And even if we have not done this, and even if the Holy One, blessed be He, has become very distant from us, about this He says: "Let the wicked forsake his way and the man of iniquity his thoughts, and let him return to Hashem, and He will have compassion upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." Even if you have already become truly distant, forsake the evil way, let the man of iniquity forsake his thoughts, return to Hashem who will have mercy on you, and to our God for He abundantly pardons. Before we see what the Malbim explains here, I would like to add one more sentence regarding "Seek Hashem when He may be found." Everyone knows the teaching of Chazal. Gemara Rosh Hashanah, page 18. Rav Shmuel bar Inya said in the name of Rav: From where do we know that a decree of judgment against a community, even though it has been sealed, can be torn up? That even though it has already been sealed, it can still be torn up. From where? As it says, "For what nation is so great that has God so near to it, as Hashem our God whenever we call upon Him." The Gemara asks: "whenever we call upon Him"? But it is written, "Seek Hashem when He may be found." Seemingly the verse says that Hashem is not found whenever we call upon Him, but specifically "when He may be found," when He is near. The Gemara answers: There it refers to an individual, here it refers to a community. The Gemara says there is a difference. "When He may be found," when He is near, that is only at special times, that speaks of an individual. In contrast, a decree of judgment against a community, always. "As Hashem our God whenever we call upon Him." Whenever a community does teshuvah, the Holy One, blessed be He, accepts it. In contrast, individuals, the Gemara says, have a time of "when He may be found." The Gemara asks: When? For an individual, when? What is the special time when Hashem is found? Rabbah bar Avuha said: These are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. As it is written, "And it came to pass about ten days later that Hashem smote Naval." The Gemara asks: These ten days, what is their significance? Naval was a scoundrel and disgrace was with him, he insulted David, spoke of him contemptuously: "Today there are many servants who break away from their masters," thus he referred to David king of Israel. And David came to take revenge upon him. And Avigail, the wife of Naval the Carmelite, stopped him. And in the end he accepted her words. Then ten days passed and then "Hashem smote Naval." Why was it fitting that he be given ten days at all? Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, not finish him off on the spot? Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Corresponding to the ten sips that Naval gave to David's servants. Rav Yehudah in the name of Rav says: Naval indeed insulted them, cursed them, but he deserves the reward for the sip. To David's servants who came to speak with him, to persuade him to give David of his flock and cattle because of what was due to David for guarding his flock, corresponding to the fact that he gave them ten sips, he poured them a drink. He saw them coming from the road, poured them a cup of water, I do not know whether cold or not, a cup of water. Rav Nachman said in the name of Rabbah bar Avuha: These are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Holy One, blessed be He, waited for Naval the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and he did not repent, and then the Holy One, blessed be He, smote him. That is to say he had a chance, look at that, that this merit of giving ten sips, this merit held for him, so that they waited for him the days when he could do teshuvah. And he did not use these days, and "Hashem smote Naval." A person who passes away at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, what do you say about him? The Gemara says: One who passes away on the eve of Yom Kippur, it is a bad sign for him. Because he did not merit to reach atonement. One who passes away at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, it is a good sign for him. Because just as he was atoned, he had not yet had time to accumulate his first sin, and already the Holy One, blessed be He, took him, he ascended clean to heaven. One who passes away during Yom Kippur itself is a matter of debate. The debate is about when Yom Kippur atones, whether at its entry or at its exit. The simple understanding is that Yom Kippur atones at its exit, but certainly it is also good because he merited some measure of atonement. It is written that Yom Kippur is like a mikveh. Just as a mikveh purifies the impure, so too the Holy One, blessed be He, purifies Israel. And a mikveh, as we know, does not purify while the person is still in the mikveh, but only upon his exit. Therefore it is brought that Yom Kippur atones after the Ne'ilah prayer, at the exit from Yom Kippur, then Yom Kippur atones. In any case we see that Yom Kippur, one who passes away on Yom Kippur, at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, we see that this is a great level. And seemingly, if so, the question arises: Naval the Carmelite, how did he merit to die the death of the upright? How did he merit to die at the conclusion of Yom Kippur? So in fact the whole difficulty that now comes to my mind is only according to Rebbi's view. For Rebbi says the essence of the day atones, whether one did teshuvah or did not do teshuvah. But according to the view of the Sages, which is how the halachah was ruled, there is no difficulty at all. What is this "merited"? We are speaking of one who dies at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, who merited atonement, and atonement is subordinate to teshuvah according to the view of the Sages. So did he do teshuvah? It is explicitly written that he did not do teshuvah. He was given ten days and did not do teshuvah. So for him it makes no difference, conclusion of Yom Kippur, before Yom Kippur, in any event he did not do teshuvah. But truly the question deserves to be asked according to Rebbi. For Rebbi says the essence of the day atones. The very day of Yom Kippur atones, whether one did teshuvah or did not do teshuvah. So how did he merit to die such a death? The holy Arizal says something very wondrous. I bring this from Mishnat HaGilgulim. The holy Arizal says: Who was Naval the Carmelite? He was Lavan the Aramean. And into whom did Lavan the Aramean transmigrate? Into Bilam. And afterward into Naval the Carmelite. And "Naval was a scoundrel and disgrace was with him," just as in the previous transmigrations, he sinned with his mouth. Naval was a swindler, the Aramean, the swindler (the words for Aramean and swindler share letters). Afterward Bilam sinned with his mouth, wanted to curse the people of Israel. And afterward he returns and transmigrates into Naval, which is the letters of Lavan, and it is the letters lamed-bet from Bilam, and he sins in the very same matter and insults and curses the anointed of Hashem with his mouth. Only what? It is brought that Bilam prayed, "Let my soul die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his." He merited that "my soul die the death of the upright" now in Naval the Carmelite. That is to say, since he prayed for this, he merited that "my soul die the death of the upright." What is "the death of the upright"? One who passes away at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. That is to say, because of Bilam's prayer he merited this. When did he merit "and let my end be like his"? Since he returned and transmigrated once more, into whom did he transmigrate? Into Barzilai the Giladite. Apparently you have not yet reached this chapter. Into Barzilai the Giladite, which is the letters bet-lamed. And then Barzilai the Giladite was already a worthy person of Israel, so there he merited "and let my end be like his," meaning like the people of Israel, he truly died as a Jew, as a worthy Jew. Although it is brought about Barzilai that he was steeped in desire, but with all this it is not written about him that he was wicked, it is written that he was among those who assisted David. In any case we see that no prayer returns empty. And there was not here some whim of Bilam, some mere aspiration, but it was a prayer and request that in the end he merited to have fulfilled, if not in this transmigration, then in the next transmigration. The holy Arizal writes about what is said, "For He does not banish the banished one from Him," he says even the most complete wicked ones will come to rectification. Although the rectification is difficult and although the refining and purifying is with much suffering, one of his transmigrations was into a stone, whoever wishes may see this in the book. But in any case he says: Know that in the end everyone will come to rectification. Only how much they will have to suffer is another matter. But it is explicitly written, "so that the banished one not be banished from Him." As for the fact that Bilam was a gentile, Bilam was before the giving of the Torah. And therefore before the giving of the Torah there was not yet a clear separation of souls. Only after the giving of the Torah, "for Hashem's portion is His people, Yaakov the lot of His inheritance." And then all the souls of the gentiles are a portion of the sitra achra and there is no rectification dependent upon them at all and they are not connected to us at all. But in the beginning there was no concept of Jew and gentile, and therefore Bilam too will in the end come to rectification, even though Bilam is the greatest wicked one, about whom the Gemara says: Whatever disgrace you can expound about him, expound. Whatever slander you wish to attach to him, attach, it is all true. Nothing of it falls under the category of lashon hara or defamation. It is all true.
Good. "Let the wicked forsake his way and the man of iniquity his thoughts." So Rashi, the Radak explains: "Let the wicked forsake his way" in deed and in speech. This means evil deeds, evil words. "And the man of iniquity his thoughts," these are evil musings. Why? The Radak says: because teshuvah does not help in the open if it is not also in the hidden. What, you change only the deeds but within yourself you remain with all the evil traits and evil thoughts? For a person's good and evil, says the Radak, depend on the hand, the mouth, and the heart. Teshuvah is needed from all three of them. In the hand, a person robbed, a person struck, a person did some action with the hand. In the mouth, he spoke lashon hara, falsehood, flattery. In the heart, evil musings, a heart that plots thoughts of iniquity. All three of these things need rectification. "For He will abundantly pardon," even if a person greatly did evil, the Holy One, blessed be He, will abundantly pardon.
The Malbim explains to us, as we explained earlier, that this is essentially a continuation of the previous verse, "Seek Hashem when He may be found," while He is still with you, that one not forsake. And if one has already forsaken, "call upon Him while He is near," do not sink deep into sin, right after you have stumbled call to Him while He is still near. But even if the wicked one forsakes his way and the man of iniquity his thoughts, know that the matter can still be rectified. Before we explain the Malbim's explanation, the difficulty here cries out from within the verse. "Let the wicked forsake his way," "let the man of iniquity forsake his thoughts." "And let him return to Hashem, and He will have compassion upon him." "And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." Why do you repeat the same thing twice? Essentially "let him return to Hashem" is "let him return to our God."
Our God, "for He will abundantly pardon." Essentially the whole verse here is doubled. The Malbim explains: "let the wicked forsake his way," the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, even if the wicked one greatly did wickedness, there is a remedy, let the wicked forsake his way. And not only that, I speak of a wicked one who sins out of desire, one who sinned out of desire is relatively considered a lighter sin, in contrast to a person who denies, a person who has within him thoughts of heresy and denial, which is far more severe. Even the man of iniquity, he too has a remedy, by forsaking his thoughts. That he forsake his false thoughts, his thoughts of heresy, and begin to believe in Hashem. And then see how wondrous this is. "Let the wicked forsake his way," wicked, we explained, refers to the sin of desire, and generally, by the way, one who knows, "wicked" and "evil" come to express also the desire of forbidden relations, yes? For "only evil all the day" comes to express forbidden relations, as it is written regarding Er and Onan, "evil in the eyes of Hashem." So "the wicked" and "the evil" express desires, and then the matter is that he grasped an evil way. Therefore "let the wicked forsake his way," his evil way, that which he became accustomed to doing transgressions. "And the man of iniquity," as we explained, this is a heart that plots thoughts of iniquity, this speaks of a person who in his thoughts is a man of iniquity, meaning inclined after heresy and denial. What are the books of the Christians called? Aven Gilayon. And how did Chazal call them? Aven Gilayon. What is Aven Gilayon? As we just explained, things in which there is iniquity (aven) and denial, with the letter vav, yes? Aven Gilayon. Words of iniquity, thoughts of denial and heresy, and he, what shall he forsake? His thoughts. Because with him the problem is not, the problem does not begin with him in deeds, the problem begins with him in thoughts, that he has thoughts of heresy. So he too shall forsake his heretical thoughts and begin to believe in Hashem, and return to Hashem.
But, take note, says the Malbim, there are two kinds of teshuvah. There is a person who returns in teshuvah out of love, out of recognizing the greatness of the Creator, out of recognizing His might, may He be blessed, he wishes to draw near and cleave to Hashem, may He be blessed, and he desires only His nearness, this is teshuvah out of love. But there is a person who does not return out of love, but rather out of fear. He heard that Gehinnom burns very much, and the temperatures are very high, so he does teshuvah in order not to arrive there, not to be scorched by the light of Gehinnom, by the fire of Gehinnom. In fact, would that we too reach even this level, but certainly this is a level of lower degree. Therefore, says the Malbim, there is one who returns because he loves Hashem, and this is what is written at the beginning, "and let him return to Hashem," Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh, that the Holy One, blessed be He, is great, abundant, and mighty, "and He will have compassion upon him." And there is one who returns "to our God," Kel, what is Kel? Master of power. Right? He fears the power of the Holy One, blessed be He, oy vavoy, Hashem will punish me. And not only that, "to our God," it does not say "to God" plainly. "Our God," that is to say from the aspect that He is our God, this means there is particular providence. Oy vavoy, so for every deed I did the Holy One, blessed be He, will give me punishment. He fears the punishment. He says, even for this I cannot tell you "and He will have compassion upon him," but I can tell you "He will abundantly pardon." I can tell you, know at least this, that the Holy One, blessed be He, even one who returns out of fear, the Holy One, blessed be He, pardons his iniquity. What is "and He will have compassion upon him"? How does the Targum render it? The Targum always says rachimohi, rachim, the Targum of what? Love. Right? "With awe and love," bidechilu urechimu, in fear and in love. Rachim is always love. Take note, you returned to Hashem out of the greatness of the Creator, out of the fact that you love Hashem, may He be blessed, you will merit "and He will have compassion upon him." That Hashem will return love to you. Which is the higher level. "And to our God," the one who in contrast returned with a lesser teshuvah, out of the aspect that He is God, and then mighty and possessing ability, and he fears, and out of the aspect that He is "our God," which is particular providence and oy vavoy, for every single deed there is judgment, so about this I cannot tell you "He will have compassion upon him," I cannot tell you a level of love. What then? "He will abundantly pardon." I will tell you, even for this the Holy One, blessed be He, abundantly forgives and pardons. Even for this the Holy One, blessed be He, will pass over his sin.
And the Malbim is also precise, take note, it does not say "let the man of the wicked forsake his way." Rather it says "let the wicked forsake his way." In contrast, regarding iniquity it says "the man of iniquity his thoughts." What is the emphasis on "man of iniquity"? The Malbim says: whenever it says "man" (ish), it means the matter is an essential acquisition in him. That is to say it is part of him. Like "a poor man" (ish ani). Not just a poor person whose money ran out a few minutes ago. No, but a poor man, it is his essence that he is always poor. "A leprous man," "a man of valor," "a man of sorrows." So here too he wanted to tell you, this is not a person who happened by chance to go on a way of iniquity, desire overcame him. Rather this is a man of iniquity, always, in a permanent manner, it is his essence to walk in thoughts of iniquity. So about him I tell you, let him forsake his way, and pardon, let him forsake his thoughts, and return to Hashem. And even though his teshuvah will be a poor teshuvah, even though his teshuvah will not be at a high and fitting level, even so I promise you, "and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." Even so the Holy One, blessed be He, will abundantly forgive and pardon all his transgressions.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says Hashem." Rashi explains: Mine and yours are not equal. Therefore I tell you, forsake your ways, grasp My ways. For My ways are not your ways, the way in which you walk is not My way, says the Master of the Universe. The thoughts that you think, these are not My thoughts. Change your thoughts and your ways and walk in My ways. The Midrash Aggadah: My justice is not like the justice of flesh and blood. Among you one who confesses in court becomes liable, but with Me one who confesses and forsakes will be shown mercy. What a wondrous explanation, says the Midrash. My ways are not your ways. A person who comes to court, the judge asks him: Do you confess? He says: I confess my guilt. He says: fine, for murder or for theft or for this, the punishment is such and such, well, say you confessed, they will reduce it by a year or two, but you will get 15 years inside. Wait, I confessed! Well, so what do you want? What is this, a fine? There is no concept of "one who confesses and forsakes will be shown mercy" in a court of law. We will also speak about a beit din, this is also according to Torah law, the same thing. In contrast, says the Holy One, blessed be He, My ways are not your ways. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, with Me one who confesses and forsakes will be shown mercy. One who confesses, says "I erred," returns in teshuvah, will be shown mercy. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, I forgive him.
The Radak explains, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways." The Radak says: if a person transgressed against his fellow, sinned against him, he will seek revenge. He did this to me, I will show him. And even if he comes and asks him for forgiveness, and outwardly tells him fine, I forgive you, but most likely in his heart he still holds a grudge. Most likely he will still be resentful, no, it will be very hard for him to forgive the matter completely. The Malbim says, take note, in the Holy Tongue, an overt thing is called "way" (derech). A hidden thing is called "thought" (machashavah). Says the Holy One, blessed be He, with Me both of these things are absent. "Your ways are not My ways," says the Holy One, blessed be He, I do not take revenge upon someone who did an evil deed and changed his ways. And a second thing, "My thoughts are not your thoughts," I also do not hold a grudge against him in thought, as it were. Rather when a person returns in teshuvah, it is completely forgiven. The Rambam says: before this he was called "hated," "wicked," his prayer is thrust back in his face; now he is called "beloved friend." How many praises there are for this person after he did teshuvah. That is to say, there does not remain, as with a human being, in thought, in the hidden, a grudge. Rather the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives and erases everything. Only what is somewhat difficult according to this explanation of the Radak, is that seemingly the verse is not in order. It should have said "your ways are not My ways," for "way," we said, is in deed, I do not take revenge, one who returns in teshuvah I will not rise against him. And after that it should have said also "your thoughts are not My thoughts," I also will not hold a grudge against him in thought. For the way of a verse is always to go and add.
The Malbim says: "For My thoughts are not." Now the Malbim says the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to refute two claims that the people of Israel had against the matter of teshuvah. Pay attention to the two claims, because later on we will also want to confront them. There were two main claims that the people of Israel made, as to why teshuvah would not help us. First claim, they say: how is it possible that the Holy One, blessed be He, should change toward us from anger to love? From wrath to nearness? How is it possible? For with the Holy One, blessed be He, there are no changes. For the Holy One, blessed be He, is not a body nor do bodily attributes apply to Him, with Him it is not like flesh and blood. With flesh and blood, yesterday I thought this way, today I think differently. Yesterday I wanted this, today I want otherwise. But with the Holy One, blessed be He, no change applies to the divine principle. And if so, how can it be that yesterday the Holy One, blessed be He, was angry at me, yesterday the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to do evil to me, and now the Holy One, blessed be He, loves me? So does teshuvah change anything? Not at all. How is it possible? The Holy One, blessed be He, no change applies to the divine principle. Hashem is unchanging. So how can He now change from anger to favor? From resentment and hatred to love? First difficulty. The second claim they had: imagine that the king gave some person a task, a work. He told him, here there are four stories, now I command you to add a fifth story. And this worker not only did not do the king's work and did not add a fifth story, but he even destroyed the first four stories. The king arrives at the end of the allotted time, and he sees that he did not do his work. Says the king, what do you have to say about what you did? "I have sinned, I have erred, I have transgressed." The Malbim asks, essentially this is their claim: does the fact that "I have sinned, I have erred, I have transgressed" mean there are now five stories here? The work was not done. And if Hashem said to do a work, and the person not only did not do it but even ruined and destroyed, what will "I have sinned, I have erred, I have transgressed" help? Just as with the king "I have sinned, I have erred, I have transgressed" will not in a single moment turn five stories into built ones, so too "I have sinned, I have erred, I have transgressed" with the Master of the Universe, will it repair the work that was needed and not done?
Now the Holy One, blessed be He, confronts these two claims, and answers them a response to both claims. Against the first claim, that you claim with Hashem no changes apply, the Holy One, blessed be He, nothing changes with Him, how can it suddenly change toward me from hatred to love and from lack of favor to favor? The Holy One, blessed be He, says: you do not grasp My thoughts. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts." So how do you come and raise difficulties about the way of Hashem, about the thoughts of Hashem, when you do not grasp the thoughts of Hashem at all? This is an answer to the very claim, that with the Holy One, blessed be He, no changes apply. In order to determine what the principle of Hashem is, you need to know Hashem. But do you know My thoughts? Do you know what the principle of Hashem is? How, if so, can you come and on this basis raise difficulties, how can changes apply with Hashem? You do not know what the conduct of Hashem is, how do you ask questions about Him? Another thing, the second claim, a person who was told to build and instead of building he destroyed, how will he repair this? He regrets, does that repair it? The answer is "My ways are not your ways." Says the Holy One, blessed be He, I established a way by which through regret everything is built. I have a different way. With Me the way is that when a person regrets, he builds five stories. It is not like with you. My ways are not your ways.
Now take note how wondrous, says the Malbim, the matters are found within the words in the verse. For whoever paid attention noticed that seemingly the verse does not run on the same plane from its beginning to its end. The verse says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways." Right? No, not right. The verse says "nor are your ways My ways." So once it opens with the Master of the Universe, once it opens with us. "For My thoughts," the Master of the Universe, "your thoughts." "Nor your ways," you, then "My ways," the Master of the Universe. It should run on the same plane. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your ways." That should have been the correct phrasing. Why does it open at the beginning with Hashem, and afterward open with us, "nor are your ways My ways"? Say "nor are My ways your ways." Thus asks the Malbim. The Malbim says: according to what we explained this is understood very wondrously. For behold, when we come to raise difficulties according to the conduct of Hashem, how can it be that changes apply with Hashem, we asked this based on prior premises, we asked this from something that happens with us? We are not Hashem, we are flesh and blood. We asked according to how we understand the conception of divinity. I understand that God is unchanging. And if Hashem is unchanging, how does He suddenly change toward me from hatred to love? So the whole difficulty stems from the very fact that this is how I conceive of divinity, this is, in my opinion, how divinity should conduct itself. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, "My thoughts are not your thoughts." You do not understand anything at all about divine conduct, and My thoughts are not like your thoughts. In contrast, when we come and ask: wait, how can it be that through regret I will build five stories? How can it be? What, through regret one can change? How is this thing possible? This difficulty, from where does it stem? From the conduct of flesh and blood. For with us, if the king told me to build a story and I even destroyed four, regret does not build. So too, how with the Holy One, blessed be He, will regret build? That is to say the second difficulty stems from what I know of the conduct of flesh and blood. In the conduct of flesh and blood I regretted, it does not build. How is it that in the conduct of Hashem I regretted, it will build? Ah, the whole difficulty stems from how it operates with you. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, "nor are your ways," how it operates with you, "My ways." The whole second difficulty stems from what you know here, from your ways. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, your ways are not My ways. What operates with you is not what operates with Me. The first difficulty is without proofs from ourselves. How do I conceive of divinity? That the thoughts of Hashem have no change in them. Says Hashem, "My thoughts are not your thoughts." The second difficulty stems from: behold, with flesh and blood regret does not build. So you come to raise a difficulty from your ways. "Your ways are not My ways." Therefore He does not say "My ways are not your ways." Rather the whole difficulty begins from your ways, so your ways are different from My ways.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." For the heavens and the earth are high. Rashi explains: there is a difference and distinction of degree and praise in My ways more than your ways, and in My thoughts more than your thoughts. There is a difference between them like the height of the heavens from the earth. In what does this find expression? That your whole aim is to rebel against Me, and My whole aim is to bring you back in teshuvah. A contrast of heaven and earth. You seek how to act against Hashem, and I seek how to do good for you. These are the extremes of heaven and earth. The Radak explains: King David said, "For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is His kindness mighty over those who fear Him." The Radak says: when the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives the people of Israel because they return to Him, this is the kindness of Hashem. Even if you are in exile and greatly did wickedness, says the Holy One, blessed be He, I promise you good promises. So My ways are not your ways, as we said, the heavens are high above the earth. And as much as you greatly did wickedness, so I will greatly do good for you when you do teshuvah. So this is a distance of heaven and earth. The Metzudat David explains: in what does "the heavens and earth are high" find expression? In the way of flesh and blood, when they transgressed against him, he does not forgive. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, I not only forgive, I erase completely. That is heaven and earth. Extremes from two extremes. "My thoughts, your thoughts," you think teshuvah does not help at all. And I tell you teshuvah helps to nullify everything. That is what He says, that is heaven and earth. Our conceptions are extreme opposites. You think one thing, and I tell you the exact opposite, and the correct one.
The Malbim explains, based on what Rabbi Albo brings in Sefer HaIkkarim. He explains that the difference between our thoughts and the thoughts of Hashem, may He be blessed, is not one of less and more, but rather there is no relation or comparison between them at all. It is like if I want to say, this is only a parable, but if I want to say, a person will think, let us say a person has a processor in his brain of 8 gigabytes, and the Master of the Universe 8 million gigabytes. 8 billion gigabytes. So Hashem thinks much faster and can hold many more possibilities and... you have diminished the Master of the Universe. Because you made a ratio between 8 gigabytes and 8 billion, and 800 billion, and however much you say, there is still a ratio. And between us and Hashem there is no ratio at all. If I want to say, I will give you an example of two things that have no relation between them, I say an ant has intelligence, but a person has more intelligence. Can such a thing be understood? You cannot compare an ant and a person at all, these are two separate essences. It is not a difference of less and more. Its intelligence reaches up to here, and his up to more. Among human beings you can say yes. This person is intelligent, that one is more intelligent than him. His IQ is 100, that one's is 160. But with the Holy One, blessed be He, and with man, the distance between us and, between our intellect and the intellect of the ant is very close, compared with the distance between the intellect of man and the divine intellect. Why? Because it is a different species, a different kind, a different essence, a thing that cannot be compared at all. It is like if I want to say, in kindergarten they teach arithmetic with beads on a rod, right and left, 2 plus 2 equals 4. And I say, in contrast, the supercomputer of the CIA in the United States is more advanced than the beads on the rod. Can such a thing be said? You are comparing the arithmetic of two beads plus two beads on a rod, to the supercomputer of the United States... you do not compare it even to your pocket calculator. How much more so not to a home computer. How much more so not to the supercomputer of the United States, which could be an entire floor of computers, capable of doing billions of calculations in a thousandth of a second. That is to say, there is nothing at all to compare. So know that even this is still closer than our thoughts compared with the thoughts of the Holy One, blessed be He. That is what He says, there is no value or relation between them at all, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts." "The heavens are high above the earth." Why does He say, how is it now found here in the words "the heavens are high above the earth"? He says, look, is the earth high? No. The heavens are high, but the earth is the lowest place there is. So He says, "the heavens are high above the earth," seemingly this is not understood. I can say the mountain is higher than the hill. Listen, a hill is high, but the mountain is higher. But I cannot say the mountain is higher than the valley. The mountain is higher than... what, is there some ratio, as it were? That it is relevant, that it approximates, that I say this is high and the valley is not high at all. You give an example of high, and then I will measure which is higher. But can you say the tall one is taller than the low one? Than someone who is not only not tall, he is even lowly. What sense is there to say the heavens are high above the earth? The earth is not high at all. So how can one say the heavens are high above the earth? About this the Malbim says: just as there is no relation of value between existence and absence. What does this mean? I cannot ask you for an example, what is higher? This cup that you see here, or the cup that has not yet been created? What is higher? What is stronger? This cup or the cup that has not yet been created? One cannot compare something that exists to something that does not exist. There is no relation or value between a thing that is and a thing that is not. You can ask which is higher, this cup or the second cup? Both exist, I will begin to measure. Which is stronger? Both exist, I will begin to measure. But between a thing that is and a thing that is not, no relation or value applies. Just as no relation or value applies between two concepts, I cannot say, tell me, is this cup more opaque or more round? What do you say? Can one debate, is it more opaque or more round? Is it stronger or more brown? What do you think? It is ridiculous even to ask such a question. You do not ask, you do not compare between two things that have no relation between them. Round and brown, there is no relation. I cannot say it is more round or more brown. So the same thing here too, "for the heavens and earth are high," the heavens are high, the earth is not high at all. One cannot make a comparison between what is and what is not. So He says, if so, it is likewise irrelevant to say about the Holy One, blessed be He, that His thoughts are more than ours. It is like the heavens are high above the earth. Just as the heavens and earth have no relation between them, so His thoughts compared with our thoughts have no relation between them at all.
"For as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens, and do not return there, but water the earth and cause it to give birth and sprout, and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth, it shall not return to Me empty, but shall accomplish that which I desire, and prosper in that for which I sent it." "For as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return there, but water the earth and cause it to give birth." The Radak brings here two explanations. The Radak says one explanation: just as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return there, meaning it does not return without performing its function, but rather what? "They water the earth and cause it to give birth." So too, he says, know, the Holy One, blessed be He, the action that the Holy One, blessed be He, does is an action that has benefit in it, and it does not return empty. That is one explanation. Now he brings another explanation, which is according to what his father explained, "my father and master." I told you that the Radak's father and master has explanations sweeter than honey. He explains thus, for as, perhaps I will explain the difficulty in the verse. "For as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return there, but water the earth." I can explain the "but water the earth" in two concepts, in two senses. One sense, it does not return upward but rather waters the earth. Period. I can explain otherwise. "And do not return there but water the earth," that is, when it waters the earth, only then does it return. Is the difference understood? According to the first explanation, "and do not return there," period. As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return there, but water the earth, it waters the earth, it does not return there. In contrast I can explain, "and do not return there but," that is, only after "water the earth." Ah, it waters the earth, only then does it return there. The Radak says: both explanations are correct. According to how I explain, says the Radak, "and do not return there but water the earth," the rain does not return, it waters the earth, period. "My father and master," my father and master, says the Radak, explains otherwise. Behold, we know the water cycle. Rain falls, waters the ground, the sun comes, dries the ground, the moisture rises, from the rising moisture clouds are formed, and again it returns and repeats. He says this is what is written here. Here is written the rain cycle. As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens, and do not return there until they have watered the earth and caused it to give birth and sprout and given seed to the sower and bread to the eater, and only then does it return there. How? By the sun coming, drying the ground, the vapors and moisture rising, and again there being clouds, and only then does it return. The Radak says: both explanations can be fitted here in the verse. Yes? And according to the Radak's explanation, "and do not return there," means it never returns. But according to the explanation of the Radak's father, "and do not return there but," that is, only after it has watered the earth, only then does it return there.
The Malbim explains that we had here two claims. We saw two claims that the people of Israel make. One claim, how can it be that teshuvah would help, a person who ruined the king's work, the king's task, would regret rebuild what he destroyed? And the second difficulty, how can it be that with the Holy One, blessed be He, a change applies in His will? Hashem wanted something, suddenly He wants otherwise. Hashem has no changes in Him. Against these two claims, the prophet now comes and brings them a parable from the rain and the snow, and it is an answer to their claims. First, he says, there are two introductions here. First, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave Torah and mitzvot not for His own sake. And this is an error that many people, who are unfortunately distant from Hashem's mitzvot, err in this error. They err to think that when he kept Shabbat, he did a favor for the Master of the Universe. When he put on tefillin, he did a favor for the Master of the Universe. Also the meaning of "pleasing spirit" (nachat ruach), one should not err and think that this is in the sense of fulfilling a desire. For fulfillment of desire always means that you were previously lacking. I felt like ice cream, I ate, now I no longer feel like it. I was lacking, I received. I was hungry, I ate bread, now I am no longer hungry. The Holy One, blessed be He, wanted something, we brought it to Him, now He no longer needs it. This is simple, the Holy One, blessed be He, needs nothing, wants nothing, lacks nothing, needs no completion. Every desire stems from a lack. And with the Holy One, blessed be He, one cannot say He wants something, for if He wants something He lacks something. And the Holy One, blessed be He, lacks nothing. So what then is the explanation of the concept of "I said and My will was done, a pleasing spirit before Me"? This is a matter in its own right, we will speak about it when we learn the Kuzari. But in any case, it is clear that the Holy One, blessed be He, truly, if you acted, you acted for yourself. And if you sinned, and if you forced, you alone will bear it. For if you acted, what do you give Him? Or what does He take from your hand? Behold, the fat of rams and the fat of goats and so on. To the Holy One, blessed be He, they do nothing. You offer a sacrifice, you do not complete for Him any lack, for Hashem lacks nothing. And if so, says the Torah, what does it come to complete? The lack of man. A person who did a transgression, ruined within himself. A person who did a transgression, lost his portion in the World to Come. A person who did a mitzvah, acquired another portion in the World to Come. Acquired more holiness in himself. In simple words, did good for himself and destroyed and ruined for himself. And if so, when you come and ask, how can it be that a person who ruined his master's work, ruined the king's work, regrets, will restore five stories? How does this work? Says the Holy One, blessed be He, you are right. Truly the king needs five stories and you ruined and did not build, so truly how will you restore it? Says the king, I need five stories, you did not build me five stories. Lacking. But the Holy One, blessed be He, behold, as we explained, with Him it is not for His sake, but rather for your sake. So if so, says the Holy One, blessed be He, here it works differently. When it is about what you do for yourself, says the Holy One, blessed be He, here it does not work in the manner of "but Hashem requested, He needs it," the king needs it, you did not complete His will. I need nothing. Rather what? The lack is with you. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, when you return in teshuvah and regret, where does the change apply? With you. In the place where the flaw was, where the change was, there is a completion. In contrast, when I caused a lack in the king's work, where is the lack? In the building. There is no building. I was supposed to build and I did not build. Where is the repair? With me, I regret. Thank you very much, did your regret create a building with him? In contrast, when the flaw is with me, and the regret is with me, in the very place where the ruin is, in that very place is the repair. I destroyed by not doing, now through the regret with me I build. For behold, with me is the ruin, with me is the repair. But when you flawed the king's work, it is his building that you did not build. So what is this that you now do, "but I regret"? Does your regret create a building with him? Says the Holy One, blessed be He, if you understand thus, that the reality between us is completely different, then it is impossible to liken the work of the Holy One, blessed be He, to the work of the king.
Another thing, the divine flow, says the Malbim, descends without interruption. Rather what? The question is whether you prepared vessels. If you prepare vessels, you will receive the divine flow. If you did not prepare vessels, you will not receive the divine flow. But the divine flow descends, it is like rain. The rain falls. Wait, will I have water to drink or not? It depends, you dug a pit, you will have water to drink. You did not prepare pits, you will not have water to drink. Wait, so why did Hashem not give me? What did Hashem not give? Hashem gave, Hashem brought it down, but you did not prepare a vessel, what can be done? If you had prepared a vessel, you would have it. You did not prepare a vessel, you do not have. And then if so, tell me, with the Holy One, blessed be He, does a change apply in that one has and the other does not? No change applies. This one prepared a pit, that one did not dig a pit. This one prepared vessels, that one did not prepare vessels. But with the Holy One, blessed be He, no change at all applies. With the Holy One, blessed be He, the flow is a flow that descends constantly. Prepare vessels, you will receive. Do not prepare vessels, you will not receive. "Open wide your mouth and I will fill it." Prepare the mouth, open wide. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, according to how much you open wide, so I will fill it. But essentially everything depends on your will, everything depends on your preparation. And if so, says the Malbim, with this you will understand that no change applies in the thought of Hashem. We asked how it can be, the Holy One, blessed be He, sometimes wants, sometimes does not want? Does the Holy One, blessed be He, want to bestow or not want to bestow? He tells you, do not be confused. I always want and I always bestow. But on what does the change depend? When you did a transgression, when you angered Hashem, you did not prepare vessels to receive the flow. And therefore it was a situation in which there is wrath upon you, that you have no vessels to receive. When you did teshuvah, the change applies with you. You prepared vessels to receive the flow. Ah, so if so, the pits begin to fill. So with the Holy One, blessed be He, no change applies. The flow descends constantly. The will is constant. The bestowal is constant. Prepare vessels, you will receive. Do not prepare vessels, you will not receive. So if so, we have here an answer to the second question, how does a change apply with Hashem? What, previously He did not want me, now He wants me? He always wants you. The question is whether you turn your back or you show a shining face. This, this is essentially the question, whether you prepared vessels or not.
The Malbim says: come see that these two answers are found here now in the verse. "For as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens." The rain, says the Malbim, can also fall in summer. Snow never falls in summer. Snow only falls in winter. And both descend from the heavens. And both "do not return there." What does this mean? From the earth they give nothing to the heavens. In the heavens they receive nothing from us. In the heavens they only give. How is it written "there"? "The last miracle was greater than the first." There? They received back, they took back the leg from the mountain. It is a gold leg, He took, in the heavens they do not take. In the heavens they only bestow. In the heavens they only give. And this is what He says, "but water the earth and cause it to give birth." The snow, its function is to water the earth, that it be prepared to give birth and sprout. Take note, "and sprout," this already refers back to the rain. For the snow, at the time the snow falls, it indeed waters the earth, but it is not able to cause sprouting. When there is a blanket of snow, nothing sprouts. But when rain falls, then it does have the possibility to cause sprouting. The snow-covered lands are also the green lands in summer. Why? Because the snow creates the possibility to sprout. For when snow falls, it creates a situation in which the ground is saturated to the maximum. It begins to thaw, a bit of sun arrives, suddenly you see the whole land full of green. From where does this stem? From the snow. Now, who is it that actually causes sprouting? What there is in summer, often there are rains. He speaks more about Europe, where this is very common. One can see this clearly, that even in summer there are rains. Yes? And the rain is what causes sprouting and brings forth the grass. The snow gave seed to the sower. The rain gives bread to the eater. But "do not return there." So too, know, the divine flow only descends downward. Hashem receives nothing from the lower ones. And therefore, do not come and ask, I ruined the king's work, I did not build what the king wanted, how will regret change it? He tells you, do not err. You did not ruin anything for the king. To the Master of the Universe you destroyed nothing and ruined nothing, for even when you fulfilled mitzvot you gave Him nothing. Rather to whom did you ruin? To yourself. And now when you returned in teshuvah, you repaired for yourself. Your regret, the ruin was with you and the repair is with you. And do not err to think that you give something to the Master of the Universe, for behold, you see the rain and the snow descend and give Him nothing, but only descend. Nothing rises to Him. So too with the deeds that you do, do not think that something adds to Him, affects Him. Rather all that we do can only affect us. Another thing, see that the rain and the snow descend constantly, without change. Wait, for whom will it sprout a field of thorns and for whom will it sprout a field of wheat? For one who planted wheat, he will have wheat. One who left the field with thorns and briars, he will have thorns and briars. What do you see? Everything depends on the vessels that the receiver prepared. If the receiver prepared good vessels, good crops will sprout. If he did not prepare good vessels, thorn and thistle will sprout for you. You see, if so, that everything depends on the receiver. And this is what He says, "gave seed," but on condition, "to the sower." "Gave bread," on condition, "to the eater," to one who prepared himself for this. And one who did not prepare himself will not receive. Ah, wait, so how can it be that the Holy One, blessed be He, changes, that sometimes He is angry, sprouts thistles, sometimes He does good, sprouts wheat? He says, no, the Holy One, blessed be He, always does good. How is it that here thistles, here wheat? Everything depends on the receivers. When the receiver prepared himself properly, he merited and received, the divine flow always descends. The question is whether you prepared vessels to receive it. Prepare vessels, you will receive it. Do not prepare vessels, you will not receive it. And if so, the lack is only on the part of the receiver. In this there is an answer, how can it be that a change applies with Hashem? The answer is no change applies. The rain always falls, and the question is how much you took from it and what you did with it, what you sprouted with it.
"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth. It shall not return to Me empty, but shall accomplish that which I desire, and prosper in that for which I sent it." "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth," the Radak explains: what I promised, to bring you out of exile, this is "from My mouth," meaning through the prophets, for we did not hear it from the mouth of Hashem, but the prophet is the mouth of Hashem. "It shall not return to Me empty," but shall be truly done and prosper. What is the meaning of "and prosper"? That you not think that perhaps the Holy One, blessed be He, made many promises, but not all will come to pass. He says no, do we collect from a man who has nothing? Are we asking someone who does not have? We are asking the Master of the Universe. So with the Holy One, blessed be He, it is always "and prosper." "Prosper in that for which I sent it." So nothing will be nullified, but everything will prosper. The Malbim explains a wondrous explanation. The Malbim says: there is a difference between whether a person sends a messenger and commands him to do something for his own need, and whether he sends him to do something for the need of the person to whom he is sent. I will give an example. I, for example, tell you, so-and-so, I asked a carpenter to build me a cabinet. Go take 1,000 shekels and give it to the carpenter so that he makes for me, so that he builds me the cabinet. When I go to him and give him the money, then the messenger who returns to me, will he return empty after the carpenter finished and prepared the cabinet? Will he return empty? No, he will return with the cabinet. You paid money and received what you asked for. He does not return empty, but returns with the vessel, I sent money, I received the vessel. But if I send you, then essentially it turns out that he did fulfill the mission. When did he fulfill the mission? When he did not return empty. When he returns with the vessel. But if I command you to do something for the need of the one to whom you were sent, for example, I tell you, if my son engages in Torah, take 1,000 shekels and give it to him. If he engages in Torah, take 1,000 shekels and give it to him. Now, if the messenger returns to me without the 1,000 shekels, did he fulfill my will or did he not fulfill my will? What do you hold? Yes. That is to say my son engaged in Torah, and this arrived, and this was given to him. So on the contrary, that he returned empty, this is his merit. It means the matter was fulfilled. So come now let us return again. When I send something for myself, if you returned empty, it is not good. I sent you to bring me a cabinet, you did not bring it, you returned empty, it is not good. When I send something for the benefit of someone else, give to someone, on condition that he does such and such, give to my son so that he learns Torah, when you returned empty, it is good. It shows that indeed the matter was fulfilled, exactly as I wanted. The Malbim says, this is what is written here. "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth." Says the Holy One, blessed be He, I command good, I command flow upon all My creatures. This good will not return empty, only if it accomplished that which I desire. What does this mean? When will it return empty? When it accomplished that which I desire, for My good is always good for someone else. And when it is good for someone else, then we said they return empty. I gave the money and returned. When it is good for myself, to return empty is not good, return with a cabinet, return with a vessel. But as we explained, behold the Holy One, blessed be He, has no good for His own need. So on the contrary, when is the messenger called one who did his mission? "It shall not return to Me empty, but shall accomplish that which I desire." Know when it is called "accomplished that which I desire"? When "it shall not return to Me empty." Says the Holy One, blessed be He, it does not return to Me with something. "It shall not return to Me empty," only if "it accomplished that which I desire." So it will return empty. When will it return empty? When it accomplished that which I desire. It will fulfill what I requested, only then will it return empty. But if it did not do My desire, what does this mean? That is to say the receiver, as we explained, did not prepare himself. If my son had prepared himself properly, would have learned Torah, the receiver did not prepare himself. And if he did not prepare himself, then what happens? This good returns back. This is what He says here, "it shall not return to Me empty, but shall accomplish that which I desire, and prosper in that for which I sent it." When does He say, if it accomplished that which I desire, then it will return empty. But if it did not accomplish that which I desire, it will not return empty. It will return with the money. Why? Because the son did not learn. If in the end the son did not learn, ah, if so then it does return empty. And then it means that the situation, as we said, is a situation that is not good. For "in joy you shall go out, and in peace you shall be led. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you in song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." For in joy you shall go out of exile, and in peace you shall be led to the Land. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you in song, this is a parable. All the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Rashi explains that this parable comes, as it were, to say: when do they sing out? When they give fruit. When they cause sprouting, then they break forth in song and clap their hands. Or he explains, the Radak, that this, the mountains and the hills, is a parable about the great ones, the trees of the field are for the lesser ones. "For in joy you shall go out," the Malbim explains that this is the conclusion of what we saw at the beginning. "Behold, a nation you did not know you shall call." A nation that I did not know will come and serve us, will come and minister to us. About this He comes and says, all this is on condition, "seek Hashem when He may be found." If you truly return in teshuvah, seek Hashem when He may be found, this we saw in the middle of the chapter. And then you will see yourselves prepared like those who are prepared, who prepare themselves for the rain. That they planted wheat, sowed wheat, and through this the rain that descends, and then all the forces of nature will do your will. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you in song, the trees of the field shall clap their hands. All this comes to say how all of nature, as it were, will bend itself to do the will of the people of Israel. The nations will come here to serve us, nature will begin to give its fruit, the earth will give its yield. Why? Because you prepared yourselves, you sowed wheat. But if you did not sow wheat, then what will you have there? Only thorns and thistles. This is the next verse. "Instead of the thornbush shall come up the cypress, and instead of the nettle shall come up the myrtle. And it shall be for Hashem for a name, for an eternal sign that shall not be cut off." Instead of the thornbush shall come up the cypress, instead of the evil you shall receive good. And through this "it shall be for Hashem for a name," through this the name of Hashem will be revealed upon us, and then there will be in this a sanctification of the Name. "For an eternal sign that shall not be cut off," this thing will not be temporary, but an eternal sign without any interruption. That is to say, what was previously a thornbush, what was previously a nettle, because we did not work the ground properly, did not sow good things, but now that we return in teshuvah, repair our ways, then the constant flow, as we said this is the rain, which comes to symbolize the constant divine will and flow in us, we prepared vessels to receive it, then the mountains will break forth in song and they will truly sprout properly. And in place of the evil that we had, we will have good. But not a temporary good, but the good, as we said, of Hashem is infinite. This will be an eternal sign that shall not be cut off, may Hashem help us speedily in our days, amen and amen.