Chapter 56 of Yeshayahu addresses a poignant question: What is the place of those who feel they have neither root nor future - the foreigner and the eunuch? In this section, the Holy One, Blessed be He, responds to both, teaching that an individual's personal, spiritual existence is far greater and more enduring than biological existence, lineage, or pedigree. Toward the end of the chapter, the prophet transitions to a sharp rebuke of the generation's leaders, the shepherds who fail to tend the flock.
Why Begin with the Eunuchs?
כִּי־כֹה אָמַר יְהֹוָה לַסָּרִיסִים אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁמְרוּ אֶת שַׁבְּתוֹתַי וּבָחֲרוּ בַּאֲשֶׁר חָפָצְתִּי וּמַחֲזִיקִים בִּבְרִיתִי׃ - For thus said Hashem to the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose that which I desire, and hold fast to My covenant.
Radak asks: The earlier verse began with the foreigner and concluded with the eunuch, yet in the response, the Holy One, Blessed be He, addresses the eunuchs first, and only later in verse 6 turns to the foreigners. Why? There is a fundamental stylistic principle here, found both in Tanach and in the words of Chazal: When two matters are introduced, there are two ways to proceed. One approach is sequential - first mentioned, first addressed: having mentioned Reuven and then Shimon, one explains what will become of Reuven first and then of Shimon. The second approach is inverted - opening with what was just concluded: since the verse ended with Shimon, it immediately continues by addressing Shimon's matter. So too here: the previous verse concluded with the eunuch, and therefore the response begins with the eunuchs. From this we learn not to raise difficulties or contradictions merely from the sequence of presentation, as it is natural for speakers to express themselves sometimes in one way and sometimes in the other, and both methods are entirely legitimate.
"My Sabbaths" - Two Types of Sabbath
Why does the verse say "My Sabbaths" in the plural? Radak cites in the name of his father that this refers to two kinds of Sabbaths: Shabbat Bereishit (the weekly Sabbath of Creation) and the Sabbath of the Land (Shemitah). Shabbat Bereishit is the seventh day on which the Holy One, Blessed be He, rested from the six days of Creation, which is the Sabbath we observe weekly; the Sabbath of the Land is Shemitah. The people of Israel became lax regarding both of these Sabbaths, and exile came as a result of their desecration: "Then shall the land appease its Sabbaths all the days of its desolation" - regarding the neglect of Shemitah; and "Jerusalem was destroyed only because they desecrated the Sabbath" - for they would tread winepresses on Shabbat. Therefore, in order to rectify this flaw and merit redemption, the observance of both kinds of Sabbaths is required.
"And hold fast to My covenant" - Radak explains that commandments established through a covenant carry greater weight, as the verse states: "the blood of the covenant that Hashem has made with you concerning all these words." Shabbat is not merely an ordinary commandment, but a mitzvah upon which a covenant was forged, and therefore it is called "My covenant." "My covenant" can also be interpreted as referring to circumcision (Brit Milah), regarding which thirteen covenants were made.
Shabbat as a Sign and Discernible Marker
A question was once asked: Shabbat is called a "sign" (ot), and a sign implies something discernible and evident. With Brit Milah this is readily understood, as it is a seal etched in the flesh; but in what way is Shabbat discernible? The Gemara cites proof from nature and metaphysics: let the Sambatyon River prove it, let the necromancer prove it. The Sambatyon River rests on Shabbat, and a necromancer cannot conjure spirits on Shabbat - his craft fails completely. Here, then, is a visible sign. Yet the questioner countered: Who has actually seen the Sambatyon River, and who encounters necromancers nowadays?
A certain Jew from Argentina, a man of simple background, recounted a debate he had with a priest who claimed that the true Sabbath was the Christian Sunday. The Jew asked him for a dictionary, opened it, and pointed out: The day Christians call their day of rest is defined in the dictionary as Sunday - the first day of the week - whereas the Sabbath is defined as Saturday, the seventh day. He asked the priest: "Why is a day of rest observed?" The priest replied, "Because on it God rested." The Jew retorted: "Did you ever see someone rest before doing any work? For us Jews, Hashem worked for six days creating the world, and on the seventh day He rested. For you, the day of rest is the first day; if so, did God rest first and only then begin creating? If you claimed your weekly count began on a different day, and your seventh day had a different name, that might be understandable. But your own dictionary defines Sunday as the first day, meaning day number one." This is the sign: "It is a sign between Me and you" - only among Israel is the Sabbath on the seventh day, whereas among other nations it is either the sixth (implying resting before finishing the work) or the first (implying resting before even beginning). This is the meaning of "and hold fast to My covenant" - the covenantal sign between us and Hashem, which is the Sabbath day.
The Three Pillars of Eternity: Faith, Mitzvot, and Torah
The Malbim explains: The Holy One, Blessed be He, tells the eunuchs that one's personal, individual existence is far more potent and enduring than biological continuity. What a person acquires through the inner strength of his soul is incomparably more significant than who his grandfather was or who his descendants might be. The eternal existence of the soul depends on three things, which are the three foundations of Judaism: faith, observance of mitzvot, and the study of Torah. If you safeguard these, it is of no ultimate consequence that you lack ancestral roots or physical progeny. What truly matters is what you have achieved and what your soul has acquired.
All three are hinted at in the verse. "Who keep My Sabbaths" - this is emunah (faith), for one who observes Shabbat testifies that the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world anew in seven days. Therefore, one who desecrates Shabbat is considered like a non-Jew, since desecrating Shabbat implies that the world is primordial and was not created ex nihilo, and there is no greater heresy than this; whereas the world's renewal and creation points to a Creator, and that it was created for a specific purpose. "And choose what pleases Me" - this is doing Hashem's will, fulfilling His commandments, the second foundation. "And hold fast to My covenant" - this refers to the study of Torah, as it is said, "If not for My covenant day and night, I would not have set the statutes of heaven and earth."
Pedigree Is Not Everything
And when one possesses these three - it truly does not matter where you came from. After all, we find: a Torah scholar who is a mamzer takes precedence over an ignorant High Priest (Kohen Gadol am ha'aretz). There is no worse lineage than that, as he is not even eligible to enter the congregation of Israel, yet nevertheless he takes precedence. And so there was an incident with a High Priest who saw Shemayah and Avtalyon walking with a large crowd accompanying them, and it bothered him: how could these two converts have attained such heights, while he could barely find a minyan of people to accompany him? Pained by this, he degraded them and said, "May the descendants of the gentiles go in peace." They replied to him, "May the descendants of the gentiles, who perform the deeds of Aharon, go in peace, and may not the son of Aharon, who does not perform the deeds of Aharon, go in peace" - you are a descendant of Aharon, but you do not act like Aharon, so what value is there in that? We may indeed be descendants of gentiles, but we engage in Torah and emulate the deeds of Aharon, and surely our stature is far greater.
In a similar vein, Rav Ovadia Yosef would constantly urge: do not look down on simple people. Sometimes a young man arrives at a yeshivah, and people ask who and what he is; his father is not a rosh yeshivah, nor a mashgiach, nor a Torah scholar. And Rav Ovadia would say: my father was a grocer. My father was a grocer, and as you see - they invested in me, and Baruch Hashem what grew, grew. If you belittle someone because he lacks pedigree, you may lose the next gadol hador (leader of the generation), for greatness does not necessarily emerge from the children of the great. One of the gedolei Yisrael already lamented this, saying that in this generation there is strict screening in educational institutions; if they were to evaluate whether to accept all of today's Sephardic roshei yeshivah based on their background - where they came from, this one from Be'er Sheva and that one from Dimona, this one's father was this and that one's father was that - not a single one of them would have been accepted! Yet they grew and became roshei yeshivah because people believed in them and invested in them. From this we learn that we must invest specifically in the children of the poor, precisely in those you might not expect much from - "Be heedful of the children of the poor, for from them Torah will go forth."
Yad VaShem - Better than Sons and Daughters
וְנָתַתִּי לָהֶם בְּבֵיתִי וּבְחוֹמֹתַי יָד וָשֵׁם טוֹב מִבָּנִים וּמִבָּנוֹת שֵׁם עוֹלָם אֶתֶּן לוֹ אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִכָּרֵת׃ - And I will give them in My house and within My walls a place and a name, better than sons and daughters; I will give him an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
The Radak cites Targum Yonatan: "In My Holy Temple and in the land of the dwelling place of My Shechinah" - in the Beit HaMikdash and in the land where He caused His Shechinah to dwell, which is Eretz Yisrael. He explains that this refers to the chambers of the Heichal and within the walls of the Azarah (Temple Courtyard), where the Sages and the Sanhedrin sat, and there I will give them a yad and a shem (a place and a name). And what is "yad"? As in "you shall have a place (yad)", where it does not mean a mere physical spot but a place of distinction, similar to the expression "filling the place of his fathers" - which does not mean literally taking up their physical space, but is an abstract expression meaning that he continues in their path. So too here: "I will give them in My house and within My walls a yad" - a spiritual place rather than a physical one. "And a shem (name)" - that he will have renown for future generations, a name that will never be cut off.
Notice: "venatati" (וְנָתַתִּי) is in the past tense form, but its meaning is "and I will give" (ve'eten), just as it is said concerning David, "And I made (ve'asiti) for you a name like the name of the great ones of the earth," which means "and I will make" (ve'e'eseh). The letter vav here is the vav ha-hiphuch (the conversive vav): "natati" is past, but "venatati" is future; "eten" is future, but "va'eten" - as in "va'eten le-Avraham et Yitzchak" ("and I gave to Abraham Isaac") - is past.
The Radak adds: even though it is a person's own good and upright deeds that earn him a good name - through good deeds, through exertion in the service of Hashem, and through the integrity and derech eretz (proper conduct) he exhibits toward others - nevertheless, when a person conducts himself uprightly before God, the Holy One, blessed be He, puts it into the hearts of people to remember him for good at all times, so that his deeds are recounted from father to son. This is part of his good reward after death, aside from the reward reserved for his soul. The Radak was troubled by a question: what does it mean that Hashem gives him "a good name," when this depends on his own behavior and effort? To this he answers that the Holy One, blessed be He, is making a gracious promise here - even if a person is modest and his fame does not naturally spread far and wide, I will ensure that your name becomes known, and that all will know and recognize you.
Seemingly, there is a contradiction in the verse: it opens in the plural - "And I will give them (lahem) in My house," yet concludes in the singular - "an everlasting name I will give him (lo)." The Radak explains: do not wonder at this, for "him" refers to each and every one of them individually. After all, the passage speaks of the foreigners and the eunuchs who lament, "We are a dried tree, what will become of us?" To this, the verse says: if they cling to My Sabbaths, choose what pleases Me, and hold fast to My covenant - they will receive in My house and within My walls a place and a name. Initially it spoke of them collectively, and now individually.
The Malbim: Addressing the Childless Person's Two Deficiencies
The Malbim explains: a person who is childless lacks two things. First, he lacks a helping hand and support in his home, for one who has children is aided and supported by them, and relies on them for his needs. Second, he has no continuity after death and leaves no name behind him. Corresponding to these two, the clauses of the verse parallel them: "And I will give them in My house... a hand (yad)" - during his lifetime I will ensure he has a helper and supporter in his home; "and within My walls" - a name, and in place of leaving no offspring behind, "better than sons and daughters." For physical continuity, through sons and daughters, eventually ceases, whereas this name will be "an everlasting name that shall not be cut off" - his name will echo for generations.
Indeed, if you were to ask who the descendants of the Rambam are, you will scarcely find out; who the descendants of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai are, you certainly will not find out. Descendants certainly exist - we believe this - but we can no longer know whose lineage belongs to whom. Physical lineage eventually fades, becoming unknown and unrecognized, whereas the name I give him is an everlasting name that everyone will recognize and know, which shall never be cut off.
By way of homiletic hint, one might ask: why specifically "and within My walls a name"? In its plain sense, a wall is prominent, grand, and visible to all, so he will have a name that echoes within the walls. Yet in our times, one could explain that when people wish to do something for the elevation of a soul or to memorialize a name, they hang it on the wall - a large marble plaque on the synagogue wall, a "monument and a name" for a certain donor. Nevertheless, one must remember that this is not what truly matters: it is not the plaque hanging up high that is essential, but rather one's name before Hashem, may He be blessed. And the publicity a person makes for himself is not necessarily for his benefit.
The Foreigners: Service from Awe and Servitude from Love
וּבְנֵי הַנֵּכָר הַנִּלְוִים עַל יְהֹוָה לְשָׁרְתוֹ וּלְאַהֲבָה אֶת שֵׁם יְהֹוָה לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לַעֲבָדִים כָּל שֹׁמֵר שַׁבָּת מֵחַלְּלוֹ וּמַחֲזִיקִים בִּבְרִיתִי׃ - And the foreigners who join themselves to Hashem to serve Him, and to love the name of Hashem, to be His servants, all who keep Shabbat from desecrating it, and hold fast to My covenant.
At first the prophet spoke of the eunuchs, and now of the foreigners. "Who join themselves to Hashem" - meaning, unto Hashem. And why does he emphasize specifically the observance of Shabbat? As we explained, Shabbat is the foundation through which a person testifies to the creation of the world ex nihilo, that in six days Hashem created His world. Moreover, we were commanded concerning Shabbat even before the giving of the Torah - in Marah, where we received a selection of mitzvot. Thus, Shabbat is a tremendous foundation, and whoever joins himself to Hashem ought to believe in this greatest of foundations, which is the observance of Shabbat.
The Malbim explains: "To serve Him" refers to the fulfillment of divine service and the mitzvot. Attendant service is lighter than full servitude, and therefore "to serve Him" speaks of observing the commandments. By contrast, "and to love the name of Hashem, to be His servants" refers to being servants day and night. For one who serves out of awe does only what he is strictly obligated to do, whereas one who serves out of love goes above and beyond.
We have mentioned more than once the parable of two sons serving their father. The father enters the house and says, "I am thirsty." One son hurries, grabs a disposable cup, fills it with tap water, hands it to his father, and quickly walks away before he can be asked for anything else. But the other son, who loves his father more, brings a proper glass, places it on a saucer with a napkin, pours him his favorite beverage, serves a few cookies alongside it, and stands beside his father to see if he needs anything else - perhaps to pour another cup, or perhaps he prefers a hot drink. The first son fulfilled what his father commanded, but did he fulfill his father's true wish? No. He fulfilled his father's command, but not his will.
In the past we have elaborated on the difference between "doing the will of Hashem" and "doing the command of Hashem" - two entirely different worlds. Based on this, we explained the passage in Vehaya Im Shamoa, where the Gemara expounds that they are not doing the will of the Omnipresent. How can this be, when the verse states, "And it shall come to pass, if you surely listen to the commandments of Hashem your God"? Rather, they are fulfilling the command of Hashem, but they are not fulfilling the will of Hashem; and the will of Hashem is an entirely different level - what Hashem would truly desire. Therefore here, when characterizing those who fulfill Hashem's will, the verse calls them "servants": a servant is one who serves out of love, viewing himself as a servant to the Holy One, blessed be He, day and night. In contrast, an attendant works with a stopwatch - when will I finally finish, when is my shift over; the attendant looks to be relieved of duty, doing only the bare minimum of his obligation.
The summary of the verse is thus: "To serve Him" refers to the attendants, who fulfill the command of Hashem, serving out of awe and doing the minimum. "And to love the name of Hashem, to be His servants" refers to those who fulfill mitzvot out of love, going above and beyond. "All who keep Shabbat from desecrating it" refers to the people of faith, for Shabbat signifies faith in Hashem. "And hold fast to My covenant" refers to the engagement in Torah study.
The Promise: A House of Prayer for All Peoples
וַהֲבִיאוֹתִים אֶל הַר קָדְשִׁי וְשִׂמַּחְתִּים בְּבֵית תְּפִלָּתִי עוֹלֹתֵיהֶם וְזִבְחֵיהֶם לְרָצוֹן עַל מִזְבְּחִי כִּי בֵיתִי בֵּית תְּפִלָּה יִקָּרֵא לְכָל הָעַמִּים׃ - I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted favorably upon My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
The Radak comments: Just like a person welcoming a guest and receiving him with joy, so will I command the kohanim to receive both the converts and the eunuchs with joy - everyone. "And make them joyful in My house of prayer" - they will rejoice upon seeing themselves in the Temple Courtyard year after year, their prayers will be accepted before Hashem, and their burnt-offerings and sacrifices will be favorably accepted upon My altar.
Rashi explains: "For My House shall be called a house of prayer for all nations" - not only for Israel. This is just as King Solomon himself said in his prayer, "And also concerning the foreigner who comes from a distant land," praying that the Holy One, blessed be He, accept their prayer and their offering - for even a non-Jew may bring an offering. Furthermore, Solomon requested that their prayer and offering be answered every time, in contrast to Israel who are answered only if they are worthy. The reason for this is that if a non-Jew's prayer goes unanswered, he rebels and rejects God; therefore, Solomon asked that they always be answered. Israel, however - if one is worthy, he is answered, and if he is not worthy, he will examine his deeds and mend his ways.
The Malbim explains: "I will bring them to My holy mountain" - there they will learn Torah and faith, for "from Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem." And what remains? The divine service, the sacrifices - and corresponding to this, "and make them joyful in My house of prayer, for their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar." The Malbim notes precisely that they will not bring sin offerings, but only freewill offerings, as the olah (burnt offering) is brought as a freewill gift. Through this they will see that I do not differentiate them from Israel, but rather My House shall be a house of prayer for all nations. In this way, they will be freed from the despair of saying, "Hashem will surely separate me from His people," or "Behold, I am a dried tree" - instead, you will be part of the Jewish people.
I Will Gather Still Others to Him, Beside His Gathered Ones
נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה מְקַבֵּץ נִדְחֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עוֹד אֲקַבֵּץ עָלָיו לְנִקְבָּצָיו׃ - Thus says the Lord Hashem, Who gathers the dispersed of Israel: "I will gather still others to him, beside his gathered ones."
The Radak explains in the name of his father: After I gather the dispersed of Israel, I will gather against them other gathered forces - this refers to Gog and Magog, who will come and assemble here, and how they will be dealt with will be seen next. Know that after we are gathered, more evildoers will gather here, and they will pay the price.
The Malbim, however, interprets this in the opposite way: "I will gather still others" - of the first kind. The first kind refers to the gathered people of Israel, and alongside them I will gather more converts who will come to join the Jewish nation. According to the interpretation of Radak's father, the verse is somewhat difficult, for suddenly it would be speaking of an entirely different type of assembly, one we do not want gathered here; whereas according to the Malbim, everything is part of the good tidings: He gathers the dispersed of Israel, and I will gather still more to him, additional assemblies of righteous converts who will join and become part of the Jewish people.
A Call to the Beasts of the Field
כֹּל חַיְתוֹ שָׂדָי אֵתָיוּ לֶאֱכֹל כָּל חַיְתוֹ בַּיָּעַר׃ - All you beasts of the field, come to devour, all you beasts in the forest!
Rashi explains that the verse is speaking of literal wild beasts: the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, calls and summons the beasts to come and devour the mighty warriors of the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans will come against Jerusalem - and I call to you, beasts of the forest and beasts of the field: fall upon them and destroy them. And the beast of the field is weaker than the beast of the forest, lacking its great strength.
Radak explains this in line with his ongoing approach, that the passage refers back to the war of Gog: "I will gather still others to him, beside his gathered ones" refers to Gog and Magog gathering here to do battle, and in response, the Holy One, blessed be He, invites the beasts of the field to take vengeance upon them. "Ateyu" comes from the Aramaic "ata" - come; let them come and devour the corpses of the camp of Gog and Magog, for scripture records that burying the carcasses will take many months. This is also as described in Yechezkel's prophecy, which calls to every winged bird and every beast of the earth: "Assemble and come, gather from all around to My feast that I slaughter for you" - as if saying: I am setting a table for you, for the eagle, the falcon, and all the birds of prey. Here too, both the beasts of the field and the beasts of the forest are invited to that royal banquet, to come and feast upon them.
The Targum follows this same line: "All kings of the nations who gather to afflict you, Jerusalem" - all the kings of the nations assembled to assault you, that is, to wage war against you, Jerusalem - "shall be cast into your midst; they shall become food for the beast of the field, and the beast of the forest shall be sated from them."
The Malbim: A Flock Without a Shepherd
The Malbim explains that a new topic begins here, like a chapter in its own right, and the prophet turns in rebuke to the leaders of the generation and the false prophets who failed to admonish the people. You leaders - you know that we stand before exile, you know what dire straits we are in and how threatened we are by the enemies surrounding us, so how can you not rebuke Israel? The people of Israel are likened here to a flock abandoned by its shepherd, left unattended and exposed to wolves and beasts of prey. The prophet then calls out, as it were: Come, beasts of the field, and devour this flock. Lest you say, does this flock not have shepherds? No indeed, they have no shepherd at all and no one guiding them; those responsible for them, the leaders of the people, no longer watch over them. And his intention is not, Heaven forbid, to genuinely summon them, but rather to characterize the situation: the state of affairs is such that one could invite all the beasts of the field to do with the people as they please, for they have no leaders and no one to defend them.
The Dog's Three Virtues - None of Which They Possess
צֹפָו עִוְרִים כֻּלָּם לֹא יָדָעוּ כֻּלָּם כְּלָבִים אִלְּמִים לֹא יוּכְלוּ לִנְבֹּחַ הֹזִים שֹׁכְבִים אֹהֲבֵי לָנוּם׃ - His watchmen are blind, all of them know nothing; they are all mute dogs, unable to bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
Lest you say that you fear the watchmen - the prophet tells them: You have nothing to fear. The false prophets pose as watchmen and guards, but they are like dogs incapable of guarding. Will they save you? They are powerless to save.
The Malbim explains that a sheepdog possesses three virtues, none of which these leaders have. First, to guard properly, it must see what is approaching from afar, and upon identifying it, bark at it - regarding this it is said, "His watchmen are blind": these shepherds are like a blind dog, of what use is it? Second, once the enemy draws near, someone must deter it, and the dog does so with its bark - regarding this it is said, "mute dogs, unable to bark": these shepherds are mute, they sound no alarm. Third, the dog must remain alert through the night, sleeping with one eye open, so that the slightest rustle makes it leap up to bark, meaning it guards even while it sleeps - regarding this it is said, "dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber." "Dreaming, lying down" is rendered by the Targum as "sleeping, lying down," a phrasing unique in Scripture. Today the word hazui is colloquially used in another sense (bizarre or delusional), but according to the Targum its meaning is sleeping and lying down. They are completely oblivious to what is unfolding and unprepared to defend against the approaching enemy. Thus, as it were, let the beasts of the field come and take vengeance upon the nation, for the shepherds who guard them are the worst kind of guard dogs: blind, unable to bark, and asleep.
And What Do They Possess? The Dog's Vices
וְהַכְּלָבִים עַזֵּי נֶפֶשׁ לֹא יָדְעוּ שָׂבְעָה וְהֵמָּה רֹעִים לֹא יָדְעוּ הָבִין כֻּלָּם לְדַרְכָּם פָּנוּ אִישׁ לְבִצְעוֹ מִקָּצֵהוּ׃ - And the dogs are greedy, they never know satisfaction; and they are shepherds who do not know how to understand; they all turn to their own way, each one to his unjust gain from every quarter.
The Radak remarks: Lest you say, perhaps the dogs fail to guard properly because their owners do not feed them enough? Not so. Behold, you see that dogs eat and never know satisfaction; they are azei nefesh - having an insatiable appetite, so that whatever you give them is never enough to satisfy them. The same is true of these watchmen and guards: do not think that perhaps they are underpaid and their wages are meager. They are hedonists whose sole preoccupation is food and drink, never sated, always chasing desire - and one who pursues desire is never satisfied.
"And they are shepherds" - shepherding whom? Themselves, instead of pasturing Israel. "Do not know how to understand" - to contemplate the deeds of the people in order to guide them onto the upright path. "They all turn to their own way" - each one looking out for his own interests, seeking what benefit can be extracted from power, what can be acquired, and what profit can be made. Nor do they hesitate to take illicit gain, "each one to his unjust gain from every quarter" - from one end of the populace to the other, they act in this manner. If so, what can be expected of such people to protect the people of Israel?
The Malbim explains: After listing the three virtues of dogs that these leaders lack, the prophet now enumerates the faults of dogs that they possess in overflowing measure. The advantages - far sight, barking, and vigilance - they lack. What do they have? They "never know satisfaction," like dogs that are never full, and are "greedy (azei nefesh)," like dogs. They have the brazen audacity to demand wealth and demand food, never knowing satiety. Thus the shepherds lie dreaming and slumbering, each turned to his own way, utterly neglecting the nation of Israel.
Eat and Drink, for Tomorrow We Die
אֵתָיוּ אֶקְחָה יַיִן וְנִסְבְּאָה שֵׁכָר וְהָיָה כָזֶה יוֹם מָחָר גָּדוֹל יֶתֶר מְאֹד׃ - Come, let me fetch wine, and let us gorge ourselves on strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, even far greater.
This is what they would say to one another: Come, let us take wine, "and let us guzzle strong drink" - from the expression zolel v'sove (a glutton and a drunkard), "strong drink" referring to intoxicating beverages. Corresponding to what was said, that the dogs are voracious and never know satisfaction, they say to one another: Come, I will fetch wine and we will drink until we are intoxicated. "And tomorrow will be like today" - lest you say that he will quench his thirst, calm his desire, and rest? No. He already has plans: tomorrow will be far greater, and we will indulge even more. And if you say, will he not have to face judgment? - behold, we have seen that their mindset is "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Therefore they say: Do not worry, tomorrow will be an even bigger party, and you have nothing to fear, there is neither judgment nor reckoning.
This is how the shepherds behave, says the prophet, and because of this, the beasts of the field can come and ravage the people unchecked. May Hashem save us, and send us leaders who are worthy of guiding the nation, Amen and Amen.
In summary:
In this part of the chapter, the Holy One, Blessed is He, consoles the eunuch and the foreigner: neither lineage nor physical descendants determine a person's eternity, but rather three fundamentals - faith (observance of Shabbat, which testifies to the creation of the world anew), fulfillment of mitzvot ("and choose what I desire"), and Torah study ("and hold fast to My covenant"). To anyone who clings to these, Hashem promises a "monument and a name" (yad vashem) - support in his lifetime and an everlasting name after him, better than sons and daughters, and a place on the Holy Mountain where "My House shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." From here emerges the lesson that one must never look down upon anyone because of his origins, and that one should invest specifically in the children of the poor. In contrast, at the conclusion of the chapter, comes a harsh rebuke against the leaders of the generation: blind watchmen, mute dogs that cannot bark, sleeping and chasing after desire and greedy gain, who abandoned the flock - and therefore the beasts of the field are summoned, as it were, to come, until Hashem sends us leaders worthy of guiding His people.