Yirmiyahu 22
לעילוי נשמת Barbara Atlas, Bracha bas Avraham. She was a beacon of light to all who knew her. Barbara’s kindness and generosity had no bounds.
Harsh Words for the King
G-d told Jeremiah to go from the Temple to the king's palace and to speak there. The message he was to say was that the king, who sits on David's throne, and his court must perform acts of justice and charity for the oppressed, not allow strangers, widows and orphans to be even verbally abused, and allow no innocent blood to be shed. If they would do this, the Davidic dynasty would be allowed to endure with great honor. If not, G-d will make the palace (or possibly the Temple) a ruin.
The king of Judah is like Gilad to G-d (Gilad is the source of healing ointments), but He will make the land a desert, invaders cutting down the trees and casting them into the fire. When the other nations see this, they will ask why G-d allowed His city to be destroyed. The answer? Because they ignored their covenant and strayed with other "gods."
Don't mourn for King Yehoyakim, who will die when he is exiled. It's over for him. Instead, cry for Kings Yehoyachin and Tzidkiyahu, who would continue to suffer degradation. G-d said regarding Tzidkiyahu (here referred to as Shalum) that he would never return, dying in exile.
Woe to the evil King Yehoyakim, whose house was built with no righteousness or justice because he didn't pay his workers. He planned a large mansion for himself, paneled with cedar. The palace he built was sturdy, made to endure, but he will not reign long enough to enjoy it. Yehoyakim's father, King Yoshiyahu (Josiah), was righteous; he performed justice and did not indulge his physical urges. Yehoyakim, on the other hand, cares for nothing but his own profit, no matter who it hurts. He won't be mourned. Instead, he'll have the burial of a donkey, which is dragged out and tossed away, outside the city gates.
Cry for Bashan and Aravim, places that will be destroyed. (Rashi and Radak cite the translation of the Targum Yonasan that Bashan may refer to the Temple mount.) Nebuchadnezzar has defeated the Jews' allies. G-d spoke to the nation in happier times, telling them how to behave, and they refused to listen. They have been stubborn that way going back to the Egyptian exodus. So, the kings are broken, allied nations are defeated and the Jewish people goes into exile. Those who reside in Lebanon among the cedars (meaning the wealthy, who paneled their homes like Yehoyakim) will find no consolation in their creature comforts.
G-d now speaks of Yehoyakim's son, Yehoyachin. Yehoyachin is referred to by a disparaging nickname, Konyahu. (Imagine calling a politician one doesn't care for by a diminutive he doesn't use, like Timmy instead of Timothy.) Though, as king, Yehoyachin is like G-d's "signet ring" which would not normally be removed, G-d will still remove him, delivering him and his mother into the hands of the enemy; they will die in exile. Yehoyachin is worthless to G-d, like a broken vessel that one throws away. The land of Israel is told to hear G-d's word: Yehoyachin will die childless. (It appears from verse 28 that he may have already had children. If this is the case, they would die in his lifetime.) His descendants would not reign after him, as was normally the case. (Indeed, the next and last king of Judah was Yehoyachin's uncle, Tzidkiyahu.)
It should be noted that Yehoyachin is the ancestor of Zerubavel, about whom we will read in Ezra and elsewhere. Zerubavel's grandfather was born after Yehoyachin repented in Babylonian imprisonment. Chagai 2:23 calls Zerubavel a signet ring in a positive sense, showing a reversal of the harsh decree spoken to his ancestor Yehoyachin.
Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz