Four Jewish Exiles

The Four “H”s of Jewish History

This was originally written in 2011, but lightly edited today 9 Av, 5785:

 Have you ever heard of "the four galuyot/ exiles"?

It refer to the Jewish journey through history as traditionally divided into four painful iterations.

These exiles were designed to refine us through specific trials in the form of oppression at the hands of foreign nations, that challenge and ultimately prove, our commitment to Torah and G-d.

History can be dry and hard to remember (at least for me) so we could view these four exiles and the forces they represent mnemonically, as the four H's:

1. Babylon: Heroism,

2. Persia: Hedonism,

3. Greece: Hellenism, and currently, the

4. West: Humanism. 

Let's look at what each one represents, symbolically and mystically: 

Babylon: Heroism- the winged lion

Nevuchadnezzar was a Babylonian monarch, THE Babylonian monarch.

He conquered and dominated all of the known civilization of his time.

He ruled mercilessly.

While the Babylonians were not particularly well-known for their kindness or culture, they were defined by their drive and ultimate success to vanquish, conquer and triumph.

At the time that Nevuchadnezzar besieged and defeated Jerusalem, he ordered all the children from the Davidic family rounded up and imprisoned together.

He had his officer Ashpenaz evaluate all the boys, to determine who among them were the wisest, strongest, bravest, and most gifted.

Those prodigies were rigorously trained, educated, and groomed for ministry.

Nevuchadnezzar was bent on utilizing the talents of his captives in order to advance the victory and supremacy of Babylon. (This event is described in the book of Daniel.)

This relentless drive to prevail, like almost all characteristics, is both a virtue and a vice.

Its vice was manifested in the extreme nature of the Babylonian empire- the ruthless perseverance of conquest above all else, to dominate, to be winners at any cost, but its virtue could have been the drive to overcome adversity, to surmount: heroism.

The Jews of that time were confronted with the challenge of choosing to remain loyal to their heritage despite its diminished status.

While Nevuchadnezzar was almost inviting them to save face by integrating with the Babylonian culture, contributing Jewish superiority to Babylonian sovereignty, G-d's expectation of them was to refuse.

The heroes of the battle against Babylonian heroism were Daniel, and his compatriots, Channaniah, Mishael, and Azarya, the superstars of this group of prodigies.

They succeeded in achieving the elusive balance between insularity and assimilation, earning posts high in the Babylonian government, serving with loyalty second only to their loyalty to G-d.

They distinguished themselves both by Jewish and secular standards, and earned the reverence of both Babylonians and Jews.

In a prophetic vision in the book of Daniel, this empire is symbolized by a winged lion with a human heart.

This represents the desire to overcome, sovereignty, and victory.  

Persia and Media: Hedonism

Winning is thrilling, but it takes effort and sacrifice.

A quicker fix for pleasure was promoted by the Empire that followed.

The heroic values of Babylon gave way to the extreme pleasure-seeking culture of the Persians.

The Purim story of Esther and Mordechai's role in saving the Jews from destruction is set in Persia.

The Megilla opens with a detailed description regarding the opulence of the royalty.

Ahasuerus was known primarily for his drinking and partying habits.

The extravagance with which he pampered himself, with food, drink, garments, and palace were almost unprecedented, and a value that trickled down to the citizens of his 127 provinces.

When, in a drunken stupor, the king heeds rash advice to kill his own wife for refusing to pose nude at one of his parties, his mode of replacing her took the form of an erotic beauty contest, for which maidens were groomed an entire year. The king then systematically r-aped them, one at a time, to see whom he liked best as queen.

Hedonism denotes a value system in which the ultimate goal is base pleasure: gustatory, sensual, sexual, aesthetic- pure, immediate, physical gratification.

Like Babylonian Heroism, Persian Hedonism also originates with a kernel of good intention: G-d created a pleasurable world, which He wants us to enjoy, morally.

Tasty food, well-made garments, physical comfort, interpersonal intimacy, and appealing surroundings are the gifts that can yield good health, productivity, quality of life, and peace of mind.

The danger is when it becomes the end rather than the means, the extreme rather than moderation, exploitative rather than collaborative; the id takes over and morality falls by the wayside.

The Jews in Persia were confronted with a choice: attend the lavish feasts, partake of the food and ideologies, or uphold Torah values and be made to feel like killjoys.

Many succumbed to the temptation, but Esther and Mordechai stood out as role models, (and fasted, the antithesis of indulgence) and their conviction was the vehicle for salvation.

This empire is depicted in the vision by a bear chewing on meat bones- an animal associated with base consumption.

Greece: Hellenism

When civilization had finally overdosed on Hedonism, a new ideology arose in near-direct opposition.

One focused on discipline, hard work, intellectual development, philosophy, theater, athletics, physical and mental strength.

The Greeks arguably contributed more breadth of culture to the world than all other preceding nations combined.

The Hellenist ideal appeared noble in theory: the cultivation and maximization of human potential through rigorous education, exercise, study, and perseverance.

Where Hellenism turned sour was, once again, when taken to the extreme, when the obsessive perfecting of the human mind and body form superseded any moral imperative.

When the "gods" had to be diminished to human frailty, so that "superior" humans could be deified.

When the perfectionist ideal of man went narcissistic and then militaristic as exemplified by the persona of Alexander the Great.

What happened to those who did not measure up to this standard.

The struggle of the Jews during the Greek era was to find the balance between the value that the Hellenists had to offer, and cleaving to their altruistic and spiritual mission that contradicted it.

The Chanuka story where militarily, intellectually, and spiritually a little bit of light obliterates a great deal of darkness symbolizes this conflict, and the small, temporal victory of the Maccabis.

This empire is compared to a winged leopard with four heads, to connote power, stealth, cunning, and cerebral prowess.

From Rome to Secularism to Radical Islam: Humanism

The final, current exile is the by far the longest and most complex.

It is longer than the others combined, and in truth, a composite of all the ideologies.

More specifically, it is a compound exile, comprised of the opposing forces of Esau and Ishmael, the ancestors of Christianity and Islam.

These two religious ideologies represent extremes:

extreme Christianity idealizing avoidance of physical pleasure,

while extreme Islamic mores and goals include impulsivity and overindulgence.

Both have used violence to force conversion.

In contemporary times as well, individuals and nations struggle to achieve balance using healthy versions of the earlier core, cultural values:

Babylon's: aspiration and prosperity vs. the pursuit of domination and conquest (Heroism)

Persia's: judicious pleasure vs. greed and gluttony (Hedonism), and

Greece's: self-motivated achievement vs. ego-based prestige (Hellenism).

In the fourth exile, early Roman culture resembled the Greek in many ways, but promoted a monotheistic Christian belief system.

After the primitive brutality of the crusades and their totalitarian successors in recent history, (like Communism and Nazism) there was a paradigm shift.

The more contemporary focus was ostensibly one of Humanism- placing compassion, tolerance, and understanding at the center of thought and deed.

Live and let live.

Share the wealth.

Do what's best for the most people.

Peace. Equality. Nonviolence.

This ideology is perhaps the most difficult to discredit, as it feels so correct, so intuitively right, fair, and just, in theory.

After several well-intended failures of humanism, what seemed like a potentially utopian societal value system emerged.

A liberal current morphed the West from a melting pot, which expected everyone to integrate and become one nation sharing values, to diversity and multi-culturalism, which promoted pride in individual races, religions, colors, and identities.

This political and social climate is essentially what made the US such fertile ground for the proliferation of Torah institutions and religious freedom. I

t is also the exact same zeitgeist that enticed so many Jews into assimilation.

It is the force that freed slaves, liberated women, empowered minority groups, and continues to call for tolerance.

 It sounds so nice.

What could be bad?

At first, it was wonderful.

In this regard, we are once again learning, that too much of a good thing, can go terribly wrong.

Liberal America/Europe has come so far in fighting for the underdog, seeing both sides of the story, appreciating shades of gray, promoting legitimacy for all, that we are seeing in our own times a repetition of King Saul's mistake.

King Saul was commanded by the prophet Shmuel, to fight a defensive war against the nation Amalek. Amalek's mission statement was destruction, violence.

Saul was told to take an aggressive approach, in order to assure the safety of the surrounding peoples.

But Saul had compassion. He took pity on some of his captives, including their king, Agag.

He entertained false hopes for a peace treaty, and disobeyed orders.

The descendants of Agag murdered and persecuted Jews and others for many generations, most infamously, Haman, villain of the Purim story.

The Talmud teaches, that we learn from this that one who has compassion for the cruel, is ultimately being cruel to the compassionate.

History repeats itself.

America, Europe, “the West”, the "good guys" proponents of freedom, liberty, and peace, have come so far in this noble ideology, that we have come full circle.

The liberal West has taken a sharp left turn where excessive “tolerance” excuses Jihad and oppression of women as religious freedom.

Like Saul, they are showing compassion for those dedicated to cruelty, to annihilation.

While Israel and Jews have been the beneficiaries of Western sympathy, open-mindedness, understanding in the past, now helping educated, hard-working, fledgling democracies has become passé. Allying ourselves with the good guys is too old school. It's like favoring the smart kids. Privilege.

The new approach wanted us to reach outside our comfort zone, be open-minded, and empathize with the growing global presence of Yishmael - the one that sometimes generates terrorism, abuse of women and children, and promotes poverty, illiteracy, violence, and rage.

Some of these nations, who are victims of their own evil, have lashed out at the West in the form of terrorist activity, hatred, and constant threats. And are rewarded for this, the way we tend to placate and pay most attention to the child acting out dangerously.

They need more love. Except, these are not innocent children. The West is now seeking to befriend our own worst enemies.

After 9/11, we are turning the other cheek, excusing and helping those who seek to destroy us, as they laugh their way to the west bank.

We, in the West, contend with the previous three H's to varying degrees.

The animal in Daniel’s vision which reflects this exile is a fearsome and ferocious amalgam of the other three:

 We strive to be heroic, fulfill the American dream, be successful, prestigious, winners, fame, dominion. We're target-marketed by hedonism, in the form of excess materialism and conspicuous consumption. We admire the culture of Hellenism, seeking always more advanced, enriched, celebrated, and often pressurized educational opportunities, over-saturating our children with enrichment, music, dance, art, lessons, joining gyms, body sculpting, worship of the perfect human form.

As stated, each of these “–isms” has inherent value, can be contributive, but only in moderation, and when viewed as a means, not an end goal. These are the struggles of our past. But the fascist, corruptive permutation of humanism is our current threat. The multi-verse, "everyone's perspective is valid", let's compromise, the-aggressors-are-really-victims approach to humanity, that is potentially compromising the free world's safety.

In the second chapter of the book of Daniel, Nevuchadnezzar has a prophetic dream, interpreted by Daniel, to be a metaphor for the four exiles.

He describes the final one: 

It will be two nations who will intermarry, one strong like steel the other hard like clay, and they will join forces and wreak havoc on the world, but can never truly become one.

After this empire, G-d's hand will reach down and smash them, filling the world with His presence.

We are now witnessing the attempted intermarriage of the Christian-turned-secular affluent, technologically progressive, woke "enlightened" world with the primitive, impoverished, but now empoweredly-aggressive radical Islamist doctrine, laced with the resurging ideological toxins of Russia and China.

The ketuba is oil, fuel, a symbiotic economic connection that is corrupting politics, the global economy, and social agendas.

Since these are reflected in the media, they eventually trickle down and infiltrate the philosophies of the masses. Nevuchadnezzar’s dream is that their alliance is only superficial and temporary and will ultimately be replaced by Divine, Messianic redemption and sovereignty, may arrive happen speedily in our days.        

Exile and prophetic animal:	Bavel- lion	Paras U’Madai- bear	Yavan- Winged leopard	Edom/Rome/Yishmael- amalgam
“H” ideology:	Heroism	Hedonism	Hellenism	Humanism
“A” value:	Aspiration	Appetite	Achievement	Altruism
Middah:	Kinah	Ta’avah	Kavod	Ga’avah
Anti-figure:	Doniel, et al	Esther, et al	Maccabim	Mashiach