Malachi Introduction Typed Shiur

Malachi is the twelfth of the twelve Trey Asar prophets and is only three perakim long.

With the completion of Malachi we will have completed the entire Nevi’im! This is truly cause for celebration and dancing in the street, as we have been learning Navi and connecting to the greatest tzadikim, the most elevated people who ever walked the face of the earth. The NachDaily project was initiated approximately two and a half years ago, to enable people to learn the entire Navi, perek by perek, in a short, condensed format. We will have finished Yehoshua, Shoftim, Shmuel Aleph and Bais, Melachim Aleph and Bais, Yeshaya, Yirmiyah, Yechezkel and now Trey Asar.

NachDaily has grown to well over 1,000 subscribers and regular listeners throughout the entire world. There are many of you out there who have e-mailed us saying they will be completing the entire Navi with the NachDaily cycle. A little bit, too, is good. Whether you’ve learned a little or a lot, keep smiling.

Just a heads up: I’ve received lots of requests to continue with Kesuvim after we finish Nach. We will IY”H learn Sefer Tehillim next. If you have a co-worker, friend or spouse who you think would enjoy NachDaily, feel free to sign them up.
Historical Background

Malachi was the last of the prophets to prophesy, along with his contemporaries Chaggai and Zechariah. Malachi prophesied during the beginning of the second Beis Hamikdash. The Radak on pasuk aleph explains that what separates Malachi from Chaggai and Zechariah is that Malachi only prophesied after the completion of the second Beis Hamikdash. The Radak brings as proof of this that there is no mention of the construction of the second Bais Hamikdash in Malachi because it had already been completed.
Who was Malachi?

There’s a disagreement in the Gemarah Megilah 15A about who Malachi was. Rav Nacḥman said that Malachi the prophet is in fact Mordechai, and he was called Malachi to indicate that he was second to the king [melech], as it says at the end of the Megillah that Mordechai was appointed second to the melech. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said that Malachi was really Ezra, but the Rabbis disagreed. They claimed that Malachi was his real name, and not just another name for Ezra or anyone else.

Malachi was part of the Anshei K’neses Hag’dolah, the Men of the Great Assembly. Malachi’s rebbe was either Yechezkel or Baruch Ben Neriah, the scribe of Yirmiyahu.
The Name Malachi

The Maharsha on the Gemarah in Megilah 15A explains that the name Malachi means “my angel,” as Malachi was the last of the prophets and was considered by Hashem to be like an angel among men.

Ramad Walli explains that Hashem speaks to the prophets through the trait of chessed/kindness and not through din/judgment. The letters of Malachi’s name rearranged spells the name of the angel Micha’el, whose job it is to promote chessed. Therefore his name was Malachi because he was an ambassador of God’s chessed to the Jewish nation.

Malachi Overview

Malachi primarily speaks about four topics. 1) Hashem’s eternal love for Am Yisrael, in contrast to the nation of Edom. 2) Harsh rebuke to the kohanim for not keeping Hashem’s laws and not serving God with sincerity. 3) The issue of intermarriage that was taking place. 4) A vision of the times of Mashiach and the final redemption.

We await the day that Malachi foretold in Malachi 3:23,24:

הִנֵּ֤ה אָֽנֹכִי֙ שֹׁלֵ֣חַ לָכֶ֔ם אֵ֖ת אֵלִיָּ֣ה הַנָּבִ֑יא לִפְנֵ֗י בּ֚וֹא י֣וֹם יְהוָ֔ה הַגָּד֖וֹל וְהַנּוֹרָֽא

“Behold, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the arrival of God’s awesome day”

וְהֵשִׁ֤יב לֵב־אָבוֹת֙ עַל־בָּנִ֔ים וְלֵ֥ב בָּנִ֖ים עַל־אֲבוֹתָ֑ם “He will bring back the hearts of parents by means of their children, and the hearts of children by means of their parents…”