Sefer Yirmiyahu, chapter sixteen. "And the word of Hashem came to me, saying: You shall not take yourself a wife, and you shall not have sons or daughters in this place." A prophecy from Hashem to Yirmiyahu. Let us read a few more pesukim and better understand what this prophecy is actually saying. Hashem tells him: do not take yourself a wife, do not have sons and daughters in this place. "For thus said Hashem concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bear them, and concerning their fathers who beget them in this land: They shall die of deadly diseases; they shall not be lamented and they shall not be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth; and by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed, and their carcasses shall be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth."
There is a further prophecy that continues; it is a harsh prophecy, and we will try to understand what is actually written here. The Holy One, blessed be He, tells Yirmiyahu not to take a wife and not to beget sons and daughters in this place, because whoever is born here will die harsh and strange deaths, as we will see later in the chapter. The Radak here elaborates and says: behold, there is a perplexity here. Why does the Holy One, blessed be He, command him not to take a wife, not to beget sons? Why? Because the decree was upon the people of the place, that they and their sons would die of famine. But does Yirmiyahu not have enough merits for his sons to live by his merit? Since this place is a place where they are destined to die, what does that mean? If you take a wife and have sons, will your wife and sons also die? Does Yirmiyahu not have enough merits to shield them? He asks in particular: the little ones die for the sin of their fathers. A child has no sins of his own, so for whose sin does he die? For the sin of his fathers. And who is his father? Yirmiyahu. So if that is the case, what is the plain meaning that the sons would die when Yirmiyahu was a perfectly righteous man, as it is written...
The Rambam writes: prophecy does not rest, there is no forgiveness, the evil inclination does not overcome a prophet in any matter of worldly matters. Do you hear? His inclination does not overcome him in any worldly matter. That is to say, a prophet has absolute mastery over desires, over cravings, over the body, absolute mastery. So if so, Yirmiyahu is righteous, and as a righteous man there is without any doubt no possibility that his sons would die because of him. And the little ones die for the sin of their fathers. So why does Hashem tell him not to beget sons here? Beyond this he asks: even though there is a decree that they will die by the sword and by famine, the decree is not upon all of them, only upon some. You see as well that exile was decreed upon them, yet not all went into exile; a remnant remained. That is to say, even when there is a decree, the decree is not upon everyone. So why does this indicate that it must be that Yirmiyahu's sons and wife will all die? And further he says: behold, you see that even upon the fathers and the mothers, who seemingly are more deserving of punishment, there is a decree that they will die, yet not all of them died. You see that in the end a considerable portion of them went into exile. As it is stated in the prophecy of Yechezkel: even if there are sons and daughters, they will save themselves, they alone will be saved. He asks: and why did the righteous fathers not save their sons, who are like them, for the little sons have no sin for which they should die, but rather when they die, they die for the sin of their father? So this seems to be a wonder. The fathers, who were righteous, were saved, and the sons died? How can this be? For if sons die, it is because of the fathers. So how can it be that the sons die and the fathers are saved?
Therefore the Radak says: what seems to me to explain this matter is that this place upon which the prophecy was spoken here refers to Anatot. And regarding Anatot, the Holy One, blessed be He, warns him: do not take a wife, do not beget sons and daughters there, for there is a decree upon the sons and daughters born there. We are not speaking of the sons and daughters of all of Eretz Yisrael, for indeed not all of them died, not all of them died. A considerable portion of them went into exile, and even so not all went into exile. So in fact it is not about Eretz Yisrael in general that he is speaking. He is speaking about the city particular to the prophet, where they persecuted him, that is Anatot. And so we saw as well earlier, concerning the people of Anatot it is stated: "And there shall be no remnant to them, for I will bring evil upon the people of Anatot in the year of their reckoning." That is to say, concerning them a special prophecy was spoken that they will have no remnant. In contrast, in Yerushalayim there will be a remnant and survivors, as it is written in the prophecy of Yechezkel: "And behold, a remnant is left in it who bring out sons and daughters." The Radak says: and since this decree was decreed upon all the people of Anatot, it is a decree upon all the people of the place. If you beget sons here, they are among the people of the place, they are included in the decree. This is the reason he tells him not to beget sons. You ask: but does Yirmiyahu not have merits? He does have merits, but there is here a sweeping decree upon all the people of the place, upon all the people of Anatot, and if you have sons and daughters there, they will all perish among them. As it is written: "For judgment shall return to righteousness," as we explained in its place, that the meaning is: until the righteous perishes. What does that mean? What does "until the righteous perishes" mean? Until the righteous one perishes. "For judgment shall return to righteousness": the righteous perishes at the time when there is judgment; when the Holy One, blessed be He, judges the wicked, the righteous too perish, Heaven forfend, as in "lest you be swept away in the sin of the city." And all the more so one who has no merit of his own, like the sons and daughters, whose entire merit is only because of their parents, but he has no merit of his own.
The Radak says: and if Yirmiyahu had sons and daughters in Anatot, and there was enough time to bring them out before the decree, then they would not have perished with the others. But then, that is to say, in short, let him have sons whom he brings out, the Radak asks. If the place here is problematic, place them in Yerushalayim. Why do you leave them in Anatot? The Radak says: their relatives, the people of Anatot, would not allow them, for they did not believe in the prophecy, so they would not let them take them out. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, tells him not to have sons and daughters, for they will perish in the sin of the city. And even if Yirmiyahu himself were in Anatot, he would not be saved. Do you hear a terrible thing? That is to say, we asked: he is righteous, well, so will he not save his sons and daughters? He answers: he will not even save himself. Because there is a special decree there in Anatot. Ah, seemingly he asks: it is written that if Noach, Daniel, and Iyov were in its midst, it is written that they alone would be saved. This is a pasuk, where it is stated that when there are righteous people in a city, the righteous will be saved and the wicked will die. He answers: no, that is only when there are three. But of a single righteous man this was not said. Why? With three, their merits combine, but a single righteous man does not have enough merits to save everyone. And to save himself, do you hear? Three have enough merits to save themselves. The Radak says: and if there are ten, then by their righteousness they will save the entire city. So if so, in summary: one will not even save himself. Three will at least save themselves. Ten can save all the people of the city, all of them. And even if they do not save completely, the Radak says: at any rate they will save them from exile or from another punishment, that is to say at least not from death, and "I will forgive the whole place for their sake." Ah, if you ask: in the psalm against afflictions it is written of "one who dwells in the shelter," "a thousand shall fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand; it shall not come near you," implying that even a single righteous man is saved. The Radak says: this will not happen to every righteous man, but only to one whose providence is always upon him and never departs from him, as it is written: "because he has desired Me, I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows My name." The meaning is that these are very, very special people, and this promise was said only concerning them. But ordinarily there is no such promise.
The Radak says: and even though a decree was decreed upon the people of Anatot that they would have no remnant, come and see that they did have a remnant. And behold we see that when they returned from Bavel it is written: "the men of Anatot, one hundred twenty-eight." Behold you see that they did have a remnant. So how can you say that the people of Anatot have no remnant? So indeed the Radak, we will see later the explanation of the Malbim, but the Radak explains that they did teshuvah. The people of Anatot did teshuvah. And since this is so, a remnant remained for them; they succeeded in nullifying that decree. So if that is the case, what is the Holy One, blessed be He's, warning? It is about the decree now. Since now they had not done teshuvah, and now the decree is that they will all die, therefore I warn you not to beget sons and daughters in this place. What does seem difficult, I now think, according to this explanation, is: why is Yirmiyahu not warned to leave the place? For according to how the Radak just explained, Yirmiyahu himself is in danger of remaining here, since he has no promise of being saved. So why does the word of Hashem come to him, "do not take yourself a wife and you shall not have sons and daughters in this place"? He does not tell him that you should leave here, only do not take a wife and do not beget sons in this place. It is quite possible that here, since we are speaking of Yirmiyahu, and Yirmiyahu indeed received a special promise from Hashem, as we saw in the previous chapter, "a fortified wall of bronze," so he has a special promise, and therefore he is in the category of an exception. Since you are Hashem's messenger, so you are now a vessel for bringing prophecy to the people, so you, so to speak, have insurance. But your sons and daughters and your wife and everyone you beget in this place, they, they do not have that same promise.
"כִּי כֹה אָמַר הַשֵּׁם עַל הַבָּנִים וְעַל הַבָּנוֹת הַיִּלּוֹדִים בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וְעַל אִמֹּתָם הַיֹּלְדוֹת אוֹתָם וְעַל אֲבוֹתָם הַמּוֹלִדִים אוֹתָם בָּאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת: מְמוֹתֵי תַחֲלֻאִים יָמֻתוּ, לֹא יִסָּפְדוּ וְלֹא יִקָּבֵרוּ, לְדֹמֶן עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה יִהְיוּ, וּבַחֶרֶב וּבָרָעָב יִכְלוּ, וְהָיְתָה נִבְלָתָם לְמַאֲכָל לְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּלְבֶהֱמַת הָאָרֶץ - For thus said Hashem concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bear them, and concerning their fathers who beget them in this land: They shall die of deadly diseases; they shall not be lamented and they shall not be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth; and by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed, and their carcasses shall be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth." Thus said Hashem concerning the sons and daughters born in this place. What is "in this place"? The Malbim explains that it refers to Anatot. "And concerning their mothers who bear them" means those who bear them in this land. That is to say, the Malbim explains, the meaning is throughout the entire land. That is, upon the fathers destruction was decreed in any place they would be. Upon the little sons, in contrast, it was decreed only upon those born in Anatot, not upon those born in another city. According to this the Malbim resolves the difficulty we asked, for we see afterward, when they return from the exile, that the people of Anatot also return. And if you say that destruction was decreed upon all of them, how is it that when Ezra and Nechemyah return, the people of Anatot return with them? So the Malbim explains that those who returned in the time of Ezra were from among those born to the people of Anatot in other cities. For the entire decree was that destruction would be upon those born in Anatot itself. In contrast, their sons who were born, sons born in other cities, upon them there was no decree. We saw an additional explanation, that they did teshuvah.
"מְמוֹתֵי תַחֲלֻאִים יָמֻתוּ, לֹא יִסָּפְדוּ וְלֹא יִקָּבֵרוּ - They shall die of deadly diseases; they shall not be lamented and they shall not be buried." "They shall die of deadly diseases," the Malbim explains, at first they will die of diseases. This death will cause that they will not be lamented and not be buried. We know that people who die, Heaven forfend, in a plague, there is a very great fear of contagion, and people do not go to deal with their burial, because they fear that whoever deals with their burial could also become infected. Concerning this he says, "they shall die of deadly diseases"; this will cause that no one will want the proximity of those bodies, and consequently no one will come to eulogize them and no one will come to bury them. And through this "they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth." They will be as dung upon the face of the earth. Why will the wild beasts not eat them? Because there are still people in the area, and when there are people in the area, wild beasts do not spread to regions where there are people. "And by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed." Afterward, even those people who remained in the area, they too will die by sword and famine. Those who remained from the plague will die by the sword. And then, once there are no living people left, who arrives? "And their carcasses shall be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth." After the last ones who remained died by the sword, then consequently the beast of the field will come and eat the bodies.
"כִּי כֹה אָמַר הַשֵּׁם: אַל תָּבוֹא בֵּית מַרְזֵחַ וְאַל תֵּלֵךְ לִסְפּוֹד וְאַל תָּנֹד לָהֶם, כִּי אָסַפְתִּי אֶת שְׁלוֹמִי מֵאֵת הָעָם הַזֶּה, נְאֻם הַשֵּׁם, אֶת הַחֶסֶד וְאֶת הָרַחֲמִים - For thus said Hashem: Do not enter the house of mourning, and do not go to lament, and do not console them, for I have gathered My peace from this people, says Hashem, the kindness and the mercy." Hashem tells him, thus said Hashem, do not enter a house of "marzeach." What is a house of "marzeach"? "Marzeach" has a double meaning. One meaning is a house of feasting, as it is written, "and the sprawling banquet shall be removed," the intent being houses of feasting. Chazal, in contrast, explain that a house of "marzeach" means a house of mourning. And this fits here with the language of the verse: "do not enter the house of marzeach and do not go to lament," which implies that we are speaking here of the dead, we are speaking here of mourners. "And do not console them" means do not lament for them. And in fact both explanations are correct. Both the term "marzeach" as an expression for a house of mourning, and the term "marzeach" as an expression for a house of feasting. Because, as the Radak explains, "marzeach" means raising the voice. So he says: in the Arabic tongue it is called "marzeach" or "marzeach," which in Arabic means raising the voice. And since it was their way to raise their voices both in the house of feasting for joy and in the house of mourning to lament, therefore these places were called houses of "marzeach." Houses in which they would raise the voice, either for weeping or for joy. Thus there is no contradiction that sometimes we see it is an expression of mourning and sometimes we see it is an expression of joy. The Malbim explains that "marzeach" is a feast. And it was their way to make a feast in the house of mourning and a feast in the house of joy. The house of joy is clearly understood. But what is a feast in the house of mourning? They would comfort; they would give drink to the toiling one, to the mourners they would give them to drink wine in order to quiet their mourning, their grief. So in fact, once again we see that this term applies both to this and to that. And in fact it is one of the quadriliteral verbs, since the word "marzeach" is actually composed of two verbs. One is "mar" and the other is "zach." "Mar" means bitterness. "Zach" means movement. "The breastplate shall not be dislodged," to move, to shift something. The breakwater is called "mazach" because it shifts the waves and pushes them away. So when we say "marzeach," the meaning is: the bitterness shifts away. The bitterness, meaning the pain, the grief, shifts and moves and wanders away from the person. And this was either in the house of feasting, where a person comes to dispel his bitterness, or in the house of mourning, where a person would come and drink wine in order to dispel his grief.
The Holy One, blessed be He, tells Yirmiyahu: do not enter the house of marzeach, meaning do not go, and do not console them. The mourner, at the time the deceased is buried, the Malbim says, they come in order to inquire after the welfare of the living. That is, that I go to the mourner in order to comfort him, to speak to his heart; this is for his honor. "And do not go to lament" over the dead means for the honor of the dead, that you care for their honor, you go and make a eulogy for them. "And do not console": that is to go and mourn with him, meaning to nod one's head and grieve with him, to comfort the mourner. So corresponding to the statement "do not enter the house of marzeach," He tells them: "for I have gathered My peace." You go to the house of marzeach, as we said, in order to speak to the hearts of the living, those who remained, to comfort them; Hashem says: I have gathered My peace. There is nothing further to inquire regarding the welfare of the living. I have gathered My peace from them. And corresponding to "do not go to lament," the eulogy according to one opinion in Chazal is a kindness with the dead. He says: I have also gathered the kindness and the mercy. I have gathered the kindness with the dead. And corresponding to what He said, "do not console them," which is from the aspect of mercy, He said: I have also gathered the mercy. In simple words, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: there is nothing to go and try to speak to their hearts, since I have no compassion and mercy upon them for the terrible deeds they did. And this is the expression "I have gathered," as the Radak says, that what I had until today, compassion and mercy upon them, I have gathered it away from them. So if I do not inquire after their welfare and good, then you too should not do so.
By the way, the expression "his mind became elevated" (zachah da'ato) is also from the same source. Because "zachah da'ato" means haughtiness of heart. What does "zachah" mean? As we said, "zach" means to remove. So his mind is elevated, this is "his mind shifted upon him." This is, in today's terms, the most fitting and precise expression: he is flying high about himself. "His mind shifted upon him," do you understand? His mind rises up, it is no longer within him, it rises up from above. Afterward it is also called coarseness of spirit, this is pride, that the spirit becomes coarse and grows and goes out; it is already located above, he is not, in his pride he reaches the heavens, he is already, he is not here among us, but rather his mind has shifted. This is the expression "zachah," and it is the same idea of "zach," whose meaning is to remove and dislodge from its place, to move from its place. This is called "lazuach."
"וּמֵתוּ גְדֹלִים וּקְטַנִּים בָּאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת, לֹא יִקָּבֵרוּ וְלֹא יִסְפְּדוּ לָהֶם, וְלֹא יִתְגֹּדַד וְלֹא יִקָּרֵחַ לָהֶם - Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried and they shall not be lamented for; and none shall gash himself and none shall make himself bald for them." Both great and small shall die in this land. That is to say, Rashi explains, after everyone dies, then what do you have to eulogize? "They shall not be buried and they shall not be lamented for, and none shall gash himself and none shall make himself bald for them." Everyone asks: "and none shall gash himself and none shall make himself bald"? What does it mean that they will die here and will not gash themselves and not make themselves bald? It is obvious that this is forbidden. According to Torah it is forbidden to make baldness, it is forbidden to gash oneself. So what is the intent? So Rashi explains that this was mentioned here only as an example of mourning. They will not perform matters of mourning, but not, Heaven forfend, that this thing is, as it were, permitted, for the thing in itself is forbidden in any case. The Radak explains: no, they used to do things according to the customs of the gentiles, forbidden things. And here he is speaking of the people who acted wickedly, and he says: you are accustomed to gash yourselves and make yourselves bald according to the custom of the gentiles, which is contrary to the Torah, and I tell you there will be such mourning that no one will bury and no one will eulogize, and even you, whose corrupt custom is to gash and make baldness, you too will not gash yourselves and will not make yourselves bald. But Heaven forfend to come and think that this thing is permitted; he is only describing the negative deeds they used to do. The Malbim explains, the emphasis is "both great and small shall die in this land," which is all of Eretz Yehudah; both great and small will die. That is to say, not only in Anatot, but in all of Eretz Yehudah. "And they shall not be buried," the Malbim says, here he enumerates the things they were accustomed to do for the dead. At first the mourners would gash themselves and shear their hair. Afterward they would eulogize, and at the end they would bury. And here he reverses the order. He tells you: the main thing is the burial. They shall not be buried. And not only that they shall not be buried, they shall not even be lamented for. And not only that they shall not be lamented for, but even none shall gash himself and none shall make himself bald for them, which is even the beginning of mourning; even this thing they will not do.
"וְלֹא יִפְרְסוּ לָהֶם עַל אֵבֶל לְנַחֲמוֹ עַל מֵת, וְלֹא יַשְׁקוּ אוֹתָם כּוֹס תַּנְחוּמִים עַל אָבִיו וְעַל אִמּוֹ - And none shall break bread for them in mourning to comfort him for the dead, and none shall give them the cup of consolation to drink over his father and over his mother." "None shall break bread for them in mourning to comfort him for the dead." What is "none shall break bread for them in mourning to comfort him for the dead"? So there are here two explanations, both of which bring the verse "Tziyon spreads out her hands." What is "Tziyon spreads out her hands"? The Radak explains that the meaning is that they would spread hands toward the heavens and also strike palm against palm as a sign of mourning. Yes? So this is the spreading. "Tziyon spreads out her hands" means they would spread out their hands and strike palm against palm as a sign of grief and as a sign of mourning. So he wishes to say that they will not practice any mourning customs; he says even this custom of spreading the hands and striking palm against palm, even this they will not do. That is, there will be no situation of gashing over the dead and no situation of consolation, consolation for the living. And he brings an additional explanation, an explanation according to which the Malbim and other commentators also explain, and which Rashi also brings, that "they shall break" refers to what they were accustomed to do, the meal of consolation for the mourner. So they would break bread for him. It is written that they slice for him, someone else recites the blessing and slices. This was the meal they were accustomed to make for the mourner, the meal of consolation. So he wishes to say that there will be no one who will even make them a meal of consolation. Therefore he says "none shall break bread for them in mourning to comfort him," they will not make them a meal of consolation, and this is "to comfort him for the dead." And this is what is written, "Tziyon spreads out her hands." From here is the source that when, Heaven forfend, there is a deceased, then they make the meal of consolation, and another person slices and blesses and gives to the mourners with the hands. He gives him the bread in his hand. "Tziyon spreads out her hands." And therefore we are careful about this, not to behave so when slicing bread, for example at a Shabbat meal and the like; we do not give it to a person by hand, but rather place it on the table. For "Tziyon spreads out her hands," all the ways of Tziyon are mourning; this is the custom of mourners. And Heaven forfend, we do not want to characterize, as it were, that we are practicing here, Heaven forfend, a mourner's custom, for then it could be in the category of an ominous sign, it could be, as it were, an inadvertent act that this thing might, Heaven forbid, cause some realization. Therefore we do not pass the bread from hand to hand, but rather place it on the table so that they take it. In any case, this too is learned from what is written, "Tziyon spreads out." "Tziyon spreads out" means they would break the slice, and "her hands," they place it directly upon the hand of the mourner. And "pursah" is a term of breaking. They break the bread. Rashi brings "mene, mene, tekel, upharsin." The meaning is: your kingdom is broken. Therefore it is called "pharsin," from the term "to break," whose meaning is to break. The Malbim explains: it was the way to make a meal of consolation from others; they will not do so. And not only that, but they will also not give them the cup of consolation to drink. They were accustomed to soothe the grief of the mourner, for the mourner mourns over his father and mother, which is a harsh mourning; they would bring them a cup of consolation. They bring them a cup of drink, as we said, "give strong drink to the toiling one and wine to the bitter of soul." So even one who mourns harsh mourning over his father and his mother, even a cup of consolation they will not bring them.
"וּבֵית מִשְׁתֶּה לֹא תָבוֹא לָשֶׁבֶת אוֹתָם לֶאֱכֹל וְלִשְׁתּוֹת - And you shall not enter a house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink." What I told you earlier, do not enter, why? Rashi says: for thus said Hashem of Hosts, as we will presently see, that there will not be a sound of joy and a sound of gladness. The Malbim explains that a house of feasting, do not enter to sit with them, even to sit with them. Not in order to drink with them, but even to sit with them together in their honor, and all the more so not to drink and be with them. So do not enter to sit with them, and certainly not to eat and drink; do not go to be with them in the house of feasting, in the house of joy. And why? Until now we saw not to mourn and not to eulogize. Now he also says: do not be with them at weddings.
"כִּי כֹה אָמַר הַשֵּׁם צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: הִנְנִי מַשְׁבִּית מִן הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה לְעֵינֵיכֶם וּבִימֵיכֶם קוֹל שָׂשׂוֹן וְקוֹל שִׂמְחָה, קוֹל חָתָן וְקוֹל כַּלָּה - For thus said Hashem of Hosts, the God of Yisrael: Behold, I am causing to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the sound of rejoicing and the sound of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I am causing to cease from this place, and this cessation will continue for many days, before your eyes and in your days. That is, this will be before your eyes and you will see it; it will begin already in your days. And all the days of that generation, the Malbim says, until seventy years when they return from the exile, the sound of rejoicing will cease, and not only the sound of rejoicing but the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride. Even without rejoicing and gladness, even this will not be heard. What is the difference? The Malbim says: gladness is in the heart. In contrast, rejoicing is when a person already brings the matters out. One can see upon him that he rejoices and exults. This is the rejoicing. And what is "the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride"? Well, so anyone who was ever at a Sheva Berachot surely heard this teaching. The voice of the groom and the voice of the bride: when the groom and bride are still engaged, everything is gentle and "thank you" and "please" and "something" and "excuse me" and "please" and... everything is so wonderful to hear, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, simply a pleasure. But after a week, two weeks, a month, two months, a year, two years, each according to the speed of matters in his home, the plates do start; as one person once said, that after he married he began to believe in flying saucers. Yes, do you understand? So the conversations already change and the tones are already different and... and the whole style is different. But then, in the beginning, there is a sound of rejoicing and a sound of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride. And this is based on the verse "the voice of the exulting of grooms from their chuppah" and so forth. It is based on that verse, and from here Chazal learn that one who gladdens a groom and bride merits five voices. Therefore they explain, by the way, why politicians frequently come to weddings, because he goes, every wedding another five "voices" (votes), another five votes, slowly slowly in the end they will yet elect him. Yes, he merits five "voices." Well, let us return to the matter. So Hashem says: behold, I am causing to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the sound of rejoicing and the sound of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride. Rashi explains: this is the reason for "do not enter a house of feasting." Why did I say that you should not come to the house of feasting? Because there simply will not be celebrations. There will be no feasting.