Hashmonaim

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1. The First Dream

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   According to the conventional interpretation by the Sages, the Four Kingdoms refer to Babylon, Persia/Medes, Greece, and Rome. Later interpretations extend Rome into Christianity, while others combine Rome with Greece, allowing the fourth kingdom to be Yishma’el - Islam. These interpretations assume that the prophecy ends with a Jewish kingdom in the end of the days and therefore must span throughout human history. An alternative interpretation suggests that the four kingdoms are Babylon, Persia/Medes, Alexander the Great, and the Diadochi kingdom which comprises the Ptolemy and the Selucids, and the dream extends itself to the kingdom of the Hashmona’im. Many prophecies deviate from their initial intentions due to man’s deviation from God’s path, and are destined to be fulfilled in the future.

2. The He-Goat

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   In contrast with the beasts of prey seen in Daniel’s previous dream, Daniel sees a ram and a he-goat. In contrast with the previous dream, the nations represented by the animals are mentioned explicitly: the ram represents Persia, which possesses great forces and quantities of weapons, and the he-goat represents Macedonia-Greece which possesses speed and flexibility to adapt itself to any situation. Daniel sees that 2300 years is the time of the final redemption, and various interpretations exists as to when that time will arrive. An alternative interpretation suggests that the number 2300 corresponds with the number of daily offerings which were not sacrificed during the Greek occupation of the Beit HaMikdash until the successful rebellion of the Hashmonaim.

3. Obscure Reveries

   Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky

   Anyone who steals the Temple’s materials or otherwise defiles the holy house will be cursed. All this refers to the Jews’ enemies, who seek to stifle the Jews’ attempts to build the Temple by way of theft and any other means possible. Their end, hints the prophecy, will be that of curse and failure.

   The appointment of multiple leaders without a clear hierarchy is generally a recipe for disaster. The prophecy predicts that despite the potential for tension, Yehoshua and Zerubavel will cooperate peaceably. The Hasmoneans acted contrary to the spirit of this prophecy.

   Zekharia transitions to an uplifting messianic vision depicting the old and young flourishing in the streets of Jerusalem. He concludes, all the fasts associated with the destruction of the Mikdash will be transformed into joyous occasions.

   Whereas at the beginning of the sefer the prophet presents repentance as a necessary precondition for the Jews to receive Divine reward, by the end of the eighth chapter, the two appear to have been disentangled from one another. Certainly the Jews are required be righteous. Still, the simple reading of our chapter indicates that the salvation will be forthcoming whether or not the Jews follow God’s word.