Responsa for Jeremiah 11:15
מֶ֣ה לִֽידִידִ֞י בְּבֵיתִ֗י עֲשׂוֹתָ֤הּ הַֽמְזִמָּ֙תָה֙ הָֽרַבִּ֔ים וּבְשַׂר־קֹ֖דֶשׁ יַעַבְר֣וּ מֵֽעָלָ֑יִךְ כִּ֥י רָעָתֵ֖כִי אָ֥ז תַּעֲלֹֽזִי׃
What hath My beloved to do in My house, Seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, And the hallowed flesh is passed from thee? When thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.
Shut min haShamayim
They responded: Even though it is essentially permitted, it is unwise to permit it publicly. "I honor those who honor Me, but those who spurn Me shall be dishonored." (I Samuel 2:30) [Before saying this, they had responded so: "There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the window, peering through the lattice." (Shir Hashirim 2:9) "Why should My beloved be in My house?" (Jeremiah 11:15)4The continuation of this verse speaks about distancing oneself from certain meat - perhaps this is the intended reference here. On the basis of this response, we forbade the meat of the animal, and only some time later, we received the response "Even though it is permitted," etc.]
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy