding the second temple and after it was destroyed they were bad to the Israelites that were in their exile like it says in Perek 141 in Yoma (10:1). And it says about the Greeks that they did much bad to Israel and breached breaches in the Holy Temple. And the Romans, we have personal experience with. And if the later prophets discuss this topic, they each do it with their own styles. The prophet Yoel use the styl of the locusts to discuss the 4 exiles because the locusts come upon the land that Yoel gives his great dirge. And in his great dirge there isn't a famine for food and there isn't a thirst for water. That's why there are 4 species of locust mentioned . And there is not a contradiction in waht the prophet says with what the Torah tells us about the plague of locusts in the days of the Egyptians. Because that instance was talking about the literal locusts and here it is talking about the rule of the nations and the destruction of Israel that there was never like among any other nations. This is the meaning of the grape vine and figs that are withered. It's a remez to the Israelites who are referred to as a grape vine in Tehillim (80:9) "I plucked a vine from Egypt. And they are called "the first figs on the fig tree" in Hosea (9:10). And because of the destruction in the hands of the nations it says twice that the Kohanim are mourning for them and it says that the mincha offering and the libations have ceased from the house of Gd. Therefore the Kohanim mourn. Similar to Yirmiyahu's dirge (Eicha 1:4) "your priests are moaning." And these destructions that are terrible begin with the destruction of the first Temple and the writings of Jossipson and in Daniel's prophecies.

And therefore , the initial mention of the the destructions from the beginning of the book of Yoel until "blow the shofar in Zion" is about the destruction of the first temple and the exile of Judah and Jerusalem. About this it says the day of Hashem is coming. A day of darkness and despair. The pasuk of "blow a shofar in Zion..." is about the enemies who come upon Jerusalem and they are called "a great and mighty nation that there was never another like it in the world. Like the vision of horses they appear..." And the rest of hte pesukim are not about the locusts, it is a sacrilidge on me to believe this that the enemies of Gd will destroy His house and exile his people! Then it discusses the return to the second temple "And you now, says Gd, retrun to me" and the destruction of the second tmeple it says "blow the trumpet in Zion. Make a fast" and on the future redemption it says "Gd will be zealous for His land..." And these are the four sections (first temple destruction, return to the land, second temple destruction, future redemption). And therefore the prophecy when it says Israel it refers to Yehuda.

Pasuk 1- The Word of Gd came to Yoel- who was Yoel? Chazal said that he was the son of Shmuel the Navi and we have no way to know whether it is true. But I doubt this because Yoel was the son of "Putiel" and Putiel is not Shmuel. And the Navi in Shmuel disgraces the sons of Shmuel in their deeds and that they didn't follow in Shmuel Hanavi's ways and that they went after prophet and took usury and deviated judgements and how could Yoel be one of them! The Shochar Tov does say that the sons of Shmuel did teshuva in the end... But we actually have no informatoin about who Yoel hanavi was, what shevet he was from, and what generation he lived in. But we do know that his father was honrable man and therefore his name is mentioned in connection to Yosel. And also according to the words of Chazal any navi who's father's name is mention, he is navi son of a navi. And we also know that he wasn't a navi on Israel but on Judah and Jerusalem. And I already said in the introduction that he was at the time of Hosea and before Amos. pasuk 2- and because he wanted to prophecy about hte destruction that the enemies made in the House of Gd and the nations that came up on our land and ruled it like the locusts come and eat all the grass of the land and therefore it says "Listen to this elderly" because they saw more of the history as it says "ask your fathers and they will tell you, your elders and they will say" and ask if there was anything ever like this in their days or their fathers' days. pausk 3- and he commanded them to tell their children and future generations in the manner that this prophecy will not be forgotten from amongst their children and because it is good to see the future that will come when the 4 kingdoms rule over the land and the word "zos" and "aleha" are about this nevuah that they tell of.