Commentaire de citation sur Jérémie 3:14

Before this appeared,⁸According to Job, 12:22. it was already famous.⁹B. Megillah, 14b. It was praised in the city where it circulated, saying that nothing like this book was seen, incorporating the above mentioned commentaries. Therefore, they shook out the bosom of their garment,¹⁰Nehemiah, 5:13. with the aid of the Lord among the warriors,¹¹Judges, 5:23. in the holy community of Lublin to undertake the divine task,¹²Exodus, 36:2. bringing it to the divine work to reveal the hidden hoards,¹³Deuteronomy, 33:19. and concealed wisdom of this book. Afterwards, it was printed twice in the holy community of Cracow. Nonetheless, it is cannot be found in the whole diaspora of Ashkenaz, except for one from a town and two from a clan.¹⁴Jeremiah 3:14. This made it necessary to bring it to the craft of the press in the city of Basel.

Behold, we see that the sages remained alive [throughout the destruction, as the “wise ones” were no longer there when the other Israelites were made into “corpses”]. Not that Nebuchadnezzar loved the sages of Israel, but rather the power of the Torah shielded them, and rescued the sages of Israel from whatever place [whether it was] one from a city, [or] two from a family, bringing them to Jerusalem,⁴⁰See Jer. 3:14. from which they were taken alive into exile. This happened during the destruction of the Second Temple, when the sages of Yavneh were saved by R. Yohanan ben Zakkai.⁴¹See Gittin 56b. All of this is what Ezekiel was expressing, for the greatness of the sword [of Nebuchadnezzar] came for two purposes: one, as its plain meaning, to butcher countless people, and two, to gladden the soul of Israel – that the staff of the beni, the Talmudic scholar, “scorns the rod and every stick.” Every forest was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s sword. A slender, lightweight rod [a people lacking scholars], cannot withstand it [the sword] – yet the scholar could stand against it. The prophet adds, “There is a trial, and what if he disdains even the rod? It shall not be, says the Lord God.” The [Torah] had placed the greatness and strength of the sword [of Nebuchadnezzar] under trial, for though at the time of Ezekiel’s prophecy it had destroyed and laid waste all the cities of Israel, [“it shall not be”], it did not conquer Jerusalem. [It was observed] that for cities lacking a single scholar – in other words, a “rod that denigrates,” those cities had no survivors. We should rejoice with [at least] knowing the greatness of the power of Torah, and the merit [provided to those who study her, for Jerusalem was spared. We thus learn the strength of the Torah, for a single scholar can save an entire city].

the backsliding of My people Heb. שְׁבוּת, an expression of the straying of youth and childhood, anwejjsdoure in O.F. Comp. (Jer. 3:14) “backsliding children (שוֹבָבִים)”; (ibid. 31:21) “backsliding daughter (הַבַּת הַשׁוֹבֵבָה).”

To bring you back from your waywardness. To straighten you out of your waywardness, an expression of “rebellious שׁוֹבְבָה,”³⁵Yirmiyahu 8;5. “ backsliding שׁוֹבָבִים,”³⁶Ibid., 3:14. “and he went waywardly שׁוֹבָב.”³⁷Yeshayahuu 57:17.

and your backslidings, Heb. ומשבותיך, an expression related to “backsliding children (שובבים)” (infra 3:22).