יחזקאל, פרק כ״ג, פסוק י״א

The tragedy of repeating past mistakes is fully realized in the behavior of the Kingdom of Judah. She stands as a witness to the absolute ruin of her neighboring sister kingdom, Samaria, yet rather than changing course, she plunges even deeper into the very political and spiritual sins that caused the disaster. Because Judah was smaller than Samaria, she felt a much stronger need to rely on diplomacy and alliances with foreign nations for her own protection [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The primary approach among commentators is that Judah saw with her own eyes the devastation, destruction, and exile that swallowed her sister kingdom as a direct result of her betrayals. Shockingly, Judah felt no fear and drew no moral lessons from the tragedy. Her guilt is ultimately twofold and far more severe. Not only did she completely ignore a clear and tangible warning, but she also resides in the place of the Temple. By adopting these corrupt practices, she brings destruction directly to the holy center of the world [חומת אנך].

Driven by an intense, almost romantic lust and deep desire for these foreign powers [רש״י, אברבנאל], Judah's betrayal escalated to extreme levels [רד״ק]. Instead of recoiling from her sister's fate, Judah actually learned from her how to manage deceitful, two-faced relationships with foreign nations, ultimately corrupting her own path far worse than her sister ever did [ביאור שטיינזלץ, מצודת דוד]. She clung to idolatry with even greater intensity, refusing to stop trusting in the kings of the world and adopting their practices [רד״ק, אברבנאל].

Historically, this intense political and spiritual desire played out vividly during the reigns of Judah's kings. King Ahaz, for example, bribed the king of Assyria, groveling for his military help. He went so far as to copy the design of a pagan altar from Damascus and build it right in Jerusalem, foolishly believing that the foreign gods would protect him. This tragic pattern continued into the days of King Manasseh, who submitted to the military commanders of Assyria [מלבי״ם, אברבנאל]. In a desperate attempt to guarantee her own survival, Judah lusted after foreign empires and their false gods, bringing about a spiritual decay that eclipsed the sins of the sister kingdom she watched fall.