Rebbetzin Chava Kuperman
For the prophet Habakkuk, we find neither a date nor any indication of the city in which he lived, nor his father’s name. A completely anonymous prophet.
According to one of two common opinions, Habakkuk was the son of the Shunammite, the very woman from Shunem who hosted the prophet Elisha in her home, had long been childless, and whose husband was old. As a reward for her good deeds, the prophet promised her a son: “In a year, you will embrace a child.”
The name Habakkuk comes from the word “embrace.”
If we accept this opinion, we can say that Habakkuk lived fairly early—that is, in the middle of the First Temple period (the Temple stood for 410 years), experienced a serious episode of “clinical” death as a child, and was revived by Elisha.
According to another opinion, he lived a little more than 50 years before the destruction of the First Temple and was a contemporary of King Manasseh, who was far from righteous and was reputed to be the most wicked of all the kings of Judah. (The Temple was destroyed 55 years after Manasseh’s death, and Manasseh himself reigned for 55 years). If so, it is clear why the time of the prophecy is not specified—the prophet does not want to associate his name with such a king.
In any case, Habakkuk lived in an extremely difficult period, when people had become corrupt and mired in sin.
Throughout his life, he sought an answer to the question: why does the Almighty not reward good and punish evil? And why is there evil in the world at all?
In chapter two of the Book of Habakkuk, verse 1, it says: “I will stand at my watch, and take my place upon the tower, and wait to see what He will say to me...” In a more precise translation, it is not “tower” but “circle,” so it reads: “I will stand in a circle and wait for what He will say to me.” In other words, the prophet is prepared to draw a circle and not leave it until he receives the Almighty’s answer to his question.
In verse 2 (and onward) of chapter 1, we read: “Why do You show me injustice and look upon falsehood, robbery, and violence before me? There was strife, and quarrelling arose, and therefore the Torah lost its power… justice is not carried out, for the wicked destroys the righteous.”
Why do the best people fare worse, while the worst fare better? Habakkuk wonders and grieves.
This looks wrong, unjust, as though the wicked person crowns the righteous one. (That is, as though the villain is the master, rather than the Almighty, and can decide at his own discretion whether or not to reward the righteous person for his righteousness).
“Perhaps that is why You have so few followers?” the prophet asks.
In verse 14 of chapter 1, Habakkuk compares people to fish. Animals at least take pleasure in eating their prey. Fish in the sea simply swallow smaller prey without tasting their food. And while animals generally do not eat their young, fish are often guilty of this. By comparing humanity to fish, Habakkuk says that it has reached a terrible state.
The name Habakkuk has a gematria of 72×3. It is as though the gematria of the Almighty’s highest Name, consisting of 72 letters, has been repeated three times.
72 symbolizes supreme mercy. It follows that this supreme mercy is amplified threefold in the name Habakkuk.
72 appears in many places in the Tanakh.
For example, the world was created over 72 hours (Rabbeinu Bachya gives this explanation: there were 6 days of Creation; the Almighty created the world only during the "daytime" hours; therefore, 6×12=72).
The number of the tribes of Israel—12—is a multiple of seventy-two; the High Priest’s breastplate held 12 stones, each inscribed with 6 letters.
The final chapter of Habakkuk’s prophecy noticeably imitates the style of David’s psalms. The chapter begins as many psalms do: “A prayer of Habakkuk on shigyonot (a musical instrument).” As in the psalms, a call to join in appears repeatedly here—Selah!
As in Tehillim, the third chapter describes the giving of the Torah and the crossing of the sea through twelve passageways whose walls were water turned to ice. In verse 13 of chapter 3, we see the repetition characteristic of the psalms: the same idea expressed twice in slightly different forms: “You went forth to save Your people, to save Your anointed one”. And further in the same verse: “You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laid it bare (from) the foundation to the neck (top)”.
Here, the “top” refers to Esau. The “top” is the head, the progenitor of the house of evildoers.
By the way, each month has its own letter. The letter of the month of Tevet is «ayin». «Ayin» is the first letter in the name Esau, symbolizing his head.
Consider this: the beginning of the month is Rosh Chodesh — the head of the month. And the beginning of the month of Tevet always falls during Hanukkah, the time when we rose up to wage war and defeated the Hellenistic army. This victory weakens Esau’s head, and with it the influence in this world of the major Christian holidays, which fall in the month of Ayin (Tevet). Our taking up arms against Western culture (Greece) at Hanukkah later gave us the strength to withstand the onslaught of Christian pressure.
Habakkuk’s prophecy contains another important point concerning the giving of the Torah.
In verse 6 of chapter 3, we read: “He stood and shook the earth, He looked—and the nations recoiled...”. This means that the nations not only refused to accept the 613 commandments offered to them, but also rejected their own seven, which included the prohibitions “Do not steal,” “Do not murder,” and “Do not covet your neighbor’s wife”... The nations did not dare to commit to such stringent obligations and recoiled. Therefore, it is held that if a non-Jew observes 7 commandments, he receives a reward as a volunteer, that is, someone who is not obligated (a volunteer receives a smaller reward and generally works without pay), whereas when he fails to observe them, he is punished as though he were obligated.
We know that Moses passed on 613 commandments to us. David grouped them and condensed them to 11, the prophet Micah to three, and Habakkuk to one fundamental principle:
“He whose soul is wicked has grown weak, but the righteous man shall live by his faith” (chapter 2, verse 4).
To conclude our discussion of Habakkuk, let us add the following. Were it not for his prayer, the Jewish Sages in galut (exile) would have lived in terrible poverty (and spiritual impoverishment)—their circumstances would have been so pitiable that two would have covered themselves with a single tallit.
This is what is written in the prophet’s book (chapter 3, verses 1-2): "A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on shigyonot. O L-rd! I have heard Your report and was afraid; O L-rd, revive Your work in the years ahead, make it known in the years ahead; in anger, remember mercy!"
The Hebrew word for years is shanim, while shnayim means two. These words are spelled identically but pronounced slightly differently. If we substitute the second meaning in the verse, it follows that only two sages can subsist together; G-d gave each of them life, but the economic means for only one. And the prophet begs the Almighty to remember mercy.
King David also addressed a similar prayer to the Almighty. He begged the Creator that the Jews during exile should not end up at the lowest economic level (should not become garbage collectors or unskilled laborers, or find themselves among the dregs of society). According to tradition, it is thanks to David that we are nevertheless reasonably well provided for...
to be continued