Introduction: The History of Rebellion and Hashem's Kindness - A Historical Survey by the Prophet
In the chapter before us, the prophet Yechezkel lays out before the elders of Israel a historical overview of the nation's rebellion from Egypt down to his own days. In contrast to this rebellion stands a succession of acts of loving-kindness by the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who did not destroy them - both out of His mercy and for the sake of His Name, so that it would not be desecrated among the nations. In the section before us, we reach the stage of the Exodus from Egypt, the giving of the statutes and ordinances, the gift of Shabbat, the sins of the wilderness generation and the sins of their children after them, leading up to the striking verse, "Moreover, I also gave them statutes that were not good."
The Exodus into the Wilderness - The Place of Learning and Perpetual Miracles
וָאוֹצִיאֵם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם וָאֲבִאֵם אֶל־הַמִּדְבָּר׃ - So I led them forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
I brought them out of Egypt and led them into the wilderness specifically so that there I could teach them My statutes and My commandments. In the wilderness, they experienced constant miracles, making it the ideal setting for receiving the Torah.
Chukim and Mishpatim - Two Paths to Perfection
וָאֶתֵּן לָהֶם אֶת־חֻקּוֹתַי וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַי הוֹדַעְתִּי אוֹתָם אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אוֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחַי בָּהֶם׃ - And I gave them My statutes, and made known to them My ordinances, which if a man do, he shall live by them.
The Malbim explains: "I devised My plans" - My entire aim was to bring them to perfection in both realms: in matters between man and his fellow man, and in matters between man and God. Corresponding to the realm between man and God, I gave them the statutes (chukim); and corresponding to the realm between man and his fellow man, the ordinances (mishpatim).
The chukim are matters that must be accepted as axioms. No one can explain why tefillin must have specifically four compartments rather than five, or why they contain the passage of Shema rather than the passage of the Manna. All the commandments between man and God fall under the category of a chok: "It is a decree I have enacted, an edict I have ordained." Although we offer explanations for many things to make them more accessible to reason, and certainly according to Kabbalah and the inner teachings of the Torah there is a deeper interior meaning, the essence of the matter remains a statute whose underlying rationale is beyond human comprehension.
In contrast, "and made known to them My ordinances" - mishpatim always refer to laws governing relations between man and his fellow man, as it is written, "Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them": matters of damages, an ox that gores, a Hebrew servant, and the like. Mishpatim have reasons that human intellect can grasp: the owner of an ox that gores must pay, and for an innocuous ox (tam) one pays half-damages - which is also thoroughly reasonable. All matters of mishpatim are logical and understandable.
And all this is "which if a man do" - because man is composed of both matter and spirit, in his material conduct and how to interact with his fellow man, he requires mishpatim; and in his spiritual conduct and how to relate to his Creator, he requires chukim. These constitute Torah and mitzvot.
"He Shall Live by Them" - Two Kinds of Life
Our Sages say: "And live by them" - referring to both dimensions of life, the physical and the spiritual. And as the Targum renders: "And live by them to eternal life," meaning that man will live through them in the World to Come. Yet in truth, it also refers to life here in this world, for reality demonstrates that anyone who lives according to the Torah leads an upright and happy life. He builds a proper home, educates his children well, derives true nachas from them; by age forty-five he already has grandchildren, and by sixty he is marrying off grandchildren. In short: he enjoys tranquility and peace in his dwelling.
Moreover, precisely among those about whom one might wonder how they manage to get by - the vast majority of Torah scholars and kollel yungerleit own apartments. A father of thirteen children once related: "Every one of them has an apartment, and if you ask me how - I have no explanation. My wife does not work, and I worked as a school principal with an ordinary salary." He said: "People asked me how I managed to marry off my children. I answered: I did nothing; the Holy One, blessed be He, married them off, and I was merely invited to the wedding!" Take a pencil and paper and try to calculate it - there is no natural explanation. That is to say, when one walks in the way of Hashem, one sees nachas and righteous generations, and that is the meaning of "and live by them."
Indeed, when the Torah enjoins a person to fulfill the mitzvot, nowhere will you find: "Fulfill the mitzvot so that it will be good for you in the World to Come." The World to Come is not explicitly mentioned in the Torah, nor in the Prophets, nor in the Writings. There are allusions - many allusions - including to the resurrection of the dead, but it is not stated explicitly. The Torah says: Fulfill the mitzvot "that it may go well with you," "that you may live." The Torah promises the rewards here, as if to say: Look and see whether one who lives according to the Torah fares well or not. And reality proves that his path is the true way of life. By contrast, one who spends his entire life chasing desires, materialism, and worldly pleasures finds no end to it, destroying himself, his family, and his home in an endless pursuit. But one who lives a spiritual life enjoys a good and eternal life - not only there, but here as well.
The Gift of Shabbat - "Go and Inform Them"
וְגַם אֶת־שַׁבְּתוֹתַי נָתַתִּי לָהֶם לִהְיוֹת לְאוֹת בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיהֶם לָדַעַת כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה מְקַדְּשָׁם׃ - "Moreover, I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Hashem who sanctifies them."
In addition to the decrees and ordinances, I gave them a precious gift: the Shabbat. This was so they would remember the day of rest on which the Holy One, blessed be He, rested when He created the world, and also remember that Hashem brought us out from slavery to freedom. This is "a sign between Me and you," "that they might know that I am Hashem who sanctifies them."
And what is the meaning of "that they might know"? Our Sages say: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, "I have a precious gift in My treasury, and Shabbat is its name; go and inform them." Why is it necessary to inform them? Because one who gives a gift to a friend must let him know what he has given; otherwise, the recipient will not treat it with the appropriate importance. A person gives his friend a watch, and the friend looks at it and thinks: It does not look very new, he probably just had no use for it. When the battery dies, he says, "There is no point in fixing it," and tosses it into the trash. Then, by chance, he happens upon a jeweler who tells him: What are you talking about? There are only six watches like this in the entire world! It is worth seven hundred thousand dollars; bring it here and I will buy it on the spot. Or suppose he gave him a bracelet, and the recipient assumes the stones are cubic zirconia, completely unaware that they are genuine diamonds. Therefore, one who gives a gift must let his friend know what he gave, so that he will know to appreciate it properly.
This is the meaning of "Go and inform them": so they do not think Shabbat is merely a day of leisure, wasting it away on pistachios. Know that Shabbat is a holy day, and every mitzvah you fulfill on it is multiplied a thousandfold, as the Ben Ish Chai writes - and some say at least a thousandfold. Incidentally, people often forget that sins on Shabbat are likewise multiplied a thousandfold. Shabbat is an elevation of the spiritual realms; everything operates at far higher spiritual temperatures - both the mitzvot and, Heaven forbid, the transgressions. Therefore, one who devotes an hour to a Torah shiur on Shabbat - fortunate is he and fortunate is his portion! There were great sages who would not sleep on Shabbat at all, completing the entire tractate of Shabbat from beginning to end rather than squandering the day in sleep. Although sleep is indeed mentioned as part of the delight of Shabbat, each person must act according to his spiritual level. The essential point is that we understand what a gift the Holy One, blessed be He, has given us, and thereby learn to value it.
A story is told, attributed to Rav Elimelech Biderman, of an impoverished man who once came to a Jew asking for charity. The host searched throughout the entire house and could not find a single coin, until he noticed a ring belonging to his wife and handed it to the poor man. When his wife came home and realized he had given something away, she became alarmed and asked: "What did you give him?" He answered: "I do not know, there was some ring lying there." She told him: "That was a diamond ring!" Immediately, he ran after the poor man - not to take the ring back, but to inform him: "Know that this is a real diamond! Do not sell it cheaply; demand its full value, and do not let anyone take advantage of you!" That is "Go and inform them": make known to them the sublime value of Shabbat so they treat it with the reverence it deserves.
Shabbat - Testimony to the Creation of the World
The mitzvah of Shabbat is immense and weighs against all the mitzvot combined, and we find time and again that the Radak, in his rebukes, admonishes Israel regarding the observance of Shabbat. One who desecrates Shabbat is considered in Halachah like a non-Jew in all respects, and his touch renders wine yayin nesech - an indication of the immense severity of the matter. The Malbim explains that the uniqueness of Shabbat lies in the fact that it serves as testimony to the creation of the world. And why does the touch of a Shabbat desecrator render wine yayin nesech? Because he denies the Work of Creation.
Why, then, are halachic authorities nowadays more inclined to be lenient in this regard? Because today a person might recite Kiddush and then drive on Shabbat, not out of ideological denial of the Work of Creation, but under the category of "merely continuing the habits of their fathers." He is akin to a tinok shenishba (a person raised without knowledge of Torah); his conduct stems from habit and desire rather than heresy. Yet according to the fundamental Halachah, one who does not observe Shabbat demonstrates that he does not believe that Hashem created His world in six days and rested on the seventh, making him a denier of the creation of the world.
Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: See what special gifts I gave you - the Shabbat, which is testimony to the divine providence attached to the People of Israel, and see how it is a sign between Me and you that I cause My Shechinah to rest upon you. "To know that I am the Lord Who sanctifies them" - that through the power of Shabbat you are sanctified, and likewise through the mitzvot, where in every mitzvah we recite "Who has sanctified us with His commandments," and each and every mitzvah sanctifies us. All this was in order to elevate you and raise your stature.
Incidentally, even from a physical perspective this is fascinating: Shabbat was not accepted among any nation, yet come and see how later on everyone adopted a day of rest for themselves - some chose Friday and others Sunday, but everyone adopted a day to be a day of rest.
Furthermore, Shabbat was already given to the People of Israel back in Egypt, and not only at Marah, where the formal commandment alone was given. The Midrash relates that already in Egypt, Moshe Rabbeinu was in Pharaoh's palace and told him: If you want them to work properly, you must give them one day to rest, so they can gather strength and then be able to work properly. Pharaoh told him: Do as you see fit. Moshe went and informed them that there was a day of rest, and selected the day of Shabbat for them, and through this they did not have to work on Shabbat. It turns out that already then they observed Shabbat, while the detailed commandments came at Marah. Therefore, we recite in the prayer, "Moshe rejoiced in the gift of his portion" - "his portion," referring to the share that originated from him, from Moshe Rabbeinu, who was the one who selected the day of Shabbat for Israel.
The Rebellion of the Generation of the Wilderness
וַיַּמְרוּ־בִי בֵית־יִשְׂרָאֵל בַּמִּדְבָּר בְּחֻקּוֹתַי לֹא־הָלָכוּ וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַי מָאָסוּ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחַי בָּהֶם וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתַי חִלְּלוּ מְאֹד וָאֹמַר לִשְׁפֹּךְ חֲמָתִי עֲלֵיהֶם בַּמִּדְבָּר לְכַלּוֹתָם׃ - But the House of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes, and they despised My ordinances, which if a person performs them, he shall live by them, and My Shabbatot they greatly desecrated; and I said I would pour out My wrath upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
In this verse, one can clearly see the rule of the *begadkefat* letters at the beginning of a word: *Vayamru* ends with the letter *vav*, and therefore the dagesh drops from the following letter, read as *vi*; *vi* ends with the letter *yud*, so the dagesh drops and it is read *veit Yisrael*; but *Yisrael* ends with the letter *lamed*, so *bamidbar* has a dagesh in the *beit*, and likewise *bechukotai*, and so forth.
And to the essence of the matter: "The House of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness" - they rebelled against the word of Hashem, which includes all their sins in the wilderness: how they tested Hashem with the Golden Calf and at Rephidim, and how they left over from the manna; "and My Shabbatot they desecrated" - when they went out to gather the manna on Shabbat; "they did not walk in My statutes" - corresponding to what He commanded them at Marah, where "there He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them"; and "they greatly desecrated" - this refers to the first Shabbat that they desecrated. They also transgressed the statutes and ordinances He commanded them, as it says there, "How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My teachings?" For all of this they deserved destruction, and this is the meaning of: "and I said I would pour out My wrath upon them in the wilderness, to consume them."
וָאֶעֱשֶׂה לְמַעַן שְׁמִי לְבִלְתִּי הֵחֵל לְעֵינֵי הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִים לְעֵינֵיהֶם׃ - But I acted for My Name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them out.
Once again the Holy One, blessed be He, says: Here too in the wilderness, just as during the Exodus from Egypt, I acted for My Name's sake so that it would not be profaned among the nations. And just as Moshe Rabbeinu said to the Holy One, blessed be He: "Why should Egypt say: 'With evil intent He brought them out, to slay them in the mountains,'" and "Because Hashem was unable..." "That it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them out" - so that the Name of Heaven would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations, not because they deserved it, but out of Hashem's mercy upon them and out of a desire that His Name not be desecrated among the nations.
An Oath Not to Bring Them into the Land
וְגַם־אֲנִי נָשָׂאתִי יָדִי לָהֶם בַּמִּדְבָּר לְבִלְתִּי הָבִיא אוֹתָם אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ צְבִי הִיא לְכׇל־הָאֲרָצוֹת׃ - And I also lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness, not to bring them into the land that I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all the lands.
"I lifted up My hand" - an expression of swearing an oath, as explained by the Malbim. I swore to them there in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the Land, a land flowing with milk and honey; "the glory (*tzevi*) of all the lands" - magnificent, and the term *tzevi* also connotes desire and yearning, the place that one desires and longs for above all other lands.
יַעַן בְּמִשְׁפָּטַי מָאָסוּ וְאֶת־חֻקּוֹתַי לֹא־הָלְכוּ בָהֶם וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתוֹתַי חִלֵּלוּ כִּי אַחֲרֵי גִלּוּלֵיהֶם לִבָּם הֹלֵךְ׃ - Because they rejected My ordinances, and did not walk in My statutes, and desecrated My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.
The Malbim explains: The Holy One, blessed be He, saw that their rejection of His ordinances did not stem from physical lust or temptation, but rather because "their heart went after their idols" - their hearts were drawn after foreign beliefs and idolatrous abominations, and they lacked faith in Hashem. When a spiritual malady stems from desire, it can still be healed; but when it arises from foreign beliefs, a pull toward idolatry, and a lack of faith in Hashem's capability - as was the case with the spies - it is far more severe, for the sin of heresy is vastly graver than the sin of lust.
"Yet My Eye Spared Them" - Compassion with Purpose
וַתָּחׇס עֵינִי עֲלֵיהֶם מִשַּׁחֲתָם וְלֹא־עָשִׂיתִי אוֹתָם כָּלָה בַּמִּדְבָּר׃ - Yet My eye spared them from destroying them, and I did not bring an end to them in the wilderness.
Nevertheless, My eye spared them and I did not destroy them completely. Mishchatam means "from destroying them," similar to shomer Shabbat mechalelo, which means "from desecrating it." And in what did this forbearance manifest? "And I did not bring an end to them in the wilderness" - although destruction in the wilderness was decreed upon the generation of the fathers, I did not wipe them out entirely, for their children who arose after them entered the Land.
The Malbim adds: Even though the Holy One, blessed be He, swore not to bring them into the Land, their destruction was not instantaneous; rather, it was spread over forty years, for had it been immediate, the children would not have survived.
Furthermore, the Malbim explains in several places the distinction between lachus (to spare) and lerachem (to pity or have mercy). Lachus always applies to something in which one has a use or benefit, as in "and let your eye not spare (al tachos) your vessels." By contrast, lerachem stems from the fact that the subject is inherently deserving of pity, even if no benefit is derived from it. Thus, the term lachus here implies, as it were, a sense of purpose: Hashem saw that by delaying them in the wilderness for forty years, they would witness the hand of Hashem, the continuous miracles, and the wondrous providence. This would fortify them, enabling their children to enter the Land. This is the meaning of "yet My eye spared them" - I saw that there would be a beneficial purpose in this, as though there were something to gain by sparing you.
This is explicitly stated in Devarim chapter 29: "You have seen all that Hashem did before your eyes in the land of Egypt... Yet Hashem did not give you a heart to know... And I led you forty years in the wilderness... so that you would know that I am Hashem your God." The entire purpose of their stay in the wilderness was so that they would know that I am Hashem your God - that they would recognize the greatness of the Creator and His boundless power. The deficiency they had, that flaw of "their heart went after their idols" which stemmed from a lack of faith, would be rectified over forty years. This is what Chazal meant by saying, "A person does not fathom the depth of his teacher's mind until forty years" - these are the forty years in the wilderness, through which their journey ultimately brought them to know that I am Hashem your God. Thus: "Yet My eye spared them from destroying them, and I did not bring an end to them in the wilderness," because I saw the benefit, in that they would ultimately attain faith.
Warning the Children
וָאֹמַר אֶל־בְּנֵיהֶם בַּמִּדְבָּר בְּחוּקֵּי אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם אַל־תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֶת־מִשְׁפְּטֵיהֶם אַל־תִּשְׁמֹרוּ וּבְגִלּוּלֵיהֶם אַל־תִּטַּמָּאוּ׃ - And I said to their children in the wilderness: Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
Here the Holy One, blessed be He, warns the subsequent generation of children as well, who had not yet been completely cleansed of the idols of Egypt, its customs, and its practices. Hashem commands them to observe His statutes and His ordinances, and not to defile themselves with any of those idols.
אֲנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם בְּחֻקּוֹתַי לֵכוּ וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַי שִׁמְרוּ וַעֲשׂוּ אוֹתָם׃ - I am Hashem your God; walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances and perform them.
Since I am the Lord your God, heed Me: walk in My statutes, safeguard My ordinances in your hearts, and fulfill them in practice.
וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתוֹתַי קַדֵּשׁוּ וְהָיוּ לְאוֹת בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם לָדַעַת כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם׃ - And sanctify My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, to know that I am the Lord your God.
And corresponding to the mention that they desecrated Sabbaths, He comes and commands: sanctify My Sabbaths as well, for the Sabbaths are a sign between Me and you. Through Sabbath observance, a person declares that the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world in six days. This is the meaning of "to know that I am the Lord your God" - through this, one knows and proclaims that the Holy One, blessed be He, is our God. Therefore, one who desecrates the Sabbath is like one who denies the Creation, for in doing so he does not acknowledge that the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world in six days.
The Rebellion of the Children and the Withholding of the Hand
וַיַּמְרוּ־בִי הַבָּנִים בְּחֻקּוֹתַי לֹא־הָלָכוּ וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַי לֹא־שָׁמְרוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת אוֹתָם אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אוֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחַי בָּהֶם אֶת־שַׁבְּתוֹתַי חִלֵּלוּ וָאֹמַר לִשְׁפֹּךְ חֲמָתִי עֲלֵיהֶם לְכַלּוֹת אַפִּי בָּם בַּמִּדְבָּר׃ - But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor did they keep My ordinances to perform them, which if a man does them, he shall live by them; they desecrated My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My wrath upon them, to spend My anger against them in the wilderness.
After seeing the fathers sin, Scripture comes and says: see that the children also continued in the path of their fathers. "But the children rebelled against Me" - this refers to the tribe of Dan, those who attached themselves to Baal Peor after the generation of the wilderness had died, and Korach and his assembly. They too continued in the ways of their fathers, and against them too wrath went forth.
וַהֲשִׁבֹתִי אֶת־יָדִי וָאַעַשׂ לְמַעַן שְׁמִי לְבִלְתִּי הֵחֵל לְעֵינֵי הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר־הוֹצֵאתִי אוֹתָם לְעֵינֵיהֶם׃ - Nevertheless I withdrew My hand, and acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.
What is the meaning of "Nevertheless I withdrew My hand"? Metzudat David explains: I withdrew My hand from striking them; I did not exact retribution from them. And why? "And acted for My name's sake." Malbim adds that the plague had already begun there and started striking them; therefore, the wording is "I withdrew My hand" - drawing back a hand that was already engaged, that had already arrived and was striking, as in the phrase "He drew back His hand from destroying," where the hand was already set to engulf everything and Hashem pulls it back. Here too, it was not because they deserved it, but "for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations."
The Three Occurrences of "For My Name's Sake"
Malbim notes: the expression "for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations" recurs three times in our chapter, and all three describe situations of the People of Israel before they entered the Land.
The first time was in Egypt, when they had not yet received the Torah. There, as seen at the beginning of the chapter, after the Egyptians heard that the People of Israel were about to be redeemed, and even though they deserved punishment - since Hashem rebuked them to abandon their idols while still in Egypt and they did not listen - had He struck them there, it would have resulted in a massive desecration of Hashem's name. Therefore, "for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned," I did not strike them in Egypt.
The second time was in the wilderness, at the beginning of the forty years, when despite having received the Torah, they had not yet been completely purified of the idols of Egypt; this was like the yeast in the dough that leavens the entire batch. There too, a desecration of Hashem's name would have ensued: "Why should the Egyptians speak, saying: 'He brought them out with evil intent,'" and "Because the Lord was unable."
And the third time - that is the one before us, in the generation of the children, "And the children rebelled against Me," at the end of their stay in the wilderness after forty years, but still before entering the Land. And throughout all those times, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, had not yet completed His mission. When Hashem can say, "I have completed My mission" - I can exact retribution from them; but as long as I have not completed it, people will come and say, "Because Hashem was unable," see, in the end He did not bring them into the Land. Therefore, three times I had mercy upon them so that My Name would not be desecrated in the world, until I bring them into the Land. Once they enter the Land - it is done; Hashem has fulfilled His part. But prior to that, they would say, "Hashem is unable," and this would cause a desecration of Hashem's Name (chillul Hashem). Therefore, even at the end of the forty years, since I had not yet completed the act of bringing them into the Land, it would have been a chillul Hashem, and therefore: "And I acted for the sake of My Name."
The Oath to Scatter Them Among the Nations
גַּם־אֲנִי נָשָׂאתִי אֶת־יָדִי לָהֶם בַּמִּדְבָּר לְהָפִיץ אֹתָם בַּגּוֹיִם וּלְזָרוֹת אוֹתָם בָּאֲרָצוֹת׃ - I also lifted My hand to them in the wilderness, to scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands.
"I lifted My hand to them in the wilderness" - according to the simple meaning, I swore to them in the wilderness. And what did I swear? To scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands. The Radak cites that King David says similarly in Tehillim: "He lifted His hand to them, to make them fall in the wilderness, and to cast their seed among the nations" - that He swore to make them fall in the wilderness and to scatter their seed among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands.
Yet this alone is not enough, for the question is about Yechezkel, and we are bringing proof from Tehillim. Where is this written in the Torah? After all, we find no account in the Torah where the People of Israel are in the wilderness and Hashem swears to scatter them and disperse them throughout the lands! Rashi explains that this refers to what is said in the Torah: "When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make an idol, the likeness of anything..." and there the Torah promises that, Heaven forbid, they will be expelled from the Land. Thus, "I lifted My hand to them in the wilderness to scatter them among the nations" does not mean that I swore to scatter them immediately, but rather that in the wilderness I swore that if they enter the Land and "grow old in the land and act corruptly and make an idol," then "you will surely perish from upon the land that Hashem your God is giving you" - then, and only then. At any rate, we have found where this is written in the Torah, as an explicit warning is stated there.
The Radak, by contrast, explains that this oath was indeed uttered in the wilderness, and even though it is not explicitly recorded there, we see it being fulfilled. For it is written: "Then the Amalekite and the Canaanite who dwelt in that mountain came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as Hormah" - here you see that already in the wilderness, Hashem exacted retribution from them and scattered them. And likewise: "And the Canaanite, king of Arad, heard... and took some of them captive" - this is "and disperse them throughout the lands." In other words, Radak understands that the scattering already began in the wilderness, unlike Rashi who holds that in the wilderness this was a promise regarding what would happen 850 years later in the Land. In that captivity, Radak explains, their captors removed them far away and sold them to other nations of the world.
Radak also cites what Rashi quotes in the name of the Midrash: regarding what is written, "And the people wept on that night" - it was the night of Tisha B'Av. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: You wept a weeping for nothing; I shall establish for you a weeping for generations. Here is another indication that already then Hashem told them that they were destined to be scattered, that the Temple would be destroyed, and that the People of Israel would be dispersed among the nations. Thus we see that this decree was already established in the wilderness.
And the Malbim explains: Although the Holy One, blessed be He, did not exact retribution from them on account of chillul Hashem, I saw that the time for rectifying them had not yet arrived, and I saw that by their nature they were still prone to sin and had not been purified of their iniquities. I saw that the Exodus from Egypt was not an eternal redemption, and that Israel would yet undergo further exiles in order to reach complete refinement. For Egypt did not bring them to complete refinement - they left Egypt and idolatry was still among them; they were in the wilderness and were still far from perfection. Therefore, "I lifted My hand" to scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands, where they would be refined in the smelting furnace time and again, until they achieve ultimate rectification.
Based on this, the Malbim brings this matter into clear perspective. For on the surface it is not clear why it was necessary already in the wilderness to swear and announce what would take place 850 years after entering the Land. But according to this explanation, it is an inevitable consequence: Hashem says, I saw that presently in the wilderness they are not rectified, but they are destined to be rectified in the subsequent exiles. Consequently, this also gives hope to the people - that their ultimate rectification will indeed come.
יַעַן מִשְׁפָּטַי לֹא־עָשׂוּ וְחֻקּוֹתַי מָאָסוּ וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתוֹתַי חִלֵּלוּ וְאַחֲרֵי גִּלּוּלֵי אֲבוֹתָם הָיוּ עֵינֵיהֶם׃ - Because they did not execute My ordinances, and despised My statutes, and desecrated My Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.
Metzudat David explains: The destructions did not come about due to this sin alone, but also because they did not execute My ordinances, despised My statutes, desecrated My Sabbaths, and went after the idols of their fathers. And the Malbim explains that from here through verse 26, the text is a kind of parenthesis, meant to explain: know why they deserve this punishment - because they did not perform My ordinances and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.
"Statutes That Were Not Good" - The Astounding Verse
וְגַם־אֲנִי נָתַתִּי לָהֶם חֻקִּים לֹא טוֹבִים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים לֹא יִחְיוּ בָּהֶם׃ - "And I also gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances whereby they should not live."
This is a deeply astonishing verse that perplexes all the commentators. How could the Holy One, blessed be He, say that He gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances whereby they should not live? On the contrary, Hashem gave us good statutes and ordinances, "which a person shall perform and live by them," as mentioned repeatedly in our chapter.
Rashi explains: "I gave them statutes that were not good" - I delivered them into the hand of their inclination to stumble through their iniquity. As it were, Hashem says: Since you chose the wrong path, I delivered you into the hand of the evil inclination so that it would cast you into pits, ravines, and snares. Had you chosen the right path, you would have walked along an unimpeachable path and been spared from every stumbling block; but because you chose the wrong path, you were handed over to the evil inclination, and that is "statutes that were not good and ordinances whereby they should not live."
Targum Yonatan translates similarly: "And I delivered them into the hand of their foolish inclination" - and they went and enacted decrees that were not proper and customs by which they could not endure. Thus, the bad statutes were of their own making. Since I handed them over to their inclination, they went and enacted for themselves bad statutes and ordinances whereby they should not live: they established high courts of civil law, adopted the legal systems of the gentiles - Ottoman law, British law, and various other baseless secular legal codes. As it were, Hashem says: Because I surrendered them to their inclination and as a result they went and legislated those laws, it is as if it came from Me - yet it certainly came about through their own sin.
Radak explains: Since they despised Hashem's statutes, I handed them over to enemies who imposed bad laws upon them. This is the meaning of "And I also gave them statutes that were not good" - I delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and the enemies imposed bad statutes upon them. Why does it say, "I gave"? Because I was the One who delivered them into their hands. Thus, according to Rashi, the verse means "I delivered them into the hands of their evil inclination," whereas according to Radak, it means "I delivered them into the hands of the nations," who in turn placed bad statutes upon them.
And what is the meaning of "ordinances whereby they should not live"? Radak says: that their enemies would impose ordinances and decrees upon them under which they would not live, but rather perish. Had they observed My ordinances, they would have lived by them, as it says, "which a person shall perform and live by them." But because you did not follow the way of Hashem, you were delivered into the hands of the nations. We all know how in every generation they stand over us to destroy us, and we know the nature of their relentless persecution. If in the past it was with pitchforks and shovels, today it takes the form of boycotts and absurd UN resolutions; and among the Arab nations the hoes have remained, only upgraded to missiles and terror tunnels. We were delivered into the hands of the nations, "ordinances whereby they should not live" - into the hands of gentiles under whose rule one cannot live. Had we followed Hashem's path, we would have merited "and live by them," but we desired the laws of the nations, and we were punished with laws whereby they shall not live.
The Malbim's Explanation: The Thinking of the People
The Malbim explains that the verse reflects the people's own mindset. They despise My statutes - and why? Because they convince themselves that I gave them statutes that are not good and ordinances whereby they cannot live. Therefore, they go and fabricate laws of their own and are drawn after the laws of the nations, claiming: These are laws by which one simply cannot live.
Even today, one hears from all kinds of secular critics: How is it possible to run a country according to Halachah? What would be done about electricity? What about the air force? What about the army? What about hospitals? As if they invented the wheel, and as if non-Jews ceased to exist. After all, the old Zionist slogan of "we came to the land to build and be built in it" has been obsolete for sixty years; ever since then, the contractors have been Arabs, and in every job and profession there are workers to do what is necessary. And for this, one must desecrate Shabbat? To take the most precious and exalted day and carry out light-rail construction on it, when most of the laborers are foreign workers anyway? The electric company could be rendered completely kosher in a single moment. There are special interests who are not interested in doing so, because working on Shabbat brings triple and quadruple overtime pay, and to our shame, people do not want to give that up. But if there were the will, it could instantly become a Shabbat-observant operation. If problems arise, there is the concept of a non-Jew performing work on Shabbat, and in situations of pikuach nefesh and the like, leniency is unquestionably warranted as a matter of first recourse under all halachic rationales.
Rav Yitzchak Yosef recounted that on one of the Yamim Tovim - on Rosh Hashanah, as it was recalled - a Jewish worker was urgently summoned to the electric company to start up several turbines due to a power shortage, and was later summoned again to shut turbines down due to a surplus. After all, the electric company does not store electricity; there are no warehouses for power, and it must be generated continuously according to demand. And on Yom Tov, a Jew is brought in for this - Heaven spare us! Yet it is entirely possible to observe Shabbat in the most meticulous and exemplary manner. Rather, for all those who are uncomfortable with observing Shabbat and keeping mitzvot, these are "statutes that are not good, whereby they should not live." They exclaim, "How could we have a Halachic state? It would be the ruin of the state!" Yet if there were a Torah state, there would be no violent crime, no murder, no assault, no robbery; society would be wholesome and upright, and everything would be transformed. But no - do not confuse them with facts: they have a theory, and the facts only get in the way.
"One Who Reads Without a Melody" - The Talmudic Passage
In Masechet Megillah (32a), Rabbi Shefatiah said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: Whoever reads the Torah without a melody and reviews the Mishnah without a chant, regarding him the verse states, "And I also gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances whereby they should not live." Abaye challenged this: Just because he does not know how to sweeten his voice, would you apply to him the verse "ordinances whereby they should not live"? That is to say, just because someone cannot sing with vocal trills and is not versed in musical modes, should one apply such a harsh verse to him? Rather, the Gemara explains, it is in accordance with Rav Mesharshiya, who said: If two Torah scholars dwell in one city and do not treat each other amiably in matters of Halachah, regarding them the verse states, "And I also gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances whereby they should not live."
And even though the Gemara seemingly rejected the first explanation, saying "Rather, it is in accordance with Rav Mesharshiya" following Abaye's difficulty, nevertheless this teaching is well known and famous, and we are faithful to the words of the Maharsha that "these and those are the words of the living God," certainly regarding Aggadah.
And according to the peshat - and one must always remember the peshat - the connection can be understood: when a person reads something in a depressed manner, it is a sign that it saddens him; and when he reads with joy, out of song and melody, it is a sign that he rejoices in it. Naturally, it makes no sense to sing "Chatanu lefanecha" ("We have sinned before You"), which is something over which one is supposed to weep. When does a person sing? When he experiences joy: "Grapevines with grapevines," "How does one dance before the bride" - at a time of joy, people sing. If a person reads without melody and studies without song, it indicates that he is reading something that saddens him, so how could one expect him to compose a tune for it? And if he were to compose one, it would be a melancholic melody, something depressed along the lines of constant lamenting. But the words of Hashem - why would you read them in sadness? On the contrary, they must be read with joy.
The Explanation of the Author of "Mekor Baruch": A Question Mark at the End of the Verse
Let us consider, however, what the author of the Mekor Baruch explains. Seemingly, when one reads such a verse literally, it is very astonishing: how is it possible to say, "And I also gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live"? Perforce, one must place a question mark at the end of the sentence. Hashem says: Did I also give them statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live?! Why do they complain about My statutes? Are the statutes I gave them not good? Are these judgments by which one cannot live?
If so, this verse cannot be understood unless you read it with melody and song, unless you chant its tune properly. If you do not chant it properly, the implication, Heaven forbid, is that the statutes are not good; but if you chant it properly, you chant it with a question mark. And this is the meaning of "He who reads without melody and studies without song": one who reads without the proper intonation effectively says, God forbid, that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave statutes that are not good.
The story is told of a synagogue gabbai who once insulted the rabbi. The congregation protested vigorously, and finally told him that he must apologize. Knowing that he was cunning, they said to him: We will even dictate the text of the apology to you. You must say: "I insulted the rabbi, and I regret what I did, and what I did was not good." Having no choice, he had to stand up and read it aloud, so he stood and read: "I insulted the rabbi? I regret what I did? What I did was not good?" - and what could they say to him? He read exactly what was written, without adding a single word. This illustrates just how much melody and intonation can change the meaning. A marvelous explanation.
In summary:
In this part of the chapter, the prophet laid out the chain of loving-kindness and rebellion: Hashem brought Israel out into the wilderness to teach them chukim, statutes that have no revealed reason, and mishpatim, rational laws understood by the intellect, through which man achieves perfection in body and spirit and merits two forms of life - "and live by them," both in this world and the World to Come. In addition, He gave them a special gift, the Sabbath, which is a sign of the creation of the world from nothing and of Divine providence, and therefore "Go and inform them" - so that they would appreciate the magnitude of the gift. Yet the fathers rebelled in the wilderness, and after them the children, and each time Hashem held back His hand from striking, not because of their merit, but for the sake of His Name, that it not be desecrated among the nations as long as He had not yet brought them into the Land. "And My eye pitied them" - a compassion that brings constructive benefit, as the forty years in the wilderness brought them to faith, for "a person does not fathom the mind of his teacher until forty years." And contrasted with the "and live by them" found on Hashem's path stand the "statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live" - whether understood as delivery into the hands of the evil inclination, delivery into the hands of the nations, or the people's own false claims against the laws of the Torah. And regarding this comes the piercing observation: it all depends on how you read the verse. One who reads without melody effectively agrees, Heaven forbid, that the statutes are not good; but one who reads with song, with a question mark of astonishment, reveals the truth - that the statutes of Hashem are good, and fortunate is the one who walks in them.