Chapter 64 is the direct continuation of the prayer at the end of the previous chapter. The prophet stands and recalls before the Holy One, blessed be He, His awesome deeds of the past: the Exodus from Egypt, the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and the signs and wonders performed for Israel. From the power of this memory, he pleads: Master of the Universe, why do You not do the same now as well? The entire chapter is one great outcry, ending with the question, "Will You restrain Yourself over these things, Hashem?" - and the response of the Holy One, blessed be He, will come in the very next chapter.
כִּקְדֹחַ אֵשׁ הֲמָסִים מַיִם תִּבְעֶה־אֵשׁ לְהוֹדִיעַ שִׁמְךָ לְצָרֶיךָ מִפָּנֶיךָ גּוֹיִם יִרְגָּזוּ׃ - As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil, to make Your Name known to Your adversaries, that nations may tremble before You.
"As fire kindles hamasim" - like a fire that burns and melts something, for hamasim is related to melting. "Fire causes water to boil [tiv'eh]": Rashi explains that when a red-hot metal object is placed into water, the water bubbles and boils up. And all of this You did in Egypt, during the plague of hail, in which fire flared up within the hail. It emerges that we come to recall the past: Master of the Universe, You performed miracles, You brought them out of Egypt, You split the sea for them, You sent fire within the hail.
Targum Yonatan explains that the verse recalls the miracle performed on Mount Carmel through Eliyahu, where it is written that the fire licked up even the water that was in the trench. Thus, the fire burned there literally inside the water - "fire causes water to boil," the fire consumed the water.
Radak explains hamasim as being from the root of melting, something that dissolves, and applies the verse to the fire that descended at Mount Sinai, where the Holy One, blessed be He, descended upon it in fire. "As fire kindles" - a burning and blazing fire, as in "For a fire is kindled in My nostrils." And there was fire there that met water, as "the clouds dropped water." And what happens when water touches a blazing surface? Immediately, great amounts of steam rise, and the place appears smoke-filled. This is what is written, "and the mountain was entirely covered in smoke" - the smoke was produced by the combination of fire and water.
And why all this? "To make Your Name known to Your adversaries" - so that those who do not recognize You will see Your awesome deeds, and through this they will acknowledge Hashem's greatness, and the entire world will bend its will to the service of the Creator, blessed be He. Therefore the verse continues, "that nations may tremble before You": the Holy One, blessed be He, becomes known in His world, and the nations realize that all their idolatry is futility, and that there is a Creator of the universe.
Radak notes a grammatical point here: "Water causes fire to boil [mayim tiv'eh esh]" - does water cause fire to boil? It should have said, "Fire causes water to boil [esh tiv'eh mayim]." He answers that in matters where there is no room for misunderstanding, the text is not rigid about word order. More simply, it is like the verse, "Water wears away stones [avanim shaḥaku mayim]," which does not mean the stones wore away the water, but that the water wore away the stones. So too here: it is the water that the fire causes to boil - and ultimately we arrive at the same meaning.
Radak further cites that the entire verse can be understood as an allegory for the wars that the Holy One, blessed be He, waged against the enemies: "If only You would tear the heavens and descend," just as it is said, "From heaven they fought; the stars from their courses fought against Sisera." The mountains are an allegory for the mighty rulers, and the fire is as it says, "And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime." Master of the Universe, You descended from heaven and fought for them - if so, perform miracles for us as well, just as You did for them back then.
The Malbim explains that here the Divine spirit hovers over the prophet's earlier words. After having said, "If only You would tear the heavens and descend, that the mountains might melt at Your presence," he envisions a scene before his eyes: a consuming fire descends from heaven, the mountains melt like wax before fire, and water flows forth from them. Thus he depicts in his vision great mountains spewing fire, their peaks covered with snow: the mountain discharges fire, sulfur, and hailstones, while the snow and ice ignite - that is, they heat up, melt, and turn to water. And as the mountains melt and the ice thaws and pours down - "fire causes water to boil," he sees the fire causing the water to bubble, like a pot boiling over the fire beneath it. And all of this, Master of the Universe, You should do "to make Your Name known to Your adversaries." Thus, according to the Malbim, the entire plea is a continuation of "If only You would tear the heavens": perform signs, wonders, and miracles now, so that Your Name will be revealed in the world, that the world will be perfected under the sovereignty of the Almighty, and that all will know that there is none besides Him. Master of the Universe, why do You not do so now as well, just as You delivered Israel from past troubles?
בַּעֲשׂוֹתְךָ נוֹרָאוֹת לֹא נְקַוֶּה יָרַדְתָּ מִפָּנֶיךָ הָרִים נָזֹלּוּ׃ - When You did awesome deeds that we did not hope for; You descended, the mountains melted before You.
"When You did awesome deeds" - in Egypt, Rashi explains, where You executed judgments upon all the enemies. And what is "that we did not hope for"? Awesome deeds that we did not hope for, according to Rashi, because we were not worthy of them. When someone has merit with his fellow, he hopes for benefit and help from him, as he stands in credit with him. But when a person is in the red, knowing that he is at fault and indebted to him, it is hard for him to say that he hopes for benefit. This is what the prophet is saying: You performed awesome deeds for us back then that we had no reason to hope for, since we possessed no merits for them and were not deserving of them. "You descended, the mountains melted before You" - and behold, the mountains melted before You, even though we were not worthy.
Radak explains "that we did not hope for" - we did not hope for such great wonders as You would perform for us; we never anticipated that You would do so much for us. The Malbim elaborates: You already did this in days of old, and if You performed awesome deeds for us when we were not worthy, how much more so now, when we are already after the giving of the Torah and on a higher spiritual plane. At the Exodus from Egypt, "these [the Egyptians] were idolaters, and these [Israel] were idolaters," and there was no hope that You would do awesome deeds for us - yet You did so nonetheless. If so, why will You not act for us now just as You did then, at a time when there was no hope at all for signs and wonders?
וּמֵעוֹלָם לֹא־שָׁמְעוּ לֹא הֶאֱזִינוּ עַיִן לֹא־רָאָתָה אֱלֹהִים זוּלָתְךָ יַעֲשֶׂה לִמְחַכֵּה־לוֹ׃ - From of old they have not heard, they have not perceived, no eye has seen, O God, beside You, what You will do for him who waits for You.
Rashi explains: Never have they heard or perceived of such awesome deeds performed for any nation as those You did for us, nor has an eye seen any god beside You who would do for those who wait for him as You have done for those who wait for You. According to this, "a god beside You" means any other god besides You, and we have never seen any other god act as You have acted.
Our Sages expound this verse: All the prophets prophesied only concerning the Messianic era, but as for the World to Come - "no eye has seen, O God, beside You, what You will do for him who waits for You" (Berachot 34b). This means that everything recorded in the books of prophecy concerns what will take place in the Messianic era; however, that which is destined for the ultimate future is beyond the grasp and comprehension of the prophets themselves. The reason for this is that prophecy can perceive matters that exist within the framework of this world's reality, but matters that transcend worldly reality entirely cannot be comprehended.
To what may this be compared? To someone trying to explain color to a blind person. The blind man has no entry point and no concept whatsoever of color. He asks, "What is white?" You tell him, "White is like milk." He says, "Ah, wet." "No, it has nothing to do with wetness. It is like the color of the wall." He says, "Ah, hard like a wall." A person blind from birth cannot grasp what white is, because the very concept of color lies beyond his realm of experience. In the same way, one cannot explain to a prophet realities that lie beyond the human frame of reference. Therefore, all the prophets prophesied only concerning the Messianic era, which still exists within the framework of our conceptual world, within this world. But the World to Come cannot be grasped or perceived, and we cannot even begin to imagine it. This is the meaning of "no eye has seen, O God, beside You" - aside from You, God, no eye has seen it; only You have seen what You will do for him who waits for You.
The Malbim explains this verse as a direct continuation of the preceding one. You, Master of the Universe, performed awesome deeds that we did not expect: Who could have believed that the Holy One, blessed be He, would redeem us through ten plagues? Who could have believed that He would split the sea for us? Awesome deeds "that we did not hope for," wonders that "from of old they have not heard, they have not perceived" - we had never heard such accounts, nor had we listened to anyone describing a god who performed miracles of this kind. "No eye has seen, O God, beside You" - beside You, God, no human eye has ever seen such wonders. From here arises the plea: If at a time when we did not anticipate, did not believe, and did not wait, You performed such awesome deeds for us - how many more wonders is it fitting for You to perform for one who does wait and hope!
Yet we must understand: if the verse opened with "that we did not hope for [lo nekaveh]," it should have concluded, "what You will do for him who hopes for Him [lamkaveh lo]." Why did the prophet switch to "waits [lamchakeh]"? The Malbim explains that there is a distinction between one who waits (mechakeh) and one who hopes (mekaveh), a difference familiar to us even in everyday speech. If you ask someone, "Will so-and-so arrive? Is the bus going to come?" he responds, "I hope so." That is to say, he has no definite knowledge; he only hopes. But if he knows with certainty that the bus is scheduled to arrive, he says, "Don't you see that I am waiting?" "Waiting" implies clear knowledge that there is something definite to anticipate; "hoping" applies to a matter of uncertainty. Hope always pertains to something uncertain, whereas waiting stems from prior knowledge that this is destined to occur.
According to this, the idea is magnificent: "When You did awesome deeds that we did not hope for" - back then, when You performed the awesome deeds in Egypt, we did not even hope, let alone wait. To think, "I hope Hashem will act" - even that did not enter our minds, and certainly we were not waiting out of a clear promise. Now, however, after all the history and experience we have undergone, we are in the category of one who "waits." And if we are waiting, it is only fitting, Master of the Universe, that You perform miracles for us.
פָּגַעְתָּ אֶת־שָׂשׂ וְעֹשֵׂה צֶדֶק בִּדְרָכֶיךָ יִזְכְּרוּךָ הֵן־אַתָּה קָצַפְתָּ וַנֶּחֱטָא בָּהֶם עוֹלָם וְנִוָּשֵׁעַ׃ - You met the one who rejoiced and acted righteously, those who remembered You in Your ways; behold, You were wrathful and we sinned; in them is eternity, and we were saved.
This verse is rather cryptic, and several interpretations are offered. The first explanation, brought by Rashi, is that paga'ta is an expression of striking down, as in "and he struck him and he died" (vayifga bo vayamot) - meaning, Master of the Universe, You have removed from the world those who rejoice and do righteousness, the righteous, and faithful men have perished. "He who rejoices" refers to those who rejoice in Your mitzvot, and "does righteousness" refers to those who perform acts of charity. Others explain paga'ta in the sense of "and do not plead with Me" (ve'al tifga bi) and "lest I entreat" (al efga), which is an expression of prayer and supplication; according to this: You accepted the supplication and prayer of the righteous who rejoice in serving You and doing righteousness.
According to both interpretations, Radak explains, the ultimate meaning is the same: now we no longer have them, and there is no one to plead on our behalf. The pious man has perished from the earth, and those righteous leaders who used to stand in the breach are gone. This is the meaning of "behold, You were wrathful and we sinned" - You are angry with us because we sinned before You, whereas previously, "in them is eternity and we were saved," we relied through all generations on the righteous of each era to pray and intercede for us. But now in our exile, the righteous do not accompany us, and we are far from salvation.
And how did they pray? "In Your ways they remember You." What are the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He? The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, as it says, "Make known to me, please, Your ways." In this manner they would arouse heavenly mercy, just as Moshe Rabbeinu stood in the breach at the incident of the Golden Calf and proclaimed, "Hashem, Hashem, God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in kindness," and "Pardon, please, the iniquity of this people." Invoking the Attributes of Mercy has the immense power to draw down mercy and bestow it below. But now, "You were wrathful and we sinned" - which does not mean that You were angry first and then we sinned, but rather that You were angry because we sinned. And "in them is eternity and we were saved" - through them we used to be saved with an everlasting salvation, but now we lack this deliverance.
The Malbim explains this entirely differently. In his view, paga'ta here is neither an expression of killing nor an expression of prayer, but rather an encounter, meeting someone, as in "When you encounter (ki tifga) your enemy's ox going astray" - where it does not mean you killed it or prayed to it, but that you met it. A proof for this: had it been an expression of killing, it would have said paga'ta basas with the prepositional beit, whereas here it says paga'ta et sas (with the direct object marker et). Similarly, "lest the pursuers encounter you" (pen yifge'u vachem).
According to this, the explanation is as follows: Master of the Universe, on that path You walked back then, when You performed miracles and wonders, whom do You meet? The righteous person, who rejoices and does righteousness. For when the righteous saw such wonders, they rejoiced with great joy: here is proof that my service is true service; here is proof that the path I walk is the correct one. Moreover, the tzaddik can also strengthen others through this and tell them: behold the hand of Hashem, see how the Holy One, blessed be He, performs miracles, do you not realize that He governs His world? This is "in Your ways they remember You" - through the miracles and through the ways of Hashem, they remind others to serve the Holy One, blessed be He. By acting above the natural order, You grant strength to the tzaddikim themselves and power in their hands to fortify the community.
Furthermore, in all their prayers they mention You as the One Who performs great and wondrous deeds. "Behold, You were wrathful and we sinned" - and even at a time when You were angry with us because we sinned, "in them is eternity and we were saved" - through these ways we were saved. In their prayers, the righteous would recall the miracles that the Holy One, blessed be He, had performed, thereby arousing heavenly compassion to perform further miracles for us, and this invocation has the power to dispel wrath and atone for iniquity, in the words of the Malbim. This is how Moshe Rabbeinu prayed: "And Egypt will hear that You brought up this people from their midst with Your power," and "Your cloud stands over them, and in a pillar of cloud You go before them" - there is profound efficacy in recalling the miracles of Hashem during prayer. If so, Master of the Universe, why not perform miracles for us as You did back then? This connects directly to "He will do for the one who waits for Him": now that we are waiting for You, perform miracles for us, for through these miracles You, as it were, encounter the righteous, through whom they intercede before You, advocate merit for Israel, and bring them salvation.
וַנְּהִי כַטָּמֵא כֻּלָּנוּ וּכְבֶגֶד עִדִּים כָּל־צִדְקֹתֵינוּ וַנָּבֶל כֶּעָלֶה כֻּלָּנוּ וַעֲוֺנֵנוּ כָּרוּחַ יִשָּׂאֻנוּ׃ - And we have all become like an unclean person, and all our righteous deeds like a soiled garment; and we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
Since the righteous departed from us, the spirit of purity that was within us departed as well, and what remains? "And we have all become like an unclean person." "And like a soiled garment (beged idim)" - a loathsome garment. Idim is related to removal, as in "it shall not depart from us" (la ya'adeh minana), where ya'adeh means to remove; a beged idim is a repulsive garment that one seeks any way to take off and cast away.
Radak explains idim in the sense of filth and soiling, as in the expressions "the discharge of her menstruation" (safchat idah) and "conceived from her menstruation" (harah me'idah), for when a woman gives birth her clothing becomes soiled with blood. Another explanation: a garment that is a worn-out rag, reminiscent of "she who uses examination cloths" (hameshammeshet be'idim), where a woman examines herself with a checking cloth - and that is the source of the term. Why must the examination cloth be a rag? Because a new garment that has not been washed does not absorb blood well. The underlying idea is one and the same: a repulsive cloth that people cast away from themselves. In this manner, we have been left in exile like something impure, like a soiled garment that everyone wishes to remove and discard.
Even the acts of charity that we perform, says Radak, are undesirable and loathsome in Your eyes. Why? Because when a person performs charity genuinely for the sake of Heaven, his charity is accepted; but when he gives in order to boast and aggrandize himself, or out of envy of his fellow - "He gave that much? I will give far more, what does he think he is?" - such giving is loathsome in the eyes of Hashem.
There is a true story: A certain Chasid noticed that the Rebbe was using tin candlesticks, so he brought him copper candlesticks. The Rebbe rejoiced and thanked him. A week later, one of the wealthy community members, who had seen how the Rebbe stood up and thanked that Chasid and felt envious, brought gold candlesticks. The Rebbe asked him: What is this? He replied: Rebbe, is it not written, "instead of copper I will bring gold"? The Rebbe looked at them, thanked him, and handed them back to him. The wealthy man asked: Why does the Rebbe not accept them?
The Rebbe said to him: Consider what is written regarding bringing the Bikkurim (first fruits), about which Chazal said, "Poverty follows the poor." The poor would bring their Bikkurim in wicker baskets made of reeds, and the Kohen would take the basket together with the fruit and keep it; whereas the rich, who brought theirs in gold baskets, the Kohen would take, pour out the fruit, and return the basket to them. Thus, the poor person who bought a basket for ten shekels lost it, while the rich person who brought an expensive basket received it back and did not lose even ten shekels - which is why they said that poverty pursues the poor.
And what is the meaning behind this? There is a familiar explanation: the poor man brings lesser, worn fruits, for what does he have? If the Kohen were to expose what is inside, it would cause him embarrassment; therefore, everything is left inside the basket so people do not see what is in it. The rich man, however, brings only the finest and most luxurious, so the fruit can be poured out, and it honors the Altar for them to be seen.
Yet the Rebbe explained it differently. How does the poor man bring Bikkurim? His wife says to him: I saw that a fig has ripened first, and a pomegranate has ripened first. And he responds: Really? Wonderful! This year we will bring up Bikkurim with joy, and I will weave a special basket in honor of the mitzvah. Righteous people, doing everything themselves out of love for the mitzvah! Whereas the rich man - his assistant comes and reminds him that there is the mitzvah of Bikkurim. He grumbles: Again? Tithes were just taken, the Kohen was here not long ago, and that Rosh Yeshivah came asking for donations - it never ends. Fine, alright, prepare Bikkurim. But listen, bring a proper basket, something of gold. Last year the Zalmans brought such a basket and made an impression, strutting like a peacock - I will show him! Bring a basket that will make everyone's eyes pop out, a real gold basket.
The Kohen arrives, sees the basket, and understands where it comes from. He tells him: Sir, take back your basket, and leave the fruit here. The Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire gifts of pride, nor contributions tainted by ostentation. But the poor man's basket - it is a basket of mitzvah, a basket of holiness and purity, a basket crafted out of love of Hashem, out of a desire to give nachas ruach to his Creator, out of the joy of a mitzvah. A holy basket worthy of resting upon the Altar and before Hashem.
וְעַתָּה ה' אָבִינוּ אָתָּה אֲנַחְנוּ הַחֹמֶר וְאַתָּה יֹצְרֵנוּ וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדְךָ כֻּלָּנוּ׃ - "And now, Hashem, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our Potter, and we are all the work of Your hand."
We are the clay lying before the potter, and he can fashion from it whatever he pleases. If so, Master of the Universe, why do You not transform our hearts for the good? Why do You not perform miracles for us that would bring us to recognize Your Divinity, may He be blessed? For after all, "we are all the work of Your hand."
Furthermore, there is another claim here. When a person crafts something, it is very painful for him to see that creation ruined. The Holy One, blessed be He, took Shmuel before his time so that he would not see the work of his hands - Shaul's kingdom - overturned in his lifetime. It is very difficult for a person to watch something he invested in dissolve and go to ruin. If so, Master of the Universe, is it not painful for You to see what is happening to Your people Israel, "this nation that I formed for Myself"? We are all the work of Your hand - is it not painful to see the work of Your hands suffering?
אַל־תִּקְצֹף ה' עַד־מְאֹד וְאַל־לָעַד תִּזְכֹּר עָוֺן הֵן הַבֶּט־נָא עַמְּךָ כֻלָּנוּ׃ - "Be not exceedingly angry, Hashem, and do not remember iniquity forever; behold, look, please - we are all Your people."
There are two requests here. The first: "Be not exceedingly angry, Hashem" - that the wrath should not be great in intensity, for great wrath, Heaven forbid, causes immense harm. And the second: "and do not remember iniquity forever" - even if the wrath is not overwhelming, the trouble is that it drags on for a long time, and that in itself weighs down exceedingly, and we might perish under it. The Plague of Blood was not so severe, but had it lasted two months, four months, a year, or two years, all of Egypt would have died. That is to say, sometimes the punishment itself is not devastating, but its duration magnifies it many times over.
"Behold, look now, we are all Your people" - Master of the Universe, look and see that we are Your people, yearning for You and believing in You. And if we have strayed from the path and failed to do Your will - the fault does not lie so heavily with us.
עָרֵי קָדְשְׁךָ הָיוּ מִדְבָּר צִיּוֹן מִדְבָּר הָיָתָה יְרוּשָׁלִַם שְׁמָמָה׃ - Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
"Your holy cities have become a wilderness" - the essence of holiness resides in the Land of Israel, which is uniquely primed for Hashem's providence, and the Land of Israel is holier than all other lands, as the Mishnah states in the first chapter of Tractate Keilim. "Zion has become a wilderness" - Zion is the seat of the Sanhedrin, from which Torah goes forth, and yet it has become desolate like a desert. "Jerusalem a desolation" - that was the city of the prophets, and it, too, lies desolate.
בֵּית קָדְשֵׁנוּ וְתִפְאַרְתֵּנוּ אֲשֶׁר הִלְלוּךָ אֲבֹתֵינוּ הָיָה לִשְׂרֵפַת אֵשׁ וְכָל־מַחֲמַדֵּינוּ הָיָה לְחָרְבָּה׃ - Our holy and glorious House, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all our pleasant treasures have been laid waste.
In our holy House our ancestors praised You, and that very House was burned with fire - twice, during the First Temple and the Second Temple, and has not been rebuilt since. "And all our pleasant treasures have been laid waste" - this refers to the Beit HaMikdash, which has lain in ruins for so many years.
The Malbim emphasizes: "Our holy and glorious House, where our fathers praised You" - there our ancestors learned the fear and love of Hashem, as it says regarding the pilgrimage festivals, "so that you may learn to fear Hashem your God." It was the place from which one drew fear of Heaven; the place from which they drew Divine inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh) - as in the Simchat Beit HaSho'evah; the place where people elevated themselves in holiness. And here lies the answer to the earlier plea, "Do not remember iniquity forever": Why? Because the fault does not lie entirely with us. For Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation, and our holy and glorious House has been consumed by fire. The place from which we draw holiness and purity is gone - so is it any wonder that we have fallen ten levels back and grown lax in our observance of Torah and mitzvot? If You restore this to us, Master of the Universe, You will see how much our condition will improve, and how we will once again rise in spirituality.
הַעַל־אֵלֶּה תִתְאַפַּק ה' תֶּחֱשֶׁה וּתְעַנֵּנוּ עַד־מְאֹד׃ - Will You restrain Yourself over these things, Hashem? Will You remain silent and afflict us exceedingly?
Through the destruction, we are distant from the salvation of the soul, for the soul's salvation depends on holiness, purity, and the observance of the mitzvot. And when we lack our holy House, have no Sanhedrin, no kohanim at their service, and no levi'im upon their platform with their singing and instrumental song - from where can we draw Ruach HaKodesh? From where can we draw devotion in serving Hashem? Therefore: Master of the Universe, do not look upon our suffering and restrain Yourself; do not witness our distress and do nothing to save us.
"Will You remain silent" - that You keep still, do not respond, and remain silent. "And afflict us exceedingly" - and through this silence, You afflict us with torment upon torment. This is the simple meaning, and this is how Radak explains it.
Yet the Malbim introduces a novel interpretation here: "Vate'anenu" does not stem from affliction (inui), but rather from answering and responding (anayah), as in "Spring up, O well, sing [enu] to it," from the root of "and he answered" (vaya'an). That is to say: by remaining still and silent, in that very act You provide us an answer "exceedingly," an answer that is thoroughly sufficient. The silence itself is the answer. The Malbim adds that here, as it were, the prophet halts his poetic plea: the strings of the harp of eloquent pleading fall silent, and the great tempest gives way to a hush in the spirit of the advocate. The prophet-advocate spoke with such overwhelming emotion until his strength was spent, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, will deliver the response in Chapter 65.
The chapter is one continuous prayer: the prophet recalls the awe-inspiring deeds of the past - the fire and water in Egypt, at Mount Carmel, and at Mount Sinai - and argues: If You performed miracles for us when we were unworthy and did not even hope for them, all the more so now, when we wait and yearn. He laments the passing of the righteous who used to entreat on our behalf and invoke Your ways, describes our degraded state - "and we have all become like an unclean person," to the point where even our righteous deeds are like a soiled garment when not performed purely for Heaven's sake - and pleads: We are the clay and You are our Potter; do not be exceedingly wrathful, and do not remember iniquity forever, for the holy cities are desolate and our Holy Temple has been consumed by fire, so from where shall we draw sanctity? And at the climax of the outcry, "Will You restrain Yourself over these, Hashem?" the prophet halts his plea, and the silence itself is an answer - an answer that will unfold in the very next chapter.