Sefer Yeshayahu, chapter 3. "For behold, the Master, Hashem of Hosts, removes from Yerushalayim and from Yehudah support and stay, every support of bread and every support of water." Now Yeshayahu the Navi tells us, in the words of the Malbim, how the sun of the nation set in that period and how it lacked all the kinds of completeness that are necessary for the success of the people. Here he begins to describe to us the decline of Yerushalayim's fortunes, the decline of the nation's fortunes, how it lacked all the kinds of completeness that are essential for the people to reach perfection.
So, verse 1: behold, the Master, Hashem of Hosts, removes from Yerushalayim, this is the capital city. And from Yehudah, this is the entire tribe, from all the cities of Yehudah, not only Yerushalayim. Support and stay (mash'en umash'enah). What is mash'en, what is mash'enah? Mash'en is a large thing that one leans upon, mash'enah is a small thing. The Malbim states a rule: whenever one wishes to compare a strong object against a weak object, the strong one is expressed in the masculine and the weak one in the feminine. Therefore he says there will be no mash'en, there will be nothing strong to lean upon, and even a light mash'enah will not exist at that time.
Now he will explain to us that the success of a people, of a nation, actually depends on seven things, and he will show us how there will be neither a great support nor a small stay. None of those things needed for the nation's success will exist at that time. First, generally, for a nation to be strong it needs economic power, that within it there are people who are wealthy, people who help the needy. He says this will not be: every support of bread, there will not be found there a support of bread, someone to help and sustain the poor and the destitute. And not only that, also every support of water. Water is generally a cheaper thing, this is called a mash'enah. Mash'enah means a lesser thing, and this too will not be found.
Another matter: they need mighty men among them. A nation needs strong and mighty men within it to save them from external enemies. About this he says: the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet and the diviner and the elder. There will be no mighty man and no man of war. What is the difference between a mighty man and a man of war? A mighty man is one who is mighty by nature, like Shimshon, who was born mighty. In contrast, a man of war is a person who may not by nature be very mighty, but he is trained in the tactics of war. He learned all kinds of techniques and all kinds of strategies for how to fight properly. So the mighty man is a great support, and the man of war, who is not mighty by nature but learned, this too will not be, even the mash'enah which is smaller, this too will not be.
A third thing needed for a nation is that they have good leaders. What are good leaders? Good leaders are people who judge between one man and his fellow, and then there is justice. He says there will be no mighty man and man of war, and there will also be no judge. A fourth thing needed is more good leaders, these are prophets who straighten them toward the service of Hashem, in terms of their spiritual path, between man and the Omnipresent. So about this he says, there will also be no prophet among them, there will not be prophets among them to straighten them onto the right path.
The judge and the prophet and the diviner and the elder. The Malbim says: a judge, as we speak of Yehoshua and his colleagues, and also no elder, for an elder is lesser than a judge. This is called mash'enah. So the judge is a great support, as we said, he said you will have neither great deliverance nor small. You will have no judge like in the era when the Shoftim judged, and not even an elder, the elders whose rank is lesser than judges, this too will not be. Why does he explain here that "judge" means like the era when the Shoftim judged? I would have said a judge perhaps like of a court. The Malbim says: because he always states the important thing first, and afterward even the small stay. If we say a judge means an ordinary judge of a court, and then an elder, an elder is always of a greater status than a court judge. How does he place the judge first and the elder last? You are forced to say that here it refers to such judges who have a greater status than the elders, and they are the judge-leaders, as it was in the era when the Shoftim judged, like Yehoshua and his colleagues, who judged Israel, and this is a judge who is truly of greater status than an elder. But an elder is of greater status than a court judge. So therefore here he speaks of such judges who are of the category of leaders. Such judges will not be found. And likewise no prophet. A prophet is a person who knows from the mouth of Hashem. He says not only will there be no prophet, there will also be no diviner who knows through the laws of the stars, who knows future events. So there will be no support, which is a prophet, and even a mash'enah, even a diviner who is supposed to know through the stars and constellations, this too will not be.
The captain of fifty and the man of favorable countenance, and the counselor and the skilled craftsman and the one clever with whispers. A captain of fifty is a position of authority, an office that important people hold, someone who is captain over fifty men. And the man of favorable countenance, he does not rule, but people honor him, he is a distinguished man whose words are heeded. Such people will not exist at that time.
And the counselor and the skilled craftsman. Counselors are people who sit foremost in the kingdom. They are called counselors. They oversee all the affairs of the people. No counselor will be found for them. Now "counselor" includes both great counselors and small counselors, so this is support and stay. Another thing he tells them: there will be no skilled craftsman or one clever with whispers among you. As for the wise, there are two kinds of wise men. There are those wise in theoretical wisdom, the sciences, and there are those wise in practical wisdom, in crafts. He is an artisan in his craft, an artisan in carpentry or in ironwork. He says there will not be found among them a wise craftsman, neither in theoretical wisdom nor in the wisdom of crafts. What is the connection? The Malbim explains that when we say "charash" (craftsman), the term originally is expressed regarding, connected to, the ground. One who plows (choresh). He plows, this is called a wise plowman, who knows how to plow the ground. From this, says the Malbim, they took the expression "chacham charashim" for wisdom in all kinds of wisdoms. How did you get from plowing to wisdom in the sciences or wisdom in crafts, and both you call chacham charashim? The Malbim gives an interesting expression: when we want to say about a person that he delved very deeply into a certain matter, he tells you, "I plowed through all the material," right? There is such an expression. He plowed the matter. To plow it means he studied it deeply. So when we want to say a great sage, we call him chacham charashim. Chacham charashim means that he delved deeply into that matter and reached a high level in understanding things. He defines it as "one who digs in the field of study will draw out depths after him." One who digs and delves deeply into that thing, he penetrates inward, reaching the depth of the matter, to the essence of the issue. So it turns out then that he speaks here both of the wisdom of a person who delved deeply into the scientific wisdoms and of the wisdom of crafts. These two things, of the category of the craftsman and the smith who were exiled from Yerushalayim, these two things, says the Navi to them, will not be among you.
And the skilled craftsman and the one clever with whispers (nevon lachash). What is nevon lachash? There is one explanation that says it means a person who knows how to whisper, there is an expression to whisper over a wound. This means performing certain actions in order to heal. And this is called some kind of lower wisdom, of a lesser degree, even this wisdom will not be among them. The Malbim says there is an expression of "lachash" of a person who whispers, saying something quietly. He says this is the source of the expression lachash. One who speaks in a faint voice, "all my enemies whisper against me." Therefore he calls these people nevon lachash, meaning they know and are expert in how to whisper over a wound in order to heal the wound.
Chazal say, you know, perhaps we will mention these words of Chazal in a little while, that we will conclude the curses in quotation marks as Chazal define them, the curses that Yeshayahu cursed Israel with at that time.
And I will make youths their princes, and capricious ones (ta'alulim) will rule over them. After there will be no princes, after there will be no leaders, after there will be no sages and no prophets and no judges and no elders, then what remains? What remains? The government on Givat Ram, that is what remains. And I will make youths their princes, and capricious ones will rule over them. Who will be our princes? These youths, people empty of content. And capricious ones will rule over them. Who will rule over them? He tells you the ta'alulim will rule over the youths. This means the ruling youths will be enslaved to the desires of their hearts, and these are the ones who are supposed to rule over us. Yet the ABC of a ruler, by what is he tested? By how much he is capable of ruling over himself. One who rules over himself, says the Holy One blessed be He, "this one shall restrain My people." Why? He is able to restrain himself, he rules over his forces and his will, this one is fit to be king. But these, what kind of kings, what kind of rulers will they be? And I will make youths their princes, that these youths, their desires rule over them. So if his desires rule over him, how can he come and rule over us? The Malbim explains that ta'alul is from the language of hit'olel (to abuse). To abuse means to do something immoral. This comes to symbolize something that stems from an evil trait of the soul, evil traits that are, as it were, like abusing him or mocking him, or bad character traits, this is expressed by ta'alulim. So the capricious ones will rule over those youths.
Now, lest you come and say, well, it may be that there will be no leaders but the people in themselves are exalted. The people in themselves are elevated and they do not need leadership, leadership is not so necessary for them. The Navi says: and the people will oppress one another, each man his fellow, the youth will act arrogantly against the elder and the base against the honorable. And the people will oppress one another, each man his fellow. The Malbim says nigash means to press, from the language of pressure. And the people will be pressed, each by another and each by his fellow. What is the nature of that pressure? The Malbim explains: there is the expression nigash (to oppress/press), there is the expression lachatz vedochek (to squeeze and push), and there is the expression nosheh (to be a creditor). All these expressions come to express someone pressing another. He oppresses him, he squeezes him, he pushes him, he demands a debt from him. What is the difference between all these terms? The Malbim says: one who oppresses another, this means he compels him to perform some work that he is not obligated to do. He is not obligated to it, for example, based on some loan that I owe you and then you press me for it. No. I owe you nothing and you oppress me. Therefore the collection of tax comes under this expression. The tax collectors oppress the people from whom they demand taxes. I owe you nothing, but you oppress me and demand that I pay tax. Like in Mitzrayim where they oppressed them. We owed them nothing and they oppressed us. The Malbim says this is what distinguishes between oppressing and squeezing and pushing, that essentially the oppressor takes something. But one who squeezes and pushes takes nothing from you. One who oppresses takes something from you, one who squeezes and pushes may squeeze and push you, distress you, pain you, but he does not take something from you. The oppressor takes something from you. The creditor (nosheh) is a person who demands from you something that is already owed to him. He gave you a loan, you did not repay it. So now he demands the debt from you. He demands something that is owed to him. In contrast to the oppressor, the squeezer and the presser, which is as we explained, does not demand something owed to him.
So now, the people will be pressed, each by another. That is to say there will be no peace among them, there will be no situation in which they live in tranquility, in harmony, one will choke the other, one will pain the other. And not only that, also the youth, the youth will act arrogantly against the elder. The youth is obligated to honor the elder according to the command of the Torah, he is obligated to honor the elder, and nevertheless he will act arrogantly, rahav is from the language of exalting oneself, pride, he will be arrogant toward the elder. The base against the honorable. The base will act arrogantly against the honorable. A person who is base, lowly, naturally honors the person who is honorable. But he says Yerushalayim will descend lower and lower to the point that the base will already disgrace the honorable.
It is told that once several great sages of Israel were walking and they passed by some place where there was a bench on which empty youths were sitting. One said, one of the great ones said to his companion, he said to him, look at this, the days of Mashiach have arrived. Behold, look, the time that Mashiach speaks of, when "the faces of youths will not show respect to the faces of elders." Elders pass by, the greats of the generation, and they continue sitting. He said to him: no, my master, you are entirely mistaken. He said to him: we are still far from the days of Mashiach. He said to him: in the days of Mashiach we will sit on the bench and these empty and reckless youths will pass by here. And they will say, "Did you see? Did you see? We passed by and these elders did not rise." He said to him: that will be in the days of "the youth will act arrogantly against the elder and the base against the honorable." The youth will be arrogant toward the elder, ah, this one did not rise, did he not see that I passed by here? And my masters, we have reached the days of Mashiach. We have reached the days of Mashiach. Some lowly Knesset member arrives, one who has relations with menstruant women, desecrates Shabbat, eats carcasses and non-kosher food, why did the Rav not honor him? Who are you? Who are you that they should honor you? Utter nothing. Just because you received some office, because of some scheme you pulled and some jobs you distributed, you became some so-called somebody, and why did the Rav not honor him? What did you learn that he should honor you, what do you know that he should honor you? Lowest of the low, where are you and where is he? But no, the Rav should have honored him. Why did he speak about me that way? This is the situation of "the youth will act arrogantly against the elder." A youth comes, stripped of all mitzvot, a corrupt wicked person, and against the elder, he has complaints about why the great one of the generation did not call him, why he did not tell him, why he did not speak with him, why he did not invite him, why... the youth will act arrogantly against the elder. Mashiach can already come. We have reached the time fitting for the coming of Mashiach.
The Midrash says, what is "the youth will act arrogantly against the elder"? Its midrashic interpretation: one who regards the severe as light will come and act arrogantly against one who regards the light as severe. It is written, the base against the honorable. One who regards the severe as light will come, a person stripped of all mitzvot, for whom the severe things, all the most severe mitzvot, stonings, court-imposed deaths, are like light matters, he tramples them as if they were something set aside on Shabbat, as if it does not interest him at all. And he will act arrogantly against one who regards the light as severe. Against whom will he be arrogant? Against the tzaddik, for whom even the lightest mitzvah appears to him as though, Heaven forbid, karet and court-imposed deaths, he is so careful with it. This is the base against the honorable. One who regards the light as light will act arrogantly against the honorable one who regards the light as severe.
Chazal say in Masechet Chagigah, folio 14, Yeshayahu the Navi cursed Israel with 18 curses, and his mind was not settled until he said to them, the youth will act arrogantly against the elder and the base against the honorable. The Gemara asks: what are they? As it is written, "For behold, the Master, Hashem of Hosts." Now the Gemara will explain every passage we read. There will be no support and stay. Support, these are the masters of Scripture. Stay, these are the masters of Mishnah. Every support of bread, there will be no masters of Talmud, as it says, "Come, eat of my bread," the Talmud is regarded like bread. And every support of water, these are the masters of Aggadah, who draw a person's heart like water, a person is drawn after the Aggadah. They draw his heart like water. Mighty man, these are the masters of received traditions. And man of war, this is one who knows how to conduct give and take in the battle of Torah. Judge, this is a judge who renders a true judgment according to its truth. Prophet, as its plain meaning, this too will not be. Diviner, this is a king, as it says, "divination is on the lips of a king, in judgment his mouth does not betray." Elder, this is one fit to sit in the yeshiva. Captain of fifty, one who knows how to conduct give and take in the five books of the Torah. Another interpretation of captain of fifty, said Rabbi Abbahu, from here we learn that one does not appoint a meturgeman (interpreter) over the public who is less than 50 years old, that he be under age 50. And man of favorable countenance, this too will not be, this is one for whose sake favor is shown to his generation above. In Heaven favor is shown for his sake, for the merit of that person, such as Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa. And below, such as Rabbi Abbahu in Caesarea. Counselor, this is one who knows how to intercalate years and fix months. Wise man, this is a student who makes his teachers wiser. Skilled craftsman (chacham charashim), what is charashim? That at the moment he opens his mouth all become like deaf men (chershim). That is, one is not able to open his mouth and not able to say anything else, he is now entirely attentive to what this sage has to say. And one clever with whispers, this is one who understands one thing from another. Lachash, this is one fit to have words of Torah transmitted to him in a whisper. The meaning: there are matters about which the Gemara says they are not fit to be transmitted except from man to man, and only to the wise one who understands on his own, and they are not transmitted in public, the account of the Chariot and the like, but this must be transmitted in secret, must be transmitted in secret and not by way of publicity. This is called nevon lachash, fit to have words of Torah transmitted to him in a whisper. And they further said, one does not transmit the secrets of the Torah except to one who has these five things: counselor and skilled craftsman and one clever with whispers.
And truly, there are terrible curses here. It is a dreadful situation of decline after decline, until Israel is simply emptied of everything good. Chazal say, his mind was not settled until he said to them, the youth will act arrogantly against the elder and the base against the honorable. This is curse number 18. Then his mind was settled, he stopped cursing them. The question arises, it sounds from here as though Yeshayahu had a great desire to curse, and he said and said and said until he said the final curse, that's it, I have calmed down. Heaven forbid, was Yeshayahu an enemy of Israel? How can one say such a thing? What does "his mind was not settled until he said" the lowest level, the bottom, the mud, that when they reach lower and lower, then his mind was settled, the youth will act arrogantly against the elder and the base against the honorable? What, what is the plain meaning of this?
There are several explanations of this that I found. I will tell you a few ideas. Some of them are in the manner of a vort, some are explanations closer to the plain meaning of things. So some of the explanations are found in the Iyun Yaakov. The Gaon Yaakov says that the conduct above is like the conduct below. If in this world the greats defer their opinion to the small, then likewise in Heaven, our opinion is accepted and the great ones, the angels and the ministering princes above, defer their opinion to the small, to us, to what we pray, to what we ask. Now Yeshayahu, when he cursed them, feared that we would pray but they would not heed our voice. Why? Because the angels of Heaven are great and how would they heed the voice of us who are small? He said no, in that generation the youth will act arrogantly against the elder. And then the elders will be subordinate to whom? To the youths. The greats will be subordinate to the small. Ah, so also in Heaven they will heed our voice. Also in Heaven we will pray and they will accept from us, because the conduct of Heaven is like the conduct of the earth. And if here the greats will be subordinate to the small, then also in Heaven the greats, the angels, the ministering princes, will heed our voice and be subordinate to us. And with this Yeshayahu's mind was settled.
There is another explanation that the Anaf Yosef gives. The youth will act arrogantly against the elder. What is the meaning of the youth will act arrogantly against the elder? One can say that we see this a bit even in our generation. The youth, one empty of Torah, will act arrogantly against the elder. Rahav is from the language of being arrogant against the elder. He will tell him, what, what do you think of yourself, right? Your honor is 70 years old and learned, I also learned. I also know, do not regard yourself that way, and I have refutations of what you say and I have proofs and... the youth will act arrogantly against the elder. Some youth will come and write against elders, as though he is an elder who sits in the yeshiva. Unfortunately there are sometimes all kinds of Torah pamphlets, whose name I will not mention, whoever knows knows what I am talking about, who come and write against the greats of the generation, against rulings, Rav Elyashiv ruled, Rav Ovadia Yosef, and this... and they dispute them. What is this, a youth still in yeshiva, who has not yet finished yeshiva, and he already writes about them in arrogant language, it eluded him, and he did not see thus, and he did not... what kind of thing is this? Where is the honor of the Torah? A person of 90 years, would that you remember what he managed to forget. And you write about him with such crude expressions, with such arrogant language? This is a situation of disgracing the Torah. In this situation the youth will act arrogantly against the elder, Yeshayahu saw this and he calmed down. Why did he calm down? Because when Yeshayahu earlier had said that the masters of Scripture, masters of Mishnah, masters of Gemara, masters of deep study, intercalators of months would be nullified, nothing, there would no longer be any wisdom at all. But he said, ah, a generation will come in which the youth will be arrogant and boast against the elder, I am wiser than you, I know how to learn better than you, I have proofs to refute what you say. So there will be youths who learn Torah. Good, he calmed down. From this he calmed down. So let them be arrogant against the elder, but at least there will be Torah. So I hear that there are elders and I hear that there are youths who learn Torah. Torah will not be forgotten. Fine, certainly it is a curse, certainly it is an unfitting thing, but at least from this I understand, from this prophecy that was prophesied to me, from what Hashem transmitted to me, the youth will act arrogantly against the elder, I understand that Torah will still remain. If Torah remains, there is still some possibility of salvation here. What is their quarrel? Who is wiser in Torah. That is their quarrel. If that is the quarrel, well and good, let them quarrel about this and not quarrel about other things. Let them not quarrel about who is wealthier. If they still quarrel about who is wiser in Torah, that is still fine. Like a wealthy man once came to a Rav, so the Rav told him, the Admor told him, tell me, do you donate? Do you give? So he says, permit me not to boast about the donations I give. The Admor said to him, boast and boast, the main thing is that you give. The main thing is that you give. He, secretly, right? throws 10 shekels here, 10, he does not want to boast. Boast, give a million dollars and put a notice in the newspaper, boast, the main thing is that the poor have what to eat. That is what he says. True, terrible and dreadful, youths rise against, but about what? About Torah. This one says I have more, if these are your arguments, it is still fine. Let him argue who is greater in Torah. The Torah still has splendor in their eyes. His mind was settled.
There is another explanation of the Iyun Yaakov. This is a very plain explanation, and generally you know that the plain explanations are usually the true ones. He says the youth will act arrogantly against the elder, that is to say, will the youth accept rebuke from the elder? He is arrogant toward him, he boasts against him, will he accept rebuke from him? No. If he does not accept rebuke, then is the elder held accountable for the sin of the youth? Why did you not rebuke him? Will they be seized in their iniquity? No. So that's it, he calmed down. This is how I worried, decline after decline after decline, woe to the elders and the sages and... for they too will be seized in the sin of the generation. Why did you not protest? Ah, it reached the youth will act arrogantly against the elder, oh, here they received an exemption. Here now I understand why they did not protest, they will not be held accountable for this, Yeshayahu's mind was settled.
Another explanation the Iyun Yaakov gives, a somewhat more intricate explanation. It is written, "lest there be among you a root bearing gall and wormwood, and he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace. And all the curse written in this book shall lie upon him." It is written that the curses in Parashat Ki Tavo are written in the singular. And why? To tell us that the great one of the generation is seized for the sin of the whole people. Therefore it is written in the singular, "shall lie upon him," all in the singular. Now, if the great one is an important person, when the people are distressed, he is also distressed, when it pains them, it also pains him, so therefore the great one is seized in the sin of the whole people. But if the great one is not important in their eyes, then what, when the great one suffers, what does the wicked one say? I shall have peace. The great one suffers? Good health to him. The main thing is that I have peace. Nothing will happen to me, they will not touch me, the trouble will not come to my tent. That's it, I am calm. His distress at the trouble of the great one of the generation does not pain him at all. So about this the Torah says, and all the curse shall lie upon him. One who says this way, I shall have peace, you do not care about the greats of the generation who suffer for you, because of you, for your need? But the main thing is that I shall have peace? Hashem says, and all the curse shall lie upon him. With this, the punishment departs from the great one, who was supposed to be seized in the sin of the generation, and passes to the wicked one himself. With this his mind was settled. At last he sees the wicked one paying the price. Until now he saw the greats paying the price. But the moment the youth act arrogantly against the elder, this means they have no appreciation for the greats. If you have no appreciation for the great one, then the great one ceases to shield you, but rather you will need, and all the curse shall lie upon him. With this his mind was settled.
There is another explanation in the name of the Ateret Chaim of Sanz. It is written that when Yeshayahu prophesied 18 curses, that Torah would be forgotten from Israel, he said there will be no support and stay, masters of Scripture, masters of Mishnah, masters of Aggadah, so he was in doubt, what will that generation do? Without Torah scholars, without shepherds, without leaders, what will be in that generation? But when he said the youth will act arrogantly against the elder and the base against the honorable, he said wait, indeed they will disparage them, but what? There is an elder. They will disparage them, but what? There is an honorable one. So he calmed down. There are still elders and honorable ones. This is more or less along the first direction we mentioned, only there we said that he saw there would be competition in Torah. But here even without that, even if the youths will be emptied of Torah and disparage the greats, but you say there will be greats. His mind was at ease. That is to say, if there are greats, they can still bring them close. If there are greats, there is still, there is a shepherd, the shepherd can still return the flock. There is another explanation that Rabbi Yisrael of Chortkov gives. He explains that essentially the Navi sees all this in the vision of prophecy. And the Navi sees that there is a curse, and he sees that Hashem transmits to him another curse, and he sees that Hashem transmits to him another curse. He is alarmed, such terrible troubles, and he sees the things before his eyes, he sees how it happens, all this he sees in the vision of prophecy. Now, how many curses does he know there are? 18. There are 18 curses, he told them. It is written his mind was not settled until he said the youth will act arrogantly against the elder, this is curse number 18. When he saw in the vision of prophecy the curse number 18, it came, his mind was settled. Because he knows, after 18, Mashiach comes. Therefore this is the matter of his mind being settled. When he saw this, he understood, that's it. Ah, we have reached the last one. And then his mind was settled, because he knew, this is the curse, he knows 18 curses and no more. After this Mashiach already comes. So, now the redemption should already come.
One last explanation, we will also explain in the way of Chassidut, according to Rav Mordechai of Slonim. He says that essentially when the sage, the great sage receives honor from the people, then sometimes it is uncomfortable for him, sometimes he does not see a need to protest against them. They honor him, they give him esteem and greatness, so it is uncomfortable for him to remark, why does your honor desecrate Shabbat? It is uncomfortable for him to remark to him, he honors him, he... he says in such a situation, how will they repair the generation? How will they repair the generation? Since the young and the wicked honor the tzaddikim, then the tzaddikim have no, no drive to come and rebuke them. Ah, when he saw that the youth will act arrogantly against the elder and the base against the honorable, they will begin to disgrace the elders, they will begin to speak against them in a manner of pride and contempt, ah, here the elder and the sage will no longer make calculations, he will rebuke them properly. As long as he receives honor from him, it is uncomfortable for him to rebuke him. He has a good relationship with him. But the moment he begins to disgrace him, then the sage will already come and begin to rebuke him properly. Here there are already no interests. The sage will come and begin to speak with him fittingly, and then his mind was settled. He says, from here the redemption is fit to come. From the moment the youth act arrogantly against the elder, rebuke will come, and if rebuke comes, the redemption will also come.