Sefer Yeshayahu, Chapter 55. "Ho, all who are thirsty, go to water, and he who has no money, go, buy and eat; go and buy wine and milk without money and without price." "Ho, all who are thirsty" - the word "Ho" is always a term of calling out, as in "Ho, Tzion, escape." The Radak says that here the prophet speaks of the time after the war of Gog and Magog. At that time even the nations will recognize that the Holy One, blessed be He, is King over all the earth, and then they will all know that His Torah is the Torah of truth. They will then come to Yerushalayim in order to learn the Torah of Hashem. They will recognize that this is the true Torah. This is what is written at the beginning of the sefer, that the nations say, "Come, let us go up to Hashem, and He will teach us of His ways." They will recognize that the way of Hashem is the true way, and then they will come here, as it were, and this is what he says: "Ho, all who are thirsty, go to water." Ho, you nations who now wish to recognize the true faith, go to water.
What is water? Water is a metaphor for Torah, a metaphor for wisdom. Just as the world cannot exist without water, so too the world cannot exist without Torah. As Chazal say on the verse "the sixth day, and the heavens were completed": all the work of heaven and earth depends on the sixth day, on the sixth of Sivan. If they accept the Torah, the world will endure; if they do not accept the Torah, the pillars of the earth will tremble, they will still be unsteady. So just as the thirsty man craves water, so too the soul of the wise man craves Torah and wisdom. His enjoyment is not in another slice of pizza, that is not what gives him satisfaction. Look, I have a novel insight for you, I have a devar Torah for you, I have some idea I just thought of; oh, that gladdened him far more than a rich feast. Just as the thirsty man craves water, so too the soul of the wise man craves Torah and wisdom.
This is what is destined to be. Today we are coarse, physical people, but the future will hold "not a hunger for bread nor a thirst for water, but to hear the word of Hashem." The yearning, the thirst, will be for another devar Torah, for another novel insight, for more closeness to Hashem. "And he who has no money" - you might say, money is needed to buy water, to buy bread. He says, no, he who has no money need not worry. For not only will they give him bread, but "go, buy and eat; go and buy wine and milk without money and without price." Even wine and milk, which are considered more luxurious than water and bread, even these will be given to him without money. The Torah is compared to wine: just as wine gladdens the heart, so too "the precepts of Hashem are upright, gladdening the heart." Milk: just as milk sustains the nursing infant, the newborn, so too words of Torah sustain the soul. Without it, the soul has no sustenance. And the eating he speaks of here, "buy and eat, eat, buy without money," refers to the wine, the milk, the bread and the water; he defines all of it under the category of eating.
The Malbim explains that we see there is an analogy of Torah and mitzvot to bread and food. Why? Because just as the physical body is sustained through eating, which is physical eating, so too the spiritual being requires nourishment for the soul. What is the nourishment of the soul? It is Torah, it is the mitzvot, it is faith, it is the service of Hashem. This is the nourishment of the soul. For "not by bread alone does man live, but by everything that comes forth from the mouth of Hashem does man live." That is to say, spiritual eating is also needed in order to sustain the soul. And if one does not partake of spiritual eating, then "the wicked, even in their lives, are called dead."
But he appears to be alive; you look here, and it is a mirage, an illusion. A puppet, a marionette on a string, also appears alive, but we know there is no spirit in it. So too a wicked person who has no Torah, no mitzvot, has no life. But, you say, I appear to be alive now. Wait for the true reality, the reality in which the soul separates from the body; this marionette remains in the grave, and then you will see whether anything remains. If his soul has enduring existence, then he is alive. If he did not fulfill mitzvot, then the soul has no enduring existence, and he is dead. Thus "the wicked, even in their lives, are called dead."
And just as with the nourishment of the body, says the Malbim, there are things that are essential. Staple products, basics. Things one cannot go without even for a short time, like water, like bread. A person will die after a few days without water and bread. But if he has only water and bread, he can live even seventy years. In contrast, there are other things that are good for a person, that benefit him, but that are not essential like basic food staples. These are wine and milk. Wine and milk are good, they are healthy, they are nourishing, there is calcium, there are antioxidants, there are many good things in them. Yet despite all this I can survive without them too. This is what is called today an extra. I do not have to have it, it is not essential for me, it is only in the category of an addition.
The Malbim says there are things that come free of charge. Water, at least in their times, was free. Bread already costs money. So too, says the Malbim, pay attention to what is written here. In matters of beliefs and deeds there are things the soul cannot live without. For example, faith in Hashem. This is the foundation, the basis, an essential provision for the soul: to believe that there is a Creator of the world. Or things obligated by what he defines as the ethical religion. He means that every legal system compels and obligates these things. For example: do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal. These are things that plain reason, common sense, obligates, even without your having faith in a supreme God who gave the Torah. These are the foundations, they are like bread. These are the most basic food items and they are the things a person needs and is obligated in, just as one is obligated in water. Not bread, I did not state it precisely, but water. These things fall into the category of water, for they are the most essential provisions in daily life. For bread I can eat once every two days, but water a person needs most constantly. Otherwise he can become dehydrated.
And the things resembling bread, which are also basic, are the study of Torah and the constant mitzvot. Keeping Shabbat, laying tefillin, three prayers a day. All the constant mitzvot are in the category of bread. Bread as a daily food: you eat two or three times a day, you pray two or three times a day. It is a constant daily provision. In contrast, faith, or distancing from severe transgressions such as we said, do not murder, do not steal, do not commit adultery, this is water. It is a matter of every single moment. Every single moment it must be clear to us that it is forbidden to steal, forbidden to murder. It must be clear to us that there is a Creator of the world. The daily mitzvot, on the other hand, are like bread, which you must do several times a day, or the occupation of Torah, which must be for the entire day.
The Malbim says that just as in eating there are things that come for pleasure, so too in the spiritual realm there are things beyond water and bread, as we said, and they are in the category of luxuries; they are the wine and the milk. What are they? Says the Malbim, this is the knowledge of intellectual concepts, the depth of thought and the profound study of Torah. Let us define it as the study of Maaseh Merkavah, let us define it as mitzvot of a more pious level. This is already wine, this is already milk, this is already delicacies. There is what is called the basics, which everyone is obligated in: to lay tefillin, to pray three prayers a day, to keep Shabbat; this is the basis, this is the bread. And there are also those who do special things: they study with depth of contemplation, they grasp things at their source and root according to the wisdom of truth, and so on in this manner. This is the category of wine and milk, which is more for pleasure. What does "for pleasure" mean? Not basic sustenance, but as additions.
The prophet tells us, says the Malbim: we already saw in Chapter 50 that he wrote, "Why did I come and there was no man, I called and there was no answer." "The Lord Hashem gave me a tongue of learning"; whoever among you fears Hashem, come and hear what Hashem gave me to convey to you. But the people did not accept his words. The people would argue with him. People did not want to heed his voice. And in particular, according to what we explained, for if I heed the voice of the prophet, it obligates me. And they did not want anything to obligate them, they did not want to abandon their desires, their pleasures. In whom did they believe? In the false prophets. And the false prophets, says the Malbim, would prophesy to them for a coin of money. Have you ever considered what interest a false prophet has? Why? Merely to contradict the words of the prophet? What does he gain from it? And you know it is a lie and you know you will be held accountable for it. The false prophets were the fortune-tellers of our times. They would receive people for a fee. Says the Malbim, they would receive people in exchange for payment. What do you want? I will tell you, I will reveal your future. And these people, in order to gain a following, revealing the future to a private individual is a small matter, so they would issue prophecies to the entire nation. Now, in order to gain a following, you will not say bad things, no one likes to hear them. They always said good things: Bavel will not come and conquer us. Yes, but the prophets cry out and say that it is imminent, it is close, thus Hashem has announced. No, no, no, do not be alarmed, Hashem has broken the yoke of Bavel. He takes, what does he prepare for him, iron horns, Tzidkiyah ben Kenaanah: "With these you shall gore Aram." They always had only good things to tell the people. Why? To lull them, to lull them. By the way, this is also the method of our leaders today. When they want to calm the people, they always tell the people stories to calm them. There were items that raised the consumer price index. The index is a survey of all sorts of products in the economy. So there were a few items that raised the index; they simply removed them from the survey. That is it, so the index stayed low. The Kinneret, we have a problem, it is drying up. They lower the red line. Now it is not so bad. We were three meters from the red line; no, no, no, it is fine, the red line is a bit exaggerated, we are only two meters from the red line. In exams, our kids are failing, what do they do? What an embarrassment, no matriculation. They lower the difficulty. Lawyers do not pass, so they lower the requirements on the laws of evidence; there was some part that used to be studied that is very complex and complicated, they remove it. Ah, thank God, today there are many lawyers, quick and easy, they learn the material. We have exams that prove that the state of the youth is very bad. Yes, those are the standardized assessment tests, they are the whole problem. We will cancel the standardized tests, and then you will not know there are problems with the youth, and you can be at ease. They sell the people illusions. That is the false prophet of then. They told the people stories about how good things are for us, how wonderful, and if things were not so good, they said, in two years you will see how good it will be. We will yet live and see how good it will be. That is how they sell us illusions. That is a false prophet. A false prophet could not tell the people the truth to their faces. The people would spit on him. What do we need you for? I have a true prophet. Why do I need you as a false prophet to tell me bad things? They would caress the people, tell them pleasant things, and then the people would come to purchase their services, paying them. Fortune-tellers. Bless me like this, do this for me, tell me what my fortune says, and so on. And this was their way, "for a coin of money."
And so now the prophet comes and says to them, why are you going to believe the false prophets? He says to them, "Ho, all who are thirsty, go to water." There are things the soul thirsts for, that it needs like water. And even one who has no money, "go, buy and eat." There are things resembling bread, like Torah and mitzvot. And there are things that are only wine and milk, as we said, these being the branches of wisdom, the intellectual concepts, the mitzvot of a more pious level. And you will find this with us without money and without price. Why are you going to pay the false prophets for falsehood and vanity that lead astray, when I give you the truth for free? "Why do you weigh out money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen well to Me and eat what is good, and let your soul delight in richness." Why are you going to pay the false prophets? And what do they give you? Something that is not bread for the soul. It does not nourish the soul. And more than that, you give them all your labor. You give them everything you toil for, you give it to the false prophet so that he will tell you good things. And what does he give you? "That which does not satisfy." He gives you something that does not satisfy the soul. Not only is it not bread, it is altogether unfit for eating, not even fit to begin to be satisfied by. "Listen well to Me": as I told you, "Ho, all who are thirsty, go to water," listen to Me, and through this "eat what is good." Eat food that is good and food that is fit to satisfy. "And eat what is good, and let your soul delight in richness." And not only food fit to satisfy, like water and bread, which are the foundation and basis, but also "let your soul delight in richness": you will also have the category of wine and milk. And what I sell you is truth, and I sell it to you free of charge. So why "do you weigh out money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy"? You go and spend money on the false prophets and on futility, when they give you something that does not satisfy the soul and has no benefit in it, no salvation in it. Is it not worthwhile to go with what I give you, which is truth and also free? For as Chazal say, "just as I taught for free, so too you shall teach for free"; the sages of Israel would teach Torah free of charge. If so, why should you pay when you receive no benefit at all?
The Radak brings in the name of the Ibn Ezra, regarding "Why do you weigh out money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy," that he is speaking of foreign wisdoms. People would go to gain wisdom in all sorts of futile disciplines. On this he says to them, what will these futile wisdoms, which have no substance in them, give you? This is what he says: "and it does not satisfy, and they are not called bread," for they benefit neither the body nor the soul. Rather what? "Eat what is good, for I have given you a good teaching." "And let your soul delight in richness" refers to the life of the World to Come. Just as there is delight here in this world, there is delight in the life of the World to Come. So according to the Ibn Ezra's approach, the promise also refers to the life of the World to Come.
"Incline your ear and come to Me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the enduring kindnesses of David." The prophet says to them, "Incline your ear and come to Me." Incline your ear in order to hear My words, and then you will accept them, "and come to Me." And through this "your soul shall live." Your soul that is wrapped in hunger, your soul that is wrapped in thirst, through inclining your ear and coming to Me you will hear the words of the living God. "And I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the enduring kindnesses of David." I will make with you, meaning I will give you prophecies that stem from the covenant that Hashem will make with you forever. What covenant? By what merit? By our merit? No. By the merit of the enduring kindnesses of David. It means, by the merit of the kindnesses of David, the kindness that Hashem preserved for David, on account of David's merits, "the enduring kindnesses of David." And why does he bring David in here? The Radak says: because here he is speaking of the redemption, and David is the Mashiach, as it is written, "And David My servant shall be a prince to them forever." "And they are enduring": this covenant is a lasting covenant, it is a faithful covenant, it is an absolute covenant. And David the king will also be the one who teaches Torah to the multitudes, as it said at the beginning of the sefer, "and he shall judge among the nations and rebuke many peoples." Who is this? The Mashiach. The Mashiach will teach Torah to all the nations, he will teach them, he will judge among them. Therefore, "incline your ear and come to Me, hear and your soul shall live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the kindnesses of David," which are enduring, which are true, and not like the false prophets who promise you things with no substance in them.
"Behold, I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a prince and commander to the peoples." "Behold, I have given him as a witness to the peoples" - Rashi says: a ruler and leader over them, one who rebukes and testifies of their ways to their faces. The Radak explains that where it is written "witness" (ed), it is like "I have warned (haidoti) you today," "the man forewarned us," "and its owner was warned" (hua'ad), where it means warning, from the language of warning them. But he says it also carries the meaning of testimony. Why? Because when I warn you, can I warn you between myself and myself? That would not help. It is impossible to stone a person who was warned with a private warning. In order to stone a person or to enact any legal judgment upon him, there must be witnesses. Therefore, when I testify against you, which is a language of warning, "I have warned you today," I must present two witnesses. So you see that the two matters are connected to one another: to warn you and to present witnesses regarding what I warned you about. And he says this is also what is written here. I warn you, and "behold, I have given him as a witness to the peoples." The Mashiach will admonish the people and rebuke them, and he will be a witness between Me and them regarding everything I hand over to him to tell them. And he will command them, "a prince and commander to the peoples." "Prince" means a ruler who commands the peoples; he will be the ruler over the peoples, the leader for all the nations. And he will command them, and they will need to walk in the ways of the Mashiach.
The Malbim says: here he speaks of David, as we said, or of his offspring who comes forth from David's loins, with whom, as we saw, "I made a covenant, the enduring kindnesses of David." First, that he will be a witness and one who warns to the peoples. The Malbim learns that there are two matters here. The first is warning: he warns the peoples to return from their evil way. The second is that he will be a prince and commander to the peoples, meaning in matters between one nation and another. This means to establish peace among them, to settle disputes among them. And the Malbim says that this "witness" is the one called "one who testifies" or "one who warns," as we said, and this is the difference between an "ed" (witness) and an "oneh" (one who responds), as in "you shall not bear (taaneh) false witness against your neighbor." What is "oneh"? He says the witness (ed) also warns, but the "oneh" merely testifies in court, without any warning at all. Therefore it is called "oneh": "you shall not bear witness against your neighbor." So here the Mashiach will be one who warns and a witness to the peoples that they should return to the true faith, and secondly also a prince and commander, meaning he will give orders to them and command them, and all will heed everything he tells them, in order to establish peace among the nations.
"Behold, a nation you do not know you shall call, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, for the sake of Hashem your God and for the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you." "Behold, a nation you do not know you shall call": its plain meaning, which is Rashi, is that a nation you do not know you shall call to your service; it will come and serve you, come and do your will. In addition, the Radak explains, referring to the people of Israel, he says: regarding "a nation you do not know," what does "you do not know" mean? That it is far from Eretz Yisrael; you will call to it and it will come to you. And even though until now you did not know it and they did not know you, "you do not know" and "a nation that did not know you": this is when they hear of the wonders that the Holy One, blessed be He, did for us; they will be in awe of us and will run to serve as we do. Who gave us this? "For the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you." The Holy One, blessed be He, who glorified us in what He did for us, speaking of the future redemption, will do for us such wondrous miracles and marvels that even those we did not know, and even those who themselves did not know us, will plead to come and serve us. Why? "For the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you," since the Holy One, blessed be He, will glorify the eminence of the people of Israel.
The Malbim explains that this verse was written parallel to an earlier verse, corresponding to verse 4: "Behold, I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a prince and commander to the peoples." So corresponding to "I have given him as a witness to the peoples," which he explained means that the Mashiach will warn the nations to take upon themselves the true faith, to take upon themselves the Jewish faith, corresponding to this he says, "Behold, a nation you do not know you shall call" to the faith. You will call to a nation you did not know until today, that it come and take upon itself the true faith. And corresponding to "a prince and commander to the peoples," which we explained means that he will command them in matters between one nation and another and will order them so that they make peace among themselves, on this he says, "and a nation that did not know you shall run to you." A nation that did not know you before will run to obey you, to do what you command them. You will tell them to make peace among themselves, even though seemingly we do not accept orders from one whom we do not know or who is not great in our eyes. But the people of Israel will be so great and the Mashiach will be so mighty that even a nation that did not know us will run at the sound of the words of the King Mashiach.
The Malbim adds that the clauses of the verse are parallel. We have already explained in the past that this means: when the verse is divided into four parts, then the first part corresponds to the third part, and the second part corresponds to the fourth part. This is what he says here. "Behold, a nation you do not know you shall call": why will I call to a nation that did not know? It is to faith in Hashem, "for the sake of Hashem your God." "Behold, a nation you do not know you shall call, for the sake of Hashem your God," to bring it close to faith in Hashem. "And a nation that did not know you shall run to you": for what purpose will they run to you? "For the Holy One of Israel," because of the strength and might of the people of Israel. Why? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, "has glorified you." The Holy One, blessed be He, glorified us to such a degree that all will run to act and submit to our authority in all those instructions that the King Mashiach will instruct. And always "the Holy One of Israel," says the Malbim, is how the Holy One, blessed be He, is called, on account of the holiness of Israel. He is our God on account of our holiness and our eminence, and therefore He is called "the Holy One of Israel."
"Seek Hashem while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." Seek Hashem while He may be found. This verse, before its internal contradiction, first of all has a great difficulty. "Seek Hashem while He may be found": what does "while He may be found" mean? Is there a time when Hashem is not found? "Call upon Him while He is near": call upon Hashem when He is near. Is there a time when the Holy One, blessed be He, is far, and a time when the Holy One, blessed be He, is near? So Rashi explains, "seek Hashem while He may be found": this means before the verdict. Before the verdict, Hashem says, seek Me. For afterward, once the verdict has been sealed, you may cry out and nothing will help. For it is no longer found; the Holy One, blessed be He, is no longer found. What does "not found" mean? He is not available to you to accept your prayer. Therefore seek Hashem at the time when He is found, meaning still before the verdict, when He is still available to you.
The Radak explains that the interpretation of what is written, "while He may be found," is according to what his father explained: seek Him in a manner that He will be found for you. "Seek Hashem while He may be found" means: seek the Holy One, blessed be He, in such a way that the Holy One, blessed be He, will be found for you. This is the meaning of "while He may be found." It does not mean to say that Hashem is sometimes found and sometimes not, God forbid. Hashem is always found. It is only that you should seek Him in such a way that He will be found for you. If we want to give an example: one person can say, I asked him and he did not give. Another person will say, I asked him and he did give. How did you ask? I told him he must bring it to me. Well, of course he will not give it to you. How did you ask? I pleaded before him. Well, then he gave. That is to say, he asked in a way that they would give to him. So "seek Hashem while He may be found": seek from Hashem in a way that He will be found for you. How? Come in humility, come in modesty, as one requesting a free gift. So seek Hashem in a way that He will be found for you. Thus he explains in the name of his father. "Call upon Him while He is near": the same thing, in a manner that He will be near. How? In what way does one seek and request Hashem so that He will be found for me and be near to me? This is seeking with the whole heart. How did we conclude the fast of Yom Kippur? "I have called with all my heart; answer me, Hashem; I will keep Your statutes." Seeking with the whole heart. Seek Hashem with all your heart, then He will be found for you, then He will be near to you. As it is written, "Hashem is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth."
The Vilna Gaon says something very wonderful, something many do not notice. Says the Vilna Gaon, pay attention: where is this verse found? In "Ashrei yoshvei veitecha." Notice that all of Ashrei yoshvei veitecha has each verse divided into two, with a connecting "vav" ("and") in the middle: "Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever." "Great is Hashem and highly praised, and His greatness is unsearchable." And so all of Ashrei yoshvei veitecha. Except for one verse: "Hashem is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him." Where, why is it not written, "Hashem is near to all who call upon Him, and to all who call upon Him in truth"? The Vilna Gaon says something wonderful. For everything written in Ashrei yoshvei veitecha, a verse that begins with a matter and concludes with a matter, these are two matters. "Every day I will bless You," and in addition, "I will praise Your name forever and ever." "Great is Hashem and highly praised," and in addition, "His greatness is unsearchable." These are two matters. In contrast, in "Hashem is near to all who call upon Him," it is impossible to say Hashem is near to all who call upon Him, and in addition Hashem is also near to whoever calls upon Him in truth. He says, no, here it is a condition. There is no "vav." "Hashem is near to all who call upon Him": the condition is "to all who call upon Him in truth." All who call upon Him, who are they? All who call upon Him in truth; to them Hashem will be near. They say in the name of the Gra that he said to Rav Chaim of Volozhin: it is not written here "Eliyahu" and it is not written here "Chaim." Eliyahu of Vilna and Chaim of Volozhin. So he called him by their names, this was indeed his speaking with his student. Rather, what is written? "To all who call upon Him in truth." And if one calls upon Him in truth, the Holy One, blessed be He, is near to him. If so, this is what is written here: "Call upon Him while He is near." How wonderful, according to what the Radak's father explains: call upon Hashem in a way that He will be near to you. In what way? Call upon Him in truth. Call upon Hashem in truth from the depths of the heart, and then the Holy One, blessed be He, will be near to you and will hear all your prayer.
Targum Yonatan explained: "Seek the fear of Hashem while you are alive; come before Him while you exist." "Seek Hashem while He may be found" means while you are still alive. "Call upon Him while He is near" means while you still exist. What does this mean? The Radak explains, it means to say: do teshuvah while you are still alive. Do teshuvah, for then Hashem is near to you and found for you. "Seek Hashem while He may be found": what does "while He may be found" mean? When is Hashem found available to answer you? While you are still alive. But a moment after death, we have already said, "there is no action, nor reckoning, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave to which you are going." That is to say, all the power to act, all the power to pray, all the power to change reality, is when a person is alive. So "seek Hashem while He may be found." And what is the meaning, so that you not err? One could have understood "seek Hashem while He may be found," that "while He may be found" refers to the person. For how does the Targum say it? "Seek the fear of Hashem while you are alive," seek the fear of Hashem as long as you are alive. So you would have understood "seek Hashem while He may be found" to mean: seek Hashem as long as you are found in the world. "Call upon Him while He is near": what, call upon Hashem as long as the person exists, when a person still exists? But the Radak says this is not the plain meaning. That is not the plain meaning, that "while He may be found" refers to when you are found in the world, and "while He is near" to when you are near, that is not the plain meaning. For you are speaking of Hashem. "Seek Hashem," and "while He may be found" is a hidden, third-person form. And the rule is that always when one speaks in hidden language, in third-person form, who is meant? "He." Who is "He"? The one I spoke of earlier. This is always the rule. Whenever I speak in hidden language, it refers to the one I spoke of earlier. If I tell you, He will take, He will bring, whoever enters in the middle does not understand whom I spoke of. But one who was there half a second earlier and heard that I spoke of Reuven, then he understands that every "He" I said afterward refers to Reuven. So when it is written "seek Hashem," who is the subject revealed here? The Holy One, blessed be He. "While He may be found": who is this that suddenly refers to the person? "While He is found" - I am speaking in hidden language: while who is found? The one I spoke of earlier, which is Hashem. So it is impossible to explain "while He may be found" as referring to the person in the world. Therefore the meaning is "while the Holy One, blessed be He, is found in the world." Ah, but the Holy One, blessed be He, is always found? He says no, because Hashem is found and near to you while you are still alive. When you are no longer among the living, it is impossible to fulfill mitzvot, impossible to draw close to Hashem. Death, passing away, is a snapshot of one's state. However close you were to Hashem in life, so you will remain after death. If so, seek Hashem when Hashem is found and near to you, meaning while you are still alive. For after death, we have already said, it is then no longer possible to seek Hashem.
The Metzudat David explains, "seek Hashem while He may be found": what does "while He may be found" mean? When you have not yet been exiled from your land, and the Shechinah still dwells among you. The Beit HaMikdash still stands, so seek Hashem while He may be found. For afterward the Shechinah moves from place to place, it went onto the cheruv and to the sanctuary and moves from place to place, the Shechinah went into exile. Then it will already be too late. Seek Hashem while He may be found, before the Shechinah goes into exile, before you go out into exile, while the Holy One, blessed be He, is still with us. Now He is certainly with us, but in concealment. And then we could have sought Hashem when He was with us openly, and we would not have come to exile.
The Malbim explains that what he mentioned to us earlier about the salvation, and told us about the Mashiach, that "I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a prince and commander to the peoples," "a nation you do not know you shall call," "a nation that did not know you shall run to you" - know that all this depends on whether you change your deeds. Whether you will seek Hashem, blessed be He, through teshuvah and through good deeds. First, the Malbim explains, "seek." You must be careful not to abandon the Holy One, blessed be He, so that Hashem, so to speak, will not forsake you. How does one do this? By distancing oneself from sin. When one distances oneself from sin, the Holy One, blessed be He, is with us constantly. And this is "seek Hashem" as long as He is before us, as long as He is with us, seek Him. But even if we have already sinned, even if the Holy One, blessed be He, has already distanced Himself, notice what a warning the Malbim gives here: be careful that He not distance Himself too far. Therefore, "call upon Him while He is near." Like a person who had a friend in his home, and the friend became angry with him and got up and left, slamming the door. If you now run after him, grab hold of him, no, I ask forgiveness, come back, you can catch up with him. But after he has already traveled off and boarded the train, then go and bring him back, that is very difficult. So at first, "seek Hashem while He may be found," while He is still with you, be careful not to distance the Holy One, blessed be He. Be careful not to commit sins so that Hashem will not distance Himself. And afterward, if God forbid He has distanced Himself and you must "call upon Him," then let it not be too far. "While He is near," immediately: that is to say, the moment you stumbled in a transgression, immediately do teshuvah. As we once brought in the name of the holy Arizal, that the Ari says that if a person sinned, on that same day he should do teshuvah. And why on that same day, and why is it so urgent? The holy Arizal says: because each day there are different appointed forces, and once the sin has, as it were, been imprinted, it will be very difficult to erase it. Therefore he says, if a person had a nocturnal occurrence, says the holy Arizal, immerse that same day, do teshuvah that same day, and the sin is erased easily. But if you leave it, saying, never mind, on Shabbat I go to the mikveh, or never mind, a holiday is coming up soon, I will immerse then, he says that will already be too late, it will be very difficult to erase the impression. Therefore, even if it has already happened and you stumbled, "call upon Him," you must now call upon the Holy One, blessed be He, to bring Him back while He is still near, before He has had time to distance Himself, and not wait for the next day.