At the time of the destruction of the Temple, one of the prominent
figures was Baruch, the faithful attendant (65) of Jeremiah. God
commanded him to leave the city one day before the enemy was to enter
it, in order that his presence might not render it impregnable. On the
following day, he and all other pious men having abandoned Jerusalem,
he saw from a distance how the angels descended, set fire to the city
walls, and concealed the sacred vessels of the Temple. At first his
mourning over the misfortunes of Jerusalem and the people knew no
bounds. But he was in a measure consoled at the end of a seven days'
fast, when God made known to him that the day of reckoning would come
for the heathen, too. Other Divine visions were vouchsafed him. The
whole future of mankind was unrolled before his eyes, especially the
history of Israel, and he learned that the coming of the Messiah would
put an end to all sorrow and misery, and usher in the reign of peace
and joy among men. As for him, he would be removed from the earth, he
was told, but not through death, and only in order to be kept safe
against the coming of the end of all time. (66)
Thus consoled, Baruch addressed an admonition to the people left in
Palestine, and wrote two letters of the same tenor to the exiles, one
to the nine tribes and a half, the other to the two tribes and a half.
The letter to the nine tribes and a half of the captivity was carried
to them by an eagle. (67)
Five years after the great catastrophe, he composed a book in Babylon,
(68) which contained penitential prayers and hymns of consolation,
exhorting Israel and urging the people to return to God and His law.
This book Baruch read to King Jeconiah and the whole people on a day of
prayer and penitence. On the same occasion a collection was taken up
among the people, and the funds thus secured, together with the silver
Temple vessels made by order of Zedekiah after Jeconiah had been
carried away captive, were sent to Jerusalem, with the request that the
high priest Joakim and the people should apply the money to the
sacrificial service and to prayers for the life of King Nebuchadnezzar
and his son Belshazzar. Thus they might ensure peace and happiness
under Babylonian rule. Above all, they were to supplicate God to turn
away His wrath from His people.
Baruch sent his book also to the residents of Jerusalem, and they read
it in the Temple on distinguished days, and recited the prayers it
contains. (69)
Baruch is one of the few mortals who have been privileged to visit
Paradise and know its secrets. An angel of the Lord appeared to him
while he was lamenting over the destruction of Jerusalem and took him
to the seven heavens, to the place of judgment where the doom of the
godless is pronounced, and to the abodes of the blessed. (70)
He was still among the living at the time in which Cyrus permitted the
Jews to return to Palestine, but on account of his advanced age he
could not avail himself of the permission. So long as he was alive, his
disciple Ezra remained with him in Babylonia, for "the study of the law
is more important than the building of the Temple." It was only after
the death of Baruch that he decided to gather together the exiles who
desired to return to the Holy Land and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
(71)