Sefer Yechezkel, chapter 8. "And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house and the elders of Yehuda sat before me, that the hand of Hashem Elokim fell upon me there." Yechezkel describes the sixth year, only he does not tell us the sixth of what? The sixth for whom? From where did you begin counting that you call it the sixth? Chazal expound: the sixth was the sixth year to the exile of Yehoyachin. On the fifth of the month I was sitting in my house and the elders of Yehuda were sitting before me. That is to say, we will now see the prophecy that he received. He says the elders of Yehuda were sitting before me, and there, in their presence, the hand of Hashem Elokim fell upon me. So I receive a prophecy.
"And I looked, and behold a likeness with the appearance of fire, from the appearance of his loins downward fire, and from his loins upward like the appearance of brightness, like the color of the chashmal." So I see a likeness with the appearance of fire. Rashi says on this verse: it is forbidden to contemplate this verse. Yes. We will explain according to the plain meaning of the matter. A form that is like the appearance of fire. Rashi does not say not to learn it, but not to contemplate it. To contemplate means to intend to delve deeply into these matters. But the plain meaning of the verses, according to what our limited intellect grasps, is that he sees a special likeness like the appearance of fire, and he tells you that from his loins downward it was like fire, and from his loins upward like the appearance of brightness, like the color of the chashmal, for the chashmal is something more refined and more exalted than fire.
And so that we not err, the "chashmal" that is familiar to us today (electricity) is a word coined by Ben Yehuda in his shallowness, and one should not have used this word at all, because the word chashmal is not written in the holy books as a single word, but rather it is a kind of holy name, written chet shin, a hyphen, and mem lamed. It is not written together. [Comment from the audience: Rabbi, I see that...] And he took such a word which is holy and turned it into a company, right? The Electric Company. This is something inconceivable. But what can be done, there is no choice, we have gotten used to it. So understand, there are many people who prefer not to use Ben Yehuda's language. Yes? If they want to say electricity, they say (look often in the responsa, in the books of questions and answers) "elektri." By means of the electric force. This is usually written not with an aleph but with an ayin, because the ayin in the Yiddish language is a tzeirei. No. No. The ayin is a tzeirei. The aleph is a kamatz. It is a vowel point, the ayin serves as a vowel point. If they want to say "elektri" they write ayin lamed ayin kuf and so on. They do not read it as an ayin. Rather it is meant to be read "elektri," from the tzeirei. In any case, this is the chashmal. Chazal say that this is an expression composed of two words. What is the meaning of chashmal? There is one meaning that says chash is from the word for silence. What is chash? Be silent. Chash means to be silent, like hachasha (silencing). "Hachashu," right? So it means to be silent, and mal is from the word milah (speech). That is to say, this is something wondrous beyond you, exalted beyond you, do not speak of it. That is chashmal. There is another explanation in Chazal that chashmal refers to the angels, who in their going appeared to be speaking at a very, very high speed. And this is called chash memallel, speaking quickly. That is the meaning of chashmal. It hastens, exactly, like the expression "hachish pe'amav" (he hastened his steps). Hachish, that is, speaking quickly, that is the meaning of chashmal, chash memallel.
"And He sent forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head, and a spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heavens, and brought me to Yerushalayim in visions of Elokim, to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north, where the seat of the image of jealousy that provokes to jealousy is." We need to preface an introduction. Yechezkel was exiled in the exile of Yehoyachin, and Yechezkel was there in Bavel by the river Kevar. And he would prophesy prophecies also concerning Eretz Yisrael. And the Gemara asks: how is it possible, for there is no prophecy outside the Land? And for this reason Yonah fled to Tarshish, since there is no prophecy outside the Land. But what is the answer? One who began his prophecy here in Eretz Yisrael, then he also has prophecy outside the Land. When he has prophecy here, then he also has prophecy there, and he actually continues his prophecy for the sake of Eretz Yisrael. So here now he begins to describe to us that behold Hashem takes me by a lock of my head. I am in Bavel, Hashem grasps me by a lock of my head. "Tzitzit roshi" means the locks of his head, right? By his hair. Yes, by his hair. Now, all of this is within the vision of prophecy, so that we not err. That is to say, Yechezkel did not actually arrive in Yerushalayim. Rather he says, I see in the vision of prophecy as if Hashem grasps me by my hair, by a lock of my head, and takes me and places me in Yerushalayim, and all of this is still within the vision of prophecy. Why in fact does He take him there? He wants to show him what causes the destruction of the Temple. Come and see what they are doing in Yerushalayim so that you will understand and not wonder why the people of Yisrael suffer such great suffering and why I destroyed, why I am destroying the Beit Hamikdash.
Now, He takes him to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north. The Malbim asks: why specifically to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north? The Malbim explains: we do not find that they set up an idol in the Heichal after the era of Menashe. We saw that Menashe set up an idol in the Heichal of Hashem. But this sin was still preserved, and this sin was not forgiven, and for this sin they had not yet done complete teshuva, and therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said, even when there was exile, He said it is because of the sin that they set up an idol in the Heichal. That is to say, this sin still continues and has ramifications up until the complete exile. So this means that when it speaks here of an idol in the Heichal, it speaks of that era of Menashe. And where did they set it up, from where does He show it to him? At the entrance facing the north gate. The Malbim says: the heretics would say that there is a god who does good and there is a god who does evil. We spoke about this once at length. They believed that there are two forces in creation. And the god who does good, that does evil, excuse me, its location is on the northern side. And from the north there is, as it were, the source of evil. There is indeed some support for the fact that the northern side is the source of evil, as it is written "from the north evil will be let loose." "Remove now from over her the company of the northern sect," right? What is the northern one? It is the evil inclination. And why is it called northern (tzefoni)? Chazal say it is hidden (tzafun) in the heart of man. Yes? What is tzafun, by the way, since we have mentioned it, why is it hidden in the heart of man? You would say that the good inclination is also hidden in the heart of man. Why is the evil inclination hidden? So listen to a wonderful thing. The Nefesh HaChaim says that when the Holy One, blessed be He, placed within man the evil inclination after the sin of Adam HaRishon, the evil inclination joined with him. And not only did it join with him, the worse thing is that man became completely identified with the evil inclination, to such an extent that when the evil inclination now, for example, wants to do some sin, the evil inclination comes and wants you to eat pork, so what does the person say? I feel like eating pork. That is to say, the evil inclination, we in fact have become totally identified with the evil inclination. It is not that the evil inclination says "I feel like it" and then I begin to explain to it that it is not worthwhile. Rather it is "I." The evil inclination actually speaks through my throat. The good inclination, by contrast, is always someone from outside. My conscience burdens me. It is someone who comes and tells me you are not right. Did you notice? When I wanted to eat the pork, that was "I" wanting. And when they come to rebuke me, it is someone from outside coming to tell me you are not right. So this is what is written, the evil inclination is hidden in the heart of man, to the point that man feels identified with it. And this is the sin of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. The knowledge of good and evil, evil joined with man, to such an extent that it became part of him, so that he actually speaks already in the first person. The desires are "I want." It is not the evil inclination that wants, it is I who want. And the conscience is someone else who comes to rebuke me.
In any case, so the northern side is attributed to the force of evil. And what did they do? They had there the image of jealousy. He defines it as the image that provokes to jealousy. What is the image of jealousy? Jealousy, as it were, like "my jealousy for that man burned." The meaning of the matter is, if they want to express a force that is a force of destruction, of anger, of ruin, this is the image that provokes. The image that provokes means anger, wrath, jealousy that causes damage. They wanted to appease this god, the image that provokes, which is actually the force of evil in creation, and therefore what did they do? They set up the image that provokes on which side? At the entrance of the inner gate that faces north. There Menashe set up the image of jealousy. Why? Its appeasement would be by placing it on the northern side, since on the northern side there is the reality of the force of evil, from there they need to appease it.
"And behold there the glory of the God of Yisrael, like the vision that I saw in the valley." He says, there I see the glory of the God of Yisrael, as if there Hashem revealed Himself to me, like the vision that I saw in the valley. And in the valley there he says like the glory that I saw by the river Kevar, right? That is to say, he wants to describe it like a vision that I already saw on another occasion, so this is how he refers to it.
"And He said to me, son of man, lift up now your eyes toward the north. And I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the gate of the altar was this image of jealousy at the entrance." Hashem says to him, lift up now your eyes toward the north. That is, toward the northern side. For we said that they set up the idol facing the northern side, since it comes to atone, opposite the idol, it comes to appease the idol so that it not arouse jealousy against us, that it not arouse anger and wrath against us. So they placed it facing it, yes, they placed it facing the entrance. I see, behold, north of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy at the entrance. What is "at the entrance"? It means as soon as you enter, there it is. And why at the entrance? Why? Because they wanted that as soon as it comes it would enter, and they would appease it, they placed for it the image of jealousy, the idol that comes to appease this force of evil, and then it would immediately see this and retreat backward. Therefore it is called at the entrance. A guardian of the doors of idol worship. Yes? They placed this image right at the entrance, so that this force of evil that comes to destroy and arouse jealousy would not enter to them at all.
"And He said to me, son of man, do you see what they are doing? Great abominations that the house of Yisrael do here, to drive Me far from My sanctuary. And yet again you shall see great abominations." He says to him in astonishment: do you see what they are doing? Do you see what abominations they are doing, whose entire intention is to distance Me from over the Beit Hamikdash? So that I not rest My Shechina there, since there is here an image, there is here an idol, I cannot, as it were, rest My Shechina there. He says to him, you will see that there are yet other great abominations that they do in order to draw upon themselves good and abundance from all kinds of astrological systems. Here is an abomination they do to distance evil from themselves, and I will yet show you abominations that they do in order to receive good.
"And He brought me to the entrance of the court, and I looked, and behold, a hole in the wall." He brought me to the entrance of that same gate, and I see a hole in the wall of the courtyard. There, in this hole, "And He said to me, son of man, dig now through the wall. And I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance." He said to him, widen the hole. And behold, I widen the hole, and through the hole I see the entrance of a chamber. Or according to the Malbim, through the digging an entrance was created for me. As if I began to dig, there was some small opening, and suddenly a full entrance was created through which I can pass. The Radak says that here He wanted to convey to him by way of an analogy, that just as you see here the digging through the wall, know that so are the idolaters destined to come and dig through the wall of the courtyard. That is to say, the gentiles will come and bore through the walls of the courtyard and the walls of the Beit Hamikdash. And this digging comes to symbolize in fact the imminent destruction of the Temple.
"And He said to me, come and see the evil abominations that they are doing here." He says to him, I want you now to advance further, to see what things they are doing. Come and see the evil abominations that they are doing here. The meaning of the matter is, there are yet more abominations whose deeds they do in concealment. And I want you to see also these abominations, I am giving you now entry inside, so that you will see also what they do in secret.
"And I came and looked, and behold, every form of creeping thing and beast, detestable things, and all the idols of the house of Yisrael, engraved on the wall all around." And I enter and I see that behold, on the walls are engraved every form of creeping thing, of beast, of detestable thing, all kinds of the most abominable forms of idolatry that existed in their times, they are engraved upon the walls of the courtyard from within. Think what a terrible thing. You do idolatry outside the Beit Hamikdash, but you do it inside the Beit Hamikdash, you set up the image of jealousy, you bring in idolatry and engrave it on the walls of the Temple from within.
And this was not enough. "And seventy men of the elders of the house of Yisrael, with Yaazanyahu son of Shafan standing in their midst, standing before them, each man with his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense rising up." He says, I see there seventy men of the elders of the house of Yisrael. That is to say, here it was not a matter of simple people. It was a matter of the important people. And Yaazanyahu son of Shafan stands in their midst. Why do you need to mention him? You said seventy men of the elders of Yisrael, he too is of the elders of Yisrael. There is a principle in our hands: when one enumerates a group and mentions one of them specifically, this comes to tell you, know that this man was the most important in the group. He was the most important in the generation, and they would learn from him. Therefore Rashi says, he mentions him separately. Standing in their midst, and they stand before them, and each man with his censer in his hand. They were not smoking then, so the censer here means, yes, a firepan with which they would burn incense to idolatry. And a thick cloud of incense rising up. What is "a thick cloud (atar) of incense"? From what root is atar? [Comment from the audience: from atar, to overturn, to find merit, to abound.] "You have multiplied (he'tartem) words." To multiply. Very good. That is the meaning of the word atar. Atar means to multiply. Atar, ayin tav resh. Not with a tet. Ayin tav resh. Yes. Oh, that is something else. We are speaking with an ayin. So he says here, and a thick cloud of incense, meaning an abundance of the cloud of incense. "They entreated (he'tiru) for me," meaning they multiplied prayer for me. Yes? That is the meaning of "they entreated for me." To entreat means to multiply. "The kisses of an enemy are excessive (ne'tarot)." What is ne'tarot? It means many. That is, I do not want this, the kisses of the enemy are many, I am not interested in them. That is to say, even if there is one, it too is too many for me. I do not want the kisses of the enemy, they are excessive for me, they are not good for me. Yes? And what does he want to say by this? The Radak says, he tells you, come and see, seventy men, the seventy of the Sanhedrin, that which the Creator of the world gave them at first, seventy elders in order to teach them the good path, come and see, these men lead them astray. And they are the ones who go and burn incense to idolatry. Yaazanyahu son of Shafan was the head of the Sanhedrin. He is the head over them, and the entire Sanhedrin follow him to err after him. And we said, so that you not err, this was not a matter of foolish people or people who did things without knowledge. Those who did this, they believed, they had some particular belief, and they had, as it were, proofs for their way. These were not people who need hospitalization. Rather they were people with an organized ideology who could prove it to you. And we saw that Yirmiyahu had an argument with those people who were in Mitzrayim, and they said to him, behold, when we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations, we lacked all good, only evil began to befall us. They always had, as it were, proofs from reality.
"And He said to me, do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Yisrael do in the dark, each man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, Hashem does not see us, Hashem has forsaken the land." He says to him, do you see what the sons of men, the elders of the house of Yisrael, do in the dark? They think that no one sees them. Each man in the chambers of his imagery (maskito). Each one in his chambers, maskito is like, Rashi explains, it is from covering, with a floor of marble stones. Yes? Like "vesakoti kapi" (I will cover with My hand). What is vesakoti kapi? From what root is it? Like to cover over, right? Like to make a covering. What is a covering? A partition, right? So vesakoti kapi means like some kind of partition over them. So too the floor was covered, as it were, paved with marble stones. And they do not know, they say, Hashem has forsaken the land. The Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, no longer supervises what they do in the lower worlds, but only what they do in the upper worlds, and one can do whatever one wants. He says, behold, you see what they are doing. Now, what is the meaning of "Hashem has forsaken the land"? They believed, as it were, that the Holy One, blessed be He, had relinquished the decision and determination in earthly matters, and He gave it over to the systems, the forces of the array. The forces of the array means the stars, the constellations, that they are the ones who direct the reality of the earth. The Malbim explains differently what is written here "each man in the chambers of his maskito." The Malbim says that maskito is from the expression "who gave the sechvi understanding," or "He who gives the sechvi understanding." What is "gives the sechvi understanding"? What is the sechvi? The heart. You say the rooster, that is also correct, but it is mainly the heart. Yes? They supported this on the matter that also of the rooster, when one hears the crow of the rooster one blesses, because the rooster too knows to distinguish between day and night. But look, the Tur there explains, "who gives the sechvi understanding," it speaks of the understanding of the heart. Yes? The sechvi is the heart. So "each man in the chambers of his maskito," he explains it means in the chambers of their hearts. They do in the dark, each man in the chambers of his maskito. And for those things that were in the chambers of their hearts, they would draw them on the wall, as if to give it some physical limitation, so that through this they could serve those forces. So He says to him, come and see what they are doing.
"And He said to me, you shall yet again see great abominations that they do." That is, what you saw now is a little compared to what I will show you further on. "And He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the house of Hashem that faces north, and behold, there sat the women weeping for the Tammuz." He brings me to the entrance of the gate of the house of Hashem that faces north. Yes? So indeed here they explain, what is the meaning of "He brought me"? It means he was already there, only He brings him inside, because he was at the northern gate. He merely brings him further inside. And behold, there the women sit weeping for the Tammuz. What is "sitting weeping for the Tammuz"? Indeed there are several explanations of this. One explanation the Radak gives is that "weeping" is in a euphemistic sense (lashon sagi nahor). What is "weeping"? Rejoicing. In a euphemistic sense. Weeping for the Tammuz. What is Tammuz? In the month of Tammuz they would make a festival for idolatry, and the women would come in order to make it rejoice. To gladden the idolatry. He saw them making the Tammuz rejoice. This is one explanation. There is another explanation, that they had a special form of idolatry, that they would place lead in the eyes of this idol, and they would heat it from within, and what happens to lead in heat? It melts. And then it appeared as if the idol was weeping. And then they would say, behold, the idol is weeping, asking that it be served. I do not know how a person goes to serve an idol that weeps and asks to be served. This is a reason not to serve it. You are looking for someone to help you, not someone who weeps. Yes? But in any case, this was the manner of their idol worship. Some say that Tammuz is from the expression of burning. Like "lemeza le'atuna," to heat the furnace. Lemeza means for the burning of the furnace, for the heating of the furnace. Yes? And they say that they wept for it, how? Why? Because there was a great fire that they would make for that idol, and they would hand over their children to it, this was a kind of the service of Molech, and the women would weep for the sons, for the children who were handed over to the Tammuz, yes? To that idol which they heated for them. For this the women would weep, weeping for those sons and daughters. Another explanation the Radak gives in the name of the great and wise Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon, the Rambam. He says, it is brought in the book of the practices of the ancients that there was a man of the prophets of idolatry, and his name was Tammuz. One of the prophets of the gentiles, so it appears in the books. So that you not err, it is not that the Rambam brings this as an axiom or as a description. He describes what is written among them. But certainly all that we will now read was vanity and vexation of spirit. There was a man called Tammuz, and he called to a certain king and commanded him to serve the seven planets and the twelve constellations. The seven planets (Shabtai, Tzedek, Maadim, Chama, Noga, Kochav, Levana) and the twelve constellations. And that king put him to a strange death. Apparently that king did not like being told what to worship, so he killed him. And on the night of his death all the images gathered from the ends of the earth to the temple in Bavel, to the golden image which is the image of the sun. And this image was suspended between heaven and earth. And it fell into the temple. All the images gathered to the golden image on that night that Tammuz was killed, they all gathered to that place, and the golden image that was suspended between heaven and earth fell into the temple, and all the images around it. And it would tell them what happened to the prophet Tammuz. And all the images wept and mourned all night. And when morning came, all the images flew back to their temples at the ends of the earth. The images finished this, this weeping, and each returned to its place. And it became for them an eternal statute, at the beginning of the first day of the month of Tammuz every year, they would mourn and weep for the Tammuz. Who is the Tammuz? The prophet, that prophet over whom all the images wept then, they weep for him every year. This was their idol worship. And whoever knows the Greek and Roman pantheon and all that they believed then, these are descriptions of this kind. Exactly like this. About certain idols that fought with other idols, and afterward all the images came, and these idols came and gathered, and that god decided to help this god, and the goddess of love did not agree, and the god of the sea, that is Poseidon, he came to assist him, and all this kind of nonsense written in their books. All sorts, all sorts of tales of a thousand and one nights and fantasies. Some say that the Tammuz is the name of an animal. Yes? This is another explanation.
"And He said to me, do you see, son of man? You shall yet again see abominations greater than these." Have you seen what these people are doing? You shall yet again see abominations greater than these. The Radak says, above He did not say abominations greater than these. He said to him you shall yet again see great abominations that they do. He did not say greater than these. Here He says to him you shall see abominations greater than these. Why? Because here these abominations were greater than all the rest. We will soon see what He describes, it is not at all comparable to the rest of the abominations, and therefore He says to him this is greater than these, relatively they are far greater than what you already saw earlier. "And He brought me to the inner court of the house of Hashem, and behold, at the entrance of the Heichal of Hashem, between the Ulam and the Mizbeach, about twenty-five men, their backs toward the Heichal of Hashem and their faces eastward, and they were bowing eastward to the sun." He brings me to the inner court of the house of Hashem, this is the Azarah. And there He shows me, and behold, at the entrance of the Heichal of Hashem, between the Ulam and the Mizbeach, about twenty-five men, their backs toward the Heichal of Hashem. Chazal say, these men were sun-worshipers (ovdei chamanim). What is ovdei chamanim? Those who bow to the sun. And these men, for the bowing to the sun is to this side, right? It is to the east. Whereas the Kodesh HaKodashim was to the west. It is not as they depict it for us today. One must take into account that if today there were a Beit Hamikdash, we would pray toward the west. Because the Kodesh HaKodashim is to the west. Yes? And they would pray toward the side of the Kodesh HaKodashim. Only from this side it is toward the east. But in fact, if we wish, we say this is the Temple Mount, so in fact the Kodesh HaKodashim was in this part, and they would bow to here. They would enter, as it were, from the side of Har HaZeitim, from there they would enter from the east, they would pass the Ezrat Yisrael, the Ezrat Nashim, the Ezrat Yisrael, the courtyard of the Kohanim and the Mizbeach, and after that was the Kodesh HaKodashim. Toward this direction and not toward that one, yes? So there he sees them, that they have their faces toward the east, that is toward Har HaZeitim, and their backs toward the Kodesh HaKodashim. Chazal say, what is "their backs toward the Heichal of Hashem"? It teaches that their backs were uncovered, and they would expose themselves and relieve themselves downward. Where "downward" here is a euphemism, yes? They mean upward. No. They bowed to the sun, and as it were relieved themselves toward, Heaven forbid, it is difficult to bring it out of the mouth, toward the Beit Hamikdash. Toward Hashem. Yes, but the exposing was, on the side, they considered the exposing important, so they relieved themselves toward its importance as it were. They served it with this. Here there is nothing but to disgrace the service of the Beit Hamikdash. Now you understand why it is written "you shall see abominations greater than these"? Because this is certainly beyond comparison to the idol worship that came before. Because all the other forms of idol worship, you say, they wanted to serve that image, they believed in it, and therefore they served it. But here what will you say about this? People who do such a thing, this is the height of degradation. Therefore about such things He says to him, you shall see abominations greater than these. That is, beyond any comparison to the abominations that came before.
[Comment from the audience: Rabbi, how did they reach such a level of degradation? After all, the Sanhedrin are not simple, they are lofty people.] Correct. To teach us that when there was an immense evil inclination for idolatry, even the great ones could come to err after it. And we said, so that you not err, this was not a matter of foolish people or people who did things without knowledge. Those who did this, they believed, they had some particular belief, and they had, as it were, proofs for their way. These were not people who need hospitalization. Rather they were people with an organized ideology who could prove it to you. And we saw that Yirmiyahu had an argument with those people who were in Mitzrayim, and they said to him, behold, when we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations, we lacked all good, only evil began to befall us. They always had, as it were, proofs from reality. "And He said to me, do you see, son of man? Is it a light thing for the house of Yehuda to commit the abominations that they have committed here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke Me, and behold, they put the branch to their nose." That is, is it too little for them, the rest of the transgressions in their hand, that they come and provoke Me in My house, with these abominations, and they put the branch to their nose. What is "they put the branch to their nose"? Rashi says, behold, they send to their nostrils the foul smell of this branch, which they emit with the wind that goes out from the anus. According to Rashi, "branch" here means flatulence. That is the meaning of "branch." And they send it to their nostrils. What is the meaning of "they send it to their nostrils"? When they bow to the sun and expose themselves and, as it were, relieve themselves, Heaven forbid, against the Heichal of Hashem, they do not understand that this will return to them, to their faces. That is the meaning. They send it to their nose, they do not understand that this will return to their nose. Like a boomerang. So Rashi explains. The Radak says, they put the branch to their nose, means they burn incense in My house, and they send the spirit of their incense to My nose. That is the meaning of "they put the branch." And again here, "branch" is from the expression, yes, like a branch that goes out. Yes? It means the burning of incense, which he calls a branch, and they send this to their nose. He does not want to say "to My nose," as it were toward Hashem, because indeed one cannot do anything to harm Hashem, that is not applicable, so therefore he says "to their nose." And the "branch," he says again, means it is a foul smell, by way of an epithet for the incense. Yes? And this he explains that the "branch" is like we said, it is flatulence. Also according to the Radak the "branch" is from the expression of flatulence. By contrast, the Malbim, as usual, always has a novel approach, and the Malbim says thus, that in fact Hashem rebukes him and says to him, look, they, this sin is a light thing in their hand. Why? Because they sinned a more severe sin, and that is the sin between man and his fellow. What does He say to him? Do you see, son of man, is it a light thing for the house of Yehuda to commit the abominations that they have committed here? This is still nothing, for they have filled the land with violence. What is "they have filled the land with violence"? What they sinned between man and his fellow. So this, the idolatry is the light thing compared to the far more severe thing, which is between man and his fellow. And they provoke Me with this. And not only this, there is also murder among them. For we saw that the First Temple was destroyed on account of what? Idolatry, illicit relations, and bloodshed. That is to say, there are murderers among them. Chazal say they would walk with small knives, one would walk, see his fellow in the street, would come to him, thrust the knife into his heart and continue walking as if nothing had happened. People walk along, suddenly, oh, someone fell dead. They do not know from where, what, they begin to investigate, they see a knife thrust in and so on, in the middle of the marketplace, no one saw, no one heard, no one knew. That man had already disappeared. This is how they would do, this was their way. Terrible and dreadful. So this was the matter of the murderousness that was among them. So this is what He says, here these people are more severe than what they did, which is the matter of idolatry, this is the matter of between man and his fellow. And further on the Malbim in chapter 21 explains that most of the slain were from those whom they killed among themselves, more than there were from the gentiles. From the hatred that was among themselves, there were more slain than from what Nebuchadnezzar came and killed here. [Comment from the audience: A civil war, exactly.] Yes. And he comes and tells you, "and to," what is "to their nose"? He says, they put the branch (zemorah). The zemorah is a pruning sword. From the expression to prune, from the expression to reap. They put the zemorah, meaning they cut down and prune each his brother. To their nose, they kill one another. As it is written "and their spears into pruning hooks (mazmerot)." Yes? This is the same, the same principle. He tells you, this deed that they do, they kill one another, and through this they bring destruction and annihilation upon themselves. Another thing the Malbim says, that the word "send" (sholchim) is also from the expression to stab. [Comment from the audience: shelach, that is a weapon.] Beautiful. Shelach is a weapon. Where did we see this? We have not yet seen it, but we will see it, God willing. "One hand held..." Beautiful. Beautiful. Very correct. Nechemya. One hand held the shelach. One hand held the work. Correct. So here he says, shelach is also an expression of stabbing. Like "and they sent (sent, vayeshalchu) the coat of many colors." It means they stabbed the coat of many colors so that it would appear as if some animal had bitten them. "And he made shelach and shields." Yes? That shelach is a sword with which one stabs. So this is what is written, and they returned to provoke Me and behold they send the zemorah to their nose, they send the instruments of murder, the zemorah, which they would hurl to their nose, that is, one to another, in their anger they would stab one another.
"And I too will act in wrath, My eye shall not spare and I will not have pity, and though they call in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them." The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him, I too will act in wrath. Just as they act in wrath to destroy one another, so too I will act in wrath. And measure for measure, just as they do not spare and do not have pity, and just as they cry out in a loud voice in their ears and it does not help, He says so too they will cry out and call in a loud voice in My ears and I will not hear them.