a-TAH ha-rā-ay-TA la-DA-at KEE a-do-NAI HU ha-e-lo-HEEM AYN OD mi-lā-va-DO
Forging Relationships
Our greatest ability as humans is our capacity to think and ponder. In this verse, we are told that we must recognize, or know about, the existence of the one true God. The Hebrew phrase in this verse for āclearly demonstratedā is harāeita ladaāat (××Ø××Ŗ ×××¢×Ŗ). However, in Biblical Hebrew, daāat also refers to a deep, intimate connection, as in, āNow the man knew his wife Chavaā (Genesis 4:1). It therefore follows that the verse actually means that as humans, we are required not just to know about Hashem, but also to forge a deep connection with Him, the Almighty Creator.
So the elders of the Yehudim progressed in the building, urged on by the prophesying of Chagai the Navi and Zecharya son of Ido, and they brought the building to completion under the aegis of the God of Yisrael and by the order of Cyrus and Darius and King Artaxerxes of Persia Ezra 6:14 (The Israel Bibleā¢)
God's Agents
The autonomy of the Jewish people has often been subject to the blessings or restraints of foreigners. Cyrusās edict to allow the People of Israel to return to the Land of Israel and rebuild the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple) was a ray of hope in a bleak time. Persian approval of Jewish authority constituted a remarkable turning of the tide for the exiled Jews. Though construction of the Temple was temporarily halted, it was eventually completed in the sixth year of the reign of Darius, with his permission. The British Governmentās 1917 Balfour Declaration possessed similar promise when it declared: āHis Majestyās government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object.ā In both these cases, it was non-Jews serving as Godās agents who facilitated the return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel.