Are we ready to listen?

The destruction of the First Temple was a shocking event in the history of the Israelites. However, not everyone remembers that in the Promised Land stayed people who were very confused about the future to come. Jeremiah, who was the prophet in this period, was asked to help those people to reach an important decision, as written:

“וַיִּגְּשׁוּ, כָּל-שָׂרֵי הַחֲיָלִים, וְיוֹחָנָן בֶּן-קָרֵחַ, וִיזַנְיָה בֶּן-הוֹשַׁעְיָה–וְכָל-הָעָם, מִקָּטֹן וְעַד-גָּדוֹל. וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶל-יִרְמְיָהוּ הַנָּבִיא, תִּפָּל-נָא תְחִנָּתֵנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ, וְהִתְפַּלֵּל בַּעֲדֵנוּ אֶל-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּעַד כָּל-הַשְּׁאֵרִית הַזֹּאת: כִּי-נִשְׁאַרְנוּ מְעַט מֵהַרְבֵּה, כַּאֲשֶׁר עֵינֶיךָ רֹאוֹת אֹתָנוּ. וְיַגֶּד-לָנוּ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֶת-הַדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר נֵלֶךְ-בָּהּ, וְאֶת-הַדָּבָר, אֲשֶׁר נַעֲשֶׂה”

“Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left. Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”

The clash sang a beautiful song: “Should I stay or should I go now?” These words describe exactly the feeling of the people who remained in the land of Canaan.

The problem is that they weren’t speaking about their G-d when they asked Jeremiah to solve their problems. They said to Jeremiah “your G-d”. If G-d is not with us, in our hearts, we won’t be able to listen to him. All we need to do is to listen!