00:00 Yeshayahu chapter 4. "And seven women shall take hold of one man on that day, saying: We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing, only let your name be called upon us, take away our reproach."
After we saw the terrible and dreadful situation with the awful and terrible immodesty that existed in Yerushalayim, and the immodest behavior that prevailed, "they walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, making a tinkling with their feet." And after we saw the curses that would come upon them, that everything, all those things that were very honored and glorious, "Hashem will smite with a scab the crown of the daughters of Tzion, and Hashem will lay bare their secret parts," "Hashem will take away the beauty of the anklets and the headbands," "and it shall come to pass that instead of perfume there shall be rottenness, and instead of a belt a rope, and instead of well set hair baldness," and so on.
Now he comes and continues, saying: see that a situation will arise in which there will be so many widows, that many women will take hold of one man and say to him, if we marry, naturally you are obligated to provide for our sustenance. But since the situation is so dreadful that there are no men to marry, we are prepared to exempt you from every obligation, do not obligate yourself toward us in anything, only take us. "We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing," for a man obligates himself in the ketubah, "I will feed, support, and sustain," he obligates himself to clothe his wife and everything. She says to him, they will say to him: "We will eat our own bread, wear our own clothing," only let there be, in place of where the name of my father's house was written, that the name of my husband be written upon me. Let your name be upon us, "only let your name be called upon us," only take us as wives, "take away our reproach."
The Malbim says: this is measure for measure. That which they had done out of pride and scorn, how they behaved and "walked with outstretched necks," Hashem will in the future humble their pride, so that seven women will take hold of one man and say to him, the main thing is that you take us, the main thing is that your name be called upon us. If so, a person will come and ask: then, after the pride of Israel has been rectified, what honor will yet remain for the people of Israel? To this he continues with the next pasuk, which I will read shortly. But before that let me tell you: Rashi and the Radak mention the Midrash, that Nevuchadnezzar decreed to his soldiers not to lie with a married woman, so that the Holy One, blessed be He, would not punish them, for he knew that the God of these people hates immorality. Therefore he decreed upon them not to lie with a married woman, but only with unmarried ones. And so, in order not to reach a situation where they would be among the women given over to be trampled by Nevuchadnezzar's soldiers, this caused each one to seek some husband, the main thing being that his name be called upon her. The main thing being that in the records she was listed as married, since Nevuchadnezzar's soldiers had no permission to touch a married woman, but only those who were unmarried. And this would cause seven women to take hold of one man, so our Sages expound.
After he describes to us the terrible degradation that would be, he tells you: know that honor will not vanish from the house of Israel. Behold, come and see, "on that day the growth of Hashem shall be for beauty and glory, and the fruit of the land for pride and splendor, for the remnant of Israel." Know that the generation that remains, the righteous who will be found within it, they will be beauty and glory for the house of Israel. "Tzvi" (beauty) is a term of desire, a thing a person wants, a thing a person craves. "Tzvi," there will be a desire toward them for their greatness, honor. And "the fruit of the land"? The intent is the deeds of the righteous, what the righteous one does, "the fruit of the land" will be "for pride and splendor." There will be pride and splendor in it. "Gaon" (pride) is a term of pride, of fame, and "tiferet" (splendor) is also a term of honor. "For the remnant of Israel," this will be the remnant of Israel, that is, those who escape and remain will be the righteous.
Here there is a lengthy explanation of the Malbim on which I would like to dwell a little. Let us notice that there is a doubling here. "The growth of Hashem for beauty and glory, the fruit of the land for pride and splendor." What is the difference between growth and fruit? "The growth of Hashem will be for beauty and glory." There is a further doubling here: after he mentioned "beauty," excuse me, "the growth of Hashem," and mentioned "the fruit of the land," afterward he mentions "the growth of Hashem will be for beauty and glory." Again a doubling. What is the difference between beauty and glory? "The fruit of the land will be for pride and splendor." What is the difference between pride and splendor? And after you said beauty and glory, what does pride and splendor add? There is really a fourfold doubling here: beauty, glory, pride, splendor. And there is a doubling of "growth of Hashem," and after it "the fruit of the land." Growth is one thing and fruit is another thing. And as we recall, the Malbim always tends to be precise according to the grammar of the holy tongue, no word is superfluous and nothing is written merely for rhetorical embellishment.
And therefore the Malbim says: know that virtues are of two kinds. There is a virtue of a physical, material thing, in its externals, and there is a virtue from the perspective of its form. If I want to apply this to almost anything, I can, but if I want to give the simplest example, let us take for example a cup. I can take a cup and make it in a simple form, like a plastic cup. From the perspective of its form, does it fulfill its purpose? Yes, a cup is meant to hold water and to drink with it. I can drink water with it. But there is also the matter of its external part. I can take the cup, make it ornamented, make it in a very, very beautiful form, so that visually too it will look very, very beautiful. Now, beyond the fact that it serves for drinking, it is also a pleasure to look at. The senses enjoy its external beauty.
The Malbim says: the virtues of possessions are of two kinds. "Possessions" refers to everything in the world that a person acquires with his money. There is the material virtue of the thing, the external form of the cup for example, this is grasped by the senses. The senses perceive it, they see a beautiful thing. To this belongs the term "tzvi," desire, craving. How is it written when Chava saw the fruit of the tree of the garden, what does it say there? "It was a delight to the eyes." What does this mean? That because of something in its inner essence? No, because its exterior was captivating. To an external thing belongs the term "tzvi," tzvi is a term for a person wanting it very much. Desire, a person covets it, a person craves it. Another thing: there is its virtue from the perspective of its form. From the perspective of its form means from the perspective of the purpose of the thing itself. This vessel serves for drinking or serves for some need for which it is used, this is from the perspective of the form of the thing. Now, from the perspective of the form of the thing, can its form be grasped with the eyes? No. For the form of the thing you already need intellect, you need knowledge for it, in order to understand what it is used for. I can see a product and I say it is very beautiful, this I grasped with the senses. Now are you prepared to explain to me intellectually why it is needed? The form of the thing, that is, its function, for this you already need intellect in order to understand its purpose, what it is used for, what one does with it.
So now, if we speak for example about the virtue of wisdom and old age. There can be a wise man, look at him from the outside, you would say he is really not handsome. He is also short and ugly and... but do you know how wise he is? That is to say, from the perspective of what is perceived by the senses, he is not, he is not impressive. But you need intellect to speak with him and grasp how wise this man is. The same with old age. When you look at an old man, listen, he is already old, what can he do? Can you take him to work? Maybe, what can you get out of him already? But you need intellect to understand that in old age there is a virtue. An elder has acquired, you understand that this man has attained certain attainments. This is a thing grasped, note, not with the senses, but with the intellect. This is grasped with knowledge. To such a virtue, which is a moral virtue, belong terms of honor. This thing, we need to honor it. We said a physical thing is craved, coveted, tzvi. But in contrast a spiritual virtue of the thing is honored. I honor this old man. But can you say it is a delight to the eyes? Can you say it is coveted? No, but I honor him because with the intellect I understand that an elder or a wise man is worthy of honor.
He says, then, that there are two terms written about "the growth of Hashem." These righteous ones who will be, will be "for beauty and glory." That is, from both aspects they will have virtue. "Tzvi" is from the perspective of its materiality, from its physicality, from its form, from the external physical part. And also "for glory," glory we said is the spiritual part, its spiritual part, the virtue, its form, the purpose for which it was created, this is already a thing worthy of honor, this is not something that is a delight to the eyes, you need intellect to know how to appreciate such a thing. Now, this we understood, "for beauty and glory." "For beauty" for its material part, "for glory" for its spiritual part, for its form. What is "and the fruit of the land for pride and splendor"?
The Malbim says: the same thing as well, this parallels beauty and glory. "Gaon" (pride) is a thing grasped by the senses, just as "tzvi" we said is a thing a person craves, a thing grasped by the senses. "Gaon," the intent is that one sees, big, mighty, muscular, strong, gaon. It is visible, it does not speak of what is today called a "gaon," a person who knows a lot, they call him a gaon. Rather gaon is a term of pride, of one who exalts himself, a thing that stands in pride. So this is visible, this is a thing recognizable by the senses. And afterward he speaks of "tiferet" (splendor), this is not the external part, but the form within the thing itself, the inner essence of the thing, what is grasped by the intellect. With the intellect I understand the splendor in the thing, but from its external perspective I see the pride in the thing. So pride is the external part, just as beauty is a thing that is an external virtue that a person craves, and glory, corresponding to it there is splendor, which we said is the inner essence of the thing, the form of the thing, the virtue of the thing from the perspective of its inner essence, this is more fitting for terms of honor and splendor.
Good, so we have already gained one thing, that beauty and glory are not the same thing, pride and splendor are not the same thing. But again, there is still a doubling. Why "for beauty and glory" and then to repeat the same words "for pride and splendor"? The Malbim says: know that after we divided between the virtue of the matter and the virtue of the form, the external versus the inner essence of the thing, know also that these virtues themselves divide into two divisions. There is a virtue, whether external or internal, with which one is born. And there is an acquired virtue. Let me give an example. A person who is born a genius. He is born with a Pentium 6 brain. What is there to say about him? He was born a genius. Is there anything to praise him for? That is how he was born. What did you do for it? A person born as a strong man, he does not exercise, nothing at all. He was born, he is extremely strong. Is there anything to praise him for? He was born with it, this is a virtue that is in his nature. On the other hand, when a person made some effort to attain something, note, even in physical virtues, we will honor him. We will honor more a wealthy man who exerted himself and arrived and worked hard to where he got, than for example a wealthy man who merely inherited everything from his father, grew up with a golden spoon in his mouth. I am not entering the question of who is worthy of honor and who is not, the esteem toward him is greater. There is greater esteem for a person who exerted himself and attained a virtue, than for a person who received it or was born with it. As the Malbim says for example, we do not praise the bee for flying so fast, and for making so much honey, and for its home being built in such a special form, in the shape of hexagons, that is how the Holy One, blessed be He, implanted it in her. We do not praise her. Or the spider for producing the strongest thread in the world. They have still not succeeded in producing a thread as strong as the spider produces. What you see as weak is because it is thin. Combine it, make it the size of a steel cable, the strongest steel cable in the world does not reach a quarter of what the spider produces. So let us sing songs of praise to the spider. The spider was born like that. This is nature, this is a trait it has.
And according to this principle, the Malbim says, you will understand that we honor the elders, but we glorify the wise. Why? The Malbim says: it is not possible to attribute splendor to a thing that a person is born with by nature. Splendor is not fitting regarding it. Splendor is possible regarding a thing, whom is it fitting to glorify? Someone who exerted himself in order to attain something. But in contrast it is indeed fitting to honor. I honor, even if it is by nature, even if it is innate in him, it is fitting to honor him. Therefore we honor an elder. We do not glorify an elder, what is there to glorify him for? Every person, leave him here 70 years, he will reach old age. There is something to honor, but is there, excuse me, is there anything to glorify? There is nothing to glorify him for. But on the other hand you must honor him. In contrast, whom will we glorify? The wise. For a wise man can be very young, but what? He invested his entire being in diligence and effort and... and in the end arrived, attained the virtue of wisdom. So it emerges, then, that there are virtues that are innate, and to them the title of honor is fitting. There are virtues that are attained through effort, and those it is fitting to glorify. The Malbim says: this is the difference between glory and splendor in virtues that are from the perspective of the form, the spiritual. And in contrast, we also have a difference between beauty and pride. I will soon show this within the pasuk itself. In the meantime I am only giving the introduction. There is also a difference between beauty and pride in the material virtues. "Tzvi" (beauty) falls upon a thing that is from the perspective of its physical body, from its nature, a thing that a person covets, craves. It grew, it is beautiful, he did not exert himself for it. He did not toil to be mighty, he was born with this strength, he was born with this wealth, he was born with this wisdom. To such a thing the term beauty applies. In contrast "gaon" (pride), he elevated himself, he is exalted, he rose and reached a spiritual level. To this the term pride applies.
Now come and see the explanation of the pasuk. The Malbim says: now the prophet comes and describes to us the generation that will remain there, those who escape the sword, after the general destruction that will come upon the people of Israel, after the prophet described a terrible and dreadful situation, 18 curses Yeshaya spoke against the people of Israel. He says the Holy One, blessed be He, will begin to cause to grow here anew such as will be righteous of a high and lofty level. Therefore he compares it: "the growth of Hashem will be for beauty and glory." "The growth of Hashem," the Malbim says, is similar to some orchard all of whose branches were cut off and whose trunk was uprooted from the ground. And after everything was nullified, it begins to grow anew. And through this it suddenly begins to grow and produces shoots and produces branches, this is called "the growth of Hashem," for this Hashem does. Now note, in the first part he tells you "for beauty and glory." And now let us note, beauty we said is an innate physical virtue. Glory we said is also a spiritual virtue but innate. These two are innate things. "The growth of Hashem," who caused it to grow? The Holy One, blessed be He. You will not do anything for it. At the outset this will be "the growth of Hashem," Hashem says I will cause to grow, that there will be such as have both the physical virtue, this is beauty, and the spiritual virtue, this is glory, but this will still be innate. In the second stage, afterward the prophet moves on, what will happen in the stage after that? Those same righteous ones will begin to elevate themselves in Hashem, may He be blessed, and will attain virtues from their own effort. They themselves will begin to serve Hashem at a high level, and therefore this is already called "and the fruit of the land." At first there was growth, but from this growth what will develop? Fruit will develop. This is already an effort that they make from themselves. "The fruit of the land will be for pride and splendor." Note, these two, as we explained earlier, both pride and splendor. Pride we said is the matter, splendor speaks of the external part of the thing. The uniqueness of these two is that they are acquired virtues. They are not innate virtues. This is not beauty and glory, where beauty is matter, glory is spirit, but innate. Yes? Pride is matter, splendor is spirit, this is form, but acquired. So at first "the growth of Hashem," Hashem will cause to grow innate virtues "for beauty and glory," both in the material, physical part, beauty, and in the part of the form of the thing, the inner essence of the thing, the spiritual, this will be glory, but innate. "The fruit of the land," what afterward the righteous will exert themselves and produce fruits from that same growth, this will already be "for pride and splendor." Both material and spiritual, but something that is already acquired, something that depends on their choice, and this they did not inherit from what the Holy One, blessed be He, gave, but this they invested themselves, and therefore this will be glory and splendor for the remnant of the house of Israel.
"And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Tzion and he who remains in Yerushalayim shall be called holy, everyone who is written for life in Yerushalayim." Those who will remain, they will be such as have great and immense virtue. And he tells you, he tells you these who will be, "shall be called holy, everyone who is written for life in Yerushalayim." That is, indeed there will be no choice, but there will also remain some wicked ones. But to whom will "holy" be said? "Holy" will be said to those who will possess holiness, to those who will possess virtue. Who? "Everyone who is written for life in Yerushalayim." To the one written for life, "holy" will be said. But there will also remain those wicked ones, will "holy" be said to them? No. Only to the one written for life will "holy" be said.
Let us just note, the Malbim dwells on the change, "he who is left in Tzion and he who remains in Yerushalayim." What is the difference between "left" (nishar) and "remains" (notar)? What is the difference between Tzion and Yerushalayim? The Malbim says: "nishar" is always a thing that is left deliberately, on purpose. In contrast "notar" is a thing where no, I took what I needed, what remained here. Let me give an example, let me give an example. For example, they go on a trip. Now, there are some students whom the teacher decided not to take on the trip. On the other hand, after they filled the bus, they saw that there was not enough room for all 55 who needed to travel, five had to not travel together with everyone. So note, those who were punished not to travel, we will call them, they were left at school, they were left at home, they were left deliberately. In contrast, those who boarded the bus and there was no room, we would say five remained behind. "Remained" is not that I deliberately left them, notar. One took, usually one takes what he needs, yes? And the rest remains. "Nishar" is that I decided, you will stay here. That is the definition of nishar, it is deliberate. The Malbim says: in Tzion, there were the important ones, the dear ones of Israel, the sons of kings, the holders of Torah, the enemy left them deliberately. He left them deliberately, those he did not want to take. Yes? This is written in Daniel. And he tells you, not only "he who is left in Tzion." Tzion, as we explained, is near the Beit HaMikdash, the place that is the site of the Temple Mount, this is called Tzion. He says not only "he who is left in Tzion," but also that which "remains in Yerushalayim." In the general city of Yerushalayim there remained such whom the enemy did not take, not because he left them deliberately, but the enemy did not take them because he did not take everyone, he did not leave them, they remained by chance. So he says, both "he who is left in Tzion," those whom the enemy left deliberately because they are the important and great ones, and "he who remains in Yerushalayim," who are not important and great, but the enemy merely left them over, he did not manage to take everyone, for some reason they remained there, to all of them "holy" will be said. All of them will be within the category of a high and immense virtue. But know that there will also be some wicked ones, and not about... I do not include the wicked either. And therefore he emphasizes, "everyone who is written for life in Yerushalayim." The wicked, those I do not mention.
"When Hashem will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Tzion and purged the blood of Yerushalayim from its midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning." Now he comes and tells you, not every one who is left in Yerushalayim will be called holy. And even those who will be holy there, it will not be immediately. First Hashem will wash away the filth of the daughters of Tzion, purge the sin of the sons of Yerushalayim. "The filth of the daughters of Tzion" is against the adulterers. "Purge the sin of the sons of Yerushalayim" is against the shedders of blood. How will He wash away their iniquities? "By the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning." The destruction will not be a general destruction without distinction between righteous and wicked, between pure and impure. No, rather it will be "by the spirit of judgment." At first Hashem will judge each one according to his deeds. After it becomes clarified and the wicked are burned out, who they are, there will be a spirit of burning. A spirit of consuming and destruction will come that will burn all the wicked. And only through this action, then "he who is left in Tzion and he who remains in Yerushalayim shall be called holy." For before that there needs to be a spirit of judgment to examine who is worthy, and a spirit of burning to consume those who remained and are not worthy.
Let us note that there is a doubling here. "Hashem will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Tzion and purged the blood of Yerushalayim from its midst." So we said "the filth of the daughters of Tzion" speaks of adultery, "the blood of Yerushalayim" speaks of bloodshed. And this He will "purge from its midst." The Malbim says: there is a difference between "hidiach" (purge), "rachatz" (washed), and "kibes" (laundered). What is the difference? They are all, after all, terms of cleaning. The Malbim says: "rachatz" is a mere rinsing. One takes a hose, pours a bit, that is it. This is called that you washed the thing. "Kibes" is already thoroughly. How do they take a garment and launder it? They scrub, scrub, scrub, this is to launder thoroughly. "Hidiach" (purge), the Malbim says, is for a thing that has crusted over, that needs to be purged. A thing that has crusted, become like a layer on it, as I will give an example shortly, this needs to be purged. For example, a thing like blood that dries, one needs to purge it. A greasy thing that formed a kind of crust, one needs to purge it in order to scrub, to remove that crust. As it is written in Divrei HaYamim, "and he made ten lavers to wash in them, that which pertains to the burnt offering they would rinse in them." What is the difference? The dung, the filth that is in the animal's stomach, it is enough to rinse. With a hose you get it out. This is called "rinsing." Rinsing is mere washing. In contrast, the blood of the burnt offering, what happens to blood? It dries, sticks, crusts over. The blood of the burnt offering needs to be purged. The Malbim says: therefore see here too, regarding filth, "Hashem will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Tzion." "Hashem will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Tzion," the filth of the daughters of Tzion needs washing, and washing suffices. But regarding blood, of which we speak about murder, "the blood of Yerushalayim He will purge from its midst." This already needs purging, and purging means to scrub in order to remove. And why? Because the Malbim says, relative to murder, adultery is still considered a lighter sin. And therefore if for the filth of the daughters of Tzion, which alludes to adultery, mere washing suffices, in contrast when it comes to the blood of Yerushalayim, and "for the land there can be no atonement except by the blood of him who shed it," the cleansing is harder. Here mere washing does not suffice, here it needs "the blood of Yerushalayim He will purge from its midst." Here it already needs purging, which as we said is an aspect of scrubbing in order to atone for these iniquities.
And from here the masters of mussar say: fortunate are you, Israel, before whom do you purify yourselves and who purifies you, your Father in Heaven. The masters of mussar say, to what may the matter be compared? To a person who came to be a guest at some wealthy and honored man, everything wall to wall carpets, a most distinguished table, a most expensive silk tablecloth. And suddenly this person ate beyond his measure, they told him to stop and he did not listen, and he reached, with your pardon, a state where he vomited everything he had eaten on the table and on the carpet and... and behold the wealthy man comes and gets down on his knees and takes a rag and begins to clean up the results of that person, and holds his nose and goes and rinses the rag and cleans and afterward from the table and... what would we say about this? What a thing that is not grasped by the intellect, we would not grasp it with our reason, right? He would replace the carpets and not clean, right? It would not enter one's mind that he would do such a thing. They say, the Holy One, blessed be He, "Hashem will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Tzion." The Holy One, blessed be He, Himself, we ruined, we soiled, fortunate are you, Israel, who purifies you? Your Father in Heaven. Like a mother who cleans after her child, and she is not disgusted by it, it is, let us say, not the most pleasant, but she is not disgusted by it, it is her child. So it says likewise, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, He Himself "Hashem will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Tzion." This is a great mussar lesson for a person not to sin: see that all of our filth the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were in His own glory needs to clean, how much disgrace there is in this toward the Holy One, blessed be He.
"And Hashem will create over every dwelling place of Mount Tzion and over her assemblies a cloud by day and smoke, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, for over all the glory shall be a canopy." "A cloud by day," comma, "and smoke," "a cloud by day and smoke," comma, "and the shining of a flaming fire by night." "For over all the glory shall be a canopy." Now the prophet comes, the Malbim says, and adds and tells us: know that not everyone will endure in Yerushalayim. And not to everyone, we said, will "holy" be said, this is not said about everyone. Know that just as the righteous on the one hand will delight in the pleasantness of Hashem, so too the wicked, this very flame will scorch them. And this parallels what is written in the prophecy of Malachi, "for behold the day comes burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant and all who do wickedness shall be stubble, and the coming day shall set them ablaze. But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings." Our Sages say: that same sun that will scorch them, whom? The one who does wickedness, and they will be like stubble before it and be burned, that same sun will "rise for you who fear My name," that it will be a sun for those who fear, "a sun of righteousness with healing in its wings." And this is exactly also what he compares for us here. He tells us: behold, see, "and Hashem will create over every dwelling place of Mount Tzion." Hashem will create over the dwelling place of Mount Tzion, the intent is the place where Mount Tzion is established, and over all those called who will be within her, the intent is over the righteous and over the wicked. He says there will be there "a cloud by day and smoke." By day there will be a cloud. A cloud is a divine thing. And on the other hand, it itself will be smoke that stings the eyes, like smoke to the eyes. So on the one hand a cloud, over the righteous it will be an aspect of a cloud. A cloud, as we explained, is a wondrous thing, a thing that shelters the righteous, as in the wilderness we saw that seven clouds of glory accompanied us. So too it will be on that day, there will be a cloud, but for the righteous it will be a cloud that shelters and protects them for glory and splendor. And for the wicked it will be like smoke in the eyes. It will disturb them, harm them, destroy them.
As an example the Malbim says: like the light of the sun. The light of the sun is a very wondrous thing for us, with it we can see, with it we can walk, with it we can act. On the other hand for the bat, it is a very hard thing, it blinds it, ruins its eyes. The bat cannot be in a place where there is sunlight, it must go and hide in hidden places. And this is exactly what he compares here. This cloud, for us it will be a sheltering cloud, for them it will be smoke that enters their eyes. At night, "and the shining of a flaming fire by night." The same thing also at night. The shining of a fire, there will be a pillar of fire like the one the people of Israel had when they left Egypt, a pillar of fire that lit for them in the wilderness, this was for the righteous. And this itself is a flame, for the wicked it will be a flame that burns and consumes them.
"For over all the glory shall be a canopy." The canopy we just mentioned, which will be of the pillar of cloud and of the pillar of fire, the canopy that will be for the righteous, he says do not think it will be over everyone. "Over all the glory," over every place worthy of glory, over them will be this canopy. Not over the wicked. Or over the wicked, over them will be both the smoke and the fire that will scorch them. So that you should not think that immediately every one who is left in Yerushalayim will be called holy. Those who will remain here and will be called holy, this is after Hashem burns out the wicked, and after that same sun that will shine for the righteous consumes the wicked, then whoever remains here in Yerushalayim will be called holy.
"And there shall be a sukkah for shade by day from the heat, and for refuge and shelter from storm and rain." Now he also continues along the same line on which he gave us earlier an example from the people of Israel who were in the wilderness, when we spoke about the clouds of glory, spoke about the pillar of fire, now he moves to speak about the sukkot that the people of Israel had in the wilderness. "For in sukkot I made the children of Israel dwell when I brought them out of the land of Egypt." So he says the sukkah will be "for shade by day from the heat." Hashem will protect them, like the heat which is a constant evil, dryness, nothing to drink, impossible to survive, this sukkah will protect them. And even though the heat is a constant evil, the sukkah will protect them so that there will not be a state of heat, of dryness, the sukkah protects from the sun. And also from an evil that is not constant but occurs from time to time, and this is like storm and rain. Storm and rain is not constant. So from this too it will protect. "A sukkah shall be for shade by day from the heat," "and for refuge," and in contrast there will also be an aspect of "shelter from storm and rain."
The Malbim says: what is the difference between "machseh" (refuge) and "tzel" (shade)? Shade is great protection. In contrast refuge is small refuge. Excuse me, what is the difference between "machseh" (refuge) and "mistor" (shelter)? What is the difference between refuge and shelter? The Malbim says: to take refuge is smaller than shelter. And he says not only will it be a refuge, it will also be a shelter from storm and rain. Not only will it be a refuge for shade by day as we said earlier, but it will be a shelter, which is very great protection, from storm, for a storm is great, sweeping, coming with immense force, and not only from a great storm, but even from rain, which is rain falling in its usual way. That is, this sukkah, the protection that the Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future make for the righteous, will shield them both from the heat and from the storm and from the rain.
Now he comes and says, see that the providence of the Holy One, blessed be He, does a thing and its opposite. Just as it protects from heat and storm, which seemingly are two opposite things, this is wet and this is dry. And, as it were, the Malbim says on the rhetorical side of things, he wishes to say that the righteous will be guarded with the guarding of the providence of Hashem, may He be blessed.