"And I defiled them through their gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Hashem." Rashi continues along the same line he explained in the previous pasuk. "I gave them statutes that were not good" means: I handed them over to their evil inclination, to stumble after it and to legislate and make statutes that are not good. Here too Rashi says, "and I defiled them through their gifts": in what way did Hashem defile them through their gifts? What does this mean? Those very gifts that I decreed for them, to sanctify to Me every firstborn, the moment I handed them over to their inclination, to whom did they go to sanctify their firstborn? To Molech. A person who had a firstborn son born would offer him to Molech. So through My handing them over to their inclination, "I defiled them through their gifts": those very gifts that were meant to be sanctified to the Holy One, blessed be He, "in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb," they went and passed it over to Molech. And this is "that I might make them desolate." Rashi explains that "ashmam" means their guilt, so that guilt would be upon them. The Radak explains that what is written here, "and I defiled them through their gifts," refers back to their attachment to Baal Peor, where it is stated that they passed through the fire all that opens the womb: I commanded to bring this to holiness, but they went and brought it to Baal Peor, gave it to the idols, and this is the defilement, the opposite of holiness. What is "and I defiled them"? The Radak says: I made them impure, I distanced them from Me, in place of the way I had sanctified them earlier, and since they did not desire holiness, I distanced them, I made them impure and far from Me. Therefore the Radak says: observe that Shimon is not mentioned in the blessing of Moshe. When Moshe Rabbeinu blesses the tribes, Shimon is not mentioned, because Shimon attached himself to Baal Peor, the tribe of Shimon. Therefore he says "and I defiled them": what does it mean? I made them impure, I distanced them, for impurity is always an expression of distancing. To defile a thing is to distance the thing; filth is something one keeps away from. So I distanced them, and all this was "that I might make them desolate," to make them a wasteland, for I warned them that if they strayed from the way, they would become a wasteland. And not only that, but "to the end that they might know that I am Hashem." As I said, so too I did, for in that very episode of Baal Peor twenty four thousand died, and through this they knew that I am Hashem, that those who defied the word of Hashem indeed received the punishment corresponding to their sin.
The Malbim explains, and according to what is written here, "and I defiled them through their gifts," following the line the Malbim explained above regarding "and I also gave them statutes that were not good": the Malbim explained that this is their claim. They live with the feeling that I gave them statutes that were not good. And the same thing here, "and I defiled them through their gifts," according to their view: not only did He not sanctify us through His commandments, not only did Hashem not sanctify us by means of the mitzvot, but according to their distorted conception, "and I defiled them through their gifts." I even defiled them by commanding them to pass over every firstborn to Hashem. They were accustomed, after all, to serving the sun; they were sun worshippers, they would designate the firstborn to be sanctified for the service of Molech, and the service of Molech is the service of the sun. And to them this was holiness and worship. So when I command them to bring the firstborn to Me, this is to them defilement. Because to them the service of Molech is holiness. Do you understand what distortion they reached? As if they had come out of the holiness they had of serving Molech, and now, Heaven forbid, into defilement, into what? Into serving Hashem, may the Merciful One spare us. This is, as it were, their claim: why did Hashem take us from holiness and bring us to the opposite place, as it were. "That I might make them desolate." The Malbim says, now he returns from the parenthetical statement the Malbim mentioned above; now he returns to what we said earlier, that Hashem said He would scatter them among the nations and disperse them in the lands, "that I might make them desolate." This act of scattering among the nations and lands has two purposes. One purpose: to make them a wasteland, on account of the sins, since they sinned this is the punishment due to them. And the second matter: "to the end that they might know that I am Hashem." Through the exiles they will recognize His Divinity, may He be blessed, and through this they will return to Hashem at the end of days.
"Therefore speak to the house of Yisrael, son of man, and say to them, thus says Hashem Elokim: yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they trespassed against Me with a trespass." After they sinned three times until they reached the land, now he mentions what they did after they had already come to the land. Until now it was in Egypt, the fathers in the wilderness, the sons in the wilderness. Now he speaks already of the sons who had already entered the land. And this was already the fourth stench in their hands. "Behold, all these things does God do, twice, three times, with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living." Until now we saw three times that the Holy One, blessed be He, warned them and the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke harshly with them, and the Holy One, blessed be He, did what He did so that His name would not be desecrated among the nations. That is it: twice, three times, with a man. The fourth time, "and for four I will not reverse it." So now he describes: "your fathers have blasphemed Me." The Malbim says: what is blasphemy? It is one who reviles the name of Hashem publicly. And one who scorns with contempt of soul, with malice and with denial, as it is written, "and the soul that acts with a high hand," it is Hashem he blasphemes. Blasphemy is in public, with a high hand. "In that they trespassed against Me with a trespass." "For when I had brought them into the land which I lifted up My hand to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering, there also they made their sweet savor, and they poured out there their drink offerings." I brought them to the land and "there they presented the provocation of their offering." The Radak explains: they would provoke Me through the sacrifices they offered to the idols, according to the practice of the nations whom I dispossessed from before them precisely because of these corruptions, and they repeat their errors. The Malbim likewise explains that this was in the wake of what they saw the Canaanites do, offering on high places to idolatry. And here take note, "then they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering." And it says, "then I said to them, what is the high place (bamah) to which you go? And its name is called Bamah to this day." The Malbim explains that the term "bamah" is not found anywhere in the whole Torah. Everywhere it is found, the term "bamah" is mentioned in connection with idolatry. But "bamah" is not found in the Torah as a term for a place of holiness. The Torah says, "an altar of earth you shall make for Me." The Torah warns not to plant an asherah beside the altar, as was the practice of idol worshippers. And here when they came to the land, they began to offer on high places. This they learned from the nations. In the Torah "bamah" is not mentioned in connection with the service of Hashem. They would do this on every high hill, beside every leafy tree, since it is known that the forces of impurity were drawn to and dwelt in the trees. Therefore they would set up their high places beside the trees. Many people who lived outside the land describe hearing, sometimes hearing beneath a tree, all sorts of sounds of forces of impurity, of demons and the like. In the land there are no demons, but outside the land one could hear those sounds. The trees were a place where the demons were caught, where they dwelt. And so the Torah warns not to do this, since they would make an altar beside a tree; the Torah warns not to do it in the manner of idolatry. And the Malbim says: in the beginning they would do this in partnership. "And they offered there their sacrifices" to Hashem, "and there they presented the provocation of their offering," meaning: they would make a sacrifice that was both to Hashem and to idolatry. They would make sweet savors to Hashem, for a pleasing aroma, and the drink offerings they would pour out to idolatry. As it is written, "let them drink the wine of their drink offerings," their way was to pour out to idolatry. So they would serve in these places in partnership, Hashem together with idolatry. "Then I said to them, what is the high place to which you go? And its name is called Bamah to this day." "Then I said to them, what is the high place to which you go": when you began to offer on the high place, Hashem says, I protested against you. I said to you, what is this high place to which you come? This service is not fitting for you, you are, after all, warned about the altar as we explained. So why are you offering on the high place, this is fitting for idol worshippers. And with all this, "and its name is called Bamah." With all this you gave it this name and this name took root among you as a name for an altar, as it were, for the service of Hashem. And as the Malbim says: observe and see that the name "bamah" is not found in connection with Hashem, not in the Torah scroll and not afterward either, not even in the book of Yehoshua and Shoftim, until the days of Shmuel. When the Mishkan at Shiloh was destroyed, then the people began to offer on high places. And from then, even after the Beit HaMikdash was built and the high places were forbidden, we see countless times mentioned in the prophets that the people still sacrificed and burned incense on high places. We see again and again and again; even the righteous kings found it very difficult to prevent the people from sacrificing and burning incense on high places. They had a habit in this, and on the high place they offered at this stage only to Hashem. And through this they felt there was some sanction here, there was something fitting here: we are offering to Hashem, what is the problem? Especially since the deeds of their fathers were in their hands: what, was my grandfather not proper? Are you casting aspersions on the earlier generations? My grandfather was a great tzaddik, and he offered on a high place. Yes, true, that was once, now it is over, the high places have been forbidden. It is like when a person is asked, why do you not separate tithes? He says, what are you talking about, this is an invention of the religious people here. Outside the land we never separated, it is only here that they invented new things for us. That a person comes from outside the land and does not understand the situation, he does not understand what mitzvot dependent on the land are, what mitzvot that do not apply outside the land are, what was once permitted and today is forbidden. It was very difficult to uproot from them the invalid practice of offering on a high place. So about this he says, "and its name is called Bamah to this day," the name "bamah" still remains and this thing accompanies them to this day.
No complaints are being raised against her, whether My people is behaving improperly or whatever she is doing, so the same thing here too: you say we will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, for Hashem has already banished us, cast us away from before Him. Hashem says, that which is in your mind, "it shall not be." That which arises in your spirit shall not be; you already accepted this upon yourselves willingly in the days of Yehoshua, says Rashi, as it is written, "and Yehoshua gathered all the tribes of Yisrael," and there we learned this; whoever wishes may hear this on the disc on the book of Yehoshua, how Yehoshua adjures them and warns them to walk in the way of Hashem, and if you do not want to walk in the way of Hashem then only I and my household will walk in the way of Hashem, and then they all accepted upon themselves to walk in the way of Hashem and not to serve idolatry and so on. So he says, behold, you already accepted this upon yourselves.
The Radak explains, "and that which arises in your spirit shall not be": the evil thought that arises in your spirit will not be fulfilled. "Your spirit" means your heart. "And you say we will be like the nations." Why? He says you think to leave the domain of Hashem, not to be a people to Hashem, because you say, behold, see, the nations serve idolatry and they have success. As it is written concerning Achaz, "because the gods of the kings of Aram help them, to them I will sacrifice that they may help me." A person always tends to see only the green grass of the neighbor, yes? That it is full of manure and that is why it is green, that he does not see. Perhaps he also does not smell it. It is like a person standing in traffic and it constantly seems to him that the lanes to the right and left are moving, only he is stuck. This is human nature, it is a trait, and by the way this is very interesting, it is only here in the land. A person who travels outside the land will see people standing in traffic and in his lane the whole time. Only here in the land, look from above, you constantly see movement, all the time. That one on the right moves to the left, this one on the left moves to the right, that one is sure this is moving faster, that one now this... everyone, why? Because it is the nature of the Jewish person that a person always strives, always strives for more. And this was implanted in us in order to reach spirituality. So when one does not channel it toward spirituality, then it goes toward the physical and toward a thousand and one foolish and empty things. In any case, come and observe, when he sees the kings of Aram succeeding, he says, ah, this is surely because of their idolatry. They have a turbo idolatry. Therefore see how much they succeed, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me. Wait, but how will this "boss" now provide for two, both Aram and you, whom will he make succeed? He does not know, he has no questions. To him the main thing is if you see it is working, then this idolatry, this is what I will do.
Take note of what the Radak says here, I will read you his words. The Radak says: but this is not so. You see them succeeding, and because of that you go to serve them. For the idolaters, I do not attend to them because of their lowliness before Me, like the animals. The nations are lowly before Me like an animal, I do not attend to them. Rather what? If there is providence, says the Radak, it is only in relation to the people of Yisrael. Only then.
That is to say, concerning them as an independent nation, the Holy One, blessed be He, says I do not attend to them at all, they are like animals before Me. Only when they have something bearing on Yisrael. How? To visit upon them, meaning upon the nations, their iniquity: when the people of Yisrael do My will, then punishment is exacted from the nations, as David exacted punishment from Edom and from the peoples dwelling from Aram and others. But when Yisrael transgress My commandments, I strengthen the idolaters over them for their success, says the Radak, not for their own good, but for the harm of Yisrael.
Even when the nations strike the people of Yisrael, as you have seen, behold Aram succeeded in striking us, he says this is not because success was decreed upon them, it is because a downfall was decreed upon you. In short, all the decrees are only upon the people of Yisrael. If we succeed, we succeed against the nations. If we are unworthy and Heaven forbid we have gone astray, the nations strike us. But no decree is decreed upon them. No decree is decreed upon them because they are animals. And upon animals, says the Radak, there are no decrees. This is the providence over them, as it is written in the seforim, this is called species providence. As the author of the Ikarim says, it is not individual providence. Individual providence is over each individual of the species, how the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over him. Species providence is like the Holy One, blessed be He, watching that the species of elephants not become extinct. This is called species providence. He watches over the species of elephants. The providence is species providence, but not individual providence. But over them themselves, says the Radak, I do not attend to them. Unless there is great violence, like the generation of the Flood and Sodom and Amorah...
Only in cases that are, so to speak, atomic, something that truly causes a very very great upheaval, only then. And by the way, take note, everything discussed there is only regarding sins between man and his fellow. For regarding the nations, even if they are idol worshippers in the most severe manner, we do not see punishment for this in relation to the nations. Not that it is desirable, it is against the seven Noachide mitzvot. The Radak says, so too we found in Chazal, that regarding the idolaters strict judgment is not applied to them. But the people of Yisrael, says the Radak, whom I took from the house of bondage...
To be to Me a treasured people and I will be to them a God, My eyes are always upon them for good and for ill. Everything that happens with them, whether for good or for ill, is entirely under full providence. "Ill" means what appears to us as ill, yes? As it says in Amos, "only you have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities." So how much foolishness and emptiness there is in what Achaz said then, the god of Aram makes them succeed so I will go after him, this is stupidity. If they succeed against you it is because a harsh decree was decreed upon you. Not because some decree was decreed upon them that they should succeed; upon them there are no decrees at all. All the decrees are only upon you, whether for good or for ill. And if you nevertheless wish to abandon the service of Hashem, to leave His service, "that which arises in your spirit shall not be." Hashem says, there is no possibility of detaching from the Holy One, blessed be He. And even though you will be in exile for many days, you will not cease to be a nation. The Radak says, and even if a few of them leave the collective...
You will always find those who convert their religion, always find those who serve idolatry forever, marry gentile women and beget gentiles, and it is over, they have been cut off from being part of the house of Yisrael. In any case, the people of Yisrael as a whole will be a nation before Me all the days. This is a pasuk, "if these ordinances depart from before Me... then the seed of Yisrael shall cease from being a nation before Me all the days." "And with a mighty hand I will reign over you, and I will refine you when I bring you out of exile, and I will purge from among you the rebels against Me." And this is essentially the two following pesukim.
"As I live, says Hashem Elokim, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out I will reign over you. And I will bring you out from the peoples, and I will gather you out of the lands in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples" and so on. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, until the complete redemption. But there is no such possibility that the people of Yisrael would, as it were, abandon and forsake the way of Hashem; our bond with the Holy One, blessed be He, is an eternal bond. And this is what we explained, this too is the reason that at the standing at Mount Sinai He held the mountain over them like a barrel. Everyone asks, if this match is going so well and the people of Yisrael say "we will do and we will hear," why is coercion necessary? Because when a match goes well and each one shows willingness, then one can say, whenever I do not want to, I will withdraw. No, they are told, it is by coercion. And coercion means that this bond cannot be detached from. He held the mountain over them like a barrel. So that you should not think, well, willingly we accepted and willingly we will detach. Hashem says, with fury poured out and with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm...
"I will reign over you." There is no possibility of detaching from this. The Malbim explains that all that arises in your thoughts after I have distanced Myself from you: you feel that I no longer watch over you. That is to say, as we explained, a woman whose husband has already divorced her. And you feel that you are like the nations and like the families of the lands. What is the difference? The Malbim says, that over the nations, every portion of the land has a dominion of one star. And every family of that land has a service...
That they serve the idolatry according to that star, according to that constellation that supposedly rules that place. And this is what is written, "which Hashem your God has allotted to all the peoples." That they, the peoples, draw sustenance through the stars. But we do not draw sustenance through the stars, but only from Him, may He be blessed. And if you want to serve wood and stone, this is what is called talismans and orientations to the Queen of Heaven, as we saw the nations would do in order to draw down spiritual influences, about this He says "it shall not be." You belong to the portion of Hashem, you do not belong to the portion of the stars, and therefore you have no possibility of acting in this way.
"As I live, says Hashem Elokim, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out I will reign over you." "As I live, says Hashem Elokim" is an oath: surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out, all this, says the Radak, is in order to destroy the transgressors and the rebels against Hashem. And the Malbim explains, that although the revealed providence has departed...
Hashem no longer performs open miracles for us, Hashem does not shine His face toward us, but on the other hand, regarding His kingship, that His kingship will rule over us, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, this will come, if not through willingness, then Heaven forbid through punishments and troubles by means of which and by whose force the people of Yisrael will return to Hashem to be under His kingship, under the service of Hashem, may He be blessed. And then this is not good for us, it is with an outstretched arm, it is with fury poured out. Is it not better that the people of Yisrael come of their own will to cleave to Hashem...
Than in such a state where it will not be through revealed providence of miracles for our good, but Heaven forbid fury poured out? Hashem says, "and I will bring you out from the peoples, and I will gather you out of the lands in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out." Hashem says, in the end birth pangs will come upon you in great troubles at the time of the end, I will bring you out with a mighty hand...
From the peoples. What are "the peoples" and what are "the lands"? And why is "I will bring out" written of the peoples, and "I will gather" written of the lands? The Malbim says, "the peoples" are those nearby. "The lands" are the distant lands. And "peoples" usually speaks of an organized nation that has a king. So to bring out from the hand of a nation that has a king, for this one needs great force, since the king opposes it. So therefore He says, I will bring you out from the peoples. And in contrast the lands, there the people of Yisrael are scattered. So the great novelty there is that I will gather you. Therefore regarding the lands it is written "and I will gather you out of the lands," for the lands are distant lands where you are scattered in great dispersion. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, all this will likewise be with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm. "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and I will enter into judgment with you there face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you..."
"Says Hashem Elokim." Here indeed the commentators try to understand what "the wilderness of the peoples" written here is. "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples," and there in the wilderness of the peoples "and I will enter into judgment with you there face to face." There will be a judgment in the wilderness of the peoples. Rashi explains that "the wilderness of the peoples" is the wilderness through which the people of Yisrael traveled for forty years. As Hoshea also prophesied about this, "and I will lead her into the wilderness." This means that the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring the entire people of Yisrael into the wilderness...
Which is essentially the Sinai wilderness, and there the Holy One, blessed be He, will judge our people. The Radak explains that when the Holy One, blessed be He, brings us out from the peoples, He will not bring us to the land of Yisrael until He judges us in the wilderness of the peoples. According to the Radak this is not specifically the wilderness from which the people of Yisrael left when they went out of Egypt, that they went out into when they left Egypt. Rather the wilderness, we are speaking here of the wilderness of the peoples. And here he essentially speaks of a situation in which the Holy One, blessed be He, will destroy the rebels and the transgressors who will be found...
Among the people of Yisrael. And for this purpose the judgment will take place: "and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples" in order to judge there and to select from you those who rebel and transgress against Me, as we will see more explicitly further on. And then "and I will take My judgment from you in the wilderness." Precisely there in the wilderness, says the Malbim, says the Radak, since in the wilderness there is no person who passes to and fro, nor can the nations, as it were, see what happens there, so that the matter would not cause rejoicing...
Among the nations, when the nations would see how Hashem exacts punishment from the transgressors among us, similar to what happened in the plague of darkness, when the Holy One, blessed be He, destroyed the rebels and transgressors during the days of darkness so that the nations would not rejoice over us upon seeing our misfortune. So too here, says the Malbim, says the Radak, this matter will take place there in the wilderness of the peoples, in order to ensure that they would not see and there would not be anyone, there would be no nations rejoicing over our downfall. And this is what he says, "and I will enter into judgment with you there face to face..."
"Face to face" means in particular. "Face to face" means without additional partners. I have a meeting with you face to face, that means usually without additional people, but only I and you. So too the Holy One, blessed be He, says, I will have a judgment with you between Me and you without additional peoples being there. As it is written concerning Moshe, that Hashem spoke to Moshe face to face, meaning without an intermediary and without additional people.
And then Hashem says, I will exact punishment from you there in the wilderness. The Malbim explains that here he essentially describes for us how the stage of gathering will be, when the Holy One, blessed be He, will collect us from the peoples. The Malbim says, in the beginning I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples. According to the Malbim's view, "the wilderness of the peoples" is not a wilderness, but the lands of the peoples are called a wilderness. The lands of the peoples are called the wilderness of the peoples. And why is it called a wilderness? Just as a person in a wilderness cannot attend to his needs, he has no home there, no eating, no drinking, no place to sleep...
He cannot attend there to all his affairs in a place that is a wilderness, so too the lands of the peoples are for us like a wilderness. We cannot serve Hashem there properly, we are far from the Beit HaMikdash, we cannot for the most part even buy houses, fields and vineyards there, because we are constantly in wandering and persecution. It emerges then that the lands of the peoples are for us of the category of a wilderness. So Hashem says, "and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples," according to the Malbim's clarification, this means there in the exile...
There I will judge, "and I will enter into judgment with you there face to face." There in the exile among the peoples. So we are not speaking here of a wilderness place to which He will lead us, but rather among the peoples is called the wilderness of the peoples, where the Holy One, blessed be He, will punish us for the evil deeds we did, and this will be like He speaks with us face to face, because speech is always harsh speech. And then as we saw and observed, we saw in the providence of Hashem...
As He did to us in the land of Egypt and in the wilderness, so too will it be there in the wilderness of the peoples. This means in the exile, the people of Yisrael suffered and were afflicted and persecuted, and this is a kind of judgment through which Hashem judges us there face to face. Because the purpose of the exile is that we should think and understand why we are here, what evil deeds we did, how we reached this reality. This is the judgment in which the Holy One, blessed be He, will judge us there face to face. Another explanation the Malbim gives, that one could say the intention is that from each and every land where they are found from the exile, they will go through the wilderness of that...
Land. And then it will be similar to their going out from the land of Egypt when they went through the wilderness adjacent to the land of Egypt; so too there will be the wilderness adjacent to each and every land. And then there they will see a revelation of the Shechinah, Hashem will reveal Himself to them and judge them. And then according to this it emerges that the pasuk will be explained more like the explanation of the Radak, according to this line of the Malbim, that the intention is that Hashem will bring them to a place where He will judge them there face to face.
"And I will make you pass under the rod..."
"And I will bring you into the bond of the covenant." "And I will make you pass under the rod," the "rod" means a staff. And I will make you pass there; whoever passes under the rod, we know, says the Radak, that this was the way in which they counted the flock. So when one wishes to say that the thing is done individually, one by one, so too the Holy One, blessed be He, says, I will examine you one by one, I will make you pass under the rod. And the sinner will perish. So it emerges then that just as we mark in red...
The tenth, so too the Holy One, blessed be He, says, I will examine you one by one like one who examines under the rod, and whoever has sinned is the one who will be separated out and leave. And this is by way of a metaphor, as Yirmiyahu said, "the flock shall yet pass under the hands of one who counts them." Which is the idea of passing under the rod. This means examination and scrutiny to see who is truly worthy to remain and who is not. "And I will bring you into the bond (masoret) of the covenant." What is masoret?
We are accustomed to think that "masoret" (tradition) is a term in its own right, as in "one who keeps the tradition." But the commentators explain that "masoret" is not a word in its own right, rather masoret is from "ma'asoret." Only the aleph dropped out. This means masoret is from the expression of "ma'asar" (imprisonment), yes? I will bind you in a covenant from which you will never leave. And this is like what we saw earlier, that there was a covenant with us at Mount Sinai, and that covenant we, to our sorrow, broke, and the Holy One, blessed be He, promised to make a new covenant with us that we will never break. A covenant that will endure forever. Not to be confused with the Christian "New Testament," yes? The intention is that the Holy One, blessed be He, will enter into a covenant with us and this covenant will remain in force. So this is what he says then, "and I will bring you into the ma'asoret of the covenant," that you will be bound and obligated to this covenant, not like the previous covenant from which you felt free to rebel against Hashem. Here this covenant will be a covenant of ma'asoret, a covenant from which you will never leave, but you will remain connected to the Holy One, blessed be He, and will no longer return to sin.
"And I will purge from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but into the land of Yisrael they shall not come. And you shall know that I am Hashem."
"And I will purge from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me," "and I will purge" means like "and I will select." I will select from among you those who rebel and transgress against Me, and as we saw earlier, He will destroy them in the wilderness, He will judge them in the wilderness and destroy them there. So at first he says, "I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn," says the Radak, He will first bring them out of the land where they sojourn completely, so that the nations will not see their downfall, as he explained earlier. Therefore He will not destroy them in the land where they sojourn, but will bring them out of the land where they sojourn completely. But you should not think that they will all come out from the land where they sojourn and also come. Rather, "into the land of Yisrael they shall not come." To the land of Yisrael they will not come, but there in the wilderness, as we saw earlier, there He will judge them.
The Malbim says, "and I will purge from among you the rebels and those who transgress": He will select out the rebels and not only the rebels, but even the transgressors. Since "rebels" is sharper and more severe than "transgressors," therefore he first says the rebels, and afterward, not only this but even this, but also the transgressors who are lesser. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn and into the land of Yisrael they shall not come, and this will be like, says the Malbim, the redemption from Egypt. For there too He reigned over them with a mighty hand and with the hardship of the servitude...
And afterward brought them out into the wilderness and made a covenant with them, but the generation that rebelled against Hashem and said we do not want the land, what did they do? In the desirable land, "and I will purge from among you." They died there in the wilderness. Only their sons who arose after them, they are the ones who entered the land. So if so, what is written, "as in the days of your going out from the land of Egypt I will show him wonders," so on this aspect too the words were said. For behold you see that just as when they went out of Egypt, there you see the Holy One, blessed be He, judged them there in Egypt and afterward in the wilderness, and did not bring them all into the land, so too those who will come from the nations and whom Hashem will gather to the land of Yisrael, not all of them will come. And then "and you shall know that I am Hashem." Through this it will be clear that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the Judge and the One who exacts punishment.
It is written here "he shall not come," whereas it should have said "they shall not come." So the Radak says that this is the general manner, like "they shall not come," yes? Like "the people shall not come." I am speaking about the people, I say in a general way the people shall not come, even though I mean the public in its entirety, I should have said "they shall not come." The Malbim explains that what is written "he shall not come" means not even one of them will come. Therefore it is written in the singular. Not even one of them, of the rebels and transgressors against Me, will come.
This pasuk is very well known, "and I will purge from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me." This is a pasuk that the Gemara in tractate Nedarim on page 20 brings regarding the rebels and transgressors, and who are they? Rabbi Levi said, these are the children of nine traits. The children of "Asinat Meshuga\'ach." "Asinat Meshuga\'ach" is a mnemonic for the children of nine traits. And since we have mentioned here "the rebels and those who transgress against Me," then perhaps we will mention what the Gemara there says, who are these children of nine traits whom the Gemara defines as being those called "the rebels and those who transgress against Me."
The Gemara says: children of fear, children of one raped, children of a hated one, children of one under ban, children of exchange, children of strife, children of drunkenness, children of one divorced in heart, children of confusion, children of a brazen one. All these are the children of nine traits who are among the rebels and transgressors about whom it is said "and I will purge from among you," may the Merciful One spare us. And what are these children of nine traits? The Ran explains them.
Children of fear, says the Ran, an expression of fright. One who imposes fear upon his wife to be with her against her will. And through this his children are not proper, since he behaves improperly. As it is written, "and he who hastens with his feet sins." So one who, Heaven forbid, caused his wife to be with him against her will, the offspring, the children, are born rebels and transgressors against Me.
Children of one raped, says the Ran, are worse than children of fear. Since with children of fear she is not truly raped, it is against her will but not truly rape, but children of one raped is actual rape. That he raped her for that matter. And the children of one raped are similar to children of fear and therefore both are counted as one thing. If we count we see ten. The Ran says, no, children of fear and children of one raped are one matter.
Children of a hated one, a person who directs his thoughts to another woman, hates his wife, but is intimate with his wife. From this too come, may the Merciful One spare us, flawed children, rebels and transgressors. Children of one under ban, a person who is with his wife while he is under a ban of excommunication. Children of exchange, a person who is with one of his wives and thinks she is her rival wife. He has two wives, but he is with one and thinks he is with the other. Children of strife, even though he does not hate her, but now there was a quarrel between them and then he was with her, from this can come, may the Merciful One spare us, rebels and transgressors. Children of drunkenness, this too is that out of his drunkenness he does not direct his thoughts to his wife. Children of one divorced in heart, that in his heart he has already resolved to divorce her, but nevertheless he is still intimate with her. And then, may the Merciful One spare us, from this come children who are rebels and transgressors. Children of confusion, the intention is that several people were with her and it is not known from which of them she became pregnant. Rashi brings that a man was intimate with one woman among the women and it is not known with which of them he was intimate, so this is children of confusion. Another explanation he explains like the Ran, and another explanation that the intention is a doubt between nine to the first or between seven to the last. A woman who married a second time after she was divorced, so if they did not wait three months of distinguishing, then it is not known of the child born afterward whether he was born as a nine month child to the second husband, sorry, a seven month child to the second husband or a nine month child to the first husband. This is called children of confusion. Children of a brazen one, this is the last one, that she is bold and demands him verbally. So this is called children of a brazen one. All these, may the Merciful One spare us, as we said, beget rebels and transgressors.
Since we have already mentioned this, we will mention the question that everyone asks. So if this is so, it apparently emerges that with Yaakov, Heaven forbid, these were children of exchange. Since Yaakov thought he was with Rachel, and in the morning behold it was Leah. Now we saw with children of exchange what a severe matter this is. So indeed in the sefer Asarah Ma'amarot it is explained that this is why Reuven was placed outside the land of Yisrael. Why? Since there was in him something extremely subtle of children of exchange. There are those who say that all this does not apply before the giving of the Torah, this is the simple answer. But in Asarah Ma'amarot he wishes to say that because of this, as it were, Reuven did not receive a portion in the land, since there was here some extremely subtle deficiency. And there are those who say that this too is why the one who exchanged and altered his father's bed was Reuven, since this was measure for measure, corresponding to that matter that just as Yaakov was in the category of something extremely subtle of children of exchange, that he was with this one and thought he was with that one, so too he went and exchanged his father's bed, for his father wanted to be with this one and he exchanged it to be in his mother's tent, in Leah's tent.
With all this there are other explanations. The holy Zohar says that a child of exchange is only when he is with this one and thinks about the second one. He says but with Yaakov Avinu, holy of holies, it certainly did not apply that he would think in this way at all in this matter, and therefore the Zohar says regarding him this does not apply. So it appears in the Zohar, parashat Vayetzei, page 155. The Magen Avraham also brings this difficulty, and the Magen Avraham has a different distinction. The Magen Avraham says, children of exchange is only when the husband intends to be with one body and then another body comes his way and he is with that woman, that other woman. But he says, in contrast with Yaakov it was not so, for Yaakov, after all, saw Leah at the time of her entering the chuppah. He did not necessarily see her in terms of her face, but this body he recognized. That is to say, he knew that he was marrying this body and with this body he was. He says, if so, this is not called children of exchange. Children of exchange is when he thinks he is with this body and it turns out that it is another body. He says, but here he married this body and was with this body. Since this is so, says the Magen Avraham, this is not in the category of children of exchange. Not everyone accepts this distinction, but this is how the Magen Avraham distinguishes.