Introduction: The Closing Chapter of the Book
In this section of Chapter 13, Nechemya reaches the great reckoning at the close of the book. Having returned from the king, he finds that the commitments the people undertook in the covenant were breached in his absence. Here he testifies to three breaches: the desecration of Shabbat, intermarriage with foreign women, and the neglect of the Temple service order. He fights against each of these with all his might, ultimately fencing the breaches and praying before the Holy One, blessed be He, to remember his deeds for good.
The Breach of Shabbat - From the Most Severe to the Least
בַּיָּמִים הָהֵמָּה רָאִיתִי בִיהוּדָה דֹּרְכִים גִּתּוֹת בַּשַּׁבָּת וּמְבִיאִים הָעֲרֵמוֹת וְעֹמְסִים עַל הַחֲמֹרִים וְאַף יַיִן עֲנָבִים וּתְאֵנִים וְכָל מַשָּׂא וּמְבִיאִים יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת וָאָעִיד בְּיוֹם מִכְרָם צָיִד׃ - "In those days I saw in Yehudah people treading winepresses on Shabbat, bringing in heaps of grain and loading them onto donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, bringing them to Jerusalem on the day of Shabbat; and I forewarned them on the day they sold provisions."
Nechemya testifies to a terrible thing he witnessed in his time: even the observance of Shabbat, which they had pledged to uphold in the covenant, was breached during the period when he left Jerusalem. He lists these matters in descending order of severity, from the most severe to the least. First: "treading winepresses" - squeezing grapes with their feet in the winepress, and squeezing grapes is a melachah punishable by sekilah (stoning). Next: "bringing in heaps of grain and loading them onto donkeys" - violating the resting of one's animal, about which the Torah warns, "so that your ox and your donkey may rest"; this is fundamentally a less severe prohibition, not carrying the penalty of sekilah like treading the winepresses. And finally: "and I forewarned them on the day they sold provisions" - they turned Shabbat into a market day. The word tzayid is related both to tzeidah (provisions) and food, meaning to provision oneself: they transformed the day of Shabbat into a market for selling all kinds of food and provisions - opening shopping centers on Shabbat - and I admonished them regarding this.
וְהַצֹּרִים יָשְׁבוּ בָהּ מְבִיאִים דָּאג וְכָל מֶכֶר וּמוֹכְרִים בַּשַּׁבָּת לִבְנֵי יְהוּדָה וּבִירוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ - "Tyrians also dwelt there, bringing fish and all manner of merchandise, and selling it on Shabbat to the people of Yehudah, and in Jerusalem."
This market no longer involved only Jews. Gentiles from the surrounding region, Tyrians, also began to arrive, each bringing their merchandise. Why does the verse specifically mention fish? One could suggest that some people argued: after all, eating fish on Shabbat is a mitzvah. Friday was hectic and rushed, so someone goes out on Shabbat to buy fish - and he is even told this is an advantage, since the fish is fresh, having swum in the water just two hours earlier. In this manner, they violated the prohibition against commerce on Shabbat.
What Is the Prohibition of Commerce on Shabbat?
The prohibition against buying and selling is not a Torah prohibition but a Rabbinic one (d'rabbanan), derived from the verse, "[refraining] from pursuing your own affairs or speaking words" - your own affairs are forbidden, but heavenly matters are permitted. For this reason, auctions are held in the synagogue on Shabbat: mitzvot are sold, and that pertains to heavenly affairs. But discussing the sale of one's car, asking how much you want for it - even mere speech is forbidden. Nevertheless, strictly speaking, there is no Biblical violation here. A person who takes out money, enters a shop, asks for two challot, pays, and leaves has not violated any Torah prohibition: carrying the coin is only muktzeh d'rabbanan, and the act of buying and selling is not one of the thirty-nine melachot; there is no verse in the Torah stating "thou shalt not sell" or "thou shalt not buy."
Why, then, did the Sages prohibit buying and selling on Shabbat? First, because doing so secularizes the entire character of Shabbat: a person conducts all his mundane business and shopping on Shabbat, which constitutes uvdin d'chol (weekday activities) and a degradation of Shabbat. Second, because it inevitably leads to numerous Torah prohibitions. While where there is an eruv one might avoid carrying, in an area without an eruv - taking money out of the house violates carrying out (hotza'ah); entering the shop violates carrying in (hachnasah); taking out the purchased bread violates hotza'ah; entering one's home violates hachnasah. Numerous Torah prohibitions for a single item! Furthermore: if you bought fabric, the merchant cut it for you, violating the melachah of cutting (mechattech); if he told you that you owe another thirty shekels and you said "write it down," and he wrote it down, he violated writing (kotev). And so forth, with many prohibitions stumbled upon during commercial transactions. Therefore, the Sages instituted an absolute prohibition against buying and selling on Shabbat.
We find, therefore, that the order of the verse is one of descending severity: "treading winepresses" - punishable by sekilah; "loading onto donkeys" - the prohibition of mechamer (driving a laden animal); and finally buying and selling on Shabbat, which is the least severe among them, a prohibition not explicitly stated in the Torah but derived from divrei kabbalah - that is, from the words of the Prophets and the Writings.
The Dispute with the Nobles of Yehudah: The Responsibility Rests on the Leaders
וָאָרִיבָה אֵת חֹרֵי יְהוּדָה וָאֹמְרָה לָהֶם מַה הַדָּבָר הָרָע הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם עֹשִׂים וּמְחַלְּלִים אֶת יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת׃ - "Then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them: What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?"
הֲלוֹא כֹה עָשׂוּ אֲבֹתֵיכֶם וַיָּבֵא אֱלֹהֵינוּ עָלֵינוּ אֵת כָּל הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת וְעַל הָעִיר הַזֹּאת וְאַתֶּם מוֹסִיפִים חָרוֹן עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל לְחַלֵּל אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת׃ - "Did not your fathers do this, and our God brought all this evil upon us and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath!"
The "nobles of Judah" (chorei Yehudah) are the leaders and princes of Judah. Nechemya contends and disputes with them: What is this evil thing that you are doing? Did not your ancestors do just this? Indeed, Jerusalem was destroyed only because they desecrated the Sabbath within it, and our God brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city - yet you are adding further wrath to the wrath that was already upon our ancestors!
Seemingly, why did Nechemya confront the leaders specifically? Was the rest of the people acting properly? Rather, Chazal explain: when the leaders do not protest, the people end up transgressing. Had you, the leaders, protested against them, the people would not have come to sin. Therefore, for the sins of the public, the blame hangs around the necks of the leaders, as the Sages expounded on the verse: "Va'asimeim berosheichem" ("And I made them heads over you") - do not read it as va'asimeim ("and I placed them"), but rather as va'ashmam ("and their guilt") is on your heads. The guilt rests upon the leaders.
Closing the Gates Before Shabbat
וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר צָלְלוּ שַׁעֲרֵי יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם לִפְנֵי הַשַּׁבָּת וָאֹמְרָה וַיִּסָּגְרוּ הַדְּלָתוֹת וָאֹמְרָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִפְתָּחוּם עַד אַחַר הַשַּׁבָּת וּמִנְּעָרַי הֶעֱמַדְתִּי עַל הַשְּׁעָרִים לֹא יָבוֹא מַשָּׂא בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת׃ - "And it came to pass, as the shadows lengthened over the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded and the doors were shut, and I commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath; and some of my attendants I stationed at the gates, that no burden should enter on the Sabbath day."
"Tzalalu" derives from the word tzel (shadow), as Rashi explains: the evening shadows began to fall. At that very hour I commanded that the city gates be closed, leaving the city shut tight, with none going out and none coming in until the conclusion of Shabbat, so that the merchants could not enter and bring their wares into the city.
וַיָּלִינוּ הָרֹכְלִים וּמֹכְרֵי כָל מִמְכָּר מִחוּץ לִירוּשָׁלָ͏ִם פַּעַם וּשְׁתָּיִם׃ - "So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice."
Following the closure, the peddlers and merchants would lodge outside Jerusalem, hoping that perhaps someone would come and open the gate to grant them entry, or that individuals might slip out secretly to buy from them and smuggle the goods into the city. By way of homiletic wit (derech tzachut), one could interpret vayalinu from the root of complaint (telunah), suggesting that they began to grumble; however, this is not the literal meaning of the text. First, the continuation of the verses clearly proves that they lodged outside, and second, from the standpoint of the vocalization: vayallinu with a dagesh signifies complaint, whereas vayalinu without a dagesh signifies lodging.
וָאָעִידָה בָהֶם וָאֹמְרָה אֲלֵיהֶם מַדּוּעַ אַתֶּם לֵנִים נֶגֶד הַחוֹמָה אִם תִּשְׁנוּ יָד אֶשְׁלַח בָּכֶם מִן הָעֵת הַהִיא לֹא בָאוּ בַּשַּׁבָּת׃ - "Then I warned them and said to them: 'Why do you lodge opposite the wall? If you repeat this, I will lay hands on you!' From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath."
"Va'a'idah vahem" - I warned and cautioned them: Why are you lodging opposite the wall, expecting someone to come out and buy from you? "Im tishnu" does not mean if you sleep (sheinah) again, but is from the root of repetition (as in shanu veshilshu) - if you do this a second time, "I will lay hands on you," meaning I will punish you with the authority granted to me by law. And indeed, "from that time on they did not come on the Sabbath" - I succeeded in fencing in this breach as well.
The Levites as Gatekeepers
וָאֹמְרָה לַלְוִיִּם אֲשֶׁר יִהְיוּ מִטַּהֲרִים וּבָאִים שֹׁמְרִים הַשְּׁעָרִים לְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת גַּם זֹאת זָכְרָה לִּי אֱלֹהַי וְחוּסָה עָלַי כְּרֹב חַסְדֶּךָ׃ - And I told the Levi'im that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to sanctify the Shabbat day; remember this too for me, my God, and have compassion on me according to the abundance of Your kindness.
Nechemya adds here: I commanded that on Shabbat the Levi'im should guard the gates - "Upon your walls, Jerusalem, I have stationed watchmen." And why specifically Levi'im? Because they were experts in the art of guarding; their function in the Temple was as singers and gatekeepers, and the gatekeepers were the guardians of the Beit HaMikdash, keeping the holy charge. "That they should purify themselves and come" - that they immerse in a mikveh first. Why? Because this is sacred work, as you are going to protect the sanctity of Shabbat. Just as pious individuals immerse before fulfilling a mitzvah, such as before lighting the Chanukah menorah and the like, so too here: you are going to perform a great mitzvah, so immerse, purify yourselves, and come guard the gates so that no one enters after nightfall.
"According to the Abundance of Your Kindness" - The Kindness in Reward for Mitzvot
"Remember this too for me, my God" - remember this good deed as well for my merit. And what is meant by "according to the abundance of Your kindness"? The Malbim cites the words of the Metzudat David: the reward for a good deed is itself considered an act of kindness (chesed). As we say, "And to You, my Lord, is kindness, for You reward a person according to his deeds." But this seems astonishing at first glance: Hashem does me a kindness by paying me a salary at the end of the month? After all, I worked for it!
Rather, the Malbim explains: when a person serves Hashem, what does he actually give Him? Nothing. He is merely fulfilling what Hashem commanded him. After all, Hashem gave you everything: your body, your life, and even the food you ate today - did you pay Him for it? All the mitzvot you perform do not even suffice as payment for the basic maintenance of your body just so you can survive here, let alone live a good life. If so, why does Hashem pay reward at all? Because "to You, my Lord, is kindness." It is a supreme act of kindness He performs with us: beyond the fact that you are already obligated - since the body belongs to Him and everything belongs to Him, blessed be He - He says: I will also give you reward. And this reward is entirely pure kindness.
The Third Breach: Foreign Wives
גַּם בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם רָאִיתִי אֶת הַיְּהוּדִים הֹשִׁיבוּ נָשִׁים אַשְׁדֳּדִיּוֹת עַמֳּנִיּוֹת מוֹאֲבִיּוֹת׃ - In those days too, I saw Jews who had married Ashdodite, Ammonite, and Moabite women.
"In those days too" - in the third matter that they had accepted upon themselves, they also betrayed their commitment and returned to their corrupt ways. "Had married [hoshivu]" literally means settled them as wives. In Ashdod dwelt the Philistines, who also occupied Gaza and all those neighboring places; and Nechemya saw that they had taken Ashdodite, Ammonite, and Moabite wives.
וּבְנֵיהֶם חֲצִי מְדַבֵּר אַשְׁדּוֹדִית וְאֵינָם מַכִּירִים לְדַבֵּר יְהוּדִית וְכִלְשׁוֹן עַם וָעָם׃ - And half of their children spoke Ashdodite, and they were unable to speak the Jewish tongue, but according to the language of each and every nation.
This does not mean that half of the child spoke Ashdodite, but rather that each spoke broken Ashdodite - a mixed tongue, like someone speaking to you half Russian and half Hebrew in broken speech. They could speak neither pure Hebrew nor pure Ashdodite, for they spoke a corrupted blend of languages - because they came from a mixed household.
וָאָרִיב עִמָּם וָאֲקַלְלֵם וָאַכֶּה מֵהֶם אֲנָשִׁים וָאֶמְרְטֵם וָאַשְׁבִּיעֵם בֵּאלֹהִים אִם תִּתְּנוּ בְנֹתֵיכֶם לִבְנֵיהֶם וְאִם תִּשְׂאוּ מִבְּנֹתֵיהֶם לִבְנֵיכֶם וְלָכֶם׃ - And I contended with them and cursed them, and I struck men from among them and tore out their hair, and I adjured them by God: You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
I contended with them; and for whoever was not moved by argument - "and I cursed them," placing them under bans of excommunication. And for whoever even that was not enough - "and I struck men from among them and tore out their hair." Nechemya had law enforcement personnel, officers and an enforcement force, and they struck those men until they sent away the foreign wives. And I made them swear by God: that you shall not give your daughters to the sons of the foreigners, and that you shall not take from their daughters wives for your sons or for yourselves.
A Frightening Proof: King Solomon
הֲלוֹא עַל אֵלֶּה חָטָא שְׁלֹמֹה מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וּבַגּוֹיִם הָרַבִּים לֹא הָיָה מֶלֶךְ כָּמֹהוּ וְאָהוּב לֵאלֹהָיו הָיָה וַיִּתְּנֵהוּ אֱלֹהִים מֶלֶךְ עַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל גַּם אוֹתוֹ הֶחֱטִיאוּ הַנָּשִׁים הַנָּכְרִיּוֹת׃ - Did not Solomon king of Israel sin because of these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved to his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless, foreign wives caused even him to sin.
Come and see: a righteous king, a king like whom there was none, beloved to his God. His father named him Solomon (Shlomo), and the Holy One, Blessed be He, called him Yedidyah, and scripture states, "And Hashem loved him" - beloved of Hashem. Yet despite all this great affection, once he married foreign wives, it caused enormous ruin, in the wake of which he lost the monarchy: the kingdom was split and did not continue as it was, with only the dynasty of the House of David remaining.
And from here there is a great lesson in mussar. A person might say: "They will not cause me to sin; I am strong in my faith, I came with strong foundations from home." Are you more beloved and cherished by Hashem than King Solomon, the wisest of all men? He too thought, "I will take many wives and they will not turn my heart away" - and behold, they turned his heart away. And you are not a king who can say, "I am powerful and I am the one in charge." A king was unable, and you, an ordinary commoner - will you be able? He was a great sage and you are not a great sage; he was a great tzaddik and you are not a great tzaddik; yet with all his virtues, look what happened to him. So what makes you think that it will not happen to you?
וְלָכֶם הֲנִשְׁמַע לַעֲשֹׂת אֵת כָּל הָרָעָה הַגְּדוֹלָה הַזֹּאת לִמְעֹל בֵּאלֹהֵינוּ לְהֹשִׁיב נָשִׁים נָכְרִיּוֹת׃ - Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God by marrying foreign women?
Is it conceivable that you would do such a great evil, to act treacherously against our God and marry foreign women?
Sanballat's Son-in-Law
וּמִבְּנֵי יוֹיָדָע בֶּן אֶלְיָשִׁיב הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל חָתָן לְסַנְבַלַּט הַחֹרֹנִי וָאַבְרִיחֵהוּ מֵעָלָי׃ - And one of the sons of Yoyada, the son of Elyashiv the Kohen Gadol, was a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him away from me.
Now becomes clear what was introduced at the beginning of the chapter, in verse 4, that Elyashiv the kohen, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, was "allied with Toviah" - and we explained that he had a familial connection with him. Here the connection is revealed: one of the sons of Yoyada, son of Elyashiv the Kohen Gadol, was married to the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite. And when I arrived there - Nechemya says - "I drove him away from me"; I expelled that son from the city because he was unwilling to divorce his foreign wife.
And I did this for another reason as well: Sanballat the Horonite would enter Jerusalem, and when asked what he was doing there, he would answer that he had come to visit his daughter. "Am I not allowed to visit my daughter? Can you stop me?" And we had to grind our teeth. Now that I cast out the daughter, the son-in-law, and everyone from Jerusalem, he no longer has an entry permit; if Sanballat arrives, he is stopped at the gates of Jerusalem and not allowed in. For he had exploited his entry permit to spy and see what was happening in Jerusalem, scheming how to obstruct our steps and what new complaints to bring against us before Artaxerxes.
And note: he could not strike him, because he was a violent, powerful man (a gavra alima), deeply entrenched in the criminal underworld, and it was impossible to touch him physically. For earlier it was stated, "And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them" - so why did he not strike him here? Rather, he was unable to; all he could do was forcefully compel him to leave Jerusalem.
"Remember It Against Them" - Those Who Defiled the Kehunah
זָכְרָה לָהֶם אֱלֹהָי עַל גָּאֳלֵי הַכְּהֻנָּה וּבְרִית הַכְּהֻנָּה וְהַלְוִיִּם׃ - Remember them, my God, concerning the defilements of the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
Here Nechemya pleads: Master of the Universe, remember them - those individuals who were defiled and expelled from the priesthood and from the covenant of the priesthood. "Remember them" means: punish them, similar to the expression "do not wipe away their sin," meaning that their sin should not be erased, but rather You should hold against them the terrible deed they committed. They were Kohanim whom Hashem had sanctified, yet they went and married foreign women and profaned their seed, rendering their sons *chalalim* (disqualified from the priesthood) - running counter to how Hashem had sanctified and elevated them. Remember this against them and punish them for it. And *go'alei* (defilements), as Metzudat Tziyon explains, is an expression of filth and repugnance, as in "they were excluded as defiled from the priesthood" (*vayego'alu min hakehunah*).
It is important to know: the Kohen himself who married the non-Jewish woman does not become a *chalal*, and he remains valid for the priesthood - one who was born in purity does not lose his innate sanctity. However, the sons of one who marries a woman forbidden to the priesthood become *chalalim*, and a *chalal* has the legal status of an ordinary Yisrael. From that point on, one could erase the title "Kohen" from their identity card: the family name means nothing, and they are regarded as complete Yisraelim.
Organizing the Watches and the Wood Offering
וְטִהַרְתִּים מִכָּל נֵכָר וָאַעֲמִידָה מִשְׁמָרוֹת לַכֹּהֲנִים וְלַלְוִיִּם אִישׁ בִּמְלַאכְתּוֹ׃ - Thus I purified them from everything foreign, and I established watches for the Kohanim and for the Levites, each man in his work.
"And I purified them" - I did not content myself merely with banishment, but I purified them from all idolatry, and also from any intermingling with foreigners among them. "And I established watches for the Kohanim and for the Levites, each man in his work" - so that each one would keep his watch at his appointed time. For as we saw earlier, there was total chaos: the Levites had fled, each to his field, everyone looked after his own household, and there was no one to care for them. I stepped in and instituted an orderly routine: fixed watches, starting hours, and ending hours, so that each person knew his assigned task, which watch he served in, when he had to arrive, and when he finished.
וּלְקֻרְבַּן הָעֵצִים בְּעִתִּים מְזֻמָּנוֹת וְלַבִּכּוּרִים זָכְרָה לִּי אֱלֹהַי לְטוֹבָה׃ - And for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the first fruits; remember me, my God, for good.
Beyond this, I also organized the wood offering, to be brought by the Kohanim, the Levites, and the people at set times. And what was the need for the wood offering? These were the logs for the altar arrangement (*ma'arachah*): whenever an offering was brought, wood was required, as it is stated, "and arrange wood upon the fire" and "and arrange the burnt offering upon it." They would arrange the logs in a crisscross pattern, place the burnt offering upon them, and light a fire, alongside the heavenly fire that would descend. The altar logs had to be thoroughly inspected and checked to ensure no worms were found in them. Therefore, I appointed overseers to ensure the wood offering was brought at appointed times, and likewise for bringing the first fruits (*bikkurim*).
"Remember me, my God, for good" - for all of this I ask: Master of the Universe, all these things I did for the honor of Your Name; remember all these deeds for me for good, and let this merit stand in my favor.
In summary: At the conclusion of Sefer Nechemya, we witness a leader who flinches before no breach. He combats the desecration of Shabbat at every level, from treading winepresses, which carries the penalty of stoning, to commercial trading, which is forbidden by prophetic tradition (*Divrei Kabbalah*), and he places the responsibility squarely upon the nobles who failed to protest; he locks the gates of Jerusalem before Shabbat and stations purified Levites to guard them; he roots out marriages with foreign women and invokes King Solomon, proving that if the beloved of Hashem and the wisest of all men stumbled through them, no person can rely upon himself; he banishes the son-in-law of Sanballat and purifies the priesthood, establishing orderly watches, the wood offering, and the *bikkurim* at set times. At every stage, he concludes with a single plea: "Remember me, my God, for good" - for everything was done solely for the honor of Heaven. Completed and concluded is Sefer Nechemya, according to the commentary of the Malbim.