Nechemia Written Response: Burning the Boats

I definitely think that Nechemia was employing his brilliant strategic abilities and utilizing some
form of the Burning Boats philosophy when he further destroyed the walls and gates of
Jerusalem. While Ibn Ezra and Ralbag took on a more practical interpretation, Metzudat David
was not merely thinking outside the box but taking into account all that is described about the
Israelites’ reaction to Nechemia’s proposal the following day as well as Nechemia’s own
character and critical thinking earlier in the book. Technically speaking, Nechemia was
surveying the walls and gates and calculating the damage done in an attempt to determine
whether reconstruction was possible, but he was also being proactive, thinking ahead, and even
dissecting the nuisances and reflexes of the human psyche. If Nechemia was only surveying the
walls, why would he be doing so surreptitiously? Why would he have waited three days upon
arrival in Jerusalem to take action? Why would the people of Jerusalem have reacted in the
manner they did? Why would Nechemia have displayed such competency when it came to social
skills with the King and others to never have them fully fleshed out and reiterated later in the
story? Why wouldn’t he fill in the blanks of this Chekov’s Gun-type situation? All of these
questions are answered if we rely on Metzudot’s interpretation. Nechemia came to the ingenious
realization that by demolishing the walls even more, the Jewish people would be galvanized into
repairing them and restoring a symbol of their strength, unity, and prosperity as a people. He
figured that if the walls and gates appeared as if they had been ravaged, the Jewish people would
automatically (incorrectly) infer that it was Israel’s enemies that had committed this atrocity and
would want to rebuild them immediately. He assumed his destroying the walls would be a sort of
helpful nudge, a primer to prepare the Israelites for the next morning’s meeting during which
Nechemia would rile them up and inspire them to follow his lead. Prior, the people had grown so
numb to the state of the walls and indifferent about their reconstruction, and thus Nechemia
recognized that something, anything to mobilize them and instill some zeal in them was critical.
This interpretation explains the secrecy, the Israelites’ succeeding reaction, Nechemia’s delayed
response time, and, in general, his strategic thinking abilities. Moreover, this relates seamlessly
to our analysis of chapter 11 of the Art of War, Hernan Cortez’s military approaches, and the
concept of precommitment. The Art of War says, “​ Throw your soldiers into positions whence
there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight.” Nechemia decided that by burning the
boats (or the gates in his case) he was necessitating the Israelites’ cooperation and willingness to
rebuild them. Just as Cortez, he eliminated all other options--such as resorting to procrastination,
indifference, or paralysis again--and required the reconstruction of the walls. Now, the Jewish
people couldn’t sit back and relax. They were being defamed and bombarded by oppressors, and
so they felt a certain sense of urgency that needed to be resolved. Finally, as opposed to solely
surveying the walls and giving them a look over as Ralbag and Ibn Ezra posit, Nechemia was
being preemptive, thoughtful, and clever. He analyzed the different possible outcomes of
informing the Jewish people it was time for reconstruction and eventually had an epiphany. “If I
leave no choice but that to commit to reconstruction, then there’s no escape route for the
Israelites. They won’t be able to abstain or refuse.” In that, Nechemia made a successful
precommitment and, literally, prophesied the future. All in all, he was capable of using his wit to
his advantage, devising discreet but magnificent tactics, and, for the first time in a really long
while, providing the Jewish people a sliver of hope, even if that meant breaking something
before fixing it. After all, sometimes you have to take a step back in order to take two steps
forward.