25 Tammuz 5768 – Parshas Massei 28 July 2008

Trei Asar Series - Yoel

In this Sefer, Yoel prophesies about a devastating plague of 4 different types of locusts. With this alarming prophecy, he hopes to persuade the nation to do teshuva. Rabbi Berel Wein suggests that the messages from these 4 chapters can be applied to our lives today.

In the time of Yoel, the people were aware of the reasons for the plague. The prophet warns them of the failure in national behavior and they were thus able to correct their ways and return to Hashem. Yoel explains to them the way in which they should repent and describes what will happen when they follow his pleas. The commentators bring out some valuable ideas from the words he uses:

וקרעו לבבכם ואל בגדיכם – Tear your hearts and not your garments (2: 13)

Mezudat David explains this verse to mean that it is the heart that should be ripped, not one’s external clothes. Rashi comments that the important thing to do is to ’rip one’s heart’; Hashem does not really concern Himself with one who just rips their clothes.

Teshuva has to be complete and genuine. If someone shows remorse on the outside but does not really internalize the message, then they cannot be accepted by Hashem as having truly repented. In this section Hashem wants the nation to turn away from the falsehood mentioned in Hoshea, and repent sincerely.

In 2:20 the Radak interprets Yoel’s description בדרך הדרוש-(not in simple meaning of the words). The Radak compares the leaving of the locusts to the leaving of the yetzer hara when the Jews will heed Yoel’s petition and return to Hashem:

ואת הצפוני ארחיק מעליכם

This is understood by Chazal to be the yetzer hara – the evil inclination which is hidden (tzafoon) in a person’s heart. It will be thrown far away. (Radak)

והדחתיו אל ארץ צייה – And I will banish it (the locust) to an arid and desolate land

Hashem will banish the evil inclination to a place from where it won’t be able to influence people negatively. (Radak)

Thus, the book of Yoel ends on a positive note – the people have a chance to do teshuva, Hashem will accept them if they are genuine and the plague of locusts will cease.

Nowadays however, we do not know the true reason for natural disasters. We do not have a prophet telling us that a disaster is arriving and that if we repent in a certain way then Hashem will stop it. When a plague of locusts attacked Egypt in 2004, the most they could do was to spray them with poison without understanding the actual cause. As Jews, we do not believe in random events, even ones which are seemingly natural. Although the reasons for things are not clear to us today, we should at least take on the message from Yoel about national and personal improvement in faith and behaviour. As mentioned above, ‘it is no use tearing our clothes; we should tear our hearts instead.’ When these ‘natural disasters’ occur, rather than looking shocked and then forgetting about it, perhaps we could think more about Who sent this event and why.

Our country, Israel, is always open to ‘natural disasters.’ It is susceptible to earthquakes and is often in danger of a lack of water as illustrated by the Kinneret line at the moment. It is also vulnerable to sandstorms, and as seen from 2004, to swarms of locusts. This situation can serve as a reminder for us of Who is in control and the weaknesses of humans before Him. All the technology and inventions of the 21^st century cannot overcome the natural forces that Hashem has implanted in this world. These events are therefore a humbling reminder of our place in this world and the necessary faith we should have. We may not have the clarity and prophets of Yoel’s time, but we still have a responsibility to listen to the messages and correct our ways.

As I move on to Sem, I would like to thank the organisers of this programme for all their efforts, and I am sure that this learning has and will continue to enable all of us to gain a deeper understanding of the Jews’ lives at during the times of Nach and to have a greater clarity towards our connection with Hashem.

By Naomi Ebert