Chapter 55 is a chapter of a great summons. The Radak explains that these words refer to the period following the War of Gog and Magog, when the nations of the world will also recognize that the Holy One, blessed be He, is King over all the earth, and will know that His Torah is the Torah of truth. Then they will ascend to Jerusalem to learn the Torah of Hashem, as stated at the beginning of the book: "Come, let us go up to Hashem and He will teach us of His ways." It is to those thirsty for truth, as well as to the Jewish people themselves, that the prophet addresses the opening call of the chapter.
הוֹי כׇּל־צָמֵא לְכוּ לַמַּיִם וַאֲשֶׁר אֵין־לוֹ כָּסֶף לְכוּ שִׁבְרוּ וֶאֱכֹלוּ וּלְכוּ שִׁבְרוּ בְּלוֹא־כֶסֶף וּבְלוֹא מְחִיר יַיִן וְחָלָב׃ - Ho, everyone who thirsts, go to the water, and whoever has no money, go, buy and eat; go, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
"Hoy" is always an expression of calling, like "Ho, Zion, escape!" The prophet calls: Ho you, who now seek to know the true religion, go to the water. And water is a metaphor for Torah and wisdom, for just as the world cannot exist without water, so the world cannot exist without Torah. And so Chazal said regarding "the sixth day, and the heavens were finished" - that the entire creation of heaven and earth depended on that sixth day, the sixth of Sivan: if Israel accepts the Torah, the world will endure; if they do not accept the Torah, the pillars of the earth will remain unstable.
Just as a thirsty person craves water, so the soul of a wise person craves Torah and wisdom. His pleasure does not lie in another portion of food; his satisfaction is, "I have a chiddush for you, I have a vort, I have an idea that I just thought of" - and this brings him far greater joy than a lavish feast. Today we are material, physical people, but in the future to come, "Not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but to hear the words of Hashem": the longing will be for another word of Torah, another novel insight, another measure of closeness to God.
"And whoever has no money" - ostensibly, to buy water and bread one needs money, and to this the prophet says that whoever has no money need not fear. Furthermore, even "wine and milk," which are luxury products compared to water and bread, will be given to him without money and without price. The Torah is compared to wine - just as wine gladdens the heart, so too "the orders of Hashem are upright, gladdening the heart"; and it is compared to milk - for just as milk sustains an infant, so words of Torah sustain the soul, and without them it cannot survive. And the phrase "buy and eat" applies to all of them: to the water, the bread, the wine, and the milk - all are categorized under the definition of eating.
The Malbim explains why Torah and mitzvos are compared to bread and food: just as the physical body is sustained through physical nourishment, so too the soul needs its own nourishment - Torah, mitzvos, emunah, and the service of Hashem. This is the meaning of the verse, "For not by bread alone does man live, but by everything that emanates from the mouth of Hashem does man live." And one who does not partake of spiritual nourishment - "the wicked in their lifetime are called dead."
After all, such a person appears alive, so what is this "death"? It is a mirage, an illusion. A marionette on a string also appears alive, yet we know there is no spirit within it. So too, a wicked person who lacks Torah and mitzvos has no true vitality. He appears alive, but wait for the true reality, for the moment the soul departs from the body: the marionette remains in the grave, and then one will see if anything remains. If he fulfilled mitzvos, his soul endures and he is alive; if he did not fulfill mitzvos, the soul has no endurance, and he is dead.
The Malbim explains: within bodily nourishment, there are essential, basic commodities without which one cannot survive even for a short time - water and bread. A person without water and bread will die within a few days, but if he has only water and bread, he can live for seventy years. On the other hand, there are things that are beneficial and wholesome, yet not strictly essential - wine and milk. They are healthy and nourishing, containing calcium, antioxidants, and many good things, but one can survive without them. They are in the category of an enhancement, what is commonly called "the cream." Furthermore, there is a difference between that which comes free - in their times, water was free - and bread, which already costs money.
And precisely so, says the Malbim, in matters of beliefs and actions. There are things without which the soul cannot live at all, which are in the category of water: emunah in Hashem, the fundamental principle that there is a Creator of the universe; and likewise the obligations mandated by the natural moral order, meaning what any legal system requires - do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, things that common sense dictates even without belief in a Supreme God who gave the Torah. This is the water that man needs at every single moment: at every moment it must be clear to us that murder and theft are forbidden, and that there is a Creator of the world.
And the things analogous to bread are Torah study and the constant mitzvot: Shabbat observance, laying tefillin, three daily prayers. Bread is a daily food - you eat twice or three times a day, and you pray two or three times a day; and involvement in Torah must continue throughout the entire day.
And beyond that are wine and milk, which are meant for pleasure. These, the Malbim explains, represent knowledge of intellectual concepts, deep contemplation, profound Torah study, the study of Ma'aseh Merkavah (the mystical secrets of the Divine Chariot), and mitzvot that fall under the category of piety (chassidut). There is a baseline that everyone is obligated in: tefillin, tefillah, Shabbat - that is bread. And there are those who perform special deeds, study with deep analytical contemplation, grasping concepts at their source and root according to the wisdom of truth (Kabbalah) - and this is the aspect of wine and milk: not mere survival, but an added delight.
To understand the next verse, the Malbim recalls what we saw in chapter 50: "Why, when I came, was there no man? When I called, was there no answer?", "The Lord Hashem gave me a tongue of the learned," "Who among you fears Hashem." The prophet called upon the people to listen, but the people refused to accept his words and argued with him. This is especially true according to what we explained: listening to the prophet's voice entails obligation, and they did not want anything to obligate them; they did not want to abandon their desires and pleasures. Whom did they believe instead? The false prophets.
And the false prophets, the Malbim explains, would prophesy to them for a mere coin. Ostensibly, what was the false prophet's motive in contradicting the true prophet's words, seeing that he knew it was a lie and that he would be judged for it? Rather, the false prophets were like the popular gurus of today: they received people for payment, telling their fortunes. To gain fame, they did not settle for private fortune-telling; they issued prophecies to the entire nation. And to gain popularity, one does not say bad things - no one likes to hear that. They always said good things: Babylon will not come and conquer you. While the true prophets cried out that destruction was imminent, just as Hashem had announced, the false prophets said: Do not be alarmed, "Hashem has broken the yoke of Babylon." Tzidkiyah ben Kena'anah made iron horns for himself and proclaimed, "With these you shall gore Aram." Always only good things - to lull the nation into a stupor.
Incidentally, this is also the method of modern leaders. When they want to calm the public, they spin stories. If certain products drive up the consumer price index, they simply remove them from the measurement, and the index remains low. If the Kinneret is drying up, they lower the red line, and suddenly there is no problem. If students fail, they lower the difficulty of the matriculation exams. If law school graduates fail the bar exam, they remove a complicated section from the syllabus, and baruch Hashem, there are plenty of lawyers. If standardized tests prove that the state of education is poor, they cancel the tests so nobody knows there is a problem, and everyone can remain calm. They sell illusions to the public. That was the false prophet of old: they told the people how good things were, and if things were not so good - just wait two years and see how wonderful it will be. A false prophet could not tell the people the hard truth to their face, for the people would spit at him: "I already have a true prophet; why do I need you to tell me bad news?" Therefore, they flattered the people, told them pleasant things, and the people came to purchase their services and pay them - for a mere coin.
לָמָּה תִשְׁקְלוּ־כֶסֶף בְּלוֹא־לֶחֶם וִיגִיעֲכֶם בְּלוֹא לְשׇׂבְעָה שִׁמְעוּ שָׁמוֹעַ אֵלַי וְאִכְלוּ־טוֹב וְתִתְעַנַּג בַּדֶּשֶׁן נַפְשְׁכֶם׃ - "Why do you weigh out money for what is not bread, and your toil for what does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight in richness."
Against this backdrop, the prophet comes and says: There are things for which the soul thirsts like water, and there are things analogous to bread - the Torah and the mitzvot, and there are also wine and milk - deep intellectual insights and deeds of piety. And all of this you will find with Me without money and without price. If so, why do you weigh out money to false prophets for vanity and delusion, when I offer you the truth for free? And what do they give you in return? Something that holds no bread for the soul, that cannot nourish it. Furthermore, you give them all your toil, everything you labored for, and receive something "for what does not satisfy" - not only is it not bread, but it is not fit to be eaten at all, and it is impossible even to begin feeling satisfied by it.
"Listen diligently to Me" - heed My call, "Ho, all who thirst, go to the water," and through this, "and eat what is good," consuming wholesome food fit to satisfy. And not only food fit for satisfaction like water and bread, which are the essential foundation, but also "let your soul delight in richness" - you will merit the level of wine and milk as well. What I offer you is truth, and I give it freely. As Chazal taught, "Just as I taught you freely, so too you must teach freely," and the Sages of Israel would teach Torah without charge. Why, then, should you pay when you receive no benefit whatsoever?
The Radak cites the Ibn Ezra explaining that "Why do you weigh out money for what is not bread" refers to alien wisdoms, for they would pursue knowledge in all kinds of futile disciplines. Regarding this, the prophet says to them: What will vain philosophies that lack substance offer you? "For what does not satisfy" - they cannot be called bread, for they benefit neither the body nor the soul. Rather, "eat what is good" - for I have given you good doctrine; "and let your soul delight in richness" - this refers to the life of the World to Come. For just as there is delight in this world, there is delight in the World to Come. And according to the Ibn Ezra's approach, the promise here also extends to the life of the World to Come.
הַטּוּ אׇזְנְכֶם וּלְכוּ אֵלַי שִׁמְעוּ וּתְחִי נַפְשְׁכֶם וְאֶכְרְתָה לָכֶם בְּרִית עוֹלָם חַסְדֵי דָוִד הַנֶּאֱמָנִים׃ - "Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the steadfast mercies of David."
The prophet tells them: Incline your ear to hear my words, and come to Me - and through this, "and your soul shall live." That soul, languishing in hunger and thirst, will come alive by hearing the words of the living God. "And I will make an everlasting covenant with you" - I will grant you prophecies that stem from the covenant that Hashem establishes with you forever. And in what merit? Not in our own merit, but through "the steadfast mercies of David", the kindness that Hashem preserved for David and his merits.
And why is David specifically mentioned here? The Radak explains: the chapter speaks of the Redemption, and David is the Mashiach, as it is written, "and My servant David shall be their prince forever." And this covenant is "steadfast" - an enduring, faithful, and absolute covenant. King David is also the one who will teach Torah to the multitude, as stated at the beginning of the book: "And he shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples" - the Mashiach will teach Torah to all the nations and judge between them. Therefore: Incline your ear and come to Me, hear and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the steadfast, true mercies of David - unlike the false prophets who promise you things that have no substance.
הֵן עֵד לְאוּמִּים נְתַתִּיו נָגִיד וּמְצַוֵּה לְאֻמִּים׃ - Behold, I have appointed him as a witness to peoples, a leader and commander to nations.
Rashi explains "a witness to peoples" - a prince and leader over them, who rebukes them and testifies about their ways to their faces. The Radak explains that "witness" (ed) here is in the sense of "I call to witness against you this day" or "warning was given to its owner" (ve-hu'ad bi-ve'alav), which is an expression of formal warning. Yet there is also the sense of testimony here, for one cannot give a formal warning in secret between oneself and the person - one cannot stone someone based on a private warning; witnesses are required. Thus, the two are intertwined: forewarning you and establishing witnesses regarding the warning given. And this is the meaning here: the Mashiach will warn the nations and rebuke them, and he will be a witness between Me and them regarding everything I instruct him to tell them. "A leader" - a ruler, and he will be a commander to nations, the prince over all peoples, and they will have to follow his ways.
The Malbim explains that this refers to David or his descendant who emerges from his loins, the one concerning whom it was said, "the steadfast mercies of David." Two roles are designated for him: first, that he will serve as a witness and warner to the nations to turn back from their evil way; and second, "a leader and commander to nations" - in matters between one nation and another, establishing peace between them and resolving disputes. The Malbim adds that this is the distinction between an ed (witness) and an oneh (testifier): an ed is also a warner, whereas an oneh - as in "you shall not testify falsely against your fellow" - only testifies in court without having given a prior warning at all. Here, the Mashiach will be both a warner and a witness to the nations to return to the true faith, as well as a leader and commander, governing them, and all will heed him to establish peace among the nations.
הֵן גּוֹי לֹא־תֵדַע תִּקְרָא וְגוֹי לֹא־יְדָעוּךָ אֵלֶיךָ יָרוּצוּ לְמַעַן ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְלִקְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי פֵאֲרָךְ׃ - Behold, you shall call a nation you do not know, 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.
The plain meaning of the verse according to Rashi: a nation you do not know, you will summon into your service, and they will come and serve you and fulfill your wishes. The Radak explains that this is addressed to the Jewish people: "A nation you do not know" - a nation far from the Land of Israel, you will call to them and they will come, even though until now you did not know them and they did not know you. This will happen when they hear of the wonders the Holy One, Blessed is He, performed for us; they will hold us in awe and run to serve us. And who granted us this? "And for the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you" - the Holy One, Blessed is He, who glorified us through the miracles and wonders of the future Redemption, to the extent that even those we never knew and who never knew us will plead to come and serve us, because the Holy One, Blessed is He, will glorify the stature of Israel.
The Malbim explains that this verse corresponds to the preceding one. Corresponding to "I have appointed him as a witness to peoples" - where the Mashiach warns the nations to accept upon themselves the true faith - the verse states, "Behold, you shall call a nation you do not know": you will call upon a nation you never knew until today to come and accept the true faith upon itself. And corresponding to "a leader and commander to nations" - where he commands them in affairs between one nation and another and instructs them to make peace - it says, "and a nation that did not know you shall run to you": a nation that did not know you will run to submit to your authority to do whatever you command them. Although it is not the way of the world to take orders from someone we do not know or do not hold in high regard, the Jewish people will be so great and the Mashiach so formidable that even a nation that never knew us will hasten to heed the words of King Mashiach.
The Malbim further notes that the clauses of the verse are parallel - a principle we have already explained: when a verse is divided into four parts, the first corresponds to the third, and the second to the fourth. "Behold, you shall call a nation you do not know" - for what purpose? "For the sake of Hashem your God", to bring them close to faith in Hashem. "And a nation that did not know you shall run to you" - for what purpose? "And for the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you", due to the power and stature of Israel, whom the Holy One, Blessed is He, has glorified so that all will yield to our authority and the directives of King Mashiach. And invariably, the Malbim notes, the Holy One, Blessed is He, is called "the Holy One of Israel" on account of Israel's holiness: He is our God by virtue of our sanctity and elevated status.
דִּרְשׁוּ ה' בְּהִמָּצְאוֹ קְרָאֻהוּ בִּהְיוֹתוֹ קָרוֹב׃ - Seek Hashem when He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.
This verse poses a major difficulty: What does "when He may be found" mean? Is there ever a time when Hashem cannot be found? And what is meant by "while He is near" - is there a time when the Holy One, Blessed is He, is distant and a time when He is near? Rashi explains: "Seek Hashem when He may be found" - before the decree is sealed. Before the final verdict, Hashem says: seek Me, for after the decree is sealed, you may cry out and it will be of no avail, as He is no longer accessible to receive your prayer. Therefore, seek Hashem at the time when He may be found, while He is still accessible to you.
The Radak explains in the name of his father: "Seek Him when He is found" - seek Him in such a way that He will be found by you. That is, it does not mean that Hashem is sometimes present and sometimes not, Heaven forbid; Hashem is always present, but you must seek Him in such a manner that He will be found by you. A parable illustrates this: one person says, "I asked him and he did not give," while his friend says, "I asked him and he gave." How did you ask? "I told him he owes me and must give me" - of course he will not give! And the second person: "I pleaded before him" - and that was it, he gave. He asked in a way that would make the giver grant his request. So too, "Call upon Him when He is near" - in such a way that He will be near. And in what manner? By seeking with all your heart. As we conclude the Yom Kippur fast: "I called with all my heart, answer me, Hashem; I will keep Your statutes." Seek Hashem with all your heart, and then He will be found by you and 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."
And here the Vilna Gaon points out a wonderful insight that many do not notice. The verse "Hashem is near to all who call upon Him" appears in "Ashrei", and all the verses of Ashrei are divided into two parts with a conjunctive vav ("and") in the middle: "Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever," "Great is Hashem and exceedingly praised, and His greatness is unfathomable," and so on - except for one verse: "Hashem is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth." Why does it not say "and to all who call upon Him in truth"? Because in all the other verses, two distinct matters are being stated: every day I will bless You, and besides that I will praise Your name forever; Hashem is great and exceedingly praised, and besides that His greatness is beyond searching out. But here, one cannot say that Hashem is near to all who call upon Him and besides that He is also near to whoever calls upon Him in truth. Here it is a condition, which is why there is no vav: "Hashem is near to all who call upon Him" - and who are they? "All who call upon Him in truth."
And it is related in the name of the Gra that he said to Rav Chaim of Volozhin: It is not written here "Eliyahu," nor is it written here "Chaim" - neither Eliyahu of Vilna nor Chaim of Volozhin - but rather "to all who call upon Him in truth." Whoever calls upon Him in truth, the Holy One, blessed be He, is near to him. And this is precisely "Call upon Him when He is near" according to the explanation of the Radak's father: call Him in such a way that He will be near to you. And in what way? Call Him in truth, from the depths of the heart - and then the Holy One, blessed be He, is near to you and hears all your prayers.
Targum Yonatan explains: "Seek the fear of Hashem while you are alive; plead before Him while you endure" - seek Hashem as long as you are alive, call upon Him as long as you exist. The Radak explains: Repent while you are alive, for then Hashem is near to you and found by you. For after passing away, "there is no deed, nor reckoning, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in Sheol where you are going" - all the power to act, to pray, and to change reality exists while a person is alive.
However, there is an important precision here. One might have mistakenly thought that "when He is found" refers to man - seek Hashem as long as you are present in the world, and likewise "when He is near" - as long as man exists. The Radak says that this is not the literal meaning, since the verse speaks of Hashem: "Seek Hashem," and "when He is found" is phrased in the third-person hidden pronoun. The grammatical rule is that any unspecified third-person pronoun refers back to the subject spoken of previously. If one says, "He will take, he will bring," someone walking in mid-sentence will not know who is being discussed, but someone who heard a moment earlier that Reuven was being discussed understands that every "he" refers to Reuven. Here, the explicit subject is the Holy One, blessed be He, and therefore "when He is found" refers to Hashem being found. But how can this be, seeing that Hashem is always present? Rather, Hashem is found and near to you as long as you are alive; once you are no longer among the living, one cannot fulfill mitzvot and cannot draw closer. Death is a snapshot: however close you were to Hashem in your lifetime, that is how you remain after your death.
The Metzudat David explains "when He is found" - while you have not yet been exiled from your land, the Shechinah rests among you, and the Beit HaMikdash still stands. For afterward, the Shechinah departed stage by stage - it moved to the keruv and to the Heichal, and the Shechinah went into exile - and then it would already be too late. Seek Hashem before the Shechinah is exiled and before you go into exile, while the Holy One, blessed be He, is with us openly. Today He is certainly with us, but in concealment; back then, it was possible to seek Him while He was openly with us, and we would not have ended up in exile.
The Malbim connects the verse to everything stated beforehand: that entire salvation - Mashiach who will be a witness to the nations, a prince and commander, "behold, a nation you do not know you shall call," "and nations that did not know you shall run to you" - all of it depends upon your changing your deeds and seeking Hashem, may He be blessed, through repentance and good deeds. And in this there are two stages. First, "Seek": one must be careful not to abandon the Holy One, blessed be He, and that He should not forsake you. And how? By keeping far from sin. When one distances oneself from sin, the Holy One, blessed be He, is with us constantly - and this is "Seek Hashem when He is found," as long as He is with us and before us.
Yet even if we have already sinned and He has already distanced Himself, as it were - note the Malbim's warning - be careful that He does not distance Himself too far, and therefore, "Call upon Him when He is near." A parable illustrates this: A person had a close friend visiting his home, and the friend grew upset with him, stood up, and stormed out, slamming the door. If you run after him immediately, catch him, and ask for forgiveness, you will overtake him and bring him back. But if he has already traveled away and boarded a train, bringing him back becomes extremely difficult. Therefore, at first - seek Hashem when He is found, while He is still with you, and be careful not to drive Him away through sins; and if, Heaven forbid, He has already distanced Himself - call upon Him immediately, while He is near, meaning that the moment you stumble into a transgression, repent at once.
And as cited elsewhere in the name of the holy Ari, if a person sinned, he should repent on that very day. Why specifically on that day? Because each day has different angelic overseers, and once the sin has already become imprinted, it becomes very difficult to erase. Therefore, the Ari states that if a person experienced a nocturnal emission, he should immerse in the mikveh on that day and repent on that day, and then the sin is easily erased. But if he delays and says, "I will go to the mikveh on Shabbat anyway," or "The festival is coming up soon and I will immerse then" - it will already be too late and very difficult to wipe away the impression. Therefore, even if you have already stumbled, call to the Holy One, blessed be He, to bring Him back while He is still near, before He has had time to distance Himself, and do not wait for tomorrow.
The prophet calls to everyone who is thirsty to go to the water - to the Torah, the nourishment of the soul, without which the wicked in their lifetimes are called dead. In the service of Hashem there are levels corresponding to levels of food: water - faith and distancing oneself from severe transgressions, which are a constant need of every moment; bread - Torah study and the constant, daily mitzvot; wine and milk - in-depth study and the pious deeds of chassidut, which are an added delight. And all of this is given free of charge, whereas the people paid with their toil to false prophets who sold them illusions. Whoever inclines his ear and listens - his soul shall live, and an everlasting covenant will be established with him through the enduring mercies of David; and the King Mashiach will be a witness, a warner, a prince, and a commander to the nations, until nations that did not know us will run to us for the sake of Hashem and for the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified us. In the end, everything depends upon us: "Seek Hashem when He is found, call upon Him when He is near" - seek Him in such a way that He will be found by you, with all your heart and in truth, as long as you are alive, and be careful not to distance Him; and if you have already stumbled - return immediately, while He is near.