A Yid Is Never Distant from Hashem
The Proclamation of Love on the Streets of Yerushalayim
There’s a well-known pasuk in Yirmiayhu which must be learned and understood in the context in which it was said.
Sefer Yirmiyahu is one of misfortune—in which the Navi admonishes the Jewish People for their terrible deeds. The neshamah of Yirmiyahu HaNavi came to this world with a mission: to encourage the Yidden to do teshuvah, and to warn them that if they don’t, a Churban will come. His purpose was to awaken, convince, and encourage the Yidden to do teshuvah be’emes.
But right at the outset of the sefer (beginning of Chapter 2), we learn the following words that Hashem said to the Navi: ירושלים באזני וקראת הלך לאמר, Go and call out in the ears of Yerushalayim, saying, ה', אמר כה thus said Hashem, כלולותיך, אהבת נעוריך חסד לך זכרתי I recall for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your nuptials, זרועה, לא בארץ במדבר אחרי לכתך your following Me into the Wilderness, into an unsown land.
My Desire Is to Show Compassion to You
Rashi on this pasuk explains: “If you were to return to Me, My desire is to have compassion and mercy upon you, for I recall the kindness of your youth and the love of your nuptials when I adorned you with the canopy of the chuppah.” The Ribbono shel Olam pleads with Klal Yisrael: “Why do you sin? I want you to return, and I want us to live together. My greatest desire is to recall the days when we stood together under the chuppah.”
The Ribbono shel Olam recalls the love of Har Sinai. “Do you remember the love that we felt in those moments? It was so warm and pleasurable. I remember it well; halevai that you should remember it, too,” enabling us to be together and loyal to each other.
This is the message that the Aibishter transmitted to us through the Navi: I refuse to look at your distance from Me—I will always hearken back to the state of love that we experienced at Har Sinai.
Entering the Desert with Love
The Chida writes in his sefer Chomas Anach on Shir HaShirim about the great love that was illustrated when the Jewish People followed the Ribbono shel Olam into the desert. “Klal Yisrael and the Ribbono shel Olam are like a chassan and his bride,” he explains, “and a man cannot compel his wife to move with him to an inferior or dangerous place, or to a place where there’s no food.
“Thus, according to halachah, when the Aibishter commanded the Yidden to enter the Midbar, they could have rightfully refused. But they nevertheless followed the Ribbono shel Olam into the Wilderness—solely out of the deep love formed at Har Sinai; it is all part of כלולותיך, אהבת the love of our nuptials. Although you had every right to refuse, you nevertheless followed Me into the Wilderness out of loyalty and love, says the Ribbono shel Olam. This is what I will remember forever! And so, if you return to Me, I will thus accept you immediately due to that great love.
The Difference Between an Employee and a Member of the Team
Sometimes, a company has an employee who isn’t very loyal. He comes late consistently, he regularly disparages his boss to other employees, and so forth. In most cases, the owner of the company will eventually conclude, “This person doesn’t do his job, he’s only a nuisance here. Let him go back to where he came from. It’s better for me and better for him that we should part ways.”
This is the case when the person is an employee in the company—and he has no deeper connection to the company or its owner.
But what about a home, a marriage? Even if something happens that shouldn’t have happened... someone behaved improperly or disloyally...this doesn’t destroy the deep bond that was formed by the marriage. The error remains superficial. It was certainly unfortunate; someone wasn’t thinking what they were doing, they behaved foolishly—but this doesn’t destroy the foundation of the home. There’s a lasting אהבת כלולתיך, the love of the nuptials. Even if something does happen, it doesn’t affect the essence of the kesher. To the contrary, sometimes it will awaken the desire to build back the bonds of love as before.
You May Have Forgotten, But I Didn’t
We learn here that when a Yid conducts himself in ways that he shouldn’t, the Ribbono shel Olam wants us to know: You should know how I look at this. I don’t forget the chuppah. I instructed the Navi to remind you, because you may have forgotten. But I will never forget what transpired there!
The Rishonim explain that the reason for כגיגית, ההר עליהם כפה he Ribbono shel Olam imposed the mountain over them like a bowl, was an act of love, to imitate a chuppah—so that we would never be able to disconnect the strong bonds that were forged there, and that the Ribbono shel Olam would remain connected with us.
The Ribbono shel Olam arranged that there would be a chuppah at Matan Torah that would form an everlasting bond. Even if a Yid forgets sometimes, and he behaves foolishly, it doesn’t affect the essence of the bond.
