In this part of the chapter, the prophet Amos moves from the general lamentation over the fall of Israel to the root of the illness: their attitude toward rebuke. A nation that cannot tolerate reproof cannot be repaired, and from here on, the prophet details the sins, the measure-for-measure retribution, and the final opening that still remains for repentance. Let us proceed through the verses following the commentary of the Malbim.
שָׂנְאוּ בַשַּׁעַר מוֹכִיחַ וְדֹבֵר תָּמִים יְתָעֵבוּ׃ (י) - "They hate the reprover in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks with integrity." (10)
The prophets sought to rebuke them, but they hated those who came to admonish them. Who were these reprovers? Radak explains that they were the true prophets and the righteous among them. And what is meant by "in the gate"? The gate is always an expression for the place of justice: "to the gate, unto the elders"; "and they turn aside the destitute in the gate" - who turns them aside? The judges sitting in the gate; "and establish justice in the gate"; "and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom" - on that very day they appointed him as a judge over them.
It is important to understand why the gate is called the place of justice. We are accustomed to thinking in contemporary terms: a gate is simply a gate, an entrance door. But that was not how it was. Anyone who observes the entrance to ancient Jerusalem sees massive walls, and these walls were very broad, sometimes even with houses built directly upon the wall. On the wall itself, at the entrance to the city, they constructed the courthouse. Therefore, whenever justice was spoken of, it was said that the judges sat in the gate. This does not mean they sat by the door and obstructed passersby, but rather in a structure erected at the city gate, where court proceedings were conducted.
The Malbim explains: this was the reason for their fall with none to raise them up - "The virgin of Israel has fallen, she shall rise no more." They hated the reprovers who sought to set them straight and return them to the proper path. Whether the reprover addressed matters of civil justice - which is "in the gate," since the judges sit in the gate, representing interpersonal matters (bein adam lachavero) - or whether the reprover addressed matters between man and God (bein adam laMakom), which is "and they abhor him who speaks with integrity (tamim)" - one who tells them to make their ways whole, for tamim means complete: make your ways whole with your Creator. They listened neither to the one nor to the other.
Whom did they hate more: the one who reproved them regarding interpersonal matters, or the one who reproved them regarding matters between man and God? The Malbim explains: abhorrence (ti'uv) is always greater than hatred (sin'ah), as it says, "I hate falsehood and abhor it." The rule of Hebrew style is that expressions intensify. A person does not say, "I hate falsehood intensely, and also a little bit"; the order always ascends: I hate it, and I even abhor it. Thus, abhorrence is more severe than hatred. The verse is therefore precise: those who reproved regarding interpersonal matters they merely hated, but those who reproved regarding mitzvot between man and God they utterly abhorred.
This is easily understood. One who rebukes over interpersonal matters touches upon things that intellect readily grasps: here is robbery, here is injustice; a person senses within himself that there is something to correct. But rebuke regarding matters between man and God stepped on raw nerves. He already felt that he had settled his account with the Master of the Universe: he had a golden calf, and everything was taken care of. Then suddenly someone comes and reminds him that this is completely false. That is far more irritating, and therefore "they abhor him who speaks with integrity."
There is no hatred in the world like religious hatred, and this can be seen to this day. The fiercest wars are not fought over territory. Wars of blind hatred, such as ISIS, are religious wars. To behead a person, to place human beings in a cage and burn them alive - where does such horrific hatred come from? From the fact that their religion is different from ours. This is religious hatred.
The same applies to those who hate observers of the mitzvot. Amalek - why did he come to wage war? Commentators enumerate five reasons why one nation goes to war against another (as elaborated in the commentary of the Malbim, in discourses for Purim, and in discourses on the weekly Torah portions), and none of those reasons existed in the case of Amalek. What, then, drove him? Only one thing troubled him: hatred of religion. Therefore it is said, "Hashem has a war with Amalek." What bothered him? That there was an awakening to the service of Hashem, "Nations heard and trembled"; the Master of the Universe demonstrated His sovereignty - and that, they could not accept. Thus it is said of him, "and he did not fear God": what bothered him? That here was a people who feared God. And because this is hatred of religion, we were commanded to eradicate Amalek in the most uncompromising manner.
Today, too, one can see this in the media: whenever matters of mitzvos are discussed, they are spoken of with utter abhorrence. Heaven forbid, there is fear of "religious coercion" in the schools because someone mentioned Kiddush there! A child anxiously recounted that his sister remarked to him that after a meat meal one cannot eat a dairy ice pop: "Where did you learn such things?" "They told me in preschool!" Woe is us, such things are being taught in preschool! This is religious coercion, and who knows, Heaven forbid she might even become religious! And the entire media celebrates the terrible "religious indoctrination" creeping beneath the surface, warning that we are not vigilant enough, and our children might end up knowing concepts in Judaism.
Likewise with "exclusion of women": in the IDF one sees too many yarmulkes, and these soldiers do not want to hear women singing and do not want to serve in mixed-gender battalions. Immediately, all the feminist organizations, which invariably walk hand in hand with anti-religious organizations, rush out to rescue the Jewish people from this worst of all disasters.
And why does everyone suddenly mobilize on behalf of the Reform movement at the Kosel? Does the Kosel truly interest the Reform? After all, they themselves wrote in their prayer books that one must erase "and to Jerusalem Your city return in mercy," because Berlin was their Jerusalem - until the Nazi oppressor arrived and showed them what Berlin was. They have no connection whatsoever to Jerusalem. A dedicated Kosel area was built for them, and someone photographed it on the fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz - it was completely empty! Not a single person showed up. For when they do come, they come for the spectacle, for the war against the religious. That is why the New Israel Fund and all these groups finance them to show up. Then you see that "pious woman" arriving with tefillin on her head. Did her husband ever lay tefillin? Is she so stringent and meticulous with tefillin and tallis? All of this is intended solely to attack, because it stems from hatred of religion.
Consider this: you, the journalist, are a secularist who denies it all; and if you deny religion, you deny everything, Reform religion just as traditional Judaism. Why then do you mobilize in their favor? Because if one can use them to strike at the Orthodox and those who tremble at the word of Hashem, and to crumble them from within, the Reform will do the job. In the United States they worked wonderfully and succeeded: fifty, sixty, and in certain places seventy percent assimilation rates, the fruit of their labor. Therefore, bring them here as well and let them succeed here too, and then we will become "a state of all its citizens," with no need for a Jewish state at all, and consequently what even makes someone a Jew and what difference is there between him and a gentile?
A woman once related: there was a terror attack in a certain place, and it was reported that no Jews were among the casualties. She remarked, "Baruch Hashem that there were no Jews there." A secular leftist jumped on her: "Jews? What difference does that make? Are they not all human beings? People were killed there!" It sounds very moral and noble. She answered her: "Believe me, if Heaven forbid a relative of yours had been harmed there, you would have been far more distressed." She said back: "Every Jew is my relative." She answered her appropriately: You do not look at a fellow Jew as your relative - who knows what mixed multitude you descend from; to you a Jew is not your brother, and perhaps you feel closer to a Palestinian than to a settler. But we, as Jews, know that every Jew in the world is our brother. And if every Jew is my brother, when something happens to a Jew at the far end of the world - "Israel is a scattered sheep," the Midrash says: when a sheep's leg hurts, its entire body feels the pain. But these individuals feel nothing at all; one who feels like a swine rather than a sheep has no connection to the Jewish people, and to him a dead Jew and a dead gentile are the exact same thing. But one who feels that he is a brother grieves for every Jew in the world, and mobilizes to help him even if he has never seen him. Yet those people who have completely lost the feeling of brotherhood toward their brethren receive funding from nations that hate Israel, who wish to dismantle us from within - and it all stems from hatred of religion.
At the time, Rabbi Gafni participated in the left-wing conference of Haaretz. He said to them: You speak constantly about peace, and you ask us repeatedly - after all, Rav Shach's approach was that if there is true peace and human life can be saved, territory is not more sacred than human life; the reality is that there is no true peace, but were there to be, land is not more important than life. If so, why do you not join us? He answered them: I am prepared to join you if you are prepared to join us. When votes arise on matters of religion and Judaism, be flexible with us, and we will be flexible with you on matters of peace. But in matters that are our very soul, you are the greatest warriors against us, whereas in matters that are your soul, you want my help. In truth, Rabbi Gafni was not proposing a practical deal, for to those self-righteous people, the real war is against the observant, and for that cause they would cast all peace aside. Give up the war on religion and "freedom from religion" for the sake of peace? What do they care about peace; this war is far more interesting to them. There is no need to worry - they will never compromise, for there is no war and no hatred like the hatred of religion, and it is the root of all the conflicts we witness down to our day. Therefore, "they hated the reprover in the gate" regarding interpersonal conduct, but "one who speaks uprightly," who speaks to them about Judaism, mitzvah observance, and service of Hashem - "they abhor," a terrible abhorrence, completely unwilling to accept it.
לָכֵן יַעַן בּוֹשַׁסְכֶם עַל דָּל וּמַשְׂאַת בַּר תִּקְחוּ מִמֶּנּוּ בָּתֵּי גָזִית בְּנִיתֶם וְלֹא תֵשְׁבוּ בָם כַּרְמֵי חֶמֶד נְטַעְתֶּם וְלֹא תִשְׁתּוּ אֶת יֵינָם׃ (יא) - Therefore, because you trample upon the poor, and you take a levy of wheat from him; you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. (11)
There are several interpretations for the word boshaskhem, and we will explain according to the approach of the Malbim: boshaskhem is akin to bosaschem, from the language of trampling (mivosas); you trample and plunder the poor, robbing and exploiting him, "and you take a levy of wheat from him" - plundering his grain. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: If there were any purpose in speaking with you so that you might repent, I would wait; but I see there is no hope that they will return. And since you trample the poor, and from this violence you built yourselves houses of hewn stone, magnificent homes of costly ashlar - the punishment will be that you shall not dwell in them. And from that same plunder you planted pleasant vineyards, beautiful orchards - in this too you will be punished, that you shall not drink their wine, for you will go into exile. Measure for measure.
כִּי יָדַעְתִּי רַבִּים פִּשְׁעֵיכֶם וַעֲצֻמִים חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם צֹרְרֵי צַדִּיק לֹקְחֵי כֹפֶר וְאֶבְיוֹנִים בַּשַּׁעַר הִטּוּ׃ (יב) - For I know how many are your transgressions and how mighty are your sins; enemies of the righteous, taking bribes, and they turn aside the destitute in the gate. (12)
There is a double expression here: "many are your transgressions (pish'eichem)" and "mighty are your sins (chatoseichem)." What is the difference between a pesha and a chet, and why did it say "many" regarding transgressions and "mighty" regarding sins? The Malbim explains: a pesha is rebellion; a person who acted through pesha acted out of rebellion. A chet, by contrast, is a sin born of desire, where his evil inclination overcame him through pleasure, without any intent to rebel. Therefore a chet always reflects a measure of inadvertence (shegagah); even if he sinned deliberately, because there is great temptation from his inclination, in relative terms it is considered like an unintentional error. But a pesha is an act done with the deliberate intention of rebelling, not out of an aroused physical desire.
Which is more common for a person: sins committed out of weakness (chata'im) or willful rebellions (pesha'im)? Certainly sins. It is far less common for someone to act purely out of rebellion, especially for someone who is observant of the mitzvos. And which is more severe? Certainly rebellion (pesha), for one commits it intentionally to rebel against Hashem, without any personal desire. This is like Amon, who violated his own mother; when they asked him, "Do you derive any pleasure from this?" he replied, "Am I a man of lust? I do this solely to anger my Creator!" That is to say, he did everything "for the sake of Heaven" - only to provoke Heaven.
To this, the prophet says to them: in your case, both exist, and both in intensified proportions. Rebellions are generally not numerous, but with you, "manifold are your transgressions" (rabim pishechem) - you have multiplied rebellion. And lust-driven sins are generally not immense in severity, yet with you, "immense are your sins" (atzumim chatoteichem) - immense in quality as well. Thus, these two expressions show that your situation is far worse than any ordinary reality.
Corresponding to "manifold are your transgressions," he says, "you persecute the righteous" (tzorerei tzaddik): you pervert the judgment of the innocent, neither for monetary profit nor for pleasure, but purely out of hostility toward whoever is righteous in his verdict. For a wicked, corrupt person who rebels against Hashem cannot tolerate a righteous man, and consequently hates him and fights against him. This is rebellion for the sake of rebelling, without any personal gain. Corresponding to "immense are your sins," he says, "accepting bribes (lokechei chofer) and turning away the destitute at the gate." A sin (chet) is driven by pleasure, and here the pleasure is bribe money. Why, then, does he call it "immense"? The Malbim explains: had the bribe been merely to distort monetary rulings, that would be one thing - a sin of accepting bribes for monetary pleasure, severe, but not unthinkable. However, they are "accepting ransom" (chofer), and ransom is always associated with capital cases, as in: "You shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death." They accept ransom for one condemned to death, redeeming him from execution and corrupting capital justice. Although this is a sin committed for monetary gain, its severity is horrific, for through it the land is defiled with blood and corruption enters the world. From this also follows "and turning away the destitute at the gate" - the destitute person has nothing, and at the gate, which is the courthouse as we saw earlier, he cannot obtain justice, because both monetary law and capital law are perverted entirely.
לָכֵן הַמַּשְׂכִּיל בָּעֵת הַהִיא יִדֹּם כִּי עֵת רָעָה הִיא׃ (יג) - Therefore the prudent shall keep silent at that time, for it is an evil time. (13)
Perhaps someone might still come along, reprove them, and set them straight? To this the prophet says: since you are so deeply entrenched in sins and transgressions, the prudent (maskil) - those who know the Torah and recognize your evil deeds, who ought to rebuke you - will keep silent, placing a hand over their mouth. Why? Because whoever reproves you, you kill; you have no tolerance for hearing the voice of a rebuker. Therefore, there is no chance that you will mend your ways, and nothing remains but to carry out the decree against you.
דִּרְשׁוּ טוֹב וְאַל רָע לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ וִיהִי כֵן יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאוֹת אִתְּכֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר אֲמַרְתֶּם׃ (יד) - Seek good and not evil, so that you may live; and so Hashem, God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have said. (14)
Radak notes: the prophet still attempts to reprove them, in the hope that they might listen. If you seek the good and not the evil, you may yet have life. The Malbim explains that this continues what was said earlier, "Seek Me and live," and the warning, "Do not seek Beit-El" - do not go seeking the golden calves and the idolatries you fabricated for yourselves; if you wish to live, seek Me, and by seeking Me you shall live. This is the meaning of "Seek good and not evil": do not seek Beit-El, but seek Hashem alone, and then Hashem, God of Hosts, will be with you as you request. For you yourselves claim you want Hashem to save you and prevent your enemies from harming you, yet you choose means that drive Hashem far away from you.
For many forms of idol worship were not practiced as independent deities, but rather as intermediaries for the service of Hashem. Idolaters believed that the Holy One, blessed is He, is an exalted King far above who cannot be approached directly; instead, one must approach Him through His "officials" - the sun, the moon, and the stars - and draw down divine abundance through them. They would say: of course Hashem exists! How did Nebuchadnezzar express it? "God of gods" (Elah Elahin) - there are lower powers, and He is above them all, detached from worldly affairs, having entrusted the world to the forces of nature. The prophet tells them: through this conception, you yourselves drive Hashem away from you. Indeed, even the Golden Calf made in the wilderness was created to serve Hashem, as demonstrated in discussions on the Kuzari and on the weekly Torah portions. The verses themselves show this: "Tomorrow shall be a feast to Hashem," Aharon said, not a feast to the calf; and they declared, "These are your gods, O Israel," not "This is the Baal" or "This is the idol" - "for the dwelling Glory was clothed in physical form," in the words of Ibn Ezra. Thus, idolatrous symbols were often used as tools intended to serve God. To this the prophet says: you are mistaken. "Seek good," which means seeking Hashem directly, and only then will "Hashem, God of Hosts, be with you, as you have said." This also clarifies the precise title "God of Hosts" (Elokei Tzeva'os): you go and serve the sun, moon, and stars, which are the heavenly hosts - yet He is the God of the hosts themselves; turn directly to Him, and not to His hosts.
And if you ask: is it not taught that the earthly kingdom reflects the heavenly kingdom (malchusa de'ar'a ke'en malchusa dirki'a), and on earth one never approaches the prime minister with personal problems - not only because he would not help, but because there is a hierarchy? Nor would one approach the mayor complaining that the garbage was not collected; he would say, "There is a sanitation department, there is a hotline, there are channels for this; leave me be, there are officials." Why is this not so with the Holy One, blessed is He? The answer is: indeed, the heavenly realm reflects the earthly realm. However, if the king himself descends to tour among his people and arrives right here to grant an audience, and someone has an urgent personal request - would he turn to the king's official or to the king himself? Surely to the king himself, for turning to an official while the king stands right before you is an outright insult.
In this regard, a story is told of one of the Torah luminaries: There was a synagogue where the law required hanging a portrait of the king, and indeed such a portrait hung there. One day, the king arrived for a visit. An assimilationist (maskil) who sought to harm the community secretly removed the portrait before the king's arrival and hid it away. The king entered, and there was no portrait. The community members were stunned and hoped the matter would pass unnoticed, but someone piped up and said, "Your Majesty, the law requires your portrait, yet here in the synagogue they have hung none; I believe they even took it down especially for your arrival in order to disgrace you." The king turned to the rabbi in great indignation and demanded, "What do you have to say for yourself?" The rabbi replied, "Your Majesty, let me offer an analogy from which you will understand. We Jews wear tefillin every day - black boxes containing Torah scrolls that bind and connect us to Hashem. Yet there is one day a week when we do not wear them: Shabbos, because on that day the Holy One, blessed is He, is Himself present with us, as it were. When Hashem Himself is with us, would we need a reminder through tefillin, as it says, 'so that you may remember'? When He is with you, look to Him, not to the tefillin! So too here: it would be an insult, when Your Majesty comes to visit us in person, for us to look at a portrait when we can gaze upon the king himself!" The king accepted his words and even praised them.
And this is "Wisdom gives life to its possessor." When speaking of the reality of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is unlike any human king. With any king, when he is not present, one turns to his officials; but the Holy One, blessed be He - "whenever we call upon Him," He is constantly with us, not on a one-time visit. And when Someone is always with you, why would you turn to His ministers? Therefore, it is always forbidden to turn to intermediaries, but only to the Holy One, blessed be He. This is why a person must pray exclusively to Hashem for everything, even for the most mundane physical needs: if a person needs to replace his shoes and has no money - Master of the Universe, please provide me with shoes! Does the Holy One, blessed be He, really care about your shoes? Yes. The Holy One, blessed be He, wants you to turn to Him for everything, and not to His intermediaries. Therefore the prophet tells them: Hashem, the God of Hosts, is with you; and if He is with you, one does not turn to subordinates. Why, then, did you go to seek and inquire of idols? Turn directly to Him - "Seek good and not evil," "Seek Me and live."
שִׂנְאוּ רָע וְאֶהֱבוּ טוֹב וְהַצִּיגוּ בַשַּׁעַר מִשְׁפָּט אוּלַי יֶחֱנַן יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאוֹת שְׁאֵרִית יוֹסֵף׃ (טו) - Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; perhaps Hashem, the God of Hosts, will show favor to the remnant of Joseph. (15)
After telling them, "Seek good and not evil" - meaning, seek and pursue only the good - he adds: it is not enough to seek good; you must genuinely hate evil. For when a person merely sees that something is less recommended, he says, "This is preferable, and that is less preferable." But when he sees something that caused him damage and afflicted him, he does not say "it is less preferable"; he says, "I hate this! It harmed me, ruined me, and destroyed me." He tells them: when you reflect on how much damage the evil deeds you chose have caused you, you will naturally come to hate the evil through which you are stricken, and you will love the good. It will no longer be as it was when you were "tormentors of the righteous," hating justice and the righteous, upright person, subverting his judgment. On the contrary, love the good, and from that state, "establish justice in the gate" - act with justice and integrity. And by virtue of this, "perhaps Hashem, the God of Hosts, will show favor to the remnant of Joseph."
And who is "the remnant of Joseph"? Since the main message is directed at the Kingdom of Samaria, and Yerovam ben Nevat was from the tribe of Joseph, they are referred to as the children of Ephraim or Joseph, as they are his descendants. There is also an idea that all of Israel is called Joseph, because Joseph sustained and provided for his brothers, and therefore the entire nation is called the seed of Joseph and the children of Joseph, in which case it refers to the collective whole and not just the two tribes. The prophet tells them: you may still have a remnant and hope, and perhaps Hashem will show favor to the remnant of Joseph - by your seeking good, hating evil, loving good, and establishing justice in the gate.
The Malbim further explains: "Seek good" applies to matters between man and God, whereas "hate evil and love good" pertains to matters between man and his fellow. When he said in the previous verse to seek good, that refers to what is between you and Hashem, doing what is good and upright in the eyes of Hashem. And what he says here, "hate evil and love good," is explained immediately in the continuation of the verse: "and establish justice in the gate," meaning interpersonal civil law, to uphold justice. And through seeking good, which is between you and Hashem in faith and good deeds, "so shall Hashem, the God of Hosts, be with you" - this is a promise that Hashem will draw close to you. And through establishing justice in the gate, which is between man and his fellow, "Hashem will show favor to the remnant of Joseph."
Why specifically in this way? Because the primary cause of exile is interpersonal sins, as we saw earlier: "Because you trample upon the poor," and as our Sages of blessed memory said: Why was Jerusalem destroyed? Over Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, over the baseless hatred that was among them. And this is more severe than the three cardinal sins, as the Gemara states: Go and learn, for the Temple was restored to the early generations, but was not restored to the later generations. The First Temple was destroyed on account of the three cardinal sins, and yet it was rebuilt; the Second Temple was destroyed on account of baseless hatred, and we are still in an exile that has lasted two thousand years. This proves that interpersonal matters are even more severe. Therefore, if you "establish justice in the gate," which is between man and his fellow, then "He will show favor to the remnant of Joseph," and you will merit clemency so that the Holy One, blessed be He, will not exile you.
The prophet points to the root of the downfall: a nation that hates those who rebuke in the gate and abhors those who speak uprightly cannot stand, for there is no hatred like the hatred of religion. Out of this, exploitation flourishes: they trample upon the poor, build houses of hewn stone and plant delightful vineyards from ill-gotten gains - and they are punished measure for measure, never to dwell in them nor drink their wine. Their transgressions are numerous, even though deliberate rebellion is not usually common, and their unwitting sins are immense, even though an inadvertent sin is not intrinsically massive: they torment the righteous for no gain, accept bribes in capital cases, and turn aside the judgment of the destitute. And when there is no one willing to accept rebuke, the prudent person is forced to remain silent. Even so, an opening remains: "Seek good and not evil" - to turn to the King Himself and not to His intermediaries; and "Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate" - to rectify matters between man and his fellow, which is the primary cause of exile. Then, "perhaps Hashem, the God of Hosts, will show favor to the remnant of Joseph."