Parshat Vayakhel-Pekudei Shabbat Hahodesh (Ezekiel 45:16-46:18) March 20, 2004

Targum Yonathon, the 7th century Aramaic translation of the Prophetic books, makes clear that the monarch is proscribed from “stealing” the land of his subjects. Power was not allowed to be a justification for malfeasance. Ezekiel was well aware that in the “real world” the opposite was often the case. The Book of Kings (1 Kings chapter 21) records the story of King Ahab , who coveted the vineyard of a man named Naboth. Jezebel, the queen, used a judicial ruse to have Naboth murdered so that the king could acquire the plot of land. This despicable act was unfortunately not exceptional.

Similarly, Psalm 82, recited on Tuesdays in the weekday morning service, echoes a similar reality. It is a psalm warning corrupt judges that they will be answerable to God for the miscarriage of justice: “I [God] said: ‘You [judges] are godlike beings and all of you sons of the Most High. Nevertheless you shall die like men and fall like one of the princes.” (verses 6-7)

Why did the sages include this message at the end of Ezekiel’s prophecy regarding the future sacrificial rites? The sages were well aware of the disparity between the partially redeemed world that they lived in after the redemption from Egypt and the ideal represented by Ezekiel’s message. The world that the rabbis lived in was terribly flawed. They want to ensure a different reality for the future. They knew that ideal worship alone would not determine the quality of life in the redeemed world. Rather, the just behavior of God’s subjects, especially those who control power, is ultimately what counts.