{"id":63626,"date":"2019-09-28T22:03:21","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T19:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=63626"},"modified":"2023-04-24T09:18:38","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T06:18:38","slug":"athaliahs-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/athaliahs-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Athaliah\u2019s Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our chapter introduces Athaliah, (II Kings 8:26, see also II Chronicles 22:2), who was married to Jehoram of Judah to seal a treaty between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (18). After her husband\u2019s death, she reigned as queen of Judah for six years. Athaliah restored the worship of Baal in Judah (II Kings 11:18). She also managed to eliminate all other possible claimants to the throne (II Kings 9), except for her one-year old grandson, Jehoash. This infant was rescued by the priest Jehoiada and his wife Jehosheba and was raised secretly by his nurse in the House of the Lord (II Kings 11:1-4). Seven years later, Jehoiada led a rebellion, anointed Jehoash as the king of Judah, had Athaliah slain at \u201cthe horses\u2019 entrance to the king\u2019s house\u201d in Jerusalem. And then, \u201cAll the people of the land\u201d razed the altars of Baal (II Kings 11:4-20).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rabbinic Sages dealt with the aftermath of Athaliah\u2019s destructive reign. Exodus Rabbah 40:3 tells that her sons removed the golden nails from the Temple, and it remained for the priest Jehoiada to later repair the damage. Ruth Rabbah 4:15 explains that Athaliah did not succeed in entirely destroying the Davidic dynasty,\u00a0 because of the women who said to Naomi: \u201cBlessed be the Lord, who has not withheld a redeemer from you today! May his name be perpetuated in Israel!\u201d (Ruth 4:14). The Midrash concludes that this refers to the King Messiah, the descendant of King David.<\/span><\/p>\n

This Midrashic approach to creatively elucidate Scripture did not end in ancient times. In his tragedy for the French stage, Jean Racine adapted the biblical story of Athaliah (Atalie, 1691). The influential French philosopher Voltaire acclaimed this play “perhaps the masterpiece of mankind”. In 1920, the French-Jewish actress, Sarah Bernhardt played the title role in a revival staged in Paris. One of the many adaptations of Racine\u2019s Atalie is the Hebrew play, Gemul Atalyah (“Athaliah’s Revenge”, 1770), by the Dutch author David Franco-Mendes. Operas on the biblical story of Athaliah were created by the German composer Johann Simon Mayr (1822) and as recently as the 1960\u2019s by the American composer Hugo Weisgall, who employed Jewish liturgical motifs to create a biblical atmosphere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most famously, Racine\u2019s French drama served as the basis for the English libretto of Handel\u2019s oratorio \u201cAthalia\u201d (1733). When Athaliah is first introduced, she awakens in the palace from a nightmare in which a young boy dressed as a Jewish priest plunges a dagger into her heart, whom she later recognizes as Jehoash, who is subsequently crowned king to the acclaim of the people. Athaliah goes to her death declaring that she will seek vengeance even from the grave. In a 1986 recording of Handel\u2019s oratorio, the title role of Athaliah was sung by the legendary soprano, Dame Joan Sutherland\u00a0<\/span>(click here to listen to her aria).<\/a> In one key point, she sings: \u201cMy vengeance awakes me\u2026Compassion forsakes me\/All softness and mercy away\/My foes with confusion\/Shall find their illusion\/And tremble before me today\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

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