Rabbi Natasha Mann

I once - and only once - went on a five-day silent meditation retreat. As I'm sure you can imagine, I wasn't very good at it. But the strangest memory I have of that retreat was leaving - leaving was unexpectedly overwhelming. There was noise everywhere. People were chattering aimlessly, just pouring out words without any sense of filter or care. And people were just going about everyday life, as if everyday life was not completely absurd.  That first day of being back in life is similar to how I often feel in the first days of Sukkot, and it is especially true of this year, in which things have been just so serious for so long. Sukkot begins just a scant few days after the closing of Yom Kippur, and they are in some ways polar opposites as holy days. Yom Kippur demands that we confront some of the most difficult aspects of life, such as mortality and the inevitability of failure - things that we have been confronting this year in a completely different way. And then Sukkot com

Background of Malachi Time:  Persian Period (Post-Exile) Place: Yehud Kings:  None. Ruled by High Priest (Joshua) + Governor (Zerubavel) Political Backdrop: ·        Just a little later than Zechariah and Haggai: the Temple has been rebuilt! ·        We’re back from exile! Step 1: Assyrians are the Big Bad: Northern Kingdom falls (722BCE) Step 2: Babylonians take over as the Big Bad: Southern Kingdom goes into exile (586BCE)             Exile period… 539BCE: Neo-Babylonian Empire falls to Cyrus the Great (Perisan Empire) Step 3: The Persian Empire sends us home! (538BCE) Primary Themes of Malachi: ·        The generation of the Second Temple are just as bad as their ancestors! o    The exile didn’t change anything… ·        Set up a series of disputes between Israel and God ·        God feels the people have abandoned proper religious practice; the people feel that God is not just and that there is no benefit to serving God.

Background of Zechariah Time:  Persian Period (Post-Exile): 520BCE Place: Yehud Kings:  None. Ruled by High Priest (Joshua) + Governor (Zerubavel) Political Backdrop: ·        Same timing/backdrop as Haggai ·        We’re back from exile! Step 1: Assyrians are the Big Bad: Northern Kingdom falls (722BCE) Step 2: Babylonians take over as the Big Bad: Southern Kingdom goes into exile (586BCE)             Exile period… 539BCE: Neo-Babylonian Empire falls to Cyrus the Great (Perisan Empire) Step 3: The Persian Empire sends us home! (538BCE) Primary Themes of Zechariah: ·        The necessity to rebuild the Temple – and to do better than the previous generations so that it won’t be destroyed again ·        Strong messianic themes ·        Israel’s sin = injustice, bad religious leadership (especially from false prophets) ·        Elements of apocalyptic literature o    Angelic guide o    Messianic imagery – eschatology? o    L