"And the Sharon shall be a fold for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for My people who have sought Me." The Sharon, Rashi says, is the name of a district in the Land of Israel. And we know that even today there is a district called the Sharon. The Sharon shall be a fold for flocks. The Sharon is a place of pasture, as it is written concerning the cattle grazing in the Sharon. So this place, which is a place of pasture, shall become a fold for flocks: it will return to being a place where the cattle graze, and it will be even better than it was before, for they will lie down there in security, without fear of the enemy. And the valleys too are a place of pasture, so the valley shall be a place for herds to lie down, where the herd will crouch without fear of enemies. And why does he mention specifically the Valley of Achor as a place for herds to lie down? The Radak says: the Valley of Achor, in order to tell you that the place was originally disgraceful, "achor" (troubled), and now herds will lie down there, no one will remember its troubled name from the beginning, but on the contrary, this place will become a place of pasture, a good and praiseworthy place. "A place for herds to lie down" is a place that is a valley of blessing, as the Radak says. So in fact there is here a promise about a change in reality, as Hoshea said, "and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope." Correct, that is the source of the expression "Petach Tikvah." Yes, it was originally called Mlabbes, and it became "the Valley of Achor as a door of hope" (Petach Tikvah). For whom will this blessing be? It is for those who seek Me, as we will see further on.
"And the Sharon" - the Malbim explains, as it is written in the prophecy in Yirmiyahu 33, "there shall yet be in it a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down." The Valley of Achor was a place named for its ruins, and it shall become a place where herds lie down, but this will be only for the righteous. "But you who forsake Hashem, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Gad and fill mixed wine for Meni." You who forsake Hashem, who forget My holy mountain. Those who forsake Hashem are the wicked who cling to idolatry, those who died in their wickedness. "Who set a table for Gad." What is this? There are several explanations of what "set a table for Gad" means. There is one explanation that this is the name of an idol, and it is named after fortune (mazal). And Gad is called mazal, and by the way, this is the source of all sorts of games of chance they invented today, "Chish Gad" and all those things, because Gad essentially means fortune. When Gad was born, what did his mother say? "Fortune has come." Fortune came with him. So Gad means fortune. So "those who set a table for Gad," it existed in their time, it is written that it is forbidden to do this: people would have a small table in the house, and this table they would set but not eat from. For whom is this? For the fortune of the household. So that the fortune of the household eats there. That is why it is written in halachah that it is forbidden to bring a whole loaf at the end of the meal. One does not bring a whole loaf, one sets it aside for the Grace after Meals or something of that sort, one does not place a whole loaf. Why? For this reason, it is "those who set a table for Gad." It was their way, for the fortune as it were: we finished eating, now bring for the fortune too, that the fortune of the household as it were, what, this is like an offering to idolatry, you present it a tribute. This thing is forbidden. "Those who set a table for Gad" means for that fortune they would set a table. "And fill mixed wine for Meni." They would fill a mixed wine libation. Who is Meni? According to the Radak the meaning is the name of a star, the name of an idol called Meni. And they would pour a libation for Meni, they would set a mask of wine for it, they would pour wine to that star. And some explain "Meni" as referring to the numbered stars. What are the numbered stars? The meaning is the seven planets. These are the numbered stars, that are numbered as seven. The Malbim, who explained "Gad" according to its plain sense from the language of banding together and gathering, explains "who fill mixed wine for Meni" to mean that they gather in groups upon groups, quorums upon quorums, that is the meaning of "Meni." They count themselves as quorums to gather and drink in company. They make themselves taverns, all sorts of bars, and all sorts of such things, they do it in company. He cannot sit at home to drink, he needs a quorum. So for "Meni," he goes there to the bar, he has there a quorum, one does not know how many of them are fit to answer Amen, but in any case he has a quorum, not one and not two. This shows that these people pursue their pleasures endlessly. I said one could say here by way of hint: in their time they made idolatry of fortune, they made idolatry of the stars. And "those who fill mixed wine for Meni," today one could read it differently, "and those who fill mixed wine for Money." Today the idolatry is Money. They pour libations to it, all day they bow to it, the golden calf, all day they chase after it. "Those who fill mixed wine for Money," they are constantly seeking money, and also "those who set a table for Gad," they seek fortune all the time. What, scratch cards and all sorts of lotteries and all sorts of Chish Gads, and Lotto and yes Lotto and Toto. That is "those who set a table for Gad," they are always seeking fortune and money. This is a change in idolatry from what was accepted in their time. In their time idolatry was some sort of inclination to seek divinity. See how far we have fallen. We feel good compared to them. Because we say, what, do I take a statue and bow to it? What are you, an Afghan idolater? What, this sounds to us like something with a screw loose. But what you do is worse. Why? Because they at least sought a divine power.
They sought a leader, they sought some divine power to which one could turn. So they erred, and they did not turn to the Master of the Universe, they turned to pseudo divinity, to all sorts of substitutes, instead of turning to the source, to Hashem may He be blessed. But at least see what their search was. Their search was a good search, that they sought a spiritual power. Today, what does a person seek? Desires, pleasures, materialism. He does not even try to cover it with something spiritual. He says, let me enjoy, and that is that. But in their time they at least presented, or sought, something that supposedly expressed spirituality on some level.
The same thing is said also about Korach. Korach is the father of all the disputes of all future generations. But let us see how many, how many levels we have descended. Korach, what was his aspiration? To serve in the House of Hashem. I too want to offer sacrifices, I too want to be close to Hashem may He be blessed. Why only he? I too want to be a Kohen Gadol. "All the congregation are holy, and Hashem is among them." By contrast today, what does a person seek? Closeness to Hashem? What does he seek? To be the one who does the service of Hashem may He be blessed? No. Give a position, give money, give honor, give power, give dominion, that is all. But there, Korach's aspiration really was to receive the position of the High Priesthood. And if he sees someone who does not meet the parameters, his wife somewhat in terms of modesty does not, does not meet the requirements, then he leaves and goes. Sir, you do not suit us. We came to seek divinity, we did not come to play games. We want to serve Hashem. You are not on the level, so you do not suit us. That is to say, here we are really speaking of a holy aspiration, only this aspiration was mixed with all sorts of dross. But originally it was a proper aspiration. So too in their time, their aspirations were originally spiritual aspirations, aspirations, as we said, to seek divinity, but they erred on the way and arrived at all sorts of things that are entirely far from what they were really supposed to aspire to.
"And I will number you for the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter, because when I called you did not answer, when I spoke you did not hear, but you did what was evil in My eyes and chose that in which I did not delight." "And I will number you for the sword" - the Radak says, why the expression "and I will number"? A play on words and a matter of eloquence. Like "Gad, a troop shall troop upon him," "Dan shall judge his people," "Ekron shall be uprooted," or as it is written there about Shimshon, "a heap, two heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey (chamor)", there too it is a play on words, for it is from the language of "heaps upon heaps." So too here. Since he described "who fill mixed wine for Meni," meaning those who pour libations to idolatry, therefore against this "and I will number you (u'maniti)", a play on words against the sin: so too will be the punishment. What is "and I will number you"? You serve the number of the stars, but I will number you for the sword and not one will be missing, a number corresponding to a number, God forbid. That is why afterward he says, "you shall all bow down to the slaughter." That is, not one will be missing; just as you numbered the idols of the star worshippers, so too I will number those who fall by the sword. "And chose that in which I did not delight," this was rebellion out of spite, that you know that specifically what I do not desire, that is precisely what you choose.
"And I will number you" - the Malbim says, just as you count a quorum to pour drink. According to the Malbim's view, "who fill mixed wine for Meni" means they gather in groups upon groups: he does not drink except in a quorum. He does not, if there are not ten he does not drink. He needs a company in order to drink together with everyone. So against this, I will number you in a quorum for the sword, along the lines of what the Radak explained. And not that the number will be to kill some of them, but "you shall all bow down to the slaughter," and not one of them will be missing. And the reason: because I called you to come to Me in order to hear My words, and you did not answer. And afterward I came to you, which already shows that I made Myself available before you, I came and spoke My words to you, and you did not hear. So you already stopped up your ears from hearing. "And you did what was evil in My eyes," these are the negative commandments. "And chose that in which I did not delight," the positive commandments, but you invented for yourselves new commandments. Commandments your forefathers never imagined, commandments in which I did not delight, commandments you fabricated from your own hearts.
"Therefore thus says Hashem Elokim: Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed." "My servants," Rashi says, these are the righteous, and "you" are those who rebel against Me. However, the Radak here has a difficulty: to whom is he speaking now? The Radak says, everything we read before speaks about the generation in which the prophet lived. He describes the sins they commit, "who set a table for Gad," and so on. And against them he says this matter, "therefore My servants shall eat but you shall be hungry." He says, I do not understand, reality was not so. For the righteous too died by the sword. "They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the sky, the flesh of Your pious ones to the beasts of the earth." So what does he mean when he says here "My servants shall eat but you shall be hungry, My servants shall drink but you shall be thirsty, My servants shall rejoice but you shall be ashamed"? For the servants of Hashem too suffered and were tormented together with everyone.
And if we say that this passage, says the Radak, is about those who came up from the Exile, that he essentially comes to describe what will happen when Hashem refines them after they ascend from the Exile and come out of the exile, then first of all this does not fit with what we spoke of above, because above we spoke of a rebuke to the people of the generation, not about something future. And then he says "and you shall be hungry": "and you," he is speaking to those who are before him, he did not say "and they," those returning from the Exile. He says "and you." These, after all, if they go down to the Exile, they do not return, the Exile is 70 years. So it does not fit that he would speak to them when he is speaking about something future that will happen in another 70 years. Therefore, says the Radak, the conclusion I reach from this matter is that these verses were said by way of parable about matters of the World to Come. So at first he stated the punishment in this world, "and I will number you for the sword." Now he states what the punishment will be for the World to Come. "Behold, My servants shall eat." The meaning is they shall eat: do not understand that in the World to Come they speak of physical eating, that they speak of a physical reality. When the Rambam mentions Muhammad as one who promises his believers 70 concubines up there, the Rambam calls him "the madman." Because only a madman could think such a thing. Only a foolish and simple person could think that up above there is a reality of carnal desires and a physical reality. Only, this madman knew that his people too are mad, and this is the language one must speak with them. This is what will convince them. We already told once that the suicide bombers of the Twin Towers, those who went to blow themselves up there on the towers, shaved beforehand and showered. Because they have promises. It does not matter that afterward they gathered them like, who even gathered them, they scattered into fragments, nothing was left at all. But this is the madness, this is the insanity. So when we speak here of food, says the Radak, do not be confused. The food "My servants shall eat" is that their intellectual soul will attain the supreme wisdom in the knowledge of God. And this attainment is the pleasure of the soul, just as eating and drinking are the pleasure of the body. "And they beheld God, and they ate and drank." Chazal say, the Targum says, "and they were as those who eat and drink." The meaning is the spiritual pleasure; its parable is in physicality, we do not understand spiritual pleasures, its parable is in physicality, it is the physical pleasure of eating and drinking. The Radak says, so too you will find by way of parable: "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters." "Come, buy and eat, listen to Me and eat what is good." Do you think that "eat what is good" means steaks? "Eat what is good" means spirituality. All this is a parable for wisdom. "Not a hunger for bread nor a thirst for water, but to hear the word of Hashem." Again you see a hunger for the word of Hashem. "My soul thirsts," not for water, "for God, for the living God." And here he brings from Mishlei many examples. Chazal too bring a similar example, Shabbat 153. It is written that King Shlomo said, "At all times let your garments be white." These are repentance and good deeds. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai said: a parable of a king who invited his servants and did not set them a time. He said to them, there is a feast. When must one arrive? He did not set them an hour. The clever ones among them adorned themselves and sat at the entrance of the king's house. They said, does the king's house lack anything? After all, the king's house has everything there, one does not say, ah, they now went to fetch animals, they now went to buy them from the market. What kind of house is the king's house, everything is ready there. They do not need to go shopping now. So if they said there is a feast, the feast is about to happen. The clever ones among them adorned themselves and sat at the entrance of the king's house. The fools among them went and did work. The fools among them went, put on their overalls and went to work. What, sir, they told you there is a feast, the king's house! Is there a feast that has no toil? What, one does not need to toil to prepare the feast? One needs to cook, one needs to prepare, one needs to set tables, one needs to... Suddenly the king summoned his servants. So in one moment the king says, gentlemen, come in to the feast. These enter adorned, those who prepared themselves. And those enter with their overalls, now he just came out from under the car, all covered in grease and everything, now that is how he enters. The king rejoiced toward the clever ones and was angry toward the fools. He said, let these sit and see and eat, and let those stand and see My splendor. That is, these sit to eat. Now you see, all this the Radak brought to show you how one speaks of the reality of the World to Come in the reality of eating, and this is a parable. Rabbi Meir's son-in-law in the name of Rabbi Meir says, they even appear as those who serve. These eat and those stand beside them, one says, ah, he is the waiter. No. Rather, these and those sit. These eat and those are hungry. These drink and those are thirsty. Which is worse. Therefore it is said, "Therefore thus says Hashem, Behold My servants shall eat but you shall be hungry," our verse. "Behold My servants shall drink but you shall be thirsty." Based on this verse, they say by way of eloquence, thus they portray what the punishment or the reward will be in the World to Come. They say that the Holy One, blessed be He, seats the people and gives them long forks. Long forks, and they try to spear with the fork, they hold it only at the end, they try to spear and eat, one is not able, the fork is long. How is this, it does not reach the mouth. So the righteous sit facing one another, one spears with the fork, and presents it to the one facing him. And the one facing him spears with the fork and presents it to the one facing him. But the wicked, he was an egoist in his life and remained an egoist after his death, and he seeks to eat, that I should feed him? Never. He tries to eat by himself, and tries and tries and tries and does not succeed. "My servants shall eat but you shall be hungry." Why? Because when you care for the other then you too have, but when you care only for yourself then you too have nothing.
The Malbim explains: against what we said, "who set a table for Gad," "behold My servants shall eat." Against "who fill mixed wine for Meni," which we said means pouring libations to idolatry, so they would drink, according to the Malbim (according to the commentators it is pouring libations to idolatry, according to the Malbim the meaning is they would arrange and gather in a quorum in order to drink beer), so "My servants shall drink." Against that you forsook Hashem, so "My servants shall rejoice" in Hashem, "and you shall be ashamed" of the gods you chose. From that idolatry you chose, you will have from it only disgrace and shame, and not honor as My servants will have.
"Behold, My servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall wail from brokenness of spirit." The Radak says: we finished the feast, "My servants shall eat but you shall be hungry." What follows? The custom of the feast was that after eating and drinking they would be joyful. They would play music, they would dance, they would sing. They would rejoice and sing and play all sorts of songs. But by contrast, this is My servants, but you shall cry out for pain of heart. Your cry will be the opposite. All of My servants will be from gladness of heart, and your raising of voice will be from pain of heart and brokenness of spirit. The Malbim says: against what he said, "to the God whom you forget, My holy mountain," he says now My servants shall sing about what? About the building of Zion. And the wicked will suffer. Do not mistakenly think that My servants shall sing over the suffering of the wicked, over the fact that the wicked who did not do the will of Hashem now pay the price. No, he says, it is not about this that My servants shall sing. Rather they shall sing about the fact that Zion will be built. You shall cry out for pain of heart. The Malbim says: what is the difference between crying out for pain of heart and wailing from brokenness of spirit? Pain of heart is always external pain. Brokenness of spirit, spirit always expresses inwardness. This is the inner brokenness of spirit: when you see that your hope is lost, then you will wail from brokenness of spirit. And the Malbim explains that brokenness of spirit is always the inner distress, as it is written, "the spirit of the lowly, the heart of the crushed." And there is a difference between pain of heart and brokenness of spirit. Over pain, a person who, for example, just burned his hand, cut his finger, over the pain a person cries out. By contrast, over brokenness of spirit, what is brokenness of spirit? His spirit is broken. His spirit is broken, this is despair. What does a person in despair do? He wails. A cry is always a cry for salvation. Yes? He cries out to someone to come save me, save me, that is a cry. By contrast to wail, this is a person who has already accepted his situation and sits and weeps over his bitter fate. Who is this? One with a broken spirit. A person whose spirit is broken, so he is already in despair, he only weeps over it. By contrast a person who has pain of heart, which pain of heart we explained is external pain, he got a blow, so he cries out so that they come to help him. Therefore "and you shall cry out for pain of heart, and from brokenness of spirit," which is the inner brokenness, you shall wail. You will be in despair, so that you only sit and wail.
"And you shall leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones, and Hashem Elokim shall slay you, and He shall call His servants by another name." The Radak says: here he explains about the punishment of the body. The punishment of the soul a person cannot recognize, cannot know it. So he says, when you die the death of the body by the sword, then afterward the name that remains for you in the world will be a name that remains for a curse. The meaning of the matter: "the memory of the righteous is for a blessing, and the name of the wicked shall rot." The meaning of the matter: when one wants to mention, one says, the sage so-and-so, the righteous so-and-so, the Rav Ben Ish Chai may his merit protect us. "May God make you like Ephraim and like Menashe." I mention a righteous person, so I bless in his name. I say that you shall be blessed like them. I mention a righteous person, I say that his merit shall be a shield and protection for us. By contrast, when I want to curse someone, then I say, may his name be blotted out like so-and-so. May it happen to him like so-and-so, like those who are wicked. And this is what he says, "and Hashem shall slay you," like He slew so-and-so and so-and-so. Where did we see this? There is an explicit verse about Tzidkiyahu and Achav whom the king of Bavel "kalam." "Kalam" means roasted. Chazal say He made them like roasted kernels. Like popcorn, he threw them into a pot and pop pop, thus he roasted them. Why? It is brought there that they tried by way of deceit, they made themselves as prophets in order to take the daughter of the king of Bavel, no less, in order to demand her for a matter of transgression. And about them it is said, "and from them shall be taken up a curse by all the exile of Yehudah who are in Bavel, saying," from them they shall take a curse and what shall they say? "May Hashem make you like Tzidkiyahu and like Achav, whom the king of Bavel roasted in the fire." What Biblical curses. When a person wanted to curse someone, he did not just say, may your name be blotted out and go to hell. He would say to him, may Hashem make you, not like Ephraim and like Menashe, but like Tzidkiyahu and like Achav whom the king of Bavel roasted. This is called taking a curse. His name will be for a sign and a wonder as a curse for whoever wants to curse his fellow. "And He shall call His servants by another name." That is to say, His servants exactly the opposite. Just as your name will be for a curse, His servants, their name and their memory will be for a blessing. "By you shall Israel bless, saying, may God make you like Ephraim and like Menashe."
And what is "and you shall leave your name for an oath to My chosen ones"? What is the oath here? The Radak says: an oath is a curse. As you see in the Sotah, "may Hashem make you an execration and an oath." And why? An oath is not necessarily a curse, one can also swear not about a curse. But it was their way to swear also about a curse. As one would say, may such and such happen to me if I do not do so. Yes? "So may God do to me and so may He add if the head of Elisha shall stand upon him this day." What is "so may God do to me"? The meaning is may I have evil if it be such and such. This means may I have evil, for they did not want to say about themselves a disparaging thing. There is a covenant made with the lips, that a person should not mention about himself, should not bring out of his mouth an unfavorable thing. Yes? So therefore, when a person wanted to say about himself, he says, may such and such happen to me if..., he swore about it. And this is what is written here, "and you shall leave your name for an oath," meaning for an oath of a curse. The Malbim explains: "and you shall leave your name for an oath," he says to them, you will not die immediately, but at first you will leave your name for an execration and an oath. Through the great sufferings you will still have before death, people will say, will swear that so it will happen to so-and-so. When they want to curse, as we explained, they will say that so it will be to so-and-so, as that one is tormented, so may it be also to another. And afterward, "and Hashem Elokim shall slay you." After the sufferings there will be death, a strange death. And afterward "He shall call His servants by another name." What does this mean? They will curse that it should happen to you like, let us say we mentioned earlier, Tzidkiyahu. Now say, is Tzidkiyahu the name of a righteous person or a wicked person? Both. There was Tzidkiyahu a righteous person, that is the king, and there was Tzidkiyahu a wicked person, that is the Tzidkiyahu whom the king of Bavel roasted, Tzidkiyahu and Achav. So what happens now with a person who is called Tzidkiyahu, and they want to curse the problematic Tzidkiyahu against him, they say may Hashem make you like Tzidkiyahu, so people who had such a name go to the Interior Ministry and change their name. This is what the Malbim says here, and afterward He shall call His servants by another name. Whoever had his name like the name of the wicked, so that his name not be remembered for evil, will go and change his name. Hashem will call him by another name. And the matter in this too, the Malbim says, is that the goal will be to cause their name to be forgotten completely. The meaning of the matter, because only at first they still remember the wicked one and curse in his name. Today a person does not curse that Hashem should curse you like Tzidkiyahu and Achav. Their name was forgotten. But as long as the names still exist, then their name and their sins will still be remembered. Hashem will change the names of the righteous, and then there will be no memory of them at all. The name of the wicked shall rot, nothing of it will be remembered.
"So that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of Amen, and he who swears in the land shall swear by the God of Amen; because the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hidden from My eyes." "So that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of Amen." The Radak says: when the chosen ones of Hashem curse the wicked, after Israel come out of the Exile, and the wicked come to destruction as we saw, "and all the arrogant and every doer of wickedness shall be stubble," at that time whoever blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of Amen. The meaning of the matter: there will not remain in the world any faith, any reverence by which a person blesses himself, except only by the God of Amen. By what faith does a person praise and bless himself? By whom? By Hashem may He be blessed. Not by that man, and not by Muhammad, and not by any idolatry. There is none, all the ideologies and all the corrupt ways will cease, and there will remain only one way, only the God of Amen. And this is what he says, "he who blesses himself in the land": that is to say, it does not say "in Israel," but it says "in the land." "In the land" means in the world. That is to say, the whole world will be one faith, faith in the God of Amen. What is the God of Amen? "Amen" is from the language of faith (emunah), the God of faith. As it is written, "for then I will turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Hashem, to serve Him with one shoulder." So in all the land whoever wants to bless himself will say, Hashem my God, God of truth and God of Amen. The faithful one who fulfills His words, "to fulfill (le'amet)" from the language of confirming His words. Faith is truth. So a person will want to bless himself, he will say, may the God of Amen bless me. Even if he is a native in the primeval forests of Africa, still the oath and the blessing will be by whom? By God. And the same thing too the Radak says: they will not swear any oath except by the God of Amen. As it is written, "for to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." When they want to swear, "and he who swears in the land shall swear by the God of Amen." For a person generally swears by what is precious to him. And what was precious to him was many times idolatry. And now the Holy One, blessed be He, says, since the whole land will be one language and unified matters, all serving Him with one shoulder, so whoever wants to swear will swear by the God of Amen. Perhaps this too comes to hint that the righteous will remain. For after all it is written, "and by His name you shall swear." About whom is this said? "Him you shall serve and to Him you shall cleave," if you are on the high levels, then you will merit also "and by His name you shall swear." So therefore he says, he who swears in the land, they will swear by the God of Amen, because the righteous will remain.
"Because the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hidden from My eyes." For then, at that time, says the Radak, there was no world without troubles, there was no stage without wars. Whoever sat and made a calculation, only in our recent period, from the year 2006 of their count, once every three years we have a war here. Which one and, what did they call it, the last one, Pillar of Cloud and Protective Edge and Cast Lead. Once every three years. This time it has already become once every two years. That is to say, time is already pressing more and more. That is to say, we understand that we are already very close to the redemption. So here you see, our world in our reality does not, does not exist without troubles, without wars. But when I speak with you about the future period, it is a period of euphoria. At that time there will be peace in the world. "And He shall speak peace to the nations, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks." They will not need to use metals for the purpose of weapons. "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Iran will stop investing in enriched uranium, it will begin to invest in the welfare of its residents, those who remain there, yes, if they remain. He says, and all this will be peace, until in fact the former troubles will be forgotten. "And because they are hidden from My eyes," says the Holy One, blessed be He, after all everything was from Me. So you think they are hidden from My eyes? But from your eyes all the troubles will already be forgotten. The meaning of the matter: that the period will be such a good period that no one will remember anymore the troubles that were in the past. This teaches about the abundance of good that will be poured upon us. The Malbim explains: "he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of Amen." The Malbim says: whoever blesses himself in the land will not bless himself by any success in the world, only by the God of Amen. He is the source of all blessings. Only by the God of Amen, that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the source of blessings. "And he who swears in the land," he will not swear by the name of those wicked ones, as we saw that their name will be for an execration and an oath, that those who want to curse will curse by them. Rather he will swear only by the God of Amen, because all the former troubles are forgotten. That is to say, in order to swear by someone to whom a trouble happened, you need to remember his trouble. You need to remember that there was Tzidkiyahu and there was Achav whom the king of Bavel burned. But once the troubles are forgotten, then you will want to curse someone, you will not remember at all that there were troubles. You will no longer be able to say, may you have sufferings like Iyov, may you have... There is nothing, no troubles, you no longer remember at all that there were troubles. So consequently he who swears in the land shall swear by the God of Amen, not by those wicked ones from whom he would take a curse. "And the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hidden from My eyes." He says, until now the troubles were before My eyes. Why does the Holy One, blessed be He, need the troubles before His eyes? "And I will cleanse their blood which I have not cleansed, and Hashem dwells in Zion." The meaning of the matter, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "from their blood I am stained, and their lifeblood is spattered on My garments." The Holy One, blessed be He, says, the blood of the slain whom the nations killed among Israel, these are stains that are on My garment. Why? Because I need to see it always before My eyes, as it is written, "and under His feet like the work of a pavement of sapphire," that the Holy One, blessed be He, always has before His eyes that brick with which the nations tormented and afflicted, the Egyptians afflicted Israel, and they would place their sons as bricks in the layer. This is always before My eyes. So the Holy One, blessed be He, always has before His eyes when there is a need to exact payment from the nations. But once all the troubles are forgotten, once everyone has already paid the price, the nations paid theirs and were punished, Israel receive good reward, then does the Holy One, blessed be He, need to see before His eyes the wickedness of the wicked, the sufferings of the nations? About this he says, the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hidden from My eyes. So already even from My eyes they are hidden, for what stands before My eyes? What I need to deal with. What do we place before our eyes? We place a note: I need to call the municipality, I need to go to the bank, I need to... What do you place before your eyes? What you are supposed to remember. But once I have dealt with it, I tear the note, throw it in the trash. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, and because they are hidden from My eyes. So already those from whom I was supposed to exact payment, the account is settled. And since so, they are hidden from My eyes, all those who were still supposed to receive, received. The Malbim explains: "by the God of Amen," what is the God of Amen? Today the Holy One, blessed be He, is called the faithful God. What is faithful? Faithful is about the future. Hashem is faithful to pay reward. In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will pay reward. "The faithful God, keeping the covenant and the kindness for those who love Him, and repaying those who hate Him." What, now? No, He repays those who hate Him. He is faithful to repay those who hate Him in the future. By contrast, in the future they will no longer need "faithful," because they see. They see that the Holy One, blessed be He, has already exacted payment, as we said the accounts are closed. Hashem exacted payment from all the nations, "and saviors shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esav," all will pay the price they need to pay. They will not then need to believe, and then through this they will bless themselves by the God of Amen. "Amen" means truth. And then behold everyone already sees that what Hashem promised has already been fulfilled and realized. So there will be no evil in the world, but there will be only good, and whether for good or for evil, all will mention Hashem.