English translation — שופטים א

1.

On the verse ¹

"But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, and who speaks in the name of other gods, etc.,"

the Gemara says²

: "But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name — this is one who prophesies what he did not hear,

and that I have not commanded him — but I commanded his fellow — this is one who prophesies what was not said to him,

and who speaks in the name of other gods — this is one who prophesies in the name of idolatry."

And from this one learns,

that all these three types of false prophets have "their death by human hand" — like the conclusion of the verse "and that prophet shall die" which means that their death is by human hand — death by strangulation.

Further the Gemara says³

: "One who prophesies what was not said to him — such as Chananiah ben Azur, etc."

And the Gemara explains,

that the "prophecy" that Chananiah said "Thus said the Lord, etc., I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon"⁴,

he derived it with a kal vachomer from the prophecy of Jeremiah "Thus said the Lord of Hosts: Behold I am breaking the bow of Elam"⁵.

And since he derived it from the prophecy that was said to Jeremiah,

it is like "it was said to his fellow" and has the law of "one who prophesies what was not said to him".

Says the Maharsha,

that Chananiah ben Azur was not only a "prophet of

what was not said to him",

but also a "prophet of what he did not hear".

Because in his prophecy,

he to the words "I broke the yoke of the king of Babylon" also added "within two years"⁶

— a thing that the Almighty did not say at all.

(And that which the Gemara says there "the one who prophesies what he did not hear, such as <b>Tzidki</b>yahu <b>ben</b> <b>Kenaanah</b>"

(and not Chananiah),

it is because Tzidkiyahu was <b>before</b> Chananiah).

And with this the Maharsha explains the wording of the verse "The Lord did not send you, and you caused this people to trust in a lie"&lt;sup&gt;7&lt;/sup&gt;,

that "The Lord did not send you" refers to his prophecy "I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon",

which although it was true,

nevertheless "The Lord did not send you" — "prophesying what was not said to him"; and "you caused this people to trust in a &lt;b&gt;lie&lt;/b&gt;" refers to his promise "Within two years' time etc.'",

which was a lie — "prophesying what he did not hear".

2.

According to this, the explanation of the subsequent words of the verse "&lt;b&gt;Therefore&lt;/b&gt; thus said the Lord: Behold I am sending you away etc. this year you shall die"&lt;sup&gt;8&lt;/sup&gt; is seemingly difficult.

— That "therefore" refers here to the two sins enumerated earlier: "The Lord did not send you" and "And you promised etc. falsely",

for which the punishment is death <b>by</b> <b>human</b> <b>hand</b> —

That that which Chananiah was punished with the punishment of death,

it was

and to assume that he had previously⁹

transgressed another sin for which there is death by Heaven is generally difficult to say,

because¹⁰

then it would have had to be mentioned somewhere — only]

From the aspect that he transgressed the two aforementioned sins for which there is death by man,

only since the court did not judge him

or because "many of the wicked of Israel helped him"¹¹],

his death came from above¹²,

in the manner that the Gemara¹³

says

(regarding the present time¹⁴)

that "the law of the four deaths has not been abolished."

Says however the Alter Rebbe in Tanya &lt;sup&gt;15&lt;/sup&gt;

: "And with death by the hand of heaven dies

Exactly before sixty years&lt;sup&gt;16&lt;/sup&gt;

Chananyah ben Azur the prophet in Yirmiyah'".

Is indeed not understood: from where does the Alter Rebbe take it that Chananyah ben Azur died by the punishment of death by the hand of heaven — &lt;b&gt;not&lt;/b&gt; as it appears simply,

that he was liable for death by Beit Din and died by virtue of "the law of the four death penalties"?

3.

More must be understood here:

In the same sugya it also states,

"And three, their death is by the hand of Heaven ...

one who suppresses his prophecy,

and one who disregards the words of a prophet,

and a prophet who transgressed his own words."

And the Gemara¹⁸

says "And one who disregards the words of a prophet, such as the colleagues of Michah ...

and a prophet who transgressed his own words, such as Iddo the prophet."

It is indeed not understood: Even if the old Rebbe already has a proof that Chananiah died a death by the hands of Heaven — why then does he need to bring a proof from Chananiah ben Azur

(which in plainness seems quite to indicate,

as above,

that it was a matter of "the law of four deaths")

— he could have brought a proof from the colleagues of Michah and from Iddo the prophet,

regarding whom it states <b>explicitly</b> that they were liable to death <b>by the hands of</b> <b>Heaven</b>,

and in

Tanach¹⁹

it is told how this occurred?

4.

All these difficulties the Alter Rebbe himself guards against in his wording:

When he brings the proof from Chananyah ben Azur that "by death at the hands of Heaven, he actually died"²⁰,

he does not suffice himself with writing only "like Chananyah ben Azur",

but he also adds two words "the prophet" and "from Yirmiyah".

Which this requires explanation:

In Tanach there is only one Chananyah ben Azur.

Why then does the Alter Rebbe need to add the epithet "the prophet"?

The question is even stronger: In that the verse calls Chananyah ben Azur by the name "prophet"²¹,

there are two interpretations:

a)

(a)

Because he was pre- he was a true prophet²².

(b)

With

"Prophet" means here the verse a false prophet&lt;sup&gt;23&lt;/sup&gt;.

And superficially one must say,

that with the word "the prophet" which the Alter Rebbe brings in connection to the <b>death</b> of Chananiah ben Azur,

he means

but <b>on the contrary</b>,

that which afterwards he spoke a false prophecy — rather he means]

According to this explanation that the verse designates him with the name "Chananyah &lt;b&gt;the prophet&lt;/b&gt;" because he was a false prophet.

But also according to this explanation,

it seemingly has no place,

to bring here the word "the prophet" — because according to the old Rebbe's view that Chananyah died &lt;b&gt;by the hand&lt;/b&gt; &lt;b&gt;of heaven&lt;/b&gt;,

one must seemingly say,

that he died over a &lt;b&gt;different&lt;/b&gt; matter and &lt;b&gt;not&lt;/b&gt; over that which he was a false "prophet" — because a false prophet does not receive death by the hand of heaven but rather death by the hand of man!

b)

already spoken many times,

that the Alter Rebbe does not cite sources,

except when the matter which he brings stands

(with a variation)

also in other places

(or when through the citation itself comes an additional explanation,

as in "Biyuel" and "Bishei'"²⁴),

one must understand: the story

About Chananiah ben Azur it is stated in Tanach only once,

so why does he need to specify "from Yirmiyah"?

D.

Even more wondrous is:

After the Alter Rebbe says "When one commits a sin for which one is liable to kares, he would actually die before fifty years,

And by death at the hands of Heaven he would actually die before sixty years, Chananiah ben Azur the prophet in Yirmiyah" — before he finishes his question "But behold, in every generation there are found many who are liable to kares and deaths and they prolonged their days and years in pleasantness"²⁵

— he adds,

In half a circle: "And sometimes also by death at the hands of Heaven they are punished immediately,

As we find by Er and Onan."

Then in this it is not understood:

a)

His question "And behold, there are found in every generation many who are liable for kares and capital punishments and they prolonged their days and their years etc.",

is only from the fact that those liable for capital punishments reached the age of sixty and above; from the fact that they were not punished immediately — one cannot ask a question,

because "they are punished immediately" is only "sometimes".

So why does he bring here the matter "and sometimes etc. they are punished immediately",

when his question is only from the fact that "he actually died before sixty years"?

b)

from the language "&lt;b&gt;also&lt;/b&gt; with death at the hands of heaven they exact punishment immediately" is clear,

that regarding one matter one already knows from before that "they exact punishment immediately".

and in —

continuation to this he says,

that also with death at the hands of heaven one is

(sometimes)

exacted punishment immediately&lt;sup&gt;26&lt;/sup&gt;.

and at first glance,

where does he speak earlier*&lt;sup&gt;26&lt;/sup&gt;

about a matter that "they exact punishment immediately"?

6.

Is the explanation in this,

that by adding the words "the prophet" and "of Yirmiyah",

the Alter Rebbe intends to prove,

that "and Chananiah died" was <b>not</b> a matter of "the law of the four death penalties

(which)

were not nullified",

rather it was a death <b>by</b> <b>Heaven</b>

(as below section 7-8)

And with his addition "and sometimes also by death by Heaven they are punished immediately" he explains,

how from "and Chananiah died" is a proof regarding <b>every</b> death by Heaven that "he actually died"

(as below section 9).

With this is also clarified,

incidentally,

why the Alter Rebbe does not bring a proof from Chavaryah d’Michah and Iddo the prophet —

Because from their death there is <b>no</b> proof that by every death at the hands of Heaven it is also “actually dead”

(as below section 10).

7.

That Chananiah ben Azur spoke a false prophecy,

so regarding this the clarification came only two years later after he spoke the prophecy — at the time when they saw that his prophecy “within two years of days etc.” was not fulfilled

and “every good thing that God decrees, even conditionally, does not revert”²⁷,

and since his prophecy was not fulfilled,

they knew clearly that “you have promised this people falsely”].

But as long as the two years had not passed,

they could not know for certain that he is a false prophet²⁸,

and consequently they could not judge him²⁹.

And since the lower court could not judge him until the “two years” would pass,

so also the “<b>judgment</b> of the four death penalties” from above could not then be carried out.

For the matter of “<b>judgment</b> of the four death penalties” is — that from above they do the same that the lower court would have had to do — it cannot be imagined that from above they should punish with the judgment of the four death penalties at the time when the lower court <b>could not</b> judge him.

it is

(regarding <b>that</b> judgment of that person)

analogous to “the Sanhedrin was abolished”,

and consequently they punish him from above regardless of the fact that in the lower court his judgment was not clarified³⁰.

When, however, it is revealed before Heaven that his judgment will later be clarified below,

then as long as the lower court cannot judge him — they also do not punish him from above].

And this is what the Alter Rebbe means with his citation “in Yirmiyah”: in Yirmiyah³¹

it states “and Chananiah the prophet died <b>in that</b> <b>year</b>”,

before the “two years” had passed — from this it is derived,

that his death was not a judgment of the four death penalties that comes in place of the death penalty of the court,

but a matter of death at the hands of Heave*³¹.

8.

But one can nevertheless ask:

Jeremiah was established as a true prophet.

Now, since Jeremiah said — <b>in prophecy</b> — that "The Lord did not send you, etc., for you have spoken falsely, etc."³²?

Then they immediately knew

(even before the two years had passed),

that Chananiah is a false prophet.

Could they not have judged him <b>immediately</b> to be put to death?

On this the Alter Rebbe warns "Chananyah ben Azur &lt;b&gt;the prophet&lt;/b&gt;"

(without an additional explanation in this — that in the vast majority this means a &lt;b&gt;true&lt;/b&gt; prophet even in the language of Torah and all the more so in the language of the Sages and the early authorities etc.)

meaning thereby

(as per the explanation brought above section 4),

that previously he was a true prophet&lt;sup&gt;33&lt;/sup&gt;.

And consequently one could not know

(until the end of the two years' time)

which of them

(Yirmeyahu or Chananyah)

speaks truth.

Thus it is compelled from this,

that "and Chananyah the prophet died &lt;b&gt;in that&lt;/b&gt; &lt;b&gt;year&lt;/b&gt;",

was a death by the hands of Heaven,

as above.

9.

One can, however, still ask:

Since by "and Chanani died" the verse adds

(emphasizes)

<b>In that</b> <b>year</b> — it implies that in this there is a novelty

(for example — although the time of death by Heaven's hand is only "before sixty years"),

it means then,

that by

the judgment of Chanani was a special novelty.

Now how can one learn from a <b>novelty</b> — regarding <b>every</b> death by Heaven's hand that "he actually died"?

Therefore the Alter Rebbe adds "ולפעמים גם במיתה בידי שמים נפרעין לאלתר",

that that which "וימת חנניהו גו' בשנה ההיא" is

but]

a detail in death by the hand of heaven,

because "לפעמים

(is)

גם במיתה בידי שמים נפרעין לאלתר".

י.

ועפ״ז it is also understandable why he does not bring a proof from חבריה דמיכה and עדו הנביא — because since both of them died by means of a lion³⁴,

which is "דומה דסקילה"³⁵

— the most severe death penalty

(even among the death penalties by the hand of man),

therefore by them there was a novelty and special severity.

ובמילא one cannot bring from there a proof that by every "death by the hand of heaven" it is "actually died" — and therefore the Alter Rebbe brings a proof specifically from חנניה בן עזור.

And therefore the Alter Rebbe asks afterwards "והרי נמצאו בכל דור וכו׳ והאריכו ימיהם ושנותיהם בנעימים".

(From the sicha of Shabbos Parshas Vayikra-Purim 5729)