Daily Tanach Sunday 11th Marcheshvan Sefer Yirmiyah Chapter 18: The Potter’s Lesson and the People’s Rebellion

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Chapter 18: The Potter’s Lesson and the People’s Rebellion

Overview

Hashem sends Yermiyahu to a potter’s workshop to teach a profound truth: just as clay is shaped by the potter, so is Israel in Hashem’s hands. Nations can be uprooted or blessed depending on their response to His word. Despite Hashem’s call to repentance, Judah stubbornly chooses its own path. The chapter ends with a chilling plot against Yermiyahu and his passionate plea for justice.

  1. The Potter’s Parable

Hashem commands Yermiyahu:

  • Go to the potter’s house and observe.
  • Yermiyahu sees the potter reshape a spoiled vessel into something new.

Hashem explains:

  • “As clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in Mine.”
  • He can tear down or build up nations based on their behavior.
  • If a nation repents after a warning of destruction, Hashem will relent.
  • If a nation turns to evil after being promised blessing, He will withdraw the good.
  1. A Call to Repentance—and Rejection

Hashem tells Yermiyahu to warn Judah and Jerusalem:

  • “I am planning disaster against you. Turn back from your evil ways and amend your deeds.”

But the people respond defiantly:

  • “It’s hopeless! We will follow our own plans and stubborn hearts.”

Hashem laments their disgrace:

  • Israel has abandoned Him, the source of living waters, for worthless idols.
  • They have forsaken well-worn paths for dangerous, untrodden ways.
  • The result: their land will become desolate, a place of scorn and astonishment.
  • Hashem will scatter them like an east wind before their enemies, turning His back on them in the day of calamity.
  1. The Plot Against Yermiyahu

The people conspire:

  • “Let us devise schemes against Yermiyahu. We still have priests, wise men, and prophets—his words don’t matter. Let’s attack him verbally and ignore everything he says.”
  1. Yermiyahu’s Prayer for Justice

Yermiyahu cries out to Hashem:

  • “Should evil be repaid for good? They have dug a pit for me, though I pleaded for mercy on their behalf.”
  • He asks Hashem to bring judgment: famine for their children, death for their warriors, bereavement for their wives.
  • He prays that their sin not be forgiven and that they stumble in Hashem’s anger.

Takeaway

  • Hashem’s sovereignty: He shapes nations like a potter molds clay.
  • Human responsibility: Repentance can reverse judgment; rebellion invites ruin.
  • Prophetic cost: Yermiyahu’s faithfulness brings hostility, yet he entrusts justice to Hashem.

About The Author

Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein is a 6th generation descendent of the famous Chief Rabbi of Izhmir, Rav Yehoshua Avraham Krispin, who authored a number of Sefarim, and was a colleague of Rav Chaim Falagi, and father in-law of the Pesach Hadvir. He currently lives with his wife Shayna, and twelve children K”H, in Tzfas, Israel. Rabbi Goldstein received Semicha from Rabbi Schneur Zalman Labkowski of the Tomchei Temimim headquarters in 2005 and served as a chaplain in the Lotar/Kalatz and K9 unit of the IDF from years 2005-2008. He is also a certified Shochet, and has performed Hashgacha work in slaughterhouses. Rabbi Goldstein is the director of Shulchanaruchharav.com, the world’s leading web-based Halacha database, and is the director of the Home Study Semicha Program, a self-study web-based Semicha program. He is a prolific author of over 50 Sefarim studied by a wide range of readers throughout the world, which is used regularly in Semicha programs around the globe. He is a world renowned Posek, answering questions to a web-based market, and serves as a local Posek, Rav, and Lecturer, in the Tzemach Tzedek community Shul in Tzefas, Israel. His many classes can be heard both from his website, Vimeo and YouTube channel. Students can join live to classes given in the Tzemach Tzedek Shul, through the “בית חבד צפת Chabad Tsfat” YouTube channel.