"And I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands, and a chain on your neck." Concerning "va'e'deich adi" (and I decked you with ornaments): why do we read "va'e'deich adi" and not "adi"? Because the cantillation mark is placed beneath the letter ayin. Since the mark is below the ayin, this tells us that the accent is on the earlier syllable. Therefore we read "va'e'deich adi," not "va'e'deich adi." In any event, Targum Yonatan says: "And I adorned you with the ornament of the words of the Torah written upon two tablets of stone." I adorned you with the tablets of the covenant, which are the words of the Torah written upon two stone tablets. This is the ornament, the jewel with which the Holy One, blessed be He, decked us, meaning that He crowned us with it. There is another midrash aggadah brought, and this is actually Rashi: another midrash aggadah, "and I covered you with silk (meshi)" - these are the seven Clouds of Glory. As it is written, "the pillar of cloud did not depart (lo yamush)." "Yamush" is related to "meshi" (silk). This is "and I covered you with silk": the pillars of cloud and the seven Clouds of Glory that accompanied Israel.
The Malbim says that "and I clothed you with fine linen" (va'echbeshech ba'shesh) refers to the belt. And corresponding to the turban he says "and I covered you with silk," which is a covering that wraps the head and the body. The Radak brings a midrash: Rabbi Yehuda son of Rabbi Simon said... "And I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands, and a chain on your neck." Concerning "va'e'deich adi" (and I decked you with ornaments): why do we read "va'e'deich adi" and not "adi"? Because the cantillation mark is placed beneath the letter ayin. Since the mark is below the ayin, this tells us that the accent is on the earlier syllable. Therefore we read "va'e'deich adi," not "va'e'deich adi." In any event, Targum Yonatan says: "And I adorned you with the ornament of the words of the Torah written upon two tablets of stone." I adorned you with the tablets of the covenant, which are the words of the Torah written upon two stone tablets. This is the ornament, the jewel with which the Holy One, blessed be He, decked us, meaning that He crowned us with it.
"And I put a ring upon your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. Thus were you decked with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered work. You ate fine flour and honey and oil, and you became exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered into royalty." Targum Yonatan explains: "And you were decked with gold and silver, and I placed My Sanctuary among you." I made for you the Sanctuary of Hashem that dwelt among you, the Shechinah dwelling among you. And this Sanctuary was fashioned with gold and silver, and curtains of fine linen, and colors and designs. All the expressions here of fine linen and silk and embroidered work and so on, all these things are expressions referring to the curtains of the Sanctuary, unique in their beauty. "And manna good as fine flour, and honey and oil I fed you." Regarding "and manna": indeed, the Targum here is often not precise in its vocalization. "And manna good" - if one wants an accurate Targum, the only Targum in the world that is accurate is that of the Jews of Yemen. Whoever wishes to see how a Targum ought to be in terms of its vocalization, that is the Targum of the Yemenites, for you should know that the other versions of the Targum are very, very corrupted, both linguistically and in their vocalization. The only ones among whom the Targum is accurate are the Yemenites, since they are the only ones who actually read it. Anything that is not read becomes corrupted. You may say that one reads twice the scripture and once the Targum, but who will correct you if you err in the twice-scripture-and-once-Targum, and how would you notice that there is an error there? By contrast, among the Yemenites, when someone would read, if there was even the smallest error, he would immediately be corrected, like a person reading from a Torah scroll. Whoever reads from a Torah scroll in error will not remain long in his error, for many of the congregation who know how to read will correct him. So too it was among the Yemenites with the Targum. Therefore, whoever seeks precision in the wording of the Targum, it is more to be found in the Tijan, in the original Taj of the Yemenites, where they were extremely meticulous, and at times went right down to variant readings, two kinds of variants, as you can see, and they placed great emphasis on grammar in order to read it correctly. So here, for example, "mana" - "mana" is a mistake; he means to say "u'mana," for he is speaking here about the manna. "You ate fine flour and honey and oil": the Targum says, and manna good as fine flour and honey and like oil I fed you, and you grew wealthy and became very mighty, and you prospered and ruled over all the kingdoms. So Targum Yonatan explains. And Rashi likewise brings that "you ate fine flour and honey and oil" refers to the manna.
The Malbim explains that concerning the mitzvot that depend upon the eyes and the sense of smell, corresponding to this he says "a ring upon your nose," since the sense of smell signifies spiritual sight: "and he shall be of quick understanding (va'harichu) in the fear of Hashem, and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes." So then we are speaking here about spiritual sight, that of one who, as it is termed, judges by smell. By spiritual sight - "smell" does not simply mean that he detects something and it seems to him that something here has a bad odor. No, rather the meaning is that in his sight he has spiritual sight, just as smell is an expression of spirituality, since smell is something that is not grasped by our senses in the way that touch and taste are, but rather is something more spiritual, more elevated. So too he will have spiritual sight, and this is the aspect of "and He put a ring upon your nose." "And earrings in your ears": earrings in the ears express the mitzvot that depend upon the hearing of the ear. Corresponding to this He said "and earrings in your ears," all the mitzvot that a person must fulfill through hearing, and this is "earrings in your ears," while "a ring upon your nose" refers to the mitzvot that depend upon the eyes and the sense of smell. Which mitzvot depend upon the eyes and the sense of smell? First of all we have the mitzvah of tzitzit, "and you shall see it," which is a mitzvah that depends upon the eyes, for example. Which mitzvah depends upon the sense of smell? We have the spices at the conclusion of Shabbat during Havdalah, for example, which is a mitzvah that depends upon the sense of smell. And as we said, these things come to express something even higher, namely spiritual sight and spiritual attachment, through which one can see and smell things even without perceiving them with physical sight.
"Thus were you decked with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered work. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. And you became exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered into royalty." Targum Yonatan explains: "And you were decked with gold and silver, and I placed My Sanctuary among you." I made for you the Sanctuary of Hashem that dwelt among you, the Shechinah dwelling among you. And this Sanctuary was fashioned with gold and silver, and curtains of fine linen, and colors and designs. All the expressions here of fine linen and silk and embroidered work and so on, all these things are expressions referring to the curtains of the Sanctuary, unique in their beauty. "And manna good as fine flour, and honey and oil I fed you." Regarding "and manna": indeed, the Targum here is often not precise in its vocalization. "And manna good" - if one wants an accurate Targum, the only Targum in the world that is accurate is that of the Jews of Yemen. Whoever wishes to see how a Targum ought to be in terms of its vocalization, that is the Targum of the Yemenites, for you should know that the other versions of the Targum are very, very corrupted, both linguistically and in their vocalization. The only ones among whom the Targum is accurate are the Yemenites, since they are the only ones who actually read it. Anything that is not read becomes corrupted. You may say that one reads twice the scripture and once the Targum, but who will correct you if you err in the twice-scripture-and-once-Targum, and how would you notice that there is an error there? By contrast, among the Yemenites, when someone would read, if there was even the smallest error, he would immediately be corrected, like a person reading from a Torah scroll. Whoever reads from a Torah scroll in error will not remain long in his error, for many of the congregation who know how to read will correct him. So too it was among the Yemenites with the Targum. Therefore, whoever seeks precision in the wording of the Targum, it is more to be found in the Tijan, in the original Taj of the Yemenites, where they were extremely meticulous, and at times went right down to variant readings, two kinds of variants, as you can see, and they placed great emphasis on grammar in order to read it correctly. So here, for example, "mana" - "mana" is a mistake; he means to say "u'mana," for he is speaking here about the manna. "You ate fine flour and honey and oil": the Targum says, and manna good as fine flour and honey and like oil I fed you, and you grew wealthy and became very mighty, and you prospered and ruled over all the kingdoms. So Targum Yonatan explains. And Rashi likewise brings that "you ate fine flour and honey and oil" refers to the manna.
Fine flour and honey and oil, as much as they desired. The Malbim explains: after He told us what the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us as Torah and mitzvot - bracelets, a chain, a ring upon your nose, earrings in your ears - now He explains "thus were you decked with gold and silver, and this you decked yourself with." Did you notice? Up to now it was "and I put ornaments upon your hands," "and I put a ring upon your nose," and so on - all this Hashem did. But "thus were you decked with gold and silver" - this is what you did. The Malbim says that this is an allusion to the enactments made by the elders, made by the prophets, who decked themselves with mitzvot. Up to now I spoke of the mitzvot with which Hashem decked us, with which Hashem glorified us: these are the mitzvot from Hashem, from the Torah. But apart from this, "thus were you decked with gold and silver" - we decked ourselves with the mitzvah of washing the hands, the mitzvah of eiruv tavshilin, and so on, the seven rabbinic mitzvot; these we decked ourselves with. Therefore it is written "thus were you decked with gold and silver." Afterward, all the enactments of the Sages throughout the generations, which are yet countless additional mitzvot, all the enactments of the Sages - He says all this brought us to the point where "you became exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered into royalty," and this was in the days of David and Shlomo, when we were already worthy of reaching the lofty level whereby from within Israel a king would arise for them and judge them with righteousness and uprightness.
"And your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had set upon you, says Hashem Elokim." "And your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty" - the Radak says this speaks of the kingdom of David and Shlomo. And what is "for it was perfect"? That it was complete. All matters of beauty and splendor were in perfection. "My splendor which I had set upon you" - all this great success was with My help, says the Holy One, blessed be He. Since you did My will, I likewise gave you dominion over the nations. It did not come to you by your power and the might of your hand, but rather "through My splendor which I had set upon you, says Hashem Elokim." "And your renown went forth among the nations" - the Malbim says, as it is written concerning David, "and the renown of David went forth into all the lands." As it is written concerning Shlomo, "and all the peoples brought a tribute to Shlomo." So your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty. And indeed Hashem says it was not from you, but rather, as we said, "My splendor which I had set upon you," for it came by way of Divine providence, through the glory of Hashem appearing upon them.
From here onward He begins to describe how all this ascent that we saw, how they kept rising higher and higher, up to royalty, the kingdom of David and Shlomo, which was in fact the pinnacle - from here He begins to describe the decline. "But you trusted in your beauty, and played the harlot because of your renown, and poured out your harlotries on everyone who passed by, so that it became his." "But you trusted in your beauty" - you trusted in your beauty as if the beauty were naturally yours in your own right. Whereas we just now explained that this beauty is not from you; we said this beauty is from Me, as the Holy One, blessed be He, said, but you trusted in your beauty. "And played the harlot because of your renown" - that is, at first you did not yet play the harlot yourself, but only because of your renown. What does "because of your renown" mean? The Malbim will now explain to us how the harlotry of Knesset Yisrael, of the people of Israel at that time, was a gradual deterioration. To "play the harlot because of your renown" is akin to what is said concerning Rachav, that Rachav caused others to sin merely by her renown. Whoever said "Rachav, Rachav" would immediately experience a seminal emission. Anyone who would say "Rachav, Rachav," God forbid, would experience an emission merely from the memory of her. So he is saying that the harlotry was not yet actual, but only "you played the harlot because of your renown." And afterward, "and poured out your harlotries on everyone who passed by." Everyone who passed and saw you, the fire of desire for harlotry would burn within him; this is "and poured out your harlotries on everyone who passed by," in such a way that "it became his." What is "it became his"? Even though you did not commit harlotry with him, you had already created within him the craving and the desire, and it had already become fixed in his heart; this is "it became his."
The Malbim explains that there is a difference between "zenut" (harlotry) and "taznut" (harlotries). "Zenut" is the harlotry itself, whereas "taznut" is to arouse others to desire her. The Radak explains that the verse here comes to express the great success that Israel had after her renown went forth among the nations, after which "you played the harlot because of your renown." We will explain, the Radak throughout - and certainly this is also according to the other commentators and according to the Malbim - that all the harlotry written here is an expression of idolatry. And we have mentioned this matter on several occasions and in various contexts in the past, that the prophet refers to idolatry and likens it to harlotry. And we also see in the Torah, "after which you go astray (zonim)." The Torah refers to idolatry as something after which one goes astray. And in the Prophets there are far more powerful expressions of this, as here we see that He literally compares it to outright harlotry. That is, the act of harlotry serves as an allegory for idolatry. And we explained that there are two explanations for this. One explanation is more conceptual and one more literal. The more literal explanation, as the Gra says, is that beside every idolatrous temple there was a house of harlotry. So says the Gra: we have a tradition that beside every idolatrous temple there was a house of harlotry. And the way of the priests to draw people to idolatry was through all sorts of harlotrous celebrations that they would hold there. And it is far more pleasant to be drawn after idols, who are very pluralistic, than after the Torah, which is very exacting. And the way of the priests to draw them was through this. Since you come and believe in idolatry, part of the idolatrous cult were cults of harlotry. Therefore he says, the Gaon of Vilna, you will always find the expression of harlotry in connection with idolatry, for this was the nature of the cult, among other things, in order to draw in the believers.
In the more conceptual sense of the matter, we know that the bond between the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel, as we discussed at length in our lessons on Shir HaShirim, is a bond of a beloved and his companion. In Kabbalah this is discussed at great length, that it is in fact an aspect of union, Ze'ir Anpin and Nukva. Nukva is the aspect of Malchut, Knesset Yisrael. The aspect of our union with the Holy One, blessed be He, is a union of marriage. Israel is the bride and the Holy One, blessed be He, is the beloved who took us as a wife at the standing at Mount Sinai. The standing at Mount Sinai was a wedding canopy; He held the mountain over them like a barrel, which is an aspect of a chuppah, and there was here a betrothal and a union between us and Hashem. Consequently, when Israel abandons and rebels against Hashem, this precisely bears the character of a wife rebelling against her husband and committing harlotry with others. Since we have the master, who is the Holy One, blessed be He, who is the original master, and we abandoned Him and went to seek for ourselves other masters, "and they went and served the Ba'alim." The Ba'al - why is it called Ba'al? Because they made it their master (ba'alim). So consequently the precise allegory for this is harlotry. Just as a woman who goes out and departs from beneath her husband's authority to be with others, so too Israel went out from beneath the authority of the Holy One, blessed be He, to take for themselves idols and other powers upon which they would rely. Therefore the Radak here will explain the entire matter, and certainly also according to the Malbim, that the whole matter here expresses idolatry. So what is written here, "and played the harlot because of your renown," means that you strayed after other gods, as it is written, "and Yeshurun grew fat and kicked." And the Radak says, as we explained, all the matter of harlotry that comes regarding Knesset Yisrael refers to the worship of stars and constellations. And even though the figure of speech, as you will see, is in terms of matters of harlotry, nevertheless the object of the allegory must always be sought in idolatry. For we are not speaking here of harlotry in its literal sense, but rather we are speaking here of idolatry.
And what is written here, "but you trusted in your beauty, and played the harlot because of your renown, and poured out your harlotries on everyone who passed by, so that it became his" - its meaning is that you were like the harlot who was available to all. And the harlot available to all is not content with the men of her own city; she makes herself available also to all passersby and all the foreigners who pass her way. And this is a very degrading expression regarding Israel, for concerning Israel it is written, "according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Yehuda." It is written that they had 365 idols corresponding to the number of days in the solar year, and each day they would worship a different idol. And the Holy One, blessed be He, says: and not even like this lupine bean, which is eaten at the end of the meal, did My children make Me. That is to say, you already worship all the idols; at least take the Master of the Universe as an option. No, the Master of the Universe was not even considered as an option. Rather, 365 idols, and the Holy One, blessed be He, not one of them. The Holy One, blessed be He - no, not even a possibility. So in effect, the expression here, "and poured out your harlotries on everyone who passed by, so that it became his," means: to everyone of the nations who passed by you, you would give yourself, and your desire was for him, and you abandoned the God who is your God. Targum Yonatan renders "lo yehi" (it became his) as "lo yehi" (let it not be). Targum Yonatan says, as it were, a thing that ought not to be nor to be done thus. This is the meaning of "on everyone who passed by, let it not be": meaning let it not be so, a thing that ought not to be so, and yet you did so.
"And you took from your garments and made for yourself patched high places, and played the harlot upon them, things that ought not to come, nor should be." Targum Yonatan says: "And you took from your garments and made for yourself high places covered with the bread of priests." You took your garments and made from them high places, upon which high places you offered the bread of priests to idolatry. "And you strayed upon them not fittingly nor as was proper." And you went and worshiped upon them idolatry not fittingly nor as it was proper to do. The Malbim explains: "and you took from your garments" - you took your garments and made from them patches and pieces, and from these pieces you made high places. What are high places? "Bamot" (high places) means something elevated. The Malbim explains that everything here continues in the allegory of the harlot. And those patched high places, "and played the harlot upon them," means elevated pillows and cushions upon which to commit harlotry. And note, the Malbim says that still at this stage the harlotry was yet in private. "Things that ought not to come, nor should be" - even though these garments will come no more, you will have no others in their place; garments had been given to you. Earlier we saw that these were garments with which the generous one, the one who took her out from the refuse heaps, clothed her. These garments you took, and made from them pillows and cushions to commit harlotry upon them, and "they ought not to come, nor should be" - they will come no more, nor will you have other garments like these anymore, and you nevertheless tore them and made from them pillows and cushions to commit harlotry upon them. The Malbim explains: what is the meaning of "they ought not to come, nor should be"? These garments will not come to you again, even though they exist in reality, and "nor should be" - they will not exist in reality at all. Its meaning is that Hashem will not descend again upon Mount Sinai to proclaim to us Torah and mitzvot once more. These are the garments that He described earlier. And what I made for you there at Mount Sinai, all of this you took - for what purpose? In order to commit harlotry upon them before the people of harlots, which means to worship idolatry.
"You also took your beautiful vessels of My gold and of My silver which I had given you, and made for yourself images of males, and played the harlot with them." "You also took your beautiful vessels" - from the vessels of gold and silver you made images of males with which you committed harlotry. Its meaning, as we said, is that in the first stage they had not yet reached the lowliness of idolatry, and as the Malbim said, the harlotry was still in private. And here too, the Malbim says, take note, there was not yet harlotry with a male, for harlotry with a male expresses a complete departure from beneath her husband's authority. In the first stage there was here harlotry with an image made in the form of a male. This is what is written: she took the beautiful vessels of gold and silver, and from them she made an image, "and made for yourself images of males, and played the harlot with them." You committed harlotry with those images of males. And still the Malbim says she did not commit harlotry openly; it was only in private, as we said concerning the pillows that she made from the garments. Later we will see that it was upon a mound and a lofty place in the streets - that was the next stage, when the deterioration was already greater. But at first it was only that she aroused the people, poured out her harlotries upon them, as we said, aroused them to a spirit of desire and harlotry, but did not yet commit harlotry with them. The Malbim says, corresponding to what? Corresponding to which period are we speaking here? This corresponds to the first stage, when Israel had not yet deteriorated into the severe deterioration of idolatry, but already had the beginning of a touch of it. Here He speaks of the time of Rechavam, from Rechavam until Achaz. In that period they did not yet worship idolatry publicly; they worshiped it in private. Moreover, they did not worship idolatry for the sake of divinity, but only in order to draw down abundance and bring it to the lower realms. For they worshiped stars and constellations, and their worship of the stars and constellations at first was not as a god in whom I believe, but rather as a way of turning to a power that could influence me, something, as it is called, profitable to me, but not something in which I truly believe with all my heart. And this the Malbim says, take note, here in the figure of speech He describes it as "images of males." This is not truly harlotry, for I do not truly marry this idolatry in the sense of believing in it and cleaving to it; I did not abandon my husband for another husband. Rather, here we are dealing with images of males, which is not truly harlotry; it only appears as harlotry. He describes here also that these images she made from her garments of splendor. Its meaning, what is meant by "her garments of splendor"? The Malbim says that she still had her garments of splendor. What is meant? Garments of splendor, we said, refer to the Torah and mitzvot. In the first stage they still had Torah and mitzvot. So the images were together with the garments of splendor. You still keep Torah and mitzvot, and together with that, with her garments of splendor, they still worshiped idolatry. Ah, how do you do this? Yes, as I said, I do not do this out of belief in the idol, but only as an intermediary and mediator between myself and the Holy One, blessed be He, as a way of drawing down the abundance from Him, may He be blessed. But at first it was clear that all the abundance is still from Him. But with all this He tells you, in this she corrupted her garments of splendor, "they ought not to come, nor should be." Even though she did not truly commit harlotry but only images of males, nevertheless there is already here harlotry regarding her renown, which is what He said, "but you trusted in your beauty, and played the harlot because of your renown." What is the meaning of this? You already gained a reputation as an idolater. You already gained the reputation of a harlot. So even though you will say she did not yet commit harlotry with anyone, there were here only images of males - true, but the reputation already clung to you. And you poured out your harlotries on everyone who passed by, the Malbim says, this means that others too learned from her corrupt deeds. So our harlotry and idolatry was an aspect of darkness for the nations. From it too we had an influence upon those around us.
"And you took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set My oil and My incense before them." After she made from her garments, as we saw, patched high places, we saw that she made from this pillows and cushions to commit harlotry upon them, there remained for her only the embroidered garments, as we saw, "and I clothed you with embroidered work," and this is essentially the tunic, the innermost garment. After this she took also the tunic, which is the garment that covers her flesh, "your embroidered garments, and covered them," she covered the images with it. "And she set before them the oil and the incense" that Hashem had given her; she set this before them, offered this to the images and before the idolatry. And He continues with this and says, "And My bread which I had given you, the fine flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, you set before them for a pleasing aroma; and so it was, says Hashem Elokim."
"And My bread which I had given you" - Rashi brings the exposition of Chazal, that this speaks of the generation of the wilderness. For on the day the generation of the wilderness made the calf, it is written that the manna descended for them, and they set some of it before the calf. And nevertheless, "and it came to pass on the morrow, and it did not cease." How utterly dreadful. The manna that Hashem gives them, they set before the calf and say, "These are your gods, O Israel." I give you manna, and My manna you give to the calf? And nevertheless the Holy One, blessed be He, did not stop the manna for them. He should have told them: you want to give to the calf? Give it from your own; I am stopping the manna. That's it, manage on your own, ask him to give you manna. My manna you give to it? Ask it to give to you, and from its own give to it. He says, nevertheless He did not stop the manna. Behold Hashem's kindness upon us. And so it is also stated explicitly in the book of Ezra - Rashi says Ezra but it is the book of Nechemia; in Rashi's time it was called Ezra, as we discussed at length when we studied Ezra and Nechemia. So here, behold, thus is written in the book of Nechemia chapter 9: "even when they made for themselves a molten calf, yet You in Your great mercies did not forsake them, and Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth." Chazal say: it was fitting to withhold it from them, and yet You did not withhold. It would have been fitting that You withhold Your manna from them, and nevertheless You did not withhold from them the manna. He says likewise here, "and so it was, says Hashem Elokim": the bread was, and it did not cease descending on the morrow. So expounded Rabbi Tanchuma. So "and it was" means here that the manna continued to be. This is the meaning of "and it was." This bread, even though you gave it to idolatry, I did not withhold it from you.
The Malbim explains that the bread which I gave you to eat, and also the fine flour and the oil and the honey with which I fed you, I was compelled to set before the idolatry for a pleasing aroma. Take note, the Malbim says not "you set," but rather "I was compelled." For here it is written, "and My bread which I had given you, the fine flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, you set before them." It does not say "you set before them," as it says earlier in verse 18, "and you took your embroidered garments... and My oil and My incense you set before them," which you did. Here the Malbim says no, I set before them. What is the plain sense of this? The Malbim explains that this is the continuation: how did Hashem set it before them? "And it was." Its meaning is that since the bread still continued and did not cease, "and it was" and it would not be nullified, it turns out as if I set it before the idolatry. For you set it before the idolatry, and I continue to give it to you. So as it were, what am I doing? It is like if I give someone something and I know that he offers it to idolatry, am I permitted to continue giving it to him? No, for then it is as if you give to idolatry, since you know where it goes. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, so too here. For I continued to give you the bread, as if I set it before the idolatry, I continue to give you the possibility to offer to idolatry. The Malbim says, corresponding to what we saw regarding the garments, where it is written "they ought not to come, nor should be," meaning that garments would not come after them in their place, corresponding to this He says: know that with the bread it is not so. The standing at Mount Sinai will not be again, but the bread, says the Holy One, blessed be He, yes it comes and yes it shall be, which is what is written, "and it was." Hashem says, I still continue to give you the bread. The Malbim says, all this is a description of what they did until the days of Achaz, but not including them. As we explained, they still worshiped the images as a vessel to receive abundance from Him and not as a complete belief; the Malbim says they had not yet become entirely dissolute. And with all this, they already worshiped idolatry in the days of Rechavam and in the days of Aviyah, and it is written that his wife, the mother of Asa, made a monstrous image (mifletzet) for the Asherah. Chazal ask, what is a mifletzet? Chazal say: "mafli le'tznuta," it increases lewdness. What is this "increases lewdness"? Chazal say that she made an image of a male in order to commit harlotry with it. This was the mother of Asa, and it fits very well with what is written here, "and made for yourself images of males, and played the harlot with them." And in the days of Atalia it is written that Atalia was wicked, her sons broke into the House of God, and all the holy things of the House of Hashem they went and made into offerings for the Ba'alim. And this is what is written, "and My oil and My incense you set before them": the oil and the incense that were given in the Temple for the honor of Hashem, this you set before the idolatry. So it is written concerning Amatzia that he offered incense to the gods of Se'ir. And still the Malbim says, all this was still in private. The House of Hashem still had its service in its place; they still offered sacrifices also to Hashem, may He be blessed - all this was still in private. Only in the next stage do they pass to a state in which they already worship idolatry publicly, all the fences having been breached, they already worship it in an official manner and not merely as an addition to the service of Hashem but as actual worship, worshiping idolatry, and this is in the next verse.
"Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to Me, and you sacrificed them to them to be devoured. Was your harlotry too small a thing?" Now He describes, the Malbim says, what they did in the days of Achaz. Achaz worshiped idolatry publicly; Achaz passed his sons through fire to the Molech. Concerning this He says "you took your sons." We will see here that at first He speaks of "you took your sons," whereas in the next verse "you slaughtered My sons." What is the difference between "your sons" and "My sons"? The Malbim explains that what happened at first is that you took only your sons and not My sons. That is, "your sons" are those born to you from your harlotry. This is "you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne to Me." He says "you had borne to Me" - you, as it were, attributed them to Me, since they grew up in My house you attributed them to Me, but in truth they are not from Me; they are from those who committed harlotry with you, from them came these sons. And behold, this - you took them, "and you sacrificed them to them to be devoured," you went and worshiped idolatry publicly and offered these sons, offered them to the Molech. And this is "was your harlotry too small a thing" - and this thing is only a little of your harlotries, it is only a little of the sins of harlotry that you committed. For immediately afterward He continues, "and you slaughtered My sons, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them." After this you also slaughtered My sons. "My sons" are those that are Mine, those born from Me, not those that I raised, the sons of those who committed harlotry with you, but rather those that from Me you conceived. These were My sons, "and you slaughtered My sons, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them." You gave them to the priests, and passed them through to them, passed them to idolatry. The Malbim asks, what is "in causing them to pass through to them"? The law is that one is not liable until he hands the child over to the priests and the priest takes it from his hand and passes it through himself. This is "you delivered them to the priests," and therefore it is written "in causing them to pass through to them." What is "in causing them to pass through"? After this you yourself passed them through. For here two acts are required. One act is the handing over of the child to the priest - we are now speaking of the worship of the Molech - and the second act, after the child has been handed over into the hand of the priest, the father takes and passes him through to the Molech. Therefore "you delivered them up in causing them to pass through to them": you gave them first to the priests and afterward "in causing them to pass through," this is you - not that they passed them through, but rather you passed them through yourself, which is the manner of the worship of the Molech.
There is here another interpretation, an additional interpretation, which is that of Rashi. A most wonderful interpretation. Rashi says, let us read his words. What is "you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne to Me"? Rashi says: he had five sons. Four of them for idol worship, and one set aside for the study house. He had four, he had five sons. Four for idol worship - four he sent to idolatry, sent them off to trade school. Four of them for idol worship. And one set aside for the study house, one he sent to the yeshiva. My consecrated one, yes? One he sent to the yeshiva, so that he, yes, he would have some remembrance, something for the ancestral house. And then he comes to offer one of his sons to the Molech. Now he must offer one of them. Whom does he offer? He offers the one who was set aside to study Torah. Do you understand? That one - come, bring him from the yeshiva - him he offers to the Molech. From the midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma. And in fact there is here far more than merely an example, since this often characterizes the whole of a person's life.
It is known that once the Maharam Shapira of Lublin came to raise funds in a certain place, and they told him that the situation was very difficult, that there had been a downturn in business, and that in general the global economic situation was in a slump, and so on. In short, he delivered a sermon and told them: look, my masters, it is written in Chazal that there are several reasons for which a man may divorce his wife. One of them, the Gemara says, is "she burned his dish." He says, I want to understand: what, is it conceivable? Is there a woman who never once burned the food? What, and for this you already resort to divorcing her? What is the plain sense of this? What, she burned his dish, so he divorces his wife? Then you leave no life for any woman. No woman would remain married under her husband; every one of them burned the food once or twice or more. So what is the plain sense of this? The Rav told them: I will explain to you. The Rav tells them, look, there are three types of women. There is a woman who, when the food gets burned, says: why should my husband suffer? I was not paying attention, I was occupied with other things instead of making sure the rice would not burn, so what does she do? The clean upper portion she brings to her husband. The burned lower portion, this she eats herself. There is a woman who is a middling type. She says, listen, you married me, it is for better and for worse. They split the pot from top to bottom. Half for me, half for him. What do you mean, what, only I eat the burned part? No way. He said, but there is a wicked woman. And the wicked woman says: my husband returns from work only at two, but I already sit down to eat at one o'clock, I cannot wait. She eats the upper portion. Her husband arrives - your food is burned. As if it did not get burned, do you understand? He says, this is what is written in Chazal, "she burned his dish." His dish she burned! Ah, such a woman - divorce her. Such a wicked woman - divorce her. He says, this too is what happens here, unfortunately. He says, you tell of difficulties in business. I see, thank God, that the trip abroad you did not cancel. The children's extracurricular activities, you still continue. The new car this year, you did not give that up either. In short, thank God, I see that all your private affairs are all in order. It is only when the part comes for donating to Torah, to the yeshivot, to - here you say, Master of the Universe, Your portion got burned. What can be done, business took a hit, Master of the... the charity portion - what, only the charity portion lost out? What, your portion lost nothing at all? This is "she burned his dish." Well, let us not be a wicked woman whom the Holy One, blessed be He, will decide in the end to divorce; so let us at least, at the very least, do half and half. So the Maharam Shapira of Lublin told them. And this is in fact a great moral lesson corresponding to what Rashi says here. When a person has - there is a familiar expression: when the ship is sinking, everyone must throw something overboard to lighten the ship, and there is a person who, first of all, throws overboard the tefillin. Yes? The economy became a little difficult, the first thing he stops with is the tithes. The first thing he stops with is the charity. And this is what Rashi says here. He needs to offer to idolatry - what does he take? The one from the yeshiva, him he takes. A Rosh Kollel of mine once used to say, it is written, "you have no free man except one who occupies himself with Torah." He says, what is this, what is "you have no free man except one who occupies himself with Torah"? For example, one needs to do some task, I don't know, one needs to arrange for a Sheva Berachot, to bring vessels, to go to a gemach, whatever, one needs to arrange something. So who, who will do it? Not David, he works, he cannot. Yaakov, surely he - he already gets up early and he also has some obligations and he needs, he has trips and... Shlomo, he is at the university and there he cannot be absent. Who? Ah, Aharon, Aharon from the kollel. Tell Aharon from the kollel to come and take the... do you understand? This is exactly what Rashi says. The one who is set aside to study Torah, him they take. "You have no free man except one who occupies himself with Torah." He is free, he is available, take him wherever you need, his time can be canceled. The others, no, he works, he cannot come, he works. But that one occupies himself with Torah, he is free, that's fine, his time is available. How much, unfortunately, we recognize this reality, that when a person has a certain difficulty, the first thing he gives up is the shiur. Wait, but you have afterward this and afterward you have... no, there I must, no, here I cannot, but the shiur? Well, this, what is it, so we won't make it to the shiur today. This is exactly what He says here. The Torah portion, the study-house portion, the Talmud Torah portion, this you went and offered to the Molech; specifically this you offered. It should be exactly the opposite. The shiur I will under no circumstances give up. Wait, but you must, you have to. True, at the expense of something else I will do it, at the expense of the afternoon rest, at the expense of a thousand and one other things, but not at the expense of the shiur. Let there not be a situation where "your sons and your daughters whom you had borne to Me," them "you sacrificed to them to be devoured."
Rashi brings another interpretation: "whom you had borne to Me" - Rashi says these are the firstborn. As it is written, "and I defiled them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb," this is below in Yechezkel chapter 20. That is to say, the firstborn, who are meant to be the servants of Hashem's abode, specifically them you took and offered to idolatry. So these are those "whom you had borne to Me," for what is born as a firstborn is that which opens the womb, belonging to Hashem, this we bore for Hashem. And specifically these you take and offer them to idolatry. "And in all your abominations and your harlotries you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood." The Malbim explains: how did you reach all the abominations, all these traits? Through all the abominations, you came to the state where you did not remember your past, that in the days of your youth you were naked and bare. If you had remembered your former state and situation, the wondrous miracles that Hashem did with you, there would be in you a fear of Hashem's punishments. You would be apprehensive: Hashem can, after all, at any moment return me to my former state. And how, after all, was I? Naked, bare, wallowing in your blood, as He said at the beginning of the chapter. But you did not remember. And since you did not remember, you did not remember that just as He took me out from there, so too He can return me to the former state. And this is what He says: you, through your harlotries, through the harlotry that you committed straying from Hashem, forgot Hashem entirely, and you attributed everything that in fact happened - you attributed it to chance. So by chance we left Egypt, and by chance we managed to overcome them, and by chance... you did not see in this the hand of Hashem. And the proof of this: "and it came to pass, after all your wickedness - woe, woe to you, says Hashem Elokim." "And it came to pass, after all your wickedness" - the Radak says, "and it came to pass," yes, just as you were at first naked and bare, after all that you did, you remained naked and destitute of everything. We will see later more explicit expressions of how in fact all this harlotry that they committed straying after the Ba'alim brought them to decline after decline, until they in fact return to their former state. Until they arrived entirely at the former state, for what in the end happened? He exiled them, and they arrived at Chalach and Chavor, the river of Gozan, beyond the mountains of darkness, to all sorts of places, to Tura Bura and other evil regions in the areas of Afghanistan and wherever else. And then in fact you returned to your former state, naked and bare of Torah and mitzvot, wallowing in your blood; you returned to the former state. All this was caused to you as a consequence of your harlotries, as a consequence of your having strayed after the Ba'alim. Concerning this He says, "woe, woe to you, says Hashem Elokim." Targum Yonatan says: "woe and woe to you for having sinned, and woe to you for not having repented." Why twice "woe"? Once for having been wicked, a second time for not having repented. For even if a person did wickedly, he can repent. So once for having sinned, a second time woe to you for not having repented. What will be your end, for all the evils that you did.
The Malbim explains that everything written here speaks of Achaz. And concerning Achaz it is brought there that Hashem struck him with various blows. And if he had remembered that there is a God who judges and watches over, he would have repented, as the Targum says. And instead of this, as it appears in Divrei HaYamim chapter 28, he continued still to corrupt and act wickedly. "And in the time of his distress he trespassed still more against Hashem." Instead of understanding that there are here blows meant to return you to the proper path, he adds to trespass against Hashem. This is King Achaz, of whom it is written that the more Hashem added to strike him, the more he added in his trespass. And only after he saw that "woe, woe to him," then "and you built for yourself a mound, and made for yourself a lofty place in every street." He added through this to abandon the Holy One, blessed be He, entirely. For until now, as we explained above, the idolatry was in private. But now "and you built for yourself a mound." "And you built for yourself a mound" - a "gav" means a prominent place, a level and elevated place. "And made for yourself a lofty place" - this is now a high place that would be noticeable to all. And what in fact does this expression come to say? Until now your harlotries were in private, but from now already "and made for yourself a lofty place," you made for yourself a place of harlotry in every street. That is, a special place for idolatry was already at the head of every thoroughfare. This is no longer as it was before, when they worshiped idolatry in concealment. And He adds and says, "at every head of the way you built your lofty place, and you made your beauty abominable, and spread your legs for everyone who passed by, and multiplied your harlotries." "At every head of the way you built your lofty place" - you did this at the head of the way, in places that are the heads of the ways, meaning the main roads. And the purpose is so that even one who does not dwell here in these places and does not know you, in any event when he passes by there on the road he will see you, and through this commit harlotry with you. The intent is in order to commit harlotry with the passersby. And this is what He wishes to hint to them, that you went and built high places and molten images upon the high mountains and upon the hills and upon the roads, so that even a person who naturally until now had not known idolatry, now would know it and now would worship it. "And you made your beauty abominable" - you were like a harlot (kedeisha), meaning a woman abandoned to harlotry, whose beauty became abhorrent from the abundance of her harlotry and whose face was worn out. This is "and you made your beauty abominable." The Metzudat David explains: you abhorred and despised your beauty, to show it to all who wished. That is to say, a precious thing one hides, one conceals it. By contrast, you abhorred your beauty, you considered your beauty a cheap thing, the proof being that you made it available to everyone who passed by. And afterward, "and spread your legs for everyone who passed by." Afterward you spread your legs for everyone who passed by, like the nations who submit to all the idols and are ready to nullify themselves toward every idol, "and multiplied your harlotries." Through this you multiplied your harlotry for foreign worship, for idolatry, to worship every god, as we explained and saw above, 365 kinds of idols they had, corresponding to the number of days in the solar year. This is what He says, "and spread your legs for everyone who passed by": you were ready to take upon yourself every master, meaning every kind of idolatry, and through this you multiplied your harlotries with many kinds of idolatry.