Megillah, Daf Yod Daled, Part 5
Introduction
Today’s section talks about the prophetesses Hulda and then Esther.
חולדה – דכתיב +מלכים ב" כ"ב+ וילך חלקיהו הכהן ואחיקם ועכבור וגו". ובמקום דקאי ירמיה היכי מתנביא איהי?
אמרי בי רב משמיה דרב: חולדה קרובת ירמיה היתה, ולא הוה מקפיד עליה.
Hulda, as it is written, "So Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam and Achbor and Shafan and Asayah went to Hulda the prophetess" (II Kings 22:14). But if Jeremiah was there, how could she prophesy?
It was said in the school of Rav in the name of Rav: Hulda was a near relative of Jeremiah, and he did not object to her doing so.
Hulda is called a prophetess by the verse. But she lived at the same time as the prophet Jeremiah. So if Jeremiah was the main prophet, how could she also prophesize.
The answer is that Jeremiah didn’t mind, because she was a relative. Like the force, prophecy seems to run in families.
We should note the tension the rabbis feel with women prophets. This is a tension we shall see at the end of this section as well.
ויאשיה גופיה, היכי שביק ירמיה ומשדר לגבה?
אמרי דבי רבי שילא: מפני שהנשים רחמניות הן.
רבי יוחנן אמר: ירמיה לא הוה התם, שהלך להחזיר עשרת השבטים.
But how could Josiah himself pass over Jeremiah and send to her?
The members of the school of R. Shila said: Because women are more merciful.
R. Yohanan said: Jeremiah was not there, as he had gone to bring back the ten tribes.
Still, why did King Josiah send for Hulda and not Jeremiah. The first answer is that Josiah thought he would receive more mercy from Hulda. A woman prophet would pray for Josiah’s kingdom if the prophecy was evil. This answer also seems to relate to the ambivalence the rabbis felt about women prophets/leaders. The woman was chosen, according to this section, because of her special abilities, unique to women.
The second answer is that Jeremiah was trying to bring back the lost ten tribes. This is a major theme in parts of the book of Jeremiah his attempt to restore the northern kingdom that had been conquered by Sancheriv nearly 150 years earlier.
ומנלן דאהדור – דכתיב +יחזקאל ז"+ כי המוכר אל הממכר לא ישוב, אפשר יובל בטל ונביא מתנבא עליו שיבטל? אלא מלמד שירמיה החזירן,
From where do we know that they returned?
Because it is written, "For the seller shall not return to that which is sold" (Ezekiel 7:13). Now is it possible that after the Jubilee had already ceased the prophet should prophesy that it will cease? The fact is that it teaches that Jeremiah brought them back.
The Talmud now proves that Jeremiah did indeed restore the ten lost tribes. In the verse quoted Ezekiel prophecies that the Jubilee law will be nullified. But this implies that in Ezekiel’s time, who lived after Jeremiah, the Jubilee was still observed. According to the rabbis, the Jubilee laws are observed only when all tribes dwell in their ancestral lands. Thus we can see that the ten tribes were returned and that is why the Jubilee was observed in the time of Ezekiel.
ויאשיהו בן אמון מלך עליהן. דכתיב +מלכים ב" כ"ג+ ויאמר מה הציון הלז אשר אני ראה ויאמרו אליו אנשי העיר הקבר איש האלהים אשר בא מיהודה ויקרא את הדברים האלה אשר עשית על המזבח בית אל. וכי מה טיבו של יאשיהו על המזבח בבית אל? אלא מלמד שיאשיהו מלך עליהן. רב נחמן אמר: מהכא +הושע ו"+ גם יהודה שת קציר לך בשובי שבות עמי.
Josiah the son of Amon ruled over them, as it says, "Then he said, What is the marker I see there? And the men of the city told him, It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that you done against the altar in Beth-el" (II Kings 23:17). Now what connection is there between Josiah and the altar in Bethel? It teaches that Josiah reigned over them.
R. Nahman said: We learn it from here: "Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I would restore the captivity of my people" (Hosea 6:11).
The king of Judah (the southern kingdom), Josiah, ruled over the ten tribes. In other words, they were restored to the kingdom of the south, Judah. This is proved from one of two verses. In the first verse Josiah has a connection with the altar in the north in Beth-El. In the second verse Judah is portrayed as ruling over the restored captives, which R. Nahman says are the ten tribes of the north.
We should note that according to a straightforward, non-midrashic reading of the Tanakh, the ten tribes of the north were not restored. They were lost.
אסתר – דכתיב +אסתר ה"+ ויהי ביום השלישי ותלבש אסתר מלכות, בגדי מלכות מיבעי ליה! אלא: שלבשתה רוח הקדש. כתיב הכא ותלבש וכתיב התם +דברי הימים א" י"ב+ ורוח לבשה את עמשי וגו".
"Esther," as it is written, "Now it came to pass on the third day that Esther clothed herself in royalty" (Esther 5:1). Surely it should say, "royal clothing"? What it shows is that she clothed herself in the Holy Spirit. It is written here, "And she clothed", and it is written in another place, "Then the spirit clothed Amasai.." (I Chronicles 12:18).
Esther did not put on royal clothing she dressed herself in the Holy Spirit of God, before going in to approach Ahashverosh.
אמר רב נחמן: לא יאה יהירותא לנשי, תרתי נשי יהירן הויין, וסניין שמייהו, חדא שמה זיבורתא, וחדא שמה כרכושתא. זיבורתא – כתיב בה +שופטים י" /ד/+ ותשלח ותקרא לברק, ואילו איהי לא אזלה לגביה. כרכושתא כתיב בה +מלכים ב" כ"ב+ אמרו לאיש ולא אמרה אמרו למלך.
R. Nahman said: Arrogance does not befit women. There were two haughty women, and their names are hateful, one being called a hornet and the other a weasel.
Of the hornet it is written, "And she sent and called Barak" (Judges 4:6) instead of going to him. Of the weasel it is written, "Say to the man" (II Kings 22:15) instead of "say to the king."
R. Nahman notes that two of these seven prophetesses have animal names Devorah means hornet, or bee, and Hulda means weasel. These are not particularly beloved animals. R. Nahman condemns these two women for the arrogant way in which they treat the authoritative men around them.
A feminist reading of this section would note the discomfort caused to R. Nahman by these strong women who don’t mind talking down to the men around them. This is the same discomfort the text noted above with regard to the king calling for Hulda instead of Jeremiah.