The scene takes places right before the destruction of the first Beis Hamikdash (the Holy Temple) in Jerusalem. The city was surrounded by the evil Babylonian forces of the wicked King Nevuchadnezzar. The Jewish populace was dying from hunger, thirst and exhaustion, and it was only a matter of time before Yehudah and all that it contained would fall to her enemies.

The Prophet Yirmiyahu had been chastising the Jewish people for decades for their sins which he said were the real reason for their impending annihilation. He chided them and encouraged them to abandon their evil ways, which even included idolatry, murder and adultery, and return to the G-d of their ancestors and His Torah. Then Hashem would be compassionate towards them and save them from the imminent doom. But the people were stubborn and adamant in their ways. Rather than succumb to the holy prophet’s words of rebuke, they imprisoned Yirmiyahu in an attempt to silence him. And it was in his prison cell that Hashem spoke to His messenger.

And Yirmiyahu said, “The word of Hashem came to me, saying. ‘Behold, Chanam’el the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, “Buy my field that is in Anasos; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it”’” (Yirmiyahu 32:6-7).

Yirmiyahu was surprised by Hashem’s command to buy his uncle’s field. The timing just didn’t seem right. He asked Hashem about it.

Now, when I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to Hashem, saying. “Ah Hashem, G-d! behold, You have made the heaven and the earth by Your great power and by Your stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for You…Behold the siege works, they have come to the city to take it; and the city is given to the hand of the Chaldeans, who fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what You have spoken has come to pass; and, behold, You see it. And You have said to me, O Hashem G-d, ‘Buy the field for money, and take witnesses; though the city is given to the hand of the Chaldeans’” (Ibid. 16-17, 24-25).

But Hashem explained to Yirmiyahu that, quite to the contrary, the timing was perfect since He wanted to send a very powerful message by means of this action.

Then came the word of Hashem to Yirmiyahu, saying. “Behold, I am Hashem, the G-d of all flesh; is there any thing too hard for me.” Therefore, thus says Hashem; “Behold, I will give this city to the hand of the Chaldeans, and to the hand of Nevuchadrezzar, King of Babylon, and he shall take it. And the Chaldeans, who fight against this city, shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense to Ba’al, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.”… And now, therefore, thus says Hashem, the G-d of Israel, concerning this city, about which you say, "It shall be delivered to the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.” “Behold, I will gather them from all countries, where I have driven them in My anger, and in My fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. And they shall be My people, and I will be their G-d.”… For thus says Hashem; “Just as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. And fields shall be bought in this land, about which you say, ‘It is desolate without man or beast; it is given to the hand of the Chaldeans.’ Men shall buy fields for money, and sign deeds, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Binyamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Yehudah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the Negev; for I will cause their captivity to return,” says Hashem (Ibid. 26-29, 36-38, 42-44).

Hashem did not want the Jews to make the mistake of thinking that the soon-to-come exile was a total rejection of them as His Chosen People. It was only a temporary punishment which would last seventy years, until their sins were atoned for. Then they would return to the Land of Israel and, once again, buy and sell fields and live normal lives. Therefore, particularly at this time of gloom, Hashem had commanded Yirmiyahu to be a sign to the people by buying his uncle’s field and documenting it properly.

Two thousand years later, in 1942, in the midst of the Second World War, the Jewish Community in Eretz Yisroel faced, once again, the threat of annihilation. At the request of the Mufti of Jerusalem, Hitler ym”sh”vz sent Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, “the Desert Fox”, and the Deutsches Afrika Korps to slaughter all of the Jewish inhabitants of Palestine. >From the desert of El Alamein, Egypt, the Nazis scoffed that in three days the Holy Land would be Judenrein. It would be child’s play compared to what they had already done and would yet do in the great strongholds of Europe. The Jews were petrified. All over Eretz Yisroel, special prayers were being said. In the wonderful book, Moshe, Ish HaElokim – Moshe, the Man of G-d, it is related how the Holy Tzaddik, Reb Moshe Mordechai Biderman, the Leliver Rebbe ztvk”l, battled furiously against the Forces of Evil to prevent them from defeating the Forces of Good.

Strangely enough, in those turbulent days, the Ponevizsher Rav, Rabbi Kahanaman zt”l, went and purchased a mountain in B’nei Berak, upon which he planned to build one of the biggest yeshivas in the world, the Ponevizsher Yeshiva. When he was asked, “Is this the time to invest in building yeshivas?” he explained his actions.

The Gemara (Megillah 14a) declares that the Jewish People had many, many more prophets than are recorded in the Tanach. However, most of them delivered messages which were only apropos to their generation, therefore their words were not written down. Only those prophecies which were also needed for future generations were entered into the Bible. “This story of Yirmiyahu,” said the Rav emphatically, “was recorded to be a sign to our own generation, not to despair even at the brink of despair. When we seem to be headed for destruction, G-d forbid, that is the very time to plan for reconstruction!”

Rav Kahanaman brought many distinguished rabbis to see the mountain he had purchased and to detail for them his aspirations. One rabbi was extremely skeptical that he would succeed. He turned to Rabbi Kahanaman and asked sarcastically, “Tell me, Rabbi. How many students do you intend to have in this yeshiva?” Without hesitation, the Rav replied, “Five hundred.”

The visitor said mockingly, “Sure, Rabbi. I, too, dreamed about building a yeshiva. I, too, dreamed about having five hundred students. But it turned out to be merely a pipe dream.”

The venerable, giant Torah builder was not disheartened for a moment. With his typical confidence and faith in Hashem he retorted, “You are absolutely right, rabbi. It is a dream. But the difference between you and me is that you dream when you are asleep; whereas I dream when I am awake. Therefore, my dreams come true!”

Bechukosei