The haftorah portion that I’m going to chant is from the prophet, Jeremiah.

Jeremiah lived about 2600 years ago. He was alive during the time of the Babylonian empire. The Babylonian empire was located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city of Babylonia was just about 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq. The Babylonians were great conquerors and great traders. They traded with the countries of Lebanon, Egypt and Greece. In order for them to protect their trade routes, they sent out armies westward to conquer the cities in their way. Jerusalem was one of these cities and as such, Jerusalem was captured and the Temple was destroyed. This summarizes the politics of the Babylonians.

One more thing about the Babylonians: They come from a long lines of Kings such as Nebuchadnezzar. Spiritually, they had around 65,000 gods which represented one for every town, one for every profession, one for every household, etc. Most of the gods lived on earth, in temples, had large appetites for food and drink, and made nocturnal visits to pious women who gave them unexpected children. This explains the lifestyle beliefs of the people at this time.

During this same era, the Jewish people living in the land of Judah had been forsaking
G-d and the Torah, and turned to idolatry. They had been assimilating into to the society and beliefs of the Babylonians. This had been going on for generations and it was apparent that there would be no reversal of their thoughts and actions.

This haftorah begins with Jeremiah speaking to G-d about how troubled he is because the Jewish people are deluding themselves. He cannot understand how a person can think that they can make gods for themselves or believe in these types of things which are futile and worthless. Jeremiah is so troubled with the fact that the Jewish people have become so detached from G-d.

G-d returns an answer to Jeremiah. He tells him that he will teach them, his Jewish people, once and for all about His might and His power. G-d has come to the point where He is forced to hold the Jewish people accountable for their negative behavior. Our G-d will not totally destroy the Jewish people, but they will become slaves to their enemy in a land that they have never known.

In 586 BCE Nebuchadnezzar took over Jerusalem and the Temple was destroyed. He took the Jewish nobles, the armies and the craftsmen into captivity to the city of Babylon. This amounted to 10,000 people. The rest of the Jewish people remained in the land of Judah where many eventually died off from famine.

To explain this take over, Jeremiah uses analogies to describe how life will be: Those who trust in man and turn their thoughts away from G-d will be like a bush trying to survive in the desert. Yet, a man who trusts in G-d will be like a tree planted near water where the roots can grow and spread and flourish.

Jeremiah continues with this thought: Our heart can be devious. Our heart can play games with our mind. G-d will probe our heart and search our mind to find out the truth in each of us. Each of us will be repaid according to our ways, with the proper fruit of our deeds.

In other words, we should try our hardest to be honest with ourselves. Everyday we must look at ourselves in the mirror and try to avoid deluding ourselves about appearances. There are times, no doubt, when things have gone so badly that we have called to G-d to help us.

The last line of this haftorah portion is, “r’fa ayni adonai v’ayrafay ho-shee-ayni
v-eva-shay-a ki t’heelatee ahtah”, which translates to, “Heal me, O Lord, and let me be healed; Save me, and let me be saved; For you are my glory”.

Although Jeremiah was a prophet of apocalypse, he emphasized the temporary nature of the destruction, and offered the consolation that there is certainty that the nation will be returned to its land. In all, the exile lasted 70 years.

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