00:00 Sefer Yeshayahu chapter 61. The spirit of Hashem Elokim is upon me, because Hashem has anointed me to bring tidings to the humble, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound. The spirit of Hashem Elokim is upon me.
The Radak says these are the words of the navi. The navi in fact comes and prefaces by saying: know that the tidings I have spoken, the good tidings, and the tidings I am destined to speak, know that all this is not from me, but rather it is the spirit of Hashem that has rested upon me. And the Holy One, blessed be He, sends me to bring the people of Israel good tidings about what is destined to come upon them in the future. And this is meant so that they should not despair of the redemption. Since the hardship is great and the suffering is terrible, one needs to encourage the people and speak to them words of strengthening so that they do not despair. And he tells them: know then that this is from the mouth of Hashem. Everything I send you, these words of comfort, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent me to say this and to write these things, to bring tidings with them to the people of the exile, since they are brokenhearted and they are humble. The meaning of this is that these people are in a lowly state, as humble ones, they are brokenhearted, meaning they are going through crises that are not easy, they are in a state of depression and grief, the nations want to distance them from the service of Hashem. And since this is so, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent me to speak to them words of comfort, encouragement and strengthening, so that they should not break during the length of their exile, but rather await the salvation of Hashem.
What does "Hashem has anointed me to bring tidings to the humble" mean? The Radak explains that "anointed" here is an expression of increase, elevation and appointment. As it is written, "and you shall anoint Chazael as king over Aram." Is he really going to anoint him as king, an actual anointing with oil? Kings of the nations of the world were not anointed. Understand that when we speak of "the anointed of Hashem" and "anointed one," the meaning is that they take anointing oil and anoint him, placing it on his head, this was a way of appointment and elevation. So the Radak explains here that this expression became a broader expression, that does not come only to express the placing of oil on his head, but comes to express that they appointed him to greatness. This is called anointing. Even though in practice there was no actual anointing here, and the origin of the word is indeed from anointing, but it has already become a general expression that comes to say that he received an appointment. Or as it is written, "and Elisha son of Shafat you shall anoint as navi in your place," or as it is written, "do not touch My anointed ones," where all these meanings are really "My appointees," those whom I raised up and elevated.
"Because Hashem has anointed me as king," the meaning is: the purpose, the reason Hashem anointed me as navi, is to bring tidings to the humble. It is in order to bring tidings to the people of Israel about the good prophecies that are destined to come upon them. And everything I say is only because the Holy One, blessed be He, gave me the appointment for this. To do what? To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those who are bound. "To proclaim liberty to the captives" means those who are currently captive in the hand of the nations will have liberty, "dror" meaning freedom. "And release to those who are bound." What is "pekach koach"? The Radak explains that these two words really have one matter. The matter is the opening of the imprisonment. "Pekach koach" means the opening of the imprisonment. But he says it is possible to explain this also as two words: pekach, koach. "Pekach" is an expression of opening, like an eye that is closed and one opens it, so too a person who is imprisoned in confinement, one opens him from his imprisonment. And "koach" comes to express taking him from his imprisonment and bringing him out of the exile. So there are two things here, opening and taking, pekach, koach. Pekach as in opening, and also taking. Another explanation the Radak gives in the name of his father, that the imprisonment itself is called "koach," since they take them by force (koach), they are taken (lekuchim) in this imprisonment. And when he says "pekach koach" the meaning is: take them, open them, bring them out of the imprisonment in which they are held.
The Malbim explains: the spirit of Hashem is upon me. What I say, "Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of Hashem shines upon you," this I say by the spirit of Hashem. The spirit of Hashem hovers over me in order to bring tidings of the future salvation. And this is the reason: because Hashem has anointed me to bring tidings to the humble. The Malbim says that in fact there were two groups, two groups within the people of Israel. There was one group who are in the category of humble ones. Those who are lowly, awaiting the salvation, not complaining, not coming with grievances against the Holy One, blessed be He. Hashem sent me to bring tidings to the humble. Hashem sent me so that I would be for them the herald who informs them of the future salvation. And another matter, there is another group who are brokenhearted. The brokenhearted are people who, as they say today, are broken. That's it, they have already given up hope. They are already in depression, they are brokenhearted, their heart has already broken from the ceaseless waiting for the future redemption. And Hashem sent me also to bring tidings to these people, to the brokenhearted, to those whose heart is broken and who are already in desolation from so much grief, from so many troubles, from so much suffering. Hashem sends me to bring them a special mission in order to tell them not to despair. There is hope, there is something to await, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to redeem them.
And Hashem sends me to bring tidings of three matters. The first matter is already here in our pasuk, says the Malbim, this is about the future redemption. Know: you will go out from the hand of the idolaters. There are some who are only captives in captivity, the Holy One, blessed be He, will proclaim liberty to them, to the captives. There are some who are more than captives, one who is both captive and bound in chains. The meaning is one who is imprisoned with chains on his hands, who are generally the more dangerous, more problematic prisoners, so he is both in captivity and also has shackles on his hands and feet. The Holy One, blessed be He, also for these, also for those who are bound, pekach koach. Them too the Holy One, blessed be He, will open and bring out from their imprisonment.
To proclaim a year of favor for Hashem and a day of vengeance for our God, to comfort all who mourn. "To proclaim a year of favor for Hashem." The year of favor is the year of redemption, it will be a year of favor, as it is written, "and in My favor I have comforted you." And the favor here is to the exclusion of a year of wrath, for all that we are going through now, we are in a reality of wrath. The Holy One, blessed be He, is as it were angry with us. But he says there will be a time that will be a year of favor, there will not be wrath but there will be favor from Hashem. As it is written, "for in My wrath I smote you, and in My mercy and kindness," the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "I had mercy on you." And a day of vengeance and recompense, what will this day of vengeance be? The day of vengeance is the day of Gog and Magog, on which the Holy One, blessed be He, will take vengeance on the nations for what they did to the people of Israel. And afterward the Holy One, blessed be He, with this, will comfort the mourners. What does "to comfort all who mourn" mean? This is already the next pasuk, "to appoint for the mourners of Zion," where it comes in greater detail.
The Malbim explains that the Holy One, blessed be He, informs us that He brings tidings of the reward and the punishment that will be for the righteous and the wicked. Good reward for the righteous and, on the other hand, punishment for the wicked. And both of these things He includes in our pasuk. "To proclaim a year of favor for Hashem." A year of favor means that there will be favor from Hashem to bestow an abundance of goodness upon the people who until now suffered, these are the righteous, those who awaited and believed in Hashem, blessed be He. This is the attribute of mercy. A year of favor for Hashem (the Tetragrammaton), this is a year of favor for Hashem which will be the attribute of mercy, their reward will be paid. But there will also be a day of vengeance for "our God." What is "our God" (Elokeinu)? "Elokeinu" is the category of the attribute of judgment. There will also be a day of vengeance in order to exact payment from the nations who oppressed us. Now note, says the Malbim, this is an interesting thing. The Malbim asks: why regarding favor is it written "year," and regarding vengeance is it written "day"? As if it will be only on a single day. The Malbim says: since the salvation is the good attribute, it will last a whole year. The whole year. In contrast, the day of vengeance, on a single day the Holy One, blessed be He, will exact payment from all the wicked. The meaning is, as it were, on a single day He will destroy them. So that in fact the day of vengeance will be a very brief time in which Hashem takes vengeance on them. This is the second matter, this is the second tiding. The second tiding is reward and punishment. Reward for the righteous and punishment for the wicked.
Another thing the Holy One, blessed be He, promises here, that He also comforts them about the past, about the evil they suffered, about the good they lost. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, "to comfort all who mourn." The meaning is: you grow weary and say, how much we suffered, how much we lost, how many died, how many were tormented. When I tell you that for this you will receive good, with this I have comforted you. Because in fact it will become clear that all those who died and all those who suffered and all those who were tormented, it was not for nothing. There was benefit in it. There is a story told about a certain friend of the king, a good friend of the king, whom a minister of the king greatly envied. And the king went out on some vacation and he took this good friend and appointed him as his deputy for the period he was away, appointed the minister as his deputy for the period when he was not there. And the minister said: now is the opportunity to get back at the king's friend. And it is told that he sought some pretext, and in order to take him out of his house, he told him this house belongs to the crown, and when he at first tried to refuse, he ordered him to be given fifty lashes. And that poor man suffered severe lashes and awaited only when the king would come, only when the king would come. When the king finally returned, he came to him weeping and told him about the minister's deeds, what he did to him and how he abused him. The king heard this and his fury burned within him. And the king said: now for every blow that he gave you, you will receive 1,000 rubles. And 1,000 rubles was considered an enormous sum. And so it comes out that the man received 50,000 rubles from what? From the treasures of that minister who was very wealthy, and in fact he was almost impoverished, and everything passed to that friend of the king. For every blow he received 1,000 rubles. Fine, he returns home, his wife asks him: well, what did the king say? He tells her, weeping. She says to him: what, was the king not on your side? Did he not protect you? What? He tells her: no, no, the king actually protected me and said that for every blow I would receive 1,000 rubles. She says to him: then why are you crying? He says: why did he strike me only fifty? Why did he not strike me a hundred? That is what I am crying about. So it comes out, if so, that comfort is really when we understand that the blow was not torment. The blow was for good. The blow was praiseworthy. Here you receive additional good for it. And this is what he says here, "to comfort all who mourn." Know that all that you went through and all the suffering, even for the past there will be comforts. And what will be the nature of the comforts? The Malbim says the nature of the comforts will be in three matters. And this he will now detail in the next pasuk.
To appoint for the mourners of Zion, to give them glory instead of ashes, oil of joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a dim spirit. And they shall be called the oaks of righteousness, the planting of Hashem, to be glorified. The Malbim says there are here three things instead of the mourning that they went through. And the Malbim explains that in fact here the things are stated as a parable. We are compared to mourning people, to people who were in grief and mourning. And now he will come and describe for us how, against the mourning, there will be gladness and joy. And he begins and says: behold, you see that mourning has disgrace, has degradation, has suffering, in three matters. One thing, from the standpoint of his place. Of the mourner it is written that he sits in dust, "he has thrust his horn into the dust." The Holy One, blessed be He, will appoint for the mourners of Zion glory instead of ashes. They are in ashes and dust, they will now have glory in place of the ashes and dust that were upon them. Another thing, the mourner has a number of things in which he conducts himself, and this is indeed by free choice, but in any case these are things that express mourning. For example, the mourner does not anoint himself with oil. The mourner does not wash his body. And about this he says, to appoint for them oil of joy instead of mourning. Instead of their mourning, in which during their mourning they did not anoint with oil, now the Holy One, blessed be He, will appoint for them oil of joy. The Metzudat David, by the way, explains why this is called "oil of joy." Because sometimes oil comes for healing. One has a wound, he smears oil on the wound. Here he wants to say this is not oil of healing, this is oil of refinement. Oil of joy. When a person wants to refine his body, he would smear on his body various oils, anoint his body. That is to say, their state will be so good that you will not need healing, but rather any smearing of oil upon you will be only for enjoyment, for pleasure and for joy. In any case let us return to the Malbim, so the Malbim says that the mourner has no oil, and here they will appoint for you oil of joy instead of the mourning. A third thing, from the standpoint of the mourner's inner spirit. The mourner inwardly is in grief and sorrow and depression. He worries, his spirit is dim, his light is low. About this he says, instead of a dim spirit you will have a garment of praise. The meaning is: a dim spirit is a state of depression, in which a person feels lowly. A garment of praise is a person who goes with self-confidence and praises and lauds himself, glad in his condition. Now indeed we are not speaking here about concepts of arrogance, which is a defective and rotten thing, but rather he means to say that they will praise themselves out of great uplift of spirit, until they praise themselves publicly. In such a sense that they will have such inner joy, such wholeness in their deeds, such contentment in their condition, that they will go about and you see upon them all the time a light of joy, a garment of praise, like a person who goes praising and lauding himself all the time in the good condition that he has. And this is against the mourning in which they were in depression, were in grief, were in sorrow over their former condition.
And they shall be called the oaks of righteousness, the planting of Hashem, to be glorified. What is "the oaks of righteousness" (eilei hatzedek)? Everyone explains, and Rashi too, and the Radak, and the Malbim treads this path, that "eilei" is an expression of trees. Like the trees of righteousness. Like "from the terebinths that you desired." And why do they explain that this means "eilim" (trees) and not "oaks" and not power, like "eiliehon," as we always say "the mighty of the land"? Rashi says: since it is written here "the oaks of righteousness, the planting of Hashem." That is to say, we are speaking here of plantings. If we are speaking here of plantings, then "eilei hatzedek" is speaking here of trees. So they will be called "the oaks of righteousness." What are these "oaks of righteousness"? What are the plantings of righteousness, the trees of righteousness? What does this mean? The Malbim has here an interesting explanation. The Malbim says that in their time they were accustomed to plant such trees, like the oak, to symbolize all sorts of things. As is brought in the Gemara, that they would plant, when a boy or girl was born, they would plant a tree for their fortune as it were, from which afterward they would make their chuppah. As the Gemara in Masechet Gittin brings, in connection with such a matter it was destroyed, what was it, Tur Malka, I believe there. They would plant trees so that these trees would symbolize certain things. For idolatry they would plant trees beside their altars, asherot. Here the trees I spoke of earlier are not necessarily negative trees. This is a matter in which there is nothing negative. For idolatry it is a negative thing. They would also plant trees that would symbolize righteousness. And what was the matter with planting trees? When they engaged in, when they gathered to engage in the matter of law and justice, they would go to those trees, under those trees, under that place, which are called "the oaks of righteousness," the trees of righteousness. The place where they would gather to adjudicate matters of justice, in order perhaps to judge or to enact things and practices and ordinances of uprightness and justice. The people of Israel will be called the oaks of righteousness. The meaning is: they will be the sign and the symbol of uprightness and justice. Those whom Hashem planted to be glorified. What is "to be glorified" (lehitpa'er)? Here it is not in the sense of boasting, of arrogance, but in the sense of "po'arot" (branches). What are the po'arot? Po'arot is the glory of the tree. The glory of the tree is its crown, it is the branches that it sends far, its boughs. So "to be glorified" means: they will be the oaks of righteousness, such great trees with branches that will be sent far. Its meaning: their righteousness will be heard far and be seen and be done. And from this there will be shoots and offshoots that go and branch out from them. For today, to our sorrow, the state of the people of Israel on this point is at a low. Because today the symbol of an Israeli is a symbol of scheming, of cunning, of deception, of crime, worldwide. There are places where, to our sorrow, they give the right of entry to Israelis, and this is not necessarily because of antisemitism, but many times Israelis arrive at some place and they feel that they are the owners there. As one described, he does not admit Israelis to his hotel. We asked him why? He says: after the last time they made a barbecue in the room for me and burned my carpet and stank up the whole room, and when they came to give them a warning they even threatened the hotel owner that they would complain about him, because they rented the room and it is their right to do here whatever they want. He says: with this the waters reached the very soul, he says, and there is no entry for Israelis, even though I had a lot of money from it, from all sorts of tourism companies that send Israelis here. He began to describe horrific descriptions. He says: they sit in some group, they sit in the corridor, thirty guys, they take out chairs, they sit together. Yes, you understand, these are usually the guys of the lower level, right? They sit, project-housing types, they turn the whole hotel into that. People there, Europeans, arrive, want a bit of quiet and such. Those guys sit there outside, they share experiences, smoke cigarettes, take out vodkas and such. It does not suit them. He said: that's it, done, he stopped with Israelis. Now the Israelis today, to our sorrow, have given a bad name in general to the concept of righteousness. And I am not even speaking about the High Court, where "righteousness" is just the name of a planet. I am not even speaking about them, I am already speaking about the ordinary person. So that in fact he says: this matter will come to be rectified, and the people of Israel will be called the oaks of righteousness. They will be the symbol and will be the example and the model of righteousness and uprightness. They will be the trees of righteousness from which all will learn and thus all will do.
And they shall rebuild the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations. And they shall renew the ruined cities, the desolations of generation after generation. And they shall rebuild the ancient ruins. These oaks, meaning these trees of which we spoke, they will rebuild the ancient ruins. And note, this in fact speaks here of a parable. For the parable began with our being called the oaks of righteousness, we are the trees of righteousness. From trees they would build houses. And the analogue: "the oaks of righteousness" comes to say the symbol and model of righteousness, and by the power of this symbol and model of righteousness, the ancient ruins and the former desolations will be rebuilt. The meaning is: what until now was ruined and was desolate, that righteousness was at a low and uprightness and truth were degraded, now the oaks of righteousness will rebuild. How? By the power of those trees, as it were, from the power of that conduct of righteousness and uprightness, then everything will be rebuilt. All the old things that were ruined and desolate for generation after generation, as it were, will be renewed with new buildings and all that desolation that was until then will not be recognizable. And the analogue, the Malbim explains, in fact comes to express also the destruction of the beliefs and the desolation of the opinions, that there were false beliefs and false opinions and all sorts of vain beliefs that they believed in. And when Hashem will be King over all the earth, Hashem will be one and His name one, and all will know Me from the smallest of them to the greatest, and knowledge will increase and many will roam about and find Hashem, and your prophets will dream dreams. And if so, in this reality righteousness will increase. Because until then everyone does not walk in righteousness, does not walk in uprightness. The world is a world of falsehood. In the world people go about with thousands of corrupted beliefs and opinions, in which there is no expression of righteousness, which is really divine righteousness, to do the will of Hashem, to walk in His ways. But when knowledge increases, when the Holy One, blessed be He, will bestow of His spirit upon man, through this the oaks of righteousness will increase, through this those trees who are the people of Israel will rebuild the ancient ruins, the former desolations, all the corrupted opinions of the previous generations. They will renew the cities that were ruined, the desolations of generation after generation. The corrupted opinions that went and took root over generation after generation, all those opinions, all those wreckages, will now be rebuilt through true and enduring opinions, which are the ways, the statutes, the teachings and the laws of the Creator, blessed be He.
It is written here "ancient ruins, former desolations." The Malbim explains that there is a difference between ruins and desolations. Ruined is not necessarily desolate. It could be that the city was ruined, but it is still inhabited. That is to say, its walls were ruined, but there are still people living there. In contrast, desolate could be a place that is desolate even though it is not ruined. Everyone abandoned it. The moment they abandoned it, it is desolate. Here it is written that there will be ancient ruins, former desolations. Both what was in the category of ruined and not desolate, and what was in the category of desolate and not ruined, says the Malbim, all of it they will raise up, all of it they will renew, all of it they will rebuild anew, through there being a way of truth and righteousness, and all will know Me from the smallest of them to the greatest.
And strangers shall stand and shepherd your flocks, and the sons of foreigners shall be your farmers and your vintners. "And strangers shall stand," "stand," says the Radak, means of their own accord. Not that we will come and demand this of them or obligate them. And they will shepherd your flocks. They will shepherd our flocks. And the sons of foreigners will be your farmers. "Your farmers" means workers of the fields. And they will also be your vintners. "Your vintners" means those in charge of the vineyards, those who would cultivate the vineyards. The Malbim says: note, it is written here "strangers" and it is written here "sons of foreigners." And what is the difference between strangers and sons of foreigners? We already noted this in the past, that the difference is that "strangers" (zarim) means: he is not from here. It could be that he is from another people, it could be that he is from another family, it could be that he is from another place of residence. A stranger does not necessarily refer to a gentile. Right? For example, an Israelite relative to a kohen is called a stranger. Terumah is forbidden, forbidden to strangers. "Stranger" means not belonging to the matter. In contrast, "sons of foreigners" means a gentile. There is no other explanation for it. "Sons of foreigners" does not mean someone who does not belong to the matter, but rather it means a gentile. The Malbim says: "and strangers shall stand and shepherd your flocks." The flocks we will not entrust to place in the hand of the sons of foreigners. We will entrust them in the hand of strangers. But in contrast, the work of the land, which is something much more physical and material and in which there is also not much to ruin, so the sons of foreigners will be your farmers and your vintners. They will be the farmers and they will be those who work the labor of the vineyard.
And if they are the ones who will do these tasks, then you, what will you do? And you shall be called the kohanim of Hashem. It shall be said to you: the ministers of our God. You shall eat the wealth of nations, and in their glory you shall boast. "And you shall be called the kohanim of Hashem." You will be the kohanim of Hashem, meaning the princes of the Holy One, blessed be He. The wealth of nations, it says, "you shall eat the wealth of nations." What does "the wealth of nations" mean? The assets of the nations. In the language of the Targum, "the assets of the peoples you shall eat." The assets of the idolaters. "You shall eat the wealth of nations, and in their glory you shall boast." The meaning is: you will enter in their place in the glory that they had until now. According to Rashi, "lehityamer" means to enter in his place. In contrast, according to the other commentators, "lehityamer" means from the language of "lehit'amer" (to be elevated). What is "amir"? High, correct? "You have exalted Hashem this day, Hashem has exalted you this day." "Amir" is an expression of height. So according to their explanation, "in their glory you shall boast" means in their glory you will be elevated. So that in fact it comes out that what we explain today, "he presumes (mityamer) to be like," this fits better according to Rashi's explanation. That according to Rashi, "presumes to be," meaning one who tries to be something else. One who enters in the place of someone else. So "in their glory you shall boast," you will enter into their glory. So "he presumes to be," I don't know, a great sage, he wants to enter to be at the level of a great sage. Thus it comes out that the explanation accepted today fits better according to Rashi's interpretation.
The Radak explains: "and you shall be called the kohanim of Hashem." You will not need to do labor. Why? Because those who do the labor will be the sons of foreigners. So what do you have to do? Let us consider. The kohanim are those who are ministers of Hashem. Who are those who do the labor? It is us, the people of Israel. From where do the kohanim have what to eat? They have no fields, they have no vineyards. We work and we give to them. And through giving them the twenty-four gifts of priesthood, they are free to engage in the service of Hashem. Now the situation will change. And in fact everything will be elevated. How will everything be elevated? The gentile who until now engaged in vanity, he is the one who will now work for us. He will be our farmer, our vintner, our flock-shepherd. Those who until now busied themselves with vanity will come and busy themselves providing for our livelihood. So we, the people of Israel, no longer have a need to engage in livelihood. So if so, we will become like the kohanim. Do you understand? Everything really rises a level. And if we have someone engaged in our livelihood, then what remains for us? To engage in Torah. To come to Beit Eliyahu, to arrive at the midrasha. There is nothing else to do. Whoever is here already now, he is already living in the days of Mashiach already now. He is already now in the life of the World to Come. But if not, then in the future we will need to expand, with the help of Hashem, and whoever survives will arrive here to engage in Torah, because he will no longer need to work. He will not be able to say, no, I have work. What is this work of yours? There are gentiles, there are flock-shepherds, there are those who do everything for you. You do not need to do anything, you just sit and learn. So like the kohanim, that the kohanim were available, were available to do the service of the Beit HaMikdash without any economic burden, so too the people of Israel will busy themselves with the Torah of God, with words of wisdom, to know Hashem, without having any need in matters of livelihood. And if that is not enough, they will be more relaxed if there are also a few thousand dollars in the bank account, so he adds and says: you shall also eat the wealth of nations. Do not worry. The wealth of the nations, all that the gentile amassed, all the assets, this you shall eat. And why? Because besides working for you, they will also bring here an offering. As was customary, that offerings are brought to the kings whom they served. So they will bring here as an offering gold, silver, all the good of their land they will bring here. Until it comes out that we are in their honor and their greatness, "and in their glory you shall boast." In their honor and their greatness we will grow, we will be elevated, as we said an expression of "amirut," an expression of a high level and attainment, an expression of exaltation. The Onkelos explains "you shall boast," he explains, "you shall be indulged." Right? An expression of enjoyment and indulgence, thus explains the Onkelos.
The Malbim says: and you. As we said, the people of Israel, who until today were in the value of an Israelite relative to the kohen, we will become like kohanim relative to the gentiles, since we in fact will all be in the category of "a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation." Like the kohen, who is in contrast to the entire people. Thus also explains the Ibn Ezra, thus also explains the Radak. And just as the kohen would not engage in the work of the land and the shepherding of the flock, so too, as we explained earlier, the gentiles are those who will supply all our needs. "The kohanim of Hashem shall you be called." We will be called the kohanim of Hashem, because we are the distinguished ones as it were, like the seed of Aharon who are kohanim fit for the service of the Beit HaMikdash. And by the way, it is written that also in the future the firstborn will be the kohanim. That is to say, not only will we have a status like the status of the kohanim, but also actual service will be done by Israelites who are the firstborn who will be kohanim. This does not, by the way, prevent the kohanim; it is not written that the kohanim will be abolished. But in any case the firstborn too will be those who perform the service and minister in the House of Hashem. The Malbim says: with all this, a minister of Hashem is only called a kohen who serves in the House of Hashem, and not a kohen who engages in mundane matters. He tells us: you shall be called the kohanim of Hashem. That is to say, for the sake of the honor we will be called the kohanim of Hashem. And it will also be said to you, the ministers of our God. What does this mean? The Malbim says: kohanim of Hashem is only one who serves in the House of Hashem. In contrast, "minister" is a general expression. It applies both to kohanim, and it can also apply to a servant, to a servant of an ordinary man. We call him a servant. For example, the kohanim who minister in the House of Hashem, an expression of ministering is said of the service of the kohanim. And also "servant" is a title that appears in Tanach in several places, that he is the servant of the navi, or the servant of the king, right? "To the lad his servant." Ministering is said also of earthly matters, not necessarily of priesthood. So about this he comes and tells us: know, we will be like the kohen. Like the kohen who had two advantages. One, that he took terumot and ma'aserot, "you shall eat the wealth of nations." Like the terumot and ma'aserot, you will now receive from those who are the Israelites of today as it were. Who are those, as it were, today in the place of the Israelite? It is the gentiles. "You shall eat the wealth of nations," corresponding to the terumot and ma'aserot that the kohen would receive from the Israelite. And corresponding to the fact that they would honor the kohen to be first to open and to bless first, "in their glory you shall boast." The meaning is: you will be elevated and lauded in their glory, that everyone will give you honor. So that in fact you will have the level of the kohanim, both in matters of terumot and ma'aserot, which here will be with the wealth of nations, and in matters of honor, that the kohen is always first, the kohen at the head, that you will have "in their glory you shall boast," everyone will honor you. So you will be in the category of kohanim and in the category of ministers of our God, those who do the service of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, in a private manner.