00:00 Sefer Yeshayahu, chapter 40. "Comfort, comfort My people, says your God." Rashi says that here he speaks of the future prophecies. Since until now we have seen words of retribution, from here onward these are words of consolation, from here until the end of the chapter, until the end of the sefer, another 26 chapters until the end of the sefer. Therefore here he begins and says that this is the beginning of the words of consolation, you the prophets shall comfort My people. What does "comfort, comfort My people" mean? Why the repetition? This is a question that many have grappled with. Why does he repeat and double it? This is the haftarah of Parashat Va'etchanan. Why does he repeat and double it?
The Maggid of Dubno brings a parable to explain what this resembles. A parable of two men who left their wives, abandoned them, and traveled far away. One of them, because the financial situation at home was very dire, there was nothing to eat, no work, no livelihood, nothing at all. He said to his wife, I will go to a faraway land, find work there, work, and afterwards send money home. The second one left home; he was wealthy and had everything good in his house, but he had a wicked wife there from whom he suffered greatly, so he simply abandoned the home and went to a faraway land. He and the poor man travel together. Years passed, and one day a certain merchant arrives back in the town and says to the two women, I have a letter from your husbands.
They were overjoyed, a letter, at last, after three or four years that their husbands had been absent from home, at last there is a letter. Bring it, we want to see what is written. He tells them, look, right now the letter is stuck among all my bundles, among all this, I cannot free myself for it now. Tomorrow I will unpack my things and then I will find the letters and bring them to you. Well, there was one woman there who heard the consolation and went home. But the second one stood and insisted. No, I want the letter now, it is very urgent for me, I want it. Who was she? The woman whose husband was the poor one, she very much wanted to see the letter. In contrast, the one whose husband was wealthy was not so eager to see it, she would wait until tomorrow. He asks her, see, your companion has returned home. Why do you insist on seeing the letter now? So she tells him, look, there is a great difference between me and my companion.
My companion, her husband left her not for financial reasons, her husband left her because they had strife between them. The very fact that her husband is now sending her a letter, that already says he wants to return, that already says he wants her closeness, that says he wants to make peace and smooth things over. That is already enough for me. What is written inside, what it says, she does not need to get into the details. The very knowledge is enough for her, he sent me a letter, that already says the situation is going to change. In contrast, I live in hardship, I live in poverty. Every day I await a letter from my husband to know whether he has found work or not. Is there a source of livelihood or not? So for me it is important to know what is written in the letter. I want to know what, in the end, whether he found a place of work or not. The second one, she is not worried, she has wealth and riches at home. What does she only need? What is she lacking? To know that her husband is interested in her, he sent her a letter. That already sets her mind at ease. So says the Maggid of Dubno regarding us.
The Holy One, blessed be He, says, comfort, comfort My people. What is the repetition, we asked? He says to them, be comforted, in this very thing itself you should find consolation. In what? In the fact that "comfort My people, says your God." In the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, tells you to be comforted and tells you "I am your God," that itself is the greatest consolation. Like the wealthy man's wife, the very fact that a letter was sent to her, that itself is consolation. Even before we saw what was written in the letter, even before we saw the details, he is interested in you, wonderful, that says I am still your husband. So too with us, be comforted, in what will the consolation be? In the fact that Hashem says, "says your God, comfort My people." In the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, says I am sending you a letter. That itself is enough to be comforted, we already have hope, even before we have seen what these words of consolation contain within them.
The Malbim says, "comfort, comfort My people." The Holy One, blessed be He, turns here to the prophets and tells them, comfort My people, since the redemption will come. How will the redemption come? There are two possibilities: in its time, or I will hasten it. If we are worthy, Hashem will hasten it. If we are not worthy, we will receive it in its time. The redemption will come in its time. So we must strive very much for the redemption to come before its time. Therefore, comfort, comfort My people. Whichever way it will be, whether it be "comfort, I will hasten it," or "comfort, in its time," the consolation will surely come. So it must be, therefore the doubled language, because there are two tracks, there are two possibilities.
"Speak to the heart of Yerushalayim and call to her, that her time of service is fulfilled, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins." Here the Malbim has an explanation truly sweeter than honey, so I would recommend paying attention and listening carefully. Before the Malbim, I would first like to explain the plain meaning of the words according to what the Radak says. The Radak says, "speak to the heart of Yerushalayim and call to her, that her time of service is fulfilled, that her iniquity is pardoned." "Her iniquity is pardoned" means like her punishment has been paid, like "then the land will be appeased for its Sabbaths," and "for the iniquity of the Emori is not yet complete until now." It means her debts have been forgiven. "That she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins." What does "she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins" mean? First, the Radak gives one explanation: doubling does not always have to be twice. There can be a doubling that is three or four times, as in "and the sword shall be doubled a third time." It means it doubled itself three times. To double does not have to be twice. So "she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins" means she has already paid several times over for all her sins.
Now, what is this "double," what does it actually refer to? He says, there were two exiles. First, the Babylonian exile, and second, this exile that stretches on without end. He asks, why has she been stricken doubly in two exiles for all her sins? Because Yerushalayim's sins are many, and therefore she needed to be stricken twice. And by the way, this is also why the "comfort" is doubled. Comfort, comfort, because she was stricken doubly. Since she was stricken doubly, she shall be comforted doubly. Comfort, comfort.
The Ibn Ezra explains, and the Radak brings him, what is "she was stricken doubly for all her sins"? Double what every other nation was stricken. Every nation of the gentiles that was stricken, we received double that. We were stricken, so to speak we drank, we drained the cup of poison to the dregs. The Radak brings another explanation: what is "double for all her sins"? As it is written, Yirmiyahu says, "our fathers sinned and are no more, and we have borne their iniquities." And what of our own iniquities? We bore those too. So what results? That we suffered twice. Once for the iniquities of our fathers, and once for our own iniquities. By the way, where is the justice? Why should we pay for the iniquities of our fathers? On the contrary, it is written in the Torah that a man shall be put to death for his own sin, "fathers shall not be put to death for children, nor children for fathers." So the explanation, as the holy Ari explains, is that our paying for the iniquities of our fathers means we are our fathers. We simply return, "the third generation shall return here." We are simply our fathers who sinned and are no more, returning and reincarnating, and when we receive our fathers' iniquities it means for this incarnation and also for that incarnation. Also for what we did in previous incarnations, meaning we are our fathers. "Our fathers" is not necessarily my father. It could be the father of a great-grandfather. That is the meaning of "our fathers sinned and are no more." So we return and reincarnate and pay for those same iniquities. So it comes out double: (a) for what we did now, (b) for what we did then.
The Targum Yonatan explains, "for she has received a cup of consolation from before Hashem as though she had received double for all her sins." That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, comforts us and gives us that cup of consolation doubled, as though we had been punished double. Because in truth, I want to perhaps explain something I may not have prefaced, which should have been prefaced. What is "double for all her sins"? For seemingly, if we sinned, why receive double? Seemingly it appears to be a lack of justice. Therefore the Targum Yonatan explains that she received a cup of consolation as though she was stricken doubly. They comforted us doubly. So the consolation is doubled, that is wonderful. To impose a double punishment truly raises a difficulty. So the Ibn Ezra explained that it means double what the gentiles received. With the people of Israel the rates are different. With the gentile the rate is low, with us the rate is high, more is demanded of us. Or each one according to his explanation, and according to what he explains here, what is the "double"? As we explained, we were stricken, so the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us in the consolation as though we were stricken doubly, but in truth we were not stricken doubly.
Now come, hear what the Malbim says. The Malbim says, "speak to the heart of Yerushalayim and call to her, that her time of service is fulfilled, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins." "Her time of service is fulfilled" - the Malbim explained to us that "comfort, comfort" spoke of two modes of redemption: in its time, or hastened. So "her time of service is fulfilled," "tzeva'ah" means time. This appears in Sefer Daniel, the matter of "tzava" as time. "Her time of service is fulfilled," the first possibility, the time was filled. The time of redemption arrived. This is called "in its time." And this is if we did not merit to be redeemed in a hastened way. So "speak to the heart of Yerushalayim and call to her, that her time of service is fulfilled," the time has arrived that they are already redeemed. There is another possibility, "that her iniquity is pardoned," that they are redeemed before the time by having done teshuvah. So "her iniquity is pardoned." How is her iniquity pardoned? By having done teshuvah, her iniquity is pardoned, and now they are worthy of redemption even before the time. That is the second possibility. Now, is the possibility of hastening only because they did teshuvah? No, there is another possibility of hastening. If we receive a double punishment, and then, like it was in the Egyptian exile, that the people of Israel went out after 210 years instead of going out after 400 years. Why? The harshness of the bondage intensified and hastened the end, right? So too here, she was stricken from the hand of Hashem, "that she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins." This is a second possibility for hastening. Why hastened? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, intensified the punishment, and then, the Malbim gives a parable, what does this resemble? To a man who was supposed to sit in prison for 10 years and every year to receive 10 lashes each day. And the jailer, the warden of the prison, was very strict, he would give him 100 lashes each day. And then after a year he released him. He told him, you have already received what is coming to you. I gave it to you in a short time, in a tenth of the time I gave you ten times over. So this is what he says, "she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins." Consequently, the redemption can be hastened. So we have two reasons to hasten the redemption: either "her iniquity is pardoned," or "she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins."
Now the Malbim explains, notice how wonderful. The clauses of the verse are parallel. If you remember, we explained several times what "the clauses of the verse are parallel" means: we divide the verse into four parts, and then the continuation of part (a) of the verse is part (c), and the continuation of part (b) of the verse is part (d). And then the Malbim says the clauses of the verse are parallel, so it is as though we should read it thus: "speak to the heart of Yerushalayim," what shall you say to her? "That her time of service is fulfilled." The time of redemption has arrived, this is what we said, the "in its time." "Call to her," why? "Because her iniquity is pardoned, because she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins." Call to her and tell her that there is also a redemption that Hashem will hasten. How? By her iniquity being pardoned, because she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins. Now see how wonderful. Why regarding the first part of the redemption in its time does he say "speak to the heart of Yerushalayim, that her time of service is fulfilled," whereas regarding the second part, that Hashem will hasten the redemption, he says "and call to her"? Why does he not say again "and speak to her"? The Malbim says, it is understood in a most wonderful way. For if the time of redemption has arrived, then what is needed in total? "Speak to the heart of Yerushalayim." All that is needed is to tell them, here, your time has arrived. Speak to the heart of Yerushalayim. But there is no need... what does it mean to speak to the heart of Yerushalayim? To speak to the heart of Yerushalayim means to speak words of consolation to her. And why are words of consolation needed? Because if the redemption came in its time, that means they did not shorten it for us by a moment. So it means we paid the full price. What is needed in such a situation? To speak to the heart of Yerushalayim, so to speak to comfort Yerushalayim, because we paid the full price. In contrast, if the redemption was hastened by Hashem, then understand, we are in a situation where, as it were, we were still supposed to remain in exile and someone called to us, saying come, come, come, before the time, they are bringing you in before the time. So he says that is why it is written "and call to her." What is "and call to her"? Because I am now calling you before the time, so that is "and call to her." There is someone here who calls to her and tells her that her iniquity is pardoned, they are redeeming you before the time, she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins. And if "and call to her," then understand how wonderful, because in such a situation there is no need to speak words of consolation to her heart. When does one speak words of consolation? When you have paid the full price, I need to comfort you. But if they redeemed you before the time and moreover granted you a pardon, then (a) I need to call to you because you are far away, it is not the time of redemption. I need to call to you, and on the other hand I do not need to speak consolation to your heart, since you are anyway in such a situation where they eased things for you and redeemed you before the time. A most wonderful explanation of the Malbim.
Now let us note that there is, the Malbim says, an expression "kiflayim" (double/folded) and an expression "pi shenayim" (twofold). This is truly interesting. Did you notice this? "Kiflayim for all her sins." There is "kiflayim" and there is "pi shenayim." What is the difference between "pi shenayim" and "kiflayim"? The Malbim says, "kiflayim" means that there should be a whole thing and you fold it, and you receive in half what you were supposed to receive in the whole. "Kiflayim" is from the language of folding, in the language of the Talmud where they write it with a "kuf," from the language of "nichpal," to fold. In contrast, "pi shenayim," that means there is one, and I add another one to it. I double it and add another one to it, what we call multiplying, but really it is twofold. It means you received one portion, you received 100, he adds another 100 to you. That is twofold. Now, how here in our case would the expression "kiflayim" be expressed? For essentially if I come and say that you were supposed to receive suffering of a whole, of how much, let us say? For the sake of the matter let us say of 1,000 years. And I gave you increased doses, I gave you those same sufferings within 500 years. So what did I actually do? I folded 500 years onto the first 500 years, and I gave you within the first 500 years everything you were supposed to receive over the entire 1,000. That is called folding. Yes? That is the meaning that this thing is doubled/folded. In contrast, if I say to give you twofold, then an example, something is coming to you, I say I will give you double that thing. I will give you the same thing, another portion. That is called twofold. But "kiflayim" means what is coming to you over the long time, I compress it into half the time, I as though fold this portion, fold it in two, and give you within the short period everything you were meant to receive over the long period of time.
"A voice calls in the wilderness, clear the way of Hashem, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Rashi explains, "a voice calls in the wilderness" is the ruach hakodesh. The ruach hakodesh calls in the wilderness and says clear the way of Hashem, since the people of Israel are about to return from the exile. The Malbim explains that as it were the prophet depicts a certain voice that he hears, and as it were this thing already exists. Here now I already hear a voice calling in the wilderness. And afterwards, as it were, this voice stops, and this is later in verse 6, and then there is another voice that rouses him and says to him "a voice says, call." Why did you stop? Why did you cease? Return and call that same call that you already called before. What is it, what is that voice? What does this voice call in the wilderness? Clear the way of Hashem, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. The Malbim says, it is written that "as in the days of your going out from the land of Egypt I will show him wonders." The Holy One, blessed be He, will perform wonders for us like it was in the wilderness. So "a voice calls in the wilderness," the prophet now as it were in his vision sees the wonders in the wilderness. He sees the miracles that the Holy One, blessed be He, performed for us in the wilderness, the way that the Holy One, blessed be He, paved for us then, the providence that the Holy One, blessed be He, watched over us in a miraculous way above nature. "A voice calls in the wilderness, clear the way of Hashem." He says, know that just as then there was a voice calling in the wilderness and clearing the way of Hashem before the people going out of Egypt, so too in the future "make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Hashem will further reveal His strong hand on a new highway on which no man has ever trodden, and He will perform for us miracles and wonders that He never did before, new miracles that never existed before.
Now the Malbim explains, we must know that there is a difference between wilderness and desert (arava), between way and highway, and after we have these foundations we will be able to understand the verse correctly. The Malbim says, in an inhabited land there is a place of gardens and orchards, an inhabited place, there is a place where there is a garden, there are orchards. So too, know, in a place that is wilderness, there is a place that is desert and pit, a place where thorns and thistles grow, that is called arava. In an inhabited land there are gardens and orchards, in a desert land there is a place called arava where thorns and thistles grow. The Malbim says, there is also a difference between "clear the way" and "make straight a highway." What is the difference between "clear" and "make straight"? Soon we will explain the difference between way and highway. But what is the difference between "clear" and "make straight"? The Malbim says, "clear" is a place that already existed, was in use and just became filled, one needs to clear it, to empty it. So there is a way, but this way, let us say, has gathered all sorts of thorns and briars, let us say it has developed all sorts of conditions where one can no longer tread on this way, this way needs to be cleared. That is what he says, "clear the way." But in contrast, "highway" means to pave a new way. Therefore note that regarding the highway he does not say "clear." I have an apartment and there is a lot of debris there, I clear out the debris, because the apartment exists, one only needs to clear. And if I do not have an apartment then I need to build an apartment. And this is what he says here, this is "make straight in the desert a highway." In the desert one needs to level and simply pave a new highway. It is not an existing highway that only needs clearing, but rather one needs to truly pave a new highway. The Malbim says, there is also a difference between "Hashem" and "our God." What is the difference? When we speak of "Hashem," the Tetragrammaton, that is the Infinite One, blessed be He, who creates the world, who renews the world. In contrast, when I say "Hashem our God," the word "our God" expresses His relationship toward us. It expresses that the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over us with individual providence, that Hashem performs miracles for us in a special way, He is our God, in the special attachment that He has with the people of Israel.
Now let us connect all these things and see how the verse receives new light. He says "a voice calls in the wilderness, clear the way of Hashem." The people of Israel who walked in the wilderness, there is already a way, the people of Israel already walked here once. There is already a way. But this way, in order to walk on it again, needs to be cleared, because we want to walk on it again, so "clear the way of Hashem." In contrast, the arava is a place more wild than the wilderness, because there, as we said, there are thorns, it is a place where thorns grow in the desert. There, there is no way to clear, there one needs to pave a highway anew. Therefore this is the second part, "make straight in the desert a highway." Which highway? A new highway that did not exist before. And note, this is "a highway for our God." If in the wilderness it was the Tetragrammaton, Hashem in a general sense, now it is "our God," He will do for us in a special way, for we are His people and the flock of His pasture, special miracles that did not exist in previous generations. So this is already an aspect of "our God." So it is both a new way, also a highway, meaning also a new highway that needs to be leveled and something new paved, and it is also special miracles and wonders that we will have because we are His people Israel.
"Every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill shall be lowered, and the crooked shall become straight and the ridges a valley." "Every valley shall be raised." He describes that the people of Israel are now returning, for we said that the prophet in his vision sees the return of the people of Israel to their land, so he now describes how this return will be without delays. It will be by a straight path. A valley, ridges, these are things that hinder the public, the people, from walking. But he says that then, when the people of Israel return to their land, this problem will not exist. Because a place that is a valley and is low will be raised and become straight. A place that is a mountain and hill and also constitutes a barrier and obstacle will be lowered, and it too will become straight. So essentially they will return on complete level ground, in such a way that the variations in terrain, the topography, will not hinder them, will not hinder their walking. "And the crooked shall become straight" - a place that is a crooked way will become straight, "and the ridges a valley." And now let us explain.
The Malbim says, there is a most wonderful precision here. For if you think of it naturally, if I have a mountain here and here I have a valley, and the rest of the way, let us say, is straight. What do I do to solve the problem of the mountain and the problem of the valley? I simply cut the mountain and move it into the valley, right? Bring up a bulldozer, level the mountain, throw the earth into the valley, and now I have paved ground. He says this is true when you come to speak according to nature. But with the Holy One, blessed be He, the redemption is destined to be above nature. And when it is above nature I do not need the mountain to fill the valley. Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, by Himself fills the valley, and by Himself removes the mountain. He has no problem of, as it were, what to do with the earth of the mountain, where to put it. And from where is this precise in the verse? He says "every valley shall be raised." The place of the valley will rise and become straight, and only afterwards "every mountain and hill shall be lowered." For if I really needed to do it according to nature, it should have been the opposite. First "every mountain and hill shall be lowered," lower the mountain and hill, and to where the earth? Then "every valley shall be raised." A place that is low and a valley will rise. With the Holy One, blessed be He, it goes the opposite way, because the Holy One, blessed be He, will perform a redemption that is above nature.
"And the crooked shall become straight." "The crooked," the Malbim says, is a way that goes with twists. Why does it go with twists? Because I cannot continue, there is a mountain, there are hills, so I need to go around. I need to go around and the way winds because there are ridges and hills. So he says, in the beginning what does one do? First one takes the ridges and turns them into a valley, turns them into a straight place, and then consequently the crooked becomes straight. Consequently I do not need to make all sorts of detours, I go straight because a place that was a hill has simply flattened. So this is what we said, but then, since the redemption, as we said, will be above nature, so first "the crooked shall become straight." First the way will be straight, and this is even before the ridges are removed. And only afterwards will the ridges become a valley. Once again we see that in the redemption that is according to Hashem, blessed be He, the order need not be in a natural order, but rather the way will be above nature.
"And the glory of Hashem shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see together, for the mouth of Hashem has spoken." Now he describes the divine revelation. For as is known, part of the tremendous elevation that will be in the future redemption is that all the people of Israel will be on the level of prophets. We will merit to behold Hashem, blessed be He, eye to eye, we will merit to be in closeness to Him, blessed be He, and not like today where we are in a state of hidden face and distance. There will be among you prophets, "and I will raise up from your sons prophets and from your young men nazirites." All will be on a lofty and immense spiritual level, or as it is written, "I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh." There are many prophecies that describe what is destined to be in the future redemption, that the entire people of Israel will become a holy nation, a people that is entirely on the level of prophets. Now he will describe for us in six elevations, in six things in which there will be a difference between our reality today and the future reality.
First, until now the divine apprehension was with dividing screens. It was impossible to apprehend the Holy One, blessed be He, in what is called a clear lens. But he says in the future, "and the glory of Hashem shall be revealed." Everything will be in revelation. There will not be a state of hidden face, there will not be a state of a lens that does not shine clearly. Even prophets did not merit a clear lens except for Moshe Rabbeinu. But he says in the future "and it shall be revealed," everything will be revealed, everyone will have the clear lens.
Another thing, until now we apprehended the glory of Elokim, or Sha-dai, or Tzeva'ot. What is the difference? "Elokim" is the conduct through which the Holy One, blessed be He, leads the world. "HaElokim" equals in gematria "nature." Nature in gematria equals Elokim. The same with Sha-dai, who said to His world "enough." Tzeva'ot, that all the hosts (tzeva'ot) are His. But the glory of Hashem we did not merit. We did not merit to reach Him, which means to apprehend Hashem, blessed be He, from the aspect of His essence, from the aspect of His being. As the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, "and I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov with the name Kel Sha-dai, but by My name Havayah I did not become known to them." But then in the future, "and the glory of Havayah shall be revealed." Not the glory of Elokim, which is an aspect of concealment as we said, which is an aspect of nature, but rather His glory from the aspect of His essence and being. And then it will become known already by the name Havayah, by the name of being, everyone will know.
Third thing, until now they did not see Hashem, blessed be He, but only apprehended Hashem, knew Hashem. But by sensory sight, "for man shall not see Me and live." Even Moshe did not merit to see the Elokim. About this he says "and all flesh shall see together." "And they shall see," for eye to eye they will see. In the future redemption we will merit to actually see the face of Hashem.
Fourth thing, until now even those who were prophets and capable of beholding prophetic visions saw with the eye of the soul, the prophetic eye. Not with a physical eye. As we said, generally prophecy was through a dream and the like. But now "all flesh shall see." "All flesh shall see" means also with the physical eye, this too they will be able to see and grasp. Yes, so there are two things. First we said before, until now they did not see, only apprehended and knew, they did not see the glory of Hashem through sensory sight, but now eye to eye they will see. And how will they see with the eye? Do not think I am speaking of a spiritual eye, but rather the meaning is with an eye of flesh, "and all flesh shall see." With the physical eye of flesh a person will be able to see and grasp. "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Hashem."
Until now those who saw and apprehended the glory of Hashem were few. How many prophets did the people of Israel have throughout all the generations? A million and 200 thousand. And the known ones, how many are they? 48 prophets and 7 prophetesses. That is what remained of the prophets to the people of Israel. A million and 200 thousand. And behold, he tells you that in the future it will not be so, but rather "all flesh shall see together." All flesh will merit to see the face of Hashem. The meaning is whoever will remain then, yes? Do not understand incorrectly. Whoever will be worthy and will remain then, all will merit, even one who was not on the level of prophecy will merit to see the face of Hashem, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Hashem. Another thing, until now not everyone saw at the same level. Rather there were differences. As we said, Moshe Rabbeinu was at the clear lens, the other prophets at the lens that does not shine clearly. And the Gemara itself already distinguishes between the prophets and their levels. Shmuel had a high level of prophetic apprehension, and the Gemara brings among the prophets that one was like a villager who sees the king, or like the son of a servant who sees the king. There were levels in the apprehension. As the Gemara says, "and Moshe went up to the Elokim." Moshe alone approached the Elokim, they did not approach and the people did not go up with him. Moshe's level was approaching, the level of the elders was going up, and the level of the people even less than that. We see that there were levels in the apprehension of the divine. In contrast, in the future "all flesh shall see together." "Together" means that they are equal in their apprehension. All will apprehend Him from the greatest to the smallest, a complete, full, and true apprehension without any deficiency.
"A voice says, call, and he said, what shall I call? All flesh is grass, and all its kindness is like the flower of the field." "A voice says, call." First I will explain according to its plain meaning what the Radak says. As it were, the voice tells the prophet, call out the prophecy. The prophet says, what prophecy shall I call out? The voice tells him, "all flesh is grass." Say that all flesh is grass. About whom is he speaking? About the gentiles who are destined to come with Gog and Magog and come to fight against the people of Israel, all of them will be an aspect of grass. The meaning is they will all perish and almost nothing of them will remain.
Alright, let us continue with the Malbim. The Malbim says, we saw that a voice says at the beginning "a voice calls in the wilderness, clear the way of Hashem, make straight in the desert a highway." And then the voice fell silent from calling. And then the prophet hears another voice, saying to the first voice, "call." Why did you fall silent? Continue and call further about the future redemption. The first calling voice answers him, what reason is there for me to call again? For all flesh is grass. What does this mean? The voice said "clear the way of Hashem in the wilderness," the redemption is ready to come. But we all know that the redemption did not arrive. The sins of the generation caused that generation to die and the redemption did not arrive. And as a result the voice fell silent. What reason is there to call? The redemption will come, and behold, in the end everyone dies, everyone finished and was cut off and the redemption still has not arrived. The footsteps of the Mashiach were not seen. And then another voice comes and says to him, "call." Call again, announce again the coming of the redemption. And he says to him, what reason is there for me to call? And he said, what shall I call? What reason is there for me to call again? For all flesh is grass. All flesh is like grass. That entire generation is dead, and the redemption still has not come. "And all its kindness is like the flower of the field." What is the meaning here of grass, what is the meaning of the flower of the field? The Malbim explains, grass is what dries up before all the plants. It is written, "like grass of the rooftops that dries before it is plucked." And before all, grass dries. Grass dries first. "The flower of the field" is small grasses that grow in the field and, due to their smallness, as it were there is no substance in them. And it is called "tzitz" because it peeks out, it emerges and peeks out and it is small. About this he said "man's days are like grass." What is the meaning of "like grass"? For we said who dries up first? The grass. So this is man, they tell you his life is not long, his days are like grass. Within a short time he dries up. "And like the flower of the field so he blossoms," the meaning is do not think there is substance in him, for the grass, well, at least it is large, there is something here. He says, no, no, like the flower of the field, it is so small that even in its life there is no substance in it. "Like the flower of the field so he blossoms," there is no substance in him, this is its great smallness. So corresponding to what he said "his days are like grass," he says "for a wind passes over it and it is gone." And corresponding to what he said "like the flower of the field," he says "and its place shall know it no more." This is the continuation of the verse I mentioned before. So this is what he says, what shall I call? All flesh is grass, meaning their lives are short like grass. "And all its kindness is like the flower of the field," he says even its existence, when it does exist, is like the flower of the field, meaning most minimal. And if so, they are not worthy of redemption and the redemption did not come. What reason is there to call out before grass and the flower of the field, ones who are here and in a moment in the grave, and even when they exist have no significance at all. What reason is there to call and announce a redemption that has not yet arrived.
"The grass withers, the flower fades, for the spirit of Hashem blew upon it; surely the people is grass." Since the spirit of Hashem blew upon it, the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were took back His spirit from them, and consequently through this the grass withered. Just as the grass withers through a wind that dries it, so here in the analogue it is the spirit of Hashem that, as it were, caused the death of the people, the grass withered, the flower faded through the blowing wind. And if so, what reason is there for me to call? The spirit of Hashem blew upon it, so the generation no longer exists, so what shall I announce about a redemption that does not arrive? The second voice, that same voice that told him "call," continue and announce the redemption, tells him, do not despair. "Surely the people is grass." Only the people is grass, but not Hashem, blessed be He.
And this we will see in the next verse. And before we enter into the answer that the second voice gives, let us dwell here on a precision that the Malbim addresses. It is written "surely (achen) the people is grass." The Malbim says, there is a difference between "achen" and "aval" and "ulam" and "omnam." And all these are four expressions where when a person says such and such and such, "achen," otherwise. Or such and such and such, "aval," there it is otherwise. Such and such and such, "ulam," here it is different. Such and such and such, "omnam," here the situation is not the same. Seemingly these are just four words that came to express the same idea. I said a sentence and afterwards I qualified part of the matter. "Ulam" such and such. What is the difference between "ulam" and "achen" and "aval" and "omnam"? The Malbim says, "achen" and "aval" contradict what preceded. First of all. When I say "achen" or say "aval," not as you thought, but I come to contradict what you thought before. But what is the difference between "achen" and "aval"? For they cannot be the same thing. The Malbim says, when I say "aval" I mean to contradict the words of someone else. When I say "achen" I mean to contradict what I said before, or what at any rate I was uncertain about before and now it has become clear to me clearly, so I say "achen." "Achen" is in relation to my own words, "aval" is in relation to the words of others. Example, "but (aval) our master King David has made Shlomo king." You want to make Adoniyahu king, but David made Shlomo king. I contradict what you say. You say she will have a son, I come to contradict your words, but she has no son. "But (aval) Sarah your wife shall bear you a son." You say "and I have no offspring," I come to contradict your words, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son. He contradicts the words of his fellow. In contrast, "achen" is, as I said, when I had some previous thought and I come now to reach a different conclusion, or even a doubt that has been resolved for me and now I have an answer regarding it, that is called "achen." Like "surely (achen) Hashem is in this place and I did not know." I was not certain that Hashem was there, surely now my previous thought has been contradicted, or it is a thought of mine, surely now I know that Hashem is indeed here. Or "surely the matter has become known." Until now I did not know why the people of Israel are in exile, surely the matter has become known, now it has become known to me why the people of Israel are exiled. "Surely the bitterness of death has passed." All these are initially uncertainty, and I did not know whether you would kill me or not, surely now it has become known to me the bitterness of death has passed. Now I know that you will indeed kill me. "Surely You are a God who hides Himself," "surely these are the judgments of Hashem," "surely he bore our illnesses." All these show some resolution of a doubt that I had before, or an opposite thought that I had before, that now I contradict that thought and reach a different conclusion. So that is "achen" and "aval." In summary, "achen" and "aval" contradict what was before, build something new. But "aval" is when I come to contradict your words, "achen" is when I come to contradict my own previous words or my previous doubt. "Ulam," when I say "ulam," what is the meaning? When I do not contradict the previous things. I remain with what the previous things were, I only add to them a new piece of knowledge that we did not know before. "And Luz (ulam) was the name of the city at first." I do not contradict that the name of the city today is different, Beit El. But I add for you a piece of knowledge, know that in the past it had the name Luz. I do not contradict what I said before, I add new knowledge. "I know, my son, I know." What do I know? That he is the firstborn. "And yet (ulam) his younger brother shall be greater than he." That is, I add for you an additional piece of knowledge that you do not know, that the younger son will be greater than the... I did not contradict what you said. This is the older and this is the younger. "Ulam," another piece of knowledge I add for you. Like "I have forgiven according to your word, and yet (ulam) as I live." Indeed I forgive, and this does not contradict, know an additional thing, as I live and the glory of Hashem shall fill. "And yet (ulam) stretch out Your hand," "and yet (ulam) I would seek God," and so on. And all these did not contradict the first things, only add new knowledge. "Omnam," what is the meaning of the word "omnam"? The Malbim says, this is the fourth word we want to understand. The Malbim says, here he does not add anything, here he does not contradict anything, but rather he only, as it were, comes and says "it is true, so it is." Know, so it truly is. "Omnam" is from the language of "amanah," from the language of "emet" (truth), "emunah" (faith). "Truly (omnam) the kings of Assyria have destroyed." It is true, so it is, the kings of Assyria destroyed all the nations. But we do not fear that they will destroy us too, because we have Hashem, blessed be He. So what is this "omnam"? Did I contradict something before? Did I introduce something new? Nothing. It is true, so it is. That is the expression "omnam." "And truly (omnam) she is my sister, the daughter of my father." It is true, so it is, that what I told you before is correct. She is truly my sister, the daughter of my father. And here the Malbim says, as it were the one who speaks says himself, what shall I call? For...
All flesh is grass. And this is what he says, it is not as I said, but rather only the people is grass, "but the word of our God shall stand forever." This is the "achen." "Surely (achen) the people is grass" - for when we explained at the beginning about "achen" and "aval," we said that "achen" comes to contradict what I said before. That is the expression "achen." "Aval" contradicts what you said, "achen" contradicts what I said. So he said at the beginning, I said that indeed this people is grass, and there will be no redemption, because since this people is not worthy. "Achen," now I contradict my previous words and I say the people is grass. "The people is grass" means, who is the grass here? It is only the people, but not Hashem. And if Hashem is not an aspect of grass but rather exists forever, then certainly His word will be fulfilled forever. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever."
Truly the people withers, truly they are like grass, they will perish, but do you think that because of this the word of Hashem will not be fulfilled? He tells him, the word of our God shall stand forever, for indeed man's days are like grass, a wind passes over him and he is gone, but the kindness of Hashem is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear Him. And if you say, behold, many generations did not merit salvation, he says, know, the word of Hashem in the end will with complete certainty be fulfilled. And there is a time that is an aspect of "in its time," and if they do not merit to hasten it, then with complete certainty in its time this thing will be fulfilled, this thing will happen. And if so, do not be troubled by the fact that you say "all flesh is grass," and therefore there is no point in coming and calling about the future redemption, since the people is grass, the people is grass, but not, God forbid, the Creator of the world is grass. The Holy One, blessed be He, exists forever, so if so, a voice says call, announce the future redemption that with certainty will in the end come.
The Malbim says, there is a difference between "withers" (yavesh) and "fades" (naval). Notice, it is written here "the grass withers, the flower fades." Why does the grass wither and the flower fade? The Malbim says, withering is when the time arrives, this thing, let us say the summer arrived, the matter of that plant is finished and it withers. This is called at its appointed time. In contrast, fading is a cessation of the power of growth even while it is still budding. Suddenly the plant fades. To wither means its time arrived, the grain withers when the summer arrives, that is its time. But to fade means that in the middle it fades, even in the midst of its growing the life force ceased from it and while still budding it faded. The Malbim says, there is a difference between grass and flower. When does the grass wither? When the time is complete. The time is complete, the time of its withering arrives, and then it withers. It will not fade before its time. But the flower withers quickly, ends quickly, fades by itself while still budding. It is not like the grass whose withering will arrive only at its time.