Introduction: From Adornment to Betrayal
We stand in the middle of chapter 16 in Yechezkel, the chapter where the prophet portrays the history of Knesset Yisrael through the parable of an infant cast out into the open field, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, lifted up, raised, clothed, and adorned with every ornament. In the portion before us, we reach the height of the ascent - up to the kingdom of David and Solomon - and from there the descent begins. The prophet meticulously traces how Knesset Yisrael declined step by step, from private unfaithfulness to blatant public idolatry and the sacrifice of children to the Molech.
The Adornment - The Torah and the Mitzvot
וָאֶעְדֵּךְ עֶדִי, וָאֶתְּנָה צְמִידִים עַל־יָדַיִךְ וְרָבִיד עַל־גְּרוֹנֵךְ׃ - I adorned you with ornaments, and I placed bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck.
First, a note on the reading: it is pronounced "va'edech 'edi" and not "adi," because the cantillation mark is placed beneath the letter ayin, indicating that the stress is mile'el (on the first syllable).
Targum Yonatan explains: "And I adorned you with the adornment of the words of the Torah written upon two stone tablets" - I adorned you with the Tablets of the Covenant, upon which the words of the Torah are inscribed. This is the ornament, the jewelry with which the Holy One, blessed be He, adorned us.
Rashi cites an additional Midrash Aggadah on the previous verse, "and I covered you with silk [meshi]" - this refers to the seven Clouds of Glory, as it is written, "The pillar of cloud did not depart [yamush] by day," where the word yamush shares a root with meshi. The cloud that accompanied Israel was the covering with which the Holy One, blessed be He, enfolded us.
The Malbim explains that "and I bound you with fine linen" refers to the belt (avnet), while corresponding to the turban (mitznefet) it says, "and I covered you with silk," which is a garment that covers both the head and the body.
A Ring on the Nose and Earrings on the Ears - Mitzvot of the Senses
וָאֶתֵּן נֶזֶם עַל־אַפֵּךְ וַעֲגִילִים עַל־אׇזְנָיִךְ וַעֲטֶרֶת תִּפְאֶרֶת בְּרֹאשֵׁךְ׃ - And I placed a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears, and a crown of splendor upon your head.
The Malbim explains that the ring on the nose corresponds to the mitzvot that depend on the eyes and the sense of smell, while the earrings on the ears correspond to the mitzvot that depend on hearing - all those mitzvot through which one fulfills their obligation by listening.
Which mitzvot depend on the eyes? The mitzvah of tzitzit, "and you shall look upon it." And which depend on the sense of smell? The spices used in Havdalah at the conclusion of Shabbat. Beyond the literal meaning, however, the sense of smell signifies spiritual perception, as is said of the Messianic King: "And he shall smell with the fear of the Lord," "and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes." This does not mean physical smelling, but rather that he possesses spiritual sight. Smell is the quintessential expression of spirituality, because it is not grasped by the coarser senses like touch and taste; rather, it is something subtler and higher. These are the gifts that the Holy One, blessed be He, bestowed upon us: the ability to perceive and sense spiritual realities even without seeing them with physical eyes.
The Adornments of the Mishkan and the Sustenance of the Manna
וַתַּעְדִּי זָהָב וָכֶסֶף וּמַלְבּוּשֵׁךְ שֵׁשׁ וָמֶשִׁי וְרִקְמָה, סֹלֶת וּדְבַשׁ וָשֶׁמֶן אָכָלְתְּ, וַתִּיפִי בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד וַתִּצְלְחִי לִמְלוּכָה׃ - You adorned yourself with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen, silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, honey, and oil; you grew exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered to royalty.
Targum Yonatan explains: "You adorned yourself with gold and silver" - "I placed My Sanctuary among you," meaning: I made for you the Mishkan of Hashem that dwelt among you, with the Shechinah resting in your midst. And this Mishkan was fashioned with gold and silver, with curtains of fine linen, vibrant colors, and woven designs. All the terms "fine linen, silk, and embroidery" refer to the curtains of the Mishkan, which were exceptionally beautiful. And regarding "you ate fine flour, honey, and oil," he translates: And good manna, like fine flour, honey, and oil, I fed you; and you grew wealthy and very mighty, and you prospered and ruled over all kingdoms. Rashi likewise explains that fine flour, honey, and oil refers to the manna, in which they could taste fine flour, honey, and oil as they wished.
Incidentally, regarding the wording of the Targum here, it is worth noting: the printed editions of the Targum in our hands contain many corruptions, both in text and in vocalization. The only precise tradition of the Targum in the world is that of the Yemenite community, because they were the only ones who actually read it aloud publicly. Anything that is not read aloud becomes corrupted over time. One might recite "Shnayim Mikra ve-Echad Targum" privately, but who will correct you if you make a mistake, and how would you even notice the error? Among the Yemenites, however, when someone read the Targum and made even the slightest mistake, they corrected him immediately, just like one reading from the Sefer Torah, who is not allowed to leave an error uncorrected because many in the congregation know the text and correct him. Therefore, anyone seeking accuracy in the wording of the Targum will find it in the Tijan, the authentic Yemenite Taj, where they were exceptionally meticulous, noting even variant readings and analyzing grammatical nuances to ensure proper reading. For example here, "mana" is a corrupted reading, and it should be "u-mana" ("and the manna"), since it refers to the manna.
The Malbim makes a wonderful observation: until now, all the bestowals were from the Holy One, Blessed be He - "I adorned you with ornaments," "I placed a ring upon your nose." But here the wording changes: "You adorned yourself with gold and silver" - you placed adornments upon yourself. This is an allegory for the enactments instituted by the Elders and the Prophets, which are mitzvot we adorned ourselves with: washing the hands (netilat yadayim), eiruv tavshilin, and the rest of the seven rabbinic mitzvot, followed by all the enactments of the Sages throughout the generations, which are countless mitzvot. All of this led to: "you grew exceedingly beautiful, and you were fit for royalty" - in the days of David and Shlomo, when we were already worthy of the exalted stature of having a king arise from among us to judge the people with justice and righteousness.
Your Fame Went Forth Among the Nations - and Not by Your Own Strength
וַיֵּצֵא לָךְ שֵׁם בַּגּוֹיִם בְּיׇפְיֵךְ, כִּי כָּלִיל הוּא בַּהֲדָרִי אֲשֶׁר־שַׂמְתִּי עָלַיִךְ נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה׃ - And your fame went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had placed upon you, says the Lord Hashem.
Radak explains that this refers to the reigns of David and Shlomo. "It was perfect" - it was complete, for all matters of beauty and splendor were in perfection. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, says: "Through My splendor which I had placed upon you" - all of this tremendous success came through My help. Because you fulfilled My will, I gave you dominion over the nations. This did not come about through your own power or the might of your hand.
The Malbim adds scriptural proofs: regarding David it is said, "David's fame went out into all lands," and regarding Shlomo, "and all the nations brought tribute to Shlomo." Yet in truth, this did not stem from you; rather, it all came through Divine Providence, by Hashem's glory shining upon them.
The Beginning of the Decline: But You Trusted in Your Beauty
וַתִּבְטְחִי בְיׇפְיֵךְ וַתִּזְנִי עַל־שְׁמֵךְ, וַתִּשְׁפְּכִי אֶת־תַּזְנוּתַיִךְ עַל־כׇּל־עוֹבֵר לוֹ־יֶהִי׃ - But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotries on anyone passing by; to him it belonged.
From here onward, the prophet begins to describe the decline. "You trusted in your beauty" - you put your trust in your beauty as though it were inherent to you of your own accord, whereas it had already been made clear that this beauty did not originate from you, but from Me.
The Malbim describes a gradual deterioration in stages. First, "and you harloted on your renown" - she had not yet committed actual harlotry, but her reputation alone caused it. This is similar to what Chazal said regarding Rachav: "Whoever says 'Rachav, Rachav' immediately has an emission" - the mere mention of her name aroused passion. Afterward, "and you poured out your harlotries upon every passerby" - anyone passing by who saw you had the fire of desire ignited within him, in a way that "his it became" (lo yehi): even though you did not actually commit harlotry with him, you aroused lust and longing in him, and these were already entrenched in his heart.
From here, the Malbim infers the difference between zenut and taznut: zenut is the act itself, whereas taznut is arousing others to desire her.
Harlotry in the Prophets - An Allegory for Idolatry
The Radak, along with the other commentators and the Malbim, explain all the harlotry described here as an expression of idolatry (avodah zarah). In the Torah it is already stated, "after which you stray (zonim)," and in the Prophets the expressions are far more potent, to the point where it is allegorized as outright prostitution. The Radak writes explicitly: every mention of harlotry concerning Knesset Yisrael refers to idolatry, and even though the poetic metaphor deals with harlotry, one must always seek the underlying meaning in idolatry.
And why specifically this metaphor? There are two explanations. The literal, plain-sense explanation is from the Vilna Gaon: we have a tradition that next to every temple of idol worship there was a house of prostitution. The priests' method of drawing people to idolatry was through licentious parties, and part of the cultic ritual itself involved harlotry. After all, it was far more alluring to be drawn after permissive idols than after a demanding Torah. Therefore, you will always find expressions of harlotry in connection with idolatry, for this was the very nature of its worship.
And the conceptual explanation: the bond between the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Community of Israel is a relationship of a beloved and his bride, as discussed extensively in the lessons on Shir HaShirim. In Kabbalah, this is described as the dimension of union (zivug), Zeir Anpin and Nukva, where Nukva is the aspect of Malchut, Knesset Yisrael. The Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai was a chuppah - "He held the mountain over them like a cask" - and there kiddushin and the deep bond between us and Hashem took place. Consequently, when the people of Israel abandon and rebel against Hashem, it bears the exact character of a woman rebelling against her husband and committing adultery with others. We have an original master and husband, the Holy One, blessed be He, yet we abandoned Him and went to seek other masters - "and they went and served the Baalim." And why is it called Ba'al? Because they made it their master (ba'al). Just like a woman departing from under the authority of her husband, so did the people of Israel leave the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, to take other idols and powers upon which to rely.
According to this, "and you harloted on your renown" means you strayed after other gods, in the vein of "Yeshurun grew fat and kicked." And the metaphor here is of a prostitute abandoned to all, who is not content with the men of her own town, but gives herself freely to all wayfarers and foreigners. This is an utterly humiliating expression, and in truth, that is how it was: "For as the number of your cities were your gods, O Yehudah" - 365 idols, corresponding to the days of the solar year, and every day they would worship a different idol. And the Holy One, blessed be He, said: "My children did not even treat Me like the lupine eaten at the end of a meal." That is to say, you already worship every idol - at least take the Master of the World as one option among them! But not even that. Three hundred and sixty-five idols, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is not even an option.
Targum Yonatan interprets lo yehi as lo y'hei ("it should not be") - something that is not fitting to be, nor should it be done, yet this is what you did.
The Patched High Places - Harlotry in Secret
וַתִּקְחִי מִבְּגָדַיִךְ וַתַּעֲשִׂי־לָךְ בָּמוֹת טְלֻאוֹת וַתִּזְנִי עֲלֵיהֶם, לֹא בָאוֹת וְלֹא יִהְיֶה׃ - And you took of your garments and made for yourself patched high places, and played the harlot on them; the like had never come, nor shall it ever be.
Targum Yonatan translates: "And you took your garments and made for yourself covered high places" - you took your garments and made high places out of them, and upon them you offered priestly loaves to idolatry, "and you went astray upon them, improperly and unfittingly" - and you engaged in idolatry upon them in an improper and unfitting manner.
The Malbim continues with the allegory of the prostitute: you took your garments, turned them into patches and pieces, and made bamot (high places) out of them - something elevated, meaning high cushions and pillows to commit harlotry upon them. Note the precision: at this stage, the harlotry was still in private. "They shall not come, nor shall it be" - these garments will not come again, and you will not have others in their place. Those very clothes given to you by the benefactor who took you out of the ash heaps, you tore to pieces to make cushions and pillows for harlotry, even though you will never possess their like again.
And what is the nimshal (the underlying meaning)? The garments are the Torah and mitzvot we received at Mount Sinai. "They shall not come" - they will not come to you again, even if they existed; "and it shall not be" - and they will no longer exist at all. That is to say, Hashem will never descend upon Mount Sinai again to proclaim the Torah and mitzvot to us a second time. And everything that I did for you there - why did you take it? To commit harlotry upon them before a straying people, to serve idolatry.
Male Images - Harlotry That Is Not Absolute Harlotry
וַתִּקְחִי כְּלֵי תִפְאַרְתֵּךְ מִזְּהָבִי וּמִכַּסְפִּי אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָךְ, וַתַּעֲשִׂי־לָךְ צַלְמֵי זָכָר וַתִּזְנִי־בָם׃ - You took the vessels of your splendor, of My gold and of My silver that I had given you, and you made for yourself images of men, and you played the harlot with them.
From the vessels of gold and silver you made male images and engaged in harlotry with them. The Malbim notes precisely: this was not yet betrayal with an actual man, which would express leaving her husband's authority entirely, but rather harlotry with an image made in the likeness of a male. Moreover, it was still done in privacy, like the cushions she made from the garments. Only later will we see an "eminent place" (gav) and a "high place" (ramah) in the open streets - that is the next stage, where the deterioration is far greater.
Which era does this correspond to? The Malbim explains: from the days of Rechavam until Achaz. During that era, they did not yet worship idols publicly, but in private; furthermore, they did not worship them as deities, but rather as a means to draw down heavenly bounty to the lower realms. They served the heavenly bodies not as gods in which they truly believed, but as forces that could exert influence, as something expedient, rather than as a heartfelt conviction. This is the meaning of "male images" - it was not literal adultery, but it appeared like harlotry.
Furthermore, the images were made "from the vessels of your splendor" - for she still retained her glorious garments, namely the Torah and the mitzvot. In this first stage, they still had Torah and mitzvot, and with these very garments of splendor they engaged in idol worship. How so? As mentioned, not out of belief in the idol, but as an intermediary between themselves and the Holy One, blessed be He, as a conduit to channel bounty from Him, blessed be He, while it remained clear that all abundance ultimately originated from Him. Even so, by doing this she corrupted her splendid garments. And although it was not literal adultery, she already acquired the reputation of a harlot; this is the meaning of "and you played the harlot because of your renown" - you already developed the reputation of an idolater. And "you poured out your harlotries upon every passerby" - meaning that others also learned from her corrupt deeds. It turns out that our betrayal and idolatry became a form of darkness to the nations, adversely influencing those around us as well.
The Embroidered Garments, the Oil, and the Incense
וַתִּקְחִי אֶת־בִּגְדֵי רִקְמָתֵךְ וַתְּכַסִּים, וְשַׁמְנִי וּקְטׇרְתִּי נָתַתְּ לִפְנֵיהֶם׃ - And you took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set My oil and My incense before them.
After turning her clothes into colorful high places - cushions and pillows to commit harlotry upon - she was left with nothing but her embroidered garments, which were the tunic, the innermost garment covering her flesh, as stated earlier, "And I clothed you in embroidery." Even these she took and covered the images with them, and the oil and incense that Hashem had given her, she offered up before the idols.
The Bread That Never Ceased
וְלַחְמִי אֲשֶׁר־נָתַתִּי לָךְ סֹלֶת וָשֶׁמֶן וּדְבַשׁ הֶאֱכַלְתִּיךְ, וּנְתַתִּיהוּ לִפְנֵיהֶם לְרֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ וַיֶּהִי נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה׃ - And My bread that I gave you, the fine flour, oil, and honey with which I fed you, you set it before them as a pleasing aroma; and so it was, says the Lord Hashem.
Rashi cites the Midrash of Chazal explaining that this refers to the generation of the wilderness: on the very day they made the golden calf, the manna descended for them, and they set some of it before the calf, saying, "These are your gods, O Israel." Yet despite this, "and it was on the following day" and it did not cease. How astonishing! The manna that Hashem gives them - they offer to the calf. Hashem might well have said to them: "You want to offer food to the calf? Give it from what is yours; I will stop the manna, and you can ask him to give you some." Even so, the Holy One, blessed be He, did not halt the manna. See how great is Hashem's lovingkindness toward us.
This is also explicitly stated in the Book of Nechemiah, chapter 9 (which Rashi refers to as "Ezra," as it was called in his day, as we discussed at length when studying Ezra and Nechemiah): "Even when they made for themselves a molten calf... yet You in Your abundant mercies did not forsake them... and You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth." Our Sages commented: It was fitting to withhold it from them - yet You did not withhold it. And this is the meaning of "and it was" in our verse: the bread continued and did not cease from falling the next day; so expounded Rabbi Tanchuma.
The Malbim notes a precise shift in language: In the previous verse it says, "and My oil and My incense *you* set before them" - you placed it; whereas here it says, "and *I* set it before them" - I placed it. How so? Through the word "and it was." Since the bread continued and did not cease, it was as if I Myself set it before the idols. For if a person gives something to his fellow knowing that he will offer it to idols, it is as though he gave it himself, since he knows where it is heading. Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I continued to give you bread, and by doing so, I continued to give you the means to sacrifice to idolatry.
The Malbim makes another fine distinction: In contrast to the garments, about which it is said "they shall not come, nor shall it be," this is not the case with the bread. The Revelation at Mount Sinai will not happen again, but the bread did come and will continue to be, and that is why it says "and it was."
All this, the Malbim explains, describes what they did up to the days of Achaz, but not including them. Until then, they still served the idols as intermediaries to receive divine bounty and not out of full conviction, nor had they thrown off all restraint entirely. Even so, they already practiced idolatry in the days of Rechavam and Aviyah, and it is written of Asa's mother that she made a "mifletzet (abominable image) for the Asherah." What is a mifletzet? Our Sages said: "mifli leitzanuta," one who increases mockery - meaning she made a male image to commit lewdness with it. This corresponds precisely to "and you made for yourself images of men, and played the harlot with them." In the days of the wicked Atalyahu, it is written that her sons broke into the House of God and used all the sacred items of the House of Hashem for the Baalim - this is the meaning of "and My oil and My incense you set before them," for the oil and incense dedicated in the Temple to Hashem's honor were presented to idols. Likewise, it is written of Amatzyahu that he burned incense to the gods of Seir. Yet still, the Malbim notes, everything was done covertly: the service of the House of Hashem remained intact, and they still offered sacrifices to Hashem, blessed be He. Only in the next stage did they transition to public idolatry, when all boundaries were breached and it became the official worship rather than an adjunct to the service of Hashem.
Your Children and My Children - Sacrificing Children to Molech
וַתִּקְחִי אֶת־בָּנַיִךְ וְאֶת־בְּנוֹתַיִךְ אֲשֶׁר יָלַדְתְּ לִי וַתִּזְבָּחִים לָהֶם לֶאֱכוֹל, הַמְעַט מִתַּזְנוּתָיִךְ׃ - "And you took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to Me, and sacrificed them to them to be devoured; was this a small matter compared to your harlotries?"
וַתִּשְׁחֲטִי אֶת־בָּנָי, וַתִּתְּנִים בְּהַעֲבִיר אוֹתָם לָהֶם׃ - "And you slaughtered My children, and gave them up by passing them through [the fire] to them."
Here, the Malbim explains, the verse describes what was done in the days of Achaz, who served idols publicly and passed his sons through the fire to Molech. Note the distinction: first "your sons" and then "My children." "Your sons" refers to those born of your promiscuity; "whom you bore to Me" means you attributed them to Me because they grew up in My house, but in truth they were not Mine, but fathered by those who committed adultery with you. Those you took and sacrificed to them, and this was "a small matter compared to your harlotries" - just a fraction of the illicit sins you committed. And then, "and you slaughtered My children" - those who were truly born of Me.
And what is the meaning of "and gave them up by passing them through to them"? The halachah is that one is not liable for the worship of Molech until he hands the child over to the pagan priests, and afterwards passes him through himself. Two actions are required: handing over the child to the priest, and then the father passing him through to the Molech. Thus: "and gave them up" - to the priests, "by passing them through to them" - you yourself passed them through, which is the prescribed rite of Molech worship.
Rashi's Commentary: Sacrificing the Yeshivah Student
Rashi cites a remarkable explanation here from Midrash Tanchuma: A man had five sons; four of them he designated for idolatry, and one was designated for the house of study. Yet when he came to sacrifice one of his sons to Molech, whom did he sacrifice? Specifically the one who had been designated to study Torah! Four were sent to professions and to idolatrous service, and one to yeshivah, so there would be some remembrance of grandfather's tradition - and precisely him they took from the yeshivah and sacrificed.
This is far more than a mere parable, for it reflects a widespread phenomenon in human life. It is told of the Maharam Shapira of Lublin that he once went to fundraise in a certain community, and they told him that times were hard, businesses had collapsed, and the global economic situation was at a low point. He delivered a sermon and said to them: Gentlemen, our Sages state that one of the grounds for divorce is if "she burned his food." Could such a thing be taken at face value? Has there ever been a wife who never once burned a dish? Would one divorce over that? You would leave no life for any person!
Rather, he said, there are three types of wives. There is a wife who, when the food burns, says: Why should my husband suffer? I was not paying attention - so she serves the clean upper portion to her husband and eats the burnt bottom portion herself. Then there is an average wife who says: He married me for better or worse, so she divides the pot vertically, half for me and half for him. And there is a wicked wife who says: My husband only returns at two o'clock, and I sit down to eat at one and cannot wait - she eats the top portion, and when her husband arrives, his portion is the burnt one. This is "she burned his dish" - she specifically burned *his* dish! Such a woman is indeed fit for divorce.
He told them: This is precisely what happens with you. You talk about difficulties in business, but I see that you did not cancel your vacation abroad, you continue the children's extracurricular activities, and you did not give up on the new car either. All personal matters are fine. Only when it comes to donating to Torah and yeshivos - there you tell the Master of the Universe: Your portion was burnt; business took a hit. Did only the tzedakah's share take a loss, while your own share lost nothing? Let us at least not act like the wicked wife, and at the very least split it half and half.
This is a great moral lesson echoing Rashi's words. There is a well-known saying: When the ship is sinking and everyone needs to throw something overboard to lighten the load, there are those whose first thought is to throw their tefillin. When finances become tight, the first thing they cut is ma'aser and tzedakah. Similarly, a rosh kollel once remarked on the Mishnah, "You have no truly free man except one who engages in Torah study": When something needs organizing, dishes need to be brought for a Sheva Berachos, someone needs to run to the gemach - who will do it? David works and cannot; Yaakov wakes up early and has obligations and travel; Shlomo is at university and cannot miss class. Who is left? Aharon from the kollel. "You have no free man except one who engages in Torah study" - he is "free", so his time can be wasted.
And how common this reality is: when a person encounters a hardship, the first thing he gives up is the shiur. To everything else he is committed, but the shiur - today we cannot make it. And this is precisely what is said here: the share belonging to Torah, the son designated for Torah study - him specifically you sacrificed to Molech. It ought to be just the opposite: one never gives up on the shiur under any circumstances; if necessary, it should come at the expense of an afternoon rest and a thousand and one other things, but never at the expense of the shiur. Let there not be a situation of "your sons and your daughters whom you bore to Me, and you sacrificed them to them to be consumed."
Rashi cites another interpretation of "whom you bore to Me" - these are the firstborn, as stated later in Yechezkel chapter 20: "And I defiled them through their gifts, in causing to pass through [the fire] all that opens the womb." The firstborn, who were meant to be the servants of Hashem's dwelling, since whatever opens the womb belongs to Hashem - them specifically you took and sacrificed to idolatry.
You Did Not Remember the Days of Your Youth
וְאֵת כׇּל־תּוֹעֲבֹתַיִךְ וְתַזְנֻתַיִךְ לֹא זָכַרְתְּ אֶת־יְמֵי נְעוּרָיִךְ, בִּהְיוֹתֵךְ עֵירֹם וְעֶרְיָה מִתְבּוֹסֶסֶת בְּדָמֵךְ הָיִית׃ - 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: Through all these abominations you arrived at this state, where you did not remember your past. Had you remembered your previous condition and the wondrous miracles Hashem performed for you, you would have felt awe of His punishments, fearing that at any moment He could return you to your initial state - naked and bare, wallowing in your blood, as described at the beginning of the chapter. But you did not remember, and consequently you did not remember that just as He took you out of there, He could return you there. By straying after foreign gods away from Hashem, you forgot Him completely and attributed everything to coincidence: by chance we left Egypt, by chance we overcame our enemies - and you failed to see the hand of Hashem in it.
Woe, Woe to You
וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי כׇּל־רָעָתֵךְ, אוֹי אוֹי לָךְ נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה׃ - And it came to pass after all your wickedness - woe, woe to you! says the Lord Hashem.
Radak explains "and it came to pass" - just as you were naked and bare at the beginning, so after everything you did you remained naked and destitute. Later we will see more explicit expressions of how all that straying after the Ba'alim brought about deterioration after deterioration, until they returned to their very original state: He exiled them, and they arrived at Chalach, Chavor, the Gozan River, beyond the Mountains of Darkness, to desolate mountains and all manner of harsh places in the regions of Afghanistan and wherever else. And then you returned to your former state - naked and bare of Torah and mitzvos, wallowing in your blood.
And why "woe" twice? Targum Yonasan explains: "Woe to you because you sinned, and woe to you because you did not repent." For even if a person acted wickedly, he has the ability to repent.
The Malbim explains that this refers to Achaz. Hashem struck him with various afflictions, and had he remembered that there is a God Who judges and watches over the world, he would have repented, as the Targum says. Instead, as it is written in Divrei HaYamim II 28: "And in the time of his distress, he trespassed yet more against Hashem" - rather than understanding that the blows came to bring him back onto the right path, he rebelled even further. The more Hashem continued to strike him, the more he intensified his treachery.
Gav and Ramah - Idolatry Moves Out into the Open
וַתִּבְנִי־לָךְ גָּב, וַתַּעֲשִׂי־לָךְ רָמָה בְּכׇל־רְחוֹב׃ - And you built yourself a platform, and made yourself a high place in every street.
Until now, the idolatry was done in secret, but from now on: "And you built yourself a platform (gav)" - a prominent, level, and elevated structure; "and made yourself a high place (ramah)" - an elevated spot that would be visible to all, in every street. That is to say, a dedicated place for idolatry at the head of every public thoroughfare, unlike before when they worshipped in concealment.
אֶל־כׇּל־רֹאשׁ דֶּרֶךְ בָּנִית רָמָתֵךְ, וַתְּתַעֲבִי אֶת־יׇפְיֵךְ וַתְּפַשְּׂקִי אֶת־רַגְלַיִךְ לְכׇל־עוֹבֵר וַתַּרְבִּי אֶת־תַּזְנוּתָיִךְ׃ - At the head of every path you built your high place, and made your beauty abominable, and spread your legs to every passerby, and multiplied your harlotry.
"At the head of every path" - on the main crossroads, so that even someone who is not from the area and does not know you would see you as he passes by and commit harlotry with you. And the allegorical meaning: you built altars and molten images on the high mountains, on the hills, and along the roads, so that even a person who naturally knew nothing of idolatry would encounter it and worship it.
"And made your beauty abominable" - you became like a harlot, a woman abandoned to promiscuity, whose beauty became loathsome and whose face grew worn from excessive promiscuity. Metzudas David explains: you made your beauty vile and despised by displaying it to anyone who wished. A precious thing is hidden away and guarded, but you treated your beauty as cheap, the proof being that you exposed it to every passerby.
"And spread your legs to every passerby" - like the nations who submit to all idols and are willing to subjugate themselves before every deity. "And multiplied your harlotry" - you multiplied your infidelity to foreign worship, serving every god, as we saw: 365 types of idols, corresponding to the days of the solar year. You were willing to accept upon yourself any master, meaning every form of idolatry, and in this way you multiplied your harlotry across numerous kinds of idol worship.
In Summary:
In these verses, the prophet leads us along two opposite paths. First, an ascent: the Holy One, blessed be He, adorns the Congregation of Israel with ornaments - the Tablets of the Covenant, mitzvos associated with the eye, ear, and sense of smell, the Clouds of Glory, the Mishkan, and the Manna - and on top of this, Israel adds from themselves, "and you adorned yourself with gold and silver," the enactments of the Sages and rabbinic mitzvos, until "you became exceedingly beautiful and succeeded to royalty" in the days of David and Shlomo, when Hashem Himself testifies, "through My splendor which I put upon you." And then the decline begins: "And you trusted in your beauty" - the self-confidence that the beauty belongs to me - which leads, step by step, from straying based merely on one's own renown, to phallic images in secret during the days of Rechavam through Achaz, and from there to sacrificing children to the Molech in public, and to high places at the head of every road. The root of it all, says the Malbim, is "you did not remember the days of your youth" - you forgot where you came from and Who lifted you up. And Rashi left us a profound lesson: that man who had five sons, and specifically the yeshivah student among them was the one he sacrificed to the Molech. This is our lesson for the generations: when a time of pressure arrives, let the first thing we surrender not be the portion of the Holy One, blessed be He.