Introduction: A Prophecy as a Living Parable
Chapter 35 in Yirmiyahu is one of a kind. The Holy One, blessed be He, does not merely deliver a prophecy of rebuke to Yirmiyahu, but commands him to stage a kind of "live demonstration" in the Beit HaMikdash: to bring an entire family, set wine before them, and offer them to drink. Only at the end of the chapter does the purpose of this entire act become clear. Until then, the reader stands puzzled, and that is precisely the prophet's intention: to illustrate an inescapable rebuke to the people of Israel.
The Command: Bring the House of the Rechabites and Give Them Wine to Drink
הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר־הָיָה אֶל־יִרְמְיָהוּ מֵאֵת ה' בִּימֵי יְהוֹיָקִים בֶּן־יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה לֵאמֹר׃ הָלוֹךְ אֶל־בֵּית הָרֵכָבִים וְדִבַּרְתָּ אוֹתָם וַהֲבִאוֹתָם בֵּית ה' אֶל־אַחַת הַלְּשָׁכוֹת וְהִשְׁקִיתָ אוֹתָם יָיִן׃ - "The word that came to Yirmiyahu from Hashem in the days of Yehoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Yehudah, saying: Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak with them, and bring them into the House of Hashem, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink."
"The house of the Rechabites" does not mean a garage, but a family: the family of Rechab. The command is to bring them to the House of Hashem, into one of the chambers in the Temple, and give them wine to drink there.
וָאֶקַּח אֶת־יַאֲזַנְיָה בֶן־יִרְמְיָהוּ בֶּן־חֲבַצִּנְיָה וְאֶת־אֶחָיו וְאֶת־כָּל־בָּנָיו וְאֵת כָּל־בֵּית הָרֵכָבִים׃ - "So I took Yaazanyah the son of Yirmiyahu, the son of Chavatzinyah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites."
וָאָבִא אֹתָם בֵּית ה' אֶל־לִשְׁכַּת בְּנֵי חָנָן בֶּן־יִגְדַּלְיָהוּ אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר־אֵצֶל לִשְׁכַּת הַשָּׂרִים אֲשֶׁר מִמַּעַל לְלִשְׁכַּת מַעֲשֵׂיָהוּ בֶן־שַׁלֻּם שֹׁמֵר הַסַּף׃ - "And I brought them into the House of Hashem, into the chamber of the sons of Chanan the son of Yigdalyahu, a man of God, which was beside the chamber of the officers, which was above the chamber of Maaseiyahu the son of Shalum, the keeper of the threshold."
וָאֶתֵּן לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי בֵית־הָרֵכָבִים גְּבִעִים מְלֵאִים יַיִן וְכֹסוֹת וָאֹמַר אֲלֵיהֶם שְׁתוּ־יָיִן׃ - "And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites goblets full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, 'Drink wine.'"
Yirmiyahu fulfills the command precisely: he gathers the entire family, brings them into one of the chambers in the Beit HaMikdash, sets goblets full of wine and cups before them, and explicitly tells them: Drink wine. At this stage, the action is utterly baffling. What purpose is there in having the prophet serve wine to an entire family in the House of Hashem?
The Rechabites' Response: Their Father's Will
וַיֹּאמְרוּ לֹא נִשְׁתֶּה־יָּיִן כִּי יוֹנָדָב בֶּן־רֵכָב אָבִינוּ צִוָּה עָלֵינוּ לֵאמֹר לֹא תִשְׁתּוּ־יַיִן אַתֶּם וּבְנֵיכֶם עַד־עוֹלָם׃ - "And they said, 'We will not drink wine, for Yonadav the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying: You shall drink no wine, neither you nor your children, forever.'"
Their response is sharp and clear: our father gave us an explicit instruction, and we do not violate it. The reason for the prohibition on wine is understandable: wine leads a person to all kinds of harmful things, and so their father kept them far away from it. In contemporary terms, this refers to all alcoholic beverages, and in their day it manifested as wine.
וּבַיִת לֹא־תִבְנוּ וְזֶרַע לֹא־תִזְרָעוּ וְכֶרֶם לֹא־תִטָּעוּ וְלֹא יִהְיֶה לָכֶם כִּי בָּאֳהָלִים תֵּשְׁבוּ כָּל־יְמֵיכֶם לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ יָמִים רַבִּים עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם גָּרִים שָׁם׃ - Neither shall you build a house, nor sow seed, nor plant a vineyard, nor shall you have any; but in tents shall you dwell all your days, so that you may live many days upon the face of the land where you sojourn.
Yonadav commanded them not only concerning wine, but also regarding their very way of life: not to build a house, not to sow a field, and not to plant a vineyard, but to dwell in tents all their days. He also added the words, "nor shall you have any," which come to teach: let no one say, "Well, I will not build a house and I will not plant a vineyard, but I will buy an already-built house and a sown field." Not even that. You shall possess no real estate whatsoever.
What is the advantage of a tent? A tent is portable; it can easily be moved from place to place. And that is precisely the reason their father gave them: "so that you may live many days." As the Metzudat David explains: a house, a field, and a vineyard inherently hold a person back where they are. One who owns a house does not leave the place easily, and one who owns a field or vineyard is tied to the land and cannot move. At times he may perish along with the people of that place: trouble strikes, and he is unable to flee. But one who lives in tents and owns neither field nor vineyard can easily relocate from place to place.
A True Story: The Testimony of Rav Shach ztz"l
To understand just how relevant these words are to real life, it is worth recounting an incident told by Rav Shach, of blessed and saintly memory, may his merit protect us and all of Israel. Rav Shach was among the most outstanding students in the yeshiva, if not the very finest. In those days, it was customary among Ashkenazim abroad for wealthy benefactors to approach the rosh yeshiva and request the prime student of the yeshiva for their daughter, and they were willing to pay. To this day, among Ashkenazim, shidduchim often involve substantial sums of money, and what one pays is what one gets. Among Sephardim, things are not structured this way. A woman once recounted that she had a very special son-in-law, adding: "He cost me a hundred thousand dollars" (she was an Ashkenazi Chassidic woman from Kiryat Sanz).
The intention behind this was positive: the wealthy benefactor would say to the groom, "You will sit at my table for ten or fifteen years. Financial matters will not occupy you - no worries, no banks - everything is on me; you just sit and learn." In this manner, many great Torah luminaries indeed emerged, for a young man of great potential was chosen from the outset, and he did not have to divert his energies to anything else. Torah grew and flourished through this approach.
Rav Shach related: A shidduch was suggested for me, but the bride's father had no money. Money did not interest Rav Shach at all. Indeed, there were many righteous scholars who purposely did not seek a wealthy bride, reasoning: "If I marry a woman with wealth, she will be accustomed to a high standard of living, and it is not for her to sacrifice for Torah and endure poverty and hardship so that her husband can learn. In that case, the loss would outweigh the gain." Often, situations arose where the father lost his wealth and could no longer support his daughter and son-in-law; the husband was then left with a wife accustomed to comfort, who pressured him to go out and find a job, and instead of flourishing into a leading Torah figure, he began searching for a livelihood.
Rav Shach became engaged to a woman whose father was not wealthy. He related: "For three days after the engagement, I was ashamed to show my face in the yeshiva. For the first question a young man is asked after getting engaged is, 'What did you get?' Among Ashkenazim there is an expression, 'a full arrangement' (siddur malei) - meaning not a complete prayer book, but that he received an apartment and everything else, and is completely set. Rav Shach said: I was embarrassed lest they ask what I received, for I truly received nothing at all - or as the Yiddish phrase goes, 'I received a fever' (strictly in financial terms, Heaven forbid not regarding his wife). Meanwhile, of my peers, one received a house, another received a field; each one received property."
And where did they live? It is astounding to contemplate: utter poverty. His father-in-law had a one-room apartment, and they partitioned that single room in two with a sheet of plywood: on one side slept Rav Shach and his wife, and on the other side his father-in-law and mother-in-law. It is beyond imagination. Not like today, when people say, "He does not have much money; he only has a three-room apartment instead of six," but a single room divided by plywood.
Then the Second World War broke out. The winds of war began to blow; people realized danger was at hand, a sword hanging over their heads and the noose tightening around their necks. Rav Shach said: "We understood that it was dangerous here. My wife and I packed everything we owned - which fit into a single suitcase - boarded the first train, and left the place. But my friends, who possessed property, could not leave. A person has a house, a field - will he just abandon it? They said, 'Hashem will help, it is just a war, it is temporary, it will pass.' And of them, may Hashem have mercy, not a single one survived; the Nazi oppressor came. And the one who was saved was me."
And this is what he later told his students in the yeshiva: "You think one needs to look at what he received, and there are those who do not want to marry because they were not offered according to their stature or self-worth. It is all absolute nonsense. Look, Baruch Hashem, today I lack nothing."
And Indeed, Rav Shach Lived This Way All His Days
Millions of dollars passed through Rav Shach's hands, yet he never took a single penny for himself. After his passing, Rav Bergman, Rosh Kollel of Rashbi and his esteemed son-in-law, recounted that Rav Shach had never given him a single dollar from all those millions that passed through his hands. "I know," he said, "that he gave to hundreds of yeshivos, but I did not receive a single dollar, so that there would be, Heaven forbid, not even a trace of suspicion or gossip saying, 'Rav Shach gives to his son-in-law.'" Once, a wealthy man who knew of this came and said to Rav Shach: "I want to give the Rosh Yeshiva a large sum, about one hundred thousand dollars, but I request that the Rav give ten percent of it to his son-in-law." Rav Shach took the money, handed it right back to him, and said: "Whatever you give me must be left entirely to my discretion to distribute, and if you want otherwise, distribute it yourself as you wish." In other words: if you want to give to my son-in-law, give it to him directly yourself, not through me. The man was clever and understood: he took ten thousand dollars back, gave ninety thousand to Rav Shach, and took the ten thousand directly to Rav Bergman personally so that he could maintain his kollel.
Once, people wanted to upgrade his glasses, telling him that a certain pair would help him see better. He said to them: "Wait, these are expensive glasses; not everyone has them, so I do not want them." They told him that nowadays they are common and nothing extraordinary, and furthermore that he truly needed them, and only then did he agree. Similarly with the Steipler: until the end of his days, people wanted to install an air conditioner in his home and he refused, saying that this was indulging in worldly pleasures. They said to him: "But a person can learn more Torah this way!" He replied: "And on Shabbos, what will I do? On Shabbos there is no air conditioner (since he did not use electricity on Shabbos). If so, it would turn out that a weekday would be more comfortable and honored than Shabbos!" And under no circumstances would he agree. About Rav Chaim Kanievsky, however, the story is told in reverse: for many years he did not want an air conditioner, but when they finally installed one, he said: "Had I known that one can learn Torah better this way, I would have agreed twenty years ago."
"We Obeyed and We Did": Fulfilling the Will in Practice
וַנִּשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהוֹנָדָב בֶּן־רֵכָב אָבִינוּ לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּנוּ לְבִלְתִּי שְׁתוֹת־יַיִן כָּל־יָמֵינוּ אֲנַחְנוּ נָשֵׁינוּ בָּנֵינוּ וּבְנֹתֵינוּ׃ - And we have obeyed the voice of Yehonadav the son of Rechav, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters.
Parenthetically: how does a nazir make Kiddush, seeing as he is forbidden to drink wine and become impure through contact with the dead? Over bread.
וּלְבִלְתִּי בְּנוֹת בָּתִּים לְשִׁבְתֵּנוּ וְכֶרֶם וְשָׂדֶה וָזֶרַע לֹא יִהְיֶה־לָּנוּ׃ וַנֵּשֶׁב בָּאֳהָלִים וַנִּשְׁמַע וַנַּעַשׂ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּנוּ יוֹנָדָב אָבִינוּ׃ - Nor to build houses for us to dwell in, nor have vineyard, nor field, nor seed. But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Yonadav our father commanded us.
וַיְהִי בַּעֲלוֹת נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶל אֶל־הָאָרֶץ וַנֹּאמֶר בֹּאוּ וְנָבוֹא יְרוּשָׁלִַם מִפְּנֵי חֵיל הַכַּשְׂדִּים וּמִפְּנֵי חֵיל אֲרָם וַנֵּשֶׁב בִּירוּשָׁלִָם׃ - But it came to pass, when Nevuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said: Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of Aram; so we dwell at Jerusalem.
Here they admit that regarding dwelling in houses, they could not observe the command to the very end. When Nevuchadrezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, it became dangerous to live in tents outside the city walls. Therefore they said: There is no choice; let us come to Jerusalem for fear of the Chaldean and Aramean armies. This was not a violation of their father's command at all - quite the opposite. For why had their father commanded them to dwell in tents? "So that you may live." Just as being tethered to a house could be dangerous, so too here: specifically by leaving the tents and moving into houses in Jerusalem, they were fulfilling their father's command, whose entire purpose was that they should survive.
Here the Explanation Begins: The Rebuke
Until this point, the entire dialogue seems puzzling: why bring them, why offer them wine, and what is the purpose of all these stories about their father's will? From here on, the underlying purpose becomes clear.
וַיְהִי דְּבַר־ה' אֶל־יִרְמְיָהוּ לֵאמֹר׃ כֹּה־אָמַר ה' צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הָלֹךְ וְאָמַרְתָּ לְאִישׁ יְהוּדָה וּלְיוֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלִָם הֲלוֹא תִקְחוּ מוּסָר לִשְׁמֹעַ אֶל־דְּבָרַי נְאֻם־ה'׃ - Then came the word of Hashem to Yirmeyahu, saying: Thus says Hashem of Hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Will you not receive instruction to listen to My words? says Hashem.
הוּקַם אֶת־דִּבְרֵי יְהוֹנָדָב בֶּן־רֵכָב אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה אֶת־בָּנָיו לְבִלְתִּי שְׁתוֹת־יַיִן וְלֹא שָׁתוּ עַד־הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה כִּי שָׁמְעוּ אֵת מִצְוַת אֲבִיהֶם וְאָנֹכִי דִּבַּרְתִּי אֲלֵיכֶם הַשְׁכֵּם וְדַבֵּר וְלֹא שְׁמַעְתֶּם אֵלָי׃ - The words of Yehonadav the son of Rechav, who commanded his sons not to drink wine, have been upheld, and they have not drunk to this day, for they obeyed their father's command; but I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, yet you did not listen to Me.
See how remarkable this is: one father commanded, and his descendants obey. This is neither easy nor simple: never drinking wine for their entire lives, not building a house, and dwelling in tents for generations upon generations. Yet they listened, without looking for loopholes: whatever their father said, they did. "And I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, yet you have not listened to Me" - what a piercing rebuke.
וָאֶשְׁלַח אֲלֵיכֶם אֶת־כָּל־עֲבָדַי הַנְּבִאִים הַשְׁכֵּם וְשָׁלֹחַ לֵאמֹר שֻׁבוּ־נָא אִישׁ מִדַּרְכּוֹ הָרָעָה וְהֵיטִיבוּ מַעַלְלֵיכֶם וְאַל־תֵּלְכוּ אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים לְעָבְדָם וּשְׁבוּ אֶל־הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר־נָתַתִּי לָכֶם וְלַאֲבֹתֵיכֶם וְלֹא הִטִּיתֶם אֶת־אָזְנְכֶם וְלֹא שְׁמַעְתֶּם אֵלָי׃ - And I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them early, saying: Return now, every man from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and dwell in the land that I have given to you and to your fathers; but you did not incline your ear, nor did you listen to Me.
Here the contrast is underscored: I did not ask you to live in tents or refrain from planting vineyards. On the contrary: dwell upon the land I gave you, build, sow, and plant; merely heed the voice of Hashem. Yet even this easy request you failed to obey.
כִּי הֵקִימוּ בְּנֵי יְהוֹנָדָב בֶּן־רֵכָב אֶת־מִצְוַת אֲבִיהֶם אֲשֶׁר צִוָּם וְהָעָם הַזֶּה לֹא שָׁמְעוּ אֵלָי׃ - For the sons of Yehonadav the son of Rechav have upheld the commandment of their father that he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.
A mortal father gave a command, and his sons obey him with such devotion. Here, the Creator of the universe commands, and you do not listen.
לָכֵן כֹּה־אָמַר ה' אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הִנְנִי מֵבִיא אֶל־יְהוּדָה וְאֶל כָּל־יוֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלִַם אֵת כָּל־הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי עֲלֵיהֶם יַעַן דִּבַּרְתִּי אֲלֵיהֶם וְלֹא שָׁמֵעוּ וָאֶקְרָא לָהֶם וְלֹא עָנוּ׃ - Therefore, thus said Hashem, God of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Yehudah and upon all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim all the evil that I spoke concerning them, because I spoke to them and they did not hear, and I called to them and they did not answer.
The Reward of the Rechabites
וּלְבֵית הָרֵכָבִים אָמַר יִרְמְיָהוּ כֹּה־אָמַר ה' צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יַעַן אֲשֶׁר שְׁמַעְתֶּם עַל־מִצְוַת יְהוֹנָדָב אֲבִיכֶם וַתִּשְׁמְרוּ אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֺתָיו וַתַּעֲשׂוּ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה אֶתְכֶם׃ - And to the house of the Rechabites Yirmiyahu said: Thus said Hashem of Hosts, the God of Israel: Because you listened to the commandment of Yehonadav your father, and kept all his commandments, and did according to all that he commanded you;
לָכֵן כֹּה אָמַר ה' צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא־יִכָּרֵת אִישׁ לְיוֹנָדָב בֶּן־רֵכָב עֹמֵד לְפָנַי כָּל־הַיָּמִים׃ - Therefore thus said Hashem of Hosts, the God of Israel: A man from Yonadav the son of Rechav who stands before Me shall never be cut off, for all days.
"Standing before Me" means that they will sit in the Sanhedrin and instruct the people in Torah matters. Some explain that the descendants of Yonadav ben Rechav were descendants of converts, which raises the question: does not "standing before Me" imply serving and ministering in the Sanctuary? How could that be, when even an ordinary Yisrael cannot enter to minister? Rather, as noted, the meaning is that they will sit in the Sanhedrin and give Torah rulings, and furthermore, that their daughters will marry into the kehunah, so that their grandsons will offer sacrifices upon the Altar. That is, if my daughter marries a kohen, my grandson ministers upon the Altar. While an ordinary Yisrael could never have his son serve upon the Altar, his grandson through his daughter can. This is the meaning of "standing before Me for all days": you will merit that your grandsons will minister before Me in the Beit HaMikdash.
In Summary:
Hashem commands Yirmiyahu to bring the house of the Rechabites to a chamber in the Beit HaMikdash and offer them wine. They refuse due to the testament of their forefather Yonadav ben Rechav: not to drink wine, not to build a house, not to sow or plant, and not to acquire property at all, but rather to dwell in tents "so that you may live" - for a house and a field tether a person to his place and prevent him from fleeing in times of trouble, as explained by the Metzudat David, and as illustrated by Rav Shach, who was saved from the horrors of war because all his possessions fit into a single suitcase. The Rechabites kept every detail, and even their entry into Yerushalayim on account of the Chaldean army aligned with their forefather's original goal. From this came the rebuke: if sons obey the voice of a mortal father in demanding matters not commanded from Heaven, how much more should Israel have obeyed the voice of their Creator, Who did not ask them to surrender their homes and fields, but only to return to Him. Therefore, disaster will come upon Yehudah and Yerushalayim, while the house of the Rechabites will receive an eternal reward: "A man from Yonadav the son of Rechav who stands before Me shall never be cut off, for all days," sitting in the Sanhedrin, teaching Torah, and having their grandsons minister in the Sanctuary.