The Tanakh Podcast

In a chapter brimming with love, God promises the return of the nation to their borders, the flourishing of national agriculture, the return to Zion, and the end of national suffering.

The most famou…

In this chapter Jeremiah faces down Hananya Ben Azur.

But as opposed to ch.37 and ch.39 where Jeremiah accuses prophets of falsehood, here Jeremiah seems unsure whether to believe Hananya. Why? What …

Jeremiah is instructed to take a yoke and wear it around his neck: " “Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live."

The False Prophets were claimi…

Jeremiah delivers his prophecy at the Temple and is almost issued a death sentence.

He is saved by the officials and the common people who believe that he is delivering an authentic Godly message.

We…

In the fourth year of Yehoyakim, Nebuchadnezzar comes to power.

Now Jeremiah's predictions are indeed transpiring.

We see a double prophecy:

1. The promise of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the as…

Jeremiah sees two baskets of figs, one of supreme quality, the other totally inedible.

What is the message that God is sending to the nation?

We see two sets of problematic leaders:

The kings who misguided the nation - the "negligent shepherds" who lose their flock; and the false prophets who claim to have "dreamt a dream" from God, but ar…

Jeremiah travels to the palace of King Jehoiakim and rebukes him for the exploitation of the poor, and the broad injustice and political violence during his reign:

“Woe to him who builds his palac…

Suddenly the book of Jeremiah lurches forward twenty years or so, to the final months of the kingdom.

King Zidkiyahu asks Jeremiah to beseech God for a miracle.

But Jeremiah has bad news. The only re…

Jeremiah preaches his prophecies of invasion and national defeat in the Temple compound.

He is arrested, beaten and jailed.

He emerges from prison with his most devastating prophecy in which he names…

Jeremiah takes a visit to the local pottery and compares Israel to clay in the potter's hands.

We contrast the message of our chapter with the piyut recited on the night of Yom Kippur.

God is the Hope - or Mikve - of Israel.

How did Rabbi Akiva take a line from this chapter and use it as a key concept of the closeness between God and Israel, in the dark aftermath of the Destruction…

Jeremiah is instructed not to marry nor to bear children. Why? Because the future will simply be carnage and suffering.

Today we discuss the connection between children and a world of hope.

In the shadow of a debilitating famine, Jeremiah pleads with God to rescind his harsh actions, and refuses to stand down, even after God instructs him "Do not pray." In this regard, Jeremiah is follo…

In our chapter, Jeremiah is instructed to engage in two symbolic acts:

1. Purchase a loincloth. Wear it until it is sweaty and dirty. And then place it in a cleft in Wadi Prat until it decomposes.

2.…