ספר ישעיהו - השיעור היומי עם הרב אורי שרקי

Hello, blessings, and good morning. We are continuing in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 23, the oracle concerning Tyre. The oracle concerning Tyre is a prophecy of calamity against the city of Tyre, which headed the Phoenician empire, established colonies throughout the Mediterranean basin and even beyond, and survived mainly through trade. They were an extremely wealthy nation and also had colonies in Kittim. Now, regarding what the prophet tells us , we have already seen in verse 1: "The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for the house is destroyed; from the land of Kittim it has been revealed to them." In other words, you shall lament and wail, because even when the ships are in Kittim in a distant place, they hear that Tyre has fallen and they have nowhere to return to. What is it talking about? Tyre was an island. It may also be that the term "island" is used not only for an actual island but for the entire region of Lebanon, where the Phoenicians settled along the coast . "Inhabitants of the coast, merchants of Sidon, the Sidonians"—that is to say, the Sidonians and the Tyrians are the same people, a Canaanite people. They All these merchants, they survived on trade. That is, those who work the sea and fill it—it is as if they are speaking to the sea itself: "You have filled it." Yes, that is to say, they engaged heavily in the trade of "the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, her revenue." That is to say, they traded in the produce that came from Egypt. Shihor is one of the names of the Nile. "Grain of Shihor," that is, the seeds that came from Egypt. "Harvest of the Nile," that is, the harvest they brought from the river, all of this is her revenue. In other words, Tyre and Sidon had almost no agricultural land of their own ; they brought their wheat from Egypt. "And she became the marketplace of nations." She became the commercial center for the trade of the entire ancient world. "Be ashamed"—this also means to grieve. In other words, the sea itself serves as a stronghold, a fortress for the people of Tyre and Sidon. And what does the sea say? "I have neither travailed nor given birth, nor reared young men, or brought up young women." In other words, the sea seems to deny its contribution to the world in the birth of Tyre and Sidon, saying, "I have not done this." "I have not travailed," from the word for pains, the pangs of childbirth. "Neither have I given birth, nor reared young men, or brought up young women." "When the report reaches Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report of Tyre ." That is, what happened to Egypt—for there is also a prophecy of calamity against Egypt—when they heard what happened to Egypt, they would tremble. To the same extent, they will tremble when they hear the report of Tyre, what Tyre has undergone. "Cross over to Tarshish; wail, O inhabitants of the coast." What is Tarshish? It is the distant colonies of the Phoenicians located throughout the Mediterranean Sea. So there, too, one must lament, for the mother empire has fallen, and thus everyone has reason to grieve. "Is this your jubilant city?" What is " this"? It is an expression of amazement . Yes, "Is this Jerusalem?" when it is in ruins. So, "Is this your jubilant city?"—that is, this is what we knew Tyre as, a jubilant city. In other words, they have been busy establishing colonies for a long time. What does "whose merchants are princes" mean? Those who have a crown on their head. In other words, usually in most societies, merchants are not considered the leaders of the people. But in Tyre and Sidon, the merchants are the princes. What are merchants also? It is also written "the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua," and our Sages say, what is a Canaanite? A merchant. So it is very possible that because the Canaanite people were heavily involved in trade, the two meanings merged. So all of this There is a kind of bewilderment, a sort of question asked in verse 7, "Is this? " and then in response, "The Lord of Hosts has planned it." Meaning, what is "Tzvi"? "Tzvi" is something precious. Yes, something one yearns for, for example "Eretz HaTzvi," a land that is yearned for. So the pride of all that is precious, to disgrace all what? All the honored ones of the earth who until now were honored, all of that is nullified. Is This is the order, yes. Exactly, that is what our Sages said: Sennacherib came and confused all the nations. Yes? Meaning, basically, until then it was the ancient world of type A, now it is a different world. World B. No, this is not the end of the First Temple period; this is with Hezekiah. But there is a question in the Gemara about the fact that the merit of the fathers ceased, the merit of the fathers ended. The question arises: when? One of the opinions in the Gemara is that it was in the time of Hezekiah. What does it mean that the merit of the fathers ceased? When I see a person who resembles his grandfather, it reminds me of his grandfather. There is something similar , so there is some merit of the fathers . But after a few generations, this impression is already erased. So even in ancient times, the impression of the ancients was still felt. And now, suddenly, the entire ancient world is erased. And then they build a new world, yes. What was Tyre’s sin? It is not written. It is not written, no, there is a continuation, further on there is a hint that the people of...after all, it is written that the merchants No, how did Rabbi Zalman say? There cannot be a nation of merchants that does not have swindlers in it. Yes. And then it turns out that they invented The How do you say it, how do you say Advertising, yes. They invented advertising to beautify their commerce, their merchandise. And so there is a certain deceit in it, and we will also see the harsh expressions stated here. Further on. Yes, you can, for example, take people, say "I'm taking you on a trip," yes, at sea, and you dictate to them what it is , and they don't notice that they are actually becoming the rowers of the ship , for example. Yes. Ah, yes? I didn't know. Okay. Ah Yes, "mephareq," yes, he breaks down, he wants to show that his merchandise is good. Yes. Meaning, it’s like how at the Nile Delta there is no east, so too in Tyre there is no longer an east. "He stretched out His hand over the sea " "He shook kingdoms." The Lord commanded concerning Canaan to destroy its strongholds. "Ma'ozneha" means its strongholds; it is a somewhat poetic expression. An expression similar to "the virgin daughter of Zion." Yes, so it also passes to other nations . "Even there, you shall have no rest." Meaning, even if you go to the colonies , to the Kittim, even there you will have no rest. After all, here there is a "kal vachomer "(a fortiori argument). The land of the Chaldeans, this people was not. Meaning, the Chaldean kingdom has already ended, despite all its greatness . "To the desert creatures," He turned it into a "tziyah," a desolate place. Meaning, the Holy One, Blessed be He, wanted to