Sefer Yeshayahu chapter 35. "They shall be glad, the wilderness and the parched land, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose." The Malbim will now explain to us the seeming repetition in this pasuk. What is meant by "wilderness," "parched land," and "desert"? The Malbim says that there is a difference between a wilderness (midbar), a parched land (tziyah), and a desert plain (aravah). The wilderness is a place that is inherently unsuitable for planting. The soil of the wilderness does not allow for planting, no matter where you take it. By its very nature it is not fit for sowing. The parched land, by contrast, is a place that might in itself have been suitable for planting, but because of the burning heat of the sun there, nothing can be grown. Tziyah is a place that is extremely dry, and because of the heat nothing can be grown there. The aravah is a place that is inherently suitable, and its climate too is suitable for growing there, but the problem with that place is that there are thorns and briars and all sorts of wild growths there that do not allow any useful crop to grow. So I repeat: there is the wilderness, which is inherently unfit; the parched land, which is inherently fit but the sun makes it impossible to grow there; and the desert plain, which is fit both inherently and in terms of climate, but all sorts of thorns and briars that grow there make the place unfit for crops.
Now it says here "they shall be glad" (yesusum). Yesusum means an expression of joy. There is a difference between simchah (gladness), sason (rejoicing), and gil (exultation). What is the difference between them? Sason, says the Malbim, refers to external actions meant to display joy, such as drum, harp, and dance. Sason is celebrating and rejoicing outwardly. Simchah, by contrast, and also gil, is something more inward, more of the soul. Sason is something external, while simchah and gil are something internal, of the soul. But what then is the difference between simchah and gil? Simchah is ongoing gladness. He is a joyful person. Gil, by contrast, says the Malbim, always comes in the form of some joyful tidings, something that suddenly happened, something new, you found some lost object. So I say "and my heart rejoiced" (vayagel libi). But simchah, by contrast, is something constant. Both simchah and gil are internal, as opposed to sason which is external, with musical instruments and dance; but simchah and gil are internal, only that simchah is constant gladness, while gil, as we said, is something renewed following some discovery, some good tidings that reached him.
Now let us come to the explanation of the pasuk. It says: the land of the nations is a place that is not fit for wonders to occur there, a place not fit for gladness of the soul. But at least what will occur there? Yesusum. That is to say, when Edom falls there will be rejoicing (sason) there. What is sason, as we explained? It is external joy. But there is also "wilderness and parched land." Wilderness and parched land represent a place unfit, as it were, for the Divine light. Whether it is the wilderness, which as we said is inherently unfit for anything to grow, or the parched land, which is inherently fit but has a blazing sun that makes it unfit for crops, this comes to convey that it may be inherently fit but by virtue of its root in heaven above these nations are not fit for the Divine light. He says: they, since they are dry, either the wilderness by its very nature, or the parched land in that it is unfit for the Divine light, meaning there is great heat there, environmental conditions render them unfit, this comes to express the nations. Therefore their joy will be external, yesusum. They will have external joy at the downfall of Edom.
By contrast, the aravah, as we said, is a place that is inherently fit, and by its climate it is also fit. What is its problem? All sorts of wild growths that grew there. Whom does this symbolize? It symbolizes the people of Israel. The people of Israel are inherently fit, and in terms of the Divine bounty, meaning the climate, they too are fit for the Divine bounty to rest upon them. So what is the trouble? All sorts of weeds that grow among us, and these are what cause the people of Israel to be distanced from the service of Hashem. They have no deficiency in essence, nor a deficiency in their Divine connection, since as we said the climate there is suitable, but the place was full of thorns. So he says of the aravah, that it too shall blossom like the rose. Whereas with the wilderness and parched land there was only yesusum, which is external rejoicing, with the aravah, with the people of Israel, there will be tagel (exultation). And did we not say that gil is an expression of renewed joy, and it is inward joy? For the people of Israel it will be "the desert shall exult" (tagel aravah). And then, when all those thorns are removed, when Hashem clears away those thorns from the vineyard, then it "shall blossom like the rose." Then the desert plain will suddenly begin to blossom. It will suddenly begin to grow and sprout plants. Why? Because the place was fit and the climate fit, only the thorns interfered. And when Hashem clears away the thorns, then among us there will be both exultation and it will begin to blossom like the rose, which symbolizes the blossoming of lovely flowers, of beautiful growths.
The Malbim further defines sason and simchah. He says: know that sason, as we said, refers to external signs of joy. The Malbim says there can be a situation in which a person is in sason but not in simchah. How so? He dances and wears festive garments, but his soul mourns within him. And simchah, as we explained, is inner joy of the soul. So outwardly he performs all sorts of acts of joy, he is in a state of sason, but he is not in a state of simchah. And it can sometimes be the reverse. There can be simchah without sason. Why? He has great inner joy. Outwardly he wears mourning garments, outwardly he appears depressed, but inwardly he is very glad. So he has no sason, meaning external joy, but he does have simchah, which is essentially inner joy. If so, these two things do not contradict one another: there can be sason without simchah, and there can be simchah without sason.
"It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of Hashem, the splendor of our God." As we explained, gil is inner joy but one-time. When you are given good tidings, when they tell you a son has been born to you, that is great joy, inner joy, but it does not last thirty years. After you were told, a day, two days, a week, two weeks, this gil passes. Here, by contrast, he means to say: know that this gil will be constant. "It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice." That same rose that the desert exults with will blossom and rejoice, constant exultation through the miracles that will be renewed within it constantly. And not only that, but "even with joy and singing." All joys are mingled with sighing. For even if a son is born to you and that is a very great joy, you know that all who are born are destined to die. So every joy here in this world is mixed with some sadness. But here, "joy and singing," this will be constant exultation without cease, including singing. Singing (ranen) means there will also be song, gladness of the heart. Why? "The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon."
The Malbim explains that Lebanon here refers to the forest of Lebanon. The forest of Lebanon is honored, it is full of cedars, tall, mighty cedars, but there is no beauty of splendor there. The cedars are not adorned with special beauty. Yet you stand awestruck; it has honor. By contrast, Carmel and Sharon have wonderful beauty there, uniqueness in terms of colors, of loveliness. On the other hand, when you look there for honor, it does not really appear awe-inspiring, but it is without doubt full of splendor and beauty. And he means to say that here there will be both an aspect of honor and an aspect of splendor. Therefore he says there will be here an aspect of the glory of Lebanon and there will also be here an aspect of the splendor of Carmel.
Another point he adds: "they shall see the glory of Hashem, the splendor of our God." Reality will then change when they see the glory of Hashem. The glory of Hashem is always an expression that comes to say that the Holy One, blessed be He, creates the world, the general governance through which the Holy One, blessed be He, conducts the world, that is His glory. They will see the glory of Hashem when they see the governance by which the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over us through nature, and in this there will be the glory of Hashem. And "our God," they shall see His splendor. "Our God" (Elokeinu): the Malbim always has a rule that when it says "our God" it always comes to express His connection with the people of Israel, as opposed to "Hashem," which speaks generally, the glory of Hashem, the general providence of the Holy One, blessed be He, whereas "our God" refers to the specific providence over us, that we are His people. The connection that the Holy One, blessed be He, has with us through the miracles, the signs, the wonders that Hashem performs for our sake. Because of this there is splendor to Hashem. The meaning is that we, the people of Israel, see His splendor, how He bestows upon us abundant goodness. And then we will merit to see "the splendor of our God." This is without doubt a reason that there will then be joy and singing. There will be gladness and splendor and constant song following the miracles that Hashem will perform for us.
"Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees." Here he turns to the prophets. You, the prophets, are to strengthen the people who despair of the redemption. This despair will stem from three causes. And you are commanded to strengthen those people whose hands have already grown weak, whose knees have failed. There are three forms of that weakness which you will need to strengthen. "Strengthen the weak hands." There are people whose hands have grown weak; a person does nothing because of despair. For example, if I tell a person, hold this, I am coming to take it, and he holds and holds and holds and no one comes, then he lets go of it, he cannot, he is unable. "Strengthen the weak hands." Those who have already despaired of the redemption, whose hands have grown weak, who do nothing, strengthen their hands. "And make firm the feeble knees." There are people who are swift in the service of Hashem, but their knees have already failed. There are troubles, there are calamities, there is suffering. He tells you: those feeble knees, make firm. Even a person who has not despaired out of laziness with weak hands, who wants to persevere, but what can he do, his capacity for endurance has failed, his knees are already feeble; about this he says "and make firm the feeble knees."
The Malbim explains that there is a difference between "strengthen" (chazku) and "make firm" (ametzu). The Malbim says that chazku means to strengthen something that is now weak, strengthen it. By contrast, to make firm (le'ametz) means that from now on it will be firm and strong without change over time. That it will not change over time, that is the meaning of firm. Chazak means to strengthen right now someone who has become weakened temporarily. To make firm the same thing means to do so permanently. The Malbim says another thing: strengthening suffices for weak hands, because weak hands means that a person has by choice lowered his hands. That needs to be strengthened. By contrast, making firm is needed for feeble knees, because here I already need external force to come and make the thing firm, to hold it up permanently, to make it firm so that it will be without change.
"Say to those who are of a hasty heart, be strong, fear not; behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God He will come and save you." Now he turns to the third cause. Those who no longer exert themselves in the service of Hashem, and whose hands have not grown weak nor have their legs failed, they are at ease. So why are they like this, doing nothing? Because these people are hasty of heart. These people say: we have waited ages upon ages and half an age, and the words of the prophets have not been fulfilled. So these people say: listen, it is over, that's it, there is nothing, it will no longer come. Nothing more will happen; you know how many years we have already been waiting. These people are hasty of heart, quick to despair. The heart, he says, "say to those who are of a hasty heart, be strong, fear not." You who press the hour, be strengthened, fear not, do not worry that the redemption will not come. For "behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God He will come and save you." If you understand why the redemption is delayed, you will not break. The redemption is delayed because "your God will come with vengeance." The Holy One, blessed be He, in order to exact payment from the nations, will come by way of vengeance.
What is the difference between the way of vengeance and mere retribution by which Hashem exacts payment from every nation? The way of vengeance means you pay a price for what you did. I take revenge on you following the deeds you did. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: if so, I need their measure to be filled so that I can take proper revenge on them. As long as their measure is not filled, one cannot take revenge on them. That is one reason. A second reason: in order to bring you the redemption you need to be worthy. Worthy means you are people of mitzvot, people of good deeds; then you are worthy of recompense. And recompense, the act of recompense, is always: you did something, you received recompense. By contrast, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: but you too are lacking. Not only have the nations not yet reached a state where they are now worthy of punishment, of vengeance, but you too are not yet truly worthy of redemption, because on account of your deeds you are not yet worthy of recompense. You still need to exert yourselves more in the service of Hashem, and therefore the redemption keeps being delayed. And if you wait and only ask why it does not come, do not expect it to arrive. Rather, what must you do? Perform deeds. Only if you perform deeds will "the recompense of God come and save you."
"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped." Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. Those who until now were blind, those who until now did not recognize and did not see the governance of Hashem, then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. And the ears of the deaf, those who until today did not heed the voice of the prophets, those who until today did not accept the rebuke, following this the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. And this is in contrast to what the prophet called out to them, saying "you deaf ones, hear, and you blind ones, see"; now he says that in the future their eyes will be opened. The Malbim explains: happiness is attained through intellect, speech, and deed. Let us detail this. Intellect, that is contemplation, to attain the truth in views and beliefs, is through contemplating matters and delving deeply into Torah. He says: then they shall be opened. The truth will be known to all. The truth will be recognized by all. And if today a person must invest greatly to reach some attainment in Torah, some attainment in the service of Hashem, then the eyes will be opened, and this will be in the aspect of "I will pour out My spirit upon man." And then it will be possible to reach this more easily, their eyes will be opened. Or, says the Malbim, another possibility, it is through a person seeing such wonders, or receiving prophecy, the tradition, the message from the prophets or from his forefathers; through this his eyes will be opened. What until now was as though walking in darkness, but then he will see such miracles, such Divine revelation, prophets speaking with him, and through this his eyes will be opened. And this corresponds to what we saw written, that then the eyes of the blind shall be opened to behold the work of Hashem, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped to hear the words of the prophets.
Now, corresponding to deed, he says: "then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute shall sing, for waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert." We said intellect, speech, deed. So corresponding to intellect the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will hear what is transmitted to them by way of intellect. That corresponds to what we explained regarding intellect. Corresponding to deed, what is called action, then the lame man shall leap like a deer. One who was lame, what is lame? Crippled, in the service of Hashem we are speaking, yes? He shall leap like a deer. Suddenly you see this person rise and sing joyously in the service of Hashem. Until now he was, as it were, limping in the service of Hashem, he was in the category of lame. He tells you: then he shall leap like a deer. "And the tongue of the mute shall sing." We said it is in three aspects, intellect, deed, and speech. Now he speaks about speech. Corresponding to speech, "the tongue of the mute shall sing." One who until now was mute will sing the song of Hashem. The meaning is that one who until now did not perform acts with his mouth for the service of Hashem, the tongue of the mute shall sing, an expression of song; he will sing and chant to Hashem.
And why? "For waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert." In the wilderness where water is not found, springs will now break forth. In the desert where streams are not found, though it is possible there may be water there through springs, but streams are not found there, he tells you: there streams shall break forth. The Malbim explains: there are three reasons one cannot travel through the wilderness. First, because water is lacking. Second, there is no paved road, there are no roads in the wilderness. And a third thing, because of wild beasts. Now he says: know that when the redeemed of Hashem return, meaning the people of Israel return through the wilderness to Zion, know that these three deficiencies of the wilderness will be removed. So the first deficiency, what is it? There is no water: "waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert."
And he continues: "and the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the dwelling of jackals where they lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes." Even a place that is naturally dry will be wet and moist. And "thirsty land," meaning since there are no springs and sources there, a place that is always thirsty for water will now become springs of water. "In the dwelling of jackals where they lay," a place that was always desolate and dry will now have such grass that is fit to grow reeds and rushes. Have you ever noticed where reeds and rushes grow? Only in a place where there is water. If you want to know where water stands, look from afar, where you see reeds and rushes, know there is standing water there. That is always a place of water. So he says there will be such a quantity of water that this place will become a place of grass and reeds and rushes. They will grow there in this place.
Now what do you ask? But there is no road in the wilderness. How will the people of Israel come through the wilderness? "And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for them; whoever walks the way, even fools, shall not go astray." There will be a highway and a way. The Malbim always explains that a "way" (derech) is a road for the many, and a "highway" (maslul) is what is alongside it for the passage of individuals. And there will be a highway and a way, both for individuals and for the many. And what will this way be called? "It shall be called the Way of Holiness." But the Malbim says: do not err in thinking that this is like what the Ishmaelites have today, that they travel through the wilderness to where? To the grave of their prophet, whom the Rambam calls the madman. And they too call this place a way of holiness. So you might say: what, perhaps the Way of Holiness is like theirs? He says: no, "it shall be called the Way of Holiness, the unclean shall not pass over it." They, those who walk in this place, will be guarded from all impurity. "But it shall be for them." This way is designated for them, for whom? For the Hebrews, for the lame, for those whom Hashem will now come to redeem. "Whoever walks the way": until now those who traveled the wilderness needed two things. First, they needed to travel in large groups; it is dangerous to travel the wilderness alone. He says: but here, know that they will not need this. The second thing, even before that, they also needed a guide. Who knows how to navigate in the wilderness? But here he says there will be no problem, there will be one who walks the way, even a single individual. And not only that, but he adds: "even fools shall not go astray." Even fools, meaning even if there is an entire band who are all fools. What are fools? A fool (evil), the Malbim always explains, is from the word "perhaps" (ulai), as opposed to a scoundrel (kesil), who knows the truth and nonetheless walks the path of darkness. The fool is always in doubt: perhaps, who says so? These people travel the wilderness as fools, perhaps turn here, perhaps turn there, perhaps this is the way, perhaps the way is over there, they seemingly do not know the way. He says: despite all this, then in the future when the Holy One, blessed be He, will make a highway and a way in the wilderness, even the fools, even this band who never know where to go, even without a GPS they will know how to go. They will have a highway and a straight way.