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This Dvar Torah should be a zchus for Yocheved Bas Yitta for a Refuah Sheleima

History in general and Jewish history specifically connects a series of events into a long, continuous chain symbolizing strength and durability. A chain is understood as something that is difficult to break, able to withstand the test of time. The beginning of world history and the history of the Jews is found in the Torah.  Although the Torah is not meant to be history book, it nevertheless contains stories and great lessons to be gleaned from the people it describes, both good and evil.

A Torah scroll is written without vowels or cantillation marks called the Taamei HaMikra which we call the trop. These cantillation marks were added to our written Tanach, the text, by the ba'alei hamesorim (Masorites) around the 8-10th century CE. They record an oral tradition that, I assume, was passed from generation to generation from Sinai. Western musical notation dates back to at least the 6th century CE, though its form and versatility have varied over time. Records of other ancient forms of transcribed musical notation exist but the systems of notation have been lost. 

The cantillation signs also provide information on the syntactical structure of the text. Some say they are a commentary on the text itself, highlighting important ideas musically. The tropes are not random strings but follow a set and describable grammar. The very word ta'am means "taste" or "sense", the point being that the pauses and intonation denoted by the accents (with or without formal musical rendition) bring out the sense of the passage. Four cantillations are rarely used in the Torah. One of them, the Shalsheles, which means ‘a chain’ is used four times in the Torah: three in the book of Bereishis and one in the book of Vayikra. The one in Vayikra is found in this week’s parshas Tzav 8:23. The Shalsheles connotes indecision, hesitation, struggling. (There are many comments as to the meaning and significance regarding the connectivity of these four Shalsheles. In addition to the four times Shalsheles is used in the Torah, there are an additional three places in Tanach that a Shalsheles is used. Ironically, one of the three is in Ezra5:15 on the first words “Va’Amar Ley” “And he said to them”. The he is referred to none other than Cyrus who was speaking to Sheshbazzar.

The long and short of the following history is based upon the narrative in the Navi Ezra and not by contemporary historians. The fall of the Babylonian empire led to the rise of the Persian-Media Empire which evolved to become the Persian empire. The prophecy of Yirmiyahu was that there would only be a seventy-year exile between the first and second Bais HaMikdash. By this time Cyrus, the emperor of Persia, during  the first year of his reign made a proclamation which initiated the immigration with the Temple vessels. The sages received permission to lay the foundation and start the dedication of the Temple to sacrificial service. But there was a cessation of the building to accusations by neighbors that the Jews would no longer pay taxes and would no longer be good law-abiding citizens that would have allegiance to Persia. The work of the building of the Beis HaMikdash was suspended until the second year of Darius, the king of Persia.  Following the death of Cyrus, Achashveirosh, who married Esther, reigned and after the death of Achashveirosh, Darius, the son of Achashveirosh, who was the son of Esther, reigned. And from the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, until the second year of Darius II were eighteen years, which completed the seventy years from the destruction of the Temple.  From the time of the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash when Tzidkiyahu was exiled, until the first year of Cyrus fifty-two years transpired. There were eighteen years from the first year of Cyrus until second year of Darius, totaling a complete seventy years. It was in the second year of Darius II that they commenced to build the Beis HaMikdash until they completed it. During this time the Navi Ezra describes the showdown between the talebearers and the Jewish leaders in Yerushalayim, claiming they must stop working on the Temple. They went back to Persia to find out who authorized the building of the Temple, at which point King Darius II gave an order, and searched in the library in Babylon where the archives were stored. There they found a pouch with a declaration from Cyrus to allow the Jews to rebuild, at which point Darius now said they should resume.

The word that the Shalsheles is on was the review of the story of Cyrus giving the initial permission to return to Israel and rebuild the House of God. At this point Cyrus the king had no hesitation, but unfortunately He, the King of Kings, did. Hashem is the one who brought about the building and destruction of both Temples. Although an attempt was made with permission of the non-Jewish authority to rebuild the Temple, it hit a glitch and would have to wait a little longer.

In my opinion this is the symbolism of the chain, which usually has at three pieces to it, representing the beginning, the middle, and the end.  The end is the piece which allows us to see the connection to the beginning. The Jewish people were probably disappointed at the interruption and hiatus from returning back in full glory to Israel.

We have seen the ups and downs of the Jewish people over the last two thousand years. We’ve experienced elation and disappointment from the feeling of being on the threshold or redemption to being thrown back into the darkness of exile. Yet we maintain a perspective of the Shalsheles - the chain that has never broken the bond between Am Yisrael and their Father in Heaven.

As we continue to experience hardships as a people, we continue to hope and pray that things will get better for us. Purim is a time to think of the chain of events which brought us here. It is only a matter of time until we see the other end when HaKadosh Baruch Hu decides to raise the volume of redemption through the triple sounding Pazer making it into a Shalsheles. May we merit that our generation be the final link of the unbroken chain of Am Yisrael’s long overdue history to see Yemos HaMoshiach B’Meheirah B’Yameinu, AMEN!

Ah Gut Shabbos & Ah Freilichin Purim

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky

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