"For thus says Hashem to the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths and choose that which I desire and hold fast to My covenant." Let me read the next pasuk as well: "I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a place and a name better than sons and daughters; an everlasting name will I give him that shall not be cut off." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: thus says Hashem to the eunuchs. Now, we opened, asks the Radak, with the foreigner and closed with the eunuch. Why then, in the response, does the Holy One, blessed be He, first answer the eunuchs, and only in pasuk 6 does He answer the foreigners? The Radak states a principle that is quite sound, both in the pesukim of Scripture and in the words of Chazal. When we speak of two things, there are two possibilities for how I continue the next sentence. I speak of Reuven and I speak of Shimon. Now Shimon's case will be such and such, and Reuven's will be such and such. Wait, you spoke of Reuven, you spoke of Shimon. Begin explaining what happened with Reuven, and afterward with Shimon. First things first, last things last. That is what we would expect. But no. That is one way. There is another way that ends... and begins with what it ended with. That is, I speak of Reuven and I will also speak of Shimon. Now Shimon's case will be such and such. Why did you begin with Shimon? Because I ended with Shimon. Since I ended with Shimon, I now immediately begin to detail what will happen with Shimon. This is also what happens here. The Radak says, the foreigner and afterward the eunuchs. Since I ended with the eunuchs, "thus says Hashem to the eunuchs," so now I open the next sentence with what will happen with the eunuchs. It began with what it ended with. So here this is the manner of expression, and by the way it could also be the reverse. And we should not raise difficulties and contradictions. The way of the speaker is sometimes to express himself one way and sometimes the other, and both ways are legitimate.
The Radak says, "thus says Hashem to the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths." What is "My Sabbaths"? Why the plural? So he brings in the name of his father that it refers to two kinds of Sabbaths. As we explained earlier, that Israel were lax in two kinds of Sabbaths. Shabbat Bereishit and the Sabbath of the Land. Shabbat Bereishit always refers to the Shabbat that the Holy One, blessed be He, made on the seventh day of the six days of Creation, a day of rest. That is Shabbat Bereishit. What we today call Shabbat. The Shabbat day. And the Sabbath of the Land is the Shemitah. If so, "My Sabbaths," the demand of them is to keep both kinds of Sabbaths. As we explained, the exile came in the wake of the desecration of both kinds of Sabbaths. Both Shabbat Bereishit and the Sabbath of the Land. "Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths, all the days of the desolation" - there it speaks of not keeping Shemitah. And also treading winepresses on Shabbat, as we explained, Jerusalem was not destroyed except because they desecrated the Sabbaths there. So in order to correct the mistake and return to be redeemed, they must keep both kinds of Sabbaths. "And choose that which I desire and hold fast to My covenant." What does this mean? Remember the covenant. The Radak says, because the mitzvot given by covenant are stronger. "The blood of the covenant which Hashem has made with you concerning all these words," says Moshe to Israel. So "My covenant" is Shabbat, it is not merely one more mitzvah, it is Shabbat over which a covenant was made. Therefore it is called "My covenant." Or, he says, "My covenant" refers to circumcision. Because circumcision - thirteen covenants were decreed over it. Yes? So it too is fitting to be called a covenant.
Someone once asked me, he put it nicely: what is this... Shabbat is called a covenant. Shabbat is called a sign. What is a sign? A sign is a mark. He asked, can someone give me an example of how Shabbat is a sign? Where do you see it as a sign? A sign is something recognizable. Where is Shabbat a recognizable sign? When you speak of brit milah, that is a sign, it is a seal in their flesh. When you speak of Shabbat, where is Shabbat a recognizable sign? How is Shabbat recognizable? So I immediately told him, the Gemara brings: where is Shabbat recognizable? The Sambatyon River proves it. The one who raises spirits through ov proves it. That the Sambatyon River rests on Shabbat. The one who raises spirits through ov, on Shabbat there is nothing, he works on empty, on neutral. He calls to the souls, no, nothing, nothing there. The subscriber you have dialed is not available at this time. On Shabbat one cannot raise up souls through ov. I told him, there, that is a sign, that is something recognizable. He said, fine, but does everyone raise spirits through ov? Has everyone seen the Sambatyon River? Where is that a sign? So he brought that there was a debate - this is a Jew from Argentina, from a not very observant family. He told me there was a debate with some priest in Argentina, I believe, and he argued with him and the priest said to him, how suddenly is the Jewish Shabbat - the true Sabbath is the Christian Sabbath, Sunday. So he said to him, bring me a dictionary. He asked him for a dictionary. He brought him a dictionary, a dictionary that writes... meaning a dictionary that defines things. So he opened the dictionary and read... the day, the day of the Christians, what they call their Sabbath day, in the dictionary it is translated as the first day. Whereas Shabbat is translated as the seventh day. So he says to him, tell me, why do we observe Shabbat? He says to him, because on Shabbat Hashem rested. He says to him, tell me, have you ever seen someone rest before he worked? He says, among us Jews, Hashem worked six days, created the world, and on the seventh day He rested. But you claim that the day of rest is the first day, and it appears as the first day. So if it appears so, it is not that your counting begins differently. If you would say, no, we begin Shabbat, first, second, this is how the count of days begins, I could still accept it. So among us, the first day is at the end. Fine, it is not the first, but it has a name. What we call the seventh Shabbat, they call the seventh Sunday. I would be willing to accept that. But if the dictionary explains that it is the first day in the sense of first, one, then how can it be that the Creator of the world rested on the first day and afterward went to create the world? He says, there, that is a proof, Shabbat is a sign between Me and you, that only your Shabbat is the true Sabbath, that Shabbat is the seventh, while among the other nations the Sabbath is not the seventh but either it is the sixth - so he rested even before he finished the work - or it is the first day, where he began to rest and afterward began to work. That is the sign between Me and you. So this is "who hold fast to My covenant," "My covenant," the sign of the covenant between us and Hashem, this is the day of Shabbat.
The Malbim explains, "thus says Hashem to the eunuchs," the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, personal existence is greater...
stronger, more powerful than physical continuation. How much a person possesses in terms of the intensity and force of his soul is far more important than his lineage, who your grandfather was or who your children will be. To the strength of his spiritual power there is much greater significance. And here He says to them, see that the eternal existence of the soul depends on three things: faith, mitzvot, Torah study. The three foundations of Judaism. Faith - to believe in Hashem; mitzvot - to also fulfill mitzvot in practice; Torah - to engage in Torah. These are the three things. And the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, if you keep this, there is no longer any significance to your having no root, no significance to your having no continuation, and truly it makes no difference. What matters to us is what you attained, what merits your soul acquired for itself. And that is what He says here.
The first thing is faith, "who keep My Sabbaths." It is known that one who keeps Shabbat demonstrates his faith that the Holy One, blessed be He, renewed His world in seven days. Therefore it is written that one who desecrates Shabbat is like a gentile. And why like a gentile? Because desecrating Shabbat means that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not renew His world, that the world is eternal. There is no heresy greater than this. The renewal of the world in seven days shows that it has a Renewer and that it was renewed for a specific purpose, that the Holy One, blessed be He, created it for a specific purpose. This is the power of faith. Another matter, "and choose that which I desire." "That which I desire" means one who does the will of Hashem. What does it mean to do the will of Hashem? Fulfilling His mitzvot. This is the second foundation. The third foundation, "and hold fast to My covenant." This is Torah study, "were it not for My covenant day and night, the ordinances of heaven and earth I would not have set." And essentially, if one has these three, then it truly makes no difference where you came from, for we see it is written of a mamzer, a mamzer who is a Torah scholar precedes a Kohen Gadol who is an ignoramus. That is to say, there is no lineage here, and a very bad lineage at that, not even fit to enter the congregation, he is a mamzer. But how did they say to him there, "Let the sons of the nations come in peace." They said to him, "Let the sons of the nations come, who do the deeds of Aharon, and let not the son of Aharon come who does not do the deeds of Aharon." The Kohen Gadol wanted to disgrace them because he saw Shemaya and Avtalyon walking accompanied by a large crowd; this bothered him somewhat, how did these two, these converts, suddenly reach such heights, while I can barely find the tenth man to accompany me, and here these two walk with such a crowd of admirers. This pained them, this disturbed him. And because it disturbed him, therefore he disgraced them. They said to him, you are a son of Aharon but you do not do, you do not do the deeds of Aharon, so what is it worth? What benefit is there in it? We, on the other hand, may be sons of the nations, sons of gentiles, but we engage in Torah, we do the deeds of Aharon, so surely our stature is far, far greater.
Something like this, by the way, Rav Ovadia Yosef would always arouse and say, do not belittle simple people. He would sometimes say, people come to yeshiva and it is as if to say, who is he and what is he, his father is not a rosh yeshiva and his father is not some mashgiach somewhere and his father is not some Torah scholar. He always used to say, my father was a grocer. My father was a grocer. You see, because they invested in me and there was, well, thank God, what grew here grew. But if you say, no, who is he and what will come of him, and through this you belittle him because he has no importance, then consequently, he says, we may lose the leading Torah scholar of the next generation. For it is not necessarily the sons of the great ones who will turn out great. And one of the great ones of Israel already lamented this, he said that in this generation there is very great selectivity in educational institutions. Today, he put it this way, if today they were to consider accepting all the roshei yeshiva of today, the roshei yeshiva in the Sephardic community, he says, not one of them today would be accepted to a yeshiva. Based on the data of where they came from, what their origins are - this one from Beer Sheva, that one from Dimona, this one's father is such, that one's father is such. He says, and behold, look, they grew to become roshei yeshiva. They believed in them, they invested in them, and they grew. And today, he says, if he tried today to be accepted to a yeshiva as he was then, they would not accept him. This is to teach you that in truth the need is to invest precisely in the sons of the poor, precisely in those from whom you do not think much will emerge, "be careful with the sons of the poor, for from them Torah will emerge."
"I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a place and a name better than sons and daughters; an everlasting name will I give him that shall not be cut off." "I will give them, in My house and within My walls," the Radak brings the Targum, "in My Temple and in the land of the abode of My Shechinah." The meaning is: in the Beit HaMikdash and in the land in which I cause My Shechinah to dwell, meaning the Land of Israel. And he explains that "there" means in the halls of the Sanctuary and within the walls of the courtyard, where the sages, the Sanhedrin, were, so I will give them there a place and a name. What is "a place" (yad)? "Yad" he explains, as it is written "and you shall have a place," that it does not refer to a physical location but to a distinguished status, like one who fills the place of his forefathers. What does "fills the place of his forefathers" mean? Does he fill the place? Rather it is an abstract expression to say he continues their way. So too when it says "I will give in My house and within My walls a yad," it does not mean a physical place but a spiritual place, this is the meaning of the words. "A place and a name" - he shall have a name for the coming generations, a name that shall not be cut off. Now pay attention, it is written "I have given" (natati), which is past tense, but he says it means "I will give," just as with David it is said "and I have made you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the land," where the meaning is "and I will make." So here too "I have given" means "and I will give." The vav functions as the vav of reversal. For "natati" is past, and "venatati" is future. "Eten" is future, and "ve'eten," "and Avraham gave Yitzchak," is past. The vav reversed "eten," reversed "eten" into past tense, so that it becomes past, "Avraham gave Yitzchak." The vav functions as the vav of reversal. The Radak adds and says, even though a person's deeds, the good deeds, the upright deeds, are what earn him a good name - how does a person acquire a good name? Through the good deeds he does, through the effort he invests in the service of Hashem, through the integrity and decency with which he conducts himself toward others. But the Radak says, nevertheless, when a person conducts himself with integrity before God, the Holy One, blessed be He, places it in the hearts of people to remember him for good all the days. Do you hear? The Radak was in fact troubled: what does "I will give them a place and a good name" mean? This is the idea, "a place and a name," that they will have a good name. What is this? Does Hashem give it? It depends how much you invest, it depends how you conduct yourself. He says, no, the Holy One, blessed be He, places it in the hearts of people to remember him for good all the days, so that his deeds are heard, son from the mouth of father. And this is a bit of his good reward after his death, apart from the reward reserved for his soul. So the Holy One, blessed be He, promises here a good promise, that this person, even if he is a modest person, even if he is a person whose name did not spread far, what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? I take responsibility that your name will be renowned, I take responsibility that everyone will know and everyone will recognize you.
There appears to be a contradiction in the pasuk, for the pasuk opens in the plural, "I will give them, in My house," and afterward it says "an everlasting name will I give him." You said "them," and afterward you end with "him." The Radak says, do not be surprised, because "him" refers to each and every one of them. For I am speaking here about the foreigners, about the eunuchs, who come and voice a complaint, we are a dry tree, what will come of us? So He says, "I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a place and a name," if they cling to My Sabbaths, choose that which I desire, and hold fast to My covenant, they will receive in My house and within My walls a place and a name. "An everlasting name will I give him" refers to each and every one of them. So do not be surprised, He does not suddenly move to speak about someone else. First He spoke of them collectively, now He speaks of them individually.
The Malbim explains, a person who is childless, without sons, lacks two things. First, he lacks in his home a support and staff. When a person has children, they help him, assist him, he asks them for what he needs, so he lacks a certain help in his home. Furthermore, he also lacks a remnant after his death, and he leaves no name behind him. Corresponding to this - as opposed to the support and strengthening in his home - the Holy One, blessed be He, says, I will give him in My house a place, and within My walls a name. The halves of the verse are parallel. In My house I will give him a place, meaning in his lifetime I will ensure that he has a helper and support to support him in his home. And corresponding to the fact that he will leave no one after him after his death, will leave no offspring, Hashem says to him, I will give him within My walls a name, a name that will be better for him than sons and daughters. Why? Because physical continuation - what we explained, sons and daughters after him - will cease. But by contrast, this name will be "an everlasting name will I give him that shall not be cut off." That is, his name will resound for generations and will not be cut off. If today you would want to ask who the descendants of the Rambam are, it is doubtful you would find them. If you would want to ask who the descendants of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai are, you surely would not find them. He has descendants, we believe so, but we can no longer know exactly who is the lineage of whom. That is, the remnant ceases, it is no longer known and famous. By contrast, the name that I will give him will be an everlasting name that everyone will recognize and know, that shall not be cut off. And I would say, perhaps by way of hint, one may say, pay attention, it says "I will give him within My walls a name." Why "within My walls a name"? Well, the plain meaning is that a wall is something famous, something large, recognizable to all, you will have a name that resounds on the walls. But today one can explain it, because today when they want to do something for the elevation of a soul, when they want to give some name and memorial to a person, where do they place it? On the wall, on the surface. They put it on the wall of the synagogue outside, a large marble plaque, an everlasting name, an everlasting hand and an everlasting name for so-and-so who donated and so forth. So therefore He says, I will give him a name, within My walls he will have a name. On the walls there his name will be remembered forever. But remember that this is not the main thing, it is not the symbol and the plaque that you hang up above, that is not the main thing. The main thing is the name before Hashem, blessed be He. And the publicity that a person makes for himself is not necessarily good for him.
"And the foreigners who join themselves to Hashem to serve Him and to love the name of Hashem, to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not desecrate it, and who hold fast to My covenant." So at first He spoke of the eunuchs, and now He speaks of the foreigners. "The foreigners who join themselves to Hashem" means to Hashem. And these foreigners, "everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not desecrate it." Why does He emphasize specifically Shabbat observance? Because, as we explained, Shabbat observance is the foundation by which a person testifies to the renewal of the world. And he believes that in six days Hashem created the Shabbat, and Hashem commanded Moshe to tell Israel about Shabbat observance even before they received the Torah. When were we commanded about Shabbat? At Marah. Already at Marah we received a portion of the mitzvot. You see that Shabbat is a tremendous foundation. And one who would join himself to Hashem, it is fitting that he believe in the greatest foundation, which is the matter of Shabbat observance.
The Malbim explains, "to serve Him," the Malbim says, returns to the fulfillment of the service of Hashem and the mitzvot. As we explained earlier, there is Torah and there is the fulfillment of the mitzvot. So Shabbat He already mentioned, that is faith. Now He speaks of "to serve Him." "To serve Him" is light service. Service is always easier than servitude. Therefore it is written "to Hashem, to serve Him," this speaks of the fulfillment of the mitzvot. "And to love the name of Hashem, to be His servants." "To be His servants" means servants by day and by night. The Malbim says, we know that one who serves out of fear does what he is obligated to do. By contrast, one who serves out of love does above and beyond. And more than once we have brought the parable of two sons serving their father. When the father enters the house and says, I am thirsty, one son will hurry, take a disposable cup, fill water from the tap, hand it to the father, and flee before the father asks for anything else. And there is another who loves his father a bit more, and this son will approach, bring a glass cup, place it on a plate, put a napkin down, pour him the drink that he loves, offer him some cookies as well, and stand by his father to hear if the father needs anything else, perhaps he needs to pour him another cup, perhaps he wants to drink something hot now, perhaps he wants... This is a son who loves his father. The idea is this: the first son, if you ask him, did he do what the father commanded? He did what the father commanded. But did he do the father's will? No, he did not do the father's will, he did the father's command. And once we elaborated on this in a derashah on the difference between doing the will of Hashem and doing the command of Hashem. These are two different worlds; whoever wishes can listen on a disk on Bereishit, specifically on the parashah of the week, Parashat Lech Lecha, where we have an entire derashah on the difference between one who does the will of Hashem and one who does the command of Hashem. Two completely different levels. And based on this we explained what is written in the parashah of "Vehaya im shamoa," that the Gemara expounds that they are not doing the will of Hashem. How is that possible? For it is written, "and it shall be if you hearken to the mitzvot of Hashem your God." They hearken to the mitzvot of Hashem, how can you say they are not doing the will of Hashem? And we explained that they are doing the command of Hashem, but not doing the will of Hashem. The will of Hashem is another level, that is what Hashem would want, which is a far, far higher level. Therefore here, when He wants to characterize those who do the will of Hashem, He says these are servants. Servants are those who serve out of love, they feel that they are servants of the Holy One, blessed be He, day and night. By contrast the attendant works with a stopwatch. When do I finish already? When does the work end? That is the attendant. The attendant seeks to be relieved; what he is obligated to do, that he does. "Everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not desecrate it." So if so, let us summarize for a moment. So we had the attendants, meaning those who do the command of Hashem, serving out of fear, doing the minimum. "And to love the name of Hashem," these fulfill mitzvot out of love, doing above and beyond. That is "to be His servants." Afterward He speaks of "everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not desecrate it," this we explained refers to those of faith, because Shabbat testifies to faith in Hashem. "And who hold fast to My covenant," this indicates engagement in Torah, as we said. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, all these who do all these things, who believe in Hashem, fulfill His mitzvot, keep His Torah, to them there are wondrous promises. "I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples."
"I will bring them to My holy mountain," the Radak says, like a person who brings in a guest and receives him with joy, so I will command the Kohanim to receive with joy also the converts, also the eunuchs, all of them. "And make them joyful in My house of prayer," they will be joyful when they see themselves in the courtyard year by year, their prayers will be accepted by Hashem. And also "their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples." Rashi says, not only for Israel. And as King Shlomo himself said, "and also the foreigner who comes from a distant land," he prayed for them that the Holy One, blessed be He, would accept also their prayer, also their sacrifice. That is, a gentile too may offer a sacrifice. And moreover, Shlomo even requested that their sacrifice and their prayer always be answered. As opposed to Israel, who are answered only if they are worthy. Because a gentile, if his prayer is not answered, he rebels. And since this is so, I request that You always answer them. By contrast, Israel, if he is worthy You answer him; if he is not worthy, let him examine his deeds, let him mend his ways. The Malbim explains, "I will bring them to My holy mountain," there on My holy mountain they will study Torah, there they will learn faith, for "from Zion shall go forth Torah and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem," that is faith. And what remains? The service of Hashem, the sacrifices. "And make them joyful in My house of prayer," this corresponds to the service. For "their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon My altar." That they not bring them, says the Malbim, for a sin, but only as a voluntary offering, "their burnt offerings," a burnt offering, a person brings a burnt offering as a voluntary offering. And through this they will see that I do not distinguish them from Israel, but "My house shall be a house of prayer for all the peoples." And through this they will be freed from the feelings they had, that they say "Hashem will surely separate me from His people, behold I am a dry tree." No, rather you will be as part of Israel, and your burnt offerings and your sacrifices will be accepted upon My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.
"The utterance of Hashem God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: I will yet gather others to him, beyond those already gathered to him." "The utterance of Hashem, I will yet gather to him beyond those gathered to him," the Radak explains in the name of his father: after I gather the dispersed of Israel, I will yet gather to them others gathered upon those already gathered to him. Who are these? Gog and Magog. Gog and Magog will come and gather here too, and what will be their treatment? This we will see further on. But know, after we are gathered, "I will yet gather to him beyond those gathered to him," upon those gathered to it, more wicked ones will gather here, and these wicked ones, as we will see further on, will pay the price. The Malbim, by contrast, explains that "I will yet gather" is of the first kind. The first kind is Israel who were gathered here; I will gather upon them additional converts who will come to join with Israel. According to the interpretation of the Radak's father this is somewhat difficult, because "I will yet gather to him beyond those gathered to him" suddenly speaks of gathered ones of a completely different sort that we would not want to gather here. But according to how the Malbim explains, on the contrary, all of it is part of the good tidings. "The utterance of Hashem God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel," I will yet gather to him, beyond those gathered to him, additional gatherings of converts who will come and gather too and be part of Israel.
Pasuk 9. "All you beasts of the field, come to devour, all you beasts in the forest." "All you beasts of the field, come to devour." Rashi explains, here it speaks of the beasts in the forest, that He, as it were, calls them and summons them, come devour the mighty of the Chaldeans. Essentially there is here a call to the actual beasts. The Chaldeans will come here upon Jerusalem, I call to you, you beasts, come, the beasts of the forest and the beasts of the field, and come upon them and destroy them. "Beasts of the field" is weaker than "beasts of the forest." It does not have as much strength as the beast of the field, the beast of the forest. And since He said "I will yet gather to him beyond those gathered to him," as the Radak explained, as we saw, that additional gentiles will gather here upon Israel who are gathered here, corresponding to the gentiles gathered He invites the beasts of the field to come, as it were, and take vengeance upon them. The Radak explains that this returns already to after the war of Gog. Along the same line, that "I will gather to him beyond those gathered to him" refers to Gog and Magog who will come here to wage war. According to Rashi it is the Chaldeans; according to the Radak it is Gog and Magog. "I will gather to him beyond those gathered to him," Gog and Magog will gather here. And then I command that all the beasts of the field and the beasts of the land "come," "atayu" meaning like "ata" in Aramaic, coming. "Come to devour," come to devour whom? The corpses of the camp of Gog and Magog. The camp of Gog and Magog will be corpses here; it is written that for long months they will bury the carcasses, the corpses of Gog and Magog. As it is written in the prophecy of Yechezkel, that he calls to "every bird of wing and every beast of the field, assemble and come, gather from around, to My sacrifice which I sacrifice for you," as it were, I prepare for you a table. For whom? For the winged beasts, for the eagle, for the falcon, for all the birds of prey, I prepare for you a table, come, there are here the corpses of Gog and Magog who came against Israel. Corresponding to this is also what He says here, "all the beasts of the field," that is, to that royal feast additional guests will be invited. Who are they? The beasts of the field and the beasts of the forest, who will all come and assemble to devour them. So too along this line goes the Targum, for the Targum says, "all the kings of the nations who gather to besiege you, Jerusalem, will be cast into your midst; they will be food for the beasts of the field, the beasts of the forest will be satisfied from them." They will be food for the beasts of the field and the beasts of the forest, the woodland, will be satisfied from them. The Malbim, by contrast, explains that here He begins a new matter. This part, "all you beasts of the field, come," is like a new chapter. And here He begins to speak against the leaders of that generation, against the false prophets of that generation, who did not rebuke Israel. And Yeshayahu turns to them here in rebuke: you leaders, you know that we are before exile, you know in what trouble we are, how we are threatened by the enemies surrounding us, how is it that you do not rebuke Israel? Israel is compared here to a flock. A flock that the shepherd neglected. A flock that the shepherd does not watch over. A flock that became abandoned prey to wolves and wild beasts. And then He calls to all those beasts of the field, as it were, come, beasts of the field, devour this flock. What will you say, oh, does this flock have shepherds? He says, no no no, they have no shepherd, there is no one to manage them. Those responsible for them, the heads of the people who were supposed to manage them, no longer watch over them. So, as it were, beasts of the field, come devour the people. Not, God forbid, that He means to call them, but He wants to characterize the situation. The situation is such that one can call to all the beasts of the field, do to the people what they will, it has no leaders, it has no ones to defend it.
Why? "His watchmen are blind, all of them, they know nothing; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber." What will you say, that you fear the watchmen? He says to them, you have nothing to fear. The prophets, the false prophets, make themselves out to be watchmen, they make themselves out to be guards. He says, the dogs, these prophets resemble dogs that are incapable of guarding. Will they, as it were, save you? They are incapable of saving. And the Malbim explains that in essence He wants to say to them, look, a dog has several virtues when it guards the flock. First, in order for the dog to guard properly, the dog must see whoever approaches. By recognizing in advance whoever approaches, it barks against him. But by contrast, of the shepherds I can tell you that "his watchmen are blind." These shepherds are like a blind dog - is there any use in it? Furthermore, after he approaches, someone must deter him. What does the dog do for this? It barks. About this He says, these dogs are dumb, they cannot bark. These shepherds are dumb, they do not sound the alarm. Third, the dog must be alert all night, and thus with such sleep, with one eye open, so that any slight movement causes it to leap up and immediately begin barking, and this is what causes it in fact to guard even while it sleeps. But by contrast, these shepherds of yours are dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. They are dreaming, lying down; "dreaming, lying down" the Targum explains as sleeping, reclining. There is no parallel to this word. Today this is an expression that many like to use - this is something completely absurd ("hazui"). What is "hazui"? Sleeping, reclining, so the Targum explains. So they are dreaming, loving to slumber. So they are not at all capable of being vigilant toward what is happening, of being ready to defend against the enemy who comes. And if so, as it were, come beasts of the field, come take vengeance upon the people, since the shepherds guarding them are very bad guard dogs. They are blind guard dogs, incapable of barking, and asleep. From these surely no guarding will come.
"And the dogs are greedy, they never know satiety; and they are shepherds who know not how to understand; they all turned to their own way, each to his gain, to the last of them." The Radak says, and if you would say, perhaps these dogs - the owners do not give them enough food, and therefore the dog does not guard as it should. He says, no, this is how it is, behold, look, these dogs eat but do not know satiety, for they are greedy. They have a craving soul, that however much you give them it is not enough for them, does not satisfy them. So too the watchmen, the guards, do not think that perhaps they are not given enough, perhaps their salary is meager. He says these people are hedonists, all their business is in food and drink, they are not satisfied, they chase after craving. And since this is so, one who chases after craving will never be satisfied. And instead of watching over the people, "and they are shepherds," over whom? Over themselves. They shepherd themselves, instead of watching over Israel. "They know not how to understand," to contemplate the deeds of Israel in order to straighten them onto the upright path. "They all turned to their own way," each one - as they say today - takes care of his own household. Each one seeks what will come to me from the authority, what I can receive, what I can profit. "They all turned to their own way," they do not fear taking unjust gain, "each to his gain," from the edge of the people to the other edge, does such things. And if so, what is there to expect from these to guard over Israel?
The Malbim explains, that after He states here the three virtues that dogs have but these do not, He says by contrast that the shortcomings of dogs they have in abundance. The advantages of dogs they do not have, as we saw that dogs bark and dogs are alert and dogs see far off, this they do not have. What do they have? They are like a dog, they never know satiety. One shortcoming, like the dogs that are never satisfied. And furthermore, they are greedy, as the dogs are greedy. So they have brazenness both to demand money, and as we said to demand food, and they never know satiety. So too the shepherds are dreaming, lying down, each one turned to his own way and does not watch over the community of Israel. "Come, let me fetch wine, and let us drink our fill of strong drink; and tomorrow shall be like this day, even greater by far." So they would say to one another, come, let me fetch wine, come bring another cup of wine, come let us fetch wine and drink our fill of strong drink; "nisbe'ah" means like "a glutton and a drunkard," "shechar" meaning intoxicating drinks. Yes, it is apparently not by chance that this came out precisely on the yahrzeit of "venisbe'ah shechar," yes, may his merit protect us. Well, that one who walked in the square, yes. "Come, let us drink our fill of strong drink," corresponding to what He said that the dogs are greedy, never know satiety, they say to one another, you come, I will fetch wine, and through this we will drink until we become drunk. "And tomorrow shall be like this day." What would you say, perhaps he will quench his thirst, perhaps he will quiet his craving and calm down? No, he has plans, tomorrow will be far greater, what are you talking about? Tomorrow too we will do much more. And if you would say, wait, but he will give a reckoning, for we saw that their outlook is "eat and drink for tomorrow we die," and therefore they say, do not worry, tomorrow there will be an even greater party, and you have nothing to worry about, there is no judgment and reckoning. Thus the shepherds behave, says the prophet, and since this is so, the beasts of the field can come and ravage the people with none to stop them. May Hashem save us and send us leaders worthy of leading the people, amen and amen.