12/08/2024
More From The Golan
An ancient synagogue in the Golan*, The Book of Daniel and Tisha B'Av* During War*.
You're probably thinking that my reference to the Book of Daniel in connection to Tisha B'Av is a mistake and that I meant Megillat Eichah (Book of Lamentations).
Read through and you'll see that it was intentional and that's what keeps things interesting!
The video:
Off to the side of the road in the Golan, fenced off to keep the cows in and the people out are the barely visible remains of the once magnificent ancient synagogue of Ein Nashut (4th-7th centuries C.E.)
The image with red and white arrows:
A basalt stone found in a Syrian village nearby is thought to have been looted from the ark complex of the Ein Nashut synagogue.
The engravings depict the story of Daniel In The Lion's Den. There is a figure in the middle holding up both of his hands in defense from or dominance over (red arrows) the faces of lions (white arrows).
-On display at the Golan Antiquities Museum in Katzrin.
Thank you Asher Smith for your time at the museum.
Image of the lion head above the depiction of Daniel:
A fuller image of the basalt stone from the arm complex.
Our Story:
In the book of Daniel Chapter 6 Darius, King of Mede (Persia) appoints a hierarchy of officials and ministers to oversee his vast kingdom. 120 officials report to 3 ministers, one of who is Daniel, who report directly to the king. King Darius notices Daniel's work ethic and abilities and wants to promote him. This spurred jealousy among the other officials who instead of taking a moment for self reflection or improving their work productivity collude to discredit Daniel in the eyes of the king.
Not being able to find fault with Daniel they concoct a plan that will simultaneously bring him down a notch or two and also gain them favor with King Darius through flattery. And they do so as follows.
They approach King Darius as a united front and "out of reverence" for the king they suggest they he create an unamenable decree stating that no person or god should be worshipped above the King himself. King Darius issues the decree and the ministers lay in wait to catch Daniel in the act of praying to his G-D. When they caught him red handed, they bring the case before King Darius who seems to have no choice other than to throw Daniel into the Lion's Den as punishment only to discover in the morning that the G-D of Daniel saved him. (This is the story behind the engraving on the stone).
A king likened to a deity seemed to have been duped into sentencing a favored minister to death. The text describes how upset he was, fasted and ran to check on Daniel first thing in the morning. Couldn't this king have overruled his own decree?
Israel is in the midst of war with another front on the horizon and Jewish communities world over are suffering from heightened anti-semitism. We see a similar sentiment in the story when the officials in our story bringing charges against "Daniel the exile from Judah", which is the modern day "So and So THE JEW". Infrequently does the news report a person's name followed by his religious or ethnic affiliation.
Realizing that he had made a mistake that would cost Daniel, a loyal minister, his life, King Darius didn't set aside his ego, political ambition or personal religious views in favor of his responsibility as a leader. Daniel would have died had G-D not miraculously intervened.
I ask, how can we strengthen our leaders today to act upon their responsibilities first and foremost? Jewish tradition demands that we make our efforts and G-D will meet us halfway but we aren't meant to sit back and wait for Him to run the show. This ties to our values of free will, self reflection and constant growth in our level of humanity.
It is not overly dramatic to state that we are being attacked at every level and from every direction; physically and spiritually. We each need to explore where we hold up hands to the faces of the lions and say "You Shall Not Pass" - no more!
The last verse of chapter 6 says: "Thus Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and during the reign of Cyrus the Persian".
The verse is saying that Daniel prospered under 2 different reigns. I'd like to offer my own thought that Daniel survived the war on him during the reign of King Darius. He prospered under the reign of King Cyrus who decreed religious reforms, a revolutionary idea for the time, and allowed Daniel to lead people back to Israel and rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, whose later destruction we begin mourning tonight.
May G-D help us transition from the time of Darius to Cyrus and soon! May this be the last Tisha B'Av Fast where we feel the immensity of mourning biblical and modern day loss of life and direction.
