Sefer Yeshayahu chapter 66. We are entering the final chapter that concludes Sefer Yeshayahu. "Thus says Hashem: The heavens are My throne and the earth is My footstool; what house could you build for Me and what place for My rest?" "Thus says Hashem: The heavens are My throne," says the Radak: now the prophet returns to rebuke the wicked of his generation for the corrupt deeds they perform. Just as we saw at the beginning of the book, he rebukes them and says, "Why do I need your many sacrifices, says Hashem" - you come to offer the korbanot but you seek only your own benefit and there is no intention in you for the sake of Heaven. Against this he now speaks on the same principle: the heavens are My throne. You think that the house in which you bring Me the offerings, you think that this house contains, as it were, the Holy One blessed be He, just as a house contains a person's body? He says: you are mistaken, My house is the heavens, they are My throne. And the earth is My footstool. "My footstool" means, just as a person sits on a chair and has a place upon which he rests his feet, like a footrest upon which he places his feet when he straightens them. The Holy One blessed be He says: the heavens are My throne, while the earth is like My footstool. I did not command about a house that I should dwell in it, I did not command about the offerings that I should eat them. I did not command, says the Radak, the Holy One blessed be He said: everything I commanded was only so that you would prepare your heart for the service of Hashem. That you should have a special place where you come to pray, to bring up burnt offerings and sacrifices in order to awaken the heart, to eliminate evil thoughts, to eliminate corrupt aspirations, to eliminate the desires, like something that is burned upon the altar. And what do you do? You come to the Beit HaMikdash and offer korbanot and continue to do evil. And you continue with thoughts of iniquity, and you continue with your corrupt deeds. On this, says the Radak, Hashem rebukes them: you missed the intention and this is not My commandment. You are not doing My will in this, for you are only angering Me with it.
And therefore He says: the heavens are My throne. Says the Radak: do not think "My throne" means that Hashem is, as it were, a body that sits on a throne, but rather it is by way of a parable, like a king who sits on the throne with his feet on a footrest and thus commands the people of his nation, so too He says the heavens, which is the more honored place, are the throne. And the earth, which is the lower place, is like My footstool, like the footrest. And everything that exists in the heavens and on the earth is all done by the decree of the Creator. On this the Holy One blessed be He says to them: all My mitzvot are meant to purify the heart, and if you continue and offer korbanot while there are seven abominations in the heart, the Holy One blessed be He says to them: this is not what I asked for, this is not what I asked for. "What house could you build for Me and what place for My rest" - this is not the place where I want rest, if this is your intention, if you offer korbanot for this purpose, to offer a korban in order to continue with the transgressions, to offer a korban in order to clear the conscience, the Holy One blessed be He says: this is not My request, this is not My aspiration. The Malbim says that this pasuk and this chapter is a continuation of the previous chapter. In the previous chapter we saw that he describes utopian descriptions about the building of Yerushalayim, about the great future abundance, about the long life that will be, most wonderful things. And now the prophet turns to the people of his generation, and they were certain: if we have problems, if there are transgressions, "the Sanctuary of Hashem, the Sanctuary of Hashem are these." One of the reasons the Holy One blessed be He took away the Sanctuary of Hashem from them is that the Sanctuary of Hashem was in some way giving legitimacy to continue transgressing. Why? The Sanctuary will atone for us. The Holy of Holies will atone for us. The korbanot will find favor for us. Do not worry, the tzitz finds favor and the sprinkling of blood finds favor and the me'il finds favor, do not worry, it will be fine, no adversary or enemy will come through the gates of Yerushalayim, we have a Beit HaMikdash. We have a Beit HaMikdash. On this he comes and says to them: you think that you can do all the abominations and the main thing is to appease the Holy One blessed be He with a korban. Bring a korban and that is it, the matter is finished, you have settled the account. The Holy One blessed be He says to them: know that the entire matter of the Beit HaMikdash and the korbanot is entirely contrary to human reason. Something that cannot be grasped at all.
And this is for three reasons. First, if we speak of the Holy One blessed be He as a spiritual entity, a spiritual entity is not limited by boundary and not confined to a place. All the more so we would not say of it that it dwells within a house that people built for it. The Holy One blessed be He says to them: the heavens are My throne, the earth is My footstool, like a king who sits on a throne and judges his people, so too from the heavens the abundance comes down to the earth where My footstool is. So what house could you build for Me? Is there a house that can contain the Infinite? Is such a thing possible? Shlomo HaMelech said, "Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You, how much less this house that I have built." And all the more so the house that I have built, which certainly cannot constitute a place for Hashem. So first, it is devoid of reason and logic that the Holy One blessed be He, who is Infinite, should cause His Name to dwell within a house, for a house is limited. "What house could you build for Me." Second, "what place for My rest." Another thing that is devoid of all logic is to think that the Holy One blessed be He needs rest. That Hashem is in motion and from time to time needs to rest. "What place for My rest," I built You a house so that You would rest in it. Is that what you think? That the Holy One blessed be He got tired and now needs rest? Yet He neither faints nor grows weary, that is what we say of the Holy One blessed be He. These two things are contrary to reason. And behold, see, in any case I commanded about them. "And all these things My hand has made, and so all these came to be, says Hashem; and to this one I will look, to the poor and broken in spirit, who trembles at My word." Third, says the Malbim, that the Holy One blessed be He should request that they build Him a place for His dwelling, this, as it were, expresses a lack. This expresses a need. And we have already spoken several times that if we think the Holy One blessed be He asks something of us, it means that Hashem needs something from us, and one who looks at it this way diminishes the Divine. Because, as it were, the Holy One blessed be He is lacking, you will build Me a house, ah, you have completed My will for Me. You have completed My need for Me. Does the Holy One blessed be He have needs? Does the Holy One blessed be He have a lack? He is the Master of all, we say "Master of the world who reigned before any creature was created." Even before any creature was created, the Holy One blessed be He was already King. He does not need us in order to be King. He does not need us to do something for His needs. The Holy One blessed be He says: so how is it possible that I should ask you to fill My lack and, what, build Me a house? On this the Holy One blessed be He says: "all these things My hand has made." Do I need anything from you when I make the things? For if you build a house, did you build it? "In vain do its builders labor on it." Who builds a house? "If Hashem does not build a house." The Holy One blessed be He builds the Name, the material is from Hashem and the strength is from Hashem, everything is from Hashem. So if the Holy One blessed be He wants a house, does He need you? Will you build a house for My Name? The Holy One blessed be He does not need you. So here you will see another strange thing, that as it were we build a house for Hashem, as it were Hashem is lacking and has no house and I build Him a house. And on this He says "so all these came to be." What is "My hand has made" and "so all these came to be"? "My hand has made" is at the beginning, "so all these came to be" is at the end. The meaning is from beginning to end, from start to finish, everything is from Him, it is not from man at all. Whether to create the world, or that what He created in the world should endure, all of it is through the Holy One blessed be He, says Hashem.
"And to this one I will look, to the poor and broken in spirit." The Holy One blessed be He says: at whom do I truly look? On whom do I truly bestow abundance? On the poor and broken in spirit. One who is poor in his externality and broken in spirit, "broken in spirit" like a dejected spirit, meaning a lowly spirit, whose spirit is broken within. And nevertheless he does not rebel, nevertheless he does not come with complaints to the Holy One blessed be He, "to the poor and broken in spirit, who trembles at My word." Who trembles to obey My voice. The Holy One blessed be He says: this is the purpose of the Mikdash, this is the purpose of the korbanot, this is the purpose of the house that you build for My Name. The main goal is that you attain submission, the main goal is that a person humble his soul. But that a person should come as a boss to the Beit HaMikdash, Master of the world, here is what You asked for, take Your korbanot, enjoy them, I can continue to transgress. Woe to one who relates to it this way. The Holy One blessed be He says: what house could you build for Me, do I need this house? Is this what I ask of you? That you build Me such a house? Do I need all this? For if you contemplate, as the Malbim says, there are here things that are completely contrary to sound reason. It is completely contrary that the Holy One blessed be He has a particular place, completely contrary that the Holy One blessed be He needs a place of rest because He has motion, as it were, and completely contrary that the Holy One blessed be He demands something from man and needs him to build Him a house. This is completely contrary to reason. Do you not understand that the goal of all these matters is only that a person should tremble at My word? All this is so that a person humble his soul before Hashem. So how do you go and think that I commanded all this because I need something from you, because I want something from you? If you offer such korbanot, says the Radak, these korbanot are not offered for favor but rather they are for iniquity.
And this is the next pasuk. "One who slaughters the ox strikes a man, one who sacrifices the sheep breaks a dog's neck, one who offers a meal-offering offers pig's blood, one who burns frankincense blesses iniquity; they too have chosen their ways and their soul delights in their abominations." "One who slaughters the ox strikes a man." One who slaughters the ox in order to offer it before Me while he still continues in his wickedness, and he still continues in his transgressions, the Holy One blessed be He says: I consider him one who strikes a man. As if you murdered a person. "One who sacrifices the sheep breaks a dog's neck." One who sacrifices a sheep before Me in order to appease Me while he continues in his transgressions, it is as if he broke a dog's neck to offer it before Me, God forbid. "One who offers a meal-offering," if he offers a meal-offering and continues in his corruption, it is as if he offers pig's blood. For the dog and the pig are impure. "One who burns frankincense," frankincense was burned upon the meal-offering, "blesses iniquity," as if he blesses idolatry and theft and falsehood and iniquity and vanity. The Radak asks: why does he say "breaks a dog's neck"? Why does he not say "slaughters a dog"? Since the dog is not fit for shechitah, therefore he speaks concerning it of breaking the neck. Impure animals, one breaks their necks. Regarding the donkey it is written there "and you shall break its neck," "and they shall break the neck of the calf there," they strike it with a cleaver opposite its neck, this is the cutting of the neck. And "oref" and "oref," says the Malbim, these are two expressions that express the same idea, except that "oref" is the name of the place, since "oref" is the place opposite the throat, and "oref" is the action, when one cuts from the neck it is called "oref." And why does he mention dog and pig? Listen to a novel idea the Radak says. The Radak says: he mentioned dog and pig because the dog has split hooves even though it does not fully split the split, and the pig has split hooves and splits the split. Do you hear the novel idea? The dog has split hooves. And indeed many cite from the words of Rabbeinu Bachya, in fact Rabbeinu Bachya already writes this, and they bring his words and are greatly puzzled by it. How can you define a dog at all as having split hooves? This is not called a hoof, rather it all walks on its paws, and about this it is said "they are impure to you." How is it relevant to define this as some sign of purity? In any case, so too writes Rabbeinu Bachya, so too writes the Radak, that both are called "having split hooves." And why does he mention them? Because in both there is some aspect of a sign of purity and yet the law is that they are impure. So too with Am Yisrael, as it were he brings a korban, what do you want to show by it? Behold I offer before Hashem. But what is actually the goal? To show, extending its hooves it says "I am pure." Behold I can do a good deed, but within it sets its ambush. All his corrupt and evil deeds, he still continues in them. And this comes to symbolize, like the pig that extends its hooves and says "I am pure," so too the dog has split hooves and says as it were "I am pure," even though it does not fully split the split, for "splits the split" means that it has a split in its hooves like a kid and the like, and the dog does not have this. But in any case it has part of the signs of purity, yet within it sets its ambush, for it does not chew the cud.
And on this he says "they too," they too who slaughter the ox and those who sacrifice the sheep, they too are like one who breaks a dog's neck, like one who offers pig's blood, because they choose their evil ways and their soul delights in their abominations. They do not seek My ways, My mitzvot, that I warned them, "do not make your souls abominable," but they continue in their corrupt ways. What is the meaning of "too" written here? "They too have chosen their ways." And this is somewhat puzzling, since "too" always comes to add A to B, or B to C, or C to B, it is always "too." But I would never start with "too" when I have nothing to add to. "Too" what? Say something first, and after that say "too." You too. Too what? First say Reuven will come, then Shimon too. Rashi says: do not be puzzled. This is the way of the Hebrew tongue, to say two instances of "too" next to each other. Like "both a young man and a maiden." "Both a young man," in addition to whom? "And a maiden too." It is the way of Scripture to say two instances of "too" next to each other. "It shall be neither mine nor yours." "Both love and hatred." Yes? "So they will not die, neither they nor you." Behold you see "too" that appears at the beginning of a sentence, so too in our case. Here too he says they too chose, so I too will choose. You chose corrupt things, the Holy One blessed be He says I too will choose flawed and corrupt things. The Malbim explains: you who bring korbanot and yet, as I explained earlier, still continue in your wickedness, you still continue in your corruption, you do not repent before Me. Know this, whether one who slaughters an ox for a korban or one who strikes a man to murder a soul. Whether one who sacrifices a sheep as a korban or one who breaks a dog's neck. And likewise, whether one who offers a meal-offering as a korban or, opposite him, one who offers pig's blood to idolatry. Or one who mentions the Name through frankincense, or one who blesses the idolatry, iniquity. The Holy One blessed be He says: know that these two extremes are equal in My eyes. Even the former, who is one who slaughters the ox, sacrifices the sheep, offers a meal-offering, burns frankincense, all of which are positive, behold they too chose their ways. You go to serve the Holy One blessed be He as you think. Not because Hashem commanded. Not because you nullify your opinion or your will before Him, but only because of your own choice. The Holy One blessed be He says: I do not want these korbanot without repentance, I have no interest in them without submission. And also the other side, one who strikes a man, breaks a dog's neck, their soul delights in their abominations. Just as you go and serve Me as you understand, this is like one who serves idolatry and delights in his abominations. As he understands, from the standpoint of the abomination that he wants.
Notice, the Malbim says here an interesting thing. It is written "and their soul delights in their abominations." Why is it written earlier "they too have chosen their ways" and afterward, regarding their abominations, he says "their soul delights"? The Malbim says: because man does not truly choose evil. Man delights in evil. For choice is always something intellectual. When I choose it is always with the aid of the intellect. Do not relate this today to the voters in the Knesset, where there is a complete lack of intellect. Speaking normally, when a person chooses spiritual matters, then the choice is always with the aid of the intellect. Therefore he says "they too have chosen their ways," this speaks of the good ways. The good ways they chose, this is out of choice, because when we speak of how to serve Hashem. And when he speaks against this about the idolatry and "in their abominations," it is not fitting to say he chose the abominations. Choice is intellectual, to choose abominations is not intellectual. Therefore there he says "their soul delights." He has a delight and a desire. He has a craving, he has a delight and a desire, but one cannot say that he chose it, because choice is always something rational that the intellect dictates, and one cannot say that people rationally choose abominations. There is an interesting hint here, "one who slaughters the ox strikes a man." The holy Arizal says that when a person offers a korban, what is he actually doing? Whoever wishes may study Mishnat HaGilgulim, where in the second part I explain according to Kabbalah what the holy Arizal explains about what happens when a person offers a korban. And he writes that in fact within the korban a soul is reincarnated, and when a person offers the korban he rectifies that soul. And if a person did not offer the korban properly, it is written "blood shall be reckoned to that man, he has shed blood." Why? What happened? What blood did he shed? You slaughtered an animal, so you killed a dog, so you killed a cow. What happened? You killed an ox. Why has he shed blood? Because he did not bring it to the Sanctuary of Hashem, you took it and slaughtered it outside, for the sake of Heaven, what does that help? You did not rectify the soul. So what did you do? You simply murdered it again. Because the soul came here for rectification and you did not rectify it, so he has shed blood. And this is exactly also what is written here. "One who slaughters the ox," when you slaughtered the ox not for the purpose of repentance, what did you do? You destroyed it. What did you do? You killed it needlessly. And what is inside it, as we explained? Inside it is a reincarnated soul. So "one who slaughters the ox strikes a man." By slaughtering the ox, what did you do? You murdered a person. Because this person came in the ox for its rectification, and if you had offered and burned it properly, it would now merit to complete its matter, but you did not do this, you went and slaughtered it, which is equivalent to breaking a dog's neck and offering a meal-offering of pig's blood, because you did not do it for the sake of Heaven, you did not do it out of repentance, so in the end what did one who slaughtered an ox do? He struck a man. He essentially killed a person by slaughtering the ox, for he killed the reincarnated soul and did not bring it to rectification.
"I too will choose their mockeries, and I will bring their fears upon them; because I called and none answered, I spoke and they did not listen, and they did what is evil in My eyes and chose that which I did not desire." "I too will choose their mockeries." "Their mockeries" is from the language of "that you have mocked Me," "that I mocked Egypt." That is to say, since they do things of mockery, the Holy One blessed be He says I too will mock them. I too will choose their mockeries, those corrupt deeds just as they did. "And their fears," that which they fear, "magor" means fear. That which they are anxious and afraid and fearful of, which is the sword, the famine, captivity, plunder, the Holy One blessed be He says I will bring this upon them. And the reason, "because I called and none answered, I spoke and they did not listen." The Holy One blessed be He says: this is measure for measure. Since I called and they did not listen, I spoke and none answered. "And they did what is evil in My eyes," in the negative commandments. "And chose that which I did not desire," this is in the positive commandments. That is, they chose for themselves their own positive commandments. The Holy One blessed be He says: since I called and none answered and I rebuke them through the prophets and nothing affects them, therefore I too will choose their mockeries and bring their fears upon them, therefore their punishment will be accordingly.
"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 will see your joy and they will be ashamed." "Hear the word of Hashem, you who tremble at His word." What is "who tremble at His word"? The righteous who hasten in trembling to draw near to His words. From here, incidentally, is the source of the expression, the term "charedim" (those who tremble). Where is the source of "charedim"? From what is written, "Hear the word of Hashem, you who tremble at His word." And Rashi says: the righteous who hasten in trembling to draw near to His words. "Those who tremble" comes to express a person who trembles at the word of Hashem. "Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out said." Who are these? The transgressors of Yisrael whom we saw above. Another explanation Rashi says: those who said "turn aside, impure one." "Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out," those who said "keep to yourself, do not touch me, do not approach me, do not come near me." That is to say, they feel they are the righteous, you keep away, you need rectification. You have problems, we are the righteous. "Let Hashem be glorified." They say we are greater than you, we are more righteous than you, the Holy One blessed be He is honored by us more than by you. We are closer to Him. "Let Hashem be glorified." "But we will see your joy and they will be ashamed." The prophet says: but know, a time will come, a generation will come, when all those who feel themselves righteous next to the servants of Hashem. All those who feel themselves upright, those who are always scrupulous in heaping all the filth and disgust upon those who keep the mitzvot. Those who always find in them all the faults, he is the tzaddik of the generation. But those religious ones, they are all thieves, they are all like this, they are all like that, and he has all the stories to invent about them. And he feels righteous next to them. He says: a generation will come and we will see your joy and they will be ashamed. But it is not as their words, for we will see your joy and they will be ashamed. And this is the continuation, "a sound of tumult from the city, a sound from the Sanctuary, the sound of Hashem repaying recompense to His enemies." For the Holy One blessed be He, the tumult, the troubles and the evils and the corruption and the wickedness that they did in the city, a sound goes out from the Sanctuary of the Holy One blessed be He that will accuse them and repay recompense to His enemies. That is to say, only now we are in a world of falsehood, where there are people who do all the evil and wickedness and they have criticism against those who keep the mitzvot, they feel righteous next to them. But the Holy One blessed be He says: these are your brothers, they are your brothers, but they hate you and cast you out, a time will come when we will see your joy and they will be ashamed.
The Radak explains: "Hear the word of Hashem, you who tremble at His word." "Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out said," those who distance you because you tremble at the word of Hashem. They say "let Hashem be glorified." The Radak explains that they, as it were, say what the Holy One blessed be He demands is heavy upon us. What Hashem says "let Hashem be glorified" - it is glorified, it is heavy upon us. Hashem's mitzvot are hard for us, Hashem's mitzvot are heavy for us. Like "and we will not be a burden upon you," so too the meaning is, as it were, Hashem's mitzvot weigh upon us. They say, as it were, that the difficulty is because of Hashem. But the Holy One blessed be He says: I will show and reveal in your joy, you will rejoice in His salvation and they will be ashamed. All those who complained that Hashem's mitzvot are heavy and who always sought how to make things easier for themselves, a generation will come when they will be ashamed. And why will they be ashamed? One can say according to what the Gemara brings, that the wicked say: how could we not overcome a hair's breadth? Meaning that when Mashiach comes it will become clear that it was not heavy at all. It will become clear that what they said, "it is heavy, heavy," was not true. Because they will say: how did we not succeed in overcoming the evil inclination, which is like a hair's breadth? So in fact, the Holy One blessed be He then says: we will see the joy of those who truly exerted themselves, and they, those who claimed "let Hashem be glorified, Hashem's mitzvot are heavy upon us," they will be ashamed. When will this be? When there is "a sound of tumult from the city," which is essentially the next pasuk, when the Holy One blessed be He is revealed, then it will truly be revealed that those who despised His mitzvot did so because of the cravings of their heart and not truly because Hashem's mitzvot are heavy. Another explanation the Radak says, that one can say he says this concerning the people of his generation who tremble at the word of Hashem, as he said "and trembles at My word." And he says "we will see your joy," the meaning is about the mitzvot that you perform. "And we will see your joy" - or the meaning is about the resurrection of the dead, in the days of Mashiach. Or it is very possible that he says here "hear the word of Hashem, you who tremble at His word" concerning the exiles, who will come from outside the land in order to be here in the days of Mashiach, to be here at the time of the redemption. The Malbim explains that this refers back to those we saw above. Those who bring the korbanot in order to continue transgressing. Those who bring the korbanot in order to take pride in them. And they are of the class of hypocrites, says the Malbim. "Hear the word of Hashem," to whom does he turn? "You who tremble at His word." To those who truly tremble. Not to the hypocrites, not to those who present themselves as God-fearing and, as it were, bring korbanot to the Beit HaMikdash when the intention is to continue in their sins. He says to them: these are your brothers, as it were your brothers in mitzvot, both of us go to the Beit HaMikdash, I too offer and he too offers. So your brother, he appears like your brother. But truly know they hate you and cast you out. Because it is known that everyone who has fear of Hashem in his heart has love of the Sages within him. And if you want to know who truly has Hashem far from his innermost being, see how much love of the Torah Sages he has. "My heart is toward the lawgivers of Yisrael," says Devorah. The meaning is: my heart goes out to the love of the Sages, to the love of the great ones of Torah. "And a man according to his praise" - do you want to know what a person is? "A crucible for silver," you refine the silver, "a furnace for gold," you put the gold in the furnace, and through this you can know how to separate the dross. And how will you know a person? By his praise. See whom he praises. From whom he is impressed. If he is impressed by people who are far from mitzvot, by politicians, by military men, by all sorts, then understand that he is there. And if you see that he is impressed by the Sages and always speaks of their praise, then you understand that he is there. On this he says "your brothers," they appear as your brothers, but truly they hate you and cast you out. He always has criticism of those who learn Torah. He always has something to say about the avreichim. He always has something to say about the great ones of the generation, and he is also their advisor. And here they did not act correctly, and here they did not rule correctly, and here the members of their household sway their opinion, and here they did not see things clearly, he always has criticism of the Sages, he is the one who understands, he is the one who knows, he is the witness, he is the judge. This is "your brothers," he as it were appears like you, wears a kippah like you, everything like you, but they hate you and cast you out. You can see it in his speech, in his critical attitude, you can see that this is one who hates you and casts you out. "In their heart they set their ambush," says the Malbim about the true fearers of Hashem. What is needed? Why are avreichim needed? Why is it needed to learn all day? What is needed? Why not this? Why do they not go? Why do they not work? Why not, he always has criticism. He always has criticism. He understands better than everyone and in his opinion what he thinks is the correct thing, what the great ones of Yisrael say is like the dust of the earth and like a garlic peel, they do not understand, they do not see the things, "I dwell among my own people," I am within the nation, but the great ones of Yisrael are cut off, may there be dust in their mouths. So these are the people who appear as your brothers but truly they hate you and cast you out. About them he says "let Hashem be glorified." Through the korbanot he brings, he thinks that through this Hashem will be glorified. But what is really the purpose of the korban as we explained? To show "I am righteous," to show "behold I do Hashem's will." What are you talking about? Through this Hashem will be glorified? Through the korbanot he brings? For what purpose? "For My Name's sake." He brings korbanot in order that his name be magnified. In order to present himself as righteous. Not so that His Name be magnified but to magnify his own personal name. The prophet says to them: and we will see, the truth will be revealed at the coming of Mashiach. Then we will see in your time of joy, then they will be ashamed. Then they will see that the Holy One blessed be He has no interest in flatterers. The Holy One blessed be He wants the true service of Hashem. This thing will be seen only in the future, at the coming of Mashiach, when the redemption comes, then it will be possible to see who it is that presents himself as your brother while truly he hates you and casts you out. Who it is that acts "for My Name's sake" only so that his name be glorified and he thinks that by this Hashem will be glorified. So we will see your joy but they, those wicked ones who present themselves as righteous, they will be ashamed. When will this be? "A sound of tumult from the city, a sound from the Sanctuary, the sound of Hashem repaying recompense to His enemies." So in the days of Mashiach there will be a sound of tumult from the city, "a sound of tumult" means a sound of noise, "from the city" means from Yerushalayim, when Gog and Magog, who are the enemies of Hashem, will come upon it, and then it is written "and Hashem will go out and fight against those nations." And here the prophet says, as the Malbim explains, that as it were the prophet here is like describing what he sees in his mind's eye of the future. I hear a sound of tumult from the city, the multitude of the city in Yerushalayim. And not only that, but a sound of tumult from the Sanctuary, meaning from the Sanctuary and from the Mikdash I hear. I hear the sound of Hashem repaying recompense to His enemies. And now he will begin to detail all three of these sounds. Everything he said, a sound of tumult from the city, a sound of tumult from the Sanctuary, the sound of Hashem. How the Holy One blessed be He, as it were, repays reward to His beloved and recompense and punishment to His enemies, now he will detail the things more specifically. "Before she travailed she gave birth. Before pain came to her she delivered a male." "Before she travailed she gave birth." He describes, as it were, that the salvation will come in a sudden way. There is a woman who is in travail, meaning she has pangs, birth pangs, in travail like one giving birth, and this woman is waiting for the birth. These pangs, as it were, announce and herald that the birth is near, and slowly they prepare and slowly we organize until the birth occurs. But he says the future birth will not be like this. Rather, "before she travailed she gave birth." The meaning is, even before she travails, before the pangs and trembling of the birth seize her, even before the process of the birth occurs, as it were she immediately gave birth. What does this mean? It means that in fact the coming of Mashiach will come immediately. It will come in a single moment, unexpectedly. Not something we prepare for, but rather, what, suddenly, as it is written "suddenly the Master whom you seek will come to His Sanctuary." It will not be with some anticipation, but suddenly, in a single moment, "before she travailed she gave birth." And then, "before pain came to her," before the birth pangs came, "she delivered a male." Behold she delivered and gave birth to a male. The meaning is: the birth will be immediate, a birth that we did not anticipate, but rather a birth, as it were, in a single moment.
And why does he emphasize "she delivered a male"? The Radak says: he said "male" because he is better and stronger than the female. I am only quoting. Yes? And his parents rejoice in him more than in the female. This was so in times of old. And his parents rejoice in him more than in the female. Yes, today I think it is somewhat the opposite. To educate sons is hard, to educate daughters is much easier and simpler, yes? The Chafetz Chaim said to a certain parent who told him that he wanted him to bless him with viable offspring of sons, so the Chafetz Chaim said to him: sons? He said, about those who are alive we grieve, who among them will come out to the service of Hashem, so many stray from the way, so many become corrupted, he said, if only the living ones would walk in the service of Hashem. You want sons? Who today can know that he will be able to educate his sons truly to Torah and fear of Heaven? Daughters, on the other hand, "your wife is like a fruitful vine." You press grapes, wine comes out. But "your sons are like olive shoots." How much you must crush, how much you must dig, not understanding, not even with a stick, yes? But how much you must shed blood until you merit to have a God-fearing son, a servant of Hashem, a son of Torah, how much you must exert yourself for this. One of... it is arousing, we know how much effort you must invest. Many, thank God, he prays, keeps mitzvot, ah yes, like this more or less, but that one true servant of Hashem, truly God-fearing, should grow, this is very very not simple. Yes? So therefore he says "the male," so in their time the parents rejoiced. They were glad that a son was born, but as I said, today we do not know what a day will bring, so in some way the daughters are preferable, it is easier to educate them.
The Malbim says: "before she travailed she gave birth." Corresponding to what we said, "I hear a sound of tumult from the city," a sound of noise of tumult, a sound of commotion from the city. He explains that here we are speaking of a long time before the coming of Mashiach. People, listen to what the Malbim writes. This is a kind of prophecy. The Malbim says: a long time before the coming of the redeemer, a few people from the exiles will gather and establish their dwelling in Yerushalayim. Do you hear? Even before the redemption people will come and establish their dwelling in Yerushalayim. And after many years that they dwell there, 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 Yerushalayim. And then the great general ingathering will begin. Today we are a minority. How many of us are here in the land? Six million Jews. How much is six million out of the entire world? The entire world today numbers about 15 million Jews, 18 million Jews, the Reform do not help us in this matter, they only diminish us. So we have around 15 million Jews, we are a minority here. The six million Jews who are here are a small part of the Jews of the world. And if so, still most of Yisrael are not upon it. And then the great general ingathering will begin. And on this he says "before she travailed she gave birth." Even before the city Yerushalayim has the travail of the great birth, of giving birth, it will have a small birth. And what is the small birth? What we just said, that there are people who already today live in Yerushalayim.
And not only "before she travailed," he also says "before pain came to her." Even at a time when it was not yet the time for pain to come to her, which is birth pangs, which is many years before the time of redemption, even before these years of birth pangs, already then we will see that she gave birth, but notice what, "she delivered a male." It is not written "males," but rather it is written "a male." "A male" means one. That is to say, a minority will come. A minority will come, and this is even before the redemption and even before the birth pangs of Mashiach. And she already delivered a male. What is "a male"? As we said, one, a small number, few. The Malbim asks: what is "chevel" (pain)? Why do we call it birth pangs? Because the fetus is bound in the full womb by ties and foundations. The umbilical cord. There is the umbilical cord, there is the placenta, there is the... it is as if bound within its mother's womb. And therefore the expression "chevel" comes upon the fact that the child is bound in its mother's innards. "There your mother was bound with you," "there she who bore you was in pain." And upon the time when these ties separate, then he says "before pain came." Even before the time when this pain was severed, and then this is a time when those ties separate.
"Who has heard such a thing, who has seen such things, can a land be brought forth in one day, can a nation be born at one time? For as soon as Zion travailed she also gave birth to her children." So the Malbim says: when the time of the redemption arrives and the woman giving birth sits on the birthstool and the pangs and contractions arrive, what are the pangs and contractions? This is the war of Gog and Magog. Then the birth will be wondrous. In what? In two matters, says the Malbim. One thing, from the standpoint of the birth pangs. Meaning, the birth pangs will spread throughout the whole land all at once. As it were, all the women of the land will be seized by those birth pangs in one day. What does he mean to say? That as it were Gog will not come little by little, but rather when Gog comes it will be like a conquest of the whole land all at once. And this is what he says, "can a land be brought forth in one day." "Brought forth" means, as we said, that it speaks of the birth pangs, is it possible that this would be in one day? All the women in one day gave birth? And here we will see that as it were Gog in one day will come upon the whole land and spread over the whole land from end to end.
The second thing, from the standpoint of the birth itself. That at one time the entire nation is born. And this is what he says, "who has seen such things, can a land be brought forth in one day." Can a land in one day, as it were, give birth? And then the meaning here is essentially about the exiles who have already gathered here. After Gog rules here in one day over the whole land, you will suddenly see the redemption, that in one day all the exiles will come here. And on this he says "for as soon as Zion travailed she also gave birth to her children." And here the wonder too is twofold. First, that she travailed in one day, and second, that she gave birth at one time. And all this happened in a single moment and at one time. So this thing is a wondrous thing. Has anyone heard such a thing? Has anyone seen such a thing? For this thing is something unaccepted and unimaginable. And here the Holy One blessed be He says: in one day Gog will rule and in one day the redemption of all Yisrael will occur.
What is written, "can a land be brought forth" ... "for as soon as she travailed she also gave birth," this is from the language of "trembling and shaking seize him." The meaning is essentially about difficulty, or it may also connect to the word "choleh" (sick). The meaning is "for as soon as Zion travailed she also gave birth," yes? The meaning is the trembling and shaking that seizes at the time of birth. And on this he says here: you will see that it will be all at once, both in one day and at one time will the redemption be.
"Shall I bring to the point of birth and not bring forth? says Hashem. Or shall I, who brings forth, restrain? says your God." What you wonder, "can a nation be born at one time," is it possible that the people here would suddenly be born all at once? Suddenly everyone will come here in a single moment? The Holy One blessed be He says: I seated them on the birthstool, I brought upon them the pangs, that is to say the birth pangs came from Me. The Holy One blessed be He says: so if that is the case, how is it possible that the birth would not come? You ask, "can a land be brought forth in one day"? I am the One who brings forth, so is it possible that I would restrain some of them? For it is necessarily so that if I open the womb in order to bring forth, then the birth will be completed, because you are speaking of One who has the power and the might in His hand. "Give might to God," this is the Holy One blessed be He, the might and the strength are in His hand. The Holy One blessed be He says: when I perform the act it will not be partial, but rather the act will be complete, for I am the One who brings forth, and shall I restrain? Since I am the One who brings forth, then is it possible that I would perform a partial birth? "Shall I bring to the point of birth," shall I bring them to the trouble sitting on the birthstool, says Hashem, "and not bring forth"? And not bring them to birth? So do not wonder about this. For immediately we are speaking of the One who has the power, and from His hand there is the power to give without end. The Holy One blessed be He says: when the redemption comes it will be complete. No remnants will be left, there will be no such ones who will not come and will not be included in the future redemption. All those who need to be redeemed, the Holy One blessed be He says, all of them will be redeemed in one day and in a single moment.