Sefer Daniel; Opportunity in Exile, Perek 6, Trying to Understand Daryavesh HaMadi

Saving Daniel
Why does Daryavesh the Mede agree to the plan to kill one who prays? Does he not realize he is setting Daniel up to be killed? Moreover, why does he not intervene more vigorously to save Daniel? While it is possible that he was old by the standards of his time and therefore easily misled¹⁰⁵Perhaps this is how to explain, on a Peshat level, why Daniel Perek 6 begins by presenting Daryaveish HaMadi’s age when he assumed control of Bavel, something that is not done regarding any other leader in Sefer Daniel. In addition, perhaps the fact that Daryavesh HaMadi is not listed in sources external to Tanach indicates that his short reign (Rashi to Daniel 6:29 states that he ruled only for one year) reflects his weakness and ineffectual (and perhaps dysfunctional) reign. or that he is weak and cannot muster the strength to counter his advisors, there is a possibility he is strong and shrewd. It is indeed difficult to imagine a leader of a kingdom that spans one hundred and twenty nations as a fool or weak.

In the past, I wrote an article arguing that Daryavesh HaMadi plays the fool to try to eliminate Daniel but be protected in case he fails. If his plan fails, he can and does blame his advisors (just as Achashveirosh did to Haman). For more detail, see https://www.koltorah.org/halachah/was-daryavesh-hamadi-an-innocent-fool-by-rabbi-chaim-jachter.

However, TABC Talmidim including Tzvi Naor, note that Daryavesh chose Daniel as his top advisor and even fasted the night he placed Daniel in the lion’s den. This makes quite unreasonable the assertion that Daryavesh the Mede was eager to eliminate Daniel in a manner that would hurt him. We may say the same about a suggestion that Daryavesh HaMadi is testing the authenticity of Jewish beliefs.

Upon reflection, it seems that Daryavesh HaMadi never expected Daniel to defy his decree. He did not grasp the depth and profundity of Daniel’s commitment to Hashem, Torah, Tefillah, and Am Yisrael. In addition, one must understand Daryavesh’s failure to intervene to spare Daniel from being thrown into the lion’s den in light of a deeply misguided but nonetheless deep-rooted Persian-Median governmental tradition to never rescind a government decision. In his cultural milieu it was unthinkable for Daryavesh to undo a royal decree even to save the life of his trusted and beloved advisor Daniel.

Daryavesh’s Age
Why does Sefer Daniel mention the age of Darius the Mede when he assumed control of the Babylonian empire? Rashi (citing Chazal) to Perek 6 Pasuk 1 beautifully answers this question by noting that Darius was born the moment Nevudnetzar entered the Heichal of the Beit HaMikdash¹⁰⁶Nevuchadnetzar entered the Heichal in the eighth year of his reign (600 BCE) and the Babylonian empire lasted seventy years (ending in 539 BCE) when Daryavesh HaMadi subsumed the Babylonian empire into the Median-Persian empire. Accordingly, Daryavesh being sixty-two years of age upon ascending the throne would place his birth in proximity to Nevuchadnetzar entering the Heichal..

Rashi/Chazal’s idea parallels Chazal’s teaching that Mashiach was born on the day of the Churban and that Yocheved was born as we entered the gates of Mitzrayim (Sotah 12a). These points reflect Chazal’s famous teaching (Megillah 13b) that Hashem is “Makdim Refu’ah LaMakah, embeds the solution before He introduces a problem¹⁰⁷When the Lubavitcher Rebbe was asked as to the secret of his success in the guidance he provided to so many people, he replied that he helps people find the solution that already exists..

Perek 6 Pasuk 1 describes Daryavesh as K’var Shnin Shitin V’Tartin. Why is the “Kaf HaDimyon”, the comparative Kaf, employed in the word K’var? TABC Talmid Benzion Rotblat answers this question based on this Rashi/Chazal. He brilliantly suggests that Daryavesh was not necessarily 62 years old when he assumed control of Bavel, but Hashem's plan for him to take over from Belshatzar was 62 years in the making.

V’Hayu Limshisa Shosayich
The evil advisors who contrived to murder Daniel were themselves thrown into the lion’s den where they met a horrible death. Similarly, the Babylonians who raised the temperature on the cauldron into which Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah are thrown in Perek 3 are gruesomely burned to death by the extreme heat and fire.

These deaths reflect the fact that those who seek to harm us are, in the long run, destroyed. We express this idea in Lecha Dodi when we say V’Hayu Limshisa Shosayich. Yirmiyahu HaNavi informs us (Yirmiyahu 2:3) “Kol Ochelav Yeshamu”, those who seek to harm will eventually be destroyed. This idea is already reflected in the Brit Bein HaBetarim where Hashem promises Avraham Avinu that he will punish the nations that will harm us.

This phenomenon continues through the ages. Spain, after it banished faithful Jews in 1492, became a third-class country. It has never even come close to regaining its former prestige. Germany suffered the deaths of more than nine million of its civilians during World War Two and that nation has never regained the academic and scientific glory it enjoyed before that terrible war. Those Palestinians who regrettably embrace a culture of hatred towards Israel and Jews overwhelmingly wallow in poverty. Gittin 56b teaches that those who revile the Jews may enjoy great success in the short term. However, they are also doomed to long term suffering. How we wish no one would take up this noxious Faustian bargain!