"When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying: You have clothing, be a ruler for us, and let this ruin be under your hand." "When a man shall take hold of his brother." The Malbim says that now he describes for us, look and see, in the past everyone was running, everyone sought to be leaders, everyone wanted to be officers, it was an honor for him, an honor for the whole family, that he leads over the people. Now, a man will come and take hold of his brother or of the house of his father, and say to him, "You have clothing," you have garments of honor, you are fit to be an officer for us. You will have honor, you and your family. And not only that, he says to him, "Let this ruin be under your hand." This whole matter of the insolence of the youths, "the youth shall behave insolently against the elder," it is in your hands to deal with it. It is within your power to change reality. You can do it. And if so, then really you are the cause. If you do not repair it, then the sin depends on you. He will come and say to him, "You have clothing, be a ruler for us." What will he say? We will see shortly. But the Malbim says, if we pay attention, there is here a kind of irony, as it were. He comes and says, do you know what kind of leader there will be in those days? Because of such great deterioration, who will be the leader then? It is enough for him to have only a nice garment so that... you are already fit to be a leader. They will not seek content, they will not seek inner substance, they will not seek... he knows how to speak well, that is it, prime minister. Let us make him prime minister. He is dressed nicely, he photographs well. "You have clothing," it is enough that you have clothing, well, what about the qualities? No, no, that is enough, listen, the garment suits him, he has a nice garment, he is already fit to be an honored man. And to lead the people. This shows what deterioration there will be, that in fact people of substance, people of merit, will not exist. Rather what will there be? Only lowly people, whose only virtue found in them for leadership is that you have nice clothes. Your nice clothes make you fit to be a leader. Someone once said, there is a very wise expression that says, when speaking of small leaders who suddenly became leaders, there is a wise expression that says, when small people cast a large shadow, it means the sun is setting. When the sun sets, then something small looks big, right? So this shows that we are in a total decline, a situation so terrible and dreadful, truly in decline in every respect, and therefore suddenly you see a small man suddenly casting a large shadow. This shows the deterioration. And this is what he says, "You have clothing," you have a garment, you are already fit to be a leader. Rashi brings the words of Chazal, who say that when a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father and says to him "You have clothing," the meaning is: you are rich in Torah. And not only rich in Torah, but the Torah is as clear to you as a garment. Like a garment, like something spread out, you know, you are expert in it, it is clear in your hands. Therefore be a ruler for us, come and teach us. "And this ruin," so that in matters where we stumble in the forbidden and the permitted, the impure and the pure, "be under your hand." If you do not teach us, if you do not instruct us, then of course we will not behave correctly. Therefore be a ruler for us, so that the ruin will not be under your hand. Another explanation is in matters of money. "You have clothing" means you have money, you can clothe the poor. There are people who go naked, they have no clothes because of their great poverty. "You have clothing." "And this ruin," that people are dying of hunger and have nothing to eat, "under your hand," because it is in your power to satisfy them, in your power to sustain them. Therefore be a ruler for us. What is the answer?
"He shall raise up on that day, saying: I will not be a healer, for in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; you shall not make me a ruler of the people." "He shall raise up on that day." "Raise up," says Rashi, always denotes an oath. He swears to them, "I will not be a healer." Rashi continues according to the interpretation he explained earlier, that the meaning is: be a spiritual leader for us, the clothing is under your hand, you know all the Torah. He says to them "I will not be a healer," meaning I will not even be one who frequents the study hall. "In my house there is neither bread nor clothing," I have neither the reasoning of Mishnah nor the reasoning of Aggadah. That is, do you think I know something? Truly I have nothing under my hand. And this shows deterioration upon deterioration. To such an extent that they will think of him and say, ah, this one surely knows, this one is surely an expert, but truly he says to them, I have nothing to sell you. Neither the reasoning of Mishnah nor the reasoning of Aggadah. And another explanation Rashi gives, according to its plain meaning: "I will not be a healer," a "choveish" means a judge. This is from the word "machbosh," imprisonment. They place him in prison, in confinement. So the judge has the power to imprison people in prison. He says to them "I will not be a choveish," meaning I will not be a leader who imprisons people in prison. The Malbim also continues according to the explanation he gave earlier, that in the past it was a great honor to be a leader. But in this generation a situation will arise in which it will be a lowliness to be a leader. And then he will answer them, "I will not be a healer." Even though in ancient times it was an honor and glory for a person to be honored with authority, for then insolent people were not common and there was great honor in it. But now he says to them, I will not be an officer, only a choveish. What is a choveish? Just a policeman who binds and imprisons in the prison. And why? He says to them, because now the insolent have multiplied. The people who break out have multiplied, so can I be an officer? Can I lead in this way? And another thing he says to them, I cannot even be a choveish. And in truth, this too is a task I cannot take upon myself. And why? Because he says to them, if I have to engage in this, to try to repair the ruin, to put into prison the criminals and the rebels, the insolent and those who brought about this deterioration, I will have to cease from all my business. What will I eat? From what will I make my living? And about this he says to them, I will not be a choveish, because I would have to descend from my possessions. "And in my house there is neither bread nor clothing." And I would have to go and be freed from all my business in order to deal with the situation of the people. Therefore I ask, do not make me a ruler of the people. Do not make me a leader of the people.
And what really is the reason for their fall being so terrible? Verse 8. "For Yerushalayim has stumbled and Yehudah has fallen, because their tongue and their deeds are against Hashem, to defy the eyes of His glory." "Yerushalayim has stumbled," as we said, this is the city of the kingdom. And since the city of the kingdom stumbled, then of course Yehudah, those managed by the kingdom, also fell. When the manager falls, then those managed also fall. And why? "Because their tongue and their deeds are against Hashem." They were hypocrites, says the Malbim, in two respects. Both in matters between man and God and they were also afflicted in matters between man and his fellow. In the mitzvot between man and God, he says these people made themselves out to be righteous when they were not so. Wearing a hairy mantle in order to deceive. He presents himself as if he is righteous and God fearing, some kind of "baba" like this, performing wonders, so that people will follow after him, as if they serve Hashem. "With their tongue and their deeds against Hashem." As it were he makes an external impression and tells everyone, all I want is only the service of Hashem. I have only the will of Hashem before my eyes. But what will it help when Hashem despises him before His eyes? This is "to defy the eyes of His glory." He defies the eyes of Hashem's providence as if Hashem does not see. He says I care only for the will of Hashem, when in fact, excuse me, does Hashem not see what you are telling? Does Hashem not see, does He not know the secrets of your heart? Another thing, you also cannot deceive people in this. Not only Hashem, people too you cannot deceive this way for long. "The show of their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin like Sedom, they do not hide it. Woe to their soul, for they have brought evil upon themselves." The people too will recognize that there is hypocrisy here. "The show of their countenance witnesses against them." Hypocrisy and flattery, says the Malbim, are recognizable on the face. And this testifies to what is in the depth of their heart. The one who truly fears Hashem will be recognizable on his face, as opposed to the forger and hypocrite, says the Malbim. So you think you deceive only Hashem? And do you think, excuse me, that you deceive people? He tells you that people too you do not deceive. "The show of their countenance witnesses against them." A third thing, even if in matters between man and God he does his deeds in secret, still "their sin is like Sedom." The sins between man and his fellow are open matters. When a person robs and denies and steals and all this, this you cannot do in secret. In these matters you say I am God fearing and righteous while in your heart you are wicked. But to come and commit sins between man and his fellow and have people think you are righteous, this is impossible to hide. They see what sins you commit. "They declare, they do not hide it." He says these sins are as it were declaring, publicizing before everyone the wickedness of those leaders. It is as if he does it publicly. So who would be fooled into thinking you are righteous? Who would be fooled into thinking you truly fear Hashem? And he also comes and says, even if you think you have the ability to deceive everyone, in the end know that you only harm yourself. And this he will explain in the next verse. But before that I want to explain what the Malbim says about the meaning of "the show of their countenance witnesses against them." The Malbim says that the expression "to answer" (la'anot) appears in several forms. There is "la'anot et," there is "la'anot le," and there is "la'anot be." And the Malbim says they are completely different. When I say "la'anot et," it means an answer to a question. "I answered him" means I answered him regarding what he asked me. When I say "la'anot le," "and you shall answer saying," "and you shall answer him," it means to raise the voice. That is raising the voice. And "la'anot be" is from the word affliction. Like "do not answer against your fellow." With the letter bet, it is from the word testimony. "Do not bear false witness against your fellow." So "the show of their countenance witnesses against them" is with a bet. What is it? From the word testimony. This comes to say, the show of your countenance already testifies against you. It testifies that this person is wicked. It testifies that this person is a forger and does all his matters only outwardly.
"Say of the righteous that it is good, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds." He comes and says to them, tell the righteous that righteousness, the good things the righteous person does, is not needed for the sake of external things. The meaning of this is, sometimes a person wants to do some act of righteousness, some good deed, for external benefit. Why? So that people will honor me. He wants to derive some benefit from it, wants to obtain some reward. They will give me a position. He does righteousness not for the sake of righteousness, but for the sake of external benefit. He comes and says, say of the righteous that it is good, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Tell the righteous that righteousness is good in itself. Not as a tool with which to obtain something else, but it is good in itself. Like a person who plants a tree. What does he want to obtain from planting the tree? Fruit. He does not plant a tree that will produce fruit in order to obtain some third thing. The benefit of the tree is the very thing that comes out of it. The benefit in righteousness is the very fact that righteousness comes to be. Not because through it people will honor me or through it they will give me a position or through it I will profit. And this is what he says to them, "for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds." The meaning is, when you do righteousness, the very righteousness itself is already the needed result, it is the fruit of the matter, which is what is required. Do not seek some additional profits from it.
"Woe to the wicked, it is evil, for the recompense of his hands shall be done to him." "Woe to the wicked, it is evil." He comes and tells you, many times the wicked person does something and he thinks this thing does not cause any other evil. He tells you, you are mistaken. Your wickedness in itself is evil. When a person commits a sin, when a person...
The very act of doing is not good. It is in itself an evil thing. This is "woe to the wicked, it is evil." The worst thing of all evil is the wickedness itself. But listen, in the end no one is harmed by it, nothing comes of it, what comes of it? That is already the resulting thing. That we set aside, leave it aside. The sin itself, the corruption itself, is in itself an evil thing. "Woe to the wicked, it is evil." This is what is written, "for it is evil and bitter that you have forsaken Hashem your God." And this is what he says, "for the recompense of his hands shall be done to him."
What is the recompense for the righteousness of the righteous? That there is righteousness in the world. We said this is already the benefit, do not seek additional benefits. And what is the evil in the very doing of wickedness? The very fact that there is evil in the world, this is the terrible thing today. Even without anyone telling you there is a punishment and there is and you will pay a price and... even without this, there is evil in the world, this is already the most terrible thing. And this is what he comes and says, "for the recompense of his hands shall be done to him." Just as when a person does righteousness, what is the recompense? That there is righteousness in the world, that there is justice in the world, that society is set right. This is the recompense without additions. So too when a person does wickedness, what is the recompense? The very fact that there is wickedness in the world, this is the most terrible thing for the wicked. And in fact the Malbim says that according to the depth of the matter, when a person commits a sin he has no external recompense, rather the recompense of his hands is done to him.
What does this mean? If for example you drove at excessive speed and as a result a policeman stopped you and you got a ticket. The punishment is external to the act you did. You did an act and the evil is not necessarily connected to it, the punishment is not necessarily connected to it. But if, God forbid, a person drove at excessive speed and did not manage to brake and as a result was in a car accident and was seriously injured, Hashem have mercy. Is the punishment external to the sin? "The recompense of his hands shall be done to him"! What you cooked, you ate. It is not someone from outside who comes to punish you for something you did. He comes and tells us, know that the punishment of the wicked is not like a policeman who gives you a ticket. It is not that in heaven they say, what is written here, ah, you did such and such so now you will get a fine. No. Rather in fact you harm yourself. Because truly, in the depth of the matter, when a person does evil he creates a destroyer. And this destroyer needs to be nourished and sustained by something. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He could ordinarily tell it, here you go, behold what is yours before you, did he not create you? Did this person create you? Go to him so that he sustains you. How does the destroyer sustain itself from the person? How does it draw from him? When it torments him. In the fact that it torments him, in this the destroyer draws from that person.
It emerges then, who harms the person? He himself, the work of his hands. This is what he says, "the recompense of his hands shall be done to him." And this is what the prophet says, "your evil shall chastise you." "Your evil shall chastise you" means this is not a separate punishment. "The folly of man perverts his way, and his heart rages against Hashem." The folly, the foolishness of the person, causes him to pervert his way, and suddenly he perverts his way and gets struck. He walks on a rugged path and falls into pits. Master of the world, why did You throw me down? I placed signs for you, the road is paved here, here is a rugged path. You insisted on going this way, you fell into a pit and you have a complaint against the Creator of the world. And this is what he says, "the recompense of his hands shall be done to him." Therefore this is "woe to the wicked, it is evil." Because truly, what is the greatest woe? It is when I harm myself. This is the greatest woe. When someone else harmed me, I have a complaint against someone. I feel not guilty. I know someone, Hashem have mercy, Hashem have mercy, who was ill with a disease and in the end died from the disease. But I remember hearing from him a sentence that really expresses this point. He said this, he was a person who was a heavy smoker. And he said that what comforted him was that he did not fall ill with lung cancer. He had a different cancer. So why did this comfort him? Because truly, what is most terrible for us to think? What a fool I am, I killed myself. This is what is hard. But he said, listen, it is not connected, a person can be healthy and even one who does not smoke can get leukemia, Hashem have mercy, or all kinds of other diseases. This calmed him. A person is about to die and what calmed him? That I did not harm myself. And this is what he says, "woe to the wicked, it is evil." What is the greatest woe? That the wicked person harms himself, for the recompense of his hands shall be done to him. And this is the sorrow, this is the greatest anguish of soul.
Chazal expound on this, "say of the righteous that it is good." Chazal say, and is there a righteous person who is good and a righteous person who is not good? What is "a righteous person that it is good"? Rather, good toward heaven and good toward people, this is a good righteous person. And of him it is said, "for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds." That he eats the fruits in this world and the principal remains for him for the world to come. Good toward heaven but not good toward people, he does not get along with people, this is a righteous person who is not good. "Woe to the wicked, it is evil." And is there a wicked person who is evil and a wicked person who is not evil? Rather, evil toward heaven and evil toward people, this is an evil wicked person. But evil toward heaven and not evil toward people, this is a wicked person who is not evil. And the evil wicked person, the recompense of his hands shall be done to him in this world. And they said, merit has a principal and it has fruits. A person who did a mitzvah, there is a principal and he also accumulates dividends. As it says, "for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds." A sin has a principal and it has no fruits. As it says, "for the recompense of his hands shall be done to him." What you did, that you will receive, the sin is the principal and it has no fruits. Unless, say Chazal, it produced fruits, such as when he came upon a forbidden woman and fathered a son from her. And then there is a sin and it also has fruits afterward that develop from that same sin.
"My people, its oppressors are children, and women rule over it. My people, your leaders mislead you, and they have swallowed up the way of your paths." The Malbim says that the order of the verse should as it were be read thus: My people mocks, as it were makes fun of, its oppressors, those who oppress it, because creditors rule over it. The meaning of this is, "nashim" here is from the word "noshim," creditors. The situation of Israel deteriorated so much that when the creditors came, the oppressors, to demand tax from them, pay the tax you must give the king, my people would mock him. He would say to him, what have you come to take? Search, search, see if you find something, take it. Why? Because creditors rule over it. He already owes so much money to so many people that nothing is left to him. "Nashim," the creditors, this "nashim" here is the word for creditors. Creditors rule over it. About this he comes and says, they would mock the tax oppressors. As it were, he has nothing to take from his hand. This shows such a hard deterioration that he cannot even pay tax because of all the debts he has to pay to those who lend to him.
"My people, your leaders mislead you." "Your leaders" (me'ashrecha) means the people who are supposedly meant to show you, to set you on the fortunate path, the straight path, they mislead you from the correct path. And not only that, but even what was for you until now a straight path, the way of your paths, this too they have swallowed up. This too they corrupted until the way you were accustomed to walk in was corrupted and you cannot return to it because in fact it was as it were swallowed up and is gone. The Malbim explains, the way of the Torah is called a paved way, a fixed way, a straight way. From this way, from this way, crooked paths spread out. One who walks in the way of the Torah walks on the highway. He walks on the straight way. One who deviates from the way walks on crooked paths. Now, what did they do? Those who supposedly promised you temporary happiness, immediate, available, lusts, pleasures, matters of this world, they are called those "your leaders mislead you." They misled you from the correct way. But he feared that you might still return to the correct way. So what did he do? Even the correct way, the main route where you always used to walk, this too he distorted and corrupted. And through this he ensured that even when you see that the crooked paths lead nowhere and you want to return to the correct way, you have nowhere to return to. What is the analogy in fact? That as it were they distorted them from the principles of faith. So as long as they had the principles of faith, then he could still return to the paved and straight way, he returns to faith in Hashem. So even if he walks on crooked paths, but he still has the principles of faith. But once, after they took them to crooked paths, they also distorted their mind and intellect and distorted for them the principles of faith, then "the way of your paths," even the way that was a paved way you used to walk in the past, this too they swallowed up, this too they as it were destroyed and corrupted and it was as it were impossible to return to the straight way. The Malbim says that he repeats and says "your leaders," "your leaders mislead you and they have swallowed up the way of your paths," this refers back to two kinds of success. Both material success, wealth, livelihood, about this he already said "its oppressors," creditors rule over it, he has no economic success, no material success. And corresponding to spiritual success in the service of Hashem, about this he said "your leaders mislead you." As it were, those who are meant to promise you happiness in the spiritual service mislead you, they promise you happiness in all kinds of idols and false gods, they mislead you from the straight way of the service of Hashem.
"Hashem stands to plead, and stands to judge the peoples." The prophet says, when Hashem wishes to judge His people for the evil of their deeds, for the evil of their actions, then He will see that the main blame lies with the elders, the main blame lies with the judges, lies with the leaders, they are the ones who corrupted the people. Therefore when Hashem wishes to judge them, then He will as it were set up a court to judge those people. And this symbolizes "Hashem stands to judge the peoples." "Stands to judge" means like to judge. Hashem will stand to judge them. But Hashem will as it were also be the prosecutor. The prosecutor is called the "ba'al hariv," the litigant. The Malbim says, when someone sues his fellow, that one is called the litigant, because there will be a dispute between people. And the judge is called the "dayan." So "Hashem stands to plead," the Holy One, blessed be He, will stand in order to prosecute those judges and elders, and on the other hand He stands to judge the peoples. That is, He will stand to judge the peoples, meaning here Israel, the leaders, the judges, the elders, who did not set the people straight on the correct way. The Malbim explains, there is a difference between "nitzav" (standing firm) and "omed" (standing). It is written here "Hashem stands (nitzav) to plead, and stands (omed) to judge the peoples." This difference is familiar to us today too in the Holy Tongue. The Malbim says, "omed" is the opposite of sitting. In contrast, "nitzav" means strengthening himself in his stance. Standing firmly. That is to say, every "nitzav" is an "omed," but not every "omed" is a "nitzav." It could be that a person stands in a more passive manner, he is not "nitzav." In contrast, the person who strengthens himself in his stance. So this is what he comes and tells us here. Here "omed," "nitzav to plead Hashem." The Holy One, blessed be He, is like the litigant, and the litigant who comes to prosecute, that is a dispute, so He is "nitzav," He strengthens Himself in His stance in order to make His claims. But in contrast regarding judgment, "stands (omed) to judge the peoples." They stand before the judge, and the judge judges both equally. It is not that you stand opposite him. And generally one can say "nitzav" is someone who stands against, stands facing, this is the concept of "nitzav." Standing opposite, so a person in sin is "nitzavim," defiance. So when I stand opposite the litigant I am "nitzav" opposite him. I defy him, I stand against him. Therefore this is "stands to plead Hashem." Hashem stands in order to contend against you. On the other hand when it is judgment then it is "stands to judge," it is not "nitzav," it is "omed." You stand in a passive manner, not like someone who strengthens himself in his stance in order to stand opposite someone.
"Hashem will enter into judgment with the elders of His people and its officers: and you have consumed the vineyard, the plunder of the poor is in your houses." This is the continuation of the previous verse. With whom does Hashem stand to judge the peoples? "Hashem will enter into judgment with the elders of His people and its officers." Hashem, before the judges as it were, will prosecute the elders of His people and its officers. He will set forth claims against them regarding the fact that the elders, the elders are those who are meant to guide them in the mitzvot between man and God. He will say to them, "and you have consumed the vineyard." For Israel is compared to a vineyard. We will see this further on in chapter 5, that Israel is called the vineyard of Hashem. What is the fruit of this vineyard? These are the mitzvot and good deeds. We are the vineyard and we are meant to give fruits, meaning to do good deeds. And behold, you, who as the elders are meant to be guardians of the vineyard, you are the watchmen, to take care that Israel keeps mitzvot and good deeds, and not only did you not guard the vineyard, you even consumed the vineyard, you corrupted the vineyard. This is against the elders, who the elders are meant to set the people straight spiritually. Now he turns back to the officers. The officers are those who are meant to set the people straight legally, from the legal standpoint, in matters between man and his fellow, not in spiritual matters. These are the officers. He says to them, "the plunder of the poor is in your houses." You are appointed to save the poor from the hand of his oppressor, and not only did you not save the poor from the hand of his oppressor, you even oppressed him. The plunder of the poor is in your houses. And about this the Holy One, blessed be He, will enter into judgment with the elders of His people and with its officers. With the elders of His people over the vineyard, and with its officers over the plunder of the poor. "What do you mean that you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor, says the Lord, Hashem of hosts."
"And Hashem said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet." This is a question and an answer. Let us explain. What do you mean that you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor? Why? "Because the daughters of Zion are haughty." The meaning of this is, Hashem asks them, why do you crush My people? And as it were Hashem answers Himself, because the daughters of Zion are haughty. Why do you oppress and rob and take bribes? The reason for this is because of your women. For their women were haughty women and they were losing much wealth on jewelry and on perfumes and on all kinds of corrupt things. And this caused them to demand from their husbands that they fill their needs. And through this their husbands had to go and steal and rob and take bribes in order to fulfill the satisfaction of their wives. And this is what he says, what do you mean that you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor? Why? "Because," and Hashem said, Hashem says, I will tell you what the answer is. "Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks," and after this he mentions all the jewelry they went about with, very expensive jewelry. And this demanded that the husbands maintain very high standards, for whose sake they had to steal and rob and take bribes. And about this he asks them, what do you mean that you crush My people, that is, why do you not satisfy money? The Malbim explains, "tedakei'u" (crush) is from the word to pound. "Tit'chanu" (grind) is from the word grinding, to grind something. What is the difference between them? What is the difference between pounding and grinding? The Malbim says, in pounding you take a big thing, you pound it, you turn it into small crumbs. Afterward you need to grind it so that from small crumbs you turn it into flour. And these are two separate vessels. Pound in a mortar. A person who takes a mortar, that is a pestle and mortar, and pounds something, he will not reach flour. He will reach a very pounded state, he will not reach flour. Flour can be reached with a millstone. Now on the other hand take something big, you want to put it into the millstone, it will not go in. You need it to be crumbled and only then can it go in between the two millstones. They place it inside the inner circle, they fill it with that material and this material is crushed inside. But it needs to be something fine, it needs to be granules, it needs to be wheat, barley. But if you try to put big things there to pound, it will not go in between the millstones, it is impossible. So therefore in order to grind something you must first pound it and only afterward grind it. And here the Malbim gives an example, "and he beat it, grinding it well." "And he beat it" is first of all to beat, to turn it into small pieces. Afterward, grinding it well. Yes, and they ground it in mills or pounded it in a mortar. One of the two. If they wanted to make flour from it, they ground it in mills. Or if they did not want to make flour from it but wanted to cook it, they pounded it in a mortar and cooked it in a pot. They would pound it, that is turn it into small pieces, for example into groats, and then they would cook it in a pot, which is a cooking vessel. What is the analogy here? He says to them, you crush My people. In the beginning, in order to obtain silver and gold and bribes, whom would they crush? The one who has. So whom would they approach? The wealthy. You crush My people. The wealthy man had much, we said, big things, what must be done? Pound, they pounded him. They pounded him in order to extract from him. But after this what did he become as a result of being pounded? He became poor. If he became poor, we said, can you pound something already pounded? What do you do to turn it into flour? You need to grind it. This is the second stage. And you grind the faces of the poor. After you turned him into a poor man as a result of pounding him, after that you still grind him fine in order to extract from him the small crumbs that still remained in him.
"And Hashem said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet." One who reads the following verses here stands astonished, as it were the prophet stands in our own time and rebukes Israel for their shortcomings. And I do not mean standing on Allenby in Tel Aviv, and a word to the wise is enough. Let us explain. And Hashem said, I will read to you the language of Rashi. About the women who ruled over My people. Listen to the language. "Because" wigs, braids of hair, "are haughty." Their wigs and braids of hair became haughty. And they had wanton eyes. "Wanton eyes" has two interpretations. Either from the word "sikur," that is, gazing about everywhere in order to draw attention. Or from the word "sikra," they would paint their eyes with all kinds of colors in order to draw attention. Coarse makeup of various kinds, "sikra," blue. "Walking and mincing as they go." "Walking and mincing," "tafof" Rashi explains is from the word for something that floats above its fellow. That a tall one would walk beside a short one. She wanted to draw attention, so she would take some short friend and walk beside her. And then next to the short one she immediately catches attention, she immediately looks tall, so that she would appear floating above. So "tafof" is from the word floating, she would walk in a manner that she would appear as floating above. I think another explanation can be given, even though in truth in the grammar of the Holy Tongue it is not really implied, but it is possible to explain it according to the aspect of reality. "Tafof" from the word "tifuf," drumming. There are many women who want to draw attention, they walk with shoes, sandals like these that you hear from afar. The whole street knows she is walking. So this is "walking and mincing," from the word drumming. Why is this not precise in the Holy Tongue? Because "tifuf" in the Holy Tongue is with a tav. Here it is written "tafof" with a tet. But tet and tav interchange. Rashi further explains, that which is written "and with their feet," "and their thread encircles them," Rashi says they would tie wigs, braids of plucked hair, wrapping them with their braids so that they would appear thick and full. She did not have much hair, she would put on a wig so that her hair would appear thick, this is from the word thick, would appear dense, would appear as much hair, thick and full. "And making a tinkling with their feet," when they would pass in the market by the young men of Israel, she would tread on him with her foot and hint to him the manner of affection of adultery. That is, as it were she would give him some kick with the foot, some small kick so that he would set his eyes on her. There is another explanation in Chazal, that they would walk with a kind of perfume, that they would place it in their shoes, and when she came to him she would spray perfume on him with the foot in order to ignite in him the evil inclination. "Achas" is like that of a snake. A snake has venom, so this would enter him like the venom of a snake. "Achas," says Rashi, the venom of a snake. There is another explanation of "tafof," it is from the word "taf," children, that they would go and walk around in the street in the manner of children. Or that a big one would walk beside a small one, yes, which is also "tafof" from the word "taf," meaning from the word for the small ones, that the big one walks beside the small one.
"And Hashem will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Hashem will lay bare their secret parts." From here he will begin to describe the punishment of those women who caused that terrible and immense damage through all their behavior, both in that they demanded from their husbands and through this they had to spend a fortune and rob the poor, and through that they aroused the fire of lust in the men. And the punishment will be "and Hashem will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion." The Malbim says "vesipach" is from the word "sapachat," a malignant scab. And although "sapachat" is with a samech and "vesipach" is with a shin, we see that shin and samech interchange. Like "cheres" with a shin and a samech, like "ka'as" which appears in Iyov both with a shin and with a samech, and many other times. "Ta'aris" appears in the Torah with a shin, in Chazal it appears with... many shins in the Torah turn into samechs in Chazal. This is very common in order to create a distinction between shin and sin, this is very common. Like "ta'aris" in the Torah is always with a shin whereas in Chazal it is always with a samech. And in many places we see this point. "And Hashem will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion," the meaning is Hashem will place upon them a malignant scab through which their forelock will become a bald spot. Corresponding to the fact that they walked around with magnificent wigs and long wigs and wigs that caused lust, that same place Hashem will make a bald spot and scab. For Hashem will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, He will cover it with leprosy. And Hashem will lay bare their secret parts. "Petehen ye'areh." What is "petehen ye'areh"? The Malbim explains that the meaning is that same place that was covered with hair, Hashem will now cover with leprosy. There are other interpretations. Rashi says "vesipach," our Rabbis expounded on it that they will become rebellious maidservants. "Sipach" from the word "shifchah," maidservant. And some expounded that He will increase among them families upon families of lice. Again samech and shin interchange. "Sipach" from the word "mishpachah," family. Or one can also say that many lice will attach themselves to them. They will have families upon families of lice on the head, and note this is on the head, corresponding to the sin that was on the head as we explained, that these are the wigs that Rashi mentioned. "Petehen ye'areh," Rashi explains, their vessels He will pour out. "Peten" is a vessel, from the language "patya ukhma." Why? Rashi says, they would say, "let Him hasten and speed His work." I am not worried about the destruction. Why? That gentile officer will come, that foreign soldier will come, and he will see me, how beautiful I am and how made up I am, for we read earlier how many matters of makeup and adornment they would do for themselves, and he will take me. That is, I am arranged, he will take me with him. I will be his wife, I will not, I am not supposed to die here of hunger or receive some punishments here. And when they came out, the officers of Nevuchadnetzar would take them to be their wives because of their beauty. Well, their plan succeeded. And the Holy One, blessed be He, hinted, and they would flow like blood poured from vessel to vessel. That is, they would flow with menstrual blood. And when they were punished with menstrual blood and became repulsive to them, they would throw them to the ground from their wagons. "And their honor He removed," the preciousness and honor of theirs He will remove from them. And this is what is written, "and their secret parts He will lay bare," the meaning is "ye'areh" from the word "me'areh," pouring from vessel to vessel. That is to say, you thought you could escape the decree, on the contrary, you will see that all those things you thought to boast in, this external beauty, this will turn into repulsion in the eyes of the gentile officer and not only will he not want them but he will even loathe them. "Ye'areh" is also from the word revealing, yes.
"On that day Hashem will remove the finery of the anklets and the headbands and the crescents." When the Holy One, blessed be He, returns Israel to Him, says Rashi, Hashem will remove from them the finery of the anklets. They will no longer hang their glory on the adornment of women's jewelry and on matters of degradation. The "achasim" are the shoes with which they would tinkle, we said "and making a tinkling with their feet." And the "shevisim" is a headband placed on the head for adornment. And the "saharonim" too, Targum Yonatan says "sevachaya," it is the same idea, also a kind of headband. There is another interpretation, the Radak explains that the "achasim," the Radak explains they would place a kind of bells on the feet, so that when they walked in shoes, when they walked it would rattle. And through this it would draw attention. Like, to distinguish by thousands of distinctions, there are bells on a Sefer Torah. Why? When they take out a Sefer Torah immediately everyone knows, they took out a Sefer Torah, a person immediately stands. There are bells. So, to distinguish by thousands of distinctions, they would place bells there on their feet so that when she walked in the street immediately everyone would look, they see, drawing attention, someone is walking in the street. And the "shevisim" the Radak explains like "shevatzim," from the word "mishbetzet," "a tunic of checker work." That is, a garment made in the form of a checker-work tunic. "Saharonim" the Radak explains that this was some jewelry made in the form of a half-moon, in the form of a crescent (sahar). Therefore it is called "saharonim." And all these jewels that they boasted in and were haughty with and seduced with, Hashem will remove from them. "The pendants and the bracelets and the veils." He continues and enumerates kinds of ornaments they had. The "netifot," the Targum says "unkaya." "Necklaces (anakim) for your throat." What are "anakim"? A chain that is on the neck. And why "netifot"? Because it drips down and descends. "Dripping" means something that descends on the body, therefore it is called "netifot." Why is a necklace called "anak"? Why is a very tall person called an "anak" (giant)? Rashi says, because they crown (ma'anikim) the sun with their height. This is a Gemara. They crown the sun with their height. Such a small person stands and looks up at him, when the sun is behind him, the disk of the sun appears to shine like a necklace around his neck. He appears like some chain around his neck. Therefore they are called "anakim," they crown the sun with their height. The "netifot" as we said are the necklaces, the chains. And the "sheirot," "sheirot" is a "shir." "An animal may go out with a shir." What does "shir" mean? "Shir" means a bracelet. Why is it called "shir" (which also means song)? Because it goes and always returns. A song is always something that returns. It says a few phrases and returns to the refrain. A few phrases, returns to the refrain. Or always returns to the same verse. Therefore it is called "shir." But "shir" originally means a ring. The "sheirot" means the bracelets they had, which they placed on their arm. And the "re'alot," a veil, like today, what today is called a "re'ala." The burka. Yes? A veil they would place in order to cover their faces except for the eyeball. But I was a bit surprised. For seemingly this is a garment of modesty. So why is it written "and the pendants and the bracelets and the veils," he enumerates them as garments that have corruption in them? Rashi says, the "re'alot," veils with which they would wrap all their faces, meaning they cover, wrap all their faces except for the eyeball, so that a person would lust to feast on these sights. This too they did in order to draw attention, so that a person would lust to see as it were the appearance of their faces, they would put this on. "The turbans and the leg chains and the sashes and the perfume boxes and the amulets." The "pe'erim" is a headdress, the peaks of the caps, yes? Rashi says this is "kelilaya," thus Yonatan translates, it is from the word peaks of caps, meaning a kind of ornament they would place on their head. And the "tze'adot" is a leg band. A leg band is a kind of garter, a kind of ornament they would place on the shins. And the "kishurim," "kishurim" means a kind of ribbons, elastics that the girls put in order to tie their braids, in order to tie their ponytails. And they would make them of gold. "Batei hanefesh," meaning all kinds of jewelry that were opposite the heart. And the "lechashim," these are nose rings, no, earrings that they would place in the ear. A kind of earrings they would place in the ear. And why are they called "lechashim"? Because it is from the word "lechishah," whispering. A person whispers in his fellow's ear, they are called "lechashim," the place where they whisper. "The rings and the nose jewels." Rings as its plain meaning, nose jewels also as its plain meaning. "The festive robes and the mantles and the cloaks and the purses." The "machalatzot," "kitunya," meaning the tunic. Specifically a garment that the body is clothed in. Why is it called "machalatzot"? Because when a person takes them off he strips (choletz) them from the body. What is the "ma'atafot"? Rashi explains the "ma'atafot" is the bed coverings, meaning the bed sheets. And the "mitpachot" is tablecloths. In contrast, the Radak explains that the "ma'atafot" is a covering with which one covers oneself. And the "mitpachot" is a kind of veil. And the "charitim," what are "charitim"? According to Rashi, the "charitim" is a "machkiya," a corset. Yes? And "chumaz," the Targum translates, a corset. Meaning a special vessel they would place opposite the womb. "Machoch" (corset) is also from the word "chiyuch," a smile. "Chiyuch" means from the word of lewdness and laughter and immorality. They would place this opposite the womb. And Rashi, and the Radak explains that the "charitim" is what today they use the expression "charit," meaning a bag. The "charitim" is a pouch, a kind of small bag they would go about with, some decorated purse they would go about with. And so the Radak says, the pouch is called in Arabic "charta." And the Radak says, do not be surprised that chet and kaf interchange in many places. So "charitim" is like "karitim." And "charitim" in the Arabic language means pouches. As the Radak brings on "slaughter an animal and prepare," the Radak says, how is the cook called today in the Arabic language? How is he called? "Tabach." He is called "tabach." That is the one responsible for the cooking. So the Radak says the chet and the kaf interchange. And the Semitic languages, as is known, are close to one another. Hebrew and Arabic and Aramaic, they are Semitic languages, they are close to one another. Many words can be learned from language to language. "And the mirrors and the linen garments and the turbans and the shawls." What is "gilyonim"? Rashi explains "gilyonim" is mirrors. This is what the Targum translates, "machzita." Why is it called "gilyonim"? Because it reveals (megaleh) the form of the face. Therefore they called it "gilyonim." Or, Rashi brings another explanation, it may be that their mirrors were rolled up (niglalot). Like sometimes there is wallpaper in the form of a mirror, it is rolled up, so it may be that therefore it is called "gilyonim" because they would roll (golelim) it. And the "sedinim," linen sheets, meaning that they would wrap themselves in them. And the "redidim" is a kind of pins with which they would fasten, a kind of pins with which they would fasten the garment. Pins with which they would clasp the garment. The "tzenifot" is a kind of cloth turban. This is the meaning of "tzenifot." A kind of cloth turban to wrap. The Radak says, this curse extended until the end of the section, all that Yeshayahu enumerates here, all this was in the days of Achaz. And now he describes what the punishment will be.
"And it shall come to pass that instead of perfume there shall be rot; and instead of a girdle a rope; and instead of well-set hair baldness; and instead of a festive robe a girding of sackcloth; a branding instead of beauty." "And it shall come to pass that instead of perfume there shall be rot." In that same place where they would perfume themselves with perfumes, where they would place perfumes on their body, as we said in order to seduce, the flesh will be rotted so that it will be impossible to place any perfume there. Rot will begin there. "And instead of a girdle a rope." What is a girdle, says the Malbim? A place, I will read to you his language, it is astonishing. Where they girded their garments tightly. Hashem have mercy. Already then he speaks of women who walk about with tight clothing. The place where they girded their garments tightly, they walked with tight clothes, will be scraped and beaten so that they cannot gird there anymore. Because there will be so many wounds and pains there, it will be impossible to fasten the garments as they did before. "And instead of well-set hair baldness." They would, this is another astonishing thing that already in their time they would do. They put in order that the hair would stand up, they put spray, gel, all kinds of them. Instead of well-set hair, a place where they would set their hair to stand in curls, will be bald without hair. "And instead of a festive robe a girding of sackcloth." "Petigil," says the Malbim, "petigil" has no counterpart. "It has no counterpart" means we do not find a similar word to it in all of Scripture. Where do we know "petigil" from? Tikkun HaTal, right? Tikkun HaGeshem. There the word "petigil" appears. But beyond this it has no counterpart in Scripture. And truly, truly what is the interpretation of this? The Malbim explains, "petigil" is "patya," which is a vessel, and "gil" is joy. A garment that it was their manner to wear on a day of joy, on a day of gladness (gil). Therefore he says "instead of a festive robe," the garment they would wear on a day of joy, instead of this there will be a girding of sackcloth. For a girding of sackcloth is something worn in a time of mourning, in a time of sorrow. And a vessel, as we said, you see that they call it "peti," we explained "peti" is like a vessel in Aramaic, like "patya ukhma," it is a vessel. Why do they call it a vessel? Because garments too, says Rashi, says the Malbim, are called vessels. So therefore instead of "petigil," a vessel designated for joy, meaning a garment designated for a time of joy, there will be a girding of sackcloth. Rashi explains, "petigil" is two words. A vessel that brings to gladness. And what is a vessel that brings to gladness? The reference is to the womb. And instead of "petigil," instead of that place that is the womb, there will be a girding of sackcloth. "A branding instead of beauty." The Malbim explains, and thus it already appears in Chazal, "ki" is a word in its own right. "Ki" is from the word "makhva," a burn. For they will have a burn instead of beauty. Every place that was beautiful in her will turn into a place where there are burns. Rashi explains that "ki" is a giving of reason. "Ki" instead of beauty, for so it is fitting for them instead of the beauty they boasted in beforehand.
"Your men shall fall by the sword, and your might in war." "Metayich" here is not from the word "metim" (the dead), since it is vocalized with a sheva. And if it were from the word "metim" it would be vocalized with a tzeire. Rather "metayich" means your men. Like "metei me'at," which means men of few. Like "every city of men (metim) we destroyed," where "city of metim" means a place of men. "Metim" means men. So "metayich," your weak men, shall fall by the sword. Where by the sword? In their city, in their house, they will fall there by the sword. "And your might," but those who are meant to be the mighty ones, those who are meant to go and fight, they will fall in war. For they will go out to make battle, but there they will fall in war. Now note, says the Malbim, he did not say "and your mighty men in war," rather he said "and your might in war." The meaning of this is, sometimes when a mighty person dies in war, the very fact that he fought and did an act of valor, this already gives him a title of honor. Indeed he fell, but he fell as a hero. In contrast your men, says the Malbim, who will go to fight, the war will show how weak they were. All their might will dissolve and fall in war. They will say, these are the mighty ones we thought were mighty? Did you see what fortifications these were that we thought were... they are worth nothing. So it emerges what fell in war? Not only the mighty men, but also the whole title of might that they had. They thought these were mighty, he tells them "and your might in war." In this war it will be revealed that all your might was of paper, there is no might in you at all. And then this will be revealed on the day of battle.
"And her gates shall lament and mourn, and being emptied she shall sit on the ground." "And her gates shall lament and mourn," the meaning is the gates of the city of Zion will be in mourning, they lament and mourn. "And being emptied," meaning all the virtues, all the advantages, all the special things she had, "and she shall be emptied," she will be cleansed of them. As we saw that the Malbim, that the prophet brings them a series of curses, decline after decline, to such an extent that even to collect tax there will be no one to collect from because they will have creditors, they will not have any money of their own at all. So a situation will arise that she is emptied. "She is emptied" means total and absolute emptiness. The Malbim here adds another interesting explanation. The Malbim says, it was the custom of the ancient peoples not to mourn over the hero who falls in war, so as not to weaken the heart of the people. And they turned it around, for the day of his death they set as a day of feast and joy. And they turned it around, they even made a day of feast and joy in order to teach that he acquired for himself an eternal name and this is his happiness. And they would punish the relatives of the hero and his widow if they mourned over him. This is somewhat familiar to us from our cousins. When a person would die in war, they would glorify him, praise him, make joy and feasting, distribute candies. Arabs to this day. Why? In order to show, if you now weep over him, for whenever they see our soldiers going to the funeral weeping, they laugh at this, they mock them, it is like women, they weep at the funeral. On the contrary, they make joy, they tell you he died in might. Even over what did he die? He died like a coward, he went to blow himself up inside a restaurant. Is that dying in might? What valor did he do? He took pills to daze himself beforehand and goes and blows himself up there. There is no valor in that at all. But nevertheless, among them if you weep over a hero who died, it is as if his death was in vain. So on the contrary, they make joy, his death is a virtue, why did he die, he has, he has greatness in that he died. Now he comes and says, a situation will arise that all the mighty men will die, and the widows of those mighty men, "and her gates shall lament and mourn." Whose gates? Of the widowed woman, of the wife of the hero, they lament and mourn. And if so a punishment is due to her, for we said, that the kingdom would punish one who mourns over the death of her mighty husband. As it were she says the king sent him to death, his death is not worthwhile. It was forbidden for them to mourn, it was forbidden to open a mourner's tent. On the contrary, they had to rejoice in his death, as it were he merited to give his life on the altar of the king. So there "they lament and mourn," they had to be punished. And her gates shall lament and mourn, of that widowed woman. He says, and nevertheless "she shall be emptied." Nevertheless she will not be punished for this. "And she shall be emptied," why? Because her mourning will not become known to anyone and no person's heart will be weakened on account of her mourning. The meaning of this is, there will no longer be a person who comes and mourns together with her, rather she will mourn alone. That is, all the mighty men will die, all the fighters will in the end be broken, until no one cares anymore if someone in his mourning weakens the heart of the people. There is no longer anyone's heart to weaken. That is, there will be such a terrible crisis that no one will care anymore why you are mourning, you are weakening the heart of the people. There are none, there are no longer mighty men and no strong ones and no such ones who will fight. And this shows decline after decline down to the lowest rung.