Persian Empire

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  1. Bears, Culture Wars, and Historical Movement

    Chazal's Preambles to Megillat Esther: Part 5

    Rabbi Moshe Taragin | 28 minutes

    Why does Reish Lakish compare the Persian Empire to a bear? He uses imagery from Daniel's apocalyptic dreams to send a deeper message about Purim within Jewish history. Bnei Yisrael must understand that history can accelerate—there are historical opportunities, though not always maximized. More than a face-off with Haman, the Jews must struggle against a culture and empire which attempts to control without a moral spirit.

  2. The Final Vision (Part 2)

    Rabbi Yaakov Medan

    The revelation of God or an angel leaves an impact both on those viewing the revelation and those in the vicinity of the revelation. The angel prophesied four Persian kings – five including Koresh – until the fall of the empire to Alexander the Great and the Greeks. Various attempts are made to reconcile this prophecy with the Sages, who talk of three Persian kings, and with conventional historical research, which talks of ten. The vision Daniel sees describes in minute detail and with great accuracy, the history of Greek rule in Eretz Yisrael. After Alexander the Great, the split of his kingdom into Ptolemy in the south and Seleucus in the North leads to many battles in Eretz Yisrael and ultimately to an internal rift and a spiritual struggle within the Jewish Nation.

  3. The Missing Years

    Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky

    Before studying the book of Ezra, the controversy concerning the chronology of the kings of Persia must be addressed.

    Modern scholarship assumes that the Persian Empire spanned approximately 206 years and the Second Mikdash stood for 585 years.

    By contrast, traditional rabbinic sources present a dramatically different portrait of the Persian era. The Persian empire spanned 52 years and the Second Mikdash stood for just 420 years.

    Five traditional approaches exist as how to deal with this controversy. It is evident that the dispute concerning the chronology of the Persian kings carries significant theological, historical and exegetical implications. Throughout our treatment of Shivat Tzion we will be operating within the framework of the scholarly consensus.