Rebbetzin Chava Kuperman
As we conclude our analysis of the book of the prophet Zechariah, we will consider a few more important aspects of his prophecy.
At the end of chapter 12 (from verse 11 to the end), the prophet sets out the laws of modesty.
These verses speak of mourning, sorrow, and lamentation. “...On that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning for Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon (where King Ahab was killed in battle — editor's note). And the whole land will mourn them, each family separately: the family of the house of David separately, and their wives separately; the family of the house of Nathan separately, and their wives separately; the family of the house of Levi separately, and their wives separately; the family of Shimei separately, and their wives separately; all the remaining families — each family separately, and their wives separately”.
In other words, even in sorrow, when the very circumstances of mourning lessen people's inclination to sin, men and women must be separated from one another. All the more so must this be observed in everyday life and on holidays, when passions run high.
Incidentally, a question arises: what will this mourning throughout the land be for?
The passage quoted above is preceded by a verse (chapter 12, verse 10) that would seem to answer this question. Its interpretation, however, is disputed. Who and what is being discussed here?
“...And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look upon Me; and they will mourn the one whom they pierced, as one mourns an only son, and weep bitterly for him, as one weeps bitterly for a firstborn”.
The oral tradition offers two interpretations. According to one opinion, two different things are being discussed here.
One of them is mourning the death of Mashiach ben Yosef.
Let us recall that the first of the Jewish kings to die in war was Saul. After Saul, two more kings would be killed in war — Ahab and Josiah. King Ahab was killed by a man named Hadadrimmon, son of Tabrimmon (see 1 Kings, chapter 22, verse 34). King Josiah (discussed in 2 Kings, chapter 23) was killed by the Egyptian king Pharaoh Necho in the valley of Megiddo.
The prophet foretells that Mashiach ben Yosef, too, will be killed and mourned just as Ahab and Josiah were mourned at the time of their deaths.
Let us recall that Ahab is considered the most zealous idolater of all the Jewish kings, while Josiah is considered one of the most righteous kings. He was a little boy when he ascended the throne. Having become king at the age of 8, he regarded doing what was right and righteous as his chief concern. It would seem unfair to mourn these two kings equally!
But Ahab had one outstanding quality — a willingness to sacrifice himself for the Jewish people (In his final battle, he was standing in his chariot directing the fighting when he was mortally wounded. Yet he gave no sign of it and did not order anyone to summon a doctor, so as not to lower the morale of the Jewish soldiers; he died there after losing a great deal of blood).
Since both a righteous and an unrighteous king were deemed worthy of mourning, it follows that both righteous and not entirely righteous Jews will mourn Mashiach ben Yosef.
The second opinion: in the days of Mashiach, the Almighty will destroy our evil inclination and... we will mourn it.
Who will mourn? Both sinners and the righteous. Sinners will see the evil inclination as a very fine little hair, since only a faint trace of it will remain. They will mourn for themselves because they failed to withstand such a tiny test. The righteous, however, will weep because the evil inclination will appear to them as a high mountain: “Almighty, how were we able to withstand such a terrible test?!”
And then: “...throughout the land, the word of the L-rd will be: two parts of it will be cut off and die, while a third will remain in it. And I will bring this third into the fire, and refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. It (the remnant) will call upon My name, and I will answer it, saying: It is My people! And it will say: The L-rd is my G-d!”
to be continued