Nechemiah orchestrated other reforms as well. When he saw that people were desecrating the Sabbath by conducting business with gentile merchants on the holy day, he ordered the city gates closed. He also continued Ezra’s work of removing any trace of assimilation by entering the nation into a covenant to separate from “the peoples of the land” (Nechemiah 10:31).
As with Ezra, Nechemiah understood that a vibrant Jewish community could not flourish in the Holy Land without a deep commitment to its heritage and values. He took steps to provide the people with the material and physical securities that would help Ezra advance his spiritual agenda.
Together, Nechemiah and Ezra turned around a dire situation and built the foundation that would allow the nation to withstand the many challenges it would face during the four-plus centuries of Bayis Sheni.
