Chapter 79 is a psalm of Asaph depicting the destruction of the Temple and the degradation of Israel in exile. From the depths of distress, a prayer arises: a plea that the sins of the ancestors not be held against us, a request for help and deliverance for the sake of the honor of His Name, retribution for the spilled blood of His servants, and a promise of thanksgiving and praise forever, from generation to generation. In this part, we will focus on verses 8 through the end of the psalm.
אַל תִּזְכָּר לָנוּ עֲוֺנֹת רִאשֹׁנִים מַהֵר יְקַדְּמוּנוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ כִּי דַלּוֹנוּ מְאֹד׃ - Do not remember against us the sins of the forebears; let Your mercies swiftly meet us, for we have been brought very low.
The Radak explains that "the first sins" refers to the sins they committed in their youth - as if to say: do not remember against us the sins of our youth. The Ibn Ezra explains differently: this does not refer to our own sins in our youth, but rather to the sins of our fathers. As Yirmiyahu states in Eichah: "Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we have borne their iniquities." This is the plea: do not hold the sins of the fathers against us.
And if you ask: Does the Holy One, Blessed be He, not refrain from visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children? The Gemara answers: it depends on whether they cling to the deeds of their fathers or not. There, they clung to the deeds of their fathers, which is why it is said, "He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children," and Hashem indeed visited the sin of their fathers upon them. Concerning this they plead: do not remember against us the earlier sins of the fathers, adding them to our own sins. It is enough for us to bear the cost of our own sins; let us not have to pay the price for the sins of our fathers as well.
The holy Ari explains this matter at its depth: when descendants cling to the deeds of their fathers, the grandson or great-grandson is actually an impregnation of the soul (ibur), a reincarnation (gilgul) of the grandfather, who returns in a new body and receives the punishment. Thus, the original source itself receives the retribution - it is the fathers who are being punished, and it is not a case of one sinning while another is punished. To be sure, the descendant himself must also bear guilt, for otherwise he would not have been designated to bear this; if he were completely righteous while the fathers were wicked, he would not be punished. In any case, however, it is the fathers themselves who return in reincarnation to receive their punishment.
"Let Your mercies swiftly meet us" - may Your compassion hasten forward and come speedily. The root kiddum implies bringing something before a person swiftly, as in "because they did not meet you [kiddemu]" and "for You meet him [tekadmenu] with blessings of goodness." Master of the Universe, we have no time to wait; if we wait any longer, what will remain of us? Therefore, let Your mercies come forth quickly, for we have no strength left to endure the exile.
עָזְרֵנוּ אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׁעֵנוּ עַל דְּבַר כְּבוֹד שְׁמֶךָ וְהַצִּילֵנוּ וְכַפֵּר עַל חַטֹּאתֵינוּ לְמַעַן שְׁמֶךָ׃ - Help us, O God of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of Your Name; deliver us and atone for our sins, for Your Name's sake.
The holy Alshich explains the progression of the verses: We say, as it were, "Master of the Universe, save us for the sake of Your Name." The Holy One, Blessed be He, responds: "For the sake of My Name? But you have desecrated My Name among the nations, for through our sins Heaven's Name is desecrated! How is it that you suddenly care about the honor of My Name? Who desecrated it if not you?" To this we reply: "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of Your Name" - help us and save us, and from now on we will care for the honor of Your Name, return in repentance, and rectify our sins in this regard. And then: "deliver us and atone for our sins, for Your Name's sake" - for once we begin honoring Your Name, we will be worthy of Your saving us for the sake of Your Name, so that Your Name will not be desecrated among the nations.
Another explanation in the Alshich: The argument here is that if we must die for the sanctification of Hashem's Name in exile, "help us" - strengthen our hearts so that we are prepared to sacrifice our lives for the sanctification of Your Name, like Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah. Yet there appears to be an odd request here: right after the plea for help with self-sacrifice (mesirut nefesh), the verse continues with "and deliver us." That is to say: just as they were ready to give up their lives, grant us that same courage - but just as You saved them, save us as well. Help me to dedicate my life, but with the hope that there will be a way out and that You will ultimately deliver me.
And if You should say: If I rescue you, how will the iniquity be atoned for? After all, the main objective is the atonement of sins. To this they reply: Since we are dedicating our lives to death - even if we do not die - "and atone for our sins for Your Name's sake," meaning that the very willingness to sacrifice our lives to be killed for Your Name will atone.
The foundation of this concept is found in the words of Rabbeinu Yonah: Desecration of God's Name - through what is it atoned? It is stated, "Surely this iniquity shall not be atoned for you until you die," showing that atonement for Chillul Hashem comes through death. Rabbeinu Yonah explains that there is another path to atonement, and one does not literally have to die: a person who experienced the terror of death, who stared death in the face and stood a moment before dying - this atones just like death. This does not mean one should intentionally put himself through near-death terrors, but rather that we should know that mortal terror has the power to atone. According to this, it fits beautifully: Master of the Universe, the very fact that we gave ourselves over to death and were about to be killed - that itself will atone for our sins for Your Name's sake.
And why should You rescue us? "Why should the nations say, 'Where is their God?'" - if You do not rescue us after we have risked our lives, the nations will say: There is nothing to them. We saw Avraham who was saved, we saw Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah who were saved, and these were not saved - evidently there is no substance to them. Thus, God's Name would be desecrated. Therefore: Rescue us for Your Name's sake, so that Your Name will not be desecrated, and the mortal terror we endured will achieve the atonement.
What is the meaning of "for we have been brought very low"? The Radak explains: The poverty and destitution in which we live force us to constantly pursue a piece of bread, and if there is no flour, there is no Torah - therefore, do not hold the sin of neglect of Torah against us. And if you ask: What about "did you conduct business faithfully"? That is precisely the point - when a person lives in extreme poverty, "for for a piece of bread a man will transgress," and a poor person is liable to turn to crime and theft, as it is said, "Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry." That is to say: if we lapsed into neglect of Torah, and if we lapsed into not conducting business faithfully - what brought us to this was the hardship of the exile, "we have been brought very low," so do not hold this against us.
In poetic phrasing he writes: "The poor person acts with a deceitful palm, for the throat is not empty, and he does not care whether it is forbidden or permitted to be satisfied with bread." A wonderful expression: he plays on the phrase "forbidden to be satisfied with bread," meaning that the poor man does not stop to consider whether the bread is permitted or forbidden - the main thing is to satisfy his hunger with bread, all stemming from destitution and poverty.
And what do they seek to gain with this argument? The Alshich explains: When a judge finds merit for the defendant in the initial charges, he becomes lenient regarding all the remaining charges. For generally, the more severe matters are presented first; when a person is put on trial for a parking ticket and for murder, he is tried for the murder first. So too here: if You find merit for us regarding the initial sins, You will automatically be lenient with us regarding the rest of the claims. Therefore: "Do not remember against us the former iniquities; let Your mercies speedily meet us, for we have been brought very low" - for it was poverty that led us into those initial sins of neglect of Torah and dishonest business dealings.
The Malbim notes a precision: "help" is lesser than "salvation." Salvation is complete rescue, whereas help is when you lend a hand and I come to assist you. We use language the same way today: "I saved him" - he was completely helpless and I brought him salvation; "I helped him" - he did his part, I did mine, and I was merely an assistant. And this is the meaning here: Since You have always been "the God of our salvation," saving us with complete salvation - such as the Splitting of the Red Sea and the Exodus from Egypt - it is fitting that even if we are not currently worthy of a complete salvation, at least be "our help." Even if we do not merit complete salvation, in any case help us and rescue us.
לָמָּה יֹאמְרוּ הַגּוֹיִם אַיֵּה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם יִוָּדַע בַּגּוֹיִם לְעֵינֵינוּ נִקְמַת דַּם עֲבָדֶיךָ הַשָּׁפוּךְ׃ - Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let the vengeance for the poured-out blood of Your servants be made known among the nations before our eyes.
There is a well-known insight here: People often ask "Why?" - why was there a Holocaust, why the Meron tragedy, why? Regarding this it is said: "Why" is what the nations say. We, as people of faith, know that the Holy One, blessed be He, is absolute goodness, desires to do good for His children, and whatever the Merciful One does is for the best. A Jew does not ask "Why?", but rather knows and says, "The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against His word." It is the gentile who constantly asks "Why?"
According to the plain meaning of the verse: "Why should the nations say, 'Where is their God?'" - if Hashem is God and all-powerful, let Him champion His people's cause! Why does He allow them to be humiliated and crushed under their enemies? Therefore, "Let the vengeance for the spilled blood of Your servants become known among the nations before our eyes."
The Ibn Ezra raises a difficulty: "Before our eyes" implies that we are alive, whereas "the spilled blood of Your servants" implies that we have already been slain. He explains: the reason it says "before our eyes" is that we should remain alive before our death to witness the retribution; and "the blood of Your servants" refers to those mentioned at the beginning of the psalm: "They have poured out their blood like water," "the flesh of Your pious ones to the beasts of the earth." That is: Master of the Universe, take vengeance upon the nations and let us see with our own eyes how You avenge those whose blood has already been shed - for it does not mean the blood being shed right now, since if our own blood were shed, we could not see it with our eyes.
The Malbim explains this in light of what was said earlier, "for the sake of the glory of Your Name": how is the honor of Heaven elevated here? If not for this, the nations will say, "Where is their God?" - and this causes a desecration of God's Name: You were always the God of our salvation, yet here You do not even help us? Furthermore, when a gentile slays Your servants and You do not avenge their blood, it constitutes a great Chilul Hashem; but when You avenge the blood of Your servants, the glory of Heaven - the honor of Hashem, may He be blessed - is magnified.
תָּבוֹא לְפָנֶיךָ אֶנְקַת אָסִיר כְּגֹדֶל זְרוֹעֲךָ הוֹתֵר בְּנֵי תְמוּתָה׃ - Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You; according to the greatness of Your arm, release those doomed to die.
"The groaning of the prisoner" - the cry of the captive; anaka and ne'aka denote an outcry. And what is the meaning of "hoter" (release / spare)? The commentators explain this in two ways: First, in the sense of opening the bonds of prisoners from confinement, as in Rashi's explanation of "He releases the bound," meaning the untying of knots so that he does not remain bound and imprisoned, as in the verse, "The king sent and released him." Second, in the sense of leaving a remainder - "hoter" as in "more than enough" (dei ve-hoter), not untying a knot: leave over those doomed to die, spare them and keep them alive.
And who are the "benei temutah" (those doomed to die)? Rashi explains: Your children who are slain for Your sake. This expression is also found in the words of Chazal: "Better that they eat the meat of a dying animal that was slaughtered rather than the meat of an animal that died on its own." The Radak explains: these are those who are already on the verge of death; a "ben temutah" is one marked for death who is about to die - "hoter," keep them alive. Alternatively: untie their bonds, for they are bound in exile like prisoners, and this is "the groaning of the prisoner" - release this prisoner, untie his imprisonment in exile, and return them to their land.
And why is it fitting that this plea - to avenge the spilled blood of Your servants - be answered? The Malbim explains: on account of "the groaning of the prisoner" - because we pray and plead for it, and there is the outcry of the prisoner in prayer. Furthermore: release the prisoner from death, for in the harsh reality of slaughter there is a desecration of God's Name. "According to the greatness of Your arm" - show them the greatness of Your arm, for if You do not, they will say that His arm is not mighty and He cannot save His people; on the contrary, show them the greatness of Your arm, and thereby save Your people from death.
Another explanation: based on what Chazal state in Sanhedrin (98a), that Eliyahu told Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi that Mashiach is sitting at the entrance of Rome. There, everyone unties all their bandages at once and then ties them all back up; but Mashiach does not do this. Rather, he removes one bandage and applies a new one, then removes another and applies a new one - so that if he is called upon to redeem, he can come immediately and redeem Israel. This is the meaning of "He was crushed because of our iniquities" - because of our sins, he is bound like a prisoner. And this is the plea: we, the children of the exile, plead: "Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You" - the groaning of King Mashiach, the prisoner at the entrance of Rome. And if we are unworthy, "according to the greatness of Your arm, release those doomed to die" - by virtue of the greatness of Your arm and Your abundant mercy and lovingkindness, release those doomed to die and redeem Your people Israel.
וְהָשֵׁב לִשְׁכֵנֵינוּ שִׁבְעָתַיִם אֶל חֵיקָם חֶרְפָּתָם אֲשֶׁר חֵרְפוּךָ אֲדֹנָי׃ - And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.
Just as they did to us, return upon them the retribution of their calamity. "Sevenfold" - twice seven, multiplied by seven and seven again. "Into their bosom" - that the retribution should not strike from the side, not a little from below and a little from above, but strike directly at the target itself without missing; "it will not swerve this way or that," as the Metzudat David puts it. "Their reproach" - the retribution for their blasphemy, that which they reproached You; and how did they reproach You? As the Radak explains: by saying, "Where is their God?"
You do not acknowledge the Holy One, blessed be He - the Holy One, blessed be He, will arrange an encounter with you. When their insult rebounds into their bosom, they will understand and recognize who Hashem is. Like Pharaoh who said, "Who is Hashem that I should heed His voice?" and the Holy One, blessed be He, responded, "and that I may set these signs of Mine within him" - you say "who" (mi), then receive "these" (eleh), and through "these" signs you will come to know God.
And here, explains the Malbim, the psalmist pleads that You repay our neighbors for having insulted You, because the matter touches upon the honor of Your Name. It is fitting to repay them sevenfold, for insults are measured according to the status of the insulted and the insulter: shaming a great person is not the same as shaming a common person, nor is an insult delivered by an esteemed person the same as one delivered by a common, lowly person (and there are two opinions in halachah as to which is more severe). For our purposes, there is simply no comparison between the insulter and the One being insulted - the insulters are the nations, and the One being insulted is the Holy One, blessed be He. Given the lowliness of the insulter and the supreme greatness of the One insulted, it is fitting that they receive a punishment magnified manifold, corresponding to the enormity of the insults and the gravity of the sin, which is a dreadful transgression - that beings so lowly should blaspheme a God so high and exalted.
Therefore, "sevenfold," explains the Malbim, means countless times. For if retribution is to be exacted according to true worth, that worth has no limit, as the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot be measured and has no limit; and so it is fitting that they receive a boundless punishment.
וַאֲנַחְנוּ עַמְּךָ וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתֶךָ נוֹדֶה לְּךָ לְעוֹלָם לְדוֹר וָדֹר נְסַפֵּר תְּהִלָּתֶךָ׃ - So we, Your people and the flock of Your pasture, will give thanks to You forever; to generation and generation we will recount Your praise.
"So we, Your people" - that renowned nation, says the Ibn Ezra, for we have been Your people since of old; "we will give thanks to You" when You redeem us. The Radak adds: whether we are in exile or have emerged from exile, we are always Your people and the flock of Your pasture, and we will always thank You. It is not as though while in exile we forsake Hashem, heaven forbid; rather, we give thanks to You always.
The Malbim explains that through this, we will give thanks to You forever and Your Name will be sanctified. There is thanksgiving for the goodness Hashem has bestowed upon us until now, and there is "we will recount Your praise," which is the celebration and recounting of the Creator's wonders on our behalf. And what is the difference between "forever" (le'olam) and "to generation and generation" (le-dor va-dor)? The Malbim has noted this distinction in several places: "forever" refers to continuous time extending without end, while "generation and generation" refers to time partitioned into successive generations.
Accordingly, thanksgiving for the goodness already received is continuous - all the days of our lives we thank the Holy One, blessed be He, and that is "forever," all the days of one's existence in this world. By contrast, recounting His praise is directed to future generations: one recounts it to his child, and he to his child, and he to his child, which is why it says "to generation and generation." Just as we recite Hallel on the Seder night to give thanks for what He did for our ancestors - a father recited the Hallel to his child, who in turn recites it to his child, and so on. The praise and celebration are passed from generation to generation, whereas the thanksgiving is forever - as long as a person lives, he thanks Hashem, blessed be He, for what He has done on his behalf.
The conclusion of Psalm 79 is a prayer rising from the depths of exile: do not remember against us early iniquities - neither those of our youth nor those of our ancestors - and may Your mercies swiftly come to meet us, for our destitution itself has brought about our downfalls. "Help us, O God of our salvation" - and even if we are not worthy of complete salvation, at least let there be help for us; and the entire plea turns upon the honor of His Name, so that the nations do not say, "Where is their God?" and that the avenging of the shed blood of His servants become known. May the prisoner's groan come before You - both of those imprisoned in exile and of the King Messiah held at the gates of Rome - and release those condemned to death according to the greatness of Your arm; and repay our neighbors sevenfold, beyond measure, corresponding to the lowliness of the insulter and the greatness of the One insulted. And as for us, whether in exile or in redemption, we remain Your people and the flock of Your pasture: we will thank You forever, all the days of our lives, and recount Your praise from generation to generation.