Yechezkal, Perakim 13-18
1) Perek Summaries
Perek 13: Yechezkal prophesises against false prophecy and how the false prophets’ messages of consolation will crumble
Perek 14: HaShem berates false repentance, with specific reference to the people who came to Yechezkal as ‘leaders of the people.’ There’s a warning that even the merits of the righteous will not prevent the destruction incumbent upon the people. The righteous’ merits will save themselves, but nobody else.
Perek 15: HaShem refers to the people of Israel (Jerusalem) via a parable of a vine, with specific reference to the deserved destruction that will be served upon Jerusalem.
Perek 16: More references to Jerusalem in veiled parables; as a baby, and the conveying of idolatry as adultery. HaShem attacks the fact that the people have strayed after the practices of all the other nations; and those nations will then be the conduit for the Land’s destruction. But the perek ends on a positive note; of a reestablishment of HaShem’s covenant with us.
Perek 17: The parable of the eagles and the vine, which refers to the bad leader that the people have had (Zedakiah), and his false reliance upon Nebuchadnezzar. HaShem will give us a new leader in his place (Zerubavel), and he will be the one to lead us back to the Land of Israel.
Perek 18: An interesting tale of a generation; the rebellious grandfather and son, whilst the grandson is righteous. A recounting of the ‘rules of spiritual accounting;’ that repentance will bring about the removal of past sins, and the converse (regretting one’s mitzvos) can cause those mitzvos to be wiped out. HaShem desires the repentance of a sinner, not his destruction.
2) Dvar Torah (very short this week)
It seems that most talking points this week are found in perek 18. It’s worth noting that the gemarra (Yoma) distinguishes between two types of repentance with regards to their capabilities to undo past sins. Teshuva done out of fear wipes away sins, whilst teshuva done from love of HaShem has a greater power; it actually converts all the past sins into merits. The difference is explained by Rav Aryeh Kaplan (Handbook of Jewish Thought volume 2 15:29-30). When one repents out of fear, he wishes that he had never committed anything wrong (he is repenting because he fears the punishments, and thus wants to avoid the punishments). And indeed, what is achieved is the removal of those sins; the sins become downgraded to unintentional sins – and further atonement is actually required. But repentace out of love means that the person not only regrets having done bad; he also wishes that he had used that time and effort to positively achieve mitzvos. Thus, he sees his sins counted as if he had really done good.
