Start from the North

Wednesday's war breakout continues in the Northern front of Israel "coincides" with this Shabbat's Hafarah - Navi ירמיהו Yirmiyahu:
ויאמר ה' אלי מצפון תיפתח הרעה על כל יושבי הארץ
And HaShem said from the North the bad will open on all residents of Israel[+/-] show/hide text


כי שוקד אני על דברי לעשותו According to Chazal, it takes twenty-one days for the fruit of the almond tree to develop. This is symbolic - it is the same as the three-week period between the seventeenth of Tammuz and the ninth of Av. (Rashi)

כי הנני קורא לכל משפחות ממלכות צפונה. Hashem will encourage all the neighboring kingdoms to come and attack Jerusalem. (Metzudat David)
2. Hashem is calling to the nations to act as judges between Hashem and His people. (Malbim)

ובאו ונתנו איש כסאו פתח שערי ירושלים These countries will set up their armies at the gates of Jerusalem, and besiege the city. (Metzudat David)
2. It is as if the kings are setting up their courts around the city, in order to judge the people of the city. (Malbim)

לכן עוד אריב אתכם נאום ה' Before Hashem delivers the punishment to the Jewish people, He sends prophets to try and persuade them to recognize Him. (Metzudat David)
2. Aside from the rebuke that the prophets delivered in past generations, the present generation will also be rebuked. In addition to that, Hashem knows that future generations will also need to be rebuked. (Metzudat David)

עליו ישאגו כפירים נתנו קולם The nations will roar against the Jews to frighten them. (Metzudat David)

ירעוך קודקוד These countries will not be of help; rather, they will break the skull of the Jewish people.

הלוא זאת תעשה לך עזבך את ה' The reason for all the tragedies is that the Jews left Hashem. The tragedies did not happen by chance. (Metzudat David)

בעת מוליכך בדרך The Jews did not follow Hashem when He tried to lead them on the proper path. (Metzudat David)

תייסרך רעתך Yirmiyahu is telling the people, that if they don't want to listen to the prophets or to wise people, they should at least look at the punishments they are getting for their sins. (Me'am Lo'ez)
2. The Jews are responsible for the negative consequences of their sins. (Metzudat David)
3. Yirmiyahu is telling them to realize that the result of sin is punishment. (Abarbanel)

ואיך נהפכת לי סורי הגפן נוכרייה The Jews intermingled with other nations, and lost their dignity and their mark as a special nation. (Metzudat David)

נכתם עוונך The private sins of the Jews are like a great stain in front of Hashem, and cannot be cleansed through such public acts. (Metzudat David)

ובעת רעתם יאמרו קומה והושיענו However, when trouble comes, they turn to Hashem to save them. (Metzudat David)

ועמי שכחוני ימים אין מספר The people of Israel have forgotten Hashem for many days now - Hashem, who is the mainstay of their existence. (Metzudat David)

ותאמרי כי ניקיתי אך שב אפו ממני The Jews contend that they are innocent, and are no longer deserving of punishment from Hashem. (Metzudat David, Radak)

הנני נשפט אותך על אמרך לא חטאתי The Jews will get a double punishment: for their sins and for their denial that they sinned. (Metzudat David)
2. A crucial component of teshuvah is the recognition of the sin.

כי מאס ה' במבטחייך ולא תצליחי להם The Jews' reliance on outside forces is despicable to Hashem. Therefore these outside forces will be of no avail in helping the Jews in their struggle against their enemies. (Metzudat David)

האותי הם מכעיסים נאום ה' This statement should be read as a question: Do the people think they are angering Me? Hashem does not have any feelings of anger. (Radak)

ואשלח אליכם את כל עבדי הנביאים The people can't argue that they were not sufficiently directed to move forward rather than backwards. Hashem sent them many prophets to warn them. (Malbim)

ויקשו את ערפם It was as if their necks had become stiff, and they could not turn themselves back to the way of Hashem. It is similar to a person who does not want to turn his head to hear what his friend has to say. (Metzudat David)
2. They refused to learn from the miracles and the punishments that Hashem brought upon them. (Malbim)

קווה לשלום ואין טוב The Jews will hope for peace, but there will be no peace. (Metzudat David)
2. The people believe that it is proper to hope for peace, and therefore they wonder, why isn't there any good? (Malbim)

הה' אין בציון אם מלכה אין בה These questions are rhetorical. The people can't believe that Hashem who presides in Zion would allow the enemies to overrun the city. (Radak)
2. The prophet foresees that the Jews will cry out from foreign lands. He notes that this cry is really unnecessary, for if they return to Hashem (who is found in Zion), they will be saved. (Rashi)
3. The people believe that the presence of the Shechinah in the city of Jerusalem will ensure that it will be saved through a miracle. At the very least the city should be saved through natural means of victory in war. (Malbim)

הנני צורפם ובחנתים Hashem will bring punishment on the people in order to refine them from their sins. (Metzudat David)

(וארא ל"ב ,בתרגום):"ועתידים בני ישמעאל לעורר מלחמות חזקות בעולם ויתאספו בני-אדום עליהם ויתגרו מלחמה בהם,אחת על הים ואחת על היבשה,ואחת סמוך לירושלים
And in the future, Bnei Yishmael will awake to cause strong wars in the world and Edom (USA) will gather on them and will begin a war on water, one on land, and one close to Jerusalem

As we enter the Three Weeks, Israel's northern border has flared up. war clouds are not brooding; they have already exploded bringing their storm upon us. A lot can happen over the next three weeks. Regardless of whatever happens, however bad things come to appear, always remember and never forget, it is HaShem who is King.

The Sages of Torah have tried to warn the world of this for a long time. Yes, the Jews have long been warned to mend their ways, not for the sake of Heaven alone, but also for our own sake, as well.

However all our Torah words of wisdom and warning, morals and mission have usually fallen on deaf ears. After all, how long can one cry out and try to awaken a sleeping driver behind the wheel of a run-away car before the car is about to go over the cliff. We can cry and scream, yet once the car begins to go over the cliff, waking up too late is not really going to help a situation that is already in motion and cannot be turned back.

Welcome to war, world of sleepers. War has a terrible way of awakening even those who slumber deep. It is ultimately HaShem that has brought war to Israel. HaShem is in charge.

כי איך אעשה מפני בת עמי Hashem is unable to ignore the iniquities of the people since they are supposed to be a holy nation. Hashem is also unable to destroy them because they are His nation and He loves them. Therefore, He will cleanse them of their sins and purify them - through suffering. (Metzudat David)

ובחוצות ירושלים The people commit their sins in public, without any sense of shame. (Radak)

Some Jews that put on Tfillin daily and "look and dress" religious but are trapped deep by the Sitra Achra and it's mad, mad, mad. The people believe that the presence of the Shechinah in the city of Jerusalem will ensure that it will be saved through a miracle. BUT the filthy disgusting dirty parade of shame that Jews scheduled has angered HaShem more so.

הנה אפי וחמתי ניתכת אל המקום הזה Hashem's anger will rain down on the land. (Metzudat David)
ולא תכבה The anger/punishment will not subside, until everything is destroyed. (Metzudat David)
למען ייטב לכם It is the people who benefit from following Hashem, not Hashem himself.

גדולי ישראל בארץ ובעולם קובעים כי 'עת צרה היא ליעקב' וקוראים להתפלל ולומר תהילים להצלת עם ישראל
All Gedolim in Israel and in the world have stated TODAY that this is Time of Trouble for Yaakov (Bnei Yisrael) and are calling on us to pray and say Tehillim to save AM ISRAEL.

Yitkadal V'yitkadash Shemey Rabbah. - The Great Name shall be exalted and sanctified. Amen.