Introduction: A Day of Repentance and a Renewed Covenant
Chapter 9 of Nechemya is a chapter of momentous prayer. Following the reading of the Torah and the festival of Sukkot, the Children of Israel gather for a day of fasting, confession, and separation from foreign influence. The Levites then open a lengthy prayer that surveys the entire history of the nation: from the creation of the world, through the choosing of Avraham, the Exodus from Egypt, the Giving of the Torah, the wanderings in the wilderness, and the inheritance of the Land, all the way to the sins, the exile, and Hashem's enduring mercies in never abandoning us. In this lesson, we will follow the Malbim's commentary on the opening verses of the chapter, seeing how the familiar liturgical text of "Vayvarech David" was crafted from these verses, and how they open a gateway to understanding foundational principles of faith.
On the Twenty-Fourth Day: Why Specifically on This Date?
וּבְיוֹם עֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה לַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה נֶאֶסְפוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּצוֹם וּבְשַׂקִּים וַאֲדָמָה עֲלֵיהֶם׃ - "And on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Children of Israel assembled with fasting, sackcloth, and earth upon them."
"Of this month" - this refers to the seventh month, the month of Tishrei. And why specifically on the twenty-fourth, and not on the twenty-third? Because the twenty-third is the day immediately following the festival of Sukkot (Isru Chag), upon which fasting is still forbidden. Therefore, only on the twenty-fourth day of the month did the Children of Israel gather in fasting and sackcloth, with earth upon their heads as a sign of mourning and submission.
The Seed of Israel Separated: Two Separate Events or One?
וַיִּבָּדְלוּ זֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל מִכֹּל בְּנֵי נֵכָר וַיַּעַמְדוּ וַיִּתְוַדּוּ עַל־חַטֹּאתֵיהֶם וַעֲוֺנוֹת אֲבֹתֵיהֶם׃ - "And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers."
What is the meaning of "separated themselves from all foreigners"? As is well known, in that generation the people of Israel had married foreign women. According to one explanation, they separated from them at the time of Ezra's arrival, but later lapsed and returned to them; thus, the narrative appears both in Sefer Ezra and in Sefer Nechemya - two separate rectifications. However, the Malbim notes that some understand that this breach, which had already begun at the time of Zerubbabel's ascent, remained unresolved until Ezra came and rectified it. According to this view, there were not two separate rectifications, but a single event: the rectification enacted by Ezra is the very one mentioned here. These are two perspectives - whether we are looking at two distinct events or a single ongoing process. Following this separation, they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
A Quarter of the Day - Three Hours or Six?
וַיָּקוּמוּ עַל־עׇמְדָם וַיִּקְרְאוּ בְּסֵפֶר תּוֹרַת ה' אֱלֹהֵיהֶם רְבִעִית הַיּוֹם וּרְבִעִית מִתְוַדִּים וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים לַה' אֱלֹהֵיהֶם׃ - "And they stood up in their place and read in the Book of the Law of Hashem their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and prostrated themselves to Hashem their God."
"And they stood up in their place" - each person stood in his designated place and read from the Book of the Law of Hashem for a quarter of the day. Here, there is room for reflection: what is meant by "a fourth of the day"? If it refers to a fourth of the full twenty-four-hour cycle, that would be six hours; but if it refers to a fourth of the daylight hours, that would be three hours. For the next portion of time, they were confessing and prostrating themselves before Hashem their God.
The Platform of the Levites and Crying Out in a Loud Voice
וַיָּקׇם עַל־מַעֲלֵה הַלְוִיִּם יֵשׁוּעַ וּבָנִי קַדְמִיאֵל שְׁבַנְיָה בֻּנִּי שֵׁרֵבְיָה בָּנִי כְנָנִי וַיִּזְעֲקוּ בְּקוֹל גָּדוֹל אֶל־ה' אֱלֹהֵיהֶם׃ - Then Yeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shevanyah, Bunni, Sherevyah, Bani, and Chenani stood upon the platform of the Levi'im and cried with a loud voice to Hashem their God.
All the men mentioned here were evidently among the prominent leaders of the community. They stood upon "the platform of the Levi'im" - that elevated place where the Levi'im stood in song - and from there they cried out with a loud voice to Hashem their God. This crying out in a loud voice was not for nothing; it was intended to awaken the people, to arouse the entire public to repentance.
"Arise and Bless" - The Substance of the Entire Prayer
וַיֹּאמְרוּ הַלְוִיִּם יֵשׁוּעַ וְקַדְמִיאֵל בָּנִי חֲשַׁבְנְיָה שֵׁרֵבְיָה הוֹדִיָּה שְׁבַנְיָה פְתַחְיָה קוּמוּ בָּרְכוּ אֶת־ה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם מִן־הָעוֹלָם עַד־הָעוֹלָם וִיבָרְכוּ שֵׁם כְּבֹדֶךָ וּמְרוֹמַם עַל־כׇּל־בְּרָכָה וּתְהִלָּה׃ - And the Levi'im, Yeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashavneyah, Sherevyah, Hodiyah, Shevanyah, and Petachyah, said: "Arise, bless Hashem your God from everlasting to everlasting; and may they bless Your glorious Name, exalted above all blessing and praise."
The Levi'im recite here the order of prayer, and indeed our entire chapter is one long prayer. At its opening, they recount how Hashem chose Avraham and his descendants to be His treasured nation, forged a covenant with him to give the land to him and his seed, and kept that covenant: He brought us out of Egypt and led us through the wilderness. And even though they did not keep His words and rebelled against His word in the wilderness, He nevertheless brought them into the Land. There too they continued to sin in Eretz Yisrael and provoked the Creator of the universe, yet the Holy One, blessed be He, bore with them patiently, attempting in numerous ways to rebuke them, and throughout all that time He never abandoned them, until He ultimately exiled them among the nations of the lands - and even there, in the land of their enemies, He did not despise them and continued to watch over them. And now, they seek to rectify their ancestors' sins by forging a renewed covenant to keep His teachings and His mitzvos.
Therefore, he commands the people: "Arise, bless Hashem your God from world to world" - from this world, the physical, material, temporary, and fleeting realm, unto the eternal world that endures forever. And after commanding the people to bless, he turns his face to the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself, and says: "And may they bless Your glorious Name" - here he is already speaking directly to the Creator of the universe.
"Your Glorious Name" - What We Are Capable of Grasping
What is "Your glorious Name"? For You, Master of the Universe, in Your very Essence, are exalted and sublime above all blessing and praise. We cannot grasp the Holy One, blessed be He, so as to praise Him; we have no comprehension whatsoever of His blessed Essence. Nor can we grasp His direct emanations from His blessed Essence, the immense bounty and light that descend from Him. The Holy One, blessed be He, is "exalted above all blessing and praise" - elevated, sublime, and entirely beyond our understanding. What, then, can we grasp? His revelation through His Name - and that is the meaning of "and may they bless Your glorious Name."
It is written in the works of the Kabbalists that it is fundamentally inappropriate to designate the Holy One, blessed be He, by any name at all. Even when we speak of "the blessed Ein Sof" (the Infinite), the intent is not that this is His Name, for He cannot be designated by a name whatsoever. For what is a name? A name expresses a defined essence. When you give something a name, you immediately limit it; and the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot be confined within the framework of a name. Therefore, even when saying "Ein Sof," one does not mean this is His Name, but merely designates the Supreme Emanator.
Where, then, do names apply? Only after the Holy One, blessed be He, constricted His light - constriction upon constriction upon constriction. This is what appears in kabbalistic works regarding the realm of Adam Kadmon and the lights that emanated from it, which are effluences from Him, and the Partzufim and Sefiros that He emanated from His Essence - there it becomes possible to perceive the Creator through names and to call Him by names. But as we explained, this is not His blessed Essence, but rather the divine influence He emanated; that outflow proceeding from Him can indeed be called by a name and given attributes: this is the attribute of Chesed, this is Gevurah, this is Tiferes; this is the Name Havayah, this is Elokim, this is Adonai, this is Sha-dai, this is Tzevaot, each hinted at and linked to a specific Sefirah. All this is only after the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, constricted His light and granted us the ability to bind and connect ourselves to Him. But as for His blessed Essence - no thought can grasp Him at all. Even in thought, grasping and comprehending what the blessed Creator is and what His Essence is remains utterly impossible.
Therefore he says: "And may they bless Your glorious Name" - the Name through which Your glory is known within the creation You formed, following all the constrictions You performed; in this realm we can attain some grasp. The Name of Your glory and the Name of Your sovereignty, meaning Your connection to the world as You reign over us - this we can still describe, thank, name, and partially grasp. But regarding His blessed Essence - no thought can grasp Him at all.
"You Alone Are Hashem" - The Source of "Vayevarech David"
אַתָּה־הוּא ה' לְבַדֶּךָ אַתָּה עָשִׂיתָ אֶת־הַשָּׁמַיִם שְׁמֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם וְכׇל־צְבָאָם הָאָרֶץ וְכׇל־אֲשֶׁר עָלֶיהָ הַיַּמִּים וְכׇל־אֲשֶׁר בָּהֶם וְאַתָּה מְחַיֶּה אֶת־כֻּלָּם וּצְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם לְךָ מִשְׁתַּחֲוִים׃ - You alone are Hashem; You made the heavens, the heaven of heavens and all their host, the earth and all that is upon it, the seas and all that is in them, and You give life to them all, and the host of heaven bows down to You.
This verse is familiar to all of us - it is the passage we recite in "Vayevarech David" every single day. Now we have the privilege of discovering the source of this prayer, and finally understanding what we are actually saying.
The Malbim connects this verse to what preceded it. We said, "And they shall bless Your glorious Name," meaning that our entire grasp is only of Your glorious Name, "and exalted above all blessing and praise" - You, in Your very Essence, are exalted and elevated above all blessing and praise, "You alone are Hashem." This means that whenever someone attempts to praise and extol a specific thing, he immediately forces it into a framework, thereby limiting it. If so, with any arbitrary expression of praise toward the Creator of the world, one seemingly diminishes His true praise.
An example of this is the Gemara's account of the disciple who prayed, "The great, mighty, and awesome God," and then added further praises beyond what was instituted in the prayer. Once he finished, his master said to him: "Have you concluded all the praises of your Master?" Did you finish all the praises of your Lord? Why did you stop? Keep going! What was he telling him? Whatever the Sages instituted for us - that is what we say. But if we try to describe Him beyond that, we could recite praises day and night and never reach the end or culmination. Therefore, say only "the great, mighty, and awesome"; that is what was instituted and that is sufficient. If you wish to add, you would have to include everything, and you could never reach everything. This is the meaning of "and exalted above all blessing and praise": any praise or glorification you utter about Him is as nothing compared to the complete reality of His Essence, blessed be He.
From When Does Hashem Have a "Name," and Why "Ein Sof" Rather Than "Ein Techilah"?
We bless Hashem and thank Him with "Your glorious Name" - after Hashem is designated by a Name. And from what point is He designated by a Name? From the moment He created the world and connected with physical, material reality, thereby making Himself known to His creations. For before the world existed, Hashem was completely concealed, and we had no grasp of Him whatsoever. Comprehension begins from the moment the Holy One, blessed be He, formed a connection to the world; from that moment on, He has a Name, there are Sefirot, and there is something through which we can describe the Creator of the world.
From this we can understand why we call Him "the Ein Sof [the Infinite / Without End], blessed be He." Seemingly, we could just as well have called Him "the Ein Techilah [Without Beginning], blessed be He" - for something that has no end also has no beginning, being entirely without limitation or framework. Why, then, do we not say this? The author of the Nefesh HaChaim explains: because in truth, we do have a beginning. How so? Once the Holy One, blessed be He, connected with the worlds and created them, and Partzufim and Sefirot emanated from Him, and He now has a Name - we possess a beginning of comprehension: His blessed Name, the distinctions between the divine Names, and the Sefirot. But an end, to grasp His ultimate extent and reach His culmination - that is ein sof, without end, beyond our grasp. All of this applies only after His connection to the world; prior to that connection, He is not even referred to as "Ein Sof," for then there is no beginning either. Only after He connected with the world, having a Name, attributes, and influence upon creation, do we call Him Ein Sof - for then a beginning already exists, but an end still does not.
The Three Ways in Which We Know Our Creator
How, then, does Hashem connect to us, and through what do we know Him so as to praise Him, extol Him, and bond with Him? Through three things. The first is creation itself - that the Holy One, blessed be He, brought the world into being. This is the very first thing with which the verse opens: "You made the heavens, the heaven of heavens and all their host" - You created both the upper realms and the lower realms.
The second is divine providence - that we see how the Holy One, blessed be He, sustains creation and guides it continuously. This is the meaning of "and You give life to them all." This is fundamentally different from any physical reality we know. If you hire a carpenter and he builds you a cabinet, once he is finished he goes home; you do not need him standing beside you for the entire lifespan of the cabinet to hold it up so it does not collapse. If that were the kind of carpenter he was, you would send him away before he even built it. A cabinet is expected to stand on its own, just as a house built by a contractor is expected to stand on its own without needing the contractor for the rest of its days. But the Creator of the world, having created the universe, "renews in His goodness every day continually the work of creation." If Hashem's will were to withdraw from the world for even a single moment, the world would cease to exist.
Consider a simple analogy to make this concept tangible: Have you ever seen children's inflatable bounce houses? What happens the moment the power cuts out? The entire inflatable collapses. There might be a magnificent castle there, with children sliding and tumbling inside - but what is it in reality? It is entirely dependent on a motor and a blower in the back that constantly pumps in air every single second, replenishing it continuously. If the blower stops for a single second - which can even pose a life-threatening danger, as a child might get trapped inside and suffocate - everything begins to deflate immediately. It does not disappear in a split second, but slowly it collapses until nothing is left; and everything that appeared to be a grand, beautiful castle is gone. The same is true of the world: if the Creator of the world were to withdraw His will from existence for a single second, the world would revert to void and nothingness. The Holy One, blessed be He, so to speak, continuously pumps life into reality at every moment. This is "and You give life to them all" - every single second, You are the life-force animating all of existence.
A Holy Spark Animating Everything
Incidentally, it is written that in everything in the world there is a holy spark that sustains it. Make no mistake - this applies even to the forces of impurity in the world, to the Sitra Achra (the "other side"), and even to the foulest places. Everything in the world contains a holy spark that gives it life, for if there were anything without a spark sustaining it, it would have no existence in the world. If something exists, it is a sign that it contains a holy spark giving it life. Our task is to clarify and extract those sparks of holiness held captive by the Sitra Achra and impurity. This is what the holy books describe as clarifying and elevating the sparks of holiness - extracting the sacred element embedded within them, whereupon the impurity naturally dissipates and vanishes from the world. For all that sustains it is that holy spark, and once that spark has been clarified and extracted, that force of impurity no longer has any existence.
This is what we anticipate when Hashem will "slaughter" the Satan. What is this slaughtering of the Satan? It is the extraction of the holy spark from within him. So too with the rabbinic saying, "He cast his eyes upon him and turned him into a heap of bones." The Ben Ish Chai explains, seemingly citing the Chida: How did he turn him into a heap of bones? Through the power of his gaze, he drew out the holy spark that sustained him, and he instantly became a heap of bones. The moment something no longer contains the holy spark that sustains it, it immediately collapses into a heap of bones. Thus, "You give life to them all" means that at every single moment, Hashem, as it were, imparts His holy spark into everything in creation and sustains it.
An Active Soul Even in Inanimate Matter
Furthermore, the holy books teach that even inanimate objects possess an "active soul" (nefesh po'elet). Anyone reading this in the past might have wondered: an active soul in inanimate matter? A stone or a table has nothing moving or acting inside it; it just sits there. Who has ever seen a table move or dance? Similarly, the Rambam writes that the stars and celestial constellations possess a soul - yet where do we see a soul there, and where do we see movement?
Yet today science has discovered that everything in the world is composed of atoms. What is an "atom"? The word means indivisible, where the "a-" denotes negation. And surrounding the atom are electrons and protons moving in perpetual motion. It turns out that in everything, whether a table or a cup, there is constant motion; you simply cannot see or feel it because it is extraordinarily fast. When you touch it, it feels like a hard, physical, solid object. But if the atoms were to decide, instead of orbiting, to all head to the right, the cup would fly to the right. The only reason it stays in place is that they are revolving rapidly in that same spot. This is comparable to a fan spinning at high speed: to an onlooker, it appears as a solid blue surface, but in reality it is not a solid surface, only fan blades. When the fan is turned off, one sees that they are merely blades; it was only due to the speed that it seemed like a solid surface.
So it is with everything in creation: it contains an active force moving and operating from within. You may not see or perceive it, but modern particle accelerators are built on this premise, uranium is enriched based on this principle, and so forth. Thus, what was written in the holy books centuries ago has now been reached by scientists as well: there is an active force within matter. Do not view matter as purely static and motionless, for within it is an active, dynamic force.
Moreover, this is what creates the illusion of size and mass. If we were to condense the actual matter alone, net, without that dynamic activity of the electrons revolving around the nucleus, the entire Eiffel Tower could fit into a matchbox. Science tells us that if you took the entire Eiffel Tower and compressed only its actual matter, without the vast empty space traversed by orbiting electrons, you would end up with the size of a matchbox. It would be a box impossible to lift, since it would be extremely dense matter weighing as much as the Eiffel Tower, but that is the net matter of the entire tower. Everything else is in the category of that active force.
And Who gives life to them all at every moment? Now it is easier to understand. Imagine if the Holy One, blessed be He, were to hit the "pause" button, as it were, and the subatomic particles were to stop spinning - what would happen to the world? In a single second, the entire universe would collapse into something the size of a tennis ball. For matter, as noted, is not a solid absolute reality; it is a kind of illusion, since all of this vast matter is fundamentally tiny, and what appears solid is merely those particles revolving and creating the perception of mass. And what is that animating power? That is "and You give life to them all" - the transcendent spiritual force driving that motion and activity. From this we recognize that the reality of the world at every single moment lives and exists solely through the power of the Creator, blessed be He.
"And the Host of the Heavens Bow Down to You"
Although it might seem to us, as the ancients believed, that the governance of the world is driven and operated by the power of the stars, constellations, and celestial bodies - which is why they worshipped the sun, moon, stars, and constellations, genuinely believing that they wielded influence over the world - the verse declares: "and the host of the heavens bow down to You." Even if we accept that the bounty of the Creator, blessed be He, is channeled through the stars and constellations, which is not far-fetched at all, His influence is merely transmitted through them.
As is known, astrology has an underlying basis of truth, and according to the celestial alignments one can discern future trends, although human knowledge of it is extremely imprecise. Great figures, including Torah scholars, were skilled astrologers; Avraham Avinu is described as a great astrologer who knew that according to the astrological charts he would not bear children. But what did Hashem tell him? "Avram will not father a child, but Avraham will father a child" - withdraw from your astrology. You are looking at things as the nations do, for other nations are indeed subject to the planetary systems; but a Jew is elevated above the stars. Through prayer, a Jew can change his destiny, for his reality is above the stars - and even though he too is influenced by them, they possess no independent power of their own.
Therefore, the verse immediately adds: "and the host of the heavens bow down to You." All the surrounding systems, through which influence ostensibly cascades, bow down to Hashem; they are forces entirely subordinate to the Creator of the world. To what can this be compared? If there is a lamp here producing light, could one say, "Who needs the electric company? I have my own lamp that produces light"? Where does it receive its power? From the electric company. So it is with all the forces in creation. This is also written regarding the Sefirot: a person must never, God forbid, stumble into dualism, thinking there are independent forces alongside the Creator, blessed be He. The Sefirot themselves are emanations from the Creator, power channeled from Him - and what is their true source? The Creator, blessed be He. In the same way, the entire host of heaven is merely a recipient of Hashem's influence, for "they bow down to You" - they are all like Your servants, receiving from You, and this is the bounty they channel and transmit downward. As explained previously, the word mazal (constellation or fortune) is derived from the word for flowing (nozel), because it is a flow that descends and pours forth upon the worlds. Mazal has no independent power; rather, "they bow down to You."
"You Are Hashem the God" - The Miraculous Providence That Began with Avraham
אַתָּה־הוּא ה' הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר בָּחַרְתָּ בְּאַבְרָם וְהוֹצֵאתוֹ מֵאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים וְשַׂמְתָּ שְּׁמוֹ אַבְרָהָם׃ - You are Hashem the God, Who chose Avram, brought him out of Ur Kasdim, and made his name Avraham.
The third way in which we recognize Hashem's kingship and mastery over the world is the miraculous providence He conducts in His world. Had the world been merely natural, a primordial world rather than a created one, it would have to operate forever according to the systems and laws of nature without ever changing. But when you see that the Holy One, blessed be He, changes the order of the cosmos at will - that when He wills it, great hailstones fall from the heavens, and when He wills it, there are ten miraculous plagues in Egypt, and when He wills it, He splits the Red Sea and performs miracles for Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov - from this you understand that there is a non-natural providence at work here, and that there is Someone guiding it, for according to nature none of these alterations should ever have occurred.
And where did this manner of providence begin? With Avraham. Therefore it says: "You are Hashem the God, Who chose Avram" - from You, Master of the Universe, began the choosing of Avraham, and he was the first recipient of this wondrous guidance. And what was that wondrous guidance shown to him? When they cast him into Ur of the Chaldeans - "and brought him out of Ur Kasdim." This is truly wondrous: a person is cast into a fiery furnace; if the world had no Ruler, could it be possible for him to be in such a situation and be saved? Inconceivable. And if it happened nonetheless, it is a sign that there is a miraculous, supernatural providence from the Creator of the world. From that time on, You began to suspend the laws of nature for the sake of Avraham. And afterward, "and made his name Avraham" - to indicate that his descendants too would be a treasured nation, and upon them too the Divine presence would rest just as it rested upon Avraham, and they too would benefit from supernatural deeds, from miraculous providences just as You performed for Avraham.
The Meaning of "Hashem is God"
There is a beautiful explanation for what we recite in Selichot: "Hashem Hu HaElokim" - Hashem is God. Our Sages teach that neither the Throne nor the Name is complete. What is missing from the Name? The letters vav and heh. And what is missing from the Throne (kisei)? The letter aleph, as it says, "For a hand is upon the throne (kes) of the Lord (Y-ah)." It turns out that when we have the letters heh, vav, and aleph, the sovereignty of the Holy One, blessed be He, will naturally be absolute in the world. This is the meaning of "Hashem Hu HaElokim": when the letters heh-vav-aleph (Hu) are added to Hashem's Name - the vav and heh of the Tetragrammaton, and the aleph of the Throne - He will be revealed as "Elokim," Mighty, Omnipotent, and Master of all powers, as we say, "And You, Hashem, will reign alone," and "Let every created being know that You made it," and all will revere Your Name. That is to say, once that word "Hu" joins Hashem's Name, the attribute of Elokim and absolute sovereignty will be manifest.
In light of this, consider the verse: "For Hashem has chosen Zion" - and what follows? "Ivah lemoshav lo" ("He has desired it as a dwelling place for Himself"). If there is "ivah" (א-ו-ה) - the aleph of the Throne, and the vav and heh that complete the Name - then naturally, "as a dwelling place for Himself," the Throne will be whole, and through this Hashem will, as it were, be King over all the earth.
"And You Found His Heart Faithful" - The Covenant and the Land
וּמָצָאתָ אֶת־לְבָבוֹ נֶאֱמָן לְפָנֶיךָ וְכָרוֹת עִמּוֹ הַבְּרִית לָתֵת אֶת־אֶרֶץ הַכְּנַעֲנִי הַחִתִּי הָאֱמֹרִי וְהַפְּרִזִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי וְהַגִּרְגָּשִׁי לָתֵת לְזַרְעוֹ וַתָּקֶם אֶת־דְּבָרֶיךָ כִּי צַדִּיק אָתָּה׃ - And You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed; and You fulfilled Your word, for You are righteous.
"And You found his heart faithful" - once Hashem saw that Avraham sought the Creator of the world, He tested him with trials, and after those trials, You found his heart faithful before You. Then He made a covenant with him to give him the land of the Canaanite - a land that is likewise set apart for miraculous providence and does not function according to nature.
See what kind of land this is: when its people do not dwell upon it, it does not yield its fruit to the foreign conqueror living there; but when its people return to it, it once again yields its fruit to its people. What other land is there where rain is promised only according to our deeds, unlike Egypt along the Nile, where "you irrigated with your foot like a vegetable garden"? It is "a land that Hashem your God constantly cares for; the eyes of Hashem your God are upon it from the beginning of the year to the end of the year." All the lands of the world receive their influx through heavenly ministers, whereas the Land of Israel is influenced directly by the Creator of the world. Thus, the Holy Land too is a place where miraculous providence is clearly evident - and this, as we noted, is one of the ways in which the Creator's governance is recognized in His world.
"To give it to his seed" - Hashem promised in a covenant to give it to his seed, but had not yet given it in practice. Avraham himself had only a promise, and who ultimately received the Land? His seed, as it is written, "To you I will give it, and to your seed forever." Now the text will describe how Hashem fulfilled His word: "and You fulfilled Your word" - You gave us the Land just as You promised. It was not an empty promise, but a promise that was fulfilled.
"For You are righteous" - And why is there no injustice in this?
Yet a person might come and say: after all, the Canaanite, Hittite, Amorite, Perizzite, Jebusite, and Girgashite dwelt there - why were they expelled? Seemingly there is an injustice here, that Hashem gave to one and "robbed," as it were, from another. To this, Scripture says: "For You are righteous." As Hashem told Avraham: I am not giving you the lands of the Amorite right now, and why? "For the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." And when will you, Avraham, receive the Land? When their measure of guilt is full; when the Amorites have accrued enough sins to warrant being expelled from the Land, then the time will come when you can enter. This is what the verse emphasizes: "And You fulfilled Your words, for You are righteous" - and there was no injustice in Your driving them out and bringing us in, for You are righteous, and You waited until their iniquity was complete and only then brought us in. This is also what we say: "Because of the wickedness of these nations, Hashem is driving them out before you" - why does Hashem drive them out before me? Because of their wickedness, not because I am inherently entitled and Hashem therefore afflicts others. Rather, because they are wicked, He cast them out and gave us the Land. And that is the meaning of "for You are righteous."
In summary:
We have seen how the prayer of the Levi'im opens on the twenty-fourth of Tishrei: gathering in fasting and sackcloth, separating from foreigners, confession, reading from the Torah, and prostration. From "Rise up and bless," we learned that our comprehension of the Creator is only through "Your glorious Name," in His manifestation following the tzimtzumim (contractions), whereas regarding His very Essence, blessed be He, no thought can grasp Him at all - and therefore He is "exalted above all blessing and praise," and any praise spoken of Him is as nothing. We have three ways to recognize Him: Creation ("You made the heavens"), the continuous providence that animates everything at every moment ("and You give life to them all," for even the host of heaven and the constellations are merely servants who bow before Him), and the miraculous providence that began with Avraham ("and brought him out of Ur Kasdim"). From there to the covenant and the Land: "and You found his heart faithful," Hashem established a covenant and gave the Land uniquely designated for His direct providence, and fulfilled His word - "and You fulfilled Your words, for You are righteous," without any injustice, since He waited until the iniquity of the Amorite was complete.