Chapter 5 of Nechemya opens an entirely new chapter of events. Until now, we have dealt with external enemies - Sanbalat, Tuviyah, and their companions; from here on, Nechemya is called upon to address a rupture from within: the cry of the poor against the wealthy. In the very midst of the intense labor of rebuilding the wall, a great outcry erupts, and Nechemya is forced to confront not only the surrounding nations, but also the nobles and leaders of his own people.
וַתְּהִי צַעֲקַת הָעָם וּנְשֵׁיהֶם גְּדוֹלָה אֶל־אֲחֵיהֶם הַיְּהוּדִים׃ - And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren.
The outcry of the poorest of the people was immense, and it was directed against the wealthy. In truth, there were two groups of complainers: one group that cried out regarding the future - and within this group, the complaints were divided into two categories, as we will see in the following verses - and a second group that raised an entirely different grievance.
וְיֵשׁ אֲשֶׁר אֹמְרִים בָּנֵינוּ וּבְנֹתֵינוּ אֲנַחְנוּ רַבִּים וְנִקְחָה דָגָן וְנֹאכְלָה וְנִחְיֶה׃ - And there were those who said: 'Our sons and our daughters we borrow upon with interest, so that we may obtain grain, and eat, and live.'
There were those who came and argued: We are forced to pledge our sons and daughters as collateral to borrow with interest on them, so that we can obtain grain and survive. These were people who owned no fields; they had no means of sustaining themselves and needed a loan simply to survive. But how can one secure a loan without collateral? Even today, no bank will grant a mortgage without collateral. Thus, they had to provide collateral, and what was that collateral? Their sons and daughters. "Anachnu rabim" means borrowing with interest (ribbit), as in the phrase "and did not increase their prices [velo ribita bimchireihem]," similar to "Do not take from him bite [neshech] or interest [tarbit]," and as in the rabbinic term "ha-marbeh" - meaning one who takes interest.
וְיֵשׁ אֲשֶׁר אֹמְרִים שְׂדֹתֵינוּ וּכְרָמֵינוּ וּבָתֵּינוּ אֲנַחְנוּ עֹרְבִים וְנִקְחָה דָגָן בָּרָעָב׃ - And there were those who said: 'Our fields, our vineyards, and our homes we are mortgaging, so that we may obtain grain in the famine.'
These people did own fields and vineyards, and they were saying: While we do not have to surrender our sons and daughters as collateral, we are "orvim" - pledging, mortgaging - our fields and vineyards to obtain grain. At first glance, this is puzzling: if you have a field, sow it and produce food from it; why must you mortgage it? To this they responded: The land has not yielded its produce. The past year was a drought year, and we have no way of deriving sustenance from the field. A famine is underway, and I must eat - therefore, I am forced to borrow, and for the loan they demand collateral, and that collateral is the field.
Notice the precise wording: here they do not say "anachnu rabim" - that is, they do not mention interest - because here they are not paying outright interest. The lender consumes the field's produce, which serves as his compensation for waiting for his money. While this is also classified under the prohibition of interest, it does not "consume" the borrower like actual interest. In conventional interest - where you lent me a thousand and I must repay one thousand one hundred - it eats away at me; it is neshech (a bite), taking a chunk out of my assets. Here, by contrast, you gave me a thousand and I repay you a thousand, but in the meantime, you enjoy the fruits of the field. This is not biblical interest (ribbit d'Oraita), even though it involves rabbinic interest (ribbit d'Rabbanan). Therefore, their complaint was not about the interest itself, but about the dire reality that they had nothing to eat and were forced to mortgage their fields.
וְיֵשׁ אֲשֶׁר אֹמְרִים לָוִינוּ כֶסֶף לְמִדַּת הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׂדֹתֵינוּ וּכְרָמֵינוּ׃ - "And there were some who said, 'We have borrowed money for the king's tax upon our fields and our vineyards.'"
Here the text is discussing the second group. These people cried out and argued: We borrowed money already last year, even before the famine. Why? Because we were compelled to pay the "king's tax." We learned that the royal taxes were called "minda, velo, vahalach" - these are the three categories of taxes. They said: We had to pay the royal taxes, and for this purpose, we pledged our fields and vineyards as collateral already last year. Where was I supposed to get money to pay the king? I mortgaged the field, borrowed money, and paid - and now I am left without my field.
וְעַתָּה כִּבְשַׂר אַחֵינוּ בְּשָׂרֵנוּ כִּבְנֵיהֶם בָּנֵינוּ וְהִנֵּה אֲנַחְנוּ כֹבְשִׁים אֶת־בָּנֵינוּ וְאֶת־בְּנֹתֵינוּ לַעֲבָדִים וְיֵשׁ מִבְּנֹתֵינוּ נִכְבָּשׁוֹת וְאֵין לְאֵל יָדֵנוּ וּשְׂדֹתֵינוּ וּכְרָמֵינוּ לַאֲחֵרִים׃ - "Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children; and lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are already subjugated, neither is it in our power to redeem them, for our fields and our vineyards belong to others."
Now we need to buy bread in a year of famine, and we have nothing to eat. And they argue: "Our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers" - is it only you, the wealthy, who are supposed to eat? Are we not made of flesh? We, too, deserve to eat bread. "Our children as their children" - just as they want their children to be free people, so do we want our children to be free, and we do not want them to be subjugated as slaves. And what happens in practice? "And lo, we bring into bondage our sons" - we are forced to sell our sons as slaves, because we have nothing else to give. The fields? I have already mortgaged them for the king's tax. What do I have left to give for our sustenance? Our children.
And beyond that, "and some of our daughters are already subjugated" - for they have already taken them as maidservants. The term "subjugated" (nikbashot) also indicates that they treated them licentiously, as in the verse, "Will he even force (lichbosh) the queen before me in the house?" "Neither is it in our power" - we do not have the means to redeem them. And the reason: "For our fields and our vineyards belong to others" - our fields and vineyards have been in the hands of others since last year, from that loan we took for the king's tax. And now, in a drought year, I have no way to eat unless I subjugate my children into servitude. Over this they come and cry out before Nechemya.
וַיִּחַר לִי מְאֹד כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת־זַעֲקָתָם וְאֵת הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה׃ - "And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words."
"Their cry" refers to the outcry of the poor from the first group, who complained that they had nothing to eat and no charity. "And these words" refers to the outcry of the second group, who contended that they were being oppressed and that their sons and daughters were being taken from them.
וַיִּמָּלֵךְ לִבִּי עָלַי וָאָרִיבָה אֶת־הַחֹרִים וְאֶת־הַסְּגָנִים וָאֹמְרָה לָהֶם מַשָּׂא אִישׁ־בְּאָחִיו אַתֶּם נֹשִׁים וָאֶתֵּן עֲלֵיהֶם קְהִלָּה גְדוֹלָה׃ - "And my heart ruled over me, and I contended with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them: 'You exact usury, each man from his brother.' And I held a great assembly against them."
What is the meaning of "vayimalech libi alai"? Rashi explains it according to the familiar sense of taking counsel - I deliberated and considered doing so, and my heart advised me, meaning I consulted with myself. The Malbim, however, explains that "vayimalech" is an expression of royalty: my heart donned a spirit of sovereignty and rulership. After all, this was a complaint against the nobles and the rulers, against prominent and powerful people, whom no leader is naturally eager to confront. Nechemya says: When I saw the magnitude of the distress, my heart was filled with a royal resolve not to show them favoritism.
The Malbim offers an additional explanation: "Vayimalech" denotes power and self-mastery. When I heard these things, I was so incensed that I considered acting purely out of anger and wrath over this terrible injustice. But then "my heart ruled over me" - a king is a ruler, and I governed my spirit. I controlled my impulse and said to myself: I will not lash out in momentary rage and anger, but rather handle this with wisdom, justice, and integrity.
And what did I say to them? "You are exacting interest, each man from his brother" - how can you act as exacting creditors against one another? For it is written: "If you lend money to My people... you shall not act toward him as a creditor, nor shall you lay interest upon him" (Shemot 22:24), and it is written: "He shall not exact it of his brother" (Devarim 15:2). He reminds them that the Torah strictly forbids this. And so that his words would make a deeper impression and carry greater weight - "And I set a great assembly against them"; I gathered a large crowd against them, effectively staging a public demonstration outside their doors, so that the message would take full effect.
וָאֹמְרָה לָהֶם אֲנַחְנוּ קָנִינוּ אֶת־אַחֵינוּ הַיְּהוּדִים הַנִּמְכָּרִים לַגּוֹיִם כְּדֵי בָנוּ וְגַם־אַתֶּם תִּמְכְּרוּ אֶת־אֲחֵיכֶם וְנִמְכְּרוּ־לָנוּ וַיַּחֲרִישׁוּ וְלֹא מָצְאוּ דָּבָר׃ - And I said to them, "We have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations, as much as was in our power; and will you now sell your brothers, that they should be sold to us?" Then they remained silent and found nothing to answer.
Nechemya confronted them with a powerful argument: Our Jewish brethren were captives in the hands of the nations, and we redeemed them, fulfilling the mitzvah of redeeming captives. "According to our ability" - there are enough people among us whom we ransomed from slavery with our own resources. How can you now turn around and cause your brothers to be sold to the nations, forcing us to go and redeem them all over again, so that they are sold back to us? We redeemed them, and you sell them off, placing this heavy burden right back upon us? Indeed, "they remained silent and found nothing to say" - they had no reply.
וָאוֹמַר לֹא־טוֹב הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּם עֹשִׂים הֲלוֹא בְּיִרְאַת אֱלֹהֵינוּ תֵּלֵכוּ מֵחֶרְפַּת הַגּוֹיִם אוֹיְבֵינוּ׃ - And I said, "The thing you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?"
Nechemya tells them: Beyond the fact that this conduct violates the Torah, realize that it is also detrimental to you yourselves. Why? Even if you do not fear Hashem, and even if you do not dread standing before His judgment and paying a steep price - before the nations you certainly present yourselves as God-fearing, upright individuals. In those times, a person devoid of any awe of a higher power was thoroughly despised by the surrounding nations; they viewed him as lawless, faithless, and unprincipled, treating him as a blasphemer and heaping scorn upon him. An idolater did not care which deity you revered - whether Baal, Dagon, or Chemosh - but someone who feared nothing at all, an atheist or heretic, was viewed with utter contempt. This is what Nechemya tells them: In the eyes of the nations, you profess to live in the fear of God. Now, when the surrounding nations see you acting directly against the commandments of your own Torah and the laws of your God, you bring disgrace upon yourselves from those nations. It is like seeing a non-Jew violate the tenets of his own religion and telling him, "Aren't you ashamed? According to your own faith, this is forbidden." Even though his beliefs are false, a person who professes a faith is expected to live by it, and failing to do so brings disgrace upon him.
A story is told of the Baal Shem Tov, who was once traveling with a Gentile wagon driver. Before entering a dense forest, they reached a crossroads, where the locals had erected a cross, and passersby would customarily cross themselves. The Baal Shem Tov noticed that the driver did not do so. He asked him, "Why do you not perform what your religion requires?" The driver shrugged, "Forget it, it's all nonsense, I don't believe in anything." The Baal Shem Tov immediately said, "Let me down here." He paid the driver and stepped down from the wagon. The astonished driver asked, "You paid to go to such-and-such town, why are you getting off here in the middle of nowhere?" The Baal Shem Tov replied, "If you are a man with no faith whatsoever, it is terrifying to travel with you. We are about to enter a dark forest - how do I know you won't murder me there just to steal whatever coins I have? If you had even some religious fear, you would dread that Someone Above sees your deeds. But if you have no fear at all, what prevents you from killing a man for a few rubles? There is no higher power restraining you." This was precisely the ancient perspective among the nations: an individual with no faith and no fear of heaven was held in utter contempt. Nechemya therefore tells them: Even if you do not fear Hashem for His own sake, at least fear the disgrace in the eyes of the nations, who will see that you have no fear of God at all.
וְגַם־אֲנִי אַחַי וּנְעָרַי נֹשִׁים בָּהֶם כֶּסֶף וְדָגָן נַעַזְבָה־נָּא אֶת־הַמַּשָּׂא הַזֶּה׃ - I also, my brothers, and my servants, have lent them money and grain; please, let us abandon this exaction.
They might have argued: Nechemya, it is very nice of you to come and rebuke us, demanding that we forfeit our money. It is very easy to approach someone else and tell him to give up his money, to forgo and forgive, when debtors owe thousands of dollars. Therefore, Nechemya tells them: Do not think that I correct others before correcting myself. "I also, my brothers, and my servants, have lent them money" - they owe us money as well, yet I am asking you to do something that I myself am actively undertaking: "Please, let us abandon this debt." Let us release our claims, cancel their debts, and forgive them so that they can survive, dealing kindly with them.
הָשִׁיבוּ נָא לָהֶם כְּהַיּוֹם שְׂדֹתֵיהֶם כַּרְמֵיהֶם זֵיתֵיהֶם וּבָתֵּיהֶם וּמְאַת הַכֶּסֶף וְהַדָּגָן הַתִּירוֹשׁ וְהַיִּצְהָר אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם נֹשִׁים בָּהֶם׃ - "Please restore to them this day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, as well as the hundred pieces of silver, the grain, the new wine, and the oil that you exact from them as debt."
Since this is a famine year and these people are engaged in building the wall - becoming thereby "impoverished and hungry," with no produce from the field and no ability to work, seeing as for the past two months the entire nation has been occupied solely with rebuilding the wall - he therefore requests: Forgive their loan! Even if it is "a hundred pieces of silver," reaching a large sum of one hundred silver coins, release even that debt. And likewise, "the grain, the new wine, and the oil" - whatever they committed to pay you: some committed grain, some wine, and some oil. Whatever you are exacting from them, pressing them and demanding payment, forgive it all.
וַיֹּאמְרוּ נָשִׁיב וּמֵהֶם לֹא נְבַקֵּשׁ כֵּן נַעֲשֶׂה כַּאֲשֶׁר אַתָּה אוֹמֵר וָאֶקְרָא אֶת־הַכֹּהֲנִים וָאַשְׁבִּיעֵם לַעֲשׂוֹת כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה׃ - "And they said, 'We will restore it, and we will demand nothing from them; so will we do, as you say.' Then I called the priests and took an oath from them to act in accordance with this promise."
We see from here their righteousness: when they heard these words, they immediately said to him, "We will return the money, and we will not even demand the earlier debts; so will we do, as you say - we will return the fields to them as well." And immediately: "Then I called the kohanim and took an oath from them." Why did he need to call the kohanim and administer the oath through them? Could he not have administered the oath himself? Rather, an oath before a kohen is far more severe, as the verse says regarding the sotah, "and the kohen shall adjure the woman with an oath of a curse." In their eyes, an oath before the kohanim carried vastly greater weight and sanctity.
We also learn a major principle here: a person naturally gets inspired by something, but afterwards the wind goes out of his sails and he fails to carry out what he said, promised, and took upon himself. As the saying goes, one must strike while the iron is hot; if you strike after it cools, it achieves nothing. Nechemiah knew: if I leave this resolution hanging in the air, tomorrow morning one will say that he cannot do it, that he miscalculated, and that he owes money to others as well; another will say that he has problems - and nothing will come of it. But if I bind them on the spot with a solemn oath that cannot be retracted - and in those generations people had tremendous fear and awe of oaths - the commitment will hold firm. Therefore, he called the kohanim and administered the oath, ensuring that this momentary awakening would endure over time.
גַּם־חָצְנִי נָעַרְתִּי וָאֹמְרָה כָּכָה יְנַעֵר הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת־כָּל־הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יָקִים אֶת־הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה מִבֵּיתוֹ וּמִיגִיעוֹ וְכָכָה יִהְיֶה נָעוּר וָרֵק וַיֹּאמְרוּ כָל־הַקָּהָל אָמֵן וַיְהַלְלוּ אֶת־יְהוָה וַיַּעַשׂ הָעָם כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה׃ - "I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, 'So may God shake out every man from his house and from his toil who will not uphold this promise, and so may he be shaken out and emptied.' And the entire congregation said, 'Amen,' and praised the Lord; and the people did in accordance with this promise."
What is a chotzen? It is the corner of the garment, where the pocket was located. Similarly, "and they shall bring your sons in their lap (chotzen)" - metaphorically, carrying your sons like someone carrying gold and silver in his pocket. Nechemiah says: I shook out the fold of my garment and told them, "So may God shake out every man from his house and from his toil who will not uphold this promise." If you do not fulfill it, Hashem will shake you out of your house, and shake you out of the toil of your hands - that is, from your field - and destroy his house and all his toil. And just as the pocket remains shaken out and empty once I empty its contents, so too will this person remain completely stripped forever - "and so may he be shaken out and emptied." Lest one think, "Fine, He will shake me out, but I will recover and rebuild," Nechemiah therefore states: No! Whoever acts this way and breaks his oath, continuing to exact debts from these helpless, destitute people, will remain destitute forever, and even by natural means will never be able to rebuild himself again.
"And they praised the Lord, and the people did in accordance with this promise" - this comes to tell you that they did so with joy. The Ari z"l told his disciple the Maharḥu, Rabbi Chaim Vital: Know that the primary reward in the World to Come is for the joy in the mitzvot - even more than for the performance of the mitzvah itself. This is what is meant by the verse, "Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, out of an abundance of everything" - you served Him, but not with joy. This is precisely what Scripture conveys here: when they fulfilled this mitzvah, they did not do so because Nechemiah held a gun to their heads and left them no choice, carrying out his instructions begrudgingly and with heartache. Rather, they did so with joy, like one who performs a mitzvah and rejoices in it. Here, they fulfilled the mitzvah of charity and the mitzvah of returning a pledge - and so they rejoiced immensely in this mitzvah and praised Hashem.
גַּם מִיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה אוֹתִי לִהְיוֹת פֶּחָם בְּאֶרֶץ יְהוּדָה מִשְּׁנַת עֶשְׂרִים וְעַד שְׁנַת שְׁלֹשִׁים וּשְׁתַּיִם לְאַרְתַּחְשַׁסְתְּא הַמֶּלֶךְ שָׁנִים שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה אֲנִי וְאַחַי לֶחֶם הַפֶּחָה לֹא אָכַלְתִּי׃ - Moreover, from the day that he appointed me to be their governor in the land of Yehudah, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artachshasta, twelve years, I and my brothers did not eat the governor's bread.
Now Nechemya recounts about himself: not only was I careful to benefit the poor, but I also did not place a burden on the rich. Even from those of means, I did not make excessive demands. "Pechem" - meaning their governor (pechah). And from the time Hashem appointed me to be their governor, I was ostensibly entitled to "the governor's bread" - taxes from the people to sustain the ruler, just as a king receives taxes from the people. Yet Nechemya says: for twelve years I did not demand this, and I did not eat the governor's bread.
And because I did not burden the wealthy either, they knew my intentions were purely for the sake of Heaven. When someone is constantly coming and saying, "give here, pay there, bring money for this," people eventually tell him, "Enough, you always have financial demands." But when people know that a person has never demanded or asked for anything, and has not even claimed what was rightfully his, and when he finally does make a request, it is entirely on behalf of others - this makes a genuine impression, showing that he truly feels their pain. Therefore, Nechemya says: this was why the wealthy accepted my words, because they knew I did not burden them even with what was rightfully mine.
וְהַפַּחוֹת הָרִאשֹׁנִים אֲשֶׁר־לְפָנַי הִכְבִּידוּ עַל־הָעָם וַיִּקְחוּ מֵהֶם בְּלֶחֶם וָיַיִן אַחַר כֶּסֶף־שְׁקָלִים אַרְבָּעִים גַּם נַעֲרֵיהֶם שָׁלְטוּ עַל־הָעָם וַאֲנִי לֹא־עָשִׂיתִי כֵן מִפְּנֵי יִרְאַת אֱלֹהִים׃ - But the former governors who were before me laid burdens upon the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants ruled over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.
Do not think I refrained from doing this because it was unusual. Know that it was standard practice: the former governors who preceded me laid a heavy tax burden upon the people, taking from them bread and wine, "besides forty shekels of silver." According to Rashi, this means they would take forty silver shekels from them each year, and afterward would still take bread and wine as well - this is the meaning of "acher" (afterwards/besides). The Malbim explains differently: "acher" refers to someone else - there was another governor who was not satisfied with bread and wine alone, but demanded forty silver shekels as a tax. The Malbim also cites the second explanation, following Rashi, that after taking the money they still demanded bread and wine. "Even their servants ruled over the people" - but I did not do so, out of fear of God.
וְגַם בִּמְלֶאכֶת הַחוֹמָה הַזֹּאת הֶחֱזַקְתִּי וְשָׂדֶה לֹא קָנִינוּ וְכָל־נְעָרַי קְבוּצִים שָׁם עַל־הַמְּלָאכָה׃ - I also continued in the work of this wall, nor did we buy any land; and all my servants were gathered there for the work.
Lest you think that I did not collect taxes from the wealthy because I had more than enough of my own, he comes and says: see that I had no income at all. For what did I do during that period? I did not work anywhere else; rather, "I also continued in the work of this wall" - I engaged in rebuilding the wall. "Nor did we buy any land" - I did not purchase any fields there to cultivate, and even had I bought any, I would have had no one to work them, since "all my servants were gathered there for the work" - I enlisted my workers, attendants, and household members to build the wall, so who could have worked the fields even if I had them? Rashi explains "hechezakti" in the opposite sense: that I ceased doing business regularly. But according to the Malbim, as we explained, it means that I persevered and held fast to the work of the wall.
Regarding waiving what one is entitled to from the community, a story is told of a rabbi who was appointed to lead his town. The custom was to provide the rabbi with a salary, and it was also customary to give him a pound of meat every Friday. That rabbi was a tremendous Torah scholar as well as a wealthy man, so he told the community that he did not require a salary from them, as he had his own means - but he would not waive the meat. They came and asked him: if the Rabbi is waiving his salary, why not waive the meat as well? He answered them: I am concerned about causing a loss to others (chav le'achrinei). After my days, a new rabbi will arrive here. The fact that the previous rabbi did not take a salary will never lead anyone to think the new rabbi shouldn't receive one - nobody makes an appointment without a salary, and they will certainly give him a salary. But I am very worried that the Friday meat will be completely forgotten, and no one will remember such a custom ever existed. In that case, while I can forgo it because I do not need it, the person who comes after me will be entitled to it, and because of me the custom would lapse and future rabbis would be deprived. Therefore, I insist on taking it - not for my own sake, since just as I have no need for money I have no need for the meat, but rather so that in the future, when a new rabbi arrives, people will remember that the townspeople are expected to provide this for the rabbi as well.
וְהַיְּהוּדִים וְהַסְּגָנִים מֵאָה וַחֲמִשִּׁים אִישׁ וְהַבָּאִים אֵלֵינוּ מִן־הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר־סְבִיבֹתֵינוּ עַל־שֻׁלְחָנִי׃ - And the Jews and the prefects, a hundred and fifty men, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations, were at my table.
He comes and says: Know that there were many people with me - one hundred and fifty men among the Jews and the officials, and besides them, those who came to us from the nations around us, and all of them ate at my table.
וַאֲשֶׁר הָיָה נַעֲשֶׂה לְיוֹם אֶחָד שׁוֹר אֶחָד צֹאן שֵׁשׁ־בְּרֻרוֹת וְצִפֳּרִים נַעֲשׂוּ־לִי וּבֵין עֲשֶׂרֶת יָמִים בְּכָל־יַיִן לְהַרְבֵּה וְעִם־זֶה לֶחֶם הַפֶּחָה לֹא בִקַּשְׁתִּי כִּי־כָבְדָה הָעֲבֹדָה עַל־הָעָם הַזֶּה׃ - Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; birds were also prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all sorts of wine; yet with all this, I did not demand the governor's food allowance, because the servitude was heavy upon this people.
Know, Nechemya says, that this was a tremendous expense. Many people ate at my table and I had to provide for them: every single day, an ox was slaughtered, along with six choice sheep and also birds. And what does it mean by "and once every ten days an abundance of all sorts of wine"? The Malbim explains that Nechemya would fast on every tenth day and drink no wine, so that everything described as "an abundance of all sorts of wine" applied only "between the ten days" - meaning, during the nine days between those fast days. In their time, people did not drink soda; they drank wine, as that was their staple drink, and I provided for that as well. Yet despite all this enormous expense - "I did not demand the governor's food allowance," I did not ask the people to support me, "because the servitude was heavy upon this people." I saw that the burden was exceedingly heavy on them, their expenses were high, and they lived in deep poverty. I thought: How could I burden the people with carrying my load when they can barely manage their own?
Rashi explains "and between ten days an abundance of all sorts of wine" in a different way: every single day they would drink a vast amount of wine, the equivalent of a ten-day supply. That is, the people who were there and needed to be served would consume ten days' worth of drinks. We see this in real life as well: a person who drinks one bottle of beer at home might finish three bottles when he is a guest or at a celebration. The same applied here - the people seated at my table would consume in a single day the amount intended for ten days.
זָכְרָה־לִּי אֱלֹהַי לְטוֹבָה כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־עָשִׂיתִי עַל־הָעָם הַזֶּה׃ - Remember it for me, my God, for good, all that I have done for this people.
With this he concludes: Master of the Universe, I have mentioned here the merit of caring for the poor, and I have mentioned the merit of not taking my upkeep from the wealthy - remember this for me for good. And what is meant by "for this people"? According to the plain meaning, remember for me the good deeds I performed for this people. But the Malbim explains: Remember the good deeds not for my own sake. Whom does the merit of the righteous protect? It protects the nation. Therefore, "Remember it for me, my God, for good" means let this merit protect this people. I am not asking that my merit protect me, but that it protect them - that is what I am asking.
The Gemara in Masechet Sanhedrin (93b) asks: Why was the book not named after him? For as we know, the Book of Ezra was written - Ezra wrote his book, and some say Nechemya completed it. Why then was the book not named after him? We already discussed this at the start of our study: among the ancients, there was no separate "Book of Nechemya" at all, only "Ezra." Anyone who examines Rashi will see that Rashi never mentions Sefer Nechemya; rather, he cites verses from Nechemya and notes, "and so it is in Ezra." This shows that originally it was one unified book called Ezra, and only in a later era was it divided into two - Ezra and Nechemya. And the Gemara addresses that reality: Why was Nechemya's portion not named after him, but after Ezra?
Rabbi Yirmiyah bar Abba answered: Because he took credit for himself, as it is stated, "Remember it for me, my God, for good." A person is not permitted to take credit for himself, nor to say: Master of the Universe, I am owed something, I have merits. And what merits, and what are you owed? Rav Yisrael Salanter remarks: If one were to take all the greatest mitzvot a person performed in his entire lifetime, it would all barely compensate for the sheer fact that he breathed, lived, and ate in this world. Everything you fulfilled is scarcely enough to pay for that. And you still think you are owed a reward? You were granted life - is that not worth a fortune? Is it not worth millions? You were granted health - is that not valuable? With everything you do in this world, it is doubtful whether you could ever repay the Creator of the Universe for what He has given you in this world, and yet you still claim that something is coming to you? Therefore, when Nechemya said, "Remember it for me, my God, for good" - implying: Master of the Universe, remember, I am in the black with You, I have a surplus of credit - it was held against him.
The Gemara then challenges this: Did not David also express himself this way, when he said in Tehillim, "Remember me, Hashem, when You show favor to Your people; recall me with Your salvation" - he too asked that Hashem remember him! The Gemara resolves this: David was pleading for mercy. David asked for Hashem's mercy: Remember me - not my merits, but me - and have compassion on me. Thus, Nechemya's phrase, "Remember it for me, my God, for good," worked to his detriment, so that his book was not called by his name.
Rav Yosef said: Nechemya had another shortcoming - because he spoke disparagingly of his predecessors. For so we find: "The former governors who were before me laid burdens upon the people, and took of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver." If you wished to state that you did a good deed, simply say: "I did a good deed." Why must you say that they were terribly wicked and I am righteous? Incidentally, it is implied from here that the predecessors mentioned here were from Israel, and not the gentile governors from beyond the river. It thus emerges according to the Gemara that these two things caused Nechemya's book not to be called by his name.
It appears likely that this penalty was set for a limited duration. Therefore, once that period passed, we see that in a later era - and indeed for centuries already - people returned to calling the book Sefer Nechemya, as the decree had apparently run its course and lapsed.
In Chapter 5, we encounter Nechemya not only as a builder of walls, but as a leader who bears the pain of the people. Two factions cry out - those who have no land and were forced to pledge their children into servitude, and those who mortgaged their fields to pay the king's tax - and Nechemya masters his emotions, conducting himself with royal poise and wisdom. He rebukes the nobles and rulers from the Torah, prefacing his entire admonition with his own personal concession: "I also, my brothers and my servants, lend to them." He convenes a great assembly, invokes the reproach of the nations, and seals the agreement with an oath before the kohanim and the curse of being "shaken out and emptied," ensuring the momentum would not fade - striking while the iron was hot. The people fulfilled this with joy, "and praised Hashem," for the primary reward is granted for joy in performing a mitzvah. Finally, Nechemya recounts his own merit: for twelve years he did not eat the governor's bread, did not purchase land, and sustained one hundred and fifty men at his table out of his own pocket - and his sole plea was, "Remember me, my God, for good," which according to the Malbim was solely that his merit might shield the people. Yet even so, Chazal taught us how delicate the matter is, for taking credit for oneself and speaking disparagingly of predecessors were enough to prevent the book from bearing his name.