Yirmiyahu 9 | Despair

In our chapter, Yirmiyahu delivers a lament. After numerous attempts to bring the people of Yehuda to repentance, and upon realizing that the gap between himself and the nation is unbridgeable, Yirmiyahu wants to abandon everything: "If only I were granted a wayfarer’s lodging in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and walk away from them, for they are all adulterers, a band of traitors" (Yirmiyahu 9:1). He describes a society that has deteriorated to such an extent that he sees no place for himself within it. After listing their social sins and repeating the refrain we have encountered before "Should I not such people to account? declares the Lord. For a nation such as this should I not exact retribution?" (5:9, 29), he utters a lament.

A lament is an expression of despair. When one still believes that change is possible, one struggles or prays. But when one realizes that nothing more can be done — one laments.

Chazal describe Yirmiyahu as a prophet who "demanded the honor of the Father and the honor of the son" (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael). That is, he pleaded before the people on behalf of God, but he also stood before God on behalf of the people. He truly sought their welfare, yet he was caught in a complex relationship with them. Throughout the book, he tries to lead them to repentance, but he suffers personal persecution to an extent of attempts on his life, alongside ideological conflicts and sheer indifference from the nation, all of which prevent him from saving them from themselves.

In Chapter 7, for example, God has to stop Yirmeyahu from praying on behalf of the people: "As for you, do not pray for this people" (7:16). But in our chapter, there is no longer even an attempt — Yirmiyahu not only refrains from praying for them, but actively seeks to leave them behind.

This is not yet the final point where they cannot return back from, but the window for Israel’s repentance is steadily closing, and the chance to escape destruction is slipping away. As the book continues, we will be forced to ask: What is the role of a prophet when there is no longer hope for repentance? When the decree of destruction is no longer a threat but a sealed judgment? What is his mission now? What is he striving to achieve?