We are now ending the second week of the period known as The Three Weeks, which are the three weeks of retribution during which we experienced the destruction of the two Temples and the exile our people. On the Shabbos of each week we read a portion of the Prophets that warned us about the impending calamity. This Shabbos we read the second chapter of Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah). So let us listen to Yirmiyahu’s and hopefully we can draw some lessons that we can apply to ourselves.
In the period of Yirmiyahu our people were chasing after idolatry. It was regarding this terrible sin that Yirmiyahu reprimanded them in this chapter. “So says HaShem ‘What have your fathers found evil in Me that they distanced themselves from Me and they didn’t consider that I elevated them from the land of Egypt and took them through the desert where no man can live and I brought them to this beautiful land to enjoy its goodness … They have done two evils. They forsake Me, a wellspring of fresh water and instead dug broken wells that cannot contain the water that is placed in them…”
It is truly an absurdity! How could they have forsaken HaShem Who is the source of blessing and existence and run after something that they themselves created which offers them nothing. Besides the foolishness this represents consider the crime this constitutes. If they would forsaken HaShem for a different source of blessing that would also be evil; why are they forsaken the One Who elevated them from Egypt. But when they forsake HaShem for something that is empty and meaningless their evil is compounded. They are making a statement that their relationship with HaShem has absolutely no value at all. They are even willing to break that
relationship and lose their blessing. This utter rejection is unforgivable.
The question I struggle with is why, in fact, did they forsake HaShem if they gained nothing in His stead? What foolishness overtook them? What logic or line of reasoning drove them to such a direction? Life became miserable as a result of their wayward choice and they nevertheless continued in their relentless rejection of HaShem.
Yirmiyahu himself asks this question. “Do nations replace their meaningless gods and they (HaShem’s people) replace His Glory with nothingness.” Behold! Nations who have nothing meaningful in the first place remain faithful to their helpless idols and My nation forsakes Me for nothing?
As we read further in the chapter Yirmiyahu captures the answer. Regarding our behavior he draws a parallel to the wild donkey who even at the expense of her protection and food runs wild through the desert. She refuses to remain domesticated in the home of a master simply because her nature is such that she wants to run wild. This absurdity reflects so well the behavior of our people in Yirmiyahu’s time. So how do we make sense of this wild donkey; why doesn’t it settle down into the home of a master and enjoy the benefits that it provides?
The answer is that she cannot tolerate restrictions. She is only an animal and simply does not have the sophistication to appreciate that restrictions are good for her. Restrictions create protection, restrictions create order, restrictions create civilized conduct which in turn creates all kinds of opportunities. But such is the nature of a wild animal.
Whereby Yirmiyahu laments that HaShem’s people have been reduced to the thoughtless animal that can only think for the moment and does not have the sophistication to realize that subjecting themselves to the parameters set by HaShem and His Torah creates blessing and success. Those very restrictions libertate the human spirit to accomplish and achieve so much.
Although the society around us is quickly losing its moral boundaries we are fortunate to have the insight of the Torah directing us and reminding us of the beauty and benefits of living within the liberating boundaries and restrictions that keep our human spirit alive within us.
Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind