King Menashe & Repentance Sept 17, 2020

(1) Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. (2) He did what was displeasing to the LORD, following the abhorrent practices of the nations that the LORD had dispossessed before the Israelites. (3) He rebuilt the shrines that his father Hezekiah had demolished; he erected altars for the Baals and made sacred posts. He bowed down to all the host of heaven and worshiped them, (4) and he built altars [to them] in the House of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My name will be in Jerusalem forever.” (5) He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the House of the LORD. (6) He consigned his sons to the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, and he practiced soothsaying, divination, and sorcery, and consulted ghosts and familiar spirits; he did much that was displeasing to the LORD in order to vex Him. (7) He placed a sculptured image that he made in the House of God, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this House and in Jerusalem, which I chose out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My name forever. (8) And I will never again remove the feet of Israel from the land that I assigned to their fathers, if only they observe faithfully all that I have commanded them—all the teaching and the laws and the rules given by Moses.” (9) Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray into evil greater than that done by the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites. (10) The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not pay heed, (11) so the LORD brought against them the officers of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh captive in manacles, bound him in fetters, and led him off to Babylon. (12) In his distress, he entreated the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. (13) He prayed to Him, and He granted his prayer, heard his plea, and returned him to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD alone was God. (14) Afterward he built the outer wall of the City of David west of Gihon in the wadi on the way to the Fish Gate, and it encircled Ophel; he raised it very high. He also placed army officers in all the fortified towns of Judah. (15) He removed the foreign gods and the image from the House of the LORD, as well as all the altars that he had built on the Mount of the House of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and dumped them outside the city. (16) He rebuilt the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of well-being and thanksgiving, and commanded the people of Judah to worship the LORD God of Israel. (17) To be sure, the people continued sacrificing at the shrines, but only to the LORD their God. (18) The other events of Manasseh’s reign, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel are found in the chronicles of the kings of Israel. (19) His prayer and how it was granted to him, the whole account of his sin and trespass, and the places in which he built shrines and installed sacred posts and images before he humbled himself are recorded in the words of Hozai. (20) Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried on his palace grounds; his son Amon succeeded him as king.

Three prominent kings mentioned in the Bible and four prominent commoners who are described in the Bible as men of great wisdom have no share in the World-to-Come. The three kings are: Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and Ahab, both of whom were kings of Israel, and Manasseh, king of Judea. Rabbi Yehuda says: Manasseh has a share in the World-to-Come, as it is stated concerning Manasseh: “And he prayed to Him, and He received his entreaty, and heard his supplication and brought him back to Jerusalem unto his kingdom” (II Chronicles 33:13), indicating that he repented wholeheartedly and effectively. The Rabbis said to Rabbi Yehuda: He regretted his actions, and his repentance was effective to the extent that God restored him to his kingdom, but God did not restore him to his share in life in the World-to-Come. The four commoners are: Balaam, son of Beor; Doeg the Edomite; Ahithophel; and Gehazi.

Rabbi Akiva responded and said: Afflictions are cherished. When Rabbi Eliezer heard this he said to his attendants: Support me so I can sit and hear the statement of Akiva my student, who said: Afflictions are cherished. Rabbi Eliezer said to him: Akiva, from where do you derive this? Rabbi Akiva said: I interpret a verse in order to derive it. It is written: “Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem…And he performed that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord” (II Kings 21:1–2). And it is written:

“These too are the proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judea, copied” (Proverbs 25:1), indicating that Hezekiah taught Torah and disseminated it to the multitudes. And is it conceivable that Hezekiah, king of Judea, taught Torah to the entire world and to Manasseh his son he did not teach Torah? Rather, Hezekiah certainly taught Manasseh much Torah; nevertheless, from all his exertion to teach him and from all his toil to teach him, it was only afflictions that elevated him to the path of good, as it is stated: “And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people but they would not heed. And the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, and bound him with chains, and carried him to Babylonia” (II Chronicles 33:10–11). And it is written thereafter: “And when he was in distress, he sought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and he prayed to Him and He was entreated of him, and He heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom; then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God” (II Chronicles 33:12–13). You learned from this that afflictions are cherished.

(1) Adonai of hosts, God Almighty, God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God of their righteous seed
(2) Who made the heavens and the earth and their multitudes
(3) Who limited the sea with Your word, and closed and sealed the depths, in Your awesome and glorious name.
(4) And all wonder and quake before Your power.
(5) And one cannot stand before Your majestic glory, or bear Your furious anger against the wicked.
(6) Yet without measure or bound is the mercy You have bestowed.
(7) For You, Adonai Most High, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and forgiving the evils of men; You, Adonai, in Your great goodness, have bestowed forgiveness to sinners dwelling in transgressions, and in Your great compassion have placed a path of repentance for the wicked so that they may be saved.
(8) You, Adonai, God of the righteous, did not grant forgiveness to the righteous Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as they had not sinned to you; but for me, I, a sinner, You have granted forgiveness, for I have sinned.
(9) My iniquities are beyond number, and I should not see, or raise my eyes, or look towards on high, from the greatness of my transgressions; and now, Adonai, rightfully have You afflicted me, and have repaid me according to my hands’ work with captivity.
(10) I am bent down with iron bands, I cannot even raise my head from my soul’s sins, as I moved Your spirit and was evil in your eyes – I did not do Your will and did not guard Your commandments, and I set up disgusting idols and I increased abominations.
(11) And now I bend the knee of my heart, for I desire Your goodness.
(12) I have sinned, Adonai, I have sinned, and of my transgressions I am well aware.
(13) And thus I will plead unto you, Adonai, forgive – please! – forgive me, and do not let me die in sin, and do not forever guard and keep iniquities, and do not cast me away from You and place me in the depths of the earth, for You are Adonai, God of the repentant are You!
(14) Show me – please! – Your goodness even to me and save me in Your great compassion, though I am not worthy to see it.
(15) And I shall praise You always, all the days of my life, for to You praise all the host of heaven, and to You, Adonai, is the honor, for ever and ever, amen.

Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And he prayed to Him; and He made an opening for him” (II Chronicles 33:13)? Instead: And He received his entreaty, should have been written. Rather, this teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, crafted for him a type of opening in Heaven in order to accept him in repentance. It was necessary for Manasseh to enter the World-to-Come in a clandestine manner, due to the attribute of justice that sought to prevent his entry by claiming that his sentence was irreversible. § And Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: What is the meaning of that which is written: “In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah” (Jeremiah 26:1), and it is written: “In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah” (Jeremiah 28:1). But is it so that until now there were no kings? Why did the prophet use the term “in the beginning” exclusively with regard to these two kings, as opposed to: During the first year of his reign, or a similar formulation?