ופשוטים הדברים

Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, And trust ye not in any brother; For every brother acteth subtly, And every neighbour goeth about with slanders. And they deceive every one his neighbour, And truth they speak not; They have taught their tongue to speak lies, They weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me, Saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will smelt them, and try them; For how else should I do, Because of the daughter of My people? Their tongue is a sharpened arrow, It speaketh deceit; One speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, But in his heart he layeth wait for him. Shall I not punish them for these things? Saith the LORD; Shall not My soul be avenged On such a nation as this? For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, Because they are burned up, so that none passeth through. And they hear not the voice of the cattle; Both the fowl of the heavens and the beast Are fled, and gone. And I will make Jerusalem heaps, A lair of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, Without an inhabitant. Who is the wise man, that he may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it? Wherefore is the land perished And laid waste like a wilderness, so that none passeth through?

Ravina says: They are punished because they do not first recite a blessing over the Torah before commencing their studies. As Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Who is the wise man that may understand this, and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land is perished and laid waste like a wilderness, so that none passes through” (Jeremiah 9:11)? This matter, the question as to why Eretz Yisrael was destroyed, was asked of the Sages, i.e., “the wise man,” and of the prophets, “he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken,” but they could not explain it. The matter remained a mystery until the Holy One, Blessed be He, Himself explained why Eretz Yisrael was laid waste, as it is written in the next verse: “And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken My Torah which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked therein” (Jeremiah 9:12). It would appear that “have not obeyed My voice” is the same as “nor walked therein.” Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: The expression “nor walked therein” means that they do not first recite a blessing over the Torah, and they are therefore liable to receive the severe punishments listed in the verse.