"Woe to those who go deep to hide their counsel from Hashem, whose deeds are in darkness, and they say: Who sees us, and who knows us?" The Malbim explains that here Yeshayahu goes on to confront groups within the Jewish people who held philosophical outlooks. These philosophical outlooks have, thank God, become obsolete, all sorts of outlooks as we will mention shortly, and today no one deals with such ideas anymore. But in their time these were arguments that people used. And we see that even the Rambam saw a need to compose the Moreh Nevuchim in order to confront the philosophical outlooks. And we also saw that even Rabbeinu Bachya, when he discusses the Gate of Unity, likewise discusses such matters through which he proves the truth of His existence within the philosophical framework. That is to say, one had to speak with them in that language. I offer this introduction so that we understand why the prophet now turns to refute these arguments, for these were the arguments that had taken hold in that generation.
So after he argued with the first group, which claimed that it is impossible to comprehend Hashem, that Hashem is exalted and lofty and cannot be comprehended, he now begins to argue with the second group. The second group would say that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not understand all that happens here with man. Does not understand, meaning does not see it, does not deal with it, has no interest in it, no... has no knowledge whatsoever of all that happens here with man. Consequently, then, is there such a thing as prophecy? Prophecy is impossible. The Holy One, blessed be He, does not deal with us at all, He does not even know what is happening with us. And if He does not know what is happening with us, how can it be that He would send prophets to rebuke us and tell us: you are doing this and this and this? According to their view, the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted and lofty.
So first of all, in this too, just as their predecessors did, they came to exalt Hashem, in quotation marks. The Holy One, blessed be He, is so exalted, He does not deal here with physical matters, do you think He deals with your problems, with your bank overdraft, does that interest Him? So what, it seems to him that he is coming to exalt Hashem. If you remember, we once discussed how this argument is worthless. We will explain it briefly. This argument is worthless. It seems to people that they are exalting Hashem, may He be blessed, but it is like saying: is the Prime Minister interested in the garbage bin that they emptied for you at home, whether they emptied it for you or not? For that there are officials, turn to the municipality, and not even to the mayor, and not even to the department head, call the city hotline. There someone will handle you, and if they do not escalate it, and if not... but to reach the Prime Minister, will your emptied garbage bin ever reach him or not? So what are you claiming, that the Holy One, blessed be He, is interested in your smallest matters? In the little fingernail that has been hurting you for two weeks? The Holy One, blessed be He, is interested? Really, that is what... you are diminishing the Creator of the world. This was the argument of the philosophers.
Why is this argument ridiculous, and on the contrary, they are actually the ones who diminish, while we magnify Hashem, may He be blessed? We explained once that if we wish, for example, to speak about infinity, we said the distance from here to infinity, how much is it? Infinite. And if I advance a million kilometers, how much will it be? Infinity minus a million kilometers? That is ridiculous, right? Infinity always remains infinity. Advance a billion kilometers, you are still infinitely far, because the distance is infinite. If I say the distance is a trillion kilometers, every kilometer you add, you have added a little, but you have added, you have come a bit closer. But if it is infinite, however much you add, you will not arrive, because the distance is infinite.
They made Hashem, may He be blessed, into a limited being. The Holy One, blessed be He, according to their view is limited. He is finite. And if He is finite, then listen, one who is finite is great, He deals with the great matters. But small matters are beneath Him. But if you say that Hashem is infinite, then is there anything great for Him? Can you say to the infinite: is this great for the Holy One, blessed be He? For everything next to infinity is zero. It is nothing. It is nothing at all. Compared to infinity, Hashem is boundlessly vast. So what, what are you saying, that in great matters, in wars between blocs, Hashem is interested, but in someone's argument with his wife at home, that the Holy One, blessed be He, is not interested in, no, that, turn to your marriage counselor? Can such a thing be said? For if the Holy One, blessed be He, is infinite, then the argument between the great blocs interests Him just as it interests Him whether all the galaxies will endure, just as it interests Him whether there is peace in your home. And so on in every matter. For the Holy One, blessed be He, is infinite. So for the infinite there is no difference between a great matter and a small one. Everything next to Him is nothing, nothing, nothing. But if the Holy One, blessed be He, is limited, then as a limited being, He is like a Prime Minister. A Prime Minister is limited. I cannot deal with everything, I deal with the great matters and leave the small ones. That is limited. But one who is not limited, everything, great, small, everything is the same to Him.
So here he comes to argue with this group that claims that in truth the Holy One, blessed be He, does not oversee what happens here, and as we said, on the contrary, they think that in this they are supposedly praising and magnifying the Creator of the world. So first, they raised four arguments against this. You claim that the Holy One, blessed be He, oversees? They had four arguments against it. First, a multiplicity of knowledge requires a multiplicity in the essence of the knower. I will not explain each thing at length, we will explain briefly. In order to know many things one must be many. And the Holy One, blessed be He, how much is He? One. So it cannot be that One knows many things. That is the argument, and I want to give an example. If I want to know everything happening in the world, can I alone grasp it? No. Let us perhaps give an example from the world of computers. Your computer, if you want to load into it all the material in the world, can you? No. However much memory you have, that is what you can load. If you have a larger memory or a larger hard drive, you can load more. That is to say, a multiplicity of knowledge requires a multiplicity in the knower. A greater mind is required, a greater capacity is required. And if the Holy One, blessed be He, is unitary, then there is no multiplicity of pieces of knowledge, since there is no multiplicity in Him. That is one argument.
The second argument: there is a lack of knowledge in the Holy One, blessed be He, from the very fact that He created man as a being with free choice. For if man has free choice, that means he can do something new at every moment. And this is connected to the question of knowledge and choice. If I did something new, did Hashem know that I would do it? Seemingly, if Hashem knew that I would do it, then I have no free choice. The question of knowledge and choice I will not enter into now, I have an entire lesson on it in Sefer Iyov, whoever wishes can listen there, where we deal with this question. But they argued that the very fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, created man who can exercise free choice negates knowledge from Hashem, because at every moment this man can do something new, he has free choice. If people were all merely dependent on Hashem, may He be blessed, then, well, the Holy One, blessed be He, operates them, He knows what they will do. But if He gave us free choice, then consequently this supposedly negates His knowledge.
So against the first argument, that we said a multiplicity of pieces of knowledge requires a multiplicity also in Hashem, may He be blessed, and that this is impossible, about this he says: "Woe to those who go deep from Hashem." "Go deep from Hashem" means they went deep in their inquiry, that since the Holy One, blessed be He, is One, how can it be that He knows? Those who claim it is impossible that new knowledge should arise in the Holy One, blessed be He, for after all man is constantly doing new things, how could the Holy One, blessed be He, know all those things? And it cannot be that He knows, because in order to know there must be a change in Him. Something new arises in me. About these he said "to hide counsel," as if man's counsel is hidden from Hashem, may He be blessed, and He does not know what man will plan, according to the view of those philosophers.
The third argument, they say: after all, when Hashem connects to the world, He is as it were dependent on it and we are dependent on Hashem, may He be blessed, there is a connection between them. How can it be that the Holy One, blessed be He, who is the supreme light in which there is no grasp or comprehension, should be connected with a physical, material world? It is impossible. And this is what they say, "And their deeds shall be"... this is what he says, "whose deeds are in darkness." They argue that it is impossible that such an immense light should deal with such great darkness, with man.
The fourth argument, they say: knowledge, in order for a person to know something, requires that he have sight. To see, and after I see I know. Without seeing something I cannot know it. For when they ask me about a certain thing that I have not seen, if I have seen it, now I will begin to inquire. Sight always precedes contemplation of a thing, thought about the thing. So now they say "who sees us," and consequently "and who knows us." "Who sees us" means, after all, Hashem has no eyes. How can one see without an organ of sight? See how limited they were, the philosophers of that time. Today we know that even a camera can see. But to them, the Holy One, blessed be He, has no eyes, and if He has no eyes then how can He see? Who sees us? And since "who sees us," then consequently "who knows us." So consequently the Holy One, blessed be He, does not know what is happening with us, does not know what our deeds are.
The prophet answers them: "Oh, your perversity! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay? Shall the thing made say of its maker: He did not make me, and the thing formed say of its former: He has no understanding?" He said to them: all the arguments that you philosophers make, that the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were has no comprehension or knowledge of all that happens here, on what are they built? On man's imagination. For after all, if I need eyes in order to see, then how can the Holy One, blessed be He, see without eyes? If in order to see and grasp much more I must have a much greater mind, then how could the Holy One, blessed be He, grasp more and more pieces of knowledge without something growing in Him, for after all Hashem is One, He is unitary, He does not change. On what are all these arguments built? That the Holy One, blessed be He, is in the form of a man. That is how they think to themselves. So I try to think, can I know everything happening in the world? So how does Hashem know? If I were great, would I deal with the small matters? So why should Hashem deal with the small matters? All their difficulties stem from the fact that they compare the Former to the form. They compared the Creator... the Holy One, blessed be He, who created man, they compared Him to man. So consequently they have difficulties: how can it be that Hashem knows, how can it be about things that are newly arising, do I know what will be tomorrow? Do I know what you will do? If we knew, long ago everyone here would be filling out lottery tickets, no? I do not know what will be tomorrow, so how does Hashem know? All their difficulties stemmed from comparing the Former to the form, they compared the Holy One, blessed be He, to man.
But he says to them: you have a great error. Know that the Holy One, blessed be He, grasps everything not in the way of man. And in the language of the Rambam, that our knowledge is not like His knowledge. When you come and ask, the Rambam addresses the question of knowledge and choice: if Hashem knows what I will do, where is my free choice? The Rambam says our knowledge is not like His knowledge. He does not go on to explain, and many commentators explain his words. I will not enter into explaining the Rambam's words, since much ink has been spilled, the Raavad there challenges him, asking why he raised the difficulty at all, and there are explanations there. Whoever wishes can listen to the topic in Sefer Iyov. In any case, he says to them: Hashem's knowledge is a knowledge different from man's knowledge. It is not knowledge like that of man, who first of all must see in order to know something. With the Holy One, blessed be He, it is truly the reverse. He knows things of themselves even before He sees them. And therefore when, how was it there with Sedom, what did the Holy One, blessed be He, say? When they told Him of the evil of Sedom, what did the Holy One, blessed be He, say? "I will go down now and see." That is to say, with the Holy One, blessed be He, it is as it should originally have been with man. There is knowledge that precedes sight. Even before He sees, He already grasps things in their full force.
He says: understand, for after all if you have knowledge, does the Holy One, blessed be He, have no knowledge? "He who forms the eye, shall He not see? He who plants the ear, shall He not hear?" For if you use such organs, how do you think to yourself that they came to you if not from Hashem, may He be blessed? And if from Hashem, may He be blessed, you have an organ of sight and an organ of hearing, how do you think that sight is hidden from Hashem? Because you say that Hashem has no eyes of flesh and blood, so how can He, how is He able to see? How much folly there is in this question, which in essence compares Hashem, may He be blessed, to man.
He says: know, Hashem's sight is on a much higher level than man's. Since man is a material being, in order to see something he must grasp it with his eyes and then with his mind, in thought, which is the higher spiritual part. Whereas with Hashem, may He be blessed, as we explained, it begins in the reverse. He grasps it first of all in His knowledge, and not as with man. And about this he says to them: do you think it is possible that the thing made should say of its maker, He did not make me? Is it possible that a thing that a person created should say, it was not he who made me? "And the thing formed said of its former," meaning the created said of the one who formed it, "He has no understanding." The one who formed you has no understanding? For the one who formed you must be much wiser than you. Who is wiser, the computer or the one who invented it? Surely the one who invented it. See how much they try today to teach the computer artificial intelligence and have not managed to get past it. Have a computer translate a book. They have not yet managed to invent software by which the computer will translate a book. They have not succeeded, however much they work, and they will not succeed either. They will not manage to reach a state where the computer translates a book. For a simple reason: a word contains several meanings, man perceives the association of things, he perceives the overall view, the computer does not have that. A computer is a golem. You sometimes send it, you search for a word. Once they asked Rav Chaim Kanievsky about a certain word written in the Torah, ah? Moshe. Ah, yes. They asked him how many times "Moshe" appears in the Torah. Rav Chaim Kanievsky gave a number. Then someone said to him: Rabbi, that is not correct. There is another time where it appears... the Rabbi left out one. He says: how did you sear... how do you know? He says: I searched on the computer. He says: on the computer, if you add one more, because it also counts "if the house should lack for Moshe not being there." Right? The computer knows Moshe, Moshe, what does it understand? Moshe, to it is mem-shin-heh, you searched mem-shin-heh, here it brought it to you. That is to say, in essence the computer, artificial intelligence, it cannot reach what... So if man is more intelligent than the computer he created, then all the more so is the Creator much wiser than the so-wise man He created. So if you are able to see, is Hashem unable to see? So know that if so, certainly and beyond doubt the Holy One, blessed be He, knows and understands the thoughts of man and knows his plans, and everything is revealed before Him, may He be blessed.
Verse 17: "Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?" He says to them: you will see how the words of all the prophets will be fulfilled. Not a single thing of His words shall fall to the ground, as it is brought. "Yet a very little while," "a very little while" means a short time, tiny. "Lebanon shall be turned," Lebanon symbolizes the forest, the forest of Lebanon. The forest of Lebanon has no fruit, but is a forest full of barren trees. The barren trees are a metaphor for the wicked. He says to them: Lebanon shall be turned, which are barren trees, the wicked, into a fruitful field. It will become a field that produces grain and fruit. "Karmel" (fruitful field) is tender and full, this refers to grain. This forest of barren trees, you will yet see, they will yet bear fruit. "And the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest." That is, the fruitful field has a drawback for grain, since it is tender, it is weak. But he says: no, then it will be like a forest, strong and mighty. Meaning the righteous will be of mighty strength. So the wicked will become righteous, and the righteous themselves will be of immense power, far more than the power of grain.
"And on that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see." And then the two groups with which he argued earlier, who said that the words of Hashem are like a sealed book, if we recall, they argued that the prophet does not understand what he is saying. The prophet does not understand what Hashem says to him, it is a sealed book, and if so, how does he expect us to understand it? And then we saw that about this he comes upon them with rebuke: "This people draws near with its mouth and honors Me with its lips, but its heart is far from Me." As it were they honor Hashem, the words of Hashem are exalted, they are above human intellect, they honor Hashem, but their heart is far from Me. Their true aim is to say: the Holy One, blessed be He, is not interested in what we do, He does not, He does not descend to the fine details of man's deeds, it is not... you want to honor Hashem, while in essence you supposedly do it out of distance of heart, for you are not interested that it be evident that the Holy One, blessed be He, oversees you, because then that makes demands on you. So you say: no, Hashem is high and exalted. So now he comes and confronts them and says to them: then the deaf, on that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, these deaf, they will understand the words of the book. "And on that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book," those who mentioned and said that the Holy One, blessed be He, gives us a sealed book, suddenly they will understand. And those who said that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not see what man does in the dark, those who argued that the Holy One, blessed be He, is high and exalted, those who go deep from Hashem to hide counsel, whose deeds are in darkness, because Hashem does not see what happens in the dark, he says: no, not only will they recognize that the Holy One, blessed be He, knows and sees and that to Hashem darkness is like light, he also says "the eyes of the blind shall see." Those who are completely blind, they will see. That is to say, he means, those who are now in the category of blind will grasp lofty attainments in prophecy. For lofty sight is spiritual sight, as opposed to tangible sight, which is sensory sight. So he says: they will attain with their physical eyes to see a spiritual sight.
Just tell me, which is greater, gloom or darkness? Gloom, right? Gloom, murk, darkness and gloom. When you want to describe something very dark, you say darkness and gloom. The additional term always adds. So if so, gloom is more than darkness. So the Malbim asks: why here is it written "and on that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and out of gloom and out of darkness the eyes of the blind shall see"? The blind will be able to see from gloom and even from darkness. It should be exactly the reverse. The blind will manage to see in darkness and even in gloom. Why here did he reverse the order? So the Malbim explains that now he is speaking about the cure, about the remedy for those blind people. And when there is a blind person and one opens his eyes, then it is certainly dangerous to open his eyes in a place of sunlight. He could receive a sunstroke to his eyes, he could even go blind from this reality in which he has such immense light in a single moment. And therefore what do they do for such people? At first, in the first stage, they place them in a gloomy house, completely gloomy. In the second stage, after they begin to grow accustomed a little, they place them in a dark house, which is less than gloomy. And only in the third stage do they begin to take them out a bit. So he says: here he is in fact speaking about the cure, and therefore "and out of gloom and out of darkness the eyes of the blind shall see." When they want to open the eyes of the blind, then at first it will be in gloom, then in darkness, until truly the eyes of the blind will see. That is to say, those very ones who argued that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not see and does not observe, they will attain spiritual attainments, attainments in prophecy, and will see how much the Holy One, blessed be He, sees, and will see how much even what seemed to them sealed, those matters, the words of prophecy seemed to them like sealed matters, those too the deaf will be able to hear and understand the word of Hashem.
"The humble shall add joy in Hashem, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." The Malbim explains: there is a difference between "Hashem," which indicates that the Holy One, blessed be He, creates the world through nature, leads the world through nature, was, is, and will be, and "the Holy One of Israel," which symbolizes that the Holy One, blessed be He, oversees with individual providence, performs signs and wonders beyond the way of nature. That is the difference between "Hashem" and "the Holy One of Israel." The Malbim says: there is also a difference in the holy tongue between "simchah" (joy) and "gil" (rejoicing). "Simchah" expresses constant joy. "Gil" is something that arises anew. Suddenly there comes some good tidings, he has "gil." But "simchah," one who dwells in it, you do not say this person dwells in "gil." You say he dwells in "simchah." Because "simchah" is something continuous. But "gil," he had moments of "gil," bursts of "gil." "Gil" is something that now, for a moment, some matter arose anew and causes him to rejoice. So too there is a difference between "the humble" and "the poor among men." "The humble" symbolizes the righteous, a term of humility. And "the poor among men" indicates the masses of the people.
So now let us look at the explanation of the verse. He tells us: "The humble shall add joy in Hashem." "The humble" are the righteous, as we said, they do not need wonders, they do not need a change in nature. He sees the hand of Hashem even in natural conduct. He who said to vinegar and it burned will say to vinegar and it will burn. He does not need a miracle, and for him vinegar burns exactly as oil burns. They believe in the Holy One, blessed be He, from the aspect that Hashem is the Creator of the world, in His constant conduct, they do not need to see things, supernatural miracles, in order to recognize that the Holy One, blessed be He, is present here. So until now they had joy in Hashem, and they will add still more joy in Hashem's conduct. "The humble shall add joy in Hashem." For "simchah," as we explained, is a continuous thing. So they had joy until now, it is constant, and they will have additional joy. And therefore it is written "in Hashem," because as we explained, "Hashem" is the conduct of nature. They rejoice in Hashem in the conduct of nature, they do not need wonders in order to see the hand of Hashem. But by contrast, "the poor among men," that is the masses. They did not rejoice in Hashem until now, they did not recognize Hashem in His constant conduct, the conduct of nature. Now, when they see the wondrous miracles that Hashem will perform, which is "the Holy One of Israel," as we explained, meaning the Holy One, blessed be He, acts above nature, in the manner in which Hashem is sanctified and exalted, then they will "gil," rejoice. "Gil" is a new rejoicing, as we said, it is not constant joy. They will have momentary joy, joy that begins now as a result of their seeing Hashem's conduct, they will see the miracles and the wonders.
And what will be then? "For the tyrant is no more, the scoffer has ceased, and all who watch for iniquity are cut off." Until now there were three causes that caused the people to stumble, that prevented them from walking in Hashem's path, to the point that the deaf did not hear the words of the book, the humble did not rejoice in Hashem. He says: but now this situation will change. "The tyrant is no more." The tyrants were the strong rulers who prevented them from serving Hashem. Even when they wanted to serve Hashem, they prevented them from making pilgrimage, they forced them to serve idols. He says now: the tyrant is no more. That tyrant leader who existed throughout the generations, like Achav, like Yaravam, like Hoshea ben Elah, those leaders who were wicked, the tyrant is no more.
A further matter: "the scoffer has ceased." The scoffers would incite the people to stray from Hashem's path through scoffing. Through mockery, they would mock the prophets, they would mock the words of prophecy. He says now: we no longer have a problem, because the scoffer has ceased. Those wicked ones have already ceased. "And all who watch for iniquity are cut off." "Those who watch for iniquity" are people who commit transgressions in public. One of the great difficulties for a person in faith is when he sees that under every green tree and in every town there are sinners who commit transgressions in public. And this weakens a person in his faith. For when a person sees that everywhere there are those who observe the mitzvot, this strengthens him in the service of Hashem, this strengthens him to do as they do. It is the way of human nature, says the Rambam, to be drawn after the people of his place. And when the people of his place are wicked, then he tends to be drawn after them. And if they are righteous people, then he tends to be drawn after them. So there are those who watch for iniquity, those who persistently commit transgressions in public, the people learned from them and did as they did. And especially when a person says: well, how is it that Hashem does nothing to them? How is it that they succeed so? This itself constitutes, for a person weak in faith, a shaking of faith. Here, you see wicked people succeeding.
There was an incident with Rabbi Yisrael of Salant, who once arrived at some inn, and it was his way, he entered to drink there and rest, and he sees the innkeeper, who was known as a God-fearing man, an observer of the mitzvot, and suddenly he sees that he had removed his kippah, and he sees signs of secularism. Rabbi Yisrael of Salant was truly surprised: what happened to that man? So he asked him: tell me, what, what happened? What changed? Is there some new information that we have not heard? Something that perhaps we do not know? Tell us, are there updates? Did the Holy One, blessed be He, provide some updates? Is there a new religion? He says to him: no, look, honored Rabbi, I will tell you the truth. Some heretic arrived here, and he began to argue with me, he said to me: what, you believe in these things, and what, and what... why do you not sell pork and why do you not sell this? I told him: I sell only kosher. He said to me: what is there in that? What difference does it make, kosher, not kosher? Here, look, if there is a Creator of the world, here, you see, this pig that I am now eating. Why would the Creator of the world do nothing to me? He took a bite, he says, if there is a Creator of the world, I should be choking right now. He says: and here I see that truly nothing happens to him. And from this my faith became very, very weak. I said: how can it be? The Holy One, blessed be He, leads His world, how is it that a person transgresses the words of Hashem like this and nothing happens to him? Just as Rabbi Yisrael of Salant was sitting there, the innkeeper's daughter arrived, with the diploma she had received from the conservatory, from the music studies. Yes? She showed him that she had received a diploma, that she has a degree in music. She plays the piano. So Rabbi Yisrael of Salant said: well, who says you know how to play? Play and then we will know whether you truly know. So she says to him: tell me, what do you think, that for anyone who asks me to play in order to prove my abilities I will sit down and play? Why did I receive a certificate? The certificate proves that I know how to play. Not for anyone who says, no, no, who says, will I sit down and play for him. Rabbi Yisrael of Salant said to the innkeeper: did you hear what your daughter says? The Holy One, blessed be He, already revealed Himself at Mount Sinai before the eyes of millions of people. "I am Hashem your God, you shall have no other gods before Me." The Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself, opened for them seven heavens above, seven below, showed them there is none besides Him. He says: now tell me, every heretic, every fool, every leper and every zav will say: who says there is a Creator of the world, will the Holy One, blessed be He, give him a private Mount Sinai? What, will the Holy One, blessed be He, come and reveal Himself to him? Your daughter is not willing to play before anyone who doubts her abilities, so shall the Creator of the world come and change the entire world because some snot-nosed one doubts the abilities of the Creator of the world? He says: the Holy One, blessed be He, already, what would He know, He already proved it. And this we have in clear and wholehearted faith, in a tradition handed down from one man to another, something that cannot be denied. It is impossible to deny the tradition of the generations. And there is no nation in the world that has such a tradition as the Jewish people. There is no religion in the world that has a tradition that begins with millions who saw. Everyone will tell you: that one told, and Muhammad told, and his attendant told, and that Yeshu told, and his emissaries told, who were even a hundred years after him. Can anyone tell you about millions who saw a divine revelation? Only the Jewish people. So must the Holy One, blessed be He, prove Himself? What, in every generation must He show: here, you know, I am able, you know, I can? The man heard these words and was convinced and returned to his source. We see from here this point, that those who persistently commit transgressions in public cause a weakening of faith among the weak people. For he says: here, look, he rebels against Hashem, how does he endure? He rebels against Hashem, how does he succeed? He says: but then, "the tyrant is no more, the scoffer has ceased," those who make mockery and jest of all the words of the Torah. He speaks of the scoffer, but today we can speak of the wickedness of broadcasting and all of these, which is a type of scoffer, of all those various channels and cable networks. "And all who watch for iniquity are cut off," those who commit transgressions in public, all these, also those who variously come out of the closet, all these will be completely destroyed.
Now he says, against the scoffers: "who make a man an offender by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the righteous with vanity." The Radak explains: "who make a man an offender by a word," when a person rebukes them with words, says to them words of rebuke, they regard it as a sin, as though he struck them. This truly resembles the media. When Rav Peretz spoke in his time, whoever remembers, about the disaster of the builders, and other Torah leaders raised concern about all sorts of troubles that occur, then it was no less than as though they had been struck. What an uproar they made about it. About what? Because someone stood up and said, and spoke truthfully. "And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate." What does "lay a snare" mean? They cause him to stumble in his ways. "Yekushun" is from the word "snare." They as it were seek out pitfalls for him, to show how much he is not proper, how much he has stumbled, they cause him to stumble in order to show that he is not honest. The Radak gives another explanation, an original explanation. He says "yekushun" is from the expression of gathering straw. What, what is the connection here, "who make a man an offender by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate"? He says: like "gather together and gather," meaning a person who gathers wood, he collects from here and collects from there, so too those people, they collect. When someone comes and rebukes them, then what is called today, they conduct an investigation of him. They go to hear what that one said about him, they go to hear what this one has to say about him, they go to hear what... to investigate, come, come, let us hear what people say about him. Gathering. And then they tell you: ah, this one rebukes? Did you see? That one tells that seventeen years ago when he gave him change at the grocery, he did not give him all seventeen agorot, he gave him only two... what, this one comes to rebuke? They seek out all sorts of things from his history, they gather all sorts of deeds in order to find flaws in him. So too they do to whoever rebukes them, they revile him, curse him and tell him: you did such and such, so how do you come to rebuke us? The Malbim explains, as we explained earlier, that this part, "who make a man an offender by a word," comes to speak of the scoffers. That which he said "the scoffer has ceased." So he says: these people would make them offenders by a word, meaning make them offenders through scoffing. They make them offenders through speech. And against those who were watchers of iniquity, watchers of iniquity as we explained, those who would perform their evil deeds in public, he says to them: "and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate." If the reprover rebukes them about the iniquity they commit, for after all they do it in public, before all, then the reprover comes and rebukes them, "yekushun," they snare him, a term of a snare. And against the tyrant, which is what we said at first, "the tyrant is no more," those who were the leaders who caused them to sin, the leaders who led them to serve idols, then "and turn aside the righteous with vanity." They sought pretexts against the righteous to kill them, to destroy them, exactly as it was with Achav and Izevel who persecuted the prophets of Hashem. They sought reasons to persecute the righteous so that they would not follow the righteous, but only heed their voice to serve idols.
"Therefore thus says Hashem to the house of Yaakov, who redeemed Avraham: Now Yaakov shall not be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale." "Therefore thus says Hashem to the house of Yaakov, who redeemed"... what is "the house of Yaakov who redeemed Avraham"? So both the Radak and the Malbim explain that here the verse is as if inverted. "Therefore thus says Hashem, who redeemed Avraham," Hashem who redeemed Avraham, thus says to the house of Yaakov. "Therefore thus says Hashem, who redeemed Avraham," Hashem, may He be blessed, who redeemed Avraham, says to the house of Yaakov. Who is the house of Yaakov? That is the Jewish people. What does He say to them? "Now Yaakov shall not be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale." The Radak explains: Yaakov is the Jewish people, and since the reality of the Jewish people by the definition "Yaakov" is when their level is lower, from the expression of "akvah," from the expression of "heel," in contrast to "Yeshurun," which is a term of authority, or "Israel," which is a term of authority, which indicates the higher level. Therefore he says: thus says Hashem who redeemed Avraham to the house of Yaakov, now Yaakov shall not be ashamed. The meaning is: until now Yaakov was as it were ashamed of his people. Like a person who is ashamed of his son who went out to evil ways. So when his son goes around with a crowd outside, this person wants to bury his face in the earth, he is ashamed to go out. What shame my son causes like this. So he says: now Yaakov shall not be ashamed. Until now Yaakov was ashamed when he saw his children. Now Yaakov shall not be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale. And why shall Yaakov not now be ashamed? The reason for this is: who redeemed Avraham. Just as Avraham Avinu dwelt among the wicked, and the Holy One, blessed be He, redeemed him from there, took him out of there, "Go forth from your land," so too the humble of whom we spoke earlier, they are among the wicked, and could not serve Hashem in public, and the Holy One, blessed be He, redeemed them from the hand of the wicked, overthrew that wicked kingdom and gave those righteous ones the possibility to serve Hashem openly. Until now they were coerced. But He who redeemed Avraham and took him out from among the wicked so that he would spread Hashem's name in the world, so too Hashem will do for the righteous, that He will redeem them from among the wicked and they will now be able to spread Hashem's name in the world. "And they shall sanctify the Holy One of Yaakov." The Radak says: they will truly be called the house of Yaakov. The true house of Yaakov. Yaakov will not be ashamed of their deeds, he will rejoice in the deeds of his children. When is this? He speaks that this refers to the days of Chizkiyahu. For it is written that Chizkiyahu set the people right. Chizkiyahu returned the people in repentance after the deeds of his father. And then the wicked were destroyed. And if so, those who remain here will be the righteous. "Nor shall his face now grow pale," and through this no pallor will come to his face. Pallor is also a term of whitening of the face, a term of shame. The Malbim explains: when Avraham began to publicize the faith in Hashem, may He be blessed, he was solitary among many. They persecuted him, they cast him into the fiery furnace, they tried to nullify all that he did, and so it was throughout all the generations. Yitzchak afterward, they stopped up the wells that he made. We see throughout all the generations they persecuted whoever spread Hashem's name in the world. In any case, Hashem redeemed Avraham. The Holy One, blessed be He, saved him. He says: so too the Holy One, blessed be He, will help this people, who are the remnant whom Hashem calls. They are the ones who hold fast to Hashem, and them too Hashem will redeem and help. And therefore Yaakov shall not be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale. The Radak asks: what is the difference between "be ashamed" and "grow pale"? The Malbim says: "be ashamed" is always a person who is ashamed of himself. Filled with shame. This is where I am ashamed of myself, I did something, or there was a certain thing that caused me to be ashamed, or someone shamed me and through that I became ashamed of myself. But "nor shall his face now grow pale," this is when someone shames the face of his fellow. Then his face grows pale. "Grow pale" is always, says the Malbim, by the force of another. And this is always the difference between shame and pallor. So he says: until now they said to him: where is Hashem's providence? Where is Hashem's conduct? Here, look at the Jewish people, in what state they are, lowly, swept away, ailing. So first, he had shame from himself over the state of the Jewish people. Second, he also had humiliations from those around him. Here, where is Hashem's conduct? Look at this people. How this people is as it were abandoned, Hashem hid His providence from it. So his face grows pale. He says now: this will end.
"For when he sees his children, the work of My hands in his midst, they shall sanctify My name, and sanctify the Holy One of Yaakov, and stand in awe of the God of Israel." "When he sees his children, the work of My hands," the meaning is, the Malbim explains, the Holy One, blessed be He, will perform signs, miracles and wonders. And this thing will bring about the state of Yaakov that they will have honor among the nations. Not as it was before, that there was humiliation, that they would say: here Hashem has abandoned them. And not only will Yaakov not be ashamed of himself, until now he was ashamed, as we said, of his evil deeds, but now he sees that his children shall sanctify My name. Those very ones of whom he was ashamed, who went out to evil ways, he was ashamed of his children, without anyone shaming him, he himself, as we explained, since shame is a personal matter, now he will rejoice, he sees his children righteous. And now they shall sanctify My name. Through this Hashem's name will be sanctified, for when the Jewish people do Hashem's will and the blessing rests upon them, Hashem's name is sanctified in the world. And this is what he says: "they shall sanctify My name," how? Through their good deeds, Hashem's name will be sanctified in the world, one sees Hashem's conduct. And this is against what he said "the work of My hands in his midst." What is "the work of My hands"? The miracles that I will perform for them. The miracles that I will perform for them, through this they will bring the people to lift their heads, to walk in Hashem's path, to strengthen themselves in His service, and give them also honor in the eyes of the nations, for here now they see Hashem's conduct. And through this, "and stand in awe of the God of Israel." All will see the immense, boundless power of the Holy One, blessed be He, and then they will also revere the God of Israel, and consequently the face of Yaakov will not grow pale, consequently they will not shame Yaakov.
The Radak here dwells on an interesting question. The Radak says: it is written "and sanctify the Holy One of Yaakov." The Radak says: we see that it always mentions the holiness of God to Yaakov. Which we did not see with the other forefathers. As it is written "Holy One of Yaakov," "For thus says Hashem of hosts, the Holy One of Israel, the Mighty One of Yaakov," and it says "the Holy One of Israel your Savior," and it says "your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel," and it says "the Holy One of Israel and its Former," and it says "the Redeemer of Israel, its Holy One." We always see the expression of holy with Israel and Yaakov. "Israel" means Yaakov. The Radak says: indeed, some of them you can explain that "Israel" is understood as the people of Israel. "Holy One of Israel" refers to the people of Israel, God of Israel, Holy One of Israel. But he says, there are among them those that cannot be explained except regarding Yaakov himself. So why did we not see "Holy One of Avraham," "Holy One of Yitzchak"? We saw only "Holy One of Israel" and "Yaakov." The Radak says: it may well be because Yaakov saw the holiness of God in the vision of prophecy, in the vision of the ladder. Parashat Vayetze, a ladder set upon the earth and its top reaching heavenward. So Yaakov merited to glimpse above. He merited to glimpse and see the holiness of Hashem. Therefore the matter of holiness always characterizes Him toward him. He merited to see the Holy One of Yaakov, the Holy One of Israel, he is the one who merited to attain the visions of prophecy, to see His holiness, may He be blessed.
"And those who err in spirit shall come to understanding, and those who murmur shall learn instruction." "And those who err in spirit shall come to understanding," those who stray from the ways of understanding, the Malbim says, those who are impressed by all sorts of forged signs and forged wonders, they will know understanding. They lack understanding. "Binah" (understanding), we explained in the past, means to understand one thing from another. They lack what is called today the method of drawing conclusions. They lack the way of understanding one thing from another. But then, "those who err in spirit shall come to understanding," they will understand the true signs and wonders that prove His truth, may He be blessed. Not everything they saw until now that misled them from the way of truth, for as we explained, in their time even idolatry, even the forces of impurity, would perform wonders. They too would perform actions beyond the way of nature. He says: but then those who err in spirit will come to understanding, the true understanding, the true comprehension of the existence of Hashem, may He be blessed, then they will understand. "And those who murmur shall learn instruction." The murmurers, who are the murmurers? The murmurers, the Malbim says, are those who err with malice. Meaning they go to quarrel with malice against the word of Hashem. They lack wisdom. The first ones still have wisdom, but he lacks understanding, he does not draw conclusions correctly. But these do not have even wisdom. The murmurers are like "a murmurer separates a friend," "you murmured in your tents," those who have complaints and grievances, who refuse to listen, who come in order to quarrel, in order to argue, that is the murmurer. Why did they do this way? And why like this? He is always, he murmurs, he always has complaints. These lack even the wisdom, not only to understand one thing from another, they lack the basic intellect. Them the Holy One, blessed be He, will teach instruction. "Instruction" means the words of wisdom, that they should take the words of wisdom. "A good instruction I have given you." Not as they say today, I will teach him a lesson. They want to say something like: I will take revenge on him, or I will show him that he will suffer because of what he did. Here it is not in that meaning. To teach them instruction here is in the sense of "a good instruction I have given you." I will give them the rules of wisdom to learn it, so that through this they will not continue to be murmurers.
May Hashem help us speedily in our days, Amen.