Midras 1 Raja-raja 12:33: Eikhah Rabbah, Kohelet Rabbah & Bamidbar Rabbah

“He stripped His shrine like a garden; He destroyed His place of assembly. The Lord caused festival and Shabbat to be forgotten in Zion and He scorned king and priest in His furious wrath” (Lamentations 2:6).
“He stripped His shrine [suko] like a garden.” Rabbi Ḥama ben Rabbi Ḥanina said: Like a garden whose spring was removed and its greenery turned white. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: Like Adam the first man, just as it says: “He banished the man…” (Genesis 3:24).⁹²Just as Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden, Israel was banished from the Temple (Yefe Anaf). Rabbi Abahu said: Suko is written with the letter sin;⁹³A left dotted shin is found in the text, rather than a samekh. Thus, the word suko is similar to the word assuaged [shakhakha]. once Israel was exiled, the fury of the Holy One blessed be He was assuaged.
“The Lord caused festival and Shabbat to be forgotten in Zion.” Is it possible that the Holy One blessed be He caused the festivals and Shabbatot of Israel to be forgotten? Rather, it is the festivals and sabbaths of Yerovam ben Nevat, that he fabricated for them. That is what is written: “In the month that he fabricated from his heart [milibo]” (I Kings 12:33). Milevad is written,⁹⁴The word in the verse in Kings is written milevad but pronounced milibo. just as it says: “Beside the [milevad] Sabbaths of the Lord” (Leviticus 23:38). “He scorned king and priest in His furious wrath.” “King,” this is Zedekiah. “And priest,” this is Seraya ben Maḥsaya.⁹⁵Zedekiah and Seraya were the king and High Priest, respectively, at the time of the destruction of the Temple. The destruction took place despite their personal piety (Yefe Anaf).

“I have spoken with my heart, saying: Behold, I have amassed and added wisdom, beyond all who were before me over Jerusalem; my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge” (Ecclesiastes 1:16).
“I have spoken with my heart” – the hearts sees, as it is stated: “My heart has seen much.” The heart hears, as it is stated; “Give your servant an understanding [shome’a]¹²⁰Literally, hearing. heart” (I Kings 3:9). The heart speaks, as it is stated: “I have spoken with my heart.” The heart goes, as it is stated: “Didn’t my heart go?” (II Kings 5:26). The heart falls, as it is stated: “Let no man’s heart fall” (I Samuel 17:32). The heart stands, as it is stated: “Will your heart endure [haya’amod]”¹²¹Literally, stand. (Ezekiel 22:14). The heart rejoices, as it is stated: “Therefore, my heart rejoices” (Psalms 16:9). The heart cries out, as it is stated: Their heart cried out to the Lord” (Lamentations 2:18). The heart is consoled, as it is stated: “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem” (Isaiah 40:2).¹²²This verse is preceded by: “Console, console My people, says your God.” The heart grieves, as it is stated: “Your heart shall not be grieved” (Deuteronomy 15:10). The heart hardens, as it is stated: “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 9:12). The heart softens [mitrakekh], as it is stated: “Let your heart not be faint” (Deuteronomy 20:3). The heart is saddened, as it is stated: “He was saddened in His heart” (Genesis 6:6). The heart fears, as it is stated: “From the fear of your heart” (Deuteronomy 28:67). The heart breaks, as it is stated: “A broken and contrite heart” (Psalms 51:19). The heart becomes conceited, as it is stated: “Your heart will grow haughty” (Deuteronomy 8:14). The heart is recalcitrant, as it is stated: “But this people had a revolting and rebellious heart” (Jeremiah 5:23). The heart fabricates, as it is stated: “The month that he fabricated from his heart” (I Kings 12:33). The heart contemplates,¹²³Matters of stupidity as it is stated: “[I will have peace] though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart” (Deuteronomy 29:18). The heart overflows, as it is stated: “My heart overflows with goodly matter” (Psalms 45:2). The heart calculates [meḥashev], as it is stated: “Many are the thoughts [maḥshavot] in the heart of man” (Proverbs 19:21). The heart desires, as it is stated: “The desire of his heart You have granted him” (Psalms 21:3). The heart deviates, as it is stated: “Let your heart not turn aside to her ways” (Proverbs 7:25). The heart strays, as it is stated: “You shall not follow after your heart…[after which you stray]” (Numbers 15:39). The heart is sustained, as it is stated: “And sustain your heart” (Genesis 18:5). The heart is stolen, as it is stated: “Jacob stole the heart of Laban” (Genesis 31:20). The heart is humbled, as it is stated: “Perhaps then their hearts will be humbled” (Leviticus 26:41). The heart is enticed, as it is stated: “He spoke soothingly¹²⁴Literally, “to the heart.” Shekhem was speaking to Dina and attempting to entice her to marry him. to the young woman” (Genesis 34:3). The heart goes astray, as it is stated: “My heart has gone astray” (Isaiah 21:4). The heart trembles, as it is stated: “For his heart was trembling” (I Samuel 4:13). The heart awakens, as it is stated: “I am asleep but my heart is awake” (Song of Songs 5:2). The heart loves, as it is stated: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:5). The heart hates, as it is stated: “Do not hate your brother in your heart” (Leviticus 19:17). The heart envies, as it is stated: “Let your heart not envy…” (Proverbs 23:17). The heart is searched, as it is stated: “I the Lord search the heart…” (Jeremiah 17:10). The heart is rent, as it is stated: “Rend your heart and not your garments” (Joel 2:13). The heart meditates, as it is stated: “The meditation of my heart will be understanding” (Psalms 49:4). The heart is like fire, as it is stated: “My heart will be like fire” (Jeremiah 20:9). The heart is like stone, as it is stated: “I will remove the heart of stone” (Ezekiel 36:26). The heart repents, as it is stated: “Who returned to the Lord with all his heart” (II Kings 23:25). The heart is incensed, as it is stated: “For his heart is incensed” (Deuteronomy 19:6). The heart dies, as it is stated: “His heart died within him” (I Samuel 25:37). The heart melts, as it is stated “The heart of the people melted” (Joshua 7:5). The heart absorbs matters, as it is stated: “These matters that I command you today shall be upon your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:6). The heart absorbs fear, as it is stated: “I will place My fear in their hearts” (Jeremiah 32:40). The heart thanks, as it is stated: “I will thank my Lord with all my heart” (Psalms 111:1). The heart covets, as it is stated: “Do not covet her beauty in your heart” (Proverbs 6:25). The heart is toughened, as it is stated: “And one who toughens his heart” (Proverbs 28:14). The heart becomes merry, as it is stated: “It was when their hearts were merry” (Judges 16:25). The heart deceives, as it is stated: “Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil” (Proverbs 12:20). The heart speaks from within, as it is stated: “Hannah was speaking in her heart” (I Samuel 1:13). The heart loves a bribe, as it is stated: “Your eyes and your heart [are only on your ill-gotten gain]” (Jeremiah 22:17). The heart writes matters, as it is stated: “Write them on the tablet of your heart” (Proverbs 3:3). The heart devises, as it is stated: “Duplicity is in his heart, he devises evil” (Proverbs 6:14). The heart absorbs mitzvot, as it is stated: “The wise of heart will grasp mitzvot (Proverbs 10:8). The heart acts with malice, as it is stated: “The malice of your heart deceived you” (Obadiah 1:3). The heart arranges, as it is stated: “To a person are the arrangements of the heart” (Proverbs 16:1). The heart glorifies, as it is stated: “Your heart has glorified you” (II Chronicles 25:19). That is, “I have spoken with my heart, saying: Behold, I have amassed…”

“On the eighth day” – what did He see that led Him to diminish³⁷The number of bulls. each day? The Torah taught you etiquette from the offerings. If one goes to an inn and his friend³⁸The innkeeper. received him, on the first day he receives him nicely and feeds him fowl; on the second, meat; on the third, fish; on the fourth, he feeds him vegetables. In that way he gradually diminishes until he feeds him legumes.
“It shall be…for you” (Numbers 29:35) – what is “it shall be…for you”? He said to them: The festivals are seemly for you.
A certain idolater asked Rabbi Akiva, he said to him: ‘Why do you observe festivals? Did the Holy One blessed be He not say to you: “My soul loathes your New Moons and your festivals” (Isaiah 1:14)?’ Rabbi Akiva said to him: ‘Had He said: “My soul loathes My New Moons and My festivals,” I would say so. He said only, “your New Moons and your festivals.” It is due to those festivals which Yerovam instituted, as it is stated: “Yerovam instituted a festival in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival that is in Judah” (I Kings 12:32).” “He ascended onto the altar that he had crafted in Beit El [on the fifteenth day in the eighth month], in the month that he fabricated from his own heart; and he made a festival for the children of Israel, and he went up onto the altar to burn offerings” (I Kings 12:33). But these festivals will never be annulled, nor will the New Moons. Why? It is because they are for the Holy One blessed be He, as it says “These are the festivals of the Lord” (Leviticus 23:37); “These are My festivals” (Leviticus 23:2); and likewise, “And Moses spoke the festivals of the Lord [to the children of Israel]” (Leviticus 23:44). That is why they will never be annulled, and in their regard it is stated: “They are set firmly for all eternity, fashioned in truth and uprightness”’ (Psalms 111:8).