Introduction: Prophecy at the Gate of the House of Hashem
Chapter 7 of Yirmiyahu is one of the most piercing chapters in the book: the prophet is sent to stand at the very gate of the Beit HaMikdash, facing the throngs coming to prostrate themselves and bring sacrifices, and to tell them the hardest truth of all - that the Temple itself, the sacrifices themselves, and the mere act of entering the Courtyard are not an insurance policy. The ultimate purpose is the rectification of one's deeds, and as long as there is no rectification, the Beit HaMikdash is nothing more than a den of thieves. We will follow the order of the verses according to the Malbim, the Radak, and the Targum.
(א) הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר הָיָה אֶל־יִרְמְיָהוּ מֵאֵת ה' לֵאמֹר׃ - The word that came to Yirmiyahu from Hashem, saying:
Radak notes this unusual phrasing. In previous sections it always says, "Thus said Hashem," whereas here it opens with, "The word that came to Yirmiyahu from Hashem, saying." Why? Because this prophecy was delivered at the gate of the House of Hashem, and the verse comes to teach that even standing at the gate of the House of Hashem was a command from God. One might have thought that the prophecy was given to Yirmiyahu and that he merely sought out a central location in which to deliver it; the verse tells you: no. Even the location of the prophecy was determined by the Almighty.
(ב) עֲמֹד בְּשַׁעַר בֵּית ה' וְקָרָאתָ שָּׁם אֶת־הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה וְאָמַרְתָּ שִׁמְעוּ דְבַר־ה' כׇּל־יְהוּדָה הַבָּאִים בַּשְּׁעָרִים הָאֵלֶּה לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֺת לַה'׃ - Stand in the gate of the House of Hashem, and proclaim there this word, and say: Hear the word of Hashem, all of Yehudah who enter through these gates to prostrate yourselves before Hashem.
"In the gate of the House of Hashem" - the gate of the Beit HaMikdash, and according to Radak, this refers to the Eastern Gate, the most distinguished of the gates. "Who enter through these gates" - there were seven gates in the Courtyard: three on the north, three on the south, and one on the east. The Malbim explains that the Holy One, blessed be He, stationed the prophet specifically there in order to deliver a special prophecy to those very people entering the gate to offer sacrifices and prostrate themselves. They come confident that prostration is the main objective, that this is what the Holy One, blessed be He, seeks - and it is precisely to this that the prophecy is addressed.
Amend Your Ways - The Condition, Not the Result
(ג) כֹּה־אָמַר ה' צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵיטִיבוּ דַרְכֵיכֶם וּמַעַלְלֵיכֶם וַאֲשַׁכְּנָה אֶתְכֶם בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה׃ - Thus said Hashem of Hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
The Malbim explains: coming to the Courtyard is not the act that God desires. It is not the required good deed - on the contrary, good deeds are the prerequisite for entering the Courtyard. Do not regard the mere offering of a sacrifice or coming to the House of Hashem as the desired ultimate goal. The goal is improving one's path and rectifying one's deeds. Therefore: first of all, "Amend your ways," and only then, "and I will cause you to dwell in this place." Whoever wishes to be close to God, and desires that the Shechinah dwell in this place, must begin by bettering their ways and their deeds.
Radak asks: "And I will cause you to dwell" - but are they not already dwelling there? He explains: the meaning is, "I will maintain your dwelling in this place, and you will not be exiled from it." The prophet speaks constantly of the looming exile; the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them - if you amend your ways and your deeds, there is still a chance that you will remain here permanently and not be exiled.
"The Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem Are They" - The False Confidence
(ד) אַל־תִּבְטְחוּ לָכֶם אֶל־דִּבְרֵי הַשֶּׁקֶר לֵאמֹר הֵיכַל ה' הֵיכַל ה' הֵיכַל ה' הֵמָּה׃ - Do not put your trust in deceitful words, saying: "The Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem are they!"
The doubling and tripling here is a subject addressed by all the commentators. Let us begin with Targum Yonatan, in a loose paraphrase: Do not rely on the words of the false prophets who say - before the Temple of Hashem you serve, before the Temple of Hashem you sacrifice, before the Temple of Hashem you prostrate yourselves, three times a year you appear before Him.
Radak notes a precision in the language: "Do not trust in [el] false words" - the expression of trust connects with both the preposition "el" (to/in) and "al" (upon/in); here it says "el divrei hasheker", and later (verse 8), "Behold, you trust upon [al] false words."
The Malbim asks: In what was their trust placed? The false prophets tell them, "The Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem are they" - meaning, you have nothing to worry about, you have the Temple of Hashem! The Sanctuary exists, and the Sanctuary is the dwelling place of the Shechinah, and therefore it is impossible that the House will be destroyed. You believe that since this is the Temple of Hashem and was built for the sake of Hashem, the Holy One, blessed be He, will necessarily dwell in His House, and if so, what is there to fear? To this the prophet responds: "The Temple of Hashem are they" - the good ways and upright conduct, they themselves are the Temple of Hashem. "And they shall make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them" - within them, literally. This is the Temple of Hashem: when you walk in the way of Hashem, and the Holy One, blessed be He, rests His Shechinah upon you. Do not say, "The Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem," for Hashem's desire is that "they" themselves become the Temple of Hashem - that the people themselves, by rectifying their deeds, become worthy of hosting the Shechinah.
Radak adds an explanation: The people would say to Yirmiyahu - on account of our evil deeds this city will not be destroyed, for "the Temple of Hashem are they." And he cites an interpretation in the name of his father: The threefold repetition of "the Temple of Hashem" corresponds to the Ulam (vestibule), the Heichal (Sanctuary), and the Dvir (Holy of Holies), the three holy sections of the Beit HaMikdash. And corresponding to this, there is the verse "O land, land, land" (Yirmiyahu 22:29) - you say "the Temple of Hashem" three times, and the Holy One, blessed be He, replies "land, land, land." After you have desecrated the place and through your corrupt conduct transformed it into a site devoid of holiness, before Me it is like mere earth. This is Hashem's answer to their claim: since you dishonor the sanctuaries, they no longer possess any sanctity or advantage simply because they were built for the sake of Hashem.
These ideas become even sharper in light of what appears in Yechezkel: harsh and harrowing descriptions of what they did inside the Beit HaMikdash, when the Holy One, blessed be He, gives the prophet a tour and he sees the idols they placed inside the House and the images carved onto its walls - horrifying things. Hashem says to them: Do you think this place still retains the status of "the Temple of Hashem"? It is just like ordinary earth, for I do not rest My Shechinah in a place where such grave transgressions are committed.
What Is the Demand: Justice Between a Man and His Fellow
(ה) כִּי אִם־הֵיטֵיב תֵּיטִיבוּ אֶת־דַּרְכֵיכֶם וְאֶת־מַעַלְלֵיכֶם אִם־עָשׂוֹ תַעֲשׂוּ מִשְׁפָּט בֵּין אִישׁ וּבֵין רֵעֵהוּ׃ - "For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your deeds; if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his fellow;"
(ו) גֵּר יָתוֹם וְאַלְמָנָה לֹא תַעֲשֹׁקוּ וְדָם נָקִי אַל־תִּשְׁפְּכוּ בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וְאַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים לֹא תֵלְכוּ לְרַע לָכֶם׃ - "If you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt;"
(ז) וְשִׁכַּנְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לַאֲבוֹתֵיכֶם לְמִן־עוֹלָם וְעַד־עוֹלָם׃ - "Then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever."
What, then, is the practical demand? "If you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his fellow" - that there be no robbery or extortion among you, no monetary fraud or hurtful speech. And then, "Then I will cause you to dwell in this place": through good deeds, you yourselves will be the Temple of Hashem, the Shechinah will dwell within you, and "I will cause you to dwell [veshikanti etkhem]" is like "I will dwell with you [veshakanti itkhem]" - I will be in your midst. And by virtue of this, you will dwell in the land that Hashem gave to our fathers forever and ever; you will have an enduring presence here, and the exile of which the prophet warns constantly will not come.
And what is verse 6 doing in the middle? The Malbim explains: this is a parenthetical statement. The primary demand is "execute justice between a man and his fellow," and certainly and all the more so that you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow; and even more so that you do not shed innocent blood; and all the more so that you do not walk after other gods - for if you commit these acts, it is entirely contrary to everything stated at the outset.
The Question of the Order - and the Principle of "Ayelet HaShachar"
There is a difficulty here, which the Malbim himself raises in his "Be'ur HaMilot": the order is very perplexing. The rule is that when Scripture enumerates several things, it proceeds from the lighter to the more severe. We do not talk about a person by saying he was accused of murder and also received a parking ticket; rather, we start with the parking ticket, add that his construction project was halted, that he was caught stealing, and on top of that, he was accused of murder. Yet here, seemingly, the order is reversed: first, "if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his fellow" - a high level of righteousness - and then it descends to "do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow", and drops further to "and do not shed innocent blood" - murder, and finally "nor walk after other gods" - idolatry.
The Malbim resolves this based on his work Ayelet HaShachar, a book of principles of biblical grammar and style, in rule 201: sometimes Scripture reverses the order according to cause and effect. That is, it arranges things according to what leads to what. For example: "You shall not steal, neither deal falsely" - theft leads to denial, even though denial under oath is more severe than theft. Similarly in Yehoshua: "That you come not among these nations... neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them" - coming among the nations leads to mentioning the names of their gods, and mentioning them leads to swearing by them, which is even more severe. So too here: the prophet tells them to improve their ways and deeds, and it goes without saying that you must not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, and all the more so you must not shed innocent blood, and certainly you must not worship other gods - rather, follow the upright path, and then "I will cause you to dwell in this place."
And the Vilna Gaon explains the phrase "in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever": I gave it to you from the days of Avraham forever - provided that you follow the way of Hashem. But if you stray from the way of Hashem, there is no guarantee here that the land will remain yours forever; rather, as the prophet constantly warns, God forbid, they will be exiled from it.
Trusting in a Lie That Offers No Benefit
(ח) הִנֵּה אַתֶּם בֹּטְחִים לָכֶם עַל־דִּבְרֵי הַשָּׁקֶר לְבִלְתִּי הוֹעִיל׃ - "Behold, you trust in lying words, that cannot profit."
The Malbim highlights a keen insight: sometimes a person relies on a lie for personal gain - at least he gains something from it. Someone tells him: "Go steal and you will receive such and such." It is indeed a transgression, but at least he gained something. But to trust in a lie that holds no benefit whatsoever - what did you gain? You have neither benefit nor truth; you are left with nothing at all. And this is what the prophet says: you see with your own eyes that there is no benefit in these words, yet you still continue to trust in them.
And what is the plain understanding of this? After all, they were not foolish people. Rather, when a person trusts in false words, it is because he realizes that by doing so he can continue doing as he pleases. For if I accept the prophet's words, I will have to mend my ways, cease pursuing lusts, physical desires, and pleasures - and even idolatry was a form of desire, something people ran after. Therefore, he prefers to trust in a lie even when it yields no benefit at all, so long as he does not have to change his ways.
"And Say: We Are Delivered" - The Temple as a License to Keep Sinning
(ט) הֲגָנֹב רָצֹחַ וְנָאֹף וְהִשָּׁבֵעַ לַשֶּׁקֶר וְקַטֵּר לַבָּעַל וְהָלֹךְ אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יְדַעְתֶּם׃ - "Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to the Baal, and walk after other gods whom you have not known?"
(י) וּבָאתֶם וַעֲמַדְתֶּם לְפָנַי בַּבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר נִקְרָא־שְׁמִי עָלָיו וַאֲמַרְתֶּם נִצַּלְנוּ לְמַעַן עֲשׂוֹת אֵת כׇּל־הַתּוֹעֵבוֹת הָאֵלֶּה׃ - "And then come and stand before Me in this house whereupon My Name is called, and say: 'We are delivered,' so that you may do all these abominations?"
The prophet rebukes them, as the Malbim explains: Do you think you can persist in transgressions - stealing, murdering, committing adultery, swearing falsely, burning incense to Baal, walking after other gods - and then come and stand in the House called by My Name and say, "We are delivered; punishment will not overtake us and no harm will befall us"? There are two mistaken assumptions here: first, that whoever comes to My House is like one who enters a city of refuge, and I will shield him; and second, that I will not destroy the House because My Name is associated with it - for would Hashem destroy a House upon which His Name is called?
Furthermore, you are not coming to the House to repent, but rather to return and commit evil. Thus, the House is not a place of drawing near to God, but a place that serves as cover to continue sinning. Had you come to repent, there would be meaning to the existence of the Beit HaMikdash, which is a place that awakens the heart. But if a person comes merely to receive backing for his wrongdoing, saying, "I was in the Beit HaMikdash, I offered a sacrifice, everything is settled" - that is the very opposite of its purpose.
This is like the story of someone who went to a priest for confession. After finishing his confession, the priest told him, "That will be one hundred shekels." The man said, "I only have a two-hundred bill." The priest replied, "Never mind, let that cover next week as well." In other words: keep sinning, you have an open account for the whole week; you have already confessed in advance for what you are going to commit! And so were they: Do you think I need a tax? That by paying a tax and bringing a sacrifice, it allows you to carry on? You rely on the merit of the Temple to continue committing all these abominations, so that not only do you believe you have obtained forgiveness for the past, but even credit for the future - and that is the meaning of "in order to perform all these abominations." A person permits himself to continue in his corruption, saying: What can He have against me? After all, I went to the Beis HaMikdash, I even offered a sacrifice! It is as if he seeks to appease the Holy One, blessed be He - lehavdil, like the concept of the scapegoat meant to silence the Accuser. For this, the prophet rebukes them, demonstrating that this is an utmost severe matter.
A Den of Bandits
(יא) הַמְעָרַת פָּרִצִים הָיָה הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר־נִקְרָא־שְׁמִי עָלָיו בְּעֵינֵיכֶם גַּם אָנֹכִי הִנֵּה רָאִיתִי נְאֻם־ה'׃ - Has this House, which is called by My Name, become a den of bandits in your eyes? Behold, I too have seen it, says Hashem.
The Malbim explains: You consider My House to be like a den of bandits, who hide inside it so they will not be caught, and through the House you ostensibly conceal your evil deeds. Radak elaborates: It is the way of bandits, when committing their crimes, to gather together outside the city in a cave to hide from people. Robbers and the underworld have always had a cave or a cabin in the woods where they assemble to divide the loot and plot their schemes. Says the Holy One, blessed be He: My House has become like a den of bandits - a place that hides the robber from his pursuers. Your sins cause you to be pursued, and you flee to the Beis HaMikdash as a refuge from justice.
Furthermore: In your eyes, anyone you see prostrating in this House is immediately considered a righteous man - "I saw how he swayed there, the doorposts shook, his prayer rocked the heavens!" But his abominations are hidden from your eyes. Says the Holy One, blessed be He: Even though it is concealed from your eyes, "Behold, I too have seen it" - I know all secrets, and who can hide from Me? "Can a man hide in secret places and I not see him?" What is not revealed to your eyes is revealed before Me. If so, if you think that despite all this I will not destroy the House - you are completely mistaken.
Go Now to Shiloh
(יב) כִּי לְכוּ־נָא אֶל־מְקוֹמִי אֲשֶׁר בְּשִׁילוֹ אֲשֶׁר שִׁכַּנְתִּי שְׁמִי שָׁם בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה וּרְאוּ אֵת אֲשֶׁר־עָשִׂיתִי לוֹ מִפְּנֵי רָעַת עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - For go now to My place that was in Shiloh, where I initially caused My Name to dwell, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
Go to My place in Shiloh, where I initially caused My Name to dwell - and I destroyed it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. Radak adds: Even the Ark was exiled from there and fell into the hands of the Philistines. And if there the Holy One, blessed be He, was not concerned, so to speak, for His own honor - all the more so this House. Radak highlights an intriguing point: "And all the more so this House, which is the second, for it does not possess the same permanence as the first." We might have thought that Shlomo's Temple was the permanent one, but the Holy One, blessed be He, says: No. A proof for this comes from the wording itself: Regarding Shiloh it says, "where I caused My Name to dwell," whereas regarding the Beis HaMikdash it says, "which is called by My Name" - and that is a lower level. "Called by My Name" implies that My Name does not dwell in it, but is merely called upon it, for the Shechinah had already departed. Yet in Shiloh, where I truly caused My Name to dwell - even so, I destroyed it. Do you imagine that you have an insurance policy on this House?
"Speaking Early and Often" and "I Called" - The Shechinah That Withdrew
(יג) וְעַתָּה יַעַן עֲשׂוֹתְכֶם אֶת־כׇּל־הַמַּעֲשִׂים הָאֵלֶּה נְאֻם־ה' וָאֲדַבֵּר אֲלֵיכֶם הַשְׁכֵּם וְדַבֵּר וְלֹא שְׁמַעְתֶּם וָאֶקְרָא אֶתְכֶם וְלֹא עֲנִיתֶם׃ - And now, because you have done all these deeds, says Hashem, and I spoke to you, rising early and speaking, but you did not listen, and I called you, but you did not answer.
Now your sin is greater than that of the people of Shiloh in several respects. First, you should have learned from Shiloh - a person is expected to draw conclusions from history, yet you did not learn. Second, "because you have done all these deeds": stealing, murdering, and the like - crimes that were not present in Shiloh back then, and for less than that I destroyed the place; all the more so for your deeds! Third, "and I spoke to you, rising early and speaking" - this too did not happen in Shiloh, where prophets did not come repeatedly to rebuke them. If so, why do you not draw conclusions?
The Malbim notes a precise distinction: What is the difference between "speaking" (לדבר) and "calling" (לקרוא)? Speaking is done up close, while calling is from afar - shouting to someone standing at a distance. Initially, "I spoke to you, rising early and speaking," for My Shechinah was still resting in the House; but as a result of these terrible deeds, the Shechinah withdrew, and therefore now "I called you" - I am already calling to you from afar, for My Shechinah is no longer there. As the Gemara relates: The Shechinah traveled ten journeys - from the Kapores to the Cherub, from the Cherub to the threshold of the House, and so forth. The Shechinah progressively drew further away, and at a certain point, speaking became calling.
(יד) וְעָשִׂיתִי לַבַּיִת אֲשֶׁר נִקְרָא־שְׁמִי עָלָיו אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם בֹּטְחִים בּוֹ וְלַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר־נָתַתִּי לָכֶם וְלַאֲבוֹתֵיכֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי לְשִׁלוֹ׃ - "Therefore I will do to the House that is called by My Name, in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh."
And why will Hashem punish the House? The verse itself provides the reason: "in which you trust." The House itself has become your false assurance to keep committing sins; it is upon it that you rely in order to continue corrupting your ways.
We find something similar with Moshe Rabbeinu when he said, "Erase me, please, from Your book which You have written." There is a parable, seemingly from a Midrash or later commentators: A king's son repeatedly misbehaved, and the royal tutor would go to the king each time to appease his anger. Time and again this happened. At a certain point, when the son committed a very grave offense, the tutor came to the king and said: "My lord the king, you must dismiss me." The king asked him: "Why?" He answered: "Because your son permits himself to do whatever he pleases, knowing there is someone who will appease his father. But the moment I am no longer here, the prince will realize there is no one left to smooth things over and repair the damage, and he will draw the proper conclusions." So too said Moshe Rabbeinu: Master of the Universe, erase me, please - they rely on me to appease You, and therefore permit themselves even grave sins; if You erase me, they will no longer allow themselves to act so corruptly.
So it is here as well: Why will I destroy the House? Because it has become, as it were, the pretext - "in which you trust," thinking it is the Temple of Hashem, and Hashem would never destroy His own House; emboldened by this, you permit yourselves to do evil. And what is meant by "and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers"? This refers to the entire Land of Israel, for the prophecy here speaks not only of the Temple, but of the land as a whole.
(טו) וְהִשְׁלַכְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מֵעַל פָּנָי כַּאֲשֶׁר הִשְׁלַכְתִּי אֶת־כׇּל־אֲחֵיכֶם אֵת כׇּל־זֶרַע אֶפְרָיִם׃ - "And I will cast you out from before My face, just as I cast out all your brothers, the entire seed of Ephraim."
"And I will cast you out from before My face" - this refers to exile, just as I exiled the Ten Tribes. Radak asks: Why does the verse call them "Ephraim"? Because when the kingdom divided in the era of Shlomo, it broke away under the head of the tribe of Ephraim - Yarovam ben Nevat was from Ephraim. From then on, the Ten Tribes were commonly referred to as "Ephraim": "I have surely heard Ephraim grieving," "Is Ephraim My precious son?" Even though ten tribes were involved, and even though kings from other tribes reigned in later generations, the name remained after the original leader.
This is a fascinating phenomenon, for even today, the name of the company that first introduced a particular product often sticks to it permanently: in Israel, people call any cellular phone a "Pelephone," which is the name of a company; a refrigerator was long called a "Frigidaire," which is a brand name rather than the generic term for the appliance; and a hardware store is called a "Tambour," after the paint brand rather than the store itself. Since the first one bore that name, people continue using it indefinitely.
"Do Not Pray for This People"
(טז) וְאַתָּה אַל־תִּתְפַּלֵּל בְּעַד־הָעָם הַזֶּה וְאַל־תִּשָּׂא בַעֲדָם רִנָּה וּתְפִלָּה וְאַל־תִּפְגַּע־בִּי כִּי־אֵינֶנִּי שֹׁמֵעַ אֹתָךְ׃ - "And as for you, do not pray for this people, do not lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not plead with Me, for I will not hear you."
The Malbim explains: I commanded you to stand at the gate of the House of Hashem, where they come to prostrate themselves, in order to rebuke them - but I did not command you to pray for them. Nor are you even to serve as their sheliach tzibbur (communal prayer leader). This is the progression of the verse: "Do not pray for this people" - your own personal prayer; "do not lift up a cry or prayer for them" - as a prayer leader, in the manner where the sheliach tzibbur chants aloud and the congregation responds after him; "and do not plead with Me" - do not ask that I act in your personal merit.
"And do not plead with Me [ve'al tifga bi]": This does not mean striking or harming, but is an expression of prayer, as in "and he encountered [vayifga] the place." The definition of pegiah, the Malbim explains, is when a person prays for himself and multiplies prayers, supplications, and entreaties to the point that, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot turn him away empty-handed due to the sheer intensity of the plea. When praying for someone else, the intent is that in his own merit Hashem will save his fellow, even if that fellow is undeserving. This is the meaning of "do not plead with Me" on their behalf: do not press in prayer that I save them in your merit.
"For I will not hear you" - the Malbim notes with precision: When the verb "to hear" is followed by the direct object marker et (otach), it indicates hearing the sound alone. The verse does not say "I will not listen to you" (lecha, meaning to grant your request), but "I will not hear you" - I will not even hear the sound of your voice. As it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will seal My ears, so to speak, so that I do not hear the sound of your prayer at all.
A Family Team Effort for Idolatry
(יז) הַאֵינְךָ רֹאֶה מָה הֵמָּה עֹשִׂים בְּעָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבְחֻצוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ - Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
There are two elements here. First, "what they are doing" - the act itself, deeds of the utmost severity. Second, the setting of the act: "in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem" - out in the open, in public, which makes the act far more severe and corrupted. These are not isolated individuals in hidden chambers, but the masses, acting publicly.
(יח) הַבָּנִים מְלַקְּטִים עֵצִים וְהָאָבוֹת מְבַעֲרִים אֶת־הָאֵשׁ וְהַנָּשִׁים לָשׁוֹת בָּצֵק לַעֲשׂוֹת כַּוָּנִים לִמְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהַסֵּךְ נְסָכִים לֵאלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים לְמַעַן הַכְעִסֵנִי׃ - The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make sacrificial cakes for the queen of heaven, and to pour libations to other gods, in order to anger Me.
See how dedicated they are to involving the masses in their transgressions. It is a team effort, mobilizing the entire family: the sons gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead. The Malbim notes that even a task that a single person could perform, such as preparing the cakes, they divided among the fathers, sons, and women, so that everyone would have a share in the act. And all this "in order to anger Me." Incidentally, there is a nice proof here from Scripture that children should not be allowed to handle fire: the children were sent only to gather wood, while the fathers kindled the fire.
What are kavanim? The Malbim explains that it refers to a form aligned with the queen of heaven. "Aligned" means corresponding to: this form corresponds to the sun, that one to the moon, another to a specific star. They would draw down forces from those celestial bodies and constellations, and to channel that force, they would fashion its likeness here on earth. Indeed, to this day in India and the Far East, there are those who engage with forces of impurity, including a type of sorcery known as voodoo: they take a doll in the likeness of a person and pierce it, and because they made an image aligned with him, they can harm him even from a distance. Forces of impurity do exist, and sorcery was capable of producing many effects. In this way, fashioning a form in the image and likeness of a higher spiritual entity creates an influence, so that spiritual reality, as it were, vests itself within that form, and through it, one could produce effects here below.
And why did they burn incense and pour libations to an idol they had just fashioned with their own hands - what purpose did it serve? Rather, the honor and veneration they accorded the form were themselves what generated the influence, allowing that higher entity, that spiritual force, to clothe itself in the physical form.
And what is the "queen of heaven" (melekhet hashamayim)? It comes from the root of ruling in heaven, and there are two explanations of this. One explanation in the Malbim is that if one seeks to identify the ruler over all the celestial bodies, the sun is without doubt the mightiest and greatest among them, which is why people strayed after the sun more than anything else. The worshippers of the sun would rise early in the morning, their backs to the Temple of Hashem and their faces to the east, and bow down to the sun. The sun is a mighty force, warming and life-giving, and was therefore seen in their eyes as a god, greater than the moon and the other stars. The Malbim adds that this was also the worship of Molech: they worshipped the sun through the service of Molech, and they recognized both a male Molech and a female Molech, as it is written in Amos 5: "Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun your images," and later in Yirmiyahu: "did we make her cakes to fashion her image" - showing that the queen of heaven is female in aspect.
Another explanation: melekhet hashamayim, although written without an aleph, can be read as mele'khet, from the word for craft (melakhah) or from the word for an angel and a mission (mal'akh). Either they were performing labor to worship it, or just as an angel is sent on the mission of the one who dispatched him, so too this celestial power goes forth, as it were, in the name of the Sender to govern the lower realms.
The Radak explains the verse as follows: all this teamwork - the sons gathering, the fathers kindling, the women kneading - was aimed at baking for the sake of idolatry. Rashi explains that kavanim refers to a mold in the shape of a star, while the Radak explains that kavanim are types of baked goods prepared and presented to the queen of heaven, similar to "did we make her cakes (kavanim)" and "Kiyyun your images" - all stemming from the concept of aligning with those powers. It is likely that this bread was prepared in a specific manner intended to align with those spiritual concepts and with that offering, focusing their hearts and minds to make and form them with precision. Just as, lehavdil a thousand separations, a woman bakes challah and says, "In honor of the Holy Shabbat" - so too would they declare, "In honor of the idol," all with intense devotion, as if truly for the sake of Heaven.
"Is It Me They Are Angering?" - No Change in the Creator
(יט) הַאֹתִי הֵם מַכְעִסִים נְאֻם־ה' הֲלוֹא אֹתָם לְמַעַן בֹּשֶׁת פְּנֵיהֶם׃ - "Is it Me they are angering?" says Hashem. "Is it not themselves, to the shame of their own faces?"
The Malbim asks: Do all these deeds not anger the Holy One, blessed be He? The answer is that Hashem is not affected. "Not affected" (lo yitpa'el) means that nothing acts upon Him. When a glass is broken, the glass is affected by the action; anything that is acted upon is passive and subject to change. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is never affected: it is impossible to perform any action that causes a change or a shift, as it were, in the Holy One, blessed be He.
And if you should ask: But do we not find anger attributed to Him, which would imply that Hashem is affected by human action? Rather, anger is not expressed within the Holy One, blessed be He, but in wrath that produces an impact - and the offender is harmed. If so, where did the effect take place? Within the sinner. In Hashem there was no change at all; within the sinner a change occurred, for he committed a sin and "horse and rider He cast into the sea." We express this in terms of anger because that is how the outcome appears to us: when someone is angry at you, you receive a slap, and therefore when we see Pharaoh getting struck, we say that Hashem was angry. But the Torah speaks in the language of human beings, and one must never think that any change or emotional reaction occurred within Him, blessed be He. This is the meaning of "Is it Me they are angering?" - is change conceivable in Me? "Is it not themselves?" - the practical outcome is theirs; they receive the anger, they are the ones affected by it, not Me; and all of it is "to their own shame," causing them humiliation and ruin.
And as the Radak explains: Their evil deeds do not harm Me, nor do their good deeds benefit Me. This is just as Elihu said to Iyov: "If you have sinned, what do you effect against Him? And if your transgressions multiply, what do you do to Him?" "Or what does He take from your hand?" "Your wickedness affects a man like yourself, and your righteousness a human being" - your wickedness hurts you, and your righteousness benefits you.
There is a parable that greatly helps in understanding this: imagine someone being told that in Africa there is a colony of ants, millions of ants, in whose eyes he is god; they bow to him, serve him, and pray to him all day. Would he be filled with pride? "Look how many ants respect me"? It is absurd even to contemplate. What does it matter whether ants revere him or not? In a single step he could crush a million of them. Now consider: the relationship between us and ants is far closer than the relationship between the Holy One, blessed be He, and us, for between Him and us there is no proportion whatsoever. How foolish, then, are those who think that performing a mitzvah gives something, as it were, to the Holy One, blessed be He. If you performed it - you did so for yourself; and if you failed to perform it - you harmed only yourself.
And whoever becomes angry with the Holy One, blessed be He, and acts against Him is like someone who gets angry with his friend and starts drilling a hole in the ship. Fool, you yourself are on the ship, why are you drilling? Just because he upset you, will you put a bullet through your own head? When a person acts contrary to Hashem's command out of anger, he acts solely against himself. Perform mitzvot, and it gives Him, blessed be He, nothing; commit transgressions, and it takes nothing away from Him. The entire outcome is for you alone. What foolishness, what shortsightedness, and what a total lack of understanding of Hashem's providence there is in such behavior.
My Anger and My Wrath Shall Be Poured Out
(כ) לָכֵן כֹּה־אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱ־הֹוִה הִנֵּה אַפִּי וַחֲמָתִי נִתֶּכֶת אֶל־הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה עַל־הָאָדָם וְעַל־הַבְּהֵמָה וְעַל־עֵץ הַשָּׂדֶה וְעַל־פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה וּבָעֲרָה וְלֹא תִכְבֶּה׃ - Therefore, so said the Lord Hashem: Behold, My anger and My wrath shall be poured out upon this place, upon man and upon beast, and upon the tree of the field and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn and not be quenched.
The result of these matters is anger toward them and shame upon them. "Poured out" (nitekhet) means spilled, from the idea of emptying and melting down, as in "and My wrath and My anger were poured out." Through this, this place will be destroyed, and everything in it - man, beast, vegetation, the fruit of the tree, and the fruit of the ground - will perish, and the fire will burn continuously and not be quenched.
The Malbim notes precisely: When a person is ill, medicine is brought to him, and medicine is made from a concoction of roots, herbs, and plants. Here, since the fury will fall upon the vegetation as well, causing it to rot, man and beast will consequently perish for lack of any remedy. One might ask: Why would we care about the vegetation once man has already perished? Rather, at the onset of destruction, at the onset of illness, vegetation could still serve as a cure; but since the vegetation is also destroyed, no cure will be found at all - and therefore "it shall burn and not be quenched."
In summary:
The prophet was sent specifically to stand at the gate of the House of Hashem, addressing those coming to prostrate themselves and offer sacrifices, in order to uproot at the source their false confidence: "The Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem are they." The Temple is not an end in itself, but an outcome; good deeds are the prerequisite, and "the Temple of Hashem are they" - man himself, through the rectification of his ways, becomes a dwelling place for the Shechinah. When the Temple becomes a den of brigands, a place providing cover for the continuation of abominations, there is no salvation in it; on the contrary, it itself becomes the reason for retribution - "in which you trust." And Shiloh proves that stones carry no insurance policy. Above all, the chapter teaches us a monumental principle: "Is it Me they are angering... Is it not themselves?" - our deeds effect nothing in the Creator, blessed be He; all the anger and all the damage rebound upon man himself. Consequently, the mitzvot a person performs - he performs for himself, and the sins he commits - he harms only himself.