Yirmiyah, the Joyous Sounds of Weddings, and the Return to the Land

Yirmiyah, the Joyous Sounds of Weddings, and the Return to the Land, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

Why are the themes of marriage and the return to Yerushalayim intertwined in Yirmiyah's prophecies and in the Birkat Chatanim?

We are all famliar with the phrase עוד ישמע בערי יהודה ובחוצות ירושלים...from songs, from the final ברכה under the חופה and from countless homilies. Yet, if we look at the original context of these phrases, unique to Yirmiyah, we see that three times the phrase is used to denote what will be lost if the people do not improve their ways. It is only the final mention, in ch. 33, where the voices of gladness of the Chatan and Kalla are restored, as part of the restoration of the People to our Land. We explore the connection between restoration and marriage - and a third component, which appears prominently in a prophecy of Yirmiyah. This shiur was given in honor of the upcoming marriage of our son Yosef Tzvi to his beloved Chaya Esther.

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