We now enter the final chapter that concludes Sefer Yeshayahu. Here, the prophet returns to rebuke his contemporaries for their corrupted divine service: offering sacrifices out of self-interest, without submission and without repentance. Alongside this rebuke are prophecies of comfort regarding the future redemption, the miraculous rebirth of Zion, and the day when it will become clear who the true servants of Hashem are and who merely put on a facade.
כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה הַשָּׁמַיִם כִּסְאִי וְהָאָרֶץ הֲדֹם רַגְלָי אֵי־זֶה בַיִת אֲשֶׁר תִּבְנוּ־לִי וְאֵי־זֶה מָקוֹם מְנוּחָתִי׃ - So said Hashem: The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool; what house could you build for Me, and what is the place of My rest?
Radak explains: Now the prophet returns to rebuke the wicked among his contemporaries for their corrupt deeds. Already at the beginning of the book, he rebuked them: "Why do I need the multitude of your sacrifices? says Hashem" - you come to offer sacrifices, but you seek only your own self-benefit, without any intention for the sake of Heaven. On that same foundation, he says here as well: Do you think that the House to which you bring sacrifices can contain the Holy One, blessed be He, like a house that contains the human body? You are mistaken. The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool. A "footstool" is like a stool placed before a person sitting on a chair, upon which he rests and stretches his legs.
Radak adds: Do not think, Heaven forbid, that Hashem, blessed be He, possesses a physical body that sits on a chair. Rather, this is an allegory - like a king who sits on his throne with his feet on a footstool, and from there he commands the people of his realm. The heavens, the exalted place, are the throne; the earth, the lowly realm, is the footstool; and everything that exists in heaven and on earth operates entirely by the decree of the Creator, blessed be He.
I did not command the construction of the Temple so that I might dwell in it, nor the sacrifices so that I might consume them. Everything I commanded - says the Holy One, blessed be He - was solely for you to prepare your heart for the service of Hashem: so that you would have a dedicated place where you could come to pray and offer burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, to arouse the heart, and to consume evil thoughts, corrupt ambitions, and physical lusts, just as an offering is burned upon the altar. But what do you do? You come to the Beit HaMikdash, offer sacrifices, and continue to do evil, continuing in corrupt schemes and base deeds. For this, Hashem rebukes them: You have lost the true intent, and this is not My commandment - you are not fulfilling My will through this, but rather angering Me all the more. "What house could you build for Me, and what is the place of My rest?" - this is not the place where I desire rest. If this is your intention - to offer a sacrifice so you can continue sinning, to bring an offering merely to clear your conscience - this is not what I requested, nor is it My desire.
The Malbim explains that this chapter is a continuation of the previous one. There, sublime descriptions were given regarding the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the great future abundance, and longevity of life. Now, the prophet turns to his contemporaries, who were confident that even if there were issues, even if there were sins, "The Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem are they." One of the reasons the Holy One, blessed be He, took His Sanctuary away from them was that the Sanctuary gave them a certain sense of license to continue sinning: the Sanctuary will atone for us, the Holy of Holies will atone for us, the sacrifices will appease Hashem, the Tzitz atones, the sprinkling of blood atones, the Me'il atones, no enemy or adversary will breach the gates of Jerusalem - after all, we have the Beit HaMikdash! To this, the prophet comes and says: You think you can commit every abomination as long as you appease the Holy One, blessed be He, with an offering - that you bring a sacrifice and that settles the account. Know, says the Holy One, blessed be He, that the entire concept of the Beit HaMikdash and sacrifices runs contrary to human reason; it is something beyond mortal comprehension.
This is for three reasons. The first: when we speak of the Holy One, blessed be He, as a purely spiritual existence, a spiritual reality is neither bound by physical limits nor confined to a specific place, and all the more so it cannot be said to dwell inside a house built by human hands. "The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool" - like a king who sits on his throne and judges his people, so from heaven does the divine bounty descend to the earth, which is My footstool. If so, "what house could you build for Me?" - could any house possibly contain the Infinite? As King Solomon said: "Behold, the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain You, how much less this house that I have built!" - all the more so the house I built, which certainly cannot serve as a physical container for Hashem, blessed be He.
The second reason: "and what is the place of My rest?" It is utterly illogical to think that the Holy One, blessed be He, requires rest, as though He were in physical motion and needed to pause from time to time. Did you build a house for Me to rest in - is that what you think? That the Holy One, blessed be He, grew tired and now needs to rest? After all, "He does not tire and does not grow weary," we say of Him, blessed be He. These two ideas run contrary to human intellect, and yet I commanded them.
וְאֶת־כׇּל־אֵלֶּה יָדִי עָשָׂתָה וַיִּהְיוּ כׇל־אֵלֶּה נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה וְאֶל־זֶה אַבִּיט אֶל־עָנִי וּנְכֵה־רוּחַ וְחָרֵד עַל־דְּבָרִי׃ - My hand made all these things, and all these things came into being, the word of Hashem; but to this one will I look: to the poor and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My word.
And the third reason, says the Malbim: for the Holy One, blessed be He, to request that a dwelling place be built for Him seems to imply, as it were, lack and necessity. We have discussed several times that anyone who thinks the Holy One, blessed be He, asks something of us because He needs something from us diminishes the divine. Does the Holy One, blessed be He, have needs? Does He have any deficiency? Surely He is the Master of all, and we say, "Master of the Universe, Who reigned before any creation was formed" - even before any creature was created, He was already King. He does not need us in order to be King, nor does He need us to do anything for His sake.
And concerning this the verse says: "For all these things My hand has made." Do I need anything from you when I make everything? After all, even when you build a house, did you really build it? "Unless Hashem builds a house, its builders labor in vain." The materials are from Hashem, the strength is from Hashem, everything is from Hashem. If so, if the Holy One, blessed be He, wants a house, does He need you to build a house for His Name? Therefore the verse concludes: "and all these things came to be." "My hand has made" refers to the beginning, and "all these things came to be" refers to their ongoing existence at the end. From beginning to end, whether in the creation of the world or in the sustenance of what was created within it, everything is from Him, blessed be He, and not from man, says Hashem.
"And to this one I will look, to the poor and contrite of spirit." At whom do I truly gaze, and upon whom do I bestow abundance? Upon the one who is poor externally and broken in spirit internally - "contrite of spirit" like a low spirit, a humble disposition, a person whose spirit is crushed and yet he does not rebel and raises no complaints against Heaven, but rather is "fearful of My word," eager and trembling to obey My voice. This is the entire purpose of the Temple, the purpose of the sacrifices, and the purpose of the House you build for My Name: to attain submission, for a person to humble himself. But one who comes to the Beit HaMikdash like a boss - Master of the Universe, here is what You asked for, take Your sacrifices, and I can continue sinning - woe to whoever takes such an approach. If you reflect, as the Malbim notes, you will see that all three concepts run contrary to reason: that the Holy One, blessed be He, should occupy a specific place, that He should need a resting place due to motion, or that He should demand from man and need him to build Him a house. Do you not realize that the entire purpose of these matters is solely that man should be fearful of My word and humble himself before Him, blessed be He? And if one offers sacrifices with such an attitude, Radak says, their offering is not accepted with favor, but is counted as an iniquity.
שׁוֹחֵט הַשּׁוֹר מַכֵּה־אִישׁ זוֹבֵחַ הַשֶּׂה עֹרֵף כֶּלֶב מַעֲלֵה מִנְחָה דַּם־חֲזִיר מַזְכִּיר לְבֹנָה מְבָרֵךְ אָוֶן גַּם־הֵמָּה בָּחֲרוּ בְּדַרְכֵיהֶם וּבְשִׁקּוּצֵיהֶם נַפְשָׁם חָפֵצָה׃ - He who slaughters an ox strikes down a man; he who sacrifices a lamb breaks a dog's neck; he who offers a meal-offering brings pig's blood; he who burns frankincense blesses an idol. They, too, have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.
One who slaughters an ox to offer it before Me while continuing in his wickedness and sins, I consider him as one who strikes down a man, as though he murdered someone. One who slaughters a lamb to appease Me and persists in his transgressions, it is as though he broke a dog's neck and offered it before Me, Heaven forbid. One who offers a meal-offering and persists in his corruption, it is as though he offered pig's blood; for the dog and the pig are tamei (ritually impure). "He who burns frankincense" - frankincense was burnt upon the meal-offering - yet he is like one who blesses iniquity, blessing idolatry, theft, falsehood, and futility.
And why does it say "breaks a dog's neck" (oreif kelev) rather than "slaughters a dog"? Radak explains: A dog is not an animal subject to ritual slaughter, and with non-kosher animals the term used is arifah (breaking the neck). Regarding the firstborn of a donkey the Torah says, "and you shall break its neck" (va'arafato), and by the eglah arufah (the heifer whose neck is broken) it says, "and they shall break the neck of the calf there," striking it with an axe at the back of its neck, severing the nape. The Malbim notes that oref (the nape) and oreif (breaking the neck) reflect the same root: oref is the anatomical location, opposite the throat, and oreif is the verbal action of severing from the nape.
And why specifically a dog and a pig? Radak introduces a major chiddush here, and Rabbeinu Bachya wrote similarly: The dog and the pig are mentioned because a dog has uncloven hooves, while a pig has split hooves and is cloven-footed. Many commentators wondered greatly at this: How can a dog be categorized as hoofed, when it walks on paws, and regarding all such animals the Torah says, "they are tamei to you"? How can a sign of kashrut be attributed to it? In any event, Rabbeinu Bachya and Radak write that both possess an aspect of a kosher sign. And why did the verse single them out? Because in both of them there is some semblance of a sign of purity, and yet the halachic reality is that they are tamei. So too here: a person brings a sacrifice - what does he wish to display? "Look, I am sacrificing before Hashem!" But in truth, this is like the pig extending its hooves and saying, "Look, I am kosher," or like the dog displaying its paws as if to say, "I am kosher," even though it is not cloven-hoofed (a split hoof like a kid or similar animals possess, which a dog lacks) - while inward corruption remains, for it does not chew the cud, and he persists in all of his corrupt and wicked deeds.
"They, too" - even those who slaughter the ox and sacrifice the lamb, they too are like one who breaks a dog's neck or offers pig's blood, for they choose their evil ways, and their soul delights in their abominations. They do not seek My ways or My mitzvot, regarding which I warned, "Do not make yourselves detestable," but rather persist in their corrupt ways.
One might wonder about the phrasing "too" (gam). Typically, gam serves to add one thing to another, and a statement is never introduced with gam when there is nothing prior to add to. One would first say, "Reuven will come," and only then, "Shimon, too." Rashi explains: Do not wonder at this, for it is the style of the Hebrew language to place two instances of gam alongside each other - "both young men and maidens" (gam bachur gam betulah), "it shall be neither mine nor yours" (gam li gam lach lo yihyeh), "their love, as well as their hatred" (gam ahavatam gam sin'atam), "that they do not die, neither they nor you" (gam hem gam atem). So it is here as well: "They, too, have chosen" (gam hemah bacharu), and corresponding to it in the next verse, "I, too, will choose" (gam ani evchar). "You chose corrupted paths," says the Holy One, blessed be He, "so I, too, will choose harsh retributions for you."
The Malbim explains: You who bring sacrifices while continuing in your wickedness and corruption, without returning to Me in teshuvah - know that both extremes are equal in My eyes: whether one slaughters an ox as an offering or strikes down a man in murder; whether one sacrifices a lamb as an offering or breaks a dog's neck; whether one brings a meal-offering as a sacrifice or offers pig's blood to an idol; whether one invokes Hashem's Name with frankincense or blesses an idol. Even the former category - slaughtering an ox, sacrificing a lamb, offering a meal-offering, burning frankincense, all of which are ostensibly positive - "they, too, have chosen their own ways." You come to serve the Holy One, blessed be He, according to your own whims, not because Hashem commanded it, not because you nullify your will and intellect before Him, but merely out of your personal preference. And the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I do not desire these sacrifices without teshuvah, and I have no interest in them without submission. And just as you serve Me according to your own understanding, so too the other side - the murderer who strikes down a man, the one who breaks a dog's neck - "and their soul delights in their abominations," the idolater who delights in his abominable practices according to his own inclinations.
The Malbim notes a fine distinction: Why does the verse say, "they too have chosen their ways," whereas regarding the abominations it says, "their soul delights"? Because a person does not truly choose evil; rather, he desires evil. Choice is always an intellectual matter; a person chooses with his intellect. Therefore, regarding good paths, when it comes to the question of how to serve Hashem, it is appropriate to say "they chose their ways" - out of deliberate choice. In contrast, regarding idolatry and abominations, one cannot say that he chose; choice is intellectual, and choosing abominations is not intellectual. Therefore, it says there, "their soul delights" - he has a desire, a longing, and a craving, but one cannot say he chose it, since choice is always something rational directed by the intellect, and people do not rationally choose abominations.
There is an interesting allusion here in the phrase "One who slaughters an ox strikes a man." The holy Arizal explains what happens when a person offers a sacrifice (and whoever is interested may consult the book Mishnat HaGilgulim, part two, where these matters are elaborated according to Kabbalah): a reincarnated soul is embedded within the sacrificial animal, and when a person offers it properly, he rectifies that soul. But if he did not offer it properly, it is said: "Blood shall be imputed to that man; he has shed blood." Seemingly, what blood did he shed? He slaughtered an animal, he slaughtered a cow, he killed an ox - what happened? Rather, since "he did not bring it to the Sanctuary of Hashem," but instead took and slaughtered it outside, he did not rectify the soul, and he is considered to have murdered it again. The soul came here for rectification and was not rectified; therefore, "he has shed blood." This is the very meaning of what is stated here: "One who slaughters an ox" - when you slaughtered the ox not for the sake of repentance, you ruined it and killed it needlessly, and within it was a reincarnated soul, resulting in "striking a man" - you murdered a human being. For that person came reincarnated in the ox for his rectification, and had you offered it and burned it properly, his purpose would have been fulfilled. But you slaughtered it not for the sake of Heaven and not out of repentance, and this is equivalent to "breaking a dog's neck" and "offering swine's blood."
גַּם־אֲנִי אֶבְחַר בְּתַעֲלֻלֵיהֶם וּמְגוּרֹתָם אָבִיא לָהֶם יַעַן קָרָאתִי וְאֵין עוֹנֶה דִּבַּרְתִּי וְלֹא שָׁמֵעוּ וַיַּעֲשׂוּ הָרַע בְּעֵינַי וּבַאֲשֶׁר לֹא־חָפַצְתִּי בָּחָרוּ׃ - I too will choose their mockings, and bring upon them what they dread, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and they did not listen; and they did what was evil in My eyes, and chose that which I did not desire.
"Their mockings [ta'aluleihem]" - related to "that you have mocked me" and "how I mocked the Egyptians." Since they engage in frivolous mockery, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I too will mock them; I will choose those corrupt caprices that match their deeds. "What they dread [megurotam]" - magor means fear; whatever they dread, fear, and shrink from - the sword, famine, captivity, and plunder - that is what I will bring upon them. And the reason: "Because I called and no one answered, I spoke and they did not listen" - measure for measure. "And they did what was evil in My eyes" - regarding negative commandments; "and chose that which I did not desire" - regarding positive commandments, for they chose positive commandments of their own invention. Since I called and no one answered, and I rebuked them through the prophets yet nothing made an impression on them, therefore I too will choose their mockings and bring upon them what they dread, and the punishment will correspond accordingly.
שִׁמְעוּ דְּבַר־יְהֹוָה הַחֲרֵדִים אֶל־דְּבָרוֹ אָמְרוּ אֲחֵיכֶם שֹׂנְאֵיכֶם מְנַדֵּיכֶם לְמַעַן שְׁמִי יִכְבַּד יְהֹוָה וְנִרְאֶה בְשִׁמְחַתְכֶם וְהֵם יֵבֹשׁוּ׃ - Hear the word of Hashem, you who tremble at His word: Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for My Name's sake, said, "Let Hashem be glorified!" But we shall see your joy, and they shall be put to shame.
Who are "those who tremble at His word"? Rashi explains: the righteous who hasten with trepidation to draw near to His words. Incidentally, this is the origin of the term "Chareidim" - from the verse, "Hear the word of Hashem, you who tremble at His word," an expression denoting a person who is awestruck and trembling before the word of Hashem. "Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out said" - these are the transgressors of Israel mentioned earlier. Rashi further explains: these are the ones who say, "Depart, unclean!" or "Keep to yourself, do not come near me" - they consider themselves righteous: "You keep your distance; you need rectification; you have flaws, whereas we are the righteous." "Let Hashem be glorified" - "We are greater than you, more righteous than you; the Holy One, blessed be He, is glorified through us more than through you, and we are closer to Him."
The prophet says: Know that a time and a generation will come when all those who regard themselves as righteous in comparison to the servants of Hashem - all those who scrutinize observant Jews, finding in them nothing but filth, disgust, and defects, while viewing themselves as the paragons of virtue and claiming that "all these religious people are thieves," inventing endless stories about them - it will be revealed that matters are not as they claim; rather, "we shall see your joy, and they shall be put to shame."
קוֹל שָׁאוֹן מֵעִיר קוֹל מֵהֵיכָל קוֹל יְהֹוָה מְשַׁלֵּם גְּמוּל לְאֹיְבָיו׃ - A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from the Temple, the voice of Hashem rendering retribution to His enemies!
For the Holy One, blessed be He, in response to all the uproar, troubles, evils, corruption, and wickedness they wrought in the city, sends forth a voice from His Temple that prosecutes them and renders retribution to His enemies. That is to say, only now are we in this world of falsehood, where people commit every evil and wicked deed yet still criticize those who observe the mitzvot, feeling righteous in comparison. But the Holy One, blessed be He, says: These are your brothers - your own brethren - yet they hate you and cast you out, and the time will come when we shall see your joy, and they shall be put to shame.
Radak adds an explanation: "Your brethren that hate you, that cast you out, have said" - these are those who distance you because you tremble at Hashem's word. And they say, "For My Name's sake let Hashem be glorified" - meaning, what the Holy One, blessed be He, demands is too heavy for us; Hashem's mitzvot are difficult and burdensome upon us, as in the phrase "and let us not be burdensome upon you." They place the blame for the difficulty on the Holy One, blessed be He. But the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will appear and be revealed in your joy; you will rejoice in His salvation, and they will be ashamed. All those who complained that Hashem's mitzvot are burdensome and constantly sought to make things easy for themselves - a generation will come when they will be ashamed.
And why will they be ashamed? One could explain based on the words of the Gemara, where the wicked say: How could we not have overcome something as thin as a strand of hair? That is to say, when Mashiach arrives, it will become clear that it was not burdensome at all; it will emerge that their claims of "it is too heavy, too heavy" were untrue, for they themselves will say: How did we fail to overcome the yetzer hara, which is merely like a strand of hair? Thus it turns out that "we shall see your joy" refers to those who truly exerted themselves, while "they shall be ashamed" refers to those who claimed that Hashem's mitzvot were too heavy for them. And when will this take place? When there is "a voice of noise from the city," when the Holy One, blessed be He, is revealed; then it will become clear that those who rejected His mitzvot did so out of their own heart's desires, and not because Hashem's mitzvot were burdensome.
Radak further explains that it is possible the prophet is speaking to the members of his generation who tremble at Hashem's word, as in the expression "and who trembles at My word," and "we shall see your joy" refers to the mitzvot you perform, or to the resurrection of the dead in the days of Mashiach. It is also possible that when he says, "Hear the word of Hashem, you who tremble at His word," he is referring to the people of the exile, who will come from the Diaspora to be here in the days of Mashiach and at the time of the Redemption.
The Malbim explains that these words refer back to the very people we saw earlier: those who bring sacrifices in order to continue sinning, and bring sacrifices to boast about them; they are the sect of hypocrites. "Hear the word of Hashem" - to whom does the prophet turn? To "those who tremble at His word," to those who truly revere Him, and not to the hypocrites who pretend to fear Hashem and bring sacrifices to the Beit HaMikdash while intending to persist in their sins. And he says to them: These are "your brethren" - ostensibly your brothers in mitzvot, both of you go to the Beit HaMikdash, both you offer sacrifices and he offers sacrifices, and he appears like a brother. But know this: "They hate you, they cast you out."
For it is well known that whoever has fear of Hashem in his heart possesses love of the Sages. And if you wish to know who is far from Hashem in the depths of his being - see how much love he has for the sages of the Torah. "My heart is toward the governors of Israel," says Deborah - my heart goes out in love for the Sages and love for the gedolei haTorah. And similarly, "A man is tried according to his praise": if you wish to know what kind of person someone is, just as "the refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold" - silver is refined and gold is put into a furnace to remove the dross - by what do you test a person? "According to his praise" - see whom he praises and whom he admires. If he is impressed by people who are far from mitzvot, by politicians, military figures, and the like - understand that his heart is there; but if he is impressed by the Sages and continually speaks in their praise - understand that his heart is there.
Regarding this it says, "your brethren": they appear to be your brethren, but in truth they hate you and cast you out. He always has criticism of Torah learners, he always has something disparaging to say about kollel men, he always has something to say about the gedolei hador, and he even offers them advice: here they acted incorrectly, here they ruled wrongly, here the members of their household biased their judgment, here they did not see things properly. He is the understanding one, he is the knowledgeable one, he is the witness, and he is the judge. He wears a yarmulke just like you, looks just like you, matches you in every outward way - yet through his speech and constant fault-finding, it is evident that he is of those who "hate you and cast you out." "They set their ambush in their heart," says the Malbim, against the true God-fearing people: Why do we need kollel men? Why must they study all day? Why don't they work? He always has criticism, and in his own view he understands better than everyone else, while what the gedolei Yisrael say is in his eyes like the dust of the earth and the peel of a garlic clove - they don't understand, they don't see reality, "I dwell among my own people," I live among the common folk and the gedolei Yisrael are out of touch, dust to their mouths!
And about them it is said, "For my name's sake let Hashem be glorified": through the sacrifices he brings, he imagines that Hashem is glorified. But what is the true purpose of his sacrifice? To show that "I am a righteous man," to show that I am doing Hashem's will. "For my name's sake" - he brings sacrifices so that his own name might be magnified, to present himself as a tzaddik, not so that Hashem's blessed Name may be exalted. The prophet tells them: "And we shall see" - the truth will be revealed at the coming of Mashiach; then He will appear in your joy and they shall be ashamed, and then it will become evident that the Holy One, blessed be He, has no interest in hypocrites, but only in serving Hashem in truth. Only then will it be revealed who merely pretended to be your brother while in truth hating you and casting you out, and who acted "for my name's sake" to glorify his own reputation while imagining that Hashem is honored by this.
And when will this be? "A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the Temple, the voice of Hashem rendering recompense to His enemies." In the days of Mashiach, there will be a voice of noise - a sound of great turmoil - from the city, from Jerusalem, when Gog and Magog, who are the enemies of Hashem, will march against it, and then "Hashem shall go forth and fight against those nations." And here the prophet, in the words of the Malbim, describes what he sees in his mind's eye regarding the future: I hear a voice of noise from the city, the tumult of the city of Jerusalem; and not only that, but also a voice of noise from the Sanctuary and from the Beit HaMikdash; and I hear the voice of Hashem rendering recompense to His enemies. From here on, he begins to detail these three voices, and how the Holy One, blessed be He, pays reward to those who love Him and recompense and punishment to His enemies.
בְּטֶרֶם תָּחִיל יָלָדָה בְּטֶרֶם יָבוֹא חֵבֶל לָהּ וְהִמְלִיטָה זָכָר׃ - "Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a male child."
The prophet describes that the salvation will arrive suddenly. In the normal course of nature, a woman experiences labor pains; the travail announces and heralds that the birth is near, and step by step preparations are made until she gives birth. But the future birth will not be like that: "Before she travailed, she brought forth" - even before the trembling and travail of childbirth seize her, before the entire process begins, she has already given birth. That is to say, the coming of Mashiach will occur instantly, in a single moment and unawares, not as something one gradually prepares for, but rather as it is written: "And suddenly the master whom you seek shall come to his temple." And likewise, "Before her pain came, she was delivered of a male child" - before the birth pangs even arrive, she has already delivered and borne a male child; an immediate birth that was unexpected, in an instant.
Why does it emphasize "she gave birth to a male"? Radak explains: it specifies a male because a male is strong and favored over a female, and the parents rejoice in a son more than a daughter. This was the way throughout history. Today, however, things seem almost reversed: raising sons is difficult, whereas raising daughters is far simpler. The Chafetz Chaim once told a parent who asked for a blessing for viable male offspring: "Sons? We are already in anguish over the ones that exist - which of them will truly serve Hashem? So many stray from the path and so many become corrupted; would that those who already exist remain in the service of Hashem!" Who can know today whether they will truly succeed in raising their sons to Torah and the fear of Heaven? With daughters, by contrast - "Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine" - grapes you merely press and wine emerges; but "Your children like olive saplings" - how much crushing is required, how much sweat and blood must be shed before one merits a G-d-fearing son, a servant of Hashem and a ben Torah! How much effort must be invested. Thank G-d, there are many who pray and keep mitzvos, more or less; but for a person to grow into a true servant of Hashem who genuinely fears G-d - that is exceedingly difficult. Therefore, in those times they rejoiced over a male, whereas today, when we do not know what the day will bring, in some respects it is easier to raise daughters.
The Malbim explains "Before she went into labor, she gave birth" in contrast to what was said, "A voice of tumult from the city," and here it refers to a time long before the coming of Mashiach. He writes the following, and his words read almost like prophecy: long before the arrival of the Redeemer, a small number of people from the diaspora will gather and establish their dwelling in Jerusalem. Well before the redemption, people will come and settle in Jerusalem; and after dwelling there for many years, the birth pangs will come upon them, which is the war of Gog and Magog - but even before the war of Gog and Magog, there will be a settlement here in Jerusalem. And then the great, general ingathering will begin.
Indeed, even today we are a minority here: about six million Jews in the Land of Israel, out of a worldwide population of some fifteen to eighteen million Jews (and the Reform movement does not help in this regard; they only diminish our numbers). Thus, the six million here are still a fraction of world Jewry, and the majority of Israel is not yet living here. Afterward, the great, universal ingathering will begin. This is the meaning of "Before she went into labor, she gave birth": even before Jerusalem experiences the pangs of the great birth, she will already have experienced a small birth - those people who are already living in Jerusalem today.
Not only that, but "before pain came upon her": even prior to the onset of the birth pangs, which is many years before the time of redemption, it will already appear as though she has given birth. Notice the phrasing: "she delivered a male child" - in the singular, a male, not males. "A male" signifies an individual, meaning that only a few, a handful of people, will arrive, and this will occur well before the redemption and before the birth pangs of Mashiach. And what does the word chevel (pain / cord) denote? The Malbim explains: a fetus is bound inside its mother's womb by bands and cords - the umbilical cord, the placenta - tied, as it were, within the mother's womb. Hence the word chevel refers to the binding of the fetus in its mother's innards, as in "there your mother bound you [chibaltcha], there she who bore you bound you," and also to the moment when these bonds sever. "Before chevel came upon her" - before the time when the cord is cut and those bonds are severed.
מִי־שָׁמַע כָּזֹאת מִי רָאָה כָּאֵלֶּה הֲיוּחַל אֶרֶץ בְּיוֹם אֶחָד אִם־יִוָּלֵד גּוֹי פַּעַם אֶחָת כִּי־חָלָה גַּם־יָלְדָה צִיּוֹן אֶת־בָּנֶיהָ׃ - Who has heard the like? Who has seen such things? Can a land be brought forth in a single day, or can a nation be born all at once, that Zion should travail and also give birth to her children?
The Malbim explains: when the time of the redemption arrives, and the woman in labor sits upon the birthstool and the pangs and contractions begin - which represent the war of Gog and Magog - the birth will be miraculous in two respects. First, regarding the birth pangs: the travail will spread across the entire land all at once, as if every woman in the land were seized by birth pangs on a single day. The underlying meaning is that Gog will not advance gradually; rather, his arrival will be an instantaneous conquest of the entire land at once. This is the meaning of "Can a land travail in one day?" - yuchal is related to birth pangs (chil): is it conceivable that all women would go into labor on a single day? Yet here it will be seen that Gog, in a single day, will come against the entire land and spread across it from end to end.
The second aspect relates to the birth itself: that an entire nation will be born at one stroke. This is the meaning of "or can a nation be born all at once?" - can an entire land give birth in a single day? The parallel lies in the exiles gathering here: after Gog dominates the entire land in a single day, redemption will suddenly appear, as all the exiles arrive here in a single day. Concerning this it says, "that Zion should travail and also give birth to her children" - and the wonder is twofold: she both travailed in a single day and gave birth all at once, everything occurring in an instant. "Who has heard the like? Who has seen such things?" It is something unprecedented and unimaginable. And here the Holy One, blessed be He, says: in a single day Gog will dominate, and in a single day the redemption of all of Israel will arrive.
The terms yuchal and chalah derive from the expression "trembling and terror seized him" (chil u're'adah), which denotes distress and difficulty, and it may also relate to choli (illness) - the trembling and anguish that seize a woman during childbirth. Regarding this, the prophet states that everything will happen all at once: both in a single day and in a single moment, the redemption will take place.
הַאֲנִי אַשְׁבִּיר וְלֹא אוֹלִיד יֹאמַר יְהֹוָה אִם־אֲנִי הַמּוֹלִיד וְעָצַרְתִּי אָמַר אֱלֹהָיִךְ׃ - Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bear? says Hashem. Or shall I, Who cause to bear, shut the womb? says your G-d.
You wonder, "Can a nation be born all at once?" - is it possible that the entire nation will be born at once, that suddenly everyone will arrive here in a single moment? The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Did I not seat them upon the birthstool and bring the labor pains upon them? The birth pangs came from Me - and if so, how is it possible that the birth will not take place? You ask, "Can a land travail in a single day?" Behold, I am the One Who brings to birth; is it possible that I would hold back some of them? Inevitably, if I open the womb to give birth, the birth will be completed, for this concerns the One in Whose hand is strength and might - "Ascribe might to God." When I perform an action, it is not partial, but complete: "Shall I bring to birth and restrain?" - since I am the One Who brings to birth, would I bring about a partial birth? "Shall I bring to the birthstool" - did I bring them into distress, to sit upon the birthstool, "and not cause to bear?" - and not bring them to the point of birth? Do not wonder, then, for this speaks of the One Whose power to give is without end. When the redemption arrives, it will be all-inclusive: no remnants will be left behind, and there will be none who fail to come or who are not included in the future redemption. All those who need to be redeemed - all of them will be redeemed in one day and in one moment.
The chapter opens with a piercing rebuke: the heavens are the throne of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the earth is His footstool, and He has no need for a house, nor for rest, nor for our service. The entire purpose of the Temple and the sacrifices is that man be "poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembling at My word"; one who offers sacrifices while persisting in his sins - his offering is considered like striking a man, breaking a dog's neck, and pig's blood, like a pig stretching out its hooves and saying, "I am kosher." In contrast to them, the prophet turns to those who truly tremble at the word of Hashem, and promises that the hypocrites who shun them and pride themselves on their service will be put to shame on the day when the voice of Hashem is heard paying recompense to His enemies. From here, the prophet turns to consolation: a wondrous and sudden birth, "Before she travailed, she gave birth" - a small birth of a few settlers in Jerusalem many years earlier, and following it, after the pangs of Gog and Magog that will arrive in a single day, a grand birth of an entire nation all at once. And the Holy One, blessed be He, concludes: I am the One Who brings to the birthstool and I am the One Who brings to birth, and He Who opened the womb will not stop halfway - the redemption will be complete, all-encompassing, in a single day and in a single moment.