This collective achievement is in no way to be minimized. The fact that the Jews willingly dissolved longstanding marriages with wives they loved, and parted ways with their own children, speaks volumes of their readiness to restore a higher sense of religious purpose to themselves and their communities.
In another attempt to distance the Jewish community from recent assimilatory inroads, Ezra reintroduced the original Hebrew characters. (This script, called k’sav ashurit, had fallen into disuse. It is the same system of block lettering that we utilize today.) For centuries, the Jewish people had used k’sav ivri,or Hebrew lettering,a cuneiform script similar to the one used in Phoenician and other ancient societies. Ezra helped further insulate the Jewish community from outside influences by making correspondence more difficult. (More on this below.)
Ezra promoted Torah study as a protection against future slippage. He read the Torah aloud to an assembled group of Jewish men and women, and exhorted them to keep its precepts. He increased the frequency with which the Torah was studied by instituting a minimal public reading of ten verses very Monday and Thursday. By establishing the reading on market days, he ensured the highest possible communal participation. In addition, he encouraged spiritual involvement on an individual level by increasing the number of available teachers from whom the people might learn.
Despite all of these tremendous achievements, Ezra was not completely successful in his mission. Certain religious and material problems remained unsolved. A small percentage of the people refused to divorce their foreign wives. Others continued to conduct business on the Sabbath. Still others were negligent in their duty to contribute the required tithes to the priests and Levites.
Physically, problems existed as well. The walls of Jerusalem, so essential to the security and vitality of the city, were never completed, inviting harassment from those bent on preventing the city’s rebirth.
As a result, Jerusalem remained sparsely populated. It was only upon the later arrival of Nechemiah ben Chakaliah that these issues would be effectively addressed.
It appears Ezra had been a person of significance in Persia – serving as the Persian functionary in charge of Jewish affairs – before he assumed the role of religious leader of the Jerusalem community. A priestby birth and a scholar by profession, he was a natural leader for his Jewish brethren.
Ezra did not participate in the first return of Zerubavel and Yehoshua. In fact, he remained in Babylon for twenty-three years before leaving for Judah. Our sages provided two explanations for his apparent indifference. One reason is that Ezra was the main student of Baruch ben Neriah, who was, in turn, the primary disciple of the prophet Yirmiyahu. At the time of Cyrus’s proclamation, Baruch was too old and infirm to undertake the difficult journey. Out of respect for his teacher and a desire to glean all that he had to transmit, Ezra remained behind.
Another explanation is that Ezra was concerned his presence in Judah at that time would lead to controversy over the priesthood. Yehoshua was a direct descendent of high priests and therefore the appropriate choice for the position. Ezra, however, was clearly superior to Yehoshua in spiritual matters and erudition. Surely a significant number of people would have lobbied for his appointment. To avoid conflict, Ezra stayed behind in Persia.
While still there, he prepared the community for life once its leaders would leave for Jerusalem. He clarified issues of questionable lineage and pedigrees, leaving behind a populace the Talmud referred to as soles neki’ah – fine, sifted flour, cleansed of any impurities.
Like many of the great leaders in Jewish history, Ezra combined temporal and religious leadership. He provided the people with governance and was their representative voice to the Persian overlords. More important, he provided much needed spiritual guidance at a time when extreme measures were required to stem the downward slide.
