Introduction
Psalm 105 is a psalm of thanksgiving and remembrance: the Psalmist reviews the chain of Divine Providence over the people of Israel from the days of the Patriarchs, through Yosef's descent into Egypt, and until the Exodus from Egypt and the inheritance of the Land. In the section before us, we examine the verses describing the wanderings of the Patriarchs among the nations, Hashem's protection over them against kings, and the beginning of the Divine orchestration that brought Yaakov and his sons to Egypt. The Malbim teaches us that this entire passage is a direct continuation of the promise in verse 11: "To you I will give the land of Canaan" - here it is described how the Holy One, Blessed be He, arranges the circumstances to fulfill His covenant.
"And they wandered from nation to nation" - The Patriarchs in Sojourn
וַיִּתְהַלְּכוּ מִגּוֹי אֶל גּוֹי מִמַּמְלָכָה אֶל עַם אַחֵר׃ - And they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.
We see that the holy Patriarchs were not in the Holy Land all the time, but rather "they wandered from nation to nation." Avraham sojourned in the land of the Pelishtim, in Egypt, in the land of Canaan; Yitzchak also went to the Pelishtim; Yaakov went down to Egypt. They all were displaced from sojourn to sojourn, as stated in the previous verse: "When they were few in number, hardly any, and sojourners in it." Sojourning means that they had not yet received the land permanently.
What is the difference between "from nation to nation" and "from one kingdom to another people"? The Malbim explains: A "goy" (nation) refers to populations that do not have a king - a gathering of people without an organized monarchy. An "am" (people) is an already more organized nation that has a king and usually organized laws as well. Therefore, Scripture is precise: when they walked from nation to nation - "He permitted no man to wrong them"; and when they went to a people that has a king - "and He reproved kings for their sake." And since an "am" has a king, it is like a kingdom, which is why it says "from one kingdom to another people."
"And He reproved kings for their sake" - Hashem's Protection Over the Patriarchs
לֹא הִנִּיחַ אָדָם לְעׇשְׁקָם וַיּוֹכַח עֲלֵיהֶם מְלָכִים׃ - He permitted no man to wrong them, and He reproved kings for their sake.
"He permitted no man to wrong them" - in our liturgy, in the text of "Hodu" from Divrei HaYamim, we say "He permitted no man to oppress them" [using the word ish instead of adam]. The meaning of this is: even though they went and wandered from nation to nation, the Holy One, Blessed be He, did not allow anyone to oppress them. And when they arrived at a people that had a king over it, the Holy One, Blessed be He, rebuked the king himself: Do not harm My children, do not mistreat the people dwelling among you.
Rashi explains what that rebuke was: "And Hashem afflicted Pharaoh with plagues" - when Pharaoh caused trouble, the Holy One, Blessed be He, brought plagues upon him and rebuked him. Likewise, "For Hashem had completely closed up every womb of the household of Avimelech" - He rebuked Avimelech as well. Thus, "and He reproved for their sake" means on their behalf, rebuking the kings with afflictions for the sake of the Patriarchs.
The Metzudat David asks: The wording "for their sake" (literally "upon them") implies Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, yet regarding Yitzchak we do not find such a rebuke. Regarding Avraham it is stated, regarding Yaakov it is stated - where do we find such a thing regarding Yitzchak? He answers: Avimelech did not touch Rivkah, Yitzchak's wife, precisely because he saw the previous rebukes. It turns out that "and He reproved kings for their sake" applies to him as well - even though Hashem did not actively rebuke anyone in his case, the prior rebuke is what prevented Avimelech from touching Rivkah.
And the Rosh adds concerning "He permitted no man to wrong them": The well over which the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Yitzchak's herdsmen ultimately remained in Yitzchak's possession, and afterward he named it "Esek" - because they contended (hit'asku) with him. And a person does not give a name to something that is not his. From here we see that with Yitzchak, too, this reality occurred: they sought to wrong him, but the Holy One, Blessed be He, assisted him and the wells remained in his possession; the proof is that he named them - a clear sign that the ownership belonged to him.
"Do Not Touch My Anointed Ones" - Hashem's Warning to the Nations
אַל תִּגְּעוּ בִמְשִׁיחָי וְלִנְבִיאַי אַל תָּרֵעוּ׃ - "Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm."
The Holy One, blessed be He, warns the nations, just as we saw that He warned Avimelech and Lavan in dreams. What is the meaning of "My anointed ones" (meshichai)? The Radak explains: they were princes and great men, respected by the kings as if they were anointed monarchs. "Meshichai" here does not mean Mashiach in the sense that we await his coming, but rather like a king who was anointed with the sacred anointing oil. And so we find that the children of Chet said to Avraham, "You are a prince of God in our midst" - he was considered by them like a king. Similarly, Avimelech pursued Yitzchak in order to make peace with him. Rashi explains "meshichai" as an expression of greatness, for every anointing denotes authority and prominence - meaning: do not touch My great ones.
"And do My prophets no harm" - of whom does the verse speak? The Radak explains: the holy Patriarchs were prophets, for the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with them, and divine communication with a prophet occurs in a dream of the night. And regarding Avraham it is explicitly stated, "Return the man's wife, for he is a prophet." Thus, Hashem rebuked the kings and warned them: do no harm to My anointed ones, do no harm to My prophets, do no harm to the holy Patriarchs.
The Malbim adds: The Holy One, blessed be He, needed to issue this warning because the Patriarchs were prophets who offered rebuke and spoke to the people. Avraham rebuked the people for idolatry, and as a consequence Nimrod sought to kill him. The Patriarchs traveled everywhere, calling upon the Name of Hashem - and the great danger is that people will attempt to harm the prophet. We see this throughout history with Yirmiyahu and others: they threw him into the courtyard of the guard, and the men of Anatot persecuted him. Why? The words of a prophet are not pleasant; they serve as a reminder: you are not on the right path, you are headed in the wrong direction. And what is the easy way out? To silence the prophet, to muzzle him.
And this has happened throughout history. It is the familiar method even today: when there is a media outlet that the hegemony dislikes and that does not fit its agenda - they silence it. When there is a candidate up for appointment to the Supreme Court who does not fit the agenda - they do not appoint him. When there is someone who wants to bring about a bit of order - they launch investigations against him, and that already silences him. Therefore the verse comes and warns: "And do My prophets no harm" - do not harm those prophets who come and warn you in My Name. They speak on My behalf; do not attempt to silence them, and do not harm them.
"These Are the Schoolchildren" - The Gemara's Exposition
The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat (119b) states: Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav, what is the meaning of that which is written, "Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm"? "Do not touch My anointed ones" - these are the schoolchildren (tinokot shel beit rabban); "and do My prophets no harm" - these are the Torah scholars (talmidei chachamim). How vital this teaching is for our generation: not to harm the Talmud Torahs, not to undermine their educational independence. Today, governments seek to dictate what you must teach, and in the United States this has already become a tremendous trouble, where through the courts they seek to compel the yeshivot and Talmud Torahs to teach whatever they desire, all kinds of secular subjects and the like. The Holy One, blessed be He, warns: "Do not touch My anointed ones" - these are the schoolchildren; they must study Torah in its absolute purity.
"And do My prophets no harm" - these are the Torah scholars. Here, too, various initiatives exist today aimed at pushing yeshivah men and kollel scholars into the workforce so that they will become "productive." But where does the protection for the Jewish people come from? Where is the spiritual umbrella? Who are the "neturei karta," the guardians of the city? Those who sit in the Beit Midrash. Chazal say, "They are the guardians of the city" - not those whom one might think, who walk around carrying rifles, concerning whom the Gemara says, "They are the destroyers of the city": whoever does not fulfill the will of Hashem brings ruin upon the city. Who sustains the city? Those who study Torah. Therefore Hashem says: do not harm My prophets, do not touch the Torah scholars.
And it is written concerning Avraham Avinu that he was punished because he drafted Torah scholars into forced service (angarya) - he removed them from their place of study to fight in the war of the five kings. When one removes a Torah scholar from his study to engage in labor - that is angarya.
The Gemara there further states: Reish Lakish said in the name of Rabbi Yehudah Nesia, the world exists only for the sake of the breath of schoolchildren. Rav Pappa said to Abaye: What about mine and yours - what about our own Torah study? He answered him: Breath that contains sin cannot be compared to breath that contains no sin. Schoolchildren possess breath untainted by sin, and it stands on a far higher level. Reish Lakish also said in the name of Rabbi Yehudah Nesia: We do not interrupt schoolchildren from their studies even for the building of the Beit HaMikdash. If they tell you that the Temple must be built and working hands are needed - take everyone, but not the schoolchildren; leave them to learn. And Reish Lakish said to Rabbi Yehudah Nesia: I have received this tradition from my ancestors, and some say from your ancestors: Any city that has no schoolchildren studying Torah will be destroyed; Ravina said: it will be utterly laid waste. The very existence of the city is sustained solely by the schoolchildren.
"And He Called a Famine upon the Land" - Summoning the Famine
וַיִּקְרָא רָעָב עַל הָאָרֶץ כׇּל מַטֵּה לֶחֶם שָׁבָר׃ - And He called a famine upon the land; He broke every staff of bread.
The expression "and He called" teaches that this was an invited famine, a summoned famine. And why did Hashem summon a famine? Rashi explains: in order to exile them to Egypt. Through this, we went down in chains of gold rather than in chains of iron. Yosef summons his father to come down to Egypt, offers him the land of Goshen, a fertile place of grain, and sends wagons to bring him - all with great honor. Had it not been for this, we would have gone down like the exiles in the days of Nevuchadnezzar: stripped, plundered, and bound. Therefore Hashem called a famine upon the land, so that they would go into exile to Egypt with dignity.
Radak notes that here Scripture reminds us of the reason for Yaakov's descent to Egypt. "He called a famine" - as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, calls upon the famine to come upon the land, for all decrees that come upon the world stem from Him, may He be blessed. When a famine is needed, Hashem says to the famine: Come here, descend upon the land now. A similar expression is used by Elisha the prophet in Melachim II: "For Hashem has called for a famine, and it will also come upon the land for seven years."
"He broke every staff of bread" - what does a "staff" have to do with bread? A staff is something a person leans upon, and "the staff of bread" is like a support of bread: a person leans upon bread, and through it he draws vitality. And every sustenance that a person relies upon - the Holy One, blessed be He, broke it and withheld it from the land.
"Go to Yosef" - Even the Stored Grain Rotted
The holy Alshich cites the words of Chazal regarding the verse, "Go to Yosef": Why did Pharaoh send them to Yosef? Could he not provide for them himself? Rather, the Egyptians told Pharaoh: Yosef refuses to give us food until we circumcise ourselves; he is demanding bris milah from us. Pharaoh said to them: And you, why did you not store grain for yourselves? They said to him: We stored it, but it rotted - ours rotted, while his did not. He said to them: The one who decreed upon the grain and it rotted can also decree upon you and you will die. That is to say: Beware, for if Yosef decreed that your grain rot, he can also decree against your lives; it is better for you to obey him than to stubbornly insist on your own way, which will only lead to your death. (Yosef's reason for demanding circumcision has several explanations, but that is beyond our scope here.)
From this we understand the meaning of "He broke every staff of bread": even the healthy, good grain that the Egyptians had stored in their granaries, which was meant to be the staff upon which they leaned and sustained themselves - it too broke and rotted. Do not say that they had nothing to store; rather, even the staff of bread that was already in their hands, He broke as well. All of this shows that it was not a natural occurrence, but orchestrated by the Creator: so that Yosef would rise to greatness, so that Yaakov would descend to Egypt, and through this the exile in Egypt would begin - yet not in a harsh manner.
The Famine as a Stage on the Path to Inheriting the Land
The Malbim explains that here Scripture begins to describe how Hashem fulfills His covenant to give them the land; our verse is a direct continuation of verse 11 - "Saying: To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance." Now Scripture shows us how Hashem orchestrated the sequence of events so that the land would ultimately become ours: first, we needed to descend into the iron crucible (kur habarzel) and be refined there. As we have explained several times, it is called an "iron crucible" after the furnace in which silver is smelted from dross, refined, and purified.
The purpose of Egypt was to purify the Jewish people, to extract from among them those who were worthy and upright. For out of a population of millions, those who were redeemed were only twenty percent, according to the most inclusive opinion in Chazal; some say only two percent, and others say two-tenths of a percent. And what about all the rest? This was part of the smelting and refining process: a person takes a ton of silver and refines it - he will not be left with a ton, but with seven or eight hundred kilograms, because the dross is burned away, and the inferior portion evaporates and separates. This was the refining of Egypt, this was the iron crucible: the people of Israel went down to Egypt to be refined.
Whoever wishes can read about this at length in Mishnat HaGilgulim, where it explains how Adam HaRishon, from the beginning of his failing, had to reincarnate again and again - the Generation of the Flood, the Generation of the Dispersion, the men of Sodom, the sheep of Lavan - all these were reincarnations and rectifications undergone until they reached Egypt. And in Egypt came the culmination of the refining: they left Egypt as the finest flour of the Jewish people, ready to receive the Torah.
Thus, the descent into Egypt was intended to smelt them in the furnace of affliction, and this was the path that led ultimately to "To you I will give the land of Canaan." This entire process connects to Avraham Avinu asking, "Whereby shall I know that I will inherit it?", in response to which he was told, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers" - meaning that the Egyptian exile was part of the preparation for inheriting the land. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, set in motion the events that brought them down to Egypt; He called a famine upon the land - the very famine foretold in Pharaoh's dream - and through this famine, He broke every staff of bread.
"He sent a man before them" - The Divine Orchestration Through Yosef
שָׁלַח לִפְנֵיהֶם אִישׁ לְעֶבֶד נִמְכַּר יוֹסֵף׃ - He sent a man before them; Yosef was sold as a slave.
"He sent a man before them" - as it is written, "And God sent me before you." And that man was Yosef, who was sold there as a slave. "Before them" - Radak explains: before Yaakov and his sons, for he was sent ahead of them to pave the way. And what is meant by "He sent"? The Holy One, blessed be He, orchestrated the entire matter through the dreams Yosef dreamed, until his brothers grew jealous of him, and consequently he was forced down to Egypt by their selling him there. Everything that occurred was from Him, blessed be He: had it not been for those dreams he related to the brothers which provoked their jealousy, he would not have been sold to Egypt. Thus, the Cause of all causes orchestrated all these events so that Yosef would arrive in Egypt.
"Yosef was sold as a slave" - one plain meaning is: to be a slave, that is, he was sold into servitude, as in the verse, "had we been sold as slaves and maidservants, I would have kept silent." Ibn Ezra interprets it quite literally: "sold to a slave" - Potiphar was a slave, Pharaoh's servant, and Yosef was sold to him, to a slave.
The Malbim explains: Yosef, who was sold as a slave, was sent by Hashem before them to preserve for them a great remnant; and he himself also needed to undergo his own personal purification.
"They afflicted his feet with fetters" - Yosef's Purification
עִנּוּ בַכֶּבֶל רַגְלוֹ בַּרְזֶל בָּאָה נַפְשׁוֹ׃ - They afflicted his foot with fetters; his soul was placed in iron.
When his master placed him in prison - "they afflicted his foot with fetters." The written text (ketiv) reads raglav ("his feet"), for both of his feet were bound in fetters, while the traditional reading (keri) is raglo ("his foot"), as a collective term. "His soul was placed in iron" - an iron chain. And why does it say "his soul" (nafsho)? Because the soul suffers through the affliction of the body, as in the phrase "when your soul abhors." The point is: the suffering a person endures affects not only the physical body but reaches the soul as well, which is why a person enduring physical suffering is sometimes broken emotionally as well.
Rashi explains "his soul was placed in iron" - into the place of his soul (vital breath). Rav Huna bar Idi said: She placed a sartua beneath his chin, so that if he lowered his face, the sartua would prick him. Sartua means a sharp spike. Potiphar's wife was exceedingly wicked: she bound an iron nail or spike beneath his beard, under his lower jaw, to force him to lift his head - since he refused to look at her. Furthermore, the clothes she wore for him in the morning she did not wear for him in the evening; she constantly changed her garments to entice him. From here it is often noted that the trials of our generation are even more difficult than the trials of Yosef, for in Yosef's case it explicitly indicates that she was clothed. In any event, that spike was placed at the throat, the place of breathing, which is why it says "his soul was placed" - into the place of his soul's breath, all to force him to look at her, yet despite all this he would not look at her.
The Malbim notes precision in the two halves of the verse: The "fetters" - his master was permitted to place upon him simply because he was a slave, for slaves were bound with fetters. But the "iron" - that was placed upon him in the prison house, because they accused him regarding Potiphar's wife. Thus, there were two stages: the first stage when he was a slave, and the second stage when they also put iron upon him due to the accusation that he had sinned against his master's wife.
An Allusion in the Keri and Ketiv - The Punishment for the Evil Report
The sefer Zeh HaSha'ar cites here an allusion from the Baal HaTurim on the verse, "and he put him into prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound," where asirei is written with a vav but read with a yod. What does this allude to? He was imprisoned for ten years for bringing an evil report against his ten brothers. (He was in prison for twelve years in total, two additional years being added because he said, "Remember me and mention me," but the ten years corresponded to the evil report.) The same applies in our verse: "They afflicted his feet with fetters" - the written text contains a yod (raglav), while it is read without it (raglo). That yod alludes to the ten brothers about whom he brought an evil report, and therefore the text hinted at it through the keri and ketiv of the letter yod.
Furthermore, he explains that this comes to allude to lashon hara (evil speech). Where is the subject of lashon hara hinted at here? It is written, "He did not slander [lo ragal] with his tongue" (Tehillim 15:3), and it is written, "A talebearer [holech rachil]..." (Vayikra 19:16) - and rachil is akin to meragel (a spy). A person who goes around spying: "What did you hear? I saw he does such-and-such; he said this about you." This is the rochel (peddler), like a peddler who travels through towns to sell: carrying his merchandise from one person to the next, telling everyone what so-and-so said and related. And by the way, this is also why such a person is humorously dubbed a "barber" - because his main occupation is simply telling stories (lesaper). You sit with him for five minutes and hear from him what that fellow did, and you feel free to talk with him, never taking into account that in another five minutes he will tell the next fellow everything you told him. In short, he is all stories.
It turns out, then, that "he did not slander [lo ragal] with his tongue" and "a talebearer [holech rachil]" are expressions of spying [rigul], and this is hinted at in "they afflicted his foot [raglo] with fetters": he spoke ill of his brothers, and therefore he remained imprisoned for another ten years - and this is alluded to by the letter yud of raglav.
In summary:
In these verses, Dovid HaMelech describes how the Holy One, blessed is He, fulfills His covenant to give us the Land. The Patriarchs wandered from nation to nation and from one kingdom to another people, and everywhere Hashem watched over them: He allowed no man to oppress them, and rebuked kings on their behalf - Pharaoh and Avimelech - warning the nations, "Do not touch My anointed ones, and do no harm to My prophets." Chazal also expounded this warning as applying to school children (tinokot shel beit raban) and Torah scholars, who sustain the world and are the true guardians of the city. From there, the text continues to describe the Divine orchestration: a summoned and prepared famine, the breaking of every staff of bread - even the grain preserved in storehouses - sending Yosef ahead of them as a slave, and his afflictions in fetters and iron that refined him and atoned for the slander. All this so that they would descend to Egypt with dignity, be refined in the iron crucible, and emerge purified to receive the Torah and inherit the Land of Canaan.