- נבוכדנצר’s four steps to defend Hashem’s honor
Hashem told Yirmiyah, if you are amazed at the reward I paid the wicked נכבודנצר for running four steps for My honor (as explained below), then when I eventually reward Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, שרצו לפני כסוסים – who ran before me like horses, על אחת כמה וכמה – how much more so will you be overwhelmed by their reward! When the wicked king Achaz died, the day was shortened to two hours (so he could not be eulogized), and when Chizkiyah recovered from his illness, the day regressed by those ten hours, as a miraculous sign. When Merodach Baladan, the Babylonian king heard, he resolved to send him greetings, and they wrote “Greetings to King Chizkiyah! Greetings to the city of Yerushalayim! Greetings to the great G-d!” נבוכדנצר, the king’s secretary, was not present at the time, and he later objected: קריתו ליה אלקא רבא וכתביתו ליה לבסוף – You call Him “the great G-d,” but you mention Him last?! He was sent after the messenger to correct the text, and when he ran four steps, Gavriel came and stopped him, and Rebbe Yochanan explained: אילמלא בא גבריאל והעמידו – had Gavriel not come and stopped him, לא היה תקנה לשונאיהם של ישראל – there would be no remedy for the “enemies” of Yisroel.
- Nevuzaradan’s breaking through the gates of Yerushalayim
נבוכדנצר sent Nevuzaradan three hundred mule-loads of iron axes able to break iron, but all of them shattered against one gate of Yerushalayim. Nevuzaradan wanted to retreat, saying: מסתפינא דלא ליעבדו בי כי היכי דעבדו בסנחריב – I am afraid they will do to me what they did to סנחריב! A בת קול went forth: Leaper, son of a leaper! Nevuzaradan, leap (to conquer Yerushalayim)! דמטא זימנא דמקדשא חריב והיכלא מיקלי – For the time has come for the Beis Hamikdash to be destroyed and the Heichal to be burned! He had a single axe left, and upon striking the gate with its blunt end, it opened. He went through the city, killing as he went, until he reached the Beis Hamikdash and lit it aflame. The Heichal began to ascend, but it was trampled from Heaven. Nevuzaradan grew haughty, and a בת קול went forth: עמא קטילא קטלת – It is a killed nation that you have killed, היכלא קליא קלית – a burned Heichal that you have burned, קימחא טחינא טחינת – and ground flour that you have ground! [Their destruction was decreed by Hashem and are not your successes.]
- The blood of Zechariah
Nevuzaradan found the blood of Zechariah bubbling on the floor of the Beis Hamikdash. When he inquired about its source, he was told it was blood of korbanos. After comparing it with animal blood and seeing it did not match, he threatened to torture them if they did not tell the truth. They admitted that it was the blood of Zechariah the Navi who had rebuked them and was murdered, and whose blood had not rested since the incident (over two hundred fifty years earlier). Nevuzaradan decided to appease him, and began slaughtering Rabbonim, schoolchildren, and young Kohanim, killing 940,000 people, but the blood still did not rest. He exclaimed: זכריה זכריה טובים שבהן איבדתים – Zechariah! Zechariah! Their finest I have destroyed. ניחא לך דאיקטלינהו לכולהו – Do you want me to kill them all?! Immediately, the blood finally rested. Nevuzaradan had thoughts of repentance: ומה אם על נפש אחת כך – If the punishment for killing one soul is so severe, ההוא גברא דקטל כל הני נשמתא על אחת כמה וכמה – then this man (himself), who killed so many souls, how much more so! He fled and converted to Judaism.
