Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 37:25: Akeidat Yitzchak & Derush Chiddushei HaLevanah

Rabbi Yitzchak proceeds to illustrate that the phenomenon we call eyesight, vision, at certain times and at certain angles, creates an image which, while known to us empirically, defies our ability to analyze and explain its cause. It therefore ranks with those phenomena which were created after sunset but before nightfall of the sixth day of creation (Avot 5,6). Scientists have concluded that the appearance of the rainbow after a downpour signifies immediate dispersal of rainclouds, clearing skies. This would be in line with the significance of the rainbow as described in the Torah. It also demonstrates that the concentration of disastrous rain was limited to a section of the earth, not its entire surface. Similarly, a rainbow over a relatively clear area of sky would signal approaching rainfall in other areas of the globe. (6) The whole ot brit, sign of the covenant would correspond to the moral lessons absorbed during the great flood. This in turn would make it unlikely that all of mankind would once more deserve terminal punishment at the same time. It is therefore the very naturalness of the rainbow's appearance that will recall to G-d the changed nature of man on earth. The Talmud in Ketuvot 77 states that in the generation of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi no rainbow was ever seen. This was due to two causes. 1) Reminders to G-d were not necessary, due to the righteousness of the leaders of that generation, a fact which was brought home to the people of that era by the absence of rainbows and the continued existence of the earth in spite of such absence. 2) Since the normal appearance of the phenomenon signifies rainfall due to G-d’s general Providence, in the generation of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi people were under G-d’s particular Providence, the proof of which was the absence of the rainbow. Rainfall in those days occurred simultaneously all over the earth at times which did not conflict with normal human outdoor activities. The verse in Isaiah 54,10 quoted earlier about no more deluges in the future does not constitute a promise which negates the attribute of justice, i.e. no undeserved preferential treatment was promised, rather it is a reference to the changed nature of man which makes the need for any future deluge obsolete. In the fullness of time and in accordance with prophetic visions, in the messianic age, all desire to deviate from the ways of the Lord will cease, and man observing G-d’s will in full will become a natural phenomenon at all times. This is what the Talmud (Shabbat 151) has in mind when it interprets "the days when I have no more desire" (Kohelet 12,1) as referring to the messianic age. One may then view the perfect state of man as something that existed or will exist at three distinct points in time. 1) At creation; at that time man was perfect, but that perfection was of an extremely fragile nature. 2) Immediately after the deluge, at that time, perfection was due to the personal experience that perfection was the only way to avoid disaster recurring. 3) In messianic times, when perfection will no longer be so fragile since it is the result of personality growth.

We have thus supported the thesis we sought to substantiate – that Yaakov and David resemble the moon. They are called small like the moon and personify its qualities. On this basis, an insight into the work of the liturgists who ordained⁶⁰See Sofrim 20:2. that after reciting the blessing for the sanctification of the moon, we recite בָּרוּךְ יוֹצְרֵךְ בָּרוּךְ עוֹשֵׂךְ בָּרוּךְ קוֹנֵךְ בָּרוּךְ בּוֹרְאֵךְ (“Blessed be He Who formed you; blessed be He Who made you; blessed be He Who brought you into being; blessed be He Who created you”).⁶¹The order in which these phrases are recited varies according to custom. The order cited by Tosfos Yom Tov is cited in Tashbetz Katan (responsum 220) and by Rav David Avudraham. Both Tashbetz Katan and Avudraham highlight the association with Yaakov. The first letters of the descriptive terms for God mentioned here spell out יעקב – Yaakov. It is as if the verse is saying that God created the moon with these four letters that spell out the name Yaakov. The name Yaakov reflects our patriarch Yaakov’s fundamental nature, like all the names that God brought about within the world,⁶²See p. 108 above which are not arbitrary like the names given by common people. Similarly, the nature of the moon is reflected by these letters which form the name Yaakov, for the nature of the two are the same.⁶³See Bach (Orach Chayim 426), who makes similar statements. See also Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 18. For similar reasons, the phrase, “David, King of Israel, is alive and enduring,” is recited after the blessing for the sanctification of the moon. In this phrase, David is described as “King of Israel,” to emphasize that he is ”King of Israel” and not “King of Esav” and the like, who are identified with the sun. David is also described as “alive and enduring,” for King David’s nature resembles that of the moon. Seeing the moon’s renewal teaches us that David is still “alive and enduring” like the moon that can be seen at present, and he also will be renewed as the moon is renewed. The process of renewal is reflected in Yechezkel’s prophecy of the future, in which he states,⁶⁴Yechezkel 37:24. “My servant David will be king over them.” Yechezkel then emphasizes the matter by repeating,⁶⁵Ibid. 37:25. “My servant David will be prince over them forever.” This concept substantiates Ibn Ezra’s interpretation of the phrase, “They are a faithful witness in the sky, eternally true.” The term selah, translated as “eternally true,” refers to the Ultimate Future, when the moon will be renewed in a complete sense. The expression, “David, King of Israel, is alive and enduring,” was derived from the words of our Holy Teacher Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, who told Rabbi Chiya:⁶⁶Rosh HaShanah 25a. “Go to Ein Tav.⁶⁷Ein Tav is the name of a place. Sanctify the moon there and send me the message, ‘David, King of Israel, is alive and enduring’ as a sign that you did so.” Rashi explains that Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi chose this message because “David King of Israel is described with the analogy of the moon as it is written, ‘His throne is like the sun before Me. Like the moon, his line will be established forever.’”