"Upon your walls, O Yerushalayim, I have appointed watchmen; all the day and all the night, they shall never be silent; you who remind Hashem, take no rest." Upon your walls, O Yerushalayim, I have appointed watchmen. Chazal expound this, and Rashi brings it here according to its plain meaning. Who are these watchmen? They are angels. Angels who constantly remind the Holy One, blessed be He, that He must rebuild the walls of Yerushalayim, to renew our days as of old. What do these watchmen say? "You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for Hashem has chosen Zion, He has desired it for His dwelling." The angels constantly remind the Holy One, blessed be He, to rebuild Yerushalayim, so that Yerushalayim will not remain in its ruin and desolation. The Targum Yonatan says that these walls are the early forefathers. Upon your walls, O Yerushalayim, I have appointed watchmen means that the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, appointed those who would write a book of remembrances so that the merit of the forefathers would not be forgotten before the Master of the World. Upon your walls, O Yerushalayim, who is our fortified wall? The holy forefathers. Over them the Holy One, blessed be He, appoints watchmen. Watchmen here means those who remember. Like "and his father kept the matter," meaning he remembered the matter. So "I have appointed watchmen" refers to those who write the book of remembrances, who will constantly remind Me of the merit of the holy forefathers, and through that merit I will return and redeem the people of Israel. Another explanation, who are these watchmen? Perhaps first let us finish what Rashi says: these watchmen will never be silent and will always remind, "take no rest," do not be silent from constantly recalling the merits, the merit of the forefathers, before the Holy One, blessed be He, so that He will return and redeem us. Some commentators say, who are these that I have appointed as watchmen? These are the mourners of Zion. Those who pray day and night for Yerushalayim. Upon your walls, O Yerushalayim, I have appointed watchmen all the day and all the night, these are the mourners, those who say Tikkun Chatzot, those who grieve over its ruin, they are the watchmen. And here too the word can mean those who look forward, from "more than watchmen for the morning." What are watchmen for the morning? Those who anticipate and wait for when the morning will finally come. So here too, "I have appointed watchmen," these are the ones who anticipate, when will the redemption finally come. And they are the ones who remind the Holy One, blessed be He, of the ruin of Yerushalayim, that He should return and redeem Yerushalayim, and redeem the people of Israel. Or, says the Radak, one may explain that this refers to the entire nation of Israel in their exile. For they too look with their eyes and wait for when they will merit redemption. So they too fall under the category of watchmen and lookouts who remind concerning the builders of Yerushalayim day and night. And this is "they shall never be silent," for in every single prayer they mention the builders of Yerushalayim. And it is written in the holy books that even if a person does not remember the ruin of Yerushalayim all day long, which already shows our lowliness, but at the very least three times a day when you mention "the sprouting of David Your servant may You speedily cause to sprout," when you mention the building of Yerushalayim, at least three times a day let us be aroused to request the redemption in the blessing that was instituted for us, and concerning the building and state of Yerushalayim, that it should emerge from its desolation. So here He says of them, they are the watchmen all the day and all the night, morning and evening, they shall never be silent, you who remind Hashem, always mentioning the hope for the building of Yerushalayim. This is mentioned also in the Grace after Meals, "Blessed are You Hashem, who builds Yerushalayim," and there too one must have in mind that we wait and anticipate the building of Yerushalayim.
Another explanation, says the Radak: Upon your walls, O Yerushalayim, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, I am now speaking after the redemption. And after "as a young man marries a maiden, so shall your sons marry you," and after the salvation has already come, the Holy One, blessed be He, says after the redemption, upon your walls, O Yerushalayim, I have appointed watchmen. Do not worry that these walls will collapse again. Do not fear another exile. Rather then, after the redemption, I have appointed watchmen all the day and all the night, who shall never be silent. These watchmen will be alert day and night. Why? Other watchmen, says the Radak, are awake at night, and while they are awake they are not silent. That is, a person, when he is awake, especially if he is on guard duty, quickly falls asleep. What keeps people awake? That they talk among themselves. They talk among themselves. While they are keeping watch, they talk with one another. Sometimes this is dangerous, they might talk and become absorbed in conversation and not notice what is happening outside, that is indeed a problem. But normally, by not being silent, they arouse one another, and through this they do not fall asleep. So "I have appointed watchmen, all the day and all the night, they shall never be silent." Ordinary watchmen talk among themselves at night, and by day they go to sleep. But not here, this is "I have appointed watchmen." The watchmen of the future walls of Yerushalayim, they will guard all the day and all the night, and "they shall never be silent" means they will always talk among themselves and thereby maintain constant alertness. What are these watchmen? Says the Radak, this here is a parable. It does not mean there will be soldiers on the walls of Yerushalayim. Rather it is a parable, meaning there will be divine providence here. "The eyes of Hashem your God are upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year." This expresses the constant providence that will exist when the redemption comes. For if now, as it were, there is no constant providence, or, as it were, we are in a state of the hiding of the face, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, when Yerushalayim is built, I have appointed watchmen. Then My eyes will be upon it constantly, all the day and all the night, there will be individual providence at its highest level. You who remind Hashem, take no rest. Now He speaks of the people of the exile, of whom He says, you must remind Hashem. Take no rest, do not be silent, always remind and pray before the Holy One, blessed be He, until the Holy One, blessed be He, establishes and builds Yerushalayim. What is today Yerushalayim in disgrace and mockery, until the Holy One, blessed be He, makes Yerushalayim a praise in the earth. And in fact there is a difficulty here, a grammatical difficulty that the Radak proceeds to examine further on. Upon your walls, O Yerushalayim, I have appointed watchmen. Who is speaking? The Holy One, blessed be He. Afterwards, "and all the night they shall never be silent, you who remind Hashem." How should it have been written? "You who remind Me." You are speaking in the first person. How did you suddenly switch to speaking in the third person? Says the Radak, do not be surprised by this, we see in many verses that the text speaks in this manner. It begins in the first person and afterwards shifts to the third person. "Moshe went up," "and Hashem said to Moshe, come up to Me," "Moshe went up," and there it is written "to God." To Me or to God? The same idea. It begins in the first person, then speaks in the third person. Yes? Like the precise verse, "and to Moshe He said, come up to Hashem." And to Moshe He said, who? The Holy One, blessed be He. "Come up to Hashem"? Come up to Me. Again, you see, it opened in the first person and continues to speak in the third person. Another explanation He offers: "you who remind Hashem" refers to the words of the prophet. All the promises that the Holy One, blessed be He, promises you, therefore remind Hashem, pour out your hearts before Him, until He returns and makes Yerushalayim a praise in the earth.
The Malbim says, upon your walls, O Yerushalayim, after He said to us "for the sake of Zion I will not be silent." What does "I will not be silent" mean? The Holy One, blessed be He, says, I Myself will not be silent from saving them. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, beyond the fact that I Myself will not be silent, I have also appointed watchmen, who will wait for the appointed day. What is the meaning of watchmen? Like someone who reminds you. And this is indeed the concept of a shomer (a reminder) in halacha. A person who has not yet prayed and wants to eat should appoint a shomer. What is a shomer? Someone who reminds you. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, beyond the fact that "for the sake of Zion I will not be silent," which is Me, I will not be silent from saving them, I have also placed watchmen over the walls of Yerushalayim, who wait for the appointed day and whose task is to remind. And do not think that until the appointed time they will be silent, and only when the time comes will they remind. He says no, even in the middle of the time, all the day and all the night, these watchmen remind. These watchmen arouse the Holy One, blessed be He, to redeem the people of Israel. And I have already warned these watchmen, you who remind Hashem, take no rest. "They shall never be silent" means do not sit quietly. And more than that, do not even for a moment, but always, always, always, always, always speak. That is "take no rest." For the word "dom" means after speaking. There should not be a situation where after you speak, you take a break. No, no, take no rest. Rather always, in a manner without interruption, always continue to request concerning Yerushalayim. He says, based on this you will understand the exposition of Chazal who say, "and Aharon was silent." The Midrash says, what was there for him to say? What do Chazal actually want? Who says he had something to say? Because if you say "he was silent (vayidom)," it means he came to say something and stopped. That is, a cessation of action. Ah, that means he has something to say. So what was there for him to say? But if you say "Aharon kept quiet (hechesha)," there was nothing for him to say, he was silent, he was silent from the outset. But if you say "and Aharon was silent (vayidom)," it means he came to speak, he had something to say, and he immediately stopped. He fell silent (nidam). For "nidam" always expresses a cessation of action.
"And give Him no rest until He establishes and until He makes Yerushalayim a praise in the earth." And give Him no rest. What does "give Him no rest" mean? After all, you are speaking of us, we are the ones who speak. We are the ones who request. So "give Him no rest"? It should say "give yourselves no rest." You should not be silent for a moment. Why does He say "give Him no rest"? Says the Radak, a wondrous thing. When a person speaks, generally if there is someone listening, you occupy him. His thoughts, his listening, his attention, are on the things you say. It follows, then, that when I am silent, he too will be silent. Correct? What does it mean that he too will be silent? From listening, from paying attention. He is no longer listening, now he is at ease. But when you speak, he must listen, he is constantly listening. This is the meaning of "give Him no rest." It means do not let Him also be still from His listening. To be still from His attention. For if "take no rest," you constantly, constantly, constantly request, then constantly from Heaven they listen and pay attention. The Malbim says, "give Him no rest," do not leave Him to be silent, and do not you be silent, until He completes the building. And until He makes Yerushalayim a praise and a name. That is, how does the Malbim reconcile "give Him no rest"? The Malbim says, "give Him no rest" means that the Holy One, blessed be He, will already begin the building. So He is already performing an action. Give Him no rest, do not let Him stop the action. Rather until He establishes and until He makes. That is, keep going and going and going until the final finish. That is "give Him no rest." What did He speak, what did He do? He began to build. It is already speaking of the Holy One, blessed be He, beginning the redemption. And then do not say, well, here, the matter is already starting. No, no. Give Him no rest. Keep going and requesting until we see the completion of the absolute redemption.
"Hashem has sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength: I will no longer give your grain as food to your enemies, and the sons of the stranger shall not drink your wine for which you labored." Hashem has sworn. Says the Radak, an oath is without conditions. The Holy One, blessed be He, swore, meaning this thing will be and will be fulfilled. Again here too, by the way, the Radak examines the same grammatical point. Hashem has sworn by His right hand, "if I will give your grain." It should say "if He will give your grain." What is "if I will give"? You are speaking of Hashem in the third person. The same answer we gave earlier. Hashem has sworn means the Holy One, blessed be He, swore by His right hand and by the arm of His strength. Meaning, sometimes you can swear but you do not have the power to carry it out. But with the Holy One, blessed be He, it is "Hashem has sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength," He has His right hand and the arm of His strength. He is able to fulfill His oaths. He also has the power to bring them into being. The Malbim says, there is an additional matter here, a third matter. The Holy One, blessed be He, committed by oath to everything we spoke of earlier. And this oath is by His right hand and by the arm of His strength. What is the doubling of right hand and arm of His strength? Says the Malbim, the right hand indicates a leadership of power and might. This is a miraculous leadership. It is in our merit. In the merit of the righteous, in the merit of the deeds of Israel, there is a leadership of the right hand. A leadership of miracle, a leadership of might. This is from our power, from our arm, our right hand. In contrast, the arm is a miraculous leadership that is not from our power, but from the power of the Holy One, blessed be He. From His own power. From the power of the promise that the Holy One, blessed be He, promised that He would redeem us. That is the expression of "arm." So this is what He says, Hashem has sworn by His right hand, if we have the merit, if we are worthy, if we are righteous, it will be by His right hand. And if not, then there is no choice, the redemption will certainly come, but it will be by the arm of His strength. As it is written, "put on strength, O arm of Hashem," "and His arm brought salvation for Him." "And it brought salvation for Him," for whom? For the Holy One, blessed be He. That is "His arm brought salvation for Him." This is from His side, blessed be He, it is not, it is not our merits. That is "His arm brought salvation for Him." "Put on strength, O arm of Hashem," which is the arm of Hashem, this comes from Hashem, not from our power and not from our merit. Concerning this Chazal also say, "by His right hand" this is the Torah, "by the arm of His strength" these are tefillin. How does this connect to what we said just now? Listen how wonderful. He says, if we have merit, then Torah. What does Torah mean? That we learn Torah. That we engage in and keep the mitzvot. And Torah here is not specifically the study of Torah, but Torah and mitzvot. By the power of both. And if they do not merit, these are tefillin. What do you mean tefillin? That too is us. He says no, tefillin means the promise that the Holy One, blessed be He, promised to redeem us in any case, which is written in the tefillin. For in the tefillin, in the passages of the tefillin, it is written "who is like Your people Israel, one nation in the land," as the Gemara brings, what is written in the tefillin of the Holy One, blessed be He? So this is what He says. If we are worthy, Hashem has sworn by His right hand, this is Torah. In the merit that the people of Israel keep the Torah. And if not, then in the merit of the tefillin. In the merit of what is written in the tefillin of the Holy One, blessed be He, the greatness of the people of Israel. So by this merit the Holy One, blessed be He, is obligated to redeem us. But it is not, one cannot call it a merit, rather because of this obligation, let us define it more precisely. And this is the difference we mentioned. His right hand means our merits, and the arm of His strength means an awakening from above, without our having any merits in the matter ourselves.
"I will no longer give your grain as food to your enemies." Until now the enemies would sit here and eat our grain. We would toil and they would come and eat. Concerning this He says, He will no longer give your grain as food to your enemies. And the sons of the stranger will not drink your wine for which you labored. The sons of the stranger will not drink your wine for which you labored. What is "sons of the stranger"? The Malbim already explained to us several times that it means foreigners, strangers, those who are not from here, who are not from the land. Why does He say "your enemies" regarding the grain, and "sons of the stranger" regarding the wine, which is the wine? Says the Malbim, because wine is transported far away for trade, and is preserved for years. Concerning this He says, sons of the stranger, those far from here, will not have your wine transported to them so that they drink it there. This does not mean it will not be exported, it means they will not rob us of our produce. Not as was the case, for example, in the period of the Judges, when the people of Israel would plow and Midyan would come and raid and take everything. Rather there will not be such a situation where your grain is food for your enemies and the sons of the stranger drink your wine. "For those who gather it shall eat it and praise Hashem, and those who collect it shall drink it in the courts of My sanctuary." For those who gather it shall eat it, those who gather the grain, they shall eat it. And praise Hashem. What is "and praise Hashem"? The Radak explains that this refers back to Maaser Sheni and Neta Revai. Those who gather it shall eat it, the owners will eat it. Neta Revai is "praises to Hashem." Maaser Sheni too, one would confess and praise Hashem there. And where will this be? Those who collect it shall drink it in the courts of My sanctuary. For where does one eat Maaser Sheni and Neta Revai? In the courts of My sanctuary, in Yerushalayim, within the wall. As it is written, "before Hashem your God you shall eat it." And the entire city is called "before Hashem your God," and the entire city is called "the courts of the sanctuary." For even the courtyards of the houses, all of it is the courts of My sanctuary, the courts of Yerushalayim. So you will merit to gather the grain and the wine and to bring up the Neta Revai and the Maaser Sheni, you will eat it in the courts of My sanctuary, and by it praise Hashem, since for Maaser Sheni one would confess, and Neta Revai is "praises," the Neta Revai.
The Malbim explains that the two halves of the verse are parallel. Corresponding to "your grain" He says "those who gather it shall eat it." Why? Because grain is gathered. Corresponding to "your wine" He said "those who collect it shall drink it." Because grapes are collected. As it is written, "you shall bring much seed out to the field, and gather little." What do you learn? "Those who gather it" speaks of the seed, speaks of the grain, of the produce. "You shall plant vineyards and not gather." Here it speaks of collecting, of gathering, of collecting. So regarding grapes the expression "to collect," "to store" is used, and regarding produce the expression "to gather" is used. And concerning this He says "they shall drink it in the courts of My sanctuary," as the Radak explained, a fourth-year vineyard is eaten in Yerushalayim. And the Malbim notes precisely, take note, regarding "those who gather it shall eat it" it does not say "in the courts of My sanctuary." In contrast, regarding the wine, "those who collect it shall drink it in the courts of My sanctuary." So the Radak explained that "in the courts of My sanctuary" refers back to everything. But in fact the matter depends on a dispute. The Gemara brings that there is a dispute whether it is "a fourth-year vineyard" or "a fourth-year planting." Whether the law of Neta Revai applies only to a vineyard or also to the other trees. Whatever the case, with grain it certainly does not apply. With grain it certainly does not apply. And since this is so, "those who gather it shall eat it," where do they eat the grain? Within the borders. It does not say "those who gather it shall eat it," as we said the gathering refers to the produce, where shall they eat it? In Yerushalayim. "Those who collect it shall drink it," which already refers to Neta Revai, this indeed will be in the courts of My sanctuary. And according to the Malbim it emerges that this does not speak of Maaser Sheni at all, and therefore one cannot speak here of "those who gather it shall eat" the produce in Yerushalayim. For it did not speak here of Maaser Sheni, it spoke of ordinary produce. And where does one eat the grain? At home. And over the grain, what does one bless? Grace after Meals. So "those who gather it shall eat it and praise Hashem," according to the Malbim, this is Grace after Meals. Not as the Radak explained that "praise" means like "a vineyard of praises," Neta Revai being "praises to Hashem," or Maaser Sheni over which one would confess before Hashem. No, this is the praises. The praises are the Grace after Meals that you recite. In contrast, the grapes, one cannot say concerning them "they praised Hashem," because over grapes there is no Grace after Meals. So therefore only concerning the grain does He say "those who gather it shall eat it and praise Hashem." This is Grace after Meals, "and you shall eat and be satisfied and bless." In contrast, the wine, "they shall drink it in the courts of My sanctuary," this they will drink in Yerushalayim.
"Pass through, pass through the gates, clear the way for the people; build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up a banner over the peoples." "Build up, build up the highway" means conquer the land; "clear it of stones" means remove the stones that constitute an obstacle, says Rashi, move them to the sides; "clear it of stones" means clear it from having stones there. And this also expresses the repair of the roads in preparation for the coming of the exiles. That the exiles will come here, so it will be necessary to repair the roads so that they can ascend to the land. "Lift up a banner over the peoples," a banner, Rashi says, is a pole. And the other commentators say a pole on which a curtain is hung. Yes? It means a staff on which a flag is hung. That is the meaning of "lift up a banner," for such was their custom, that they would raise a banner, a large pole, so that everyone would follow it, so that they would know where to go. And this would be, in effect, a symbol that all the nations would follow. And this is "raise a banner toward Zion." It means raise the banner after which all the exiles will come, they will come to Zion. "Pass through, pass through the gates," like passing from gate to gate in the camp. "Clear the way for the people," pave the highway, clear it of stones, meaning, as the Radak says, to prepare for the coming of Israel. "Lift up a banner over the peoples," the Radak explains, in order to inform them wherever they are in exile. And this is, as it were, by way of parable. According to Rashi it means in the particular, actual sense, to clear and arrange the roads. But the Radak says this is by way of parable. Like when an important person arrives, you say clear the way, so-and-so has arrived. What does "clear the way" mean? Are they going now to clear the road? No, rather it is an expression that says give honor to so-and-so. So-and-so has arrived, that is "clear the way." Likewise, when the salvation comes, the peoples will say to Israel, behold, return to your land, clear the way, the people of Israel is returning to its land. And then the salvation will be revealed before the eyes of all, the greatness of Israel will be revealed before the eyes of all.