Pemikiran Yahudi Yeremia 31:9: Akeidat Yitzchak & Kol HaTor

Shemot Rabbah 34, states that the Lord said to Israel "you are the sheep and I am the shepherd" as is written in Ezekiel 34,31, "now you My sheep, sheep of My pasture, you are Adam." And I am the shepherd as is written (Psalms 80,2) "hearken O shepherd of Israel. Make for Me a shed so that I can tend you." Similarly, G-d is described as a watchman, Israel being His vineyard. Or, G-d is described in scripture as being the father, Israel being His children. It is an honour for a father to be surrounded by his sons, and it is an honour for the sons to be able to be near their father. Compare Proverbs 17,6, "grandchildren are the crown of their elders, the glory of children are their parents." Therefore: "Make Me an abode so that I can dwell amongst you" i.e. "they shall make a sanctuary for Me, and I will reside amongst them."

[Jer. 31:9] “Efraim is my firstborn”; [Jer: 31:5] “Mount Efraim, ” [Jer.31:17] “Efraim wanders”; (Jer. 31:20) “Efraim is my favorite son” -- all these are basic aspects of Mashiach ben Yosef that appear in the same chapter. Efraim is called God’s firstborn, because he is the first Mashiach through whom the ingathering of the exiles will occur, which means the exodus from exile. Mount Efraim is so called because it leads Israel up to Zion, as we learn from the verse: “call out from Mount Efraim, ’Rise and let us ascend to Zion.’” The aspect ‘Efraim wanders, ’ signifies that Mashiach ben Yosef has no rest, he wanders from north to south, and from south to north, as written: “wake up North, and come to the South.” The initial letters of the 4 Hebrew words, , are equal in gematria to the value of Mashiach ben Yosef (566). “Efraim is my favorite son” is the aspect ‘Lovingkindness, ’ because Efraim himself is from the left side, that means, from the side of Din, and always accepts influence from the right side, that is, from the quality of Lovingkindness. This is the import of: “and he placed his right hand on the head of Efraim.” We are commanded to speak of him constantly: “for whenever I speak of him, I remember him better” (Jer: 31:20) etc. Efraim is the one who wages war against Armilus. In gematria, and are equal [331]. All the above-mentioned aspects are in the line of Yosef ben Rachel, from the land; thus this chapter speaks about Rachel--Rachel who weeps for her children. “Refrain your voice from weeping ... they will return from the land of the enemy” refers to the exodus from exile; “your children will return to their border” refers to the immigration (ascent) to Zion.

(Jer. 31:8) “with entreaties I will lead them” -- The word , which appears in the verse “weeping they will come and with entreaties I will lead them” etc., has the same numerical value in gematria as (566). The verse concludes with “Efraim is my firstborn, ” referring to Mashiach ben Yosef. “With entreaties, ” in order to atone for the sin noted in “when he entreated us, we did not listen.” In the holy Zohar we find that the word in gematria equals [34]. (See below, 27, regarding the aspect, “I was brought low, and He saved me”).