The haftara for the second Shabbat of the “Three Weeks” before Tisha B’Av is taken from the second chapter of Sefer Yirmiyahu, and in the middle of this prophecy, God condemns the nation’s leaders for their religious failings. He laments, “tofesei ha-Torah lo yeda’uni” – “the bearers of the Law have not known Me” (2:8). Targum Yonatanexplains this to mean, “the teachers of Torah have not taught knowledge of fearing Me.”
Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, in his Chokhma Va-da’at (130), cites this verse, and Targum Yonatan’s interpretation, in explaining the vital necessity of studying mussar alongside one’s regular Torah learning. Targum Yonatan quite clearly speaks of a situation where scholars were teaching Torah but neglected to try to instill yir’at Shamayim within their students. They taught the dry material, but failed to guide their charges towards sincere religious commitment. God condemns these teachers for their failure, because teaching Torah without attempting to teach “knowledge of fearing Me” does not qualify as effective Torah education.
We might add that in this same verse, God condemns the false prophets who delivered to the people alleged prophecies which they wanted to hear, prophesying in the name of the pagan god Ba’al. The inclusion of both these groups of influential figures in the same condemnation might suggest a degree of resemblance. God compares the Torah teachers who failed to teach yir’at Shamayim to false prophets, who misled the masses by delivering messages which they claimed to have been spoken by a divine being. The “tofesei ha-Torah” who teach Torah but not general religious values and concepts are delivering a false message, just like the false prophets. They implicitly teach their charges that God wants us to study but does not demand personal piety; that it suffices to amass knowledge without developing an awareness of God and subjugating oneself to His will. The prophet’s scathing condemnation, according to Targum Yonatan, is directed not only to those who intentionally fabricate imaginary prophetic messages, but also to those who mislead through omission, by failing to emphasize the centrality of genuine yir’at Shamayim in Torah life.
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il