Yeshayahu chapter 25. "Hashem, You are my God, I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonders, counsels from afar in perfect faithfulness." "Hashem, You are my God" - the Malbim explains that this is the song the elders will sing in the future to come. For with what did he conclude the previous chapter? "And before His elders will be glory." That is, the supernal glory will rest and be present opposite whom? Opposite the elders, opposite the righteous. And then, as a result of this, the elders will give thanks and praise and laud the Holy One, blessed be He. What will they say? "Hashem, You are my God, I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonders, counsels from afar in perfect faithfulness."
The Malbim explains: the Holy One, blessed be He, is recognized in two aspects. First, from the aspect of His essence. Hashem, the Havayah, blessed be He, who was, is, and will be, everything that exists in the world comes from Him, the Holy One, blessed be He, brings everything into being and renews it all at every moment and every hour. The second thing: the Holy One, blessed be He, is recognized from the aspect of His deeds, from the aspect of His actions. When the Holy One, blessed be He, does things in which He overturns the systems of nature, in this one sees that the kingship is Hashem's. In this the matter is recognized: if the Holy One, blessed be He, splits the Sea of Reeds and makes the sea stand as a wall on its right and its left, in this the dominion of the Holy One, blessed be He, is recognized. But grasping the blessed Hashem, the One who was, is, and will be from the aspect of His essence, this is not visible to us, it is not attainable by us, it is exalted above all human comprehension and thought. And therefore we say, "No thought can grasp You at all." That is, His blessed essence, who can explain it, who can understand it, who can... there is no possibility whatsoever. What can we do? We can describe His deeds, His actions. So the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted from two aspects. From one aspect, from the aspect of His essence, He is not grasped by the intellect at all, and from the other aspect, the actions that He does, which are actions that arouse wonder, that display the power and dominion of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the world.
Now, corresponding to the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the name Havayah, we said the name Havayah comes to hint at was, is, and will be, ungraspable. On the other hand, there is an aspect in which the Holy One, blessed be He, in the aspect of God of Israel, performs wonders for the people of Israel. The Holy One, blessed be He, performs wonders for His children, and through this He is recognized, seen: here He split the sea, here He split the Jordan, "Sun, stand still at Givon," the hailstones descending from heaven; in this the dominion of the Holy One, blessed be He, is recognized and seen, that the Holy One, blessed be He, performs wonders.
Now let us see how these two things are hinted at here in the verse. "Hashem, I will exalt You." From the aspect that You are Hashem, Y-H-V-H, I will exalt You. "Exalted" means unattainable. Exalted and elevated above our understanding, above all comprehension and thought, above all blessing and thanksgiving, exalted above every blessing and praise. Exalted, above our grasp. Who is this? This is Y-H-V-H, this is Hashem. But on the other hand there is "my God." That is the continuation, "Hashem, my God." "My God" refers to the aspects that we can indeed see, how the Holy One, blessed be He, connects to nature, how He performs signs and wonders beyond the bounds of nature; in this we do indeed see the dominion of the Holy One, blessed be He. For this I can already give thanks. For I have seen, I have seen the wondrous marvel; after the splitting of the Sea of Reeds the people of Israel sang a song. When I see the hand of Hashem in nature, that is already grasped. That is already something I can accept. For this I can indeed give thanks. And therefore he says, "You are my God, I will praise Your name." Why? "For You have done wonders." The moment You did a wonder, that is something that can indeed be grasped. And we said that what symbolizes the Holy One, blessed be He, in the wonders He performs for the people of Israel is from the aspect that He is "my God." "My God" means that I have a connection with Him. With Y-H-V-H there is no connection. Therefore note that the name Havayah has no inflections. One cannot inflect the name Y-H-V-H. But the name Elokim does have inflections: my God, our God, their God; it has inflections. So this is what he says: Hashem is my God. What is "my God"? He performs signs and wonders for me. So for this I can indeed praise Your name. I can indeed give thanks to the name of Hashem, for You have done a wonder, You perform wonders, and these wonders are indeed perceived by the senses; for this it is fitting to give thanks.
"Counsels from afar." These wonders You performed for the sake of the counsels You planned from afar. For You, Master of the world, designated designations through the prophets. You informed us that a redemption is destined to be, You informed us that the war of Gog and Magog is destined to be, You informed us that in the end Hashem will reign over all the earth. So all that is Hashem, all the wonders that You do and will do, for he is speaking about the future wonders, all these wonders are "counsels from afar," You already counseled from afar, meaning You made it known through the prophets; all the wonders that are destined to be, You already made known through the prophets from afar. And then You bring these wonders "for perfect faithfulness." In order to strengthen the faith that behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, can overturn the systems of nature at His will. "Perfect faithfulness": through this He trains and strengthens the faith in our hearts, so that the faith will be strong. The Malbim says that "omen" is a term of strengthening, like "a peg in a firm place." "Firm" means strong. "Perfect faithfulness" means to strengthen the matter of faith. Through the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfilling the designations, bringing those prophecies to realization, through this the faith is strengthened, so that all will know that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the Ruler and there is none besides Him.
The Malbim explains in the section of the explanation of the words, he explains more deeply. He says: the Holy One, blessed be He, has an aspect of the concealed and the revealed. We see this in many aspects. The Holy One, blessed be He, is concealed from the aspect of Himself and revealed from the aspect of His deeds. This is an expression that appears often in the books. The Holy One, blessed be He, is concealed from the aspect of Himself; when we speak about the Holy One, blessed be He, we cannot form any description, we have no grasp of Him at all. But on the other hand, the Holy One, blessed be He, is revealed from the aspect of His deeds. I can say, here one sees the miracles He performs, here one sees connection, "from my flesh I behold God." Whoever merely contemplates his own body, how it is designed in such a precise fashion, sees Godliness. We already told once that Rav Shach was visited by a certain person, and Rav Shach was eating a clementine, he had a clementine in his hand. And he asked him, what do you see? So that person who came in said to him, I see a clementine. Rav Shach said to him, by my life, I see Godliness. That is what Rav Shach said to him, saying that I see this clementine and I see how it is designed, how the Holy One, blessed be He, placed here a fruit inside, wrapped it beautifully on the outside, easily I can remove the peel to reach inside, the fruit within He divided for me so that it would not be difficult for me, He divided it into segments for me, and within it the Holy One, blessed be He, placed the seed, so that after I finish this clementine I can plant it and have a new tree. When I see all of this, and one can go further and further inside, one sees Godliness. So the Holy One, blessed be He, from the aspect of His deeds is revealed. But from the aspect of His essence, explain to me who the Creator of the world is, describe to me the Creator of the world; we have no possibility whatsoever. So the Holy One, blessed be He, is concealed from the aspect of Himself and revealed from the aspect of His deeds.
If we wish, perhaps, to describe this, in a blessing we notice this. When we say "Blessed are You, Hashem," the Rashba points out an interesting matter, which we once spoke about when we discussed the Nefesh HaChaim. In the blessing that we recite, I do not know how many have noticed, we say "Blessed are You, Hashem." I turn to the Holy One, blessed be He, in what relation? In what form? There are three persons: I, you, he, correct? I turn to Him in the second person. "Blessed are You." Directly, "You," as if the Name is here before me, I turn to Him "You." "Hashem our God, King of the universe." How should I have said it? "By whose word all came to be." How should I have said it? "My God, King of the universe, by whose word all came to be [by Your word]." How did I suddenly move from the second person to speaking in the third person? "You, our God, King of the universe, by whose word all came to be." With "by whose word" I am already speaking about someone hidden. I am not speaking about Him here. So the Rashba explains that in fact we want to express both of these things. On the one hand, a person must believe and feel that the Holy One, blessed be He, is with him at every moment. And therefore I come and say "Blessed are You, Hashem," Hashem is here, He is with me, "Blessed are You," turning to Him in the present. But there is a problem, for if you feel this way, you might think, ah, there is me and there is here, there is also the Holy One, blessed be He, here, this is just someone else wandering around here. You might think that He is someone on your level, perhaps a bit higher, but here I am, He is here, I speak to Him as one present, this is... No, no, no, immediately after this: "our God, King of the universe, by whose word all came to be." Immediately after this we turn Him into the third person, saying something ungraspable. This is third person, I can only speak about Him, about that One, this is not someone with whom you are speaking here. So on the one hand they instilled in me the awareness: the Holy One, blessed be He, is here with you, you are speaking with Him. Do not think, as the philosophers believed, that the Holy One, blessed be He, set His world in the hands of the officers of nature and does not engage, does not care about what happens here, absolutely not. The Holy One, blessed be He, is here, and when you stand and pray you stand before a King. But do not let this bring you to some frivolity in faith, to think that the Holy One, blessed be He, is like one of us. Therefore, immediately we say that He is exalted above everything, "by whose word all came to be"; the Holy One, blessed be He, is third person, He is not grasped from the aspect of Himself.
And therefore, the Malbim says, whenever we give thanks to Hashem, for what am I giving thanks? For something I felt. For some abundance that I sensed. For that I give thanks. For what does a person give thanks? For something that someone gave him. From the aspect of that in which He is revealed. "Give thanks to Hashem for He is good." "This time I will thank Hashem" for what? For a fourth son. "I will thank You forever, for You have acted." Thanksgiving is always for something in which I sense Him. Something I feel. But to exalt Hashem, I exalt Hashem for something in which I do not recognize Him. For the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted above all. This is the exaltation of Hashem. Not for something I sensed; for something I sensed I give thanks to Hashem. For what I do not feel, I exalt, I declare that the Holy One, blessed be He, is elevated. And this is what we say: "exalted above all blessing and praise." For the Holy One, blessed be He, from the aspect of Himself, praises are not applicable to Him. Praises apply only to a person, of whom you say he could be this way, he could be that way, abundance is fitting for him, a word of praise is fitting for him, because he prevailed and... The Holy One, blessed be He, from all the praises that you may say, He is above them all. And this is what he says: "my God, You are, and I will thank You." "My God" (Eli), what is "Eli"? He bestows upon me. "Eli," I felt this abundance. "I will thank You." Thanksgiving, we said, is for something I received. For something the Name gave me. But "my God" (Elokai), the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted, "my God, and I will exalt You." In this I cannot say "I will thank You," for I do not recognize the Holy One, blessed be He, I do not recognize His essence. So only "I will exalt You," I can only exalt Him. Like "This is my God and I will glorify Him, the God of my father and I will exalt Him." "This is my God and I will glorify Him": "my God" (Eli), from the aspect of the kindnesses that the Holy One, blessed be He, bestows upon me, I feel Him, "Eli." "And I will glorify Him": I will build Him a Temple, I will give thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He, I will offer Him sacrifices, I will make Him a dwelling. This I feel. But "the God of my father," this I do not recognize Him. Rather what? I know that the Name is the God of my father, this I received from my forefathers, but His essence I do not grasp at all. And since this is so, then "I will exalt Him," the God of my father I will exalt. I have no possibility of giving thanks to someone whom I do not sense. But for what I did sense, in the abundance that He bestowed upon me, in "Eli," then yes, "I will glorify Him," yes, I can build Him a dwelling and offer Him a sacrifice.
Verse 2. "For You have turned a city into a heap, a fortified town into ruin, a palace of strangers from being a city, forever it will not be rebuilt." What are the wonders that the Name performed? "You have turned a city into a heap." A place that was a city became a heap. A "heap" means a pile. This means, a place that was inhabited, suddenly it will be a pile of stones. Moreover, "a fortified town into ruin." A town that is surrounded by a wall, for this is the difference between a city and a town. A city is a place not usually surrounded by a wall; a town is surrounded by a wall, we explained that "kirya" (town) is a term of covering, of a roof, of walls. So a town that is fortified, that has a wall surrounding it, "You have made into a ruin." In a single moment You turned it into a ruin, meaning it collapsed entirely. Another thing: "a palace of strangers from being a city, forever it will not be rebuilt." There were palaces of strangers in the mountains of Israel, which the nations, the strangers, founded, and these too You made into a ruin. So "into a ruin" applies both before it and after it. "A fortified town into ruin, a palace of strangers from being a city into ruin." "A palace of strangers from being a city," the palace of strangers from being a city You also made into a ruin. What is he speaking about? Plainly he is speaking, if we can understand it in our terms today, about the Al-Aqsa mosque and about all those places that are a palace, a palace of strangers that they placed in the city, in the holy city and the Temple, they built a palace of strangers, and all the churches and all those places of the nations that they founded and built in the Holy Land, You have made into a ruin. A ruin means that the place will never be rebuilt. And these are the wonders that the Holy One, blessed be He, performed at that moment. In a single moment the Holy One, blessed be He, will do all this. For this, "Hashem, You are my God, I will exalt You, I will praise Your name." For this I give thanks to You, Master of the world.
"Therefore a mighty people will honor You, the town of ruthless nations will fear You." Corresponding to the two things that the Holy One, blessed be He, did: first, that the Holy One, blessed be He, destroyed the cities of the nations, as we said, "You have turned a city into a heap," the cities of the nations You turned into a heap of ruins. Second, the palaces that they had here within Jerusalem and in the Holy Land, the Holy One, blessed be He, destroyed, He removed their palaces from here. About this he comes and says: since You removed the palace of the strangers from the mountains of Israel in order to save the people of Israel, "therefore a mighty people will honor You." The people of Israel at that time are destined to be a mighty people. For at that time their might will already be seen in the world, the Holy One, blessed be He, will come to avenge their vengeance. So "therefore a mighty people will honor You." The people of Israel will honor the blessed Name for the kindness that He will do with them. On the other hand, since the Holy One, blessed be He, destroyed the cities of the idolaters, the Holy One, blessed be He, took vengeance upon them, as we explained "You have turned a city into a heap, a fortified town into ruin," all the cities of the idolaters the Holy One, blessed be He, will destroy. "The town of ruthless nations," since You destroyed the town of ruthless nations, through this the ruthless nations will fear You. Through this they will have dread and apprehension of You, they will see the might of the Name. And the Malbim explains the logic in the matter. The Malbim says: whoever does us a favor, we honor him. Whoever threatens us, we fear him, but note, we do not necessarily honor him. And perhaps we even scorn him. But what can be done, he is frightening. The moment he is frightening we fear him. And therefore, when the Name will save us and remove from us all the palaces of the strangers, as we explained, then "a mighty people will honor You." Then we honor the Name, we do not fear, we honor, because the Name did us a favor. On the other hand, since the Holy One, blessed be He, crushes the cities of the nations, this causes that "the town of ruthless nations" will not honor, but will fear the Name. They will fear the Name, for they will truly feel the resting of His arm. And so it turns out that in fact the Holy One, blessed be He, through this will attain both honor and awe. Honor from the people of Israel and awe from the nations. And this is what we say: "for kingship is Hashem's and He rules over the nations." The Vilna Gaon says, what is the difference between "kingship" (meluchah) and "rule" (memshalah)? The Vilna Gaon says: kingship is by willingness. The king reigns by the will of the people. Rule, on the other hand, is by great force and a strong hand. So "kingship is Hashem's," over His people Israel it will be in the category of kingship. On the other hand, rule, this will be in relation to the nations. The nations will accept the kingship of Hashem and His rule only when it is with a strong hand. But with us the Name will not need to rule with a strong hand. With us it will come of itself, "kingship is Hashem's," for we will accept His kingship upon us.
Another thing the Malbim points out, that we should note: "a mighty people will honor You, the town of nations." What is the difference between a "goy" (nation) and an "am" (people)? The Malbim repeats this several times in the book, that there is a difference between a goy and an am; we already explained this in the first chapter of Sefer Yeshayahu. The difference is this: when we speak about a goy, we speak only about the gathering of that nation. What distinguishes them? What is common to them? Nothing. They are gathered in one place. This is called a goy. A goy can be that only this region of land binds them together. They have no connection to one another. This is called a goy. A gathering of peoples can be called a goy. On the other hand, an am, this refers to when we have a connection to one another, we are joined to one another, we have one government, we have one rule, like one man with one heart. And therefore when he speaks of an am, this leans more toward the people of Israel. On the other hand, "the town of nations," this leans more toward speaking of the idolaters, who in fact have nothing that unites them. The people of Israel have something that unites us, namely Judaism, namely our religion, it is what unites us. So even if a Jew is here, and even if at the end of the world, we are of the same am. On the other hand, among the goy, what unites him? That he is located within the same region of land. An Englishman who goes to America, for perhaps twenty or thirty years he is called English, and afterward he becomes American. And so on, everyone who moves from place to place, not much time passes and he becomes a goy of those nations of the kingdom. On the other hand, the people of Israel are an am, for they have uniqueness from their own aspect, and wherever they are they are in the category of an am. And an am is always a higher aspect than the aspect of a goy, as we explained.
"For You have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the destitute in his distress, a shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat, for the spirit of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall." Now he will describe to us how the Holy One, blessed be He, brought salvation to the people of Israel, through the Holy One, blessed be He, toppling the cities of idol worshipers. And he says "You have been a stronghold to the poor." And not only that, but also "a stronghold to the destitute." What is the difference between "destitute" (evyon) and "poor" (dal)? "Dal" refers to a person who had wealth and became impoverished of his possessions. This does not mean that he has nothing to eat. It may be that he has something to eat, but compared to his previous condition, he became impoverished of his possessions. This is called "dal." And there is one worse than him, called "evyon." The evyon is the worst, worse than the poor and worse than the dal. For evyon is from the term of desiring, longing. This is a person who desires everything. Whatever you give him, he immediately takes, he desires everything. "You have been a stronghold to the poor," and not only were You a stronghold to the poor, but more than that, "a stronghold to the destitute." And not only were You a stronghold to the destitute, but more than that, "in his distress." If I do a kindness to a person when he is not in distress, that is not as great as if I do a kindness to a person at a time when he is in distress. So not only a stronghold to the poor, but also a stronghold to the destitute, and moreover when he was in distress. This comes in fact to characterize the condition of the people of Israel. The people of Israel, they were in the aspect of "dal," for they were of high standing and became impoverished. And afterward they reached the condition of "evyon," that slaves ruled over us, there was none to deliver from their hand. This is truly a condition of "evyon." And not only that, but also "in his distress." That all the peoples around distress us, all seek our harm. And then You were, to that poor destitute one, "a shelter from the storm." "Storm" (zerem) means rain, downpour. "A shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat." You were also "a shade from the heat." He gives two opposite examples. In fact "storm" means a great rain from which one needs to take cover. This is called "zerem." "A shade from the heat" means great heat, from which one needs some place that will provide shade to protect me from the heat, from the burning heat. So the Holy One, blessed be He, protected and shaded that poor and destitute one from both, from all conditions. Both from a condition of harsh rain and from a condition of harsh heat, from all aspects the Holy One, blessed be He, saved him from all his troubles. And now he explains: what I said, that You were "a shelter from the storm," since "the spirit of the ruthless is like a storm." "The spirit of the ruthless," meaning those rulers, the ruthless ones, those harsh rulers, are like a storm. It is like when there is rain, wind, tempest, gale, that destroys and consumes everything. And You, "like a storm against a wall." What is the wall? You were like a protecting wall that shelters over them. To protect and shade them from these two elements, which are the aspect of the storm and the aspect of the heat. This means You saved the people of Israel in the harshest condition they were in.
"Like heat in a parched land You subdue the tumult of strangers, heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is brought low." Just as heat in a dry land, what is "tziyon"? A term of dryness, of aridity. "You subdue the tumult of strangers." Even if there was a tumult of strangers, "strangers" (zarim), we explained, is a term related to "zerem," downpour. Even if there were quantities of water, heat will come in the dry land, heat will come that in fact creates a condition of what? Of dryness, of aridity, and then "the tumult of strangers You subdue." It succeeds in drying up even if there was an enormous quantity of water, it dries it up, it subdues it. "Heat by the shadow of a cloud." On the other hand, the heat itself, "You subdue heat by the shadow of a cloud." That is, when the cloud arrives, what happens? The heat, the dryness, is subdued by it. So on the one hand, "heat in a parched land, the tumult of strangers You subdue." When there is heat and dryness, then the tumult of the waters He dries up, He subdues it. And on the other hand, when the shadow of a cloud arrives, then the shadow of the cloud subdues the heat. It subdues the dryness through the rain that it brings down. So too, after this parable he explains the analogue. "So the song of the ruthless is brought low." Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, will subdue the song, the song of the wicked, the ruthless ones, when they rejoiced over the downfall of Israel, rejoiced over their victories against us, the Holy One, blessed be He, subdued them. The Malbim explains that the meaning is that it is the nature of holiness to subdue wickedness, just as it is the nature of moisture to dampen the dry, and the nature of dryness to dry up the moist. So too it is the nature of holiness to subdue wickedness and impurity. "Yaaneh" (is brought low) written here, the Malbim explains that its meaning is "He will subdue," from a term of affliction, of humbling. Only the Malbim says, what is the difference between "to subdue" and "to afflict"? The Malbim says: with "to subdue" it is not necessary that the subdued one is in himself weakened. Rather what? He is delivered into the hand of another. "To subdue" always means into the hand of another. A person is subdued, the poor man is subdued into the hands of the rich man. Or the weak one is subjected under the hand of the strong. "Subdued" is always one relative to the other. He is subdued beneath him. This is always the concept of subduing. On the other hand, affliction, the Malbim says, is not necessarily one relative to the other, but what is clear? That he himself is weakened. "I have been greatly afflicted." They began to afflict Shimshon. The meaning is that he himself was weakened. So therefore he says: it will reach such a condition that the ruthless ones, not only will they be subdued before Hashem, for that is quite simple, to be subdued before the splendor of His majesty, but they will reach a condition of "the song of the ruthless is afflicted," the Holy One, blessed be He, will humble him from his own aspect. From his own aspect he will become afflicted; even if not from the aspect relative to the blessed Name, but from his own aspect he will reach a condition of lowliness, until he will be low and downtrodden.
"And Hashem of Hosts will make for all the peoples on this mountain a feast of rich foods, a feast of aged wines, of rich foods full of marrow, of aged wines well refined." Until here in fact he described to us the song that the elders are destined to sing when the Holy One, blessed be He, brings about the future redemption. This is what he opened with: "Hashem my God, I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, You have done wonders," and he describes "You have turned a city into a heap, You have been a stronghold to the poor, like heat in a parched land You subdue the tumult of strangers." Until here is the song. Now he continues and describes to us, the Malbim says, the results of what the Holy One, blessed be He, did at that time. What will happen when the nations gather in Jerusalem in the time of the Mashiach? What will happen when the Holy One, blessed be He, stands there in judgment with them? So he says: Hashem will then make for all the peoples on this mountain a feast of rich foods. Like a feast to which people come as those invited to a feast, as those coming to a feast. But he tells you, this feast will not be a joyous feast for all. For some of them it will be a feast of rich foods. A feast to which they bring rich and good things, an excellent feast. For whom? For those who will recognize the true faith, for those who return to the God of Israel. For them the Name will make a feast, a feast of rich foods. But there will be those for whom this feast will not really be pleasant to their palate. For them it will be a feast of dregs. What is a feast of dregs? The Malbim says: the rich foods and the dregs are opposites of one another. What in fact are dregs? Wine, when it is trodden, at a certain stage after it stands, dregs form in it. The dregs are the murky part, the thick part, the coarse part that sinks, it is the waste of the wine, it sinks. On the other hand, the complete opposite of this is the rich foods (shemanim). Oil, fat, is the part that floats on top, the choice part, the light part, it rises to the top. The dregs are the murky part that descends to the bottom; rich foods are always the choice part that rises to the top. So therefore he brings them as two opposites. For some of them it will be a feast of rich foods, these are those who believe in Hashem, and for some it will be a feast of dregs, those who will be stiff-necked, will not walk in the light of Hashem, will oppose the kingship of the blessed Name. Now he describes to us the rich foods and the dregs. "Rich foods full of marrow." What is the meaning of "mamuchayim"? Full of marrow, full of oil, that is the meaning of "mamuchayim," from the term "marrow," like the marrow of the bone, which is considered a choice thing. And so too for the bad, those for whom it will be a feast of dregs, "dregs well refined." What is the meaning of "well refined"? If I take the dregs, usually wine is mixed in them. He says, no, no, no, these are refined dregs, not a drop of wine will be in them. What does this mean? Pure waste. And this is exactly as it is written, that these will arise to eternal life and these to disgrace and everlasting abhorrence. There is no middle. Rather, either rich foods full of marrow, the most choice, or dregs well refined, the most refined evil. But in the middle there will be no condition. The Name will make for all the peoples, depending on what the intention of those nations will be, depending on whether they will accept His blessed faith. Rashi explains that the extremes here, rich foods versus dregs, come to describe the error that the nations will err. When they come, they will see a feast, ah, there is a feast, so they arrive in their multitudes. Why? Because they think it is a feast of rich foods. But what kind of feast will it really be? A feast of dregs. That is, the rich foods and the dregs do not refer to one type of nation and another type of nation, as Rashi explains, that is, those who accept faith and those who do not accept faith. Rather, according to Rashi it refers to what they supposed and what it will really be. They will be certain that it will be a feast of rich foods, but in truth it will be a feast of dregs. And this is what will be in the war of Gog and Magog.
"And He will destroy on this mountain the covering, the covering over all the peoples, and the veil that is spread over all the nations." "And He will destroy." Before the coming of the Mashiach, the Malbim says, the nations will be divided into two camps. There will be peoples who have faith, they are not idol worshipers. People who truly believe in Hashem, only what? They did not recognize the true faith. He believes in Muhammad. But he truly believes in Allah and his teaching and his prophet. He believes, he has faith in one God, called monotheistic faith. The same too, and a bit worse, are the Christians. They too believe in Hashem, but they have the impure trinity, which is in fact a deficiency in their faith. But on the other hand they have a virtue, and the virtue is faith in one God. And the Rambam already writes that these religions are a progression toward the coming of the Mashiach. For if the Mashiach had to begin the work from the beginning, to take the Indian who bows to a cow and the one who bows to Buddha and to wood and stone and turn him into a believer in one God, this is too long a path. But on the other hand, after the Muslim world already all believe in one God, and the Christian world believe in one God, they only have an addition of the vanity of the impure trinity, but they are already close. In their faith they are already close to the blessed Name. So the Malbim says: there will be two kinds of nations. Those nations who recognize the faith in Hashem, only they do not recognize the true religion. What is the true religion? This they have not yet attained. That there is the blessed Name and that He gave a Torah and there is none besides Him and there are no other laws and no other prophets and all the vanity, this they have not yet recognized. But to recognize that there is a Name, this they do recognize. And then, at that time, "and He will destroy on this mountain the covering, the covering over all the peoples." What is "the covering, the covering"? What is the repetition? One is a noun, one is an adjective. The first "lot" (covering) is a noun. What is "lot"? A covering. So it is as if it is written here, "and He will destroy on this mountain the face of the covering," the covering (lot), as if the covering, the wrapping, the covering that covers over all the peoples. This is the meaning of "the covering, the covering over all the peoples." The Holy One, blessed be He, will remove from them the mask. For in fact they have a faith of vanity now, he believes in Muhammad, this is vanity. That one believes in that man, this is vanity. So this vanity is like a covering that covers his face, so that he does not see the true faith properly. What will the Name do? He will destroy, He will remove the mask that covers their faces, and then they will see the light of Hashem clearly, in a lucid manner, they will recognize the true faith by themselves. On the other hand, there are other nations that are still as far from this as east is from west. As far as east, for many of them are in the east. Nations that have no faith whatsoever, idol worshipers like the ancient nations, like the people of China, Japan, and the like. China, I think he means China, that seems more like it to me, that this is his intent. Yes, China and Japan and the like. And they, note, with a difference. At first, when he spoke about the peoples who have faith, he said "the covering over all the peoples." And on the other hand, "the veil that is spread," those who have no faith but are idol worshipers, how does he call them? "Over all the nations." For as we explained, "nations" (goyim) is always a lower level than the level of "a people" (am). They are in a very low condition, still not believing in the blessed Name but only in idols; about them he says the Holy One, blessed be He, will remove the veil. What is a veil (masechah)? "An idol and a molten image you shall not make for yourself." A molten image is idolatry. The Holy One, blessed be He, will remove the veil that is spread over them. They have a veil that as it were does not allow them to see the true faith, and therefore they believe in those vanities. The Holy One, blessed be He, will remove from them the veil so that they will recognize the faith of Hashem. Now let us note, the Malbim says, there is here a covering (lot) and there is a veil that is spread. What is the difference between "lot," which is a covering, and "masechah," which is also a covering, something that covers over his face, veils over his face? The Malbim says: "lot" is something with which a person covers his face but it is not designated for that. For example, he covered his face with a garment. It is not something designated for covering. With a scarf. He saw a need so he covered his face, but it is not something intended for covering. And on the other hand, "masechah" is something whose purpose it is, it is designated for covering. Consequently, something that is not designated for covering is not a complete covering. As opposed to something designated for covering, which is truly a full and complete covering that blocks entirely. And therefore this too is a wonderful understanding. For when we speak about the peoples who believe in Hashem, only they have a covering that covers their faces, that is, they have something still interfering. But it does not block entirely, for he still sees Hashem. On the other hand, when we speak about the nations who are idol worshipers, they truly have a veil. A veil is something intended for covering that entirely blocks the sense of sight. So they do not see at all the faith in one God. And this too the Holy One, blessed be He, will remove from them. The Malbim also says that "masechah" is from a term of kingship. "Molten gods you shall not make for yourself." "Masechah" from a term of something that rules over him. Like "and I have set My king." Yes? The meaning is something that rules over him. He takes the veil and it is spread over all the nations. The veil, this idol, is spread, it is the ruler over the nations. If he believes in some Buddha, then that Buddha for him is the one set over him. It is what rules over him. The Holy One, blessed be He, will remove that veil and will reveal the covering from over the faces of all the peoples, and through this all will recognize His blessed faith, all will recognize His blessed Godliness.
"He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord Hashem will wipe away tears from all faces, and the disgrace of His people He will remove from all the earth, for Hashem has spoken." "He will swallow up death forever." What is "He will swallow up death forever"? Perhaps before this I will conclude one more thing in the previous verse, an interesting matter. "And He will destroy on this mountain the covering." About whom are we speaking here? He says, note, the Radak says: the covering (lot) hints at a nation that covers their faces. Speedily in our days, amen. The Ishmaelites, who cover their faces. "And He will destroy on this mountain the covering," the Holy One, blessed be He, will remove the veil from over their faces, and the meaning is He will wear them out, those nations who cover their faces. "He will swallow up death forever." Come, hear an original interpretation of the Malbim, seemingly not what we have been accustomed until today to hear in eulogies. "He will swallow up death forever." The Malbim says: who will swallow up these false faiths? Death. When Gog and Magog come here, all these peoples have false faiths. Here on the mountain of Zion, what will happen? The men of Gog and Magog will die. As it is written, that for long months they will be burying the dead of the men of Gog and Magog. This death, that they will die, will swallow up the false faith they had. Until now they had false faiths, as we said, they had a covering over all the peoples, a veil that is spread. Who will swallow this up? "Death will swallow." The death, in which the men of Gog and Magog will die and they will see His blessed Godliness, this will swallow up the false faiths. This death will cause those faiths to be swallowed up forever. The false faith will be lost forever when they see that there is a supreme Ruler, they will see that there is a single Sovereign, the Holy One, blessed be He, rules in Zion, they will recognize the true faith. And through this, "and the Lord Hashem will wipe away tears from all faces." Through this, then, when the people of Israel return to be under His rule, then Hashem will wipe away tears from all faces. Until today we wept over the troubles, until today we weep over the exile, we are pained over what the nations strike us with. But when His blessed kingship is revealed, it will become clear that all that Hashem did, He did for the good. And then instead of tears, there will be laughter upon our mouths. There will be joy upon our mouths. And this is what he says: "and the Lord Hashem will wipe away tears from all faces." Through this Hashem will wipe away the tears from our eyes, for we will recognize that everything was from Him. And not only that, but "from all faces," the Malbim says, this includes from the nations. Those nations, that the men of Gog will come and die here, there will still remain peoples from among them. These peoples will weep. Over what will they weep? Over their comrades who died, over the defeat they suffered on the battlefield. There will be tears. He says, but know, "Hashem will wipe away tears from all faces." Even the tears of the nations, the Holy One, blessed be He, will wipe them away. Why? When they understand that these tears were for the good. And why in fact were these tears for the good? What was good about these tears? So that you, the nations, would recognize the faith in Hashem. So that you, the nations, would accept the faith in one God, for we said "death will swallow up," death will swallow up those corrupt faiths. So then that death was good. This is a death from which there was benefit; through it you reached faith in one God. "And Hashem will wipe away tears from all faces." And a third thing, "and the disgrace of His people He will remove from all the earth, for Hashem has spoken." "The disgrace of His people He will remove," until now the nations disgrace us. Until now the nations scorn us. They say to us, what are you expecting, some salvation, some hope? As they say, "there is no salvation for him in God, selah." Thus the nation says to the Jew. What nonsense, what vanity you believe, why do you wait, why do you tarry? So when the blessed Name is revealed, the Name will remove the disgrace of His people. All will see, behold, do you see for what we waited? Do you see for what we tarried? And this is the next verse.
"And it will be said on that day: behold, this is our God, we hoped for Him and He saved us, this is Hashem, we hoped for Him, let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation." To what may the matter be compared? To a certain person who is in deep mud. And he says, he expects, so-and-so said he would come to help me. And everyone laughs at him, already two hours and he has not arrived, do you still believe him? No, and I tell you he said he would come and he promised me. And everyone mocks him and scorns him and belittles him, ah yes, yes, he will come to help you, yes, he will still come, he is still on the way. And suddenly he arrives. And he helps him, and he saves him, and he assists him, and moreover gives him money and moreover succeeds... ah, no words, they are forced to shut their mouths. They look for how to take the words back. This is what he says: "and it will be said on that day: behold, this is our God, we hoped for Him." What is "this is our God, we hoped for Him"? You who disgraced us at first, saying, where is Hashem your God? Well, where is the Holy One, blessed be He, will He come help you? So His people will say, "behold, this is our God, we hoped for Him." This is the One we waited for, we told you all along that we are waiting for Him, do you see? Our hope was not in vain. "This is Hashem, we hoped for Him." What is the addition? For you already said "behold, this is our God, we hoped for Him and He saved us, this is Hashem, we hoped for Him." So for the song this is very wonderful, yes, it rhymes beautifully. But what, why the repetition? What is again "this is Hashem, we hoped for Him"? So let us note, the Malbim says: at first it is written "behold, this is our God, we hoped for Him and He saved us," after this it is written "this is Hashem, we hoped for Him." At first it is written with the name Elokim, and afterward it is written with the name Havayah, blessed be He. What is the difference? The Malbim says: when it is written about "our God," "our God" speaks of the connection He has with us, the God of Israel. The bond that the Holy One, blessed be He, has with the people of Israel. So when we waited for the salvation of Hashem, then he says "behold, this is our God, we hoped for Him." "Our God" is our God, the Holy One, blessed be He, who has a connection with us, He comes to save us. "This we hoped for Him and He saved us." He comes to save us, this is a salvation that comes from the aspect of His connection with us, that we are children to Hashem our God. So this is Hashem our God. But afterward, when he comes to describe the greatness of the salvation, he says: the greatness of the salvation is "this is Hashem, we hoped for Him." "Hashem" means the essential name. The essential name means the One who was, is, and will be, who created all reality, who is above all nature, who brings everything into being at every single moment. This is not only from the aspect of His connection with us, but this is the awesome and exalted name. That is, this is not a salvation according to the way of nature, "our God," from the aspect of His connection with us. This is a supernatural salvation befitting His blessed might. A salvation befitting Hashem, Y-H-V-H, "this is Hashem, we hoped for Him." This is not merely "our God" who comes to save us, a salvation that shows a connection of the Holy One, blessed be He, with nature. Rather this will be a wonderful and exalted salvation, a salvation that endures forever. For if I speak about the name Havayah, the name Havayah is was, is, and will be, this is an eternal salvation. So he says, such a salvation is truly a salvation in which it is fitting to rejoice. "Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation." This is not a momentary salvation and then the joy passes. No, rather it is "let us rejoice and be glad." What is the difference between "let us rejoice" (nagilah) and "let us be glad" (nismechah)? The Malbim says: "gil" is over renewed tidings. Something suddenly happened, there is "gilah." A person who found a found object, then I say he has "gilah." "Gilah" does not mean a term of revealing, right? But rather from a term of "gil," joy. On the other hand, "simchah" is the constant joy. It is the joy that is all the time. So "gil" is at the beginning, the first time there is "gil," and afterward it turns into a condition of "simchah," when the joy is constant. And this is what he says: at first "let us rejoice," there will be an initial joy, some "gilah," the Holy One, blessed be He, came, was revealed, this is Hashem, we hoped for Him. But afterward he says, this joy is not one-time, but rather "let us be glad in His salvation." "Let us be glad," it will be a constant joy that will accompany us all the time of the salvation, an eternal salvation.
"For the hand of Hashem will rest on this mountain, and Moav will be trampled under it as straw is trampled in the water of a dung pit." "For the hand of Hashem will rest on this mountain." Moav and Edom are destined to be under the people of Israel in the End of Days. As it is written, "Edom and Moav, the reaching out of their hand." The Malbim says: our Sages received a tradition that the two kingdoms, Edom and Moav, which the people of Israel skirted the border of their land when they came up from Egypt, and the Holy One, blessed be He, warned them not to make war with them, they are destined to be delivered into the hand of Israel in the future. Not now, the Name told them. Now they will not be delivered into your hand. But in the future they too will be delivered into your hand. And about this he speaks now. He says Moav, they will come to the mountain of Zion in order to make war with the people of Israel. What will happen then? "The hand of Hashem will rest on this mountain." The Name will rest His hand upon them, "and Moav will be trampled under it." What is "under it"? So "under it," the Malbim says, is one of two things. Either "under it" means under the mountain, or "under it" means under the blessed Name. But one cannot say "under it" refers to under the hand of Hashem, for "hand" is... he should have said "under her," under the hand, for "hand" is feminine. From the fact that he said "under it" (masculine), you understand that he is speaking either about under the mountain or about under the blessed Name. "And Moav will be trampled under it," Moav will be trodden under the hand of Hashem, as one treads the straw in the water of a dung pit. A straw heap (matben) is the place where the straw is, and one makes dung (domen) from it. Why does one need to make dung? For the purpose of fertilizing the fields. They would tread the straw, they would take the straw out into the public domain so that they would tread on it, so that it would be fit, straw being stubble, so that it would be fit to fertilize the fields with. So Moav will be trampled as one treads the straw in the water of the dung pit, within the refuse, treading it to make dung from it until it becomes like refuse. So too Moav is destined to be trampled. The Radak asks: but the nations became confused, we do not know which is Amon, we do not know which is Moav, so what in fact is the prophet speaking about here? And this is really a general question about all the words of prophecy in which we see the prophet referring to nations that we no longer recognize. What in fact is the meaning of the matter? How will we know that the matters will be fulfilled if I do not know which nation that is? The Radak says two possibilities. One possibility, that it may very well be that the nation in its entirety is unknown, but families from within it are indeed known. I will give an example, Germany, we cannot determine that all of Germany is Amalek. But it is clear to us that Amalek is concentrated in Germany. This is clear to us, and we have proofs and verses and evidence and Gemaras on this, it is clear to us. I cannot determine that every German is an Amalekite, since Sancheriv came and mixed up the nations, but the root of Amalek is found there. So too he says, there is a root, the root of the nations is in some place, we know. This is one thing. Another possibility, the Radak says, that when one speaks about the nations one means their place. So that is, if I speak about Moav, then what am I speaking about? About Jordan. For Moav, where is its place today? This is Jordan. The country of Jordan is the place of the original Moav, yes? That is, in fact we cannot know regarding every nation that this is exactly the nation itself, but when he speaks about Moav he speaks about the land of Moav. When he speaks about Amon he speaks about the land of Amon. The peoples dwelling in that place.
"And he will spread his hands within it as a swimmer spreads to swim, and He will bring low his pride together with the ambushes of his hands." He says, what I told you at first, "the hand of Hashem will rest on this mountain," it is enough that the Name merely rest His hand, what will already happen to Moav? He will be trampled, they will tread him. It is enough with the resting of His hand. But he says after this, the Holy One, blessed be He, will spread His hands this way and that. In this motion. Who in fact spreads his hands in this motion? One who swims. He says, "as a swimmer spreads to swim." Just as the swimmer floats and drifts on the surface of the water spreads his hands, through this "He will bring low his pride together with the ambushes of his hands." "The ambushes of his hands," the Malbim explains that the meaning is "arubot" from a term of ambush (maarav). The Holy One, blessed be He, as it were will set an ambush for them with His hands. The meaning is that the Holy One, blessed be He, will humble them, that nation of Moav, and do not think that this will be a humbling that will as it were be difficult for the blessed Name. Rather it will be for the Holy One, blessed be He, with great ease, just as the swimmer swims in the water with ease and does not invest much effort, so too "he will spread his hands within it as a swimmer spreads to swim," and then through this "He will bring low his pride together with the ambushes of his hands," the meaning is with the ambush that the Name will set for him with His hands; "ambush" meaning like a stratagem that someone sets in order to overcome someone else.
"And the fortress, the high stronghold of your walls, He will lay low, humble, bring to the ground, to the dust." Now he comes and returns to Edom and says: you, Edom, the fortress, the high stronghold of your walls. You had a fortified city, and this also speaks about Botzrah. Botzrah, who is this coming? "With crimsoned garments from Botzrah," yes? From Edom. He says, you too, do not take pride in the high stronghold of your walls. I have a place in which to fortify myself, I have great walls in which I can hide. He says "He will lay low," that high stronghold of your walls the Name humbled it, "He will lay low" from a term of humbling, until it reached the ground, to the dust. Until they will be like the dust of the earth, so that it will not be recognized at all, was there once a wall here? Was there some tower here once? Was there once a wall here? None of this will be seen, for the Holy One, blessed be He, humbled it, brought it to the ground truly to a condition of dust. So may the Name do speedily in our days, amen.