Below is the full, literal transcript of the Torah lesson, divided into paragraphs:
Sefer Yirmiyahu, chapter 28. "And it came to pass in that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Tzidkiyahu king of Yehuda, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Chananya son of Azur the prophet, who was from Givon, spoke to me in the house of Hashem, in the presence of the Kohanim and all the people, saying." In that same year, at the time when Nevuchadnetzar continued to appoint Tzidkiyahu over the five kings, at the beginning of Tzidkiyahu's reign, for in the beginning he made him ruler over those five kings as we explained, at that time Chananya son of Azur the prophet came to me, meaning a false prophet. And he came to me and told me a prophecy. "Thus says Hashem of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: I have broken the yoke of the king of Bavel." You, Yirmiyahu, are making a yoke and making bands in order to come and say, place your neck and head beneath the yoke of the king of Bavel; I say the opposite prophecy: I have broken the yoke of the king of Bavel. Even from those in Bavel the yoke is broken, and they too shall return.
"Within two years' time I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the house of Hashem, which Nevuchadnetzar king of Bavel took from this place and carried them to Bavel." At the end of two years all the vessels that Nevuchadnetzar took will return. "And Yechonya son of Yehoyakim king of Yehuda, and all the exiles of Yehuda who went to Bavel, I will bring back to this place, says Hashem, for I will break the yoke of the king of Bavel." They will all return to their land, they will be free, since his yoke will be broken.
Chazal ask: who misled Chananya so that he came and said these things? Chazal say, Chananya heard Yirmiyahu prophesying in the upper market, "Behold, I break the bow of Elam." And that prophecy was said at the end of the book, yes, at the beginning of Tzidkiyahu's reign, brought there in chapter 49. Elam is near Bavel. So he hears, "Behold, I break the bow of Elam." And now he makes a kal vachomer for himself. And if Elam, which only came to help the Kasdim, Hashem will break, then the Bavlim themselves, the Kasdim themselves, all the more so. This Chananya was a scholar. So Chananya son of Azur made a kal vachomer, went to the lower market and there said his prophecy. Based on what? A conclusion he drew from Yirmiyahu's words in the upper market.
"And Yirmiyahu the prophet said to Chananya the prophet in the presence of the Kohanim and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of Hashem. And Yirmiyahu the prophet said: Amen, may Hashem do so; may Hashem fulfill your words which you prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the house of Hashem and all the exiles from Bavel to this place." This is what you say? Amen, may Hashem do so. What does he mean to tell him? He means to say to him: tell me, do you think I do not want the vessels to return? Do you think I seek the harm of Israel? Do you think that if I say a harsh prophecy about them it is because I seek negative things? He tells him, would that your words come true, would that the vessels return, would that this whole matter end, would that it be so. But I speak the truth, and the truth is indeed hard to hear, but this is how it will be. You say they will return? Amen, may Hashem do so, amen, may it be His will that this happen.
Chazal say in the Midrash, Yirmiyahu said to him: if things come true as you say, I on the contrary want and am interested in it, because I come out gaining and you come out losing. Why? He told him: I am a Kohen, I eat from the holy things of Heaven; if the Temple remains standing it is worthwhile for me, right? There are sacrifices, there are terumot and maasrot, there is everything, it is worthwhile for me. But take into account that you lose. Why? Because you are a Givoni. And about the Givonim, what is written? That they are meant to be hewers of wood and drawers of water for the Beit HaMikdash. And if so, he tells him, you only lose from this. But the Radak says that according to the plain meaning he indeed lived in the city of Givon, but he was a Jew, he was not a Givoni. Yes, in any case this is what Chazal say by way of derash.
Chazal also say, from here we learn that whoever flatters a wicked person eventually falls into his hand, or into his son's hand, or into his grandson's hand. Where do you learn this? Here there is in Chazal a complaint against Yirmiyahu. It is written that Yirmiyahu, when he left the city of Yerushalayim, went to see the field of Shalum his cousin, Chanamel his cousin, and there it is written that Yiriya son of Shelemya son of Chananya seized him and brought him to prison, for he said: behold, you see? He is defecting to the Kasdim. He is going to make contact with the enemy. They put him in prison, they cast him into the court of the guard, and Yirmiyahu suffered greatly. Why? Why this matter? Because you flattered his grandfather, you flattered the wicked one, so you will fall either into his hand, or his son's hand, or his grandson's hand. You fell into his grandson's hand. Who was his grandfather? Chananya son of Azur. Where did you flatter him? Here, when you come and say "Amen, may Hashem do so." As you say, would that it be so, why are you flattering him? You are as if telling him, would that it be as you say, you are as if confirming his words. You should have said: this is a complete lie, I oppose what you say, Hashem did not say this. Why do you tell him, would that it be His will? Yirmiyahu should not have said this.
The Malbim says that when he told him "Amen, may Hashem do so," amen is like emet, truth. Its meaning: you speak truth, for I too say that the vessels will return. Only when do I say it? In another 70 years. When do you say it? In another two years. So Yirmiyahu tells him, "Amen, may Hashem do so, may Hashem fulfill your words." The Malbim says that here he told him something that could be understood two ways, a matter that is heard and can be understood in two ways. On one hand it implies that he answers amen to his words and wants these things to come true. And on the other hand it implies that he as if means to tell him: the matter is true, Hashem will fulfill your word that the vessels will return, true, they will return, only not as you say in another two years, but rather it will be in another 70 years. So first it implies, would that it happen so, and second it implies, what you say is true, only a distant truth, in another 70 years.
But the Kohanim and the people understood the first interpretation, namely that you as if tell him it is true, amen, may it be His will, would that it be so. Yirmiyahu meant to mock him, but they understood that he was as if telling him it will be so, for Hashem will fulfill your words. Therefore it is written, "And he said"... note the language: "And Yirmiyahu the prophet said to Chananya the prophet in the presence of the Kohanim and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of Hashem, and Yirmiyahu the prophet said." What was the first "and he said," what was the second "and he said"? What is the repetition? The Malbim explains, since the people understood like the first interpretation, that he was as if coming to confirm his words and telling him amen, would that it happen so, then Yirmiyahu in fact, as we said, meant to mock him, but they understood that he was as if agreeing with him. Therefore he said twice, "and he said, and he said." One statement was in the presence of the Kohanim, for the Kohanim understood as if he agreed with him. But "and he said" is an additional statement that Yirmiyahu said, a statement in itself intended to refute his words. So that you should not understand as I imply according to the plain sense, as if would that it be so, but rather know that the matter is a complete lie, for the vessels are not to be returned in another two years.
"But hear now this word which I speak in your ears and in the ears of all the people." He tells him, I want to tell you now a thing which, as we mentioned earlier, is a fundamental and basic rule in prophecy. And the rule is that if a prophet prophesies for good, by this it will be tested whether his words are true. For a prophecy for good, Hashem does not retract it. In contrast, if the prophet prophesies for bad, even though the prophecy does not come, there is still no proof that he is a liar. And why? Because it is very possible that Hashem relented from the evil and decided not to bring it. And this is now what he tells him. "The prophets who were before me and before you from of old, they prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of evil and of pestilence. The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then the prophet is known, whom Hashem has truly sent." If a prophet says a positive, good prophecy, a prophecy of peace, when this matter comes true we will have clear proof and decisive evidence that his words are true. But in contrast, when the prophet prophesies for evil, yes, when the prophet prophesies for evil, we have no proof yet, if his words did not come to pass, that this prophet is a false prophet.
The Malbim explains, actually wait, before that, so what does he really want to tell him? He wants to tell him: your words will be tested. Your words will be tested by their fulfillment. That is, also what he really wants to tell him, even if what you say comes true, sorry, even if what I say does not come true regarding all the evils I said, there is still no proof that I am not a false prophet, that I am not a true prophet. Because it may be that I... Hashem relented from the evil. But know this: if your prophecy does not come, that is decisive proof that you are a false prophet. Do you hear? If my prophecy does not come there is no proof that I am false, because I prophesied for evil. But if your prophecy does not come, that is decisive proof that you are a false prophet. That is, by your words it will now be tested; now we will know whether what you say is true or false. Only what, we have to wait? We have to wait two years. Right.
The Malbim explains, Yirmiyahu tells him, look, most prophets, indeed an interesting thing, most prophets, their prophecies are prophecies of calamity. They are prophecies of calamity, harsh prophecies. And why? Because the purpose of the prophet is not to come to the people to stroke their ego. The purpose of the prophet is to bring them back in teshuva. The purpose of the prophet is to correct them. And therefore, look, most prophecies are prophecies of calamity. Not to tell me that in another year, another two years it will be good. Why say that? When the good comes we will see it. Future prophecies about what will be in the coming of the Mashiach and the like, about good things, and the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and so on, that is a different matter. But to tell you that in another year or two there will be something good, when the good thing comes you will hear about it. What is the point of telling you? But to tell you that in another year or two there will be evil, that is important to tell you, you can prevent it. You can stop it. How? Do teshuva, correct yourself, and through this the evil thing will be stopped. The Malbim says, Yirmiyahu tells him, if so, why does Hashem send a prophet to say something good? Mainly Hashem sends to say something good in order to establish the person as a prophet. How will we know if you are a prophet or not? Say a good prophecy. As we explained, only in a good prophecy is the prophet tested. As it is written in the pasuk, "And if you say in your heart, how shall we know the word which Hashem has not spoken?" What does the Torah answer to this? "The thing which the prophet speaks in the name of Hashem, and the thing does not come to pass" - does not come true - "that is the thing which Hashem did not speak." And as we explained, this is specifically regarding the good promises, not the evil prophecies. So there really is a need for a prophet to say something good, not in order to say that it will be good, but so that we can test him, so that by this we will know that he is truly a true prophet.
He tells him this: the prophets who were before me and before you, and they prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of evil and of pestilence, all their prophecies were always of war, of evil, of pestilence, they did not prophesy good and comfort, only calamities. Why? Because Hashem does not send a prophet to prophesy good things, but generally only to prophesy evil prophecies. But the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then the prophet is known, whom Hashem has truly sent. If you see a prophet who prophesies of peace, he has some good prophecy, that is only for the purpose that when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then the prophet whom He truly sent will be known, then we will know that he is a true prophet. Only for this purpose does Hashem send a prophecy for good. Now he tells him, if so, you came here to bring good news; if Hashem sent you for this purpose, it is only so that when it comes true we will know that you are a true prophet. If so, let us wait for the test. Two years you said? Let us wait two years. Then we will know whether you are a true prophet or not. In the meantime? Surely one cannot rely on your prophecy. Your prophecy says nothing. Because to say good Hashem would not send a prophet, but rather, only to test you. To test you we need to see at the end; grades are checked at the test, not now after you finished. After they come, they will receive the grades, we will know the test result of whether what you say is true or not. The words did not please Chananya son of Azur.
And especially the very fact that these words say you need testing, that your words have no substance until you pass the test. "And Chananya said in the presence of all the people, saying," sorry, "And Chananya the prophet took the bar from off the neck of Yirmiyahu the prophet and broke it." Chananya the prophet takes it, Chananya the prophet meaning the false prophet, do not be surprised, for many times the prophet calls the false prophet "the prophet." Many times he calls them prophet. Chananya takes the bar from off Yirmiyahu's neck and breaks it. How long was Yirmiyahu with the bar on his neck? We saw in the previous chapter, 15 years. A bar on his neck that he walked around with. And in this he was illustrating to them, Hashem said, place your heads beneath the yoke of the neck of the king of Bavel. Now the prophet takes the bar off his neck, the false prophet comes and breaks it. What actually was the purpose of this? Why do we even ask a different question, why does the prophet perform a physical act beyond the prophecy? You said something, you said it, it is finished, let us move on. No. He tells you, take a scroll, write on the scroll such and such, throw it into the river Perat. He tells you, take a new flask, do such and such with it. A prophecy there with Elisha where he told the king to make war against Aram, he told him take arrows and shoot the arrows toward the king of Aram. Yes, and then he told him after that strike the arrows on the ground. And so he tells him do this, and thus you will kill the king, and thus you will ultimately defeat the king of Aram.
So in fact when we make an illustration, it brings the matter from potential to actuality. So says the Ramban. The Ramban says, when there is an illustration, it as if transforms the matter from abstract into something that has already come to pass, that has received some existence in the world of action. You shoot the arrows in that direction, it as if already shows that this thing came to pass. And note, a prophecy done through an illustration will not be annulled. It is a prophecy that must come true. Therefore he told him there strike on the ground, and he took it and struck only three times, he told him: why only three times? You should have struck more, you would have struck him to annihilation. That is, the illustration always brings a stronger expression, a more tangible expression to the prophecy. There is something similar to this that the Gemara says, that once a woman came and cursed the sage and told him, may your seat be overturned. Its meaning, you should as if descend from your greatness, or die. What did the Rav immediately tell his servants? He told them, take the chair and overturn it. They took the chair and overturned it. Why? He gave realization and fulfillment to the words in a physical manner, that the chair was overturned, the matter is finished. The words already came true in these things. Therefore it is also written, there is good advice, I bring it in the book Mishnat HaChalomot, if a person dreamed for example that the door of his house fell, what does that mean? God forbid his wife will die. So it is brought in the books. What should he do in such a situation? There is advice, so says the Chatam Sofer, let him take out and dismantle the door of his house. Let him bring a strong man, dismantle the door, take it down, drop it. And then what? There is fulfillment of this dream in a certain reality. And by the door falling, through this it will not have to come true in its symbolic sense, that God forbid his wife will die, yes? It is not always possible, for if a person sees that the beams of his house fell, what will he go bring half a ton of dynamite? You understand, it is not so simple. Rather, when it is a possible thing he should do such a thing.
So too, so too he says here. Yirmiyahu walked with the bars, for these bars come as if to express that this prophecy will come true in any case. This prophecy is a prophecy with an action, it is a prophecy that will come true. And therefore Chananya son of Azur has no choice, in order to annul this prophecy that will come true in any case, how can he? He must do an act. Therefore he takes the bars and breaks them. By breaking the bars he says: behold, I have done an act opposed to the act you did. The yoke of the king of Bavel is the bars; breaking the bars constitutes breaking the yoke of the king of Bavel. "And Chananya said in the presence of all the people, saying: Thus says Hashem, so will I break the yoke of Nevuchadnetzar king of Bavel within two years' time from off the neck of all the nations. And Yirmiyahu the prophet went his way." And Yirmiyahu went, hesitant to answer him anything from himself that was not said by Hashem, and he has no reason to confront him because he already said what Hashem commanded, and therefore he leaves him and goes. "And the word of Hashem came to Yirmiyahu after Chananya the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of Yirmiyahu the prophet, saying: Go and tell Chananya, saying, thus says Hashem: you have broken bars of wood, but you shall make in their place bars of iron." He tells him, go tell him, you broke bars of wood, but know that in their place there will now come bars of iron. The meaning: Hashem tells him, does it seem to you that through this you succeeded in annulling the matter? Know that not only did you not annul it, but you will make it harder and the punishment will be more terrible. And why? Because if I warn you and you accept the warning and change your ways, then perhaps there is a chance that something will be annulled. But if I warn you and not only do you not heed the words but you even try to annul what I say and to deny and silence the entire prophecy, that means you will need a more terrible punishment. That means your rebellion against Nevuchadnetzar will bring upon you a bar of iron, a yoke of iron. For now there is a yoke of wood, no doubt, it is a yoke, Nevuchadnetzar is a yoke. But you will bring in its place a yoke of iron, he will enslave you even more through the rebellion that you will rebel against him.
"For thus says Hashem of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, to serve Nevuchadnetzar king of Bavel, and they shall serve him; and I have also given him the beasts of the field." As we explained, that he rode on a lion and tied a serpent on its head. "And Yirmiyahu the prophet said to Chananya the prophet: hear now, Chananya, Hashem has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie." You promise them empty promises, false promises, you are not a messenger of Providence. "Therefore thus says Hashem: behold, I send you away from off the face of the earth; this year you shall die, because you have spoken rebellion against Hashem." This year you shall die, I send you from off the face of the earth. What does it mean, "I send you from off the face of the earth"? Where will He send him? Into the earth. That is the meaning of "from off the face of the earth." He sends you from off it into it. That is the meaning. And he tells him, this year you shall die. But when will you be buried? This he did not tell him. We will soon see. "And Chananya the prophet died in that same year, in the seventh month." What is the seventh month? Tishrei. Tishrei is already the next year. And Chazal ask, the seventh month is not from the same year, so what, God forbid, Yirmiyahu's prophecy did not come true? Rather, Chazal say, he died on the eve of Rosh Hashana, and before his death he commanded his sons, he said: I know I was promised to die this year, behold I am about to die. I command you, you shall bury me and reveal that I passed away, the notices and the loudspeakers, put them out only after Rosh Hashana. Why? In order to show that Yirmiyahu lied. Do you hear? A person is at his final moments, he is already with a foot and a half in the grave, he is about to die. What is important to him? That the impression remain that Yirmiyahu lied and, behold you see, the matter did not come true. I remained right, to come out right in the eyes of the people even from within the grave. He knows, he sees that he lived a lie, he sees that the prophet's prophecy ultimately came true, but no, he still insists, he still continues in his crooked way. This shows us something about human nature.
So that is one interpretation. He in fact commands, commands that his death be concealed. Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, whoever wants may later look in Sichot Mussar, has an entire talk on this matter, on this human nature that a person remains right until the end; he said he wants to remain right even though he sees before his eyes the truth slapping him in the face, he still continues to insist and he dies and he still continues to insist. The Radak says that truly according to the plain meaning there is no difficulty here. For what is the difficulty? The difficulty is, behold he said "this year," Tishrei is about to end... Tishrei is about to end immediately, he should have died at the end of Elul, therefore Chazal say he stands at the end of Elul and is buried after Rosh Hashana. But actually the Radak says there is no difficulty here, because he did not tell him "this year" you die. What did he tell him? "Within the year" you die. What is "this year"? Within a year. Count 365 days or 12 months from this moment, you will die. So we need not look at the Hebrew year and say when the year ends. It does not interest me when the year ends. The first of Tishrei is not the determining factor, rather what is the determining factor? What determines it is the date of exactly another year from the moment of the prophecy, 12 months from day to day. So the Radak explains; he says accordingly it turns out that it is very possible the prophecy was on the first of Tishrei, and then at that same time he died. Do you understand? Or the prophecy was on the second of Tishrei last year, and then it turns out that within a year he indeed died. So that in fact there is no necessity to explain that they concealed his death. But we have only the words of Chazal; what the Radak explains is only how to interpret the matter so it fits with the verses, but as we said, Chazal say that he commanded to conceal his death. Up to here.