The Leadership Effect

      We learned this week about how the actions of יותם and אחז effected Bnei Yisrael's punishments. יותם, first, sinned the least of the two. He simply did not remove the במות that earlier kings had built, however this ensured that Bnei Yisrael continued to sacrifice on them, which wasn't absolutely terrible, because they were sacrificing to Hashem, but still was not good. Since Bnei Yisrael continued to sacrifice on the במות, Hashem sent an enemy to them, as the beginning of their punishment. 

      Next came אחז, as יותם's successor, and he was the one who finally pushed it all over the top. He was much, much worse than יותם. He followed the kings of Yisrael in doing עבודה זרה. As if that wasn't enough, he sacrificed his own son in a fire, as מלך, AND he sacrificed in the במות. The nations of Aram and Yisrael both wanted to ally with אחז as a way to come together against אשור, but אחז refuses. Because of this, Aram and Yisrael both come up against him instead. אחז then goes to אשור and asks to become allies. He tells אשור that if they become the allies, then he will allow them to pass through the land, but they cannot destroy or conquer anything. 

      When אחז and אשור go to war against Aram and Yisrael, they beat them. This is very confusing, because if אחז was sinning greatly, wouldn't Hashem have caused him to lose the battle? As we continued to learn however, we realized that maybe what Yisrael was doing was so much worse than אחז, so Hashem first punished Yisrael, and is eventually going to punish אחז as well. 

      In the next part of the Perek, ישעיהו tells אחז that Hashem is going to give him a sign to make אחז believe that Hashem will protect him against Yisrael instead of forming an alliance with אחז. אשור so graciously tells ישעיהו that he doesn't need a sign to believe in Hashem, when in actuality he just doesn't want to. Hashem of course knows this, so ישעיהו tells אחז that Hashem is going to give him a sign anyway, and not just any sign, but one that he will have to live with for the rest of his life. A woman, (maybe ישעיהו's wife?) is going to have a baby boy and his name will be עמנו אל- "G-d is with us". This will serve as a constant reminder to אחז that Hashem is the one who is always protecting us. ישעיהו also tells אחז that since he became allies with אשור when he was supposed to turn to Hashem for help, אשור will eventually be the ones who destroy them. 

      The effects of a leader on their people can relate to the upcoming election. Our president is responsible for what happens in the country for a 4 year or 8 year period. As we know, there are sometimes problems. Stock market crashes, a high rate in unemployment, and other economical issues have made things not look so good for Barrack Obama. This isn't about politics, I don't care if you are a Republican or a Democrat or a whatever, but either way it goes, Barrack Obama or Mitt Romney, the effects of a leader are always an important component of how and if a nation thrives and succeeds or crashes and burns.