Another matter: “Behold, I am sending an angel before you” – that is what is written: “And I said: How shall I place you [ashitekh] among the children” (Jeremiah 3:19). What is ashitekh? The Holy One blessed be He said: From the moment that you stood at Sinai and received the Torah, and I wrote that I love you, as it is stated: “But because of the Lord’s love for you” (Deuteronomy 7:8) – after I loved you, how can I hate you?
“How shall I place you [ashitekh] among the children?” Ashitekh indicates nothing other than animosity, as it is stated: “I will place [ashit] animosity” (Genesis 3:15). Another matter: “How shall I place you [ashitekh] among the children?” (Jeremiah 3:19) – Rabbi Yehoshua said: You have obligated yourselves, as it is written: “In accordance with all that shall be imposed [yushat] upon him” (Exodus 21:30).
Rabbi Berekhya said: You have laid waste to yourselves, as it is written: “Briers and thistles [shayit]” (Isaiah 5:6). “I gave you a desirable [ḥemda] land” – why is it called desirable? Because the Temple is located in it; that is what is written: “The mountain that God desired [ḥamad] for His abode” (Psalms 68:17). Another matter: “A desirable land” (Jeremiah 3:19) – for all the kings desired it, as between Ai and Jericho is only three mil, and this one had a king and that one had a king.
Another matter: “A desirable [ḥemda] land” (Jeremiah 3:19) – the Rabbis say: A land that was made desirable for the patriarchs of the world.5God made it desirable to Abraham and Isaac by commanding them to live there and by promising them the land. They fulfilled these commands, thereby indicating how desirable it was to them. Abraham, as it is stated: “Go from your land…[to the land that I will show you]” (Genesis 12:1).
Isaac – “reside in this land” (Genesis 26:3). Jacob – “you shall transport me from Egypt” (Genesis 47:30). Why did it become desirable for them?6Why was it desirable to them to be in the Land of Israel even after death, as in the case of Jacob? (Etz Yosef). Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Because [those who are buried there] come to life first in the messianic era.
What is “a magnificent inheritance [naḥalat tzevi]” (Jeremiah 3:19)? Why is it analogized to a gazelle [tzevi]? Just as the gazelle, when a person flays it, its hide cannot contain its flesh, so too, when Israel took possession of it, the Land of Israel could not contain its produce. Another matter: Just as the gazelle is easy to eat,7They do not require raising and herding. so too, the produce of the Land of Israel is easy to eat.8When the people of Israel are deserving, the land produces great bounty without requiring hard work.
The Rabbis say: Just as the gazelle, its legs are fleeter than any animal and any beast, so, the Land of Israel is faster to ripen its produce than all the lands. Why to that extent? The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘So that My name will be uniquely associated with you.’ “I said: You shall call Me my Father, and do not turn back from following Me” (Jeremiah 3:19), but you did not do so, but rather, “indeed, a woman has betrayed her lover” (Jeremiah 3:20).
The Rabbis say: It is not written here, “her husband,” but rather, “her lover.” Just as a woman cannot rebel against her husband, but she can reject her lover – why, because there is no marriage contract between them – so the Holy One blessed be He says to Israel: ‘You did not render Me a husband but rather a lover; just as a woman betrays her lover, so “you have betrayed Me, house of Israel”’ (Jeremiah 3:20).
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: If only [they were] like a woman to her lover. For as long as he gives her a wage, she obeys him; if he stops giving her wage, she says to him: ‘Was I not subservient to you only for the wage?’ So, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘Have I withheld anything from you such that you have rejected Me?’ That is, “a woman has betrayed her lover.”
Another matter: “Behold, I am sending an angel” – the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: Had you merited, I, Myself, would have become a messenger for you just as I did for you in the wilderness, as it is stated: “The Lord was going before them by day” (Exodus 13:21). Now that you did not merit, I am passing you to a messenger, as it is stated: “Behold, I am sending an angel.”