Introduction
Chapter 14 in Yirmiyahu is a chapter of drought: a severe withholding of rain strikes Judah, and with it sword, famine, and pestilence. In this part of the chapter, we enter the heart of the confrontation: the Holy One, Blessed be He, forbids Yirmiyahu from praying for the people's welfare; Yirmiyahu attempts to plead their case with the argument that the false prophets misled them; and the Holy One, Blessed be He, rejects this claim, exposing the true nature of those prophets. From there, the text moves to a description of the catastrophe, to the prophets and priests who turned Torah and prophecy into merchandise, and to Yirmiyahu's three prayers that conclude the chapter.
"Though They Fast, I Will Not Hear Their Cry" - When Calamity Comes Through Divine Providence
כִּי יָצֻמוּ אֵינֶנִּי שֹׁמֵעַ אֶל רִנָּתָם, וְכִי יַעֲלוּ עֹלָה וּמִנְחָה אֵינֶנִּי רֹצָם, כִּי בַּחֶרֶב וּבָרָעָב וּבַדֶּבֶר אָנֹכִי מְכַלֶּה אוֹתָם. - Though they fast, I will not hear their cry; and though they offer an olah-offering and a meal-offering, I will not accept them favorably; for by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence I will consume them.
The Holy One, Blessed be He, says to him: neither fasting nor sacrifices will avail here. The reason is explicitly stated at the end of the verse: "For by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence I will consume them." This is not a state of hester panim (concealment of the Divine countenance), as Yirmiyahu assumed - in which case there would be room to pray for goodness; here the calamity comes through full Divine Providence, and therefore the only fitting prayer would have been that the calamity not come at all.
The Radak notes the phrasing: the verse should have said, "When they cry out, I will not hear their cry" - after all, they are fasting, not singing or crying out. Rather, their cry (*rinatam*) refers to their outcry, and from this we learn that there is no fast without prayer and an outcry. A fast without prayer and outcry is merely a diet; a genuine fast is accompanied by outcry and prayer, yet Hashem says: to the cry that accompanies the fast, I will not listen.
The Malbim adds that praise (*rinah*) precedes prayer (*tefillah*). First one sings praises, reciting songs of adoration and praising Hashem, and only then does one recite, "O Lord, open my lips," and stand to make requests. So too, "Do not heed on behalf of Your people song and prayer" - first song, and only then requests. Thus, "I will not hear their cry (*rinatam*)" conveys something even stronger: not only will I not listen to their prayer, but I will not even listen to the introductory portion preceding the prayer, to the praise itself. Similarly, "And though they offer an olah-offering and a meal-offering, I will not accept them favorably" - the burnt-offering and meal-offering will find no favor before Me, for by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence I will consume them, through full Divine Providence.
Yirmiyahu's Plea: The False Prophets Misled Them
וָאֹמַר אֲהָהּ אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה, הִנֵּה הַנְּבִאִים אֹמְרִים לָהֶם לֹא תִרְאוּ חֶרֶב וְרָעָב לֹא יִהְיֶה לָכֶם, כִּי שְׁלוֹם אֱמֶת אֶתֵּן לָכֶם בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה. - Then I said: Ah, Lord Hashem! Behold, the prophets say to them, "You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine, for I will give you assured peace in this place."
Yirmiyahu replies: Master of the Universe, You are punishing them through direct Providence? That would be just if they were actively rebelling against You and sinning to provoke You. But the false prophets tell them, "You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine" - they are not acting willfully, but are misled, and it would be fitting to have pity and mercy upon them. "Assured peace" (*shalom emet*) means an enduring peace.
We have already discussed many times that the false prophets were very popular. Who likes to hear apocalyptic prophecies? Who wants to hear about approaching disasters? People prefer to hear about good things that are to come, that Hashem will return the vessels of the Beis HaMikdash, and that the enemies will depart and do us no harm. The media of that day promoted precisely these prophecies, just like today: matters of spiritual awakening and devotion are not broadcast in the media, whereas the opposite is aired constantly. And this is Yirmiyahu's plea: How are the people to blame, if this is all they ever hear, with the false prophets reassuring them and promising, "I will give you assured peace in this place"?
"The Prophets Prophesy Lies in My Name"
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֵלַי: שֶׁקֶר הַנְּבִאִים נִבְּאִים בִּשְׁמִי, לֹא שְׁלַחְתִּים וְלֹא צִוִּיתִים וְלֹא דִבַּרְתִּי אֲלֵיהֶם, חֲזוֹן שֶׁקֶר וְקֶסֶם וֶאֱלִיל וְתַרְמִית לִבָּם הֵמָּה מִתְנַבְּאִים לָכֶם. - And the Lord said to me: The prophets prophesy lies in My name; I have not sent them, nor have I commanded them, nor have I spoken to them. They prophesy to you a false vision, divination, futility, and the deceit of their heart.
The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: They have not seen a vision at all. Even though they claim to have seen one and that Hashem appeared to them, it is a lie. "Divination" (kesem): the Rambam explains that there are individuals whose rational faculty is overwhelmed by their imaginative faculty to the point that they speak out of pure imagination, and often there is an element of truth in their words - sometimes true and sometimes not. The Ramban writes that there are people who know future events and are called kahin (an Aramaic form of kohen), a phenomenon recognized among the nations as well; this is discussed in the teachings on dreams, in the section dealing with fortune-tellers, dream-interpreters, and charlatans of various kinds. The Ramban explains that there are individuals who occasionally have the ability to foretell the future, yet this does not come from holiness, but from the forces of impurity (kelipot). They may carry titles reminiscent of religious leaders, but in truth they have no connection to the Jewish faith, and often to no religion at all - except perhaps the religion of money, in which they believe wholeheartedly. One should pay no heed to their words, for even if they hit upon the truth now and then, there is no real substance or validity to it.
Today, they are all charlatans; nowadays, not even a kahin exists. They simply detect what you are thinking, what you expect, and what you wish to hear. They pick it up from you as you speak, reading between the lines, and then declare things to you with absolute conviction - leaving you convinced that the person had prior knowledge about you, when in fact he gathered it all from you. Sometimes he takes a shot in the dark and hits the mark, and sometimes he misses (though in truth he always strikes a blow - everyone who walks into his door ends up harmed). A single lucky guess is enough for people to run and tell all their aunts and uncles that the "baba" knew and spoke with exact precision, and that things unfolded just as he said. Such people have always existed: "A false vision, divination, futility, and the deceit of their heart."
The Radak adds another explanation for kesem: an astrologer was also called a kosem. Elil (futility) means something that has no existence, related to al and lo ("nothing" or "not") - something devoid of substance. They tell you, "It will not happen," but Hashem says: there is no substance to their words, for there will truly be famine and sword. And "the deceit of their heart" means one should not think that the false prophet at least believes what he is saying; he knows in advance that he is lying. The deceit resides in his heart, and with that deliberate intent he comes and spins his tales.
From here, the Holy One, blessed be He, answers Yirmiyahu: Why do they believe the false prophets when they have true prophets? They have someone whose words have been thoroughly tested, like Yirmiyahu. After all, no prophet was ever accepted unless he was first put to the test: they would question him and ask him to predict future events, and once his words proved true, they would accept him, until he was established as an authenticated prophet throughout all of Israel. These prophets, by contrast, were never established as prophets at all, so why on earth do the people believe them?
The Malbim explains the threefold expression: "I have not sent them" - on a mission to the people; "nor have I commanded them" - to perform any action; "nor have I spoken to them" - not even ordinary speech, not even incidentally, not even once. Everything they utter is a false vision, a deceptive prophecy, divination based on astrology or lots, an illusion of no substance, and the deceit of their heart - for they know they are deceiving others and inventing things from their own minds. The Malbim adds: the standard progression is speech, command, and mission, as in "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go" - Hashem speaks, then commands, and then sends on a mission, with mere speech being less significant than a command. But here, in the negative, the order is reversed: I certainly did not send them, nor did I even command them, nor did I speak to them at all. Therefore, the verse progresses from the most severe to the least.
A Double Punishment for the False Prophets
לָכֵן כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה עַל הַנְּבִאִים הַנִּבְּאִים בִּשְׁמִי וַאֲנִי לֹא שְׁלַחְתִּים, וְהֵמָּה אֹמְרִים חֶרֶב וְרָעָב לֹא יִהְיֶה בָּאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת, בַּחֶרֶב וּבָרָעָב יִתַּמּוּ הַנְּבִאִים הָהֵמָּה. - Therefore thus said the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name though I did not send them, and who say: Sword and famine shall not be in this land; by the sword and by famine shall those prophets be consumed.
A double punishment is due to them. First: they prophesied in My name though I did not send them. Even if someone were to prophesy in order to uphold the words of the Torah, one who prophesies falsely is liable to the death penalty. If someone were to come along and claim that Hashem told him that everyone must study Torah tomorrow for four consecutive hours without interruption, and he turns out to be a false prophet, he is put to death. On the surface, he suggested something positive - if only everyone would learn tomorrow for four hours straight! Yet the fact remains: you claimed "Hashem spoke to me" when He did not speak to you, period. The mere status of being a false prophet incurs the death penalty. Here, the transgression is doubly severe, for he does not even come to tell them to perform a mitzvah; rather, he encourages them in sin, misleading the people so that they do not listen to the true prophets and continue in their crooked ways. There are two sins here: prophesying in Hashem's name what was never spoken to him, and actively inciting the people to sin. Therefore, "by the sword and by famine shall those prophets be consumed."
The People Are Not Absolved: "And the People to Whom They Prophesy"
וְהָעָם אֲשֶׁר הֵמָּה נִבְּאִים לָהֶם יִהְיוּ מֻשְׁלָכִים בְּחֻצוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם מִפְּנֵי הָרָעָב וְהַחֶרֶב וְאֵין מְקַבֵּר לָהֵמָּה, הֵמָּה נְשֵׁיהֶם וּבְנֵיהֶם וּבְנֹתֵיהֶם, וְשָׁפַכְתִּי עֲלֵיהֶם אֶת רָעָתָם. - And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, with no one to bury them - them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters; and I will pour out their evil upon them.
The Radak explains: even though the false prophets misled them, the people were still obligated to examine and distinguish between truth and falsehood, and the matter was readily testable. The true prophets told them to fulfill the word of Hashem, while the false prophets steered them in the exact opposite direction. Even if a prophet had been established as a true prophet for many years, were he to come one day and instruct them to stop fulfilling a mitzvah, let alone to commit a sin, the Torah forbids listening to him: "You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams," for "Hashem your God is testing you," and concerning him it is said, "He shall be put to death, because he spoke perversely." If so, when there are prophets speaking in Hashem's name who urge you to serve Hashem, and other prophets telling you the exact opposite, the claim that the false prophets misled them is no excuse; it is merely hiding behind a pretext. Truth and falsehood were clear and evident to all, so how could you turn away from truth to falsehood?
Therefore, the punishment also includes the denial of burial, in addition to suffering and death. And why are the women and children also punished? The Radak explains: the women were more receptive to the words of falsehood than the men - women are generally more easily swayed: "that rabbi said so," "that holy man said so," and they buy into these charlatans more readily. And the young sons and daughters are punished for the iniquity of their parents. Therefore, they will pay the full price, as the excuse "they prophesied to us" is no excuse; they should have distinguished between genuine techelet and counterfeit dye (kala ilan).
The Malbim notes a precision in the order: regarding the prophets it says, "by sword and by famine they shall be consumed" - the sword precedes the famine; while regarding the people it says, "because of the famine and the sword" - the famine precedes the sword. The explanation is that death by famine is harsher than death by the sword, as Scripture states explicitly: "Better off were the slain of the sword than the slain of famine, for they pine away, stricken." A casualty of the sword is pierced and dies on the spot, whereas a casualty of famine dies through agonizing, terrible suffering.
One of the great masters of Mussar once added a conceptual reason as to why victims of famine suffer more than victims of the sword. Beyond the physical ordeal, consider what happens to a person wasting away from starvation: what surfaces in his mind in those final moments? Food, a cold drink. How tragic it is that in the final moments before a person's soul departs to the spiritual realm, his entire focus is immersed in food and drink, in the height of physical desire. Instead of occupying himself with repentance, Vidui, Shema, and the unification of Hashem's Name, his entire thought is: "If only I had something to drink, if only I had something to eat." This in itself makes death by famine the most agonizing death of all - and even aside from this, the sheer physical agony of starvation is excruciating.
Therefore, when he says "they shall be consumed," he places the sword before famine: not only will there be a sword, but famine as well. However, regarding their bodies being cast out without burial, he places famine before the sword, because famine strikes first, and alongside the famine comes the enemy's sword, which prevents them from burying the dead. Typically, the denial of burial resulted from the enemies refusing to allow the dead to be buried - just as we see in contemporary times, where every release of a body turns a funeral into a mass demonstration. In the same way, the nations feared that gathering for a burial would turn into a rally and an uprising, which is why victims executed by the kingdom were left unburied. Thus, the first stage was the famine, and the second stage was the enemy's sword that prevented burial.
"Let my eyes run down with tears" - The Prophet Shares in the Pain
וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵיהֶם אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה: תֵּרַדְנָה עֵינַי דִּמְעָה לַיְלָה וְיוֹמָם וְאַל תִּדְמֶינָה, כִּי שֶׁבֶר גָּדוֹל נִשְׁבְּרָה בְּתוּלַת בַּת עַמִּי, מַכָּה נַחְלָה מְאֹד. - And you shall say to them this word: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been broken with a great breach, a very severe blow.
Hashem says to Yirmiyahu: tell them that you weep and grieve over their ruin. What I see coming upon you is a most grievous blow; it gives me no rest, and I do not cease weeping over the calamity destined to befall you. "And let them not cease [ve-al tidmena]" - from the root of silence (dumiyah), meaning your eyes will not rest from weeping. And perhaps this display of sorrow will move them to repent.
"The virgin daughter of my people" - the Radak explains: until she goes into exile, she is like a maiden who has known no man and over whom no one has ruled; but when she is exiled, the nations will rule over her, and she will be subjugated to them like a maiden who has been violated. Until now, no foreign hand has dominated her, but now she has been shattered with a great breach, and enemies will exercise absolute dominion over her. "A very severe blow [makkah nachlah me'od]" - an affliction of great sickness.
The Malbim emphasizes that the Holy One, Blessed be He, commands Yirmiyahu here to share in their pain, so that he does not deliver these words merely as an indifferent spectator. "For the virgin daughter of my people has been broken with a great breach" - this is the external fracture; "accompanied by a very severe blow" - this is the internal wound. And now he details both of them.
"If I go out into the field" - Surrounded on Every Side
אִם יָצָאתִי הַשָּׂדֶה וְהִנֵּה חַלְלֵי חֶרֶב, וְאִם בָּאתִי הָעִיר וְהִנֵּה תַּחֲלוּאֵי רָעָב, כִּי גַם נָבִיא גַם כֹּהֵן סָחֲרוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ וְלֹא יָדָעוּ. - If I go out into the field, behold, those slain by the sword! And if I enter the city, behold, the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest have wandered about into a land they knew not.
The Malbim explains: the famine was inside the city, and as the Gemara says, "When there is famine in the city, scatter your feet" - leave and go outside. So I went out into the field, but the situation there is no better, for outside lie the slain of the sword. And if I come back into the city to escape the sword, behold, the diseases of famine. Thus, battle confronts us front and rear, and famine and the sword surround us on every side. This is the external fracture.
"Both Prophet and Priest Have Wandered to a Land" - The Internal Blow
In addition, there is a very grievous blow, an internal blow: "Both prophet and priest have wandered to a land they knew not." Rashi explains that sacharu means they circled about seeking rescue, as in Lashon HaKodesh from the phrase sechor sechor (circling around). This is also the origin of the word socher (merchant), since a merchant travels around from town to town. Similarly, a talebearer is called holech rachil, related to rochel (a peddler) who travels around the towns, with rachil derived from ragil, meaning feet (raglayim), walking on foot and wandering. So too, both the prophet and the priest will wander around to another land unfamiliar to them, finding neither salvation nor comfort.
Radak explains that "prophet" here refers to a false prophet, while "priest" refers to the genuine priests of the time, for among the Kohanim there were also corrupt individuals. As we recall, Yirmiyahu was from Anatot, a city of Kohanim, yet they persecuted him there and sought to kill him, as Hashem told him, "For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you," despite being Kohanim. According to Radak, sacharu el eretz does not mean they wandered about seeking rescue, but rather that they went wandering into exile, to a land they did not know. Radak adds that this may also refer to prominent figures, for the craftsmen and smiths (charash ve-hamasger) were exiled with Yehoyachin - these were the leading Torah scholars - and they too wandered off into exile. Why is it termed sacharu; did they not walk straight? Radak answers: There is no straight road; someone traveling a long distance must take winding paths, through mountains, hills, and cities, so it is fitting to say sacharu, as one inevitably takes roundabout routes.
The Malbim offers an original interpretation: Sacharu el eretz - they engaged in commerce (sechorah), like a merchant selling his wares for monetary gain. They sold Torah and prophecy for money! "And they did not know" - they did not consider what their end would be. Frightening and terrible: they treated prophecy and Torah as mere commerce, not for the sake of Torah study, not to bring merit to the public, and not for the service of Hashem. "You want me to prophesy for you? Pay me properly. Not enough? Pay more, and now I will prophesy for you." This implies that even the Torah leadership made the Torah a spade to dig with, treating it like merchants.
This calls to mind a story about one of the great figures of Israel who was a hidden tzaddik. A cattle dealer would often visit him to ask about cattle, and with his holy spirit, the tzaddik would tell him which animal was a treifah and which was completely glatt kosher without any adhesions (sircha). Once a week, on market day, the dealer would take him for ten minutes or half an hour, and the tzaddik would point out which animals to buy. In return, the merchant supplied the tzaddik with food, meat, and provisions. Other butchers began to whisper about this butcher: How could it be that this man had been slaughtering for two months without a single treifah leaving his hand, without an adhesion or any blemish? Surely he must be selling non-kosher meat! The town rabbi summoned him to investigate, and the butcher revealed in secret that he had a "scanner" - a tzaddik who scanned each animal like an MRI and immediately knew kosher from treif. The rabbi summoned the tzaddik and said: "I have heard what you are doing, and I deeply respect your greatness and righteousness; nevertheless, 'It is the glory of God to conceal a matter' (Mishlei 25:2). One must not use spiritual powers for mundane affairs, telling someone which animal to buy." From then on the tzaddik stopped, and the butcher returned to the normal statistics of treifot and blemishes. This teaches that it is unfitting to take holy things and use them for commercial interests - and although the tzaddik's intention was for the sake of Heaven, simply to sustain himself so he could immerse in Torah study, we see that it was deemed flawed. How much more so those who sold Torah and prophecy for money, giving no thought to what their end would be!
There was once an educator who gave Torah classes and charged a fee: whoever wanted to listen had to pay. When challenged: "How can this be? You have a precious opportunity to bring merit to the public; your classes should be disseminated everywhere! For every person who listens to you, you should be paying them, for they are granting you the merit of another person hearing Torah! And what does charging a fee accomplish? People simply will not listen, thinking, 'Who pays for Torah today? Everything is accessible for free.' Instead of ten thousand people listening, only two hundred who were willing to pay will hear." His reply was, "Where I grew up, earning a livelihood is not considered a dirty word." But how much of a living can one really make from people paying to hear a shiur? Can one marry off children from that? Rather than engaging in an undignified dispute, the lesson is clear: this is precisely what the prophet is lamenting. One must teach the people Torah and give it freely, yet some turn around and sell it. Every Jew who studies one's Torah should be a cause for boundless joy.
Someone once asked a popular lecturer: "Rabbi, how much does Hidabroot pay you?" When he answered that he pays them nothing, the inquirer clarified: "No, I meant how much do they pay you?" The response was telling: "What are you talking about? They pay me? I should be paying them! When else would one have the opportunity to speak before two hundred thousand people? When a person is given a platform to speak, he receives a priceless privilege - to address thousands and tens of thousands, and to bring merit to so many people." In the past, such an opportunity did not exist; today, through modern media, a person can bring merit to vast numbers of people with very little effort. To turn even that into commerce? Suppose one were paid a thousand shekels - can that possibly compare to ten more people hearing the words? Can that compare to the merit one has been granted? When one calculates the true value, the loss is staggering. As the Malbim puts it: like a merchant who sells his wares for financial gain. The prophets and Torah teachers sought ways to sell the Torah, instead of valuing it and granting it freely.
Let us conclude with the interpretation of Targum Yonatan, who explains the verse according to its plain meaning: every man went to engage in his own commerce. Instead of attending to the welfare of the people and their spiritual growth, each person abandoned the people to tend to his business. "And they did not know" - they did not consider what their ultimate end would be. Regarding this, Scripture says, "a very grievous blow," as the Malbim notes: because of this, the breach could not be healed, for there was no one to teach them Torah and no one to lead them in repentance.
"Have You Utterly Rejected Judah?" - The Third Prayer
הֲמָאֹס מָאַסְתָּ אֶת יְהוּדָה, אִם בְּצִיּוֹן גָּעֲלָה נַפְשֶׁךָ? מַדּוּעַ הִכִּיתָנוּ וְאֵין לָנוּ מַרְפֵּא? קַוֵּה לְשָׁלוֹם וְאֵין טוֹב, וּלְעֵת מַרְפֵּא וְהִנֵּה בְעָתָה. - "Have You utterly rejected Judah? Does Your soul loathe Zion? Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us? We hoped for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, and behold, terror!"
Rashi explains: Has Your soul loathed Zion so much that, as it were, You have resolved never to return to her, as if it were decreed that she has no healing left? Radak notes that although Hashem told the prophet, "Do not pray on behalf of this people," here the prophet prays once again - for the prohibition applied to the community as a whole, whereas the prophet understood that one may still pray for a portion of the people. Therefore, "Does Your soul loathe Zion?" refers to the inhabitants of Zion. Until now he did not speak of the destruction of the Temple, but rather of the distress of the people dwelling in Zion: "You have stricken us" - with the blow of famine; "so that there is no healing" - there is no rain. "Hoped for peace" - grammatically an infinitive absolute, meaning that if we hope for peace with the surrounding nations so that we might approach them and purchase grain, securing sustenance even amidst the famine - "yet there is no good"; we see no good wherever we turn. "And behold, terror" - we are terrified; wherever we turn, we are gripped by fear. These very words already appeared earlier in the passage of Asof Asifem, the Haftarah of Tisha B'Av: "We hoped for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, and behold, terror!"
The Malbim explains that this is a third prayer. After Yirmiyahu heard that the Holy One, Blessed be He, shares in Israel's sorrow and does not reject them, he argues: Have You truly rejected Judah? Surely You still love them! Does Your soul loathe Zion? Surely Your Shechinah still rests in Zion! If so, if You have not rejected us and Your soul does not loathe Zion, why have You stricken us so that there is no healing?
Why It Matters That the Holy One, Blessed Be He, Prepares the Cure Before the Affliction
Here the Malbim explains a wonderful concept. There is a well-known saying that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, prepares the cure before the affliction. Many ask: What practical difference does this make? After all, if the remedy arrives immediately when needed, what does it matter whether it was prepared beforehand or not? The Malbim answers: The difference lies between one whose intent is to heal and one whose intent is to harm. One who comes to heal prepares the remedy before striking, whereas one who comes to harm does not. This is straightforward: when a surgeon performs an operation, he does not finish the surgery and only then start searching for needle and thread to stitch, or for medications and bandages; before the surgery begins, everything is already prepared. Thus, preparing the remedy before the blow proves that the entire intent of the blow is for healing, since the moment the strike ends, the remedies are at hand. Conversely, when the remedy is not prepared in advance, it indicates that the intent was simply to strike, and only afterward, once a problem has arisen, are remedies sought. The Malbim cites an example of bloodletting: the physician preparing to draw blood readies the instruments meant to heal the puncture wound even before making the incision.
The prophet therefore argues: If the blow that has befallen the Jewish people is through divine providence, from Hashem, so that they will repent - why have You struck us and there is no healing? Why did You not prepare the cure in advance? If this is truly for the good, the remedy should have been prepared beforehand, yet here we see a blow and no cure.
And if you say that this is not through providence - we have already discussed that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, can strike by way of abandoning us to the hands of nature, to the natural system. This is not direct providence; rather, the moment Hashem withdraws from us, we are naturally vulnerable to the blows and damages of nature. However, we explained that such an affliction has a major advantage: it depends on nature. There could be a scenario where, according to the natural system, no trouble is due at all, and then no trouble will come. Under direct providence, by contrast, the trouble will come in any event, since the Holy One, Blessed Be He, intends to punish. Yet there is also a downside: if, naturally speaking, it happens to be a time of disaster and distress, the Holy One, Blessed Be He, leaves us in nature's hands, does not intervene at all, and does not extract us from it, because there is no divine providence protecting us. Through this we explained what occurred with Eliyahu and Achav - that this was why the rains were withheld from them, even though the Torah states, "And the anger of Hashem will flare against you and He will shut up the heavens," because they were in such a degraded state that Hashem abandoned them to the hands of nature.
And from this perspective, the prophet comes and pleads: Master of the Universe, if the blow is by the hand of nature and through the concealment of the Divine face (hester panim), that would only make sense when nature dictates it, when according to nature there ought to be famine. Yet naturally speaking, it would be appropriate for there to be peace - so why is there "no good"? And naturally speaking, we would hope for a time of healing, for in nature there is a time for affliction and a time for recovery - yet "behold, terror!" It turns out that the blow makes no sense: not as a providential blow, for a cure should have preceded it; and not as a natural blow, for even in nature there comes a stage when the ordeal comes to an end. Yet here we are terrified from every side.
The Difference Between "Rejecting" and "Abhorring"
The Malbim analyzes the precision of the words: "Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul abhorred Zion?" Rejecting is the opposite of choosing, whereas abhorrence is the opposite of attachment and love. When one tells someone, "I reject you," it implies that one chooses another instead: the Holy One, Blessed Be He, rejected Shaul and chose David, as in "I have chosen you and not rejected you." In contrast, the opposite of abhorrence is attachment and love: "And I will place My dwelling place among you" - a sign that Hashem cleaves to us, "and My soul shall not abhor you." Similarly, "I will not reject them, nor will I abhor them, to destroy them, to break My covenant with them": "I will not reject them to destroy them" - I still choose you, since rejection is the opposite of choice; "nor will I abhor them, to break My covenant with them" - I still have a covenant with you, which is an expression of attachment and love. The Malbim adds that it is possible for one to abhor without utterly rejecting: I am not attached to you in love, yet I still do not reject you entirely.
According to this, the expressions here are exact: Zion is the place where the Shechinah rests and the place of attachment; therefore, he asks, "Has Your soul abhorred Zion?" - in the very place to which You were meant to be attached, has Your soul abhorred it? Judah, on the other hand, was chosen by Hashem; therefore, in reference to it, he asks, "Have You utterly rejected Judah?", for rejection is the opposite of choice.
"We Acknowledge, Hashem, Our Wickedness" - Confession of Sin
יָדַעְנוּ יְהוָה רִשְׁעֵנוּ, עֲוֺן אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, כִּי חָטָאנוּ לָךְ. - We acknowledge, Hashem, our wickedness, the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.
Master of the Universe, we know our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers. The Radak explains: Both us and them, we and our fathers alike, and we know that justice dictates that You visit upon us their iniquity along with our own. And how is their iniquity relevant? As long as children cling to the deeds of their fathers, they are held accountable for their fathers' iniquities as well. And all categories of sin are present here: "our wickedness" - deliberate rebellion; "our iniquity" - intentional sins; "we have sinned against You" - unintentional transgressions.
The Malbim explains that here the prophet himself answers his own question. He asked, "Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul abhorred Zion?" and the answer is: because of our wickedness, for the measure of sin has become full. And not only that, but also the iniquity of our fathers, because we cling to the deeds of our fathers, and You visit the iniquity of fathers upon children. The Malbim notes the precise meaning of the three terms: resha (wickedness) generally refers to deliberate, willful defiance; avon (iniquity), as he has explained in several places, expresses a corruption of the intellect - heresy driven by ideology rather than physical lust; and chet (sin) expresses an unintentional wrongdoing, and often a sin committed out of desire, which is considered an error in comparison to one who sins out of intellectual perversion and an ideology meant to provoke.
"Do not spurn, for Your name's sake"
אַל תִּנְאַץ לְמַעַן שִׁמְךָ, אַל תְּנַבֵּל כִּסֵּא כְבוֹדֶךָ, זְכֹר אַל תָּפֵר בְּרִיתְךָ אִתָּנוּ. - Do not spurn, for Your name's sake; do not disgrace the throne of Your glory; remember, do not break Your covenant with us.
Rashi explains "for Your name's sake" - that You are called merciful. "Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory" - this refers to the Beis HaMikdash, which is the footstool of His feet; and a Midrash Aggadah cited by Rashi: these are the Jewish people, who are engraved upon Your Throne of Glory. Radak explains that tenabel means to cast down to the ground, referring to Jerusalem: do not cast Jerusalem down and do not disgrace it, for when You abandon them, You have as it were cast them down and brought disgrace upon them. And we plead, "Remember, do not break Your covenant with us" - remember the covenant of the Patriarchs and do not break it, but continue to remember it on our behalf.
Malbim explains that the prophet turns here and asks, as it were: Why do we deserve favorable consideration? After all, you just said, "We have acted wickedly, the iniquity of our fathers, we have sinned against You." To this the prophet argues: although on our part we have acted very wickedly, nevertheless, "for Your name's sake" - our name is associated with Your Name, and when the Jewish people are brought low, Your Name is desecrated. Whenever an appeal to the Master of the Universe is based on the claim of "Your Name," it is a sign that on our own merit we have no other virtues left. Let us define it: this is an ejection seat, when no other option exists and this is the only path that can rescue. Had we merits, we would speak of their praise. But what is left for us to say? Master of the Universe, Your Name will be desecrated in the world - we have no merits, but why should You do this to Your Name?
"Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory" - "A throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our Sanctuary," meaning that the Beis HaMikdash should not be destroyed. This corresponds to "Has Your soul loathed Zion?": Have You loathed that very place which You love and cling to? And "do not break Your covenant with us" - for Hashem made a covenant with us, and the meaning of this covenant is that the Jewish people will never be destroyed, and that You chose us from among all the nations. This corresponds to "Have You utterly rejected Judah?": Could it enter the mind that You have rejected us and not chosen us? And if You chose us - do not break Your covenant with us.
Malbim explains the expression mena'etz (to spurn): to treat something lightly, diminishing its importance. From this, quite simply, comes the Hebrew root of ne'atzot and ne'atzah, which denotes a curse or blasphemy. And what is a kelalah (curse)? It comes from the root meaning "light" (le-hakel) - treating one's honor lightly, as in "and those who despise Me shall be treated lightly" (yikallu), from the connotation of both shame (kalon) and lightness (kal): as if this matter is trifling, of no importance, and disgraceful.
"Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can bring rain?" - The Key to Rain is in His Hand
הֲיֵשׁ בְּהַבְלֵי הַגּוֹיִם מַגְשִׁמִים, וְאִם הַשָּׁמַיִם יִתְּנוּ רְבִבִים? הֲלֹא אַתָּה הוּא יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וּנְקַוֶּה לָּךְ, כִּי אַתָּה עָשִׂיתָ אֶת כָּל אֵלֶּה. - Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can bring rain, or can the heavens give showers? Are You not He, Hashem our God, and we hope in You, for You have made all these things.
The letter heh in hayesh is the interrogative heh (heh ha-tmiyah). Rashi explains that this is a double question, and in a double question the first clause always appears with a heh and the second with im ("or/if"), both serving as interrogatives. For example, "Whether in camps or in strongholds" (ha-bemachanayim im be-mivtzarim) - which means as though it were written "Whether in camps, whether in strongholds"; and similarly, "Whether it is good or bad" (ha-tovah hi im ra'ah), where it does not say hi ha-ra'ah but im ra'ah, and the im functions like the interrogative heh. So too, "Have You utterly rejected Judah, or has Your soul loathed Zion?", and so here: "Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can bring rain, or can the heavens give showers?" - as if it said, "and can the heavens give showers?", where the interrogative heh carries over to the next clause as well.
Radak explains that the prophet addresses the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, regarding rain, to whom shall we cry out? To whom can we turn if not to You? And remarkably, this verse remains relevant to this very day. One of the greatest afflictions throughout history has always been rain, and in those days one's entire livelihood depended on rain: drought meant dying livestock, dying people, absolute starvation, a terrible and horrific state of affairs. And the prophet says: Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can bring rain? Throughout history, people tried every form of idolatry, the prophets of Baal, and every ritual imaginable to bring down rain; thousands of years have passed, and still no method has been found. Rain will forever remain in the hands of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the key to rain is held solely in His hand.
It was well known in many places that when the ruler wanted rain, he knew he had to issue a decree against the Jews, so that the Jews would go and pray and rain would fall. There are countless stories of this kind, including in Jerusalem during the era of the Pri Chadash. In Yemen, this was widely known and famous: the ruler would threaten the Jews that rain must fall by a certain date; the Jews would go out to the cemetery to pray, and on their way back, the rain would catch them on the road. It is well known regarding the Baba Sali that in order to fill the mikveh, he brought down rain time after time. The only nation that has a direct connection to the central control board up above is the Jewish people; no nation, no gentile, and no Native American with a rain dance will bring you rain. Even with all of today's technology, scientists have not succeeded in creating rain: at most, if clouds are already present, they seed them with silver iodide and the like to induce condensation and hasten the rainfall or increase precipitation - but to produce rain on a summer day, or to summon clouds on a winter day and make it rain, is something that simply does not exist.
Thus, Radak explains, the prophet appeals: To whom can we cry out concerning the rain if not to You? "Or can the heavens give showers?" - even the heavens, from which the rain falls, can they give rain without Your will? You are the One Who holds them back so that rain does not fall. And since that is so, "Are You not He, Hashem our God, and we hope in You" - in whom else shall we place our hope if not in You? Therefore, grant us rain, "for You have made all these things" - the withholding of rain is from You, and that the land does not yield its produce, You have done. And from where do we know that this is the meaning of "all these things"? From the prophecy of Zechariah: "For as the seed of peace, the vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew, and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things" - which shows that "all these things" refers to rain, dew, and produce. So too here: You, Master of the Universe, have made all these things, and if the withholding of rain is from You, then necessarily rain can be sought from no one but You.
The Malbim explains: We know that rain does not fall through artificial external actions, nor by channeling spiritual forces, nor through idolatry, nor by the power of nature, but solely from Hashem Yitbarach - "Is it not You, Hashem our God?", for the rain comes through Your direct providence. Therefore, we hope only in You, for You withheld the rain, and rain will return only through You. And when is rain withheld? As it is written in the Torah: when the Jewish people engage in idolatry - "and you turn aside and serve other gods... and He will shut up the heavens." To this the prophet pleads: Master of the Universe, we do not believe in idolatry; we believe in You and hope in You, and if so, it is fitting that You grant rain. For rain was withheld because of faith in idols, and we do not believe in them, nor do we place our hope in them, but solely in You - and if so, it is fitting that You have pity, show us mercy, and bring down rain for us.
In summary:
In this part of the chapter, Yirmiyahu's prayer is rejected because the blow comes through full Divine providence rather than a concealment of the Divine face - and therefore fasting and sacrifice will not avail. The defense that the false prophets misled the people is likewise dismissed: the false prophets knew they were lying and will therefore receive a double punishment, while the people were capable of and obligated to distinguish between truth and falsehood. The prophet is commanded to share in the people's sorrow and weep before them, describing both the external disaster (the sword outside and famine within) and the internal ruin: prophets and Kohanim who turned the Torah and prophecy into merchandise. In conclusion, Yirmiyahu puts forward three arguments in prayer: If You have not utterly rejected us and do not loathe Zion, why strike a blow without a prior cure? We confess our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers, and plead for the sake of Your Name, for the throne of Your glory, and for the covenant. The chapter concludes with the simple, eternal realization: none among the vanities of the nations can bring rain; the key to the rains is in the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, alone - "Is it not You, Hashem our God? And we hope in You, for You have made all these."