Yirmiyahu chapter 34. The word which came to Yirmiyahu from Hashem, when Nevuchadretzar king of Bavel and all his army and all the kingdoms of the land under his rule and all the peoples were fighting against Yerushalayim and against all its cities, saying. Hashem tells a prophecy to Yirmiyahu, while Nevuchadretzar king of Bavel and his army and all the kingdoms of the land and all the peoples are fighting against Yerushalayim. At that very time when they are already drawing near to come and lay siege to Yerushalayim. So says Hashem the God of Yisrael, go and speak to Tzidkiyahu king of Yehudah and say to him, so says Hashem, behold I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Bavel, and he will burn it with fire. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him, go and speak to Tzidkiyahu king of Yehudah and say to him. And what is the repetition about? The Malbim explains, the Holy One, blessed be He, told him to say this prophecy to the people, and afterwards the Holy One, blessed be He, commands him to say this prophecy to Tzidkiyahu.
We saw earlier that Yirmiyahu says these things to the people, and we saw that as a result of this, what do they do to him? They imprison him in the courtyard of the guard. As a result of this they tell him you are weakening the hearts of the people, you are causing them not to believe in the redemption, and thereby they will grow slack from fighting against the gentiles, and by this you are actually bringing the people down morally. But here, here he delivers this prophecy to Tzidkiyahu himself. And Tzidkiyahu himself did not mind that the prophecy be delivered, no. He did not mind, and on the contrary, we saw that when Tzidkiyahu imprisoned Yirmiyahu, what was the question he asked him? It is astonishing. Is there a word from Hashem with you? What, what did Hashem say? He imprisons him for prophesying to the people, and after he imprisons him he says to him tell me what Hashem said. He believes in him with complete faith, he knows that he is a prophet of Hashem. But under no circumstances go and tell this to the people. You are causing slackness in their hearts. But between us, tell me what, what did Hashem say. And by the way, regarding Tzidkiyahu, Chazal say he was a righteous king. Only his generation were wicked, but he himself was a righteous king.
Notice what he says to him. And you will not escape from his hand, for you will surely be captured and given into his hand. And your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Bavel, and his mouth will speak with your mouth, and you will come to Bavel. He tells him you will not be killed, you will arrive in Bavel and he will speak with you. What is the meaning of speaking? A harsh matter. And indeed Nevuchadretzar spoke with him in judgment. About what did he speak with him? Do you remember? About the fact that he went and publicized that he ate a rabbit, a live rabbit. About that, and that he violated the oath he had sworn to him. About the fact that he violated the oath he had sworn to him not to rebel against him, and he arose and rebelled against him.
And here let us notice, he says to him your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Bavel. Chazal say he told him you will see the eyes of the king of Bavel but not Bavel. Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Bavel but not the king of Bavel himself. Because indeed after he brought him to him and spoke with him before his eyes, spoke with him in judgment, he gouged out his eyes. And this is what was said to him in another prophecy, that there you will come and you will not see it. You will come to Bavel but you will not see it. And he was puzzled, how can this be? If I come to Bavel I see it. This, this later became clear to him, when he gouged out his eyes, that behold the prophecy was fulfilled in it, I came to Bavel but I did not see it.
Yet hear the word of Hashem, Tzidkiyahu king of Yehudah. So says Hashem concerning you, you will not die by the sword. That is, here you have consolation. Even though you will be exiled, you will not die by the sword. That is to say this calamity is because of the sin of the generation, as we said, for Tzidkiyahu himself was a righteous king. And therefore you will not die by the sword. One who dies by the sword of the king, they do not eulogize him. Who knows why? Those executed by the government are not eulogized. Why? Because by this you are, as it were, displaying rebellion against the king. I, the king, decided to kill him, and now you come and say what a righteous man he was, what a special person. That is to say he did not deserve death. So now you are opposing the king. Such a person, they will kill him too. Those executed by the government are not eulogized. And here he tells him you will not die by the sword of the king, you will die a natural death.
And this is what he says to him in the following verse. In peace you will die, and like the burnings for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so will they make a burning for you. And they will lament for you, alas lord, for I have spoken the word, says Hashem. He tells him in peace you will die. Chazal say that Nevuchadnetzar died in the days of Tzidkiyahu. Throughout all the days of Nevuchadnetzar prisoners did not come out of their confinement. There was no concept of releasing captives or releasing prisoners or amnesty. Nevuchadnetzar was a terrible and awesome king, a most harsh king. And there was no such reality. Only after the death of Nevuchadnetzar did they release prisoners. And then Tzidkiyahu came out of the prison house, and the next day he passed away. The prophecy was fulfilled in him, that behold you will not die by the sword but you will die a natural death. And also since you will not die by the sword, then they will lament for you, alas lord, they will eulogize you with honor.
What is and like the burnings for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so will they make a burning for you? What is the meaning? What, what would they burn? So they explain, they explain that in fact when a king died, all the king's utensils they would burn them. And the reason for this is so that another person should not use them. It is not the honor of a king that a commoner use his utensils. But then what shall we say? The king who comes after him? The king who comes after him has his own special utensils. He will not use secondhand garments or secondhand utensils. He has his own special garments. And therefore here he tells him they will make a burning for you like the burnings for your fathers. There is an additional explanation, that they say they would burn spices and all kinds of blended fragrances upon their bier so that it would produce a pleasant smell. One must understand that in their time when they would bring out the deceased, many times people would keep away from his bier because of the smell. Today when the deceased is brought out for burial, he has been in refrigeration for a long time. An hour, two hours, it could even be more than that, 12 and 14 hours, depending on when he passed away. And by the time of burial he has not yet had time to give off an odor. But in their time, it could be that he passed away at night and they would bury him the next day at midday, it could be that in the meantime he had time to give off a bad odor. They would place spices on him. And it was customary to place myrtles on his bier or spices. And for kings it was customary to blend upon their bier and burn all kinds of blended spices, and through this a pleasant smell would waft from the bier. This is the meaning of and like the burnings for your fathers, the former kings, so will they make a burning for you, according to the second explanation of the Radak. According to Chazal the meaning is they burn his utensils.
And Yirmiyahu the prophet spoke to Tzidkiyahu king of Yehudah all these words in Yerushalayim. As we explained, that here the mission was to speak them directly to Tzidkiyahu and not to say this to the people. And the army of the king of Bavel was fighting against Yerushalayim and against all the remaining cities of Yehudah, against Lachish and against Azekah, for these fortified cities remained among the cities of Yehudah. They remained fortified cities besides Yerushalayim itself.
The word which came to Yirmiyahu from Hashem, after King Tzidkiyahu made a covenant with all the people who were in Yerushalayim to proclaim liberty to them. It is written that in the seventh year of his reign he made a covenant with all the people to proclaim liberty to the slaves. The meaning of this is to free the slaves from their servitude. Here we are speaking of a Hebrew slave who was subjugated by his Israelite brother. He told them to proclaim liberty to the male and female slaves. To send away each man his slave and each man his maidservant, the Hebrew man and the Hebrew woman free, so that no man should subjugate them, his Jewish brother. That no man should subjugate his brother.
Chazal say that men from the elders of Yehudah came to inquire of Hashem. And they argued to him thus: a slave of a Kohen whose master sold him, may he eat terumah? For it is written that the slave who is a purchase of money, he may eat of it, correct? He eats terumah. He is permitted to eat like the Kohen himself. A slave of a Kohen eats terumah like the Kohen. They now asked him, if this slave, the Kohen sold him to an Israelite or to a gentile, may he eat terumah? He told them, of course not. What did they actually want to come and tell him? We will not be punished since, as it were, Hashem sold us. Behold Hashem sold us to Nevuchadnetzar. Are we subjugated to Hashem? No. So He has no claims against us. Thus, as it were, they wanted to argue to Yechezkel. And in contrast they were told that they must free all their slaves. And then the king made a covenant with them to proclaim liberty to the slaves, to set them free. Now he enacted two ordinances. First, to send away each man his slave free. That is, the slaves who were in their possession, even though they had not served six years, to send them away free. And also for the future, that no man should subjugate them, his Jewish brother, this already speaks of the future, that they should not subjugate them in the future. They should not acquire Hebrew slaves.
And all the officers and all the people who had entered into the covenant obeyed, to send away each man his slave and each man his maidservant free, no longer to subjugate them, and they obeyed and sent them away. They accepted upon themselves to do so, and thus in the end they also sent them away. This is what the Malbim says, what is the meaning of and they obeyed, and all the officers who had entered into the covenant? The meaning is they came to make the covenant, that is one hearing. And a second hearing is that they also did it in practice. They fulfilled the covenant they had made, both regarding the past, that is, not to continue subjugating the slaves we have, and regarding the future, not to subjugate slaves anew or to acquire other slaves. And then they did it in practice, and they sent them away.
But afterwards they turned back and took back the male and female slaves whom they had sent away free, and forced them into being male and female slaves. But afterwards they regretted it. A person gets up in the morning, he needs someone to prepare the water for washing his hands, he needs someone to iron his clothes, he needs someone to work his field for him, he needs... wow, all this, to go and bring workers now, a lot of money. What a fool I was to send away my slave, I had a slave doing all these things. What did they do? They went and forced them back into being male and female slaves. They brought them back.
The Malbim explains, what actually was the matter here and now in this whole affair? After all, they are now under siege. They are now on the verge of conquest. This is not a time for ordinances, this is not a time when... this is a time when each one is fighting for his life. Why, all of a sudden, does Yirmiyahu now go and begin to command them to send away the slaves by the word of Hashem, yes? But what actually is the matter with this now? [Someone in the audience: These slaves are Hebrew slaves?] Hebrew, only Hebrew slaves. The Malbim explains... [Someone in the audience: What does it mean to force them?] Forcing, the meaning is to hold him under his hand. This is the meaning of forcing. "Kovesh sechar sachir" (withholding a laborer's wages), this means holding it under his hand and not giving it. [Someone in the audience: A Hebrew slave, you acquire him.] Well done. But they had accepted to free him. And they turned back and forced him under their hand. The meaning is to seize, after they freed them, and they turned back after them and took back the male and female slaves whom they had sent away free, and forced them. They turned back and seized them by force, this is the meaning of forcing. [Someone in the audience: This is a kind of theft.] Very well done.
The Malbim says, in that period, in order to understand the matter, the Malbim says, there were many people from the lower class who owed money to the wealthier people. There were differences of status. And they were subjugated to them. When a person had nothing to pay with, they would take him as a slave. Now, in that period when they were under siege, King Tzidkiyahu feared very much that these people who were subjugated as slaves to the wealthy of Yisrael would feel they had nothing to lose. And since this was so, they would go and lend a hand to the conquerors who come to conquer Yerushalayim, and would become like a fifth column, joining them in order to free themselves from the hand of their masters. About this the Malbim says, that so it happened to the Romans in ancient times. That during war they were compelled to proclaim liberty to those subjugated to them for their debts in order to quell the rebellion, as is known in the histories of ancient times. He brings that historically this also happened in Rome, that the subjugated ones would go and assist the enemies in order to free themselves from the subjugation. I have nothing to lose. Here I am subjugated, here I suffer, if the enemy enters I become free. And on the contrary, I even assist him, so it could well be that he will give me some role or give me some rank or standing, which is certainly better than my current situation.
And now they turn back and force them in the end. They saw that they cannot manage without them, they turned back and took them by force. The Malbim says, here they sinned in two ways. First, you swore, you made a covenant. And you transgress the covenant and the oath, this is very grave. Much more grave than the very act of taking him as a slave. Secondly, after he was already free, the moment you freed him, what did you actually do? You, as it were, forgave the debt. When you go and subjugate him anew, this is outright theft. This is kidnapping people. This is a grave prohibition, this is one of the prohibitions of the Ten Commandments, do not steal, which refers to one who steals people, Chazal say.
And about this there is now a prophecy. And the word of Hashem came to Yirmiyahu from Hashem, saying. Here what he mentioned earlier, that the word of Hashem came to Yirmiyahu, now he goes back and tells us what that word of Hashem was. So says Hashem the God of Yisrael, I made a covenant with your fathers on the day I brought them out of the land of Mitzrayim, out of the house of bondage, saying. Chazal say, the Holy One, blessed be He, when He brought Yisrael out of Mitzrayim made a covenant with them that they should not subjugate their brothers. For to Me the children of Yisrael are slaves. They are My slaves, and not slaves to slaves. That a Jew should not be in the status of a slave. And I said to them, at the end of seven years you shall send away each man his Hebrew brother who is sold to you. And he shall serve you six years and you shall send him away free from you. But your fathers did not listen to Me and did not incline their ear. Tell me, after how many years does one send away the slave? [Someone in the audience: Six years.] In the seventh he is already free. Or does he also work in the seventh? [Someone in the audience: In the seventh he is free.] In the seventh he is free. So what is at the end of seven years you shall send away each man his brother? [Someone in the audience: At the end of seven.] At the end of seven? Then it is not correct. For we say at the end of six years one sends them away. Not at the end of seven. [Someone in the audience: It could be that a person enters slavery at the beginning of the seventh.] No no no. It is not connected to each individual person. Here yes, for each individual person. For it is measured according to the time that the person himself served. [Someone in the audience: Not according to the shemitah.] No no.
The Metzudat David says, it is simple. The beginning is also an end, correct? If I take a rope, how many ends does it have? Two, correct? So the beginning of the year is also the end of the year. It has an end here and an end on the other side. The Metzudat says, at the end of seven years means from the beginning of the seventh year. For the beginning too is an end of the year. An end does not have to be at the finish. [Someone in the audience: Why is it written regarding Yosef, at the end of two years of days?] Did I say that the end is not the finish? Let us not exaggerate. An end is certainly a finish. But it is also a beginning. [Someone in the audience: But you cannot understand what the verse means.] Well done, the matter itself proves it. Do you understand? The matter itself. When it is written at the end of seven years, it cannot possibly be the finish of seven years, because in the Torah it is written six. And especially since here it is written and he shall serve you six years. Lest a person say perhaps something got garbled between the Torah and Sefer Yirmiyah. Yirmiyah writes explicitly and he shall serve you six years. [Someone in the audience: Six years is until the beginning of the seventh.] Exactly. So he says, behold I commanded thus in the Torah, that one cannot subjugate a Hebrew slave for an unlimited period. Only six years, after which one must free him. So we explained "at the end," an end is also a beginning. A rope, how many ends does it have? Two ends. So "at the end" is both a beginning and a finish. Here we are speaking of an end that is a beginning.
And you turned back today and did what is right in My eyes, to proclaim liberty each man to his fellow. And you made a covenant before Me in the House upon which My name is called. And you, he says to them, now you have repented. And you did what is right in My eyes, to proclaim liberty each man to his fellow, to free them. Very wonderful. And not only this, you even did better than what the Torah demanded. For you proclaimed liberty to them even before six years. That is, still at a stage when you were permitted to subjugate them. This was not out of obligation and the essential letter of the law. And therefore he says to them, and you did what is right in My eyes. What is what is right in the eyes of Hashem? This is beyond the letter of the law. What is right in My eyes, not what you are obligated to do, but even more than that. And also, he says to them, and you made a covenant. You even made an oath about this, you made a covenant.
But, you turned back and desecrated My name. And you took back each man his slave and each man his maidservant, whom you had sent away free to their own selves, and forced them to be male and female slaves to you. Now he tells them, you did evil doubly. First, in that you desecrate My name. For behold, in that you transgress the oath there is a great desecration of Hashem's name. You swear by the name of Hashem and do the opposite? This is a desecration of Hashem's name. You turned back and desecrated My name, for you swore by the name of Hashem. Secondly, and you took back each man his slave, that is, that you went and forced them, and forced them, this is theft. This is kidnapping.
Therefore so says Hashem, you did not listen to Me to proclaim liberty each man to his brother and each man to his fellow. Behold I proclaim liberty to you, says Hashem, to the sword, to the plague and to the famine. And I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. You do not proclaim liberty to the slaves? I will proclaim liberty to all the troubles, so that they will be free to come and harm you. That is to say, you want to be a master over slaves? Then I will not be willing to be a master over such a people. When there is a master, then he guards you. But when you have no master, no masters over these, then consequently they scatter. So he also says to them, I will not be a master over you, and consequently the sword and the plague and the famine will have liberty, and they will make you into a horror. What is "zaavah" (horror)? From what root is "zaavah"? [Someone in the audience: Shaking.] A term of movement, "za" (moving). "Za." "Zaavah" and "zavaah" are the same thing. Here indeed it is written "zaavah" and read "zavaah." And this is really the same principle as "keves" and "kesev" (sheep, lamb). Well, what other example? "Salmah" and "simlah" (garment). And likewise other such words that are "kahal" and "lahak" (assembly, gathering). "Makhelah" and "lahakah" (choir, group). It is the same word which is really from a change of letters, like "keves" and "kesev" and "zaavah" and "zavaah." Both are correct expressions. [Someone in the audience: Why are there these changes?] These are two words that are... they are expressions suited to the matter. Now when one delves deeper into the Holy Tongue, one knows every letter, why it was written here and why specifically this letter and not another letter, and then one can also understand for every letter what its placement is. Only these are deep matters that are not, not all known to us. We only have left today crumbs of the depth of the Holy Tongue. In order to understand... [Someone in the audience: Like "et" with a tzere and "et" with a segol, even that is the same thing.] Well, there it is a matter of the vowel points, many times because of matters of the construct state. Many times it is because of matters of the construct state, whether it is "et" with a segol or "et" with a tzere.
So he says, like a person, the Malbim explains, like a person who is a slave, a slave of Hashem. The slave of Hashem alone is free. No, He alone will make of you. He alone is free. The slave of Hashem alone is free. Do you remember the beginning? Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi. The slaves of time are slaves of slaves, and the slave of Hashem alone is free. One who is a slave to his desires is a slave of slaves. All day he is only in pursuits and acquisitions, and needs to buy this and needs this and needs that. He is a slave, a slave to his desires and his wishes. And the slave of Hashem alone is free. One who is a slave of Hashem, then he does not need this and he does not have to have this and he also does not need that. What will he say? But that one will say I enjoy myself, I have. So it is like a drug addict coming to you, telling you, oh, do you know what drugs are? They are something. You tell him, thank God I do not need this. He tells you yes, but if you had it, if you had this, you would be happy. Do you envy him? But he is happy. I do not envy him, thank you very much. I forgo it. I forgo the happiness, I forgo the pleasure, I do not want it. So I am free and you are a slave. To you it seems that you are free, you are high. But you are a slave, can you manage without the drug? When you will need it, then you will come to whoever crosses your path. But I, true, I do not have it, I am not high, but I do not need it, thank God, I am free. [Someone in the audience: But basic things you cannot say to him.] I am not talking about a person who needs bread with salt. I am talking about if a person, he needs a new jeep, and he also needs to finance the insurance for it, and he also needs to finance the fuel for it, and then he actually becomes a slave. So he says to you, can I not take overtime hours? I say I do not need this, and I do not need overtime hours. That is to say, the slave of Hashem alone is free. But a person who goes after his desires, I am not talking, there is the minimum that every person must have. A roof over his head a person must have. To eat a loaf of bread a person must have. But when a person chases after delicacies and feels that no, it is better, they tell him no, you become subjugated to all those things. One who does not need this, his situation is better. So this is in the aspect of the slave of Hashem. The slave of Hashem, the Malbim says, is free from all the matters of the desires of the matters of this world. Now when you leave the domain of Hashem, then here you have gotten entangled. Already all the matters of the world are able to rule over you. And this is what he says, I proclaim liberty to them, to the sword and to the plague and to the famine, for the moment you leave from under the hand of Hashem then consequently you are exposed to all the afflictions of the world.
And I will make the men who transgress My covenant, who did not uphold the words of the covenant which they made before Me, the calf which they cut in two and passed between its parts. Rashi explains that it was not enough for them that they transgressed their covenant, but they cut a calf in two and passed between its parts in order to rebel against Him. That is to say, this is astonishing. It was not enough that you transgressed the first covenant, all right, let us say you transgressed the covenant, it is over. You even go and make a new covenant to fulfill that which you are now transgressing. And this is in the aspect of the covenant between the parts. How would they make a covenant? A covenant is a contract. How would they make a covenant? They slaughter a calf or a bird or whatever we saw with Avraham Avinu, and cut it and divide it in two and pass between their parts. Therefore it is called the covenant between the parts. And so too here, the calf which they cut in two and passed between its parts. They now made a new covenant to transgress the word of Hashem. A new covenant to subjugate the slaves anew. [Someone in the audience: What does the passing between the parts symbolize?] It is like today when they tell you sign a contract. Do you understand? It is not something symbolic, it is, as it were, something binding. You cannot say no, symbolically I signed the contract. No, signing a contract is a binding document. So in their time they would do something binding, it was making a covenant. Like with Avraham. Like with Avraham, this is the concept of the covenant between the parts. [Someone in the audience: Here they commit sin upon sin, so to speak.] Yes. Now the Malbim, in contrast, explains that the meaning here is not that they made a new covenant to transgress the word of Hashem, but here the Holy One, blessed be He, holds them accountable for the first covenant that they made. Hashem says they sinned doubly. The men who transgress My covenant, what is transgress My covenant? The Torah. "If not for My covenant day and night, the statutes of heaven and earth I would not have established." That is to say, the first covenant is already written in the Torah, not to subjugate beyond six years. This you transgressed. Secondly, who did not uphold the words of the covenant which they made before Me. Besides this, you also made for yourselves a covenant not to transgress the word of Hashem, to free the male and female slaves, and this too you transgressed. According to the Malbim here it speaks of the earlier covenant that they themselves made to transgress the words of Hashem.
The officers of Yehudah and the officers of Yerushalayim, the eunuchs and the Kohanim and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. All these passed between the parts of the calf, the meaning is they were partners in making the covenant. And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, and their carcasses will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth. Why will their carcasses be food for the birds of the sky? This is corresponding to the fact that they made a covenant and passed between the carcass of the calf, so corresponding to this their carcasses will be food for the birds of the sky. Now, this is measure for measure. And I will give them into the hand of their enemies, the Malbim says, this is for what they transgressed the covenant of the Torah, which as we said is already written in the Torah. And their carcasses will be food, this is for what they transgressed the covenant which they themselves made by passing between the parts of the calf.
And Tzidkiyahu king of Yehudah and his officers I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives and into the hand of the army of the king of Bavel who go up from you. Tzidkiyahu king of Yehudah and his officers I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, the meaning is into the hand of Nevuchadnetzar. Seemingly Tzidkiyahu himself was upright. For Tzidkiyahu himself here acted according to the proper practice, he is the one who told them to make the covenant for good. Why then should Tzidkiyahu be punished? Tzidkiyahu was not among those who encouraged the slavery, exactly the opposite, he is among those who protested against it. The Malbim explains, it was in his power to protest and he did not protest. One who has it in his power to protest and does not protest is held accountable for the sin of the generation. And therefore Tzidkiyahu was punished. But what is and into the hand of the army of the king of Bavel who go up from you? It should have said who go up against you. What is who go up from you? [Someone in the audience: Who leave you.] Who withdraw from you. Rashi says, it is true, so it is. For when the king of Mitzrayim came to fight against them, then indeed they left Yerushalayim and went to fight against the army of the king Pharaoh. So indeed at that time they went up from them, they returned afterwards, but at that time they went up from them.
Behold I am commanding, says Hashem, and I will bring them back to this city. Even though they go up from you now, do not build on this. And I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it and capture it and burn it with fire. And the cities of Yehudah I will make a desolation without inhabitant. He tells them, the army of the king Pharaoh will return to its land, and the Kasdim will come back against you again, and they will fight against you and the land will be a desolation without inhabitant.