Sins of the Leaders

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1. Eikha Chapter 4

   Part 7

   Dr. Yael Ziegler | 51 minutes

   Unlike Chapter Three, there is no personal “I” voice in Chapter Four. The fourth chapter reveals the overarching chiastic structure in the book of Eikha, as it mirrors the structure and motif, and theological approach of Chapter Two, reflecting the feeling of injustice - that children are suffering for the sins of the leaders.

2. From Love to Betrayal: Yirmiyahu's First Prophecy of Rebuke

   Rabbi David Sabato

   Yirmiyahu's first prophecy conveyed to Israel is comprised of a series of sections, linked one to the next linguistically and substantively. Together they paint a difficult, varied, and penetrating picture of the moral and spiritual state of the people. The prophecy opens with one of the most moving accounts of the early relationship between God and His people, but it immediately takes a sharp turn to the difficult, spiritual reality in the days of Yirmiyahu, when the people have abandoned and betrayed their God. The description of Israel's youthful devotion in the wilderness serves only as a background and introduction to the essence of the passage – a prophecy of rebuke.

3. The Soul that Sins – It Shall Die

   Dr. Tova Ganzel

   The people of Yehezkel’s generation claimed that since the destruction was inevitable, their individual actions no longer had any importance and it made no difference whether they remained loyal to God’s commandments or not. Others believed that “The way of the Lord is unfair”.  Therefore Yehezkel repeats and emphasizes the responsibility of every individual for his actions and the life-and-death consequences that follow. Yehezkel concludes by stating that the people’s claim – that the son dies because of the sins of the father – is simply incorrect.

   The prophet also declares that the gates of repentance remain open to the individual. These verses are quite unusual given that nowhere in the book is there any call for the people to mend their ways so that God will not destroy His Temple. Although the prophet here calls upon the people to repent, he offers no promise that this will prevent the destruction; he only speaks of deliverance from the death for the sinners when the destruction comes.

   The sins brought about the imminent destruction of the city according to Yehezkel are idolatry, sexual immorality and bloodshed. Yehezkel does not seem to attribute the destruction of the First Temple to the social transgressions of the nation as a whole – in neither the prophecies before nor after the Destruction.

    

   In Chapter 22 as the Destruction of Jerusalem draws nearer the prophet appears to place more of an emphasis on the personal responsibility that the leaders of the people bear for their actions, along with the dire consequences of their corrupt leadership for the nation as a whole. This chapter attributes sins both social and religious in nature to the office-bearers in leadership positions. Thus, the fate of the city is sealed because of idolatry, sexual immorality, bloodshed, and – finally – the deeds of the leadership.

4. The Meraglim: What is Wrong with Following the Leaders?

   Rabbi Jonathan Snowbell | 15 minutes

   Parashat Shelach deals with the Sin of the Spies. It is important to flip back and forth between our Parasha in Bemidbar and the account in Devarim to gain a fuller picture, so we will be looking at both stories see how the Torah depicts the turn of events. The meraglim (spies) have a prominent place in the sin, but the entire nation is punished. We explore the nation's role in the sin, It is easy to be led astray by the leadership -  what is so bad about the nation listening to the majority of the leaders? Why does this bar them from entering the land? 

   In Bemidbar it becomes apparent that the nation  has never really gotten over slavery- they look for any excuse not to proceed to the Promised Land.

    

5. The Second Haftarah for the Three Weeks - "the bearers of the Law have not known Me"

   Rabbi David Silverberg