The entirety of Chapter 37 deals with the major question that troubles every person of faith: Why do the wicked succeed? Dovid HaMelech opens with "Do not fret because of evildoers," and throughout the chapter, he dismantles this success piece by piece, demonstrating that it has no real substance - neither in the future nor even in the present. In this lesson, we will examine the pesukim from "In yet a little while the wicked man will be no more" and onward, through the commentary of the Malbim and the insights of Rashi, the Radak, and the Ibn Ezra, alongside the teaching of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov on this pasuk and the words of the Chovos HaLevavos in Sha'ar HaBitachon.
וְעוֹד מְעַט וְאֵין רָשָׁע וְהִתְבּוֹנַנְתָּ עַל־מְקוֹמוֹ וְאֵינֶנּוּ׃ - In yet a little while the wicked man will be no more; you will gaze upon his place, and he will be gone.
If you witness the success of the wicked and feel disheartened - do not be dismayed. "In yet a little while the wicked man will be no more": soon enough, the wicked one will be reduced to nothingness. Moreover, "you will gaze upon his place" - if you examine closely even right now, while he is still standing in his place, you will see that "he is gone." You will realize that his success is illusory, a virtual facade, not real success at all. This corresponds precisely to what was stated earlier: "and like green grass they will wither." Not only will they "swiftly wither like grass" in the future, but even right now he is like fading grass, and already today one can see that there is nothing here worthy of envy.
The plain meaning of "you will gaze upon his place and he will be gone" refers back to "the wicked man will be no more": in just a short time the wicked will cease to be, and you will look at his place and say, "Wait, a wicked man was right here, he stood here just a moment ago!" The verse tells you: "he is gone" - suddenly you will see that the spot is empty.
The existence of the wicked is fundamentally an illusion, for man's true reality is the soul, while everything else is transient. Everyone's body will ultimately decompose in the earth, and what endures is the soul. Yet in this world, we see the wicked man active, alive and kicking, sometimes even hurling curses, appearing very much alive. Chazal perceive the truth and teach: know that he does not truly exist - "The wicked, even in their lifetime, are called dead." And if one objects, "But I see otherwise!" - the answer is that one is living in an imaginary realm. The entire nature of this world is one of illusions, as the Ben Ish Chai explains: the inner letters of the word Olam (world) spell dimyon (illusion) - spell out the letters Ayin, Vav, Lamed, Mem, take their inner letters, and you get dimyon. For this world is a world of illusion. Here it seems that he succeeds, but gaze into the true reality, the reality of the Higher World, and you will see that he is absolute nothingness.
Consider, for example, a transgressor who does not observe family purity, Heaven spare us - even just once. In a single moment when Hashem reveals Himself, or in the single moment when the soul departs the body at death, it becomes apparent that he has no real existence at all: he is cut off, and his soul is severed from its supernal Root. Yet one might ask, "How can that be when I see him right in front of me?" The answer is: what you are seeing is merely an illusion - "Do you cast your glance upon it, and it is gone?" "You will gaze upon his place and he will be gone"; "in yet a little while the wicked man will be no more." All the success you observe here exists only within the framework of this physical world, but upon deeper, true contemplation, you see that he has no enduring existence.
It is impossible to read this verse without citing the teaching of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. One of the most famous discourses in Breslov is Teaching 282 in Likutei Moharan (in Breslov, teachings are customarily referred to by their section numbers), which is built entirely upon this pasuk. It is a foundational teaching within Breslov thought and in the unique approach of Chassidus as a whole, and it is worthwhile to examine his exact words directly.
"Know that one must judge every person favorably, and even someone who is completely wicked, one must search and find in him some small point of good, wherein he is not wicked. And by finding in him a little good and judging him favorably, one actually elevates him to the scale of merit and can bring him back in teshuvah." "Every person" - including the wicked. This is the path of Chassidus, for according to the plain halachic framework, that is not the case: on the dictum "Judge every person favorably," Rabbeinu Yonah explains that there are three categories. With a completely wicked person, there is an obligation to judge him unfavorably. With an intermediate person and an ambiguous deed - that is, someone who sometimes performs mitzvos and sometimes sins, and whose deed can be interpreted positively or negatively - one must judge him favorably. With a tzaddik, one is obligated to judge him favorably even in an action that appears wicked on its surface, and even if one finds no plausible way to judge him favorably, one is forbidden to suspect him overnight, for he surely repented. Yet what Rebbe Nachman teaches here belongs to the realm of pious Chassidic conduct: to judge even a thoroughly wicked person favorably, by searching for and uncovering that bit of good wherein he is not wicked, and through that very point, elevating him genuinely to the scale of merit until he can return in teshuvah.
And so he explains the verse: "And this is the aspect of 'A little more and the wicked is no more; you will gaze upon his place and he is gone' - meaning that the verse warns us to judge everyone favorably. Even though you see that he is completely wicked, nevertheless you must search and seek to find in him a little bit of good where he is not wicked. And this is 'a little more and the wicked is no more' - that you must seek in him yet a little bit of good that still remains in him, where he is not wicked. For even though he is wicked, how could it be that he has no little bit of good left? How could it be that he never performed some mitzvah or good deed in his lifetime?" Can there really be someone completely wicked with no good at all? Perhaps his mother once asked him for something and he did it - after all, he honored father and mother. Did someone never come to ask him for help and he helped him, even without particular intention? There is no shortage of examples.
"And by finding in him yet a little bit of good where he is not wicked and judging him favorably, through this you genuinely elevate him from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit, until he repents through this. And this is 'A little more and the wicked is no more' - by finding in the wicked person yet a little good where he is not wicked, through this 'you will gaze upon his place and he is gone' - when you gaze and look at his place and his level, he is no longer there in his former place. For by finding in him yet a little good and judging him favorably, one genuinely brings him out from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit." You look for him where he used to be, on the scale of guilt, and suddenly you see that he is no longer there - he repented, and he is already righteous. What happened? Because you searched and found in him a little bit of good, some small point where he is not wicked, you suddenly see him changing his ways for the good, no longer at that lowly level he occupied before. "And this is 'you will gaze upon his place and he is gone,' as explained above; understand this."
And Rebbe Nachman adds: "That is, just as one must judge others favorably, even the wicked, and find in them some good points, and through this truly bring them out from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit in the aspect of 'A little more and the wicked is no more; you will gaze...' as mentioned above - so too it is with the person himself. A person must judge himself favorably and find in himself some good point that still remains, in order to strengthen himself so that he does not fall completely, Heaven forbid, but rather revive himself and gladden his soul with the little good he finds within himself, namely whatever mitzvah or good deed he was privileged to perform in his lifetime. And likewise he must search further and find in himself yet another good deed, and even if that good deed itself is mixed with much refuse, nevertheless he should extract from there some good point as well." Thus far his words.
A vital qualification must be made here, for one could easily arrive at a grave misconception. Rebbe Nachman is speaking of a person sunken in deep despair who sees in himself only flaws and refuse. That is a terrible state, because from it a person gives up entirely and says: 'Enough, it is over, I am lost, I have no share in the World to Come - let me just do whatever I feel like and be done with it.' All of this stems from depression, from viewing oneself as utterly degraded and low. But if a Jew strengthens himself and says: 'I am a precious diamond; I have the merit of having been created a Jew; within me is a spark of the Divine from above' - through this he elevates himself, draws close to Hashem, and finds within himself the strength to emerge from the place he is in.
On the other hand, this is a double-edged sword and a dangerous matter, should a person take Rebbe Nachman's words to the opposite extreme: 'One must judge everyone favorably' - and then he sees only good things in himself, never searches for his shortcomings, and becomes complacent right where he is. This caution is not merely theoretical, but drawn from real encounters with people following the Breslov path who have been stuck in place for years. Why? Because the Rebbe said that everyone must find something good in himself, and thank God he has good qualities, so he settles for that - entrenched in his position without moving a single millimeter. Surely that is not what Rebbe Nachman meant. A person must always also see what he lacks and where he needs to advance. Reb Nachman was addressing a reality where a person is in a very low state and cannot find anything positive in himself; regarding that, he comes to lift him from his dejection and tell him: 'There is a positive point within you; "a little more" - look for even a little bit where there is no wickedness, and elevate yourself from there.' But if a person always judges himself favorably, he will never accomplish anything, because regarding everything he will say, 'I am fine, people need to understand my situation,' and he will make no progress whatsoever. Furthermore, a person who finds no flaw in himself and sees nothing to rectify is ostensibly complete - and if so, why is he even in this world? He would have no personal reason to remain here. Therefore, one must exercise great caution in this matter.
וַעֲנָוִים יִירְשׁוּ־אָרֶץ וְהִתְעַנְּגוּ עַל־רֹב שָׁלוֹם׃ - But the humble shall inherit the land, and delight in abundant peace.
"The humble" - these are those who conducted themselves with humility and lowliness before the wicked. As we saw in the previous verse, when the wicked person is "no more," his place remains, and who will inherit it? The humble. They will inherit their land. "And delight in abundant peace" - when the wicked perish, then there will be peace and joy in the world, as in "when the wicked perish, there is joy" (Mishlei 11:10), and then true peace will prevail. The wicked always speak of peace, portraying themselves as people of peace who strive for peace - but toward enemies alone. Within their own home, however, they have neat solutions for what to do with the Chareidim and the settlers. Uri Avnery once suggested entering Meah Shearim with a submachine gun and spraying bullets, something he never suggested for Gaza. In another proposal, he wrote of hanging them by their beards and payot from utility poles, something he suggested neither for Gaza nor for Iran. Neat solutions he had - for the observant. And therefore Scripture says, "and delight in abundant peace": as long as these wicked individuals are in the world, there is neither peace nor joy, but when the wicked perish, there is joy.
The Malbim explains that the humble have an advantage over the wicked in the two respects we saw earlier. We observed the deficiency of the wicked: they may have temporary success, but ultimately they fall, like grass that sprouts and blossoms quickly and withers just as quickly. By contrast, the humble "shall inherit the land" - ultimately, they are the ones who will receive the inheritance and possess it. Furthermore, we saw that even during their success, that brief meteoric rise, the wicked do not truly succeed, for the wicked person walks constantly with fears, anxieties, and downfalls, not to mention all the psychologists he perpetually requires. With the humble, on the other hand, the success is genuine - "and delight in abundant peace," not a success marked by fear and agitation. In both of these parameters, the humble surpass the wicked.
זֹמֵם רָשָׁע לַצַּדִּיק וְחֹרֵק עָלָיו שִׁנָּיו׃ אֲדֹנָי יִשְׂחַק־לוֹ כִּי־רָאָה כִּי־יָבֹא יוֹמוֹ׃ - The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him. The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming.
If you see the wicked plotting and scheming how to harm the righteous, and gnashing his teeth at him - gnashing of teeth is an expression of anger, of one who wants to do evil (and some say that "gnashing his teeth" is in a mocking manner, grinning at him) - and yet you see that "the Lord laughs at him," that the Holy One, blessed be He, shows him a smiling countenance, the wicked person prospers and thrives even as he plots against the righteous, when we would expect Hashem to execute judgment upon him - do not be dismayed by this. "Do not be vexed by evildoers" - do not let burning wrath rise within you against the wicked because of their success. And why does Hashem laugh at him? "For He sees that his day will come." You do not see the end, which is why you feel anxious, but the Holy One, blessed be He, sees how this very success will be the cause of his downfall. This laughter is not a sign that Hashem is doing good for his benefit, but rather, as it were, laughing at his expense, for Hashem knows what awaits him in the future.
And another allusion: zomem (plots) comes from zemam, schemes that a person devises in his heart, evil thoughts, even though outwardly nothing shows. And which animal is characterized as cunning, appearing innocent on the outside while being something else entirely within? The fox (shual). Note that the initial letters of לַצַּדִּיק וְחֹרֵק עָלָיו שִׁנָּיו form the letters of shual. This wicked person behaves like a fox, so do not be alarmed by him; Hashem laughs at him, and ultimately you will see Hashem exact retribution from him, and his day will come.
חֶרֶב פָּתְחוּ רְשָׁעִים וְדָרְכוּ קַשְׁתָּם לְהַפִּיל עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן לִטְבוֹחַ יִשְׁרֵי־דָרֶךְ׃ חַרְבָּם תָּבוֹא בְלִבָּם וְקַשְּׁתוֹתָם תִּשָּׁבַרְנָה׃ - The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to slaughter the upright of path. Their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
A note on the reading: we read ve-kash-she-totam - and why? Under the kuf there is a patach, which is a short vowel, followed by a shin with a sheva, so one might expect it to be a sheva nach (quiescent sheva), as is the rule for a sheva following a short vowel. The reason is that the shin has a dagesh, and because of the dagesh, this transforms it into a sheva na (vocal sheva). In accurate editions of Tanach that distinguish between a sheva na and a sheva nach by marking the na with two small squares and the nach with two round dots, note that beneath the shin here there appear two squares rather than round dots - meaning it must be read as a sheva na.
The Malbim explains: Earlier we saw that the wicked plots against the righteous, and now Scripture says that he does not stop there - he draws the sword and bends the bow as well. And what is the meaning of patechu ("opened/drawn")? According to the Malbim, and this possibility is also cited by Radak, unsheathing a sword from its scabbard is called "opening" (petichah), just as releasing a prisoner from confinement is called opening - "and did not open the house of his prisoners," "if He shuts someone in, none can open." Radak brings an additional explanation, which is also Ibn Ezra's citation of others, that patechu relates to polishing and sharpening, meaning the wicked have sharpened the sword. And if you wonder what the connection is, it seems related to pituchei chotam (engravings of a signet), not in the sense of opening, but of engraving and craftsmanship, refining and beautifying an object, and hence an engraved, polished, and sharpened sword. Either way, "the wicked have drawn [or sharpened] the sword" - whether they drew it from its sheath or sharpened it. Likewise, "and bent their bow" - bending the bow means drawing the bowstring taut with the arrow.
And the objective: each weapon corresponds to its specific purpose. They wished to rob wayfarers, and in order to rob someone of his money, an assailant approaches with a sword, stabs him, and takes his money. But from a poor man there is nothing to steal, so the moment he spots the poor man from afar, he shoots him with an arrow - he has no interest in approaching him to plunder, since he possesses nothing. Therefore, "to cast down the poor and needy" refers back to "bent their bow," for they bend the bow to fell the poor and needy, shooting from a distance without needing to come close. And "to slaughter the upright of path" refers back to the sword, for with the sword they would slaughter the upright of path, who possess wealth, and he has a motive to strip them of their possessions, so he approaches up close, takes his money, and kills him.
And despite all of this, you see that Hashem laughs at them, because Hashem sees that their day will come, and He is, as it were, unfazed. This is the continuation of the verse: "Their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken." Hashem laughs at them because He knows that this very sword will ultimately pierce their own hearts and their bows will snap. It is as if the Holy One, blessed be He, says: "Let the young men arise and play before us" - go ahead, do whatever you want, because in a moment it is going to blow up in your face. And more than once we are privileged to witness this, even if not with our very own eyes: suddenly you hear of a "workplace accident" in Gaza, three or four engineers blown to kingdom come. What happened? They tried to rig an explosive charge - and the Holy One, blessed be He, thrust that very sword straight into their heart.
טוֹב־מְעַט לַצַּדִּיק מֵהֲמוֹן רְשָׁעִים רַבִּים׃ כִּי זְרוֹעוֹת רְשָׁעִים תִּשָּׁבַרְנָה וְסוֹמֵךְ צַדִּיקִים יְהֹוָה׃ - Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but Hashem upholds the righteous.
Rashi explains: Better are the few people who come to the aid of the righteous than the multitude of many wicked who come to commit evil. An example of this is Amraphel and his allies: you hear of a massive war, many kings coming to take Lot captive and challenge Avraham, while Avraham had only a few with him. Nevertheless, know that the few who stood with the righteous were better than the multitude of many wicked, for Avraham prevailed over them and defeated them, slew those kings, and brought back his nephew Lot.
Radak, and similarly Ibn Ezra, explain in another way: The righteous man rejoices in the little he has in this world - that little is enough for him. In contrast, the wicked, when their wealth multiplies, do not rejoice in it; rather, they always desire more and seek further gain, as one who has a hundred wants two hundred. "A righteous man eats to the satisfaction of his soul, but the belly of the wicked shall suffer want" - he constantly feels lacking. Moreover, Radak notes: an abundance of wealth for the wicked works to his detriment, for it causes him to become arrogant, and quite often we see people rise up against him and kill him in order to take his wealth. During the Bolshevik Revolution, all the wealthy were murdered and their property plundered - they put him to death to take all that he has. According to Radak, hamon (multitude/abundance) is related to mamon (wealth), as in "nor he that loves abundance [be-hamon]" in Kohelet, which means one who loves wealth, and "many" refers back to the wealth - the wealth of the wicked is plentiful. Yet even though they possess an abundance of wealth, know that this very excess is often to their detriment. It turns out, then, that it is better for the righteous person who has little and is sustained, than for the wicked person who has much, which ultimately becomes the cause of his downfall.
The Malbim connects this verse to the preceding one: since we have seen that "their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken," consider how much better the little that the righteous person has is than the multitude of the "many" wicked - that is, even though they are mighty. For behold, "the arms of the wicked shall be broken" - that great army and those allies who come against the righteous person, who comes with only few men, like Avraham who came with few men; their arms are broken and they cannot harm the righteous person. And the righteous person, though he has only little strength, can withstand the wicked - "and Hashem upholds the righteous." And why? Even though the tzaddik has little, he does not worry; he does not build upon his army or on an arsenal, he builds upon Hashem. "Hashem upholds the righteous," just as it is written, "For there is no restraint to Hashem to save by many or by few." If you trust in Hashem, what does it matter whether there is little or much? And if you do not trust in Hashem, you need an abundance of weapons, an abundance of armies, and an abundance of soldiers - that is what happens when one lacks trust in Hashem. And one might say homiletically: Why does Hashem support (somech) the righteous? Because the righteous rely (somchim) upon Him. You rely on the Holy One, blessed be He - and Hashem supports you so that you will not fall, "Hashem is among those who support me."
The Chovos HaLevavos states this in the fourth gate, Shaar HaBitachon. He explains that the hallmark of a person who has trust in Hashem is that when he approaches someone with great wealth or someone of meager means to ask for assistance, the two are completely equal in his eyes. For most of us, this is not the case: when we turn to someone wealthy, we think there is a good chance of receiving help; and when we turn to someone of modest means, we think, "I have no one else, so I will ask him, but there is little chance." And what do we reveal by this? That we do not truly trust in Hashem. We are not relating to the person as a mere conduit, but as the source; therefore, we view one as a better source and the other as a lesser source. But if we genuinely trusted in Hashem, we would say to ourselves: You are anticipating Hashem's salvation, and Hashem's salvation can come from anywhere. Does it matter whether the wealthy man brings me deliverance or the poor man does? One must make his hishtadlus (effort), and that effort involves approaching whoever seems capable of helping, but in truth it does not matter whether his resources are vast or meager, for there is no restraint to Hashem to save, and salvation belongs to Hashem. When I approach someone, it is solely as a conduit; does the Holy One, blessed be He, have any preference or limitation as to which conduit to use, the wealthy one or the poor one? When Hashem wills it, salvation can spring from any place. Regarding this we say, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help."
And frequently one witnesses that salvation actually sprouts from those who have the least. A matching campaign raises millions - from what? From you, from me, from him; everyone contributes a modest amount, fifty shekels, a hundred shekels, and together it amounts to a fortune. Meanwhile, there are wealthy people from whom one can hardly extract a penny. A person must understand: if you trust in Hashem, what difference does it make what kind of hishtadlus you performed? The Holy One, blessed be He, has the power to send help from here or from there. And this is what is written here: "Better is the little that a righteous person has" - even though the righteous man comes with few people, this is better than the multitude of many wicked, for in the end "the arms of the wicked shall be broken." And how does the righteous succeed with so little? "Because Hashem upholds the righteous."
This calls to mind a story once told by a student who studied at one of the most prestigious military academies in the United States. Some of the lectures there focused on the analysis of wars: what the strategy was, how victory was achieved, and what insights could be drawn regarding military tactics. Once, during a lecture, he asked the professor, "May I ask a question? Out of all the wars you recount to us, you have never once mentioned a war fought in Israel. Yet there were brilliant victories there - in 1948, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, all within the past sixty or seventy years. Why do we not study them? Is there nothing to learn from those wars?" The professor told him, "Come to my office after the lecture." He was somewhat apprehensive - who knew, perhaps the professor harbored antisemitic views and said this for that reason. He entered the office, and the professor asked him, "Why do you ask?" He replied, "I ask because I am Jewish." The professor told him, "I want to tell you something. We study wars that can be rationally analyzed and explained, how and why they were won. But the wars that took place there cannot be analyzed with rational tools. The wars there are miracles, and from a miracle there is nothing to learn - how do you replicate a miracle? We have nothing to analyze."
And indeed, anyone who reads about these wars sees that it is all one complete miracle, to the point that the nation's leaders, prime ministers, and military chiefs sometimes give the impression that they rely on miracles: one sees all sorts of blunders that have no other explanation. There is no logic to how such things were done - it seems like relying on a miracle. One must make his hishtadlus, but recognize that our very existence is miraculous, and there is no restraint to Hashem to save by many or by few.
The psalm teaches us to view the wicked with true vision: not only that "in just a little while, the wicked shall be no more," but even now, "and you shall gaze upon his place, and he is not there"; his success is illusory, for this world is a world of illusion, and the wicked are considered dead even while alive. From that very same verse, Rabbeinu Rabbi Nachman derived an approach in serving Hashem: to seek in every person, even in the wicked, that "little bit" devoid of evil, and thereby tilt his scale from guilt to merit - provided that this does not become an excuse to justify our own shortcomings and remain spiritually stagnant. "And the humble shall inherit the land" - they will inherit the place of the wicked, and their success will be complete and serene, "and they shall delight themselves in an abundance of peace," for when the wicked perish, there is joy. The wicked plots, draws his sword, and bends his bow, but Hashem laughs at him, for He sees that his day will come: their sword will enter their own heart and their arms will be broken. Therefore, "Better is the little that a righteous person has than the abundance of many wicked" - whether it be few men, little money, or little strength - "for Hashem upholds the righteous," and there is no restraint to Hashem to save by many or by few.