Yeshayahu chapter 5. "Let me sing now for my beloved a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hillside." In this chapter the prophet rebukes the people of Israel by way of a parable. He sings a song for His beloved, and "my beloved" refers to the Holy One, blessed be He, this is "my beloved," a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard, a song that, as it were, the beloved sings on behalf of His vineyard. "My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hillside." A vineyard: the Holy One, blessed be He, is speaking, as it were, with the people of Israel, for they, the people of Israel, are the aspect of the vineyard, which belonged to my beloved, to the Blessed Name, on a fertile hillside. "A fertile hillside" (keren ben shemen) means a high mountain that is a place of richness, a place very well suited for growing crops. We will see the meaning of the parable later on and examine it in detail, but at first the song deals only with the parable itself.
Before we continue, let us try to understand what "keren ben shemen" means, keren with a nun at the end, with a kuf and a nun. What is meant by keren ben shemen? The Malbim says the term keren comes in three senses. One sense is the horn of an animal, the horn with which the ox gores. A second sense is a side, as in "the southeast corner" (keren), meaning a side. A third is rays of light, rays of the sun. The Malbim says: know that the foundation of them all is the horn of the animal. That is, this is the foundation, and from it all the other "kerens" came by borrowing. From the horn that grows on the animal's head, the term was borrowed to mean a slanting angle. A slanting angle is expressed with the word keren, like the horn of the ox. So too the rays of light: what happens when rays of light strike water? We see there is a refraction of the sun's rays. This refraction again creates an angle. This angle resembles the protrusion of the ox's horn. These are the three senses of keren.
Now, the difference between keren where it appears in the sense of a side, of an angle, as in "a corner of richness," which is the meaning here in "keren ben shemen": the difference between it and a side, a shoulder, a flank, is that keren generally speaks only of something that protrudes. Something protruding is called keren. Therefore, the Malbim says, the meaning here of keren ben shemen is a high mountain. A high mountain, like the horn of the ox as we explained, keren ben shemen.
What does "ben shemen" mean? I noticed in it a figurative intent, in the words of the Malbim. He means, I see here that there is a further explanation by way of a metaphor. The keren comes to symbolize kingship. We find the expression of being anointed with a keren (horn), "my keren is exalted in Hashem." "My keren is exalted" refers to the king who is anointed with a horn. Indeed, Chazal expound: "my keren is exalted," said Chana, and not "my flask is exalted," that it was not Shaul who was exalted, for he was anointed with a flask, but rather "my keren is exalted," that David was exalted, for he was anointed with a horn. The keren symbolizes kingship; they would anoint the kings by means of the horn. Now, here there is an anointing "with a keren ben shemen." What does the oil (shemen) hint at? For they would fill the horn with oil and with it anoint the king. What does the oil hint at? The oil hints at spiritual success. If the keren hints at might, if with the keren one gores, this means that it will be a kingship of might, symbolizing material success. And the oil in it hints at spiritual success. The oil hints at something choice, hinting at the spiritual success that this kingship will have. So there is a keren of material success and oil that hints at spiritual success.
Now pay attention: from where does material success flow? It flows from spiritual success. Hashem's providence over us, we have a constant influence, a spiritual bounty, so consequently we also defeat our enemies. So consequently we have a keren with which to gore our enemies. Therefore he comes and says, note the wording, keren ben shemen. The keren, the keren is the material success; from what does it flow? From the oil, from the spiritual success. Therefore it is keren ben shemen. "Ben shemen" means that it comes forth, descends, and flows from the oil, from the spiritual success. And you see that this is also hinted at: "I will cause a keren to sprout for David, I have prepared a lamp for My anointed." The lamp, as we said, comes forth and flows from the oil. The keren symbolizes material success, "a lamp for My anointed" symbolizes the burning light, the spiritual success. "And You have exalted my keren like that of a wild ox, I am anointed with fresh oil." There is the keren, which is material success, and the oil as we explained, the oil and the lamp, which are spiritual success. Here the keren, the material success, flowed from the spiritual success, and therefore it is keren ben shemen, flowing from the oil.
"He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vine, and he built a tower in its midst and even hewed a wine vat in it, and he hoped it would produce grapes, but it produced wild grapes." Let us see that this vineyard that belonged to my beloved, He made it in the most excellent, the finest way, and despite all this it did not meet expectations. "He dug it up" (vaye'azkehu) means He surrounded it with a fence so that it would be protected from damages coming from outside. What is azka in Aramaic? A ring. Azka means a ring. Vaye'azkehu means He surrounded it with a fence like a ring, so that it would be guarded from harmful forces coming from outside. "He cleared it of stones" (vayesaklehu): to clear stones means to remove the stumbling stones, the obstacle stones within it, so that they would not prevent the roots from spreading properly. So here He removes the internal damages. If vaye'azkehu is external damages, vayesaklehu means He removes the internal damages.
"And he planted it with the choicest vine" (sorek). The Malbim explains that sorek and sharigim and sherikot and soreka and sharig, whether with a shin or a samech, are the same. From what root is this? The branches of the vine are called sharigim. "And behold, on the vine were three sharigim." The branches of the vine are called sharigim, and also from the root sherikim or sherikot. Therefore when it is written "he planted it with sorek," the meaning is that He planted it in a manner that the vine could spread out, and the branches could receive enough sun and enough air, for they would have living space. By contrast, if they are pressed and crowded against one another, they do not have the possibility of surviving properly. So He planted them with space between one vine and another.
"And he built a tower in its midst." What is the tower? He placed a watchman there to guard the vine, the grapes, from the birds, from the thieves, so they would not enter it, and there was also a tower. "And even hewed a wine vat in it." A wine vat (yekev) refers to a winepress, a place where they tread the grapes to extract the wine from them. And if so, in effect there is everything here to produce fine wine. "And he hoped it would produce grapes," He expected that this vine would supply good and fine grapes. "But it produced wild grapes" (be'ushim). Instead, this vineyard produced for Him wild grapes. Be'ushim, "they turned into the wild vine of a foreign land." Be'ushim is from the language of the verse "instead of barley, stinkweed (bosha)." Bosha is from the language of something that has become foul, something rotten. Rav Hai Gaon explains that it means wild grapes. Wild grapes, that which grows wild, is called be'ushim. Or from the language of the Mishnah, ovshim. It is the same idea. It produced rotten grapes that did not meet the expectations of them.
"And now, inhabitant of Yerushalayim and man of Yehudah, judge now between Me and My vineyard." Now He invites the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim we said is the royal city. All of the tribe of Yehudah, "man of Yehudah," this is the attachment of all the mountains of Yehudah beyond Yerushalayim itself. They who have not yet sinned, from them the Holy One, blessed be He, asks to judge "between Me and My vineyard." The meaning is between the Blessed Name and the ten tribes. The ten tribes are those who have already been judged, those who have already been exiled. Hashem says: come, I want you to judge, who was guilty here? Who is the one who did not act properly? "What more was to be done for My vineyard that I did not do in it? Why did I hope it would produce grapes, but it produced wild grapes?" What more was there to repair the vineyard that needed doing and I have not yet done? Why has my hope been disappointed?
We will introduce it now, and we will see it explained more fully later on. The referent of the parable is the community of Israel; they are considered the vineyard. Keren ben shemen, what is keren ben shemen, a place that is choice and rich? This is the good land, the choice land. A place where one can attain all sorts of perfections, both spiritually and materially. Spiritually, "a land on which the eyes of Hashem your God are, from the beginning of the year until..." There is constant heavenly providence over the Holy Land, whereas the other lands are given over to the rule of ministers, the heavenly ministers. The Holy Land is "the eyes of Hashem your God are on it." It is a place that is, spiritually, very prepared for spiritual ascent. A person can arrive here at attaining levels of prophecy. As is known, there was no prophecy outside the Land except for a prophet who prophesied in the Land of Israel and began his prophecy here, or a prophecy for the sake of the Land of Israel. But outside the Land is not a fit place for prophecy. It is a place where one can also attain material perfection, since this land is abundant and full of all good. So one can also attain "a land in which you will lack nothing." So now, the spiritual attainments caused, as it were, the maker of the vineyard to expect that there would be spiritual success here. The material bounty, so the maker of the vineyard expects that we not steal and not rob and not desire to take one of another's, for you can reach material attainments here, there is no lack here, there is enough here for everyone, one need not steal for this. He did everything the vineyard needed.
And what are the needs now, according to what is explained in the parable, what is the referent? He made a fence for the vineyard. The fence is the distinction that the Holy One, blessed be He, made between us and the nations. The nations would corrupt us, so the Holy One, blessed be He, made a fence to shield us. He cleared the stumbling stones from their midst: the place where we settle, there are Canaanites there, the land of Canaan, there are gentiles there who would incite us away from the service of Hashem. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, command to do with them? "You shall not let any soul live." I cleared the stumbling stones from their midst, I told them not to leave them here, so they would not lead them astray from the service of Hashem. Third, He planted them with sorek. He planted for each and every one an inheritance of field and vineyard. For the tribes came here, no one was left here without an inheritance, they all received inheritances. And if so, what do they have to do now? Only to engage in justice and righteousness. They have nothing to occupy themselves with, they have all their needs, you need not rob the other, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave you your own as well. Fourth, He built a tower in its midst. What is the tower? This is the Beit HaMikdash. The tower symbolizes the guarding of the vineyard. "The Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps." For the vineyard, this tower, is what guarded the people of Israel. The Beit HaMikdash guarded the people of Israel from their enemies. Therefore when the prophets told them: know, there is going to be a war, there is going to be a destruction, what did they say? "The Sanctuary of Hashem, the Sanctuary of Hashem, the Sanctuary of Hashem are these." Hashem will not destroy His Sanctuary. The Sanctuary guards and protects us, we offer sacrifices. In a certain sense they were right. Only when they ceased offering sacrifices did Yerushalayim fall. But as long as they were offering sacrifices, the enemy could not harm them. And if so we find, then, that the Beit HaMikdash is the aspect of a watchtower, it is what guarded the people of Israel. A further matter: He hewed a wine vat in it. The wine vat hints at the divine bounty, that just as the wine that pours forth the bounty, so too the divine bounty is meant to pour forth upon all who are here in the Holy Land. And in any case, "he hoped it would produce grapes, but it produced wild grapes." Instead of justice (mishpat), oppression (mispach), as we will see later on. Therefore he comes and says: Why did I hope it would produce grapes, but it produced wild grapes? What is the difference between "why" (madua) and "for what" (lamah)? The Malbim explains: lamah means for what purpose. For what purpose do you want me to do this? Madua, that is, from what cause does this flow. These are really two different questions.
"And now I will inform you what I am about to do to My vineyard: remove its hedge and it will be for consuming, breach its fence and it will be for trampling." After he clarifies before the judges and says to them, here, come and see, who here is guilty of the crime that took place here? It is really the people of Israel; I planted them in the most excellent manner, and despite all this they strayed from the path. Therefore he comes and tells them, I now want to inform you what I am about to do to this vineyard that did not meet expectations. First, remove its hedge and it will be for consuming, breach its fence and it will be for trampling. Now, a hedge (mesucha) and a fence (gader) are seemingly the same thing. Why does he include this in two matters and not include it in one matter? The Malbim explains: their way was to make a fence of stones, and upon it a hedge of thorns. Mesucha is from the language of covering, a covering of thorns. And also from the language of a screen (masach); it has several meanings. And the purpose was that the fence would block the passing animals, so they could not cross because there is a stone fence. But there are also animals capable of jumping over the fence. For this there is the hedge. These are the higher thorns, so that the animals could not jump over the fence and cross. Therefore he says at first, remove its hedge and it will be for consuming. First the thorn hedge, and it will be for consuming, the animals will be able to enter, since those that jump over the fence will be able to jump over the fence, there are no thorns. And afterward, breach its fence and it will be for trampling. The fence was meant to prevent the crops in the vineyard from being trampled. The heavier animals that are unable to jump over the fence. Now, breach its fence, the fence will be breached, and consequently the animals too will be able to enter and trample the vineyard itself. And this is what the Yerushalmi says: remove its hedge and it will be for consuming, this is the tooth; breach its fence, this is the foot. That is, who are those that jump? These are usually the lighter flocks, the goats, they are the ones who leap, and then they consume it with their teeth. But when you breach the fence, which is low but stronger, then the heavier animals too will be able to enter. When the heavier animals enter, the very act of their entering already tramples with their feet, and thereby destroys the vineyard.
And the referent here is that Hashem will remove from over them the individual providence that shields them from above. And He will remove from them, He will also weaken the strength of their natural might, which protects them from below. Both things, both the hedge, which means the spiritual providence, and the fence, which means the physical, material protection.
"And I will make it a waste, it will not be pruned nor hoed, and briar and thorn will grow up, and I will command the clouds not to rain rain upon it." "I will make it (ashitehu) a waste." Ashitehu means I will set it to be a waste. What is a waste (batah)? It means a place that is desolate, a place with eternal desolation. The Malbim explains: what is the difference between ashitehu and asimehu (I will place it)? For "the foundations (shatot) will be destroyed." What is shatot? Foundations. Shatot are foundations. So "I will make it (ashitehu) a waste" means I will set it in a permanent manner. To place (lasim) can be temporary, but to set (lehashit) is like from the language of foundation, something that will be permanent forever. "I will make it a waste." "Waste" (batah) means a place unfit for building, a place unfit for working. The Malbim explains: this is the opposite of the word "daughter" (bat) versus the word "son" (ben). The word ben teaches about building. For who inherits the inheritance of his father? The son. The son inherits his father's inheritance, and consequently there is continuation and building of what the father did. By contrast, the daughter does not continue to build her father's house. She does not arise upon an inheritance in her father's name. So bat is from the language of destruction, versus ben, which is from the language of building. "I will make it a waste" means the place will be destroyed, unfit for building.
"It will not be pruned nor hoed." "It will not be pruned" (lo yizamer) means they will not cut from it the coarse tendrils. In their time they would from time to time cut the coarse branches that only draw from the vine and do not give grapes. They would prune them, this is called thinning, and thereby the rest of the branches would give better fruit. So "it will not be pruned," this action will not be done. "Nor hoed" (lo ye'ader): they would hoe around it to remove the thorns and thistles. And this vineyard will not be hoed, and consequently if it is not hoed, "briar and thorn will grow up." What will grow in it are sorts of thorns and thistles. Rashi explains: sorts of thorns. So interpreted Menachem ben Saruk. And I say, shamir is a term for a strong worm that splits stones. Where do we know the shamir from? King Shlomo. We learned it when he built the Beit HaMikdash, he went to seek the shamir. And they, the shamir and shayit, hint at a worm that will consume the vineyard. Shayit is from the language of "desolation and ruin," a term of breaking, "the ruin will be desolate." Shamir and shayit mean the place will be food for worms and a place that will be desolate with no existence in it.
And also, I will command, that no rain be rained upon it. The clouds will not rain rain upon it. And the referent here in the account is that after the Holy One, blessed be He, brings the foot of strangers here, for indeed "remove its hedge, breach its fence," strangers will be able to enter. They will breach the walls and enter into the Holy Land, into Yerushalayim. Afterward, he comes and says, I will cease them from being a nation, they will have no king, ministers, leaders. Because even what exists worms will eat, and thorn and thistle will grow there. And also the rain. Rain symbolizes supernal bounty. Supernal bounty hints at prophecy. He tells them, as it were, prophecy too will be taken from them. And this is the reality, to our sorrow: after the destruction of the First Temple, prophecy ceased, and in the Second Temple we no longer had prophets. This means that the rain too, that is, the supernal spiritual bounty, will not rest upon us.
"For the vineyard of Hashem of Hosts is the House of Israel, and the man of Yehudah is the plant of His delight, and He hoped for justice but behold oppression, for righteousness but behold an outcry." Now he begins to explain the referent of the parable. The vineyard of Hashem of Hosts is the House of Israel. The House of Israel is the vineyard of the Blessed Name. And "Hosts" (Tzeva'ot) is from the language of hosts, for all the hosts in the world are His, all His hosts. And as we explained, Hashem planted them in a choice place. And just as in every vineyard there are certain vines that are the choicest, the most excellent, sometimes they tell you, this is the vine that gives the most fruit, as they say, this is the cow that produces the most milk. So he says, in this vineyard, the man of Yehudah is the plant of His delight. The man of Yehudah is the choicest of this whole vineyard. He is the plant in which the owner delights, rejoices, is pleased with. For we saw that the man of Yehudah was always on a higher level than the ten tribes. For as for the ten tribes, all their kings were wicked, whereas the kings of Yehudah, some were righteous and some were wicked. So he says, and the man of Yehudah is the plant of His delight. Yehudah was the plant of delight of the vineyard's owner, in which He delighted. For indeed from Yehudah He caused a keren to sprout for David, from Yehudah sprouted a scepter of rulers, the kings.
"And He hoped for justice (mishpat) but behold oppression (mispach)." Justice is the grapes that Hashem hoped would come from them. What is the referent? Mishpat is between man and his fellow. "Let us go to judgment together, let us be judged before the judge." Righteousness (tzedakah) is between man and God, to do righteousness. So I hoped for justice, and instead of justice, it produced mispach. Mispach, from what root is it? Mispach is from the language of joining. "Attach me (sefacheni), please, to one of the priestly orders." Sefacheni means join me, something joined to another thing. What does he mean by the mispach that was done here? We will see later on that they would draw one house close to another in order to steal the inheritance in between. They would rob, they would rob the people who lived among them by drawing their inheritances close to one another. And this is the meaning of "it produced mispach." They join house to house, and those in the middle, suddenly a person arrives after a few years, sees he has no inheritance, it has vanished. There was a house on the right, a house on the left, and an inheritance in the middle, and suddenly he sees the inheritance has vanished, there are only houses. This is the meaning of mispach, from the language of drawing one close to another in order to steal. And this is the opposite of justice. For justice, we said, is the uprightness between man and his fellow, and instead of this they made mispach. "For righteousness, but behold an outcry." Righteousness, as we said, is between him and God, and instead of this an outcry, as we will see later on, like the drunken man who cries out from his wine, for regarding this he will rebuke them regarding their corrupt matters and habits of wine drinking, which brought them to all that corruption.
Rashi explains: harp (kinor) and lyre (nevel), the nevel has more strings than the kinor. That is, the nevel and the kinor are both made with strings. Strings means threads like those of a guitar. And it has more strings than the kinor. And why is it called nevel? Because it shames (menabel) every instrument. That is, one who hears the nevel, its sound is so special, so touching to the soul, and it shames every instrument, that is, all the instruments are considered as nothing beside it. This is like someone once said that there is a curse of the refined, those who do not want to soil their mouths, so they curse gently, so they tell a person, may they invite you to speak after Rav Lau and to sing after Dudu Fisher. They mean to say that you will have to receive embarrassment, so after speaking after Rav Lau, singing after Dudu Fisher, whatever you do, whatever voice you have, it will still sound weak. This is what he says here, kinor and nevel, the nevel is so special that any instrument you sound after it, you say, this is not it, this is not it. It shames every instrument of song. Fine.
Drum and flute (chalil)... The flick, Rashi says, is a reed pipe, this is what we today call a flute, meaning it is a reed, and on the reed they would make holes and with this they would play. "And they do not look at the deed of Hashem," Rashi says, "they do not gaze at the Torah of Hashem," so the Targum brings, meaning they do not contemplate the holy Torah. "And they have not seen the work of His hands," the mighty acts of Hashem, all the miracles that Hashem did until today they have not seen. Another interpretation: they did not praise Him in the morning, "Who forms light," nor in the evening did they say, "Who brings on evenings."
Do you hear? A person who praises Hashem in the morning "Who forms light" and in the evening says "Who brings on evenings" is in the category of one who looks at the deed of Hashem and sees the work of His hands. He contemplates, see how wondrous, the Holy One, blessed be He, illuminated the day for us, the Holy One, blessed be He, set the sun, He rolls light away before darkness, see, this itself is what a miracle. The Holy One, blessed be He, could have made daylight like a lamp, you switch on a lamp and in one moment suddenly there is sun, all of us, one could not go blind. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He rolls light away before darkness, slowly, slowly He rolls and rolls, slowly, slowly, and then brings the darkness. Slowly, slowly He rolls and then brings the day. Thus a person can enjoy the daylight, thus a person is not thrust all at once into darkness. When a person sees this, he looks at the deed of Hashem, he sees the work of His hands, most wondrous.
The Malbim explains the redundancy: "they do not look at the deed of Hashem, they have not seen the work of His hands." What is the difference between "look" (hibitu) and "see" (ra'u)? What is the difference between "the deed of Hashem" and "the work of Hashem's hands"? The Malbim says there is a difference between "deed" (po'al) and "work of His hands" (ma'aseh yadav); let us begin with that, afterward we will see the difference between looking and seeing. The engagement in which a person occupies himself with something is called a "deed" (pe'ulah). After he has finished the work, we now see the work of his hands. "The work of my hands in which to glory." The work of his hands is already the action after it has been completed. The "deed" of the thing is when you see the thing in the process of coming into being, you see it working now. So if I now see a person renovating something, I see his deed, I do not yet see the work of his hands. When I come after the building is finished, that is called that I saw the work of his hands. The work of his hands is the completion of the thing.
The Malbim says: when a person contemplates the creation, there is in it the deed of Hashem and there is in it the work of Hashem's hands. "All that God created to do." "To do" we saw the work of His hands, the creation is finished. But tell me, is the creation really finished? Surely not, for we know: "He renews in His goodness every day, continually, the work of creation." That is, in truth one who contemplates sees that there is here the deed of Hashem. One who looks with a superficial gaze, what does he see? The work of Hashem's hands. Hashem 6,000 years ago formed a world and, well, it exists. But one who truly contemplates knows, and we learned this in the past in Nefesh HaChaim in a more explained and detailed manner, that the Holy One, blessed be He, in each and every moment said "let there be," it is not something that was, it is something that in each and every moment exists, for in one moment that Hashem removes His will from the world, the world reverts to chaos and void. And we explained: it is not like a repairman, who repaired your house, built for you, added you a balcony, finished the work, goes home, I do not need him to hold up the balcony here, and if you do need him then woe. The Holy One, blessed be He, is not like that; the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, created the world and in each and every moment holds it up. And if the Holy One, blessed be He, were to leave it for one moment, then, as it were, the world reverts to chaos and void. So we truly see the work of His hands, but one who contemplates, who examines, sees that there is here the deed of Hashem, the Holy One, blessed be He, is constantly acting and renewing the creation.
And this is what he says here, they did not look at the deed of Hashem. To look at the deed of Hashem means to contemplate with intellectual scrutiny and see the deed of Hashem. And also the work of His hands, which is what is arranged from the six days of creation, which shows that the Holy One, blessed be He, is all powerful, this you can see even with sensory eyes. For to contemplate the deed of Hashem one already needs wisdom, to understand that the Holy One, blessed be He, in each and every moment renews in His goodness; a person might say, I do not see. Well, here one needs contemplation. But to see the wonders that Hashem did in the very creation, this you can also see when? Take a flower, look how beautiful. They tell that a Jew once came in, a young man came in to Rav Shach, he saw Rav Shach peeling a clementine. He asked him, what do you see? He says to him, I see a clementine. Rav Shach says to him, upon my soul, I see here the Creator of the world. And he began to show him, he says to him, look how beautiful, first of all what a lovely color, such an orange that draws the eye. He says, look inside how it is arranged into segments, could I take and bite into such a whole thing? They arranged it for me into segments. He says, and look inside how there are little bottles arranged inside, and if I want another clementine and this is my last clementine, then they took care of me inside, they placed seeds for me, here, take, you finished the fruit, take this, plant it, you have another clementine. He says, one who only contemplates sees God. So the great people saw the Creator of the world in a clementine. But the small people can see the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, ah, I don't see anything, where, what, what did you see? I didn't see anything. So one truly needs contemplation to see the deed of the Holy One, blessed be He, acting all the time; it requires great contemplation. But the very act of seeing what the Holy One, blessed be He, created, this is enough to see the work of His hands, this every person without great contemplation sees, a tree is the work of Hashem's hands, a fruit is the work of Hashem's hands. But to see that the Holy One, blessed be He, in each moment renews in His goodness continually, this truly requires contemplation.
Now let us note, there is a difference between seeing (re'iyah) and looking (habatah). The Malbim says: seeing is the sensory sight of the eye. Or a sudden seeing without intent. The sensory sight of the eye, the eyes of flesh, you saw, this is called seeing. Looking specifically means paying attention to the object to know its matter and essence. In simple words, looking is contemplation. Studying the thing. Now I can also say to look in general without having seen. For what is to look? I look at a thing, meaning I contemplate it, delve into it, I look at the thing. There need not be any physical seeing at all, but seeing is always physical seeing, to see is to see physically. This is the difference between seeing and looking. Seeing is superficial, looking is delving. And he gives an example: "you shall not continue to see them ever again." What is "you shall not continue to see them"? You will not see them before your eyes. "The face of Hashem divided them, He will not continue to look at them." Does this mean Hashem does not see us? He always sees. What is "He will not continue to look at them"? What does the Holy One, blessed be He, have in relation to the people of Israel compared to the other nations? Individual providence. What is individual providence? Contemplation over all his matters, what he did now, what he did a moment later, what reward is due him for this, what punishment is due him, what test to give him, this is individual providence. Hashem will not continue to look at them, but one cannot say He will not continue to see them; is there anyone whom Hashem does not see? Hashem sees everything, but to look, to contemplate you individually and see exactly what you lack at any given moment, He will not continue to look at them. "Do not look at its appearance," what is "do not look at its appearance"? It means do not contemplate and delve into its appearance.
And from this side the Malbim says, sometimes looking comes before seeing. One who pays attention to see a thing at which he looks, and afterward he sees it with his eyes. An example, the Malbim says, "and the Philistine looked and saw David." What is "and he looked"? He wants to contemplate, who is this now, who, I want now to delve, who is this coming now? And then he sees David. Seeing, we said, is external seeing. So whenever I have a thought, I am planning something, this is called looking. In physical seeing, this is, as we said, sensory sight, how I look with the senses. "They look, they gaze at me." "They look" first they seek to contemplate, afterward he sees the sensory sight. "Only with your eyes will you look," you will contemplate and then you will want to see, "and you will see the recompense of the wicked," and afterward you will see with the eyes literally. But look, contemplate, investigate the matter and I will show you afterward. You will be able to see it with your eyes. "If I look at you" I will not contemplate your matter, "and if I see you" even to see you I will not see you. It means even the sight of the eye I will not gaze upon. Or we ask, "see, Hashem, and look." "See, Hashem," means see us with sensory sight, and more than this, contemplate and delve into our situation and see what our situation is, how terrible it is, have pity and mercy on us.
And he says, and according to this, come and see how wondrous this is. For we explained the deed of Hashem, what is the deed of Hashem? To see the conduct of the Holy One, blessed be He, at every given moment in the creation, this is hard to see. It requires contemplation. "They did not look at the deed of Hashem." "They look" as we explained with intellectual contemplation, one must look, to see something, I will give you an example, that I will speak of the cup, the cup has constant life in it, one who looks sees nothing, what, what life, it is a physical object. But one who contemplates knows that there are atoms in it, and knows that the atoms do not rest for a moment, they revolve, the atoms and the electrons around the proton, they revolve constantly. So he understands that there is life here. Why does the cup not move? Because they are constantly revolving, each in a different direction. But if they all decided to revolve, to move, in one direction, then the cup too would begin to move. For this one needs contemplation. This is what he says, the deed of Hashem, how Hashem acts all the time in the creation, one must look, one needs intellectual contemplation. And the work of His hands, so not only this, for you always remember, we already learned, the Malbim taught us, the prophet always writes in the manner of "not only this but even this." Not only the deed of Hashem, which requires contemplation to see how the Holy One, blessed be He, in each moment renews in His goodness, not only this do they not look at, but even the work of His hands, which as we explained the work of His hands means He finished the work and now everyone can see, come see what a wondrous world, come see what rivers, seas, lakes, trees, plants, everything you contemplate, to see the work of Hashem, what He finished, this everyone can see. He says even this they did not see, for here what is required? Only sensory sight, external seeing, even this they were not able to see.
Therefore, the Malbim here explains further, and perhaps I will conclude with this, the Malbim says the verb "see" (ra'ah) is connected with the word "et" and the verb "look" (habet) is with "el." "Do not look at (el) its appearance." But "see it," I see it and look at (el) it. Here the Malbim says it is written "et po'al Hashem lo yabitu" (the deed of Hashem they do not look at). Now, seemingly we said the deed of Hashem, "et" is connected with seeing, so why is it written "et po'al Hashem lo yabitu"? It should have said "el po'al Hashem lo yabitu." The Malbim says because the "et" draws after it also what is written at the end, "and the work of His hands they did not see." With seeing it is fitting to say "et," so it is as though he says "the work of His hands they did not see" and also they did not look. So it is understood, so even though "look" is not precise here in relation to "et," but there is no objection, since "see" is written too later on, therefore he wrote the expression "et."