דניאל

Daniel is the Jew who remained a Jew in the heart of the Babylonian palace, and taught how one guards a soul in exile. Exiled young to Babylon, chosen to serve in Nebuchadnezzar's court, he refused to defile himself with the king's food, 'and Daniel resolved in his heart that he would not defile himself' (Daniel 1:8). A small line of faithfulness that held up everything else.

When prayer was forbidden, he did not hide: he opened his window toward Jerusalem and continued to pray three times a day, and for this was thrown into the lions' den, and came out alive. His companions Chananya, Mishael and Azarya stood a similar test in the fiery furnace. They taught that one can serve a foreign king and remain a servant of God alone.

Daniel saw visions of the end of days and of kingdoms that would rise and fall, and the Sages counted him among the great sages, though not quite among the prophets, for his place is on the border between prophecy and wisdom. In exile, as prophecy fades, he bridges to a new era.

What do we learn from him? That identity is preserved in the small lines a person refuses to cross, even when no one notices. Daniel teaches that one can succeed in the court of a foreign empire and remain wholly faithful, and that prayer toward Jerusalem, even from afar, is the thread binding the exile to its home.