Class 13 - Maoz Tzur - The Song of Exiles

Incline Your ear to me; be quick to save me; be a rock, a stronghold for me, a citadel, for my deliverance.

I will bring them to My sacred mount and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcome on My altar; for My House shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

I will sacrifice a thank offering to You and invoke the name of the LORD.

Prepare a slaughtering block for his sons because of the guilt of their father. Let them not arise to possess the earth! Then the world’s face shall be covered with towns.

The lookouts are blind, all of them, they perceive nothing. They are all dumb dogs that cannot bark; they lie sprawling, they love to drowse.

A psalm of David. A song for the dedication of the House.

(31) “O king, as you looked on, there appeared a great statue. This statue, which was huge and its brightness surpassing, stood before you, and its appearance was awesome. (32) The head of that statue was of fine gold; its breast and arms were of silver; its belly and thighs, of bronze; (33) its legs were of iron, and its feet part iron and part clay. (34) As you looked on, a stone was hewn out, not by hands, and struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. (35) All at once, the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were crushed, and became like chaff of the threshing floors of summer; a wind carried them off until no trace of them was left. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. (36) “Such was the dream, and we will now tell the king its meaning. (37) You, O king—king of kings, to whom the God of Heaven has given kingdom, power, might, and glory; (38) into whose hands He has given men, wild beasts, and the fowl of heaven, wherever they may dwell; and to whom He has given dominion over them all—you are the head of gold. (39) But another kingdom will arise after you, inferior to yours; then yet a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule over the whole earth. (40) But the fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; just as iron crushes and shatters everything—and like iron that smashes—so will it crush and smash all these. (41) You saw the feet and the toes, part potter’s clay and part iron; that means it will be a divided kingdom; it will have only some of the stability of iron, inasmuch as you saw iron mixed with common clay. (42) And the toes were part iron and part clay; that [means] the kingdom will be in part strong and in part brittle. (43) You saw iron mixed with common clay; that means: they shall intermingle with the offspring of men, but shall not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. (44) And in the time of those kings, the God of Heaven will establish a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, a kingdom that shall not be transferred to another people. It will crush and wipe out all these kingdoms, but shall itself last forever— (45) just as you saw how a stone was hewn from the mountain, not by hands, and crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God has made known to the king what will happen in the future. The dream is sure and its interpretation reliable.”

(1) In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and a vision of his mind in bed; afterward he wrote down the dream. Beginning the account, (2) Daniel related the following: “In my vision at night, I saw the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea. (3) Four mighty beasts different from each other emerged from the sea. (4) The first was like a lion but had eagles’ wings. As I looked on, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted off the ground and set on its feet like a man and given the mind of a man. (5) Then I saw a second, different beast, which was like a bear but raised on one side, and with three fangs in its mouth among its teeth; it was told, ‘Arise, eat much meat!’ (6) After that, as I looked on, there was another one, like a leopard, and it had on its back four wings like those of a bird; the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. (7) After that, as I looked on in the night vision, there was a fourth beast—fearsome, dreadful, and very powerful, with great iron teeth—that devoured and crushed, and stamped the remains with its feet. It was different from all the other beasts which had gone before it; and it had ten horns. (8) While I was gazing upon these horns, a new little horn sprouted up among them; three of the older horns were uprooted to make room for it. There were eyes in this horn like those of a man, and a mouth that spoke arrogantly. (9) As I looked on, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His garment was like white snow, and the hair of His head was like lamb’s wool. His throne was tongues of flame; its wheels were blazing fire. (10) A river of fire streamed forth before Him; thousands upon thousands served Him; myriads upon myriads attended Him; the court sat and the books were opened. (11) I looked on. Then, because of the arrogant words that the horn spoke, the beast was killed as I looked on; its body was destroyed and it was consigned to the flames. (12) The dominion of the other beasts was taken away, but an extension of life was given to them for a time and season. (13) As I looked on, in the night vision, one like a human being came with the clouds of heaven; he reached the Ancient of Days and was presented to Him. (14) Dominion, glory, and kingship were given to him; all peoples and nations of every language must serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship, one that shall not be destroyed.

(15) As for me, Daniel, my spirit was disturbed within me and the vision of my mind alarmed me. (16) I approached one of the attendants and asked him the true meaning of all this. He gave me this interpretation of the matter: (17) ‘These great beasts, four in number [mean] four kingdoms will arise out of the earth; (18) then holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and will possess the kingdom forever—forever and ever.’ (19) Then I wanted to ascertain the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from them all, very fearsome, with teeth of iron, claws of bronze, that devoured and crushed, and stamped the remains; (20) and of the ten horns on its head; and of the new one that sprouted, to make room for which three fell—the horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke arrogantly, and which was more conspicuous than its fellows. (21) (I looked on as that horn made war with the holy ones and overcame them, (22) until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was rendered in favor of the holy ones of the Most High, for the time had come, and the holy ones took possession of the kingdom.) (23) This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast [means]—there will be a fourth kingdom upon the earth which will be different from all the kingdoms; it will devour the whole earth, tread it down, and crush it. (24) And the ten horns [mean]—from that kingdom, ten kings will arise, and after them another will arise. He will be different from the former ones, and will bring low three kings. (25) He will speak words against the Most High, and will harass the holy ones of the Most High. He will think of changing times and laws, and they will be delivered into his power for a time, times, and half a time. (26) Then the court will sit and his dominion will be taken away, to be destroyed and abolished for all time. (27) The kingship and dominion and grandeur belonging to all the kingdoms under Heaven will be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High. Their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.’” (28) Here the account ends. I, Daniel, was very alarmed by my thoughts, and my face darkened; and I could not put the matter out of my mind.

(1) This is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, etc. (Exod. 25:3). The gold corresponds to the kingdom of Babylon...the silver corresponds to the kingdom of Media...the brass corresponds to the kingdom of Greece, which was the least (powerful) of all. And rams’ skins dyed red corresponds to the kingdom of Edom...The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Even though you suffered because of the four arrogant kingdoms that attacked you, I will bring salvation unto you from the midst of servitude. As it is written: The oil for the light, (Exod. 25:6). This refers to the Messiah...

(2) Daniel beheld the four kingdoms and was dismayed...What did Daniel see when Nebuchadnezzar revealed his dream? He told him: In the great dream you witnessed, Its head was of fine gold—this alludes to you; Its breasts and its arms of silver, to the kingdom of Media. After thee shall rise another kingdom that will be inferior to thee; And its thighs of brass refers to the kingdom of Greece. And another third king of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of clay refers to the fourth kingdom, Edom; the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron (Dan. 2:33, 39–40)...

For I am sated with misfortune; I am at the brink of Sheol.

My life is spent in sorrow, my years in groaning; my strength fails because of my iniquity, my limbs waste away.

the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field.

Egypt is a handsome heifer—A gadfly from the north is coming, coming!

And when Israel saw the wondrous power which ה׳ had wielded against the Egyptians, the people feared ה׳; they had faith in ה׳ and in God’s servant Moses.

Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine,

(4) Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; and the pick of his officers are drowned in the Sea of Reeds. (5) The deeps covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.

Listen to my plea for mercy when I cry out to You, when I lift my hands toward Your inner sanctuary.

You have made Your people suffer hardship; You have given us wine that makes us reel.

“Come, eat my food and drink the wine that I have mixed;

Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one I love. I held him fast, I would not let him go till I brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of her who conceived me

(1) These are the people of the province who came up from among the captive exiles whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried into exile to Babylon, who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own city, (2) who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah: The list of the men of the people of Israel:

(6) These are the people of the province who came up from among the captive exiles that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had deported, and who returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his own city, (7) who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

(11) This whole land shall be a desolate ruin. And those nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (12) When the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation and the land of the Chaldeans for their sins—declares GOD—and I will make it a desolation for all time.

For thus said GOD: When Babylon’s seventy years are over, I will take note of you, and I will fulfill to you My promise of favor—to bring you back to this place.

(20) Those who survived the sword he exiled to Babylon, and they became his and his sons’ servants till the rise of the Persian kingdom, (21) in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, until the land paid back its sabbaths; as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, till seventy years were completed.

(1) In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— (2) in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, consulted the books concerning the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD that had come to Jeremiah the prophet, were to be the term of Jerusalem’s desolation—seventy years.

Instead of the brier, a cypress shall rise; instead of the nettle, a myrtle shall rise. These shall stand as a testimony to GOD, as an everlasting sign that shall not perish.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani introduced this passage with an introduction from here: “Instead of the thorn shall the cypress come up, and instead of the nettle shall the myrtle come up; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (Isaiah 55:13)...“Instead of the thorn”; this means instead of the wicked Haman. He is referred to as a thorn because he turned himself into an object of idol worship...“Shall the cypress [berosh] come up”; this is Mordecai. Why is he called a cypress [berosh]? Because he was called the chief [rosh] of all the spices, as it is stated: “Take you also to yourself the chief spices, of pure myrrh [mar deror]” (Exodus 30:23), and we translate “pure myrrh,” into Aramaic as mari dakhei.

Some time afterward, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite; he advanced him and seated him higher than any of his fellow officials.

know for certain that the ETERNAL your God will not continue to drive these nations out before you; they shall become a snare and a trap for you, a scourge to your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the ETERNAL your God has given you.

In the fortress Shushan lived a Jew by the name of Mordecai, son of Jair son of Shimei son of Kish, a Benjaminite.

Then ה׳ said to Moses, “Inscribe this in a document as a reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven!”

Therefore, when your God ה׳ grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that your God ה׳ is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

and Haman told them about his great wealth and his many sons, and all about how the king had promoted him and advanced him above the officials and the king’s courtiers.

(25) But when [Esther] came before the king, he commanded: “With the promulgation of this decree, let the evil plot, which he devised against the Jews, recoil on his own head!” So they impaled him and his sons on the stake.

Tribute-bearers shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten its gifts to God.

...the Soreg, ten handbreadths high. There were thirteen breaches in it, which had been originally made by the kings of Greece, and when they repaired them they enacted that thirteen prostrations should be made facing them...

...When you go through these [first] cloisters, unto the second [court of the] temple, there was a partition made of stone all round, whose height was three cubits: its construction was very elegant; upon it stood pillars, at equal distances from one another, declaring the law of purity, some in Greek, and some in Roman letters, that "no foreigner should go within that sanctuary" for that second [court of the] temple was called "the Sanctuary," and was ascended to by fourteen steps from the first court...

The Gemara asks: What is Hanukkah, and why are lights kindled on Hanukkah? The Gemara answers: The Sages taught in Megillat Ta’anit: On the twenty-fifth of Kislev, the days of Hanukkah are eight. One may not eulogize on them and one may not fast on them. What is the reason? When the Greeks entered the Sanctuary they defiled all the oils that were in the Sanctuary by touching them. And when the Hasmonean monarchy overcame them and emerged victorious over them, they searched and found only one cruse of oil that was placed with the seal of the High Priest, undisturbed by the Greeks. And there was sufficient oil there to light the candelabrum for only one day. A miracle occurred and they lit the candelabrum from it eight days. The next year the Sages instituted those days and made them holidays with recitation of hallel and special thanksgiving in prayer and blessings.

(7) On the twenty fifth of the month is Channuka, eight days on which one does not eulogize

(8) because when the Greeks entered the Temple they defiled all the oil there. When the hand of the Hasmoneans was made strong and they defeat the Greeks, they checked (in the Temple) and only found one jar of oil sealed with the mark of the High Priest which remained undefiled. Though there was only enough in it to light for one day, a miracle occurred through it and they lit the Temple lamps from it for eight days. The following year they decreed these to be eight days of celebration...

Like a lily among thorns, so is my darling among the maidens.

GOD will bare a holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and the very ends of earth shall see the victory of our God.

(10) Let the nations not say, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes let it be known among the nations that You avenge the spilled blood of Your servants.

The Sages taught: One time, after the bar Kokheva rebellion, the evil empire of Rome decreed that Israel may not engage in the study and practice of Torah. Pappos ben Yehuda came and found Rabbi Akiva, who was convening assemblies in public and engaging in Torah study. Pappos said to him: Akiva, are you not afraid of the empire?...

The first one emerged red, like a hairy mantle all over; so they named him Esau.

When Shakkai scattered the kings, it seemed like a snowstorm in Zalmon.

And that shall afford safety. Should Assyria invade our land and tread upon our fortresses, we will set up over that nation seven shepherds, eight princes of other nations,