Jeremiah and the Bitter Cup He Was Born to Pour

Pesikta Rabbati 26:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

And it came to pass, when the flock sinned and would not heed the words of its Master, that He hated the shepherds of its sheep and its good leaders, and the flock strayed far from them. The flock are the house of Israel, who are likened to sheep, as it says, "And you, My flock, the flock of My pasture" (Ezekiel 34:31). He hated the shepherds of its sheep, and it appointed over itself false shepherds, and its heart too wandered from its Creator and turned toward sin. Jeremiah the prophet prophesied concerning this by the Holy Spirit. He was one of four men called "formed ones." The first was Adam, of whom it is written, "And the LORD God formed the man" (Genesis 2:7). The second was Jacob, of whom it is written, "Thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, and your Former, O Israel" (Isaiah 43:1). The third was Isaiah, of whom it is written, "And now says the LORD, who formed me from the womb" (Isaiah 49:5). The fourth was Jeremiah, of whom it is written, "Before I formed you in the belly I knew you" (Jeremiah 1:5). When Jeremiah came into the world he cried out a great cry like a grown man, saying, "My bowels, my bowels! I writhe in pain. The walls of my heart! My limbs tremble upon me, breaking upon breaking, for I am the one who has shattered the whole earth" (compare Jeremiah 4:19). He opened his mouth and rebuked his mother, saying, "My mother, my mother, you did not bear me in the way of other women." But she answered, "Why does this one speak so of me, out of season?" He said to her: not of you, my mother, do I say this; rather of Zion and Jerusalem I prophesy, for she adorns her daughters and clothes them in scarlet and crowns them with gold, and the spoilers will come and despoil them. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "Before I formed you in the belly I appointed you to prophesy to My people." Jeremiah answered: I cannot prophesy against them. Which prophet went out to them whom they did not seek to kill? Moses and Aaron, were they not nearly stoned? Elijah they mocked; Elisha they jeered, "Go up, baldhead!" "I cannot, for I am but a youth" (Jeremiah 1:6). The Holy One said: precisely the youth I love, as it says, "When Israel was a youth I loved him" (Hosea 11:1). "Take this cup of wrath and make the nations drink." Jeremiah took the cup and asked, "Whom shall I make drink first?" He said: Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, for they are the head of all kingdoms. When Jeremiah heard this he opened his mouth and cursed his day: "Cursed be the day on which I was born" (Jeremiah 20:14). And when Nebuchadnezzar came and laid siege, the false prophet's son seized Jeremiah at the Benjamin gate, accusing him of deserting to the Chaldeans, and the officers beat him and cast him into the pit. The Holy One, blessed be He, worked a miracle for him: the water sank down and the mud rose up. Ebed-melech the Cushite, called "Cushite" because his good deeds were as distinct as a Cushite's skin, drew him out with old rags. When the Temple burned, the High Priest took the keys and flung them toward heaven, saying, "Here are the keys of Your house; I was a faithless steward within it," and the enemies slew him beside the altar. The priests and Levites cast themselves into the fire with their harps and trumpets, and the virgins who wove the curtain leaped into the flames rather than be defiled. Jeremiah, returning from Anathoth, saw smoke rising and thought Israel had repented and was offering sacrifices, but he found the Temple in ruins. As he followed the exiles he kissed the footprints of the nursing infants taken into captivity. At the Euphrates Nebuzaradan offered to bring him to Babylon, but Jeremiah thought: if I go with them, there will be none to comfort the remnant left in the land. When the exiles saw him turn back, they wept with a loud cry: "Our father Jeremiah, you are abandoning us!" Then Jeremiah met a woman seated on a mountaintop, clothed in black, her hair undone, crying for one to comfort her. She told him she had borne seven sons and lost them all. He said, "You are no better than my mother Zion." She answered, "I am your mother Zion; I am the mother of the seven, as it is written, 'She who bore seven languishes' (Jeremiah 15:9)." He said to her: as I restored and comforted Job, doubling his sons and daughters and his silver and gold, so am I destined to return and comfort you, for it is written, "The LORD builds Jerusalem; He gathers the dispersed of Israel" (Psalms 147:2).

Themes

ProphecyTemple DestructionExile

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