"You are My witnesses, says Hashem, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He: before Me no god was formed, and after Me there shall be none." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: "You are My witnesses." Come and see the difference between what is told, between the nonsense told about all the other idols, and what is told about the Creator of the world. All the stories told about Hashem are trustworthy and enduring. Whether we speak of the signs and wonders that are told about what Hashem did, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: "I have witnesses for this, you are My witnesses, says Hashem." Six hundred thousand men who saw the works of Hashem. We have already spoken in the past about the great difference between the Jewish faith and the faith of the other religions. Seemingly people argue: "Look, why be a Jew? Why believe in Judaism? How many are you? Fifteen million? How many Jews are there today? Maybe fifteen million. Assimilation is devouring everywhere, and sadly the number is not large. And if we look at Christianity, it numbers something like a billion believers. Islam too is approaching that. So seemingly, if we look relatively, why believe in the minority? You have fifteen million against hundreds of millions or against a billion." So ask people, perhaps sometimes out of malice and sometimes out of a search for truth, genuinely wanting to know. What is the answer?
We once explained the principle. I explained this when we studied the Kuzari, and also on Hidabroot when we spoke about the Kuzari we came to speak about this. You need to know: the strength of a chain is measured by the strength of its weakest link. And I will explain the matter very clearly through logic. If I have a chain, a rope capable of holding a ton, but at the start it is made of a single strand, a single thread capable of holding a kilo, how much will this chain be able to hold? A kilo. But why? Seemingly all the links can hold a ton, only one link can hold a kilo. Yet it is clear to all of us that the strength of the chain is according to the strength of its weakest link, correct? Now notice the difference. The Jewish people are a chain of six hundred thousand, but of six hundred thousand from the beginning to the end. That is a strong chain. In contrast, the nations are a chain of a billion. True, of a billion. But let us check: this chain, at its beginning, how many is it? One. That is to say, that one man, the people who told about the miracles and wonders he did, we are not impressed by miracles and wonders, but let us say, let us say that all they told, that he walked on water and made a feast and fed many people and all that nonsense. There were three or four people. This whole story begins from a handful of individuals, and his fame was mainly acquired after his death. All the Gospels were composed only after that man's death. And if it is Muhammad, then all the more so: someone came and told that during his epileptic seizures an angel appeared to him and updated him about all sorts of upgrades he had to the Torah. The prophet Moses is true, but be aware, changes have occurred, you must update the people. Either yes or no. We know it is no, but with how many did it begin? With one. That is to say, we have here a dynasty, a chain that begins with one man. What is its strength? What is its strength? Zero. If I come to tell you a story tomorrow, will you begin to believe in me? In contrast, Judaism begins with six hundred thousand men of "you saw." Six hundred thousand men of divine revelation.
Now understand, this is a story that cannot be planted in history. I cannot tell you today that there was a revelation of six hundred thousand men three thousand years ago. Because you would immediately ask me: "Really? Interesting, how do you know and I do not? Interesting that you know and I do not." So that is to say, you cannot plant such a story into history. And if I tell you "something like this happened," you will say: "Listen, such a story should not be forgotten. How is it that we all forgot and only your honor remembers?" No one would believe such a thing. And especially when you bring him a Torah, it will say in this Torah that it shall not be forgotten, never forgotten from the mouth of his offspring. So how do you say "listen, all of you forgot and only with me did it remain"? In the Torah it is written that it will not be forgotten. So you are refuted from the very words of the Torah. That is to say, Judaism has something that no religion in the world has, and no religion in the world claims to attain knowledge. Every religion says "you must believe." But Judaism is the only one that says "you can examine and become convinced that Hashem is the God." And He gives a Torah. Judaism is the only religion, and this is what is done in seminars, whoever knows, at Arachim and on other occasions, where they prove the truth of the Torah. So seemingly, if it is possible to prove the truth of the Torah, why is faith needed? For you say "and you shall know," there is a possibility to know. If there is a possibility to know, seemingly there is no need to believe. So the answer is that where the intellect ends, faith begins. That is to say, I know there is a Creator of the world, but to know that everything Hashem does is good for me, I must believe. That is a part of faith. That is one thing.
A second thing: there are matters that are hidden from us. For example, His essence, blessed be He, we do not know. Things destined to happen, we do not know. All these things fall in the category of faith. The Holy One, blessed be He, revealed to us up to a certain point. The Holy One, blessed be He, wants to leave all the rest as some place for man's faith as well, because through a person believing, through this he receives reward. If everything were clear and laid out here on the table, the world would not be divided into believers and non-believers, but into the wise and the foolish. Because whoever would act against what he sees is simply a fool. And the Holy One, blessed be He, does not want robots, the Holy One, blessed be He, wants people who will believe. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, reveals Himself, but reveals a handbreadth and covers two handbreadths, in order to still leave room for faith. But whoever wants to examine, the proofs are clear beyond any doubt. So this is what He says, "and believe Me." And the third thing, "and understand." What is the definition of "and understand"? Through the proofs of reason. Whoever knows, there is the example of Chovot HaLevavot, he has in Sha'ar HaYichud, where he proves the truth of the Torah and the existence of Hashem through philosophical proof. That there must have been One who created, for if there were two, how could it be, who creates whom, and so on. Proofs that are according to knowledge and reason. And this is what He says, "and understand." Understand means that through deep thought you too can contemplate and arrive at the conclusion that there is one Creator of the world, and this Creator, "I am He, before Me no god was formed."
The idolaters believed that there was some idol who begot that idol, and that idol rose and murdered his father, and rose to reign in his place, and took that one's wife, and took this one thus, and begot from this one that son, and that son rebelled against him, and became some idol over some particular force, and all sorts of nonsense, the nonsense of mythology as we discussed. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: "Before Me no god was formed." I am not a force that came about because of another force, that there was some god who begot me, as in that nonsense. "And after Me there shall be none" - I also will not beget another son, yes, I did not beget that man, nor the Holy Spirit, nor all those foolish things and nonsense. "And after Me there shall be none," meaning there shall not be some force and dominion granted by Hashem to some other force, as those nations believed. In fact, there is a difficulty in the language of the verse that the Malbim sought to resolve. The Radak already sensed this difficulty, and he writes: this matter is difficult for the commentators. What relevance is there in saying "before Me no god was formed"? Is there a "before" Hashem? So what is "before Me"? There is no "before Me." The Holy One, blessed be He, was, is, and will be. And what is "after Me"? Is there an "after" Hashem? For the Holy One, blessed be He, is entirely above the framework of time. To one who is above the framework of time, "before Me" and "after Me" are not relevant at all. So what is the understanding of this? And another matter: "before Me no god was formed." One could infer from this that God is an entity that was formed. Of course we know this certainly does not apply, the Holy One, blessed be He, was not formed. So what relevance is there in saying "before Me none was formed"? As if, God forbid, Hashem was formed and no other was formed before Him. This is a verse that is difficult in terms of the faith in Hashem. Therefore they explain, and thus he brings also in the name of his father, that "before Me none was formed" means that there was nothing formed by another god. "Before Me nothing was formed by a god." That is the meaning of "before Me no god was formed." It does not mean that no god was formed, for it is impossible that a god be formed, and Hashem Himself was not formed. But the Holy One, blessed be He, says: "Do you believe in forces? Leave aside debating who he is and where he is from and who created him. Do you believe that these forces did things in the world? Show me what he did. Before Me, meaning before Me, facing Me, nothing was formed by the power of a god. What thing can you show me in the world that was formed by the power of some god other than Him, blessed be He?" So it does not mean that the god was formed, but that a thing was formed by the power of the god. There is nothing in the world, you cannot say "the moon was formed by such-and-such god." There is no such thing, nothing was formed by another force other than Hashem, blessed be He. That is the meaning of "no god was formed," as in "no god formed" any creation. "God" means a force. So there is none besides Him, and not only that, but also no force in the world formed here any existing reality here in the world.
"I, I am Hashem, and besides Me there is no savior." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: "I, I am Hashem, only I alone exist in reality. And there is no savior besides Me, for the Holy One, blessed be He, in truth rules over all." For if there were another force, then I could say "if Hashem will not save you, that force will save you." But if Hashem says "I, I," that is to say there is no other, then it follows automatically that you understand there is no savior besides Me. Salvation is only from Him, blessed be He. "I declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no stranger among you; and you are My witnesses, says Hashem, and I am God." Corresponding to what He said "I am He: before Me no god was formed and after Me there shall be none," He says: "Indeed I declared and saved. Already in the past I promised to save in the future, and behold you see that I saved." When was this? At the exodus from Egypt. I promised that there would be a redemption, I promised Avraham your father that also the nation whom they will serve, I will judge, I promised that they would go out with great wealth. Behold, I declared and saved, and in the end I indeed truly saved. But where, among the nations, where among the idols did you find such a thing? First, did you hear anyone who declared the end from the beginning? That is something we have never heard. And even if he declared it, did you see that he met the targets he set for himself? Have you heard of any such god? Of such a force? This He says, this matter cannot be conceived at all among the idolaters. And corresponding to what He said "I, I, and besides Me there is no savior," He says: "Indeed you saw, I proclaimed and there was no stranger among you. When I proclaimed My words, you saw that there was no foreign god among you. There was no other force, only I alone." It is written that the Holy One, blessed be He, at the standing at Mount Sinai opened for them seven heavens above and seven chambers below in the earth, so that they would see that Hashem is the God in heaven above and upon the earth below, there is none else. That is to say, the Holy One, blessed be He, showed His absolute rule. So this is what He says, "and proclaimed and there was no stranger among you." I proclaimed and you saw that there is no foreign god among you, you saw that there is no other force besides Him, blessed be He, but only "I, I am Hashem." As it is written, "you have been shown to know that Hashem is the God, there is none else besides Him."
"And you are My witnesses, says Hashem." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: "Here there are enduring witnesses, not stories that grandfather tells you. You are My witnesses, you saw this with your own eyes at the standing at Mount Sinai." And the Holy One, blessed be He, also says: "And I am God." That is to say, the Divinity itself testifies to this. As we explained, that Divinity means that Hashem is unique, He is eternal, Hashem does not change. And one who changes or lives for a certain period and departs, that is not a god. A god must be an eternal, unchanging force. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: "And I am God, and there is no other force besides Hashem." "Also from the day, I am He, and there is none who can deliver from My hand; I will act, and who can reverse it." "Also from the day, I am He." It is not only from the time I revealed Myself to you at the standing at Mount Sinai that, as it were, you then grasped the Divinity, that from then there is a God. He says: "Certainly not. Rather also from the day, even from then, from the beginning, also from then, I am He. There is none besides Me." "And there is none who can deliver from My hand; I will act, and who can reverse it." "There is none who can deliver from My hand," that is the past. "And I will act" in the future, "and who can reverse it." Since there is no force apart from Him, blessed be He, then it follows that whatever Hashem wants to do, is there any force that can stop Him? To us it is somewhat puzzling why all this needs to be said, for all these matters are a clear and simple axiom. But you need to know that we are speaking here of a generation that were idolaters. A generation that believed in forces, in deities, in idols. And for this generation to say these things, they are almost an innovation. Therefore it was necessary to strengthen these clear axioms in them, and to repeat and instill and repeat and clarify, because these matters were not entirely clear. And especially in those times, as we discussed several times in the past, when they believed in two forces. The force of good and the force of evil in the world. And we once explained at length that they believed the two fight one another, and whoever manages to win establishes his doctrine in the world. If it is the force of evil, then he does evil in the world; if it is the force of good, then he does good in the world. Therefore, in response to this, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: "I, I am Hashem, and besides Me there is none." What is "I, I"? "And you shall know that I, I am He." What is "I, I"? Both good and evil. The two forces in creation that you see appear opposed, how can there be death and life from the same One? Evil and good from the same One? Darkness and light from the same One? Night and day? To them this sounded like a contradiction. How can it be? This matter is like a fire that both cools and warms. We are not amazed, it is the same air conditioner, both cools and warms, right? But apparently we have already grasped this, so they invented such devices for us too. But once they did not grasp this. How can it be? These are opposites. What, from the same force came two separate things? He tells you: "I, I am Hashem, for I, I am He." All the forces are from Him, blessed be He.
"Thus says Hashem, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I sent to Babylon and brought down all of them as fugitives, and the Chaldeans in the ships of their song." Thus says Hashem. Perhaps before that, before I explain the verse, "Thus says Hashem, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, for your sake I sent to Babylon." How is it written? Shilachti (I sent) to Babylon, or shulachti (I was sent) to Babylon? Shilachti. There is here a Minchat Shai, we do not usually study it, it is one of the later works that is primarily a grammatical book. It examines grammatical variations, between versions, whether there is a meteg or no meteg, how the letter is read, how the word is read. This is called Minchat Shai. And he brings sources in which we see that the version was "for your sake shulachti to Babylon." And if so, "shulachti," of whom does it speak? Of the Holy One, blessed be He. The Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, came with the people of Israel to Babylon. The Midrash Shocher Tov on the psalm "By the rivers of Babylon," the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, traveled Himself, as it says "for your sake shulachti to Babylon." He brings Midrash Rabbati at the end of Parashat Emor, the Shechinah as it were was exiled with them, as it said "for your sake shulachti to Babylon." And thus too he brings from the Mekhilta, and in Shir HaShirim Rabbah, Midrash Pesikta, Yalkut Zechariah. And so too in Midrash Eichah, "young men bore the mill," there too the Aruch says in the name of Megillat Eichah "shulachti to Babylon is written." And thus he brings also that the Ibn Ezra explained. On the other hand the Radak was puzzled at him, why would he suddenly say "shulachti," for the written text is "shilachti." And the Abarbanel brings that there are two versions in this and he explains both. In fact, I will tell you the summary, the conclusion he reaches. No, it is not the same thing, that is clear. Because "shulachti" means the Holy One, blessed be He, says "I was sent to Babylon, I as it were was exiled, the Shechinah was exiled with you." And if "shilachti," it means "you, I sent you to Babylon." We will see further explanations, but the meaning is "shilachti." Therefore he says that in truth all the midrashim read "shilachti to Babylon." But seemingly all that we just brought implies "shulachti." So he says thus: be aware that there is keri and there is ketiv, and there is a basis for the masoretic tradition and a basis for the reading tradition. And it is often the way of the midrashim to take a verse written in a certain form and expound it with a deviation, to expound it with a change. So how is it written? If we look, first of all, there is no vocalization in a Torah scroll or in the megillot, that is one thing. Second, there are also no matres. That is to say, if I say "shulachti" or "shilachti," the reason is that there is no yud when it is written "shilachti," and no vav when it is written "shulachti." So it is written shin, lamed, chet, tav, yud. How is it read? The midrash often reads the verse as a derash, not in the way it is written. So indeed from the standpoint of the reading tradition, this is how it is read, it is written "shilachti." And indeed if you wish, from the standpoint of the masoretic tradition, the meaning is how... excuse me, I have it reversed. From the standpoint of the masoretic tradition, our tradition is "shilachti." But from the standpoint of the reading tradition, as it were, what is written here? Shin, lamed, chet, tav, yud. I can also read it as "shulachti." And then the midrash expounds it as a form of "do not read." "Do not read shilachti but shulachti." And then in fact there is no dispute. Certainly one must read "shilachti" when reading the verse. But the midrash says one can also expound it as "shulachti," and then it refers, as it were, to the Holy One, blessed be He, but by way of derash and not by way of coming to change the written text of the verse.
Good, now let us explain what is written. "For your sake I sent to Babylon." So Onkelos explains: "Because of your sins I exiled you to Babylon." That is "for your sake I sent to Babylon." "And brought down all of them as fugitives (berichim)." The Targum says: "and I brought down with oars all of them." What are oars? It is the wood with which one steers the ship in order to straighten it. Incidentally, it is not certain that this is the oars we have today. It may be that the oar is that part that tilts the ship right and left. But it is very possible that it is the oars we have today. And why are these oars called berichim? The Radak explains that berichim is from the expression... berichim, rechim is the ships. And why is rechim the ships? Listen to a novel interpretation. The Radak says: because the ships would sail by means of the wind. For they had sails, and by means of the wind they would sail. They sail by winds. Rechim is like ruchot (winds); in the masculine form there is rechim and there is ruchot. Ruchot is feminine, rechim is masculine. So what is written here, "and I brought down all of them with berichim," means I brought down all of them to Babylon in ships. As it is written in the Torah that the king of Babylon would come and exile you in ships to Babylon. So according to this the meaning is "I brought down with berichim," in ships, all of them to Babylon. And what is the meaning of what is written, "and the Chaldeans in the ships of their song"? And the Chaldeans, by means of the ships was their song. "Their song" means their cry. Whose cry? So one can explain, as one clarification we explained, that it is about the people of Israel who were exiled to Babylon. But Rashi brings another explanation, that one can explain it entirely as the tidings of the redemption. "For your sake I sent to Babylon" means I will send the kings of Media to Babylon, with the aim of bringing down the Chaldeans in the ships and with the oars, that they would exile them to the land of Media. And the Chaldeans I will bring down in the ships in which they took pride, in which they had song, through this I will exile them. So either it speaks of our exile, that Hashem sent us to Babylon, or it speaks of our redemption, in which the Holy One, blessed be He, says "I will send the kings of Media to Babylon in order to punish them."
The Malbim explains, "for your sake I sent to Babylon," He says to them: "Behold you see, I have proof from the redemptions that occurred." The redemptions that occurred until now are the redemption from Babylon and the redemption from Egypt. They are proof of the future redemption. The redemption from Babylon was a redemption in the way of nature. We did not see signs and wonders, no hailstones descending from the heavens, no splitting of the Sea of Reeds. The redemption from Babylon was in a natural way. Cyrus gave permission to build the Temple, everything appeared natural. In contrast, the redemption from Egypt was a supernatural redemption. Everything that was there was supernatural. The ten plagues of Egypt above nature, the exodus from Egypt, no slave escaped from Egypt, the pillar of fire, the pillar of cloud, the splitting of the Sea of Reeds; everything that was at the exodus from Egypt was above nature. But He wants to proceed gradually, to begin with the natural and continue to the supernatural. For the way of eloquent expression is always to begin with the small and continue with the greater. And not only that, but if I already state the great matter from the outset, then what surprise have I left for the end? The way of eloquence is always to begin with the small and continue with the great. So He says: "Behold you see that already in the past your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I already redeemed you in the past. For your sake I sent to Babylon," He says, indeed this was, for your sake I sent to Babylon. What I brought down their berichim," according to the Malbim the meaning is berichim like fortresses that are closed with a bolt. "What I brought down Babylon, I brought down the bolts and the fortresses, I brought down the Chaldeans so they would be exiled in ships, all this was for your sake, so that I would redeem you from Babylon." He speaks here of the redemption from Babylon, "for your sake I sent Babylon, I sent Babylon, I brought down Babylon, I brought down Babylon for your sake so that I would redeem you from Babylon." In contrast, "I am Hashem your Holy One, the Creator of Israel your King." Why did I do this? Because I am Hashem your Holy One, this means because of your deeds, because of your merits. But even if you have no merits, Hashem says: "I am the Creator of Israel your King." A person who comes to redeem his slave, even if the slave is problematic, he redeems him. "What can be done, this is my slave." And if it is his son, whom he created, then what can be done? Even if the son is unworthy and improper, in any case, well, he redeems him. So Hashem says: "Either it is because I am Hashem your Holy One on account of your good deeds, or on account of being the Creator of Israel your King, I am your King and I created you, even if you are not entirely worthy."
"Thus says Hashem, who makes a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters." Not only that, but also from Egypt I redeemed you. As He says, bring proof from the redemption that passed. First, the redemption from Babylon. Now He turns to speak of the redemption from Egypt. From this you shall infer that there is also destined to be a redemption in the future. I redeemed you from Egypt above nature. How? "Who makes a way in the sea." I made for you a way in the midst of the sea. Where have we heard such a thing? That an entire people passed through, six hundred thousand men, five million people, through the sea. Who makes a way in the sea, He made a way in the midst of the sea. "And a path in the mighty waters." What is the difference between a way (derech) and a path (nativ)? The Malbim in many places explains: a way is the great road, a path is the place for individuals. If we wish to give an analogy, then I will say: between Bnei Brak and Netanya there is a way, we call it the coastal highway. But after you arrive, say, at the entrance to the city, there is a path that leads to the city itself. A path always means a route more for individuals. So "thus says Hashem, who makes a way in the sea and in the mighty waters," more than this He now tells you, even in a place where there were mighty waters I made a path. For how was the exodus from Egypt? How was the splitting of the Sea of Reeds? Was there one lane or twelve lanes? Twelve lanes. This is an even greater wonder. This is "a path in the mighty waters," for each tribe I made a path of its own. He says: "If so, why are you in doubt about the redemption? For if the Holy One, blessed be He, made such a wondrous redemption, He can certainly redeem you the future redemption." It is brought that the emperor once asked... the emperor asked the Jewish sage, I no longer remember who it was, he asked him, saying: "I do not understand. Here, say in France, you pray for the welfare of the state, and that your state should succeed in war and that everything should go wonderfully. But we have a war with Germany, and Jews also live in Germany, and in Germany too they pray for the success of the state and for its welfare. And so with any two countries at war with each other, here there are Jews who pray for success and there Jews pray for success. Tell me, what happens up above? What happens up above? Here the Jews pray, there the Jews pray, two states are at war. What, what do they do up there?" The rabbi said to him: "Do you know the wording of the prayer that we pray for the welfare of the state?" He said to him: "No." The rabbi said to him: "We say, who makes a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters." "What is the connection between that and the welfare of the state? What is the connection between the fact that He makes a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, and therefore there will be welfare for the state in which we live? What is the connection between them?" He said to him: "I will explain it to you." He said to him: "Behold, when we observe the sea, there are winds at sea. It is an astonishing thing, for the winds are in a certain direction, say for the sake of the matter. And if so, all the ships should only be able to sail specifically in the same direction as the wind. Yet with all this you see that there are ships coming from this direction, and ships coming from the opposite direction, and both reach their destination, while their directions are opposite. How is this? The Holy One, blessed be He, makes a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, so that this one succeeds and that one succeeds, even though seemingly the wind is one-directional. With all this the Holy One, blessed be He, sees to it that both sides succeed." He said to him: "Do not worry, leave it to the Master of the world. The Holy One, blessed be He, who is able to make a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters for each ship its path, can also give each kingdom its path and it will have some success in a certain respect. How exactly and in what manner? Leave it to the Creator of the world. The Holy One, blessed be He, knows the hidden things."
"Who brings out chariot and horse, army and might; together they lie down, they do not rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick." Not only did I bring Israel out of Egypt, but also there on that same occasion, who brings out chariot and horse, army and might together, who went out after them with chariot and horse behind them? Pharaoh, to pursue them. What happened to them in the end? "Together they lie down, they do not rise." For all of these, when they came out of the sea, they saw all their corpses dead. "They lie down, they do not rise." "They are extinguished, quenched like a wick." Just as with a wick you kindle it, in one moment it is finished, extinguished, in a single second, gone, nothing, void. So too the Holy One, blessed be He, did to the Egyptians. Who brings out chariot and horse, army and might together, in one moment it ended and they were completely destroyed.
The Radak explains this verse regarding an additional miracle. Until now we had the redemption from Babylon, the redemption from Egypt. The Radak says, He comes to remind them here of an additional redemption in which Hashem saved the people of Israel. And when was this? In the time of Chizkiyahu, when Sancheriv came to besiege Jerusalem. He says: "Behold you see, the One who did these miracles for you, when the king of Assyria came with chariot and horse, He brought him to the land of Israel, as it is written, Hashem will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. As it is written, Assyria, the rod of My anger. He brought them here to Jerusalem, and in one moment the angel of Hashem of Hosts, ready, killed them. In one moment, how was this? How was their death? It is written that the body remained, a burning of the soul while the body remained. This is what He says, 'who brings out chariot and horse, army and might together,' Hashem whistled to the bee from Assyria, whistled to the king of Assyria, 'come, come besiege here the land of Israel.' And then 'together they lie down, they do not rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick.' In the morning they all lay dead corpses. 'They lie down, they do not rise.' Like a wick, as the wick is burned as we explained, so too they were quenched in one moment." "Do not remember the former things, and do not contemplate the ancient things. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert." "Do not remember the former things, and do not contemplate the ancient things." The former things are the redemption from Egypt, where there were open miracles. The splitting of the Sea of Reeds, the ten plagues of Egypt, which was an unnatural thing. In any case, since it was long ago, you do not want to remember these miracles, because, as they say, it was already a long time ago, you have already managed to forget. And also the ancient things, the redemption that was at a time closer to your time, that is the redemption from Babylon, that too do not contemplate, you do not want to contemplate it. Why? Because that redemption appeared on its face to be a natural redemption. In the redemption from Babylon there was no splitting of the Sea of Reeds, no hailstones descending from the heavens, nothing supernatural. Everything there seemed natural. So in order to see the miracle within the redemption, what is needed? To contemplate. And you do not want to contemplate this either, to see the miracle and understand that there was here a supernatural redemption, you do not want to. He says to them: "And nevertheless now, the future redemption, behold I am doing a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert." The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: "The future redemption you will be compelled to know, to remember, and to contemplate. Behold I am doing a new thing, the future redemption will have two virtues. The first virtue, now it springs forth. The redemption from Egypt, what was its drawback? Long ago, it was long ago, you managed to forget. Do not remember the former things, it was many years ago. But this redemption, now it springs forth, it will be now in your time, you will certainly be compelled to remember it. An additional matter," He says to them: "do you not perceive it?" This redemption will not be a redemption like Babylon, which required contemplation. To contemplate means it is not clear, it is not tangible, one must contemplate and delve deeply in order to see the miracle. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: "No, here the redemption will be so perceptible to the senses, everyone will see, this is the finger of God. This is 'do you not perceive it.' Knowledge is a clear thing. In contrast, contemplation is something that requires delving deeply in order to see; I do not see it in a tangible way." He says to them: "Here the future redemption, do you not perceive it, this will be a redemption that everyone will be able to point to and say, this is God, we hoped for Him; it will be possible to see clearly the signs and wonders that Hashem will do." And then Hashem promises them: "I will even make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert." In the wilderness I will make a way, I will pave a way in the wilderness. And in the desert, a place that is desolate, arid, there will be rivers, as we saw this prophecy applies. And if so He says to them, this will be a clear, revealed redemption, known to all.