On this day, King Hezekiah, the greatest of all the Judeaen kings, fell seriously ill, and was informed by the Prophet Isaiah that he would die, for G-d was displeased with the fact that Hezekiah had never married.
Hezekiah had refused to get married because he had prophetically foreseen that his children would lead the Jewish people to sin. He erred, for it is man's job to heed the commandment of procreating, and the rest is in the hands of G-d.
Hezekiah asked the prophet to pray on his behalf, but he refused, insisting that the Heavenly decree was final. The king asked the prophet to leave, saying that he had a tradition from his ancestors that one should never despair, even if a sharp sword is drawn across one's throat. The king prayed to G-d, and his prayer was accepted. G-d sent Isaiah to tell him that he would recover and that his life would be extended for fifteen years. Hezekiah recovered three days later, on the first day of Passover.
The King later married Prophet Isaiah's daughter.
Links:
Hezekiah's Last Years of Reign
The story in Kings II with commentary
More about King Hezekiah
A year following the building of the second Temple in Jerusalem (see Jewish History for the 3rd of Adar) Ezra gathered many of the Jews who had remained in Babylon and began a journey to the land of Israel. Though he certainly wanted to go earlier, his teacher, Baruch ben Neriah was too frail to travel, and Ezra refused to leave him until his passing.
Ezra was the head of the Sanhedrin, who all traveled together with him.
On the 12th of Nissan, Ezra departed from the river of Ahava, the beginning of the long journey to the land of Israel which would last for nearly five months (see Jewish history for the 1st of Av).
In today's "Nasi" reading (see "Nasi of the Day" in Nissan 1), we read of the gift bought by the nasi of the tribe of Naftali, Achira ben Enan, for the inauguration of the Mishkan.
“And these are the offspring of Isaac…” Genesis 30:3
“Who are his offspring? Esau and his children.”—Midrash Rabbah
Although the hero of the story is Jacob, Jacob’s ultimate goal is the rescue of Esau.
Isaac wished to rescue Esau with a blessing, lifting him from the dirt and overwhelming him with a downpour of intense light.
Rebecca, however, saw this would only further feed Esau’s wickedness. The one to rescue Esau was not his father, but his twin brother, Jacob.
Only Jacob could dress in the clothes of Esau, experience the world of Esau from within, and then heal himself from there.
And in healing himself from within Esau’s world, the precious good within Esau would be rescued and reconnected to its true place.
That is the entire history of Jacob and Esau, the offspring of Isaac. It is also the entire story of Israel and the rest of humanity.
So that within this story is the secret of healing:
When you want to heal another, get inside their skin, identify with them, and heal together with them.