Chapter 46 of Yeshayahu continues the major theme of the preceding chapters: the prophet's mockery of idolatry on the one hand, and the establishment of the absolute oneness of the Holy One, blessed be He, on the other. The chapter opens with the fall of Babylon's idols, transitions to Hashem's guidance of Israel from the womb unto old age, and concludes with the tidings of redemption: righteousness and salvation are not intended for cruel Babylon, but for Israel, His glory. Within this discussion, we will explore a profound question raised by Rabbi Yitzchak of Volozhin in his gloss to Nefesh HaChaim, and from there proceed through the verses alongside the commentaries of the Malbim.
כָּרַע בֵּל קֹרֵס נְבוֹ, הָיוּ עֲצַבֵּיהֶם לַחַיָּה וְלַבְּהֵמָה, נְשֻׂאֹתֵיכֶם עֲמוּסוֹת מַשָּׂא לַעֲיֵפָה׃ קָרְסוּ כָרְעוּ יַחְדָּו, לֹא יָכְלוּ מַלֵּט מַשָּׂא, וְנַפְשָׁם בַּשְּׁבִי הָלָכָה׃ - Bel bows down, Nevo stoops; their idols are borne by beasts and cattle; the burdens you carried are loaded heavily, a burden to weary animals. They stooped, they bowed down together; they could not rescue the burden, and they themselves have gone into captivity.
Concerning this verse, Chazal said: "All mockery is forbidden except mockery of idolatry, which is permitted, as it is written: 'Bel bows down, Nevo stoops... they could not rescue the burden.'" That is to say, the prophet is mocking idolatry, and the expression "they could not rescue the burden" means, as Rashi explains, that they are unable to discharge the waste from their bowels as normal creatures properly do. In plain terms: the idol suffers from constipation. This is the mockery that the Torah permitted.
וְעַד זִקְנָה אֲנִי הוּא, וְעַד שֵׂיבָה אֲנִי אֶסְבֹּל, אֲנִי עָשִׂיתִי וַאֲנִי אֶשָּׂא, וַאֲנִי אֶסְבֹּל וַאֲמַלֵּט׃ - Even to old age I am He, and even to gray hairs I will endure; I made you, and I will carry you; I will endure and I will deliver.
In his gloss to Nefesh HaChaim (Sha'ar 2, chapter 7), Rabbi Yitzchak of Volozhin writes: "And through this, the statement of Chazal is understood: 'All mockery is forbidden except mockery of idolatry...' And seemingly, according to this, the conclusion of this passage there is astonishing, where it finishes: 'And I will endure and I will deliver.' And many times I have stumbled over this." The difficulty is sharp: if "they could not rescue the burden" means that the idol is incapable of expelling the filth from within it, and in contrast the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "and I will endure and I will deliver" - this is an alarming expression! How could such an idea of carrying a "burden" possibly apply to the Master of the Universe? Most commentators followed a different path and explained that "I will deliver" (amalet) is in the sense of rescue, meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, will deliver Israel from their troubles. But if one follows Rashi's first approach, an explanation is sorely needed.
To this, Rabbi Yitzchak answers: "And according to these words of ours, it is clear to the discerning" - that everything we say regarding Him, blessed be He, is solely from the aspect of His connection to the worlds, which are all arranged together, as it were, in the likeness of the form of man, with all its limbs and aspects; and all the deeds of a Jewish person are food for the body, while improper deeds are transformed within them into dirt and filth, which are the forces of impurity.
In Nefesh HaChaim, the concept of "in the image of God He made man" is explained at length: man's form corresponds to the structure of the Sefirot, that "Supernal Adam" which we mention in Patach Eliyahu. The supernal intellects are the aspect of the head - Keter, Chochmah, and Binah; Chesed is the right arm, Gevurah the left arm, Tiferet is the torso, Yesod is the sign of the holy covenant, and Netzach and Hod are the two legs, Netzach on the right and Hod on the left. It turns out that the structure of the Sefirot in the upper worlds is in the likeness of man. And it goes without saying that it is strictly forbidden to imagine, depict, or conceive of any physical human form, for "you saw no likeness," and that would be a corporealization of the Divine, Heaven forbid. Rather, "God has made one corresponding to the other."
The Ben Ish Chai cites a special meditation (at the beginning of the first year of his halachic work) that a person who has free time, before prayer or at other hours, should consider himself a chariot for the Shechinah: he should close his eyes and contemplate how his head represents Keter, Chochmah on the right and Binah on the left, his right arm represents Chesed and his left arm Gevurah. When a person increases in acts of kindness, he, as it were, builds the right side of the upper worlds and increases within them divine flow, sustenance, and life; and when he does the opposite, he adds flaw and damage there. All of this is because "God has made one corresponding to the other."
Rabbi Yitzchak continues: "This is what Scripture means when it says that idol worship cannot restrain itself and endure, to deliver and properly discharge the burden of filth that defiles it; rather, 'they stoop, they bow down together' - meaning they have no intrinsic power to expel and cast out the filth from themselves." Idol worship is the force of tumah, the Sitra Achra (the Other Side), and it has no capacity to cleanse itself and purge the filth within it.
"Not so He whose Name is blessed, awesome in His deeds. For He holds judgment in His hand, and He does not rush to unleash, Heaven forbid, all the forces of strict judgment and the kelipot all at once - which are the filth and refuse generated in the worlds that parallel and correspond to the digestive organs in man - for they would destroy the entire world, Heaven forbid. Rather, He bears and endures them, as it were, and delivers them from the worlds properly, little by little, executing judgment in the world through suffering little by little over time, in accordance with the verse, 'You alone have I known... therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities.'"
And this is wondrous. The mitzvos are food and sustenance for the Sefiros that the Holy One, blessed be He, created in the worlds, while transgressions are spoiled food. And what happens to a person who eats spoiled food? An upset stomach. So too, as it were, when the Sefiros receive spoiled food, filth and pollution are created there, and that filth must be eliminated from those damaged worlds. Once again, it is important to emphasize what was stated earlier: everything we speak of regarding Him, blessed be He, is in terms of His connection to the worlds, and not about His Essence at all. Concerning His Essence, blessed be He - no one has permission to speak; He is Ein Sof (the Infinite), no thought can grasp Him at all, He experiences neither benefit nor harm, and He does not even have a name. We do not speak of Him at all; we are speaking of the Sefiros He created in the worlds.
How is that filth expelled? Not all at once, but little by little. For if the Holy One, blessed be He, were to release all the forces of tumah at once, those destructive agents would enter the world and destroy the entire world in a single instant. Therefore, He discharges them gradually, through the suffering experienced by the Jewish people. For when a person commits a sin, he creates a destructive spirit (a mashchit), and that mashchit seeks to exact retribution from him. If the Holy One, blessed be He, were to unleash it immediately, the person would be destroyed all at once. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? Instead of hurling cinder blocks, He throws gravel. He releases it little by little, so that the person experiences suffering he can endure, and slowly these destructive forces are consumed and disappear - provided he does not continue creating new ones.
This is what the Holy One, blessed be He, means when He says, "and I will bear, and I will deliver." "I will bear" - just as we say in the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, "He bears iniquity and transgression" (and as taught in Tomer Devorah): the Holy One, blessed be He, bears the destructive agent created by man until he does teshuvah, for if He were to release it immediately, the person would have no chance to repent, as the destroyer would exact punishment instantly. Afterward, slowly, He collects the debt through suffering, and through this, that destroyer is eradicated and vanishes. Thus, with the Holy One, blessed be He, there is the virtue of "I will bear and I will deliver": I bear and endure, and at the end of the process, I also deliver and discharge the forces of tumah little by little from the higher Sefiros, until they are completely eliminated and the worlds are thoroughly cleansed.
This is the inner meaning of the verse, "You alone have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities" (Amos 3:2), which seems contradictory: because He singled us out, is that why He punishes us? Rather, this dynamic does not apply to a non-Jew, for he has no such connection in the higher realms, and therefore Gehinom awaits him for his sins. But regarding a Jew, Hashem's desire is that he arrive purified in the higher worlds; he has eternity. Therefore, "therefore I will visit upon you": here in this world, the Holy One, blessed be He, discharges little by little the forces of the Sitra Achra and tumah that clung to the higher worlds, and in doing so, He saves the Jewish people from those forces gaining dominion over them. In his words: "Until, in the course of time, the foul filth - which are the forces of tumah - is emptied from the worlds completely, until the person has finished receiving his punishment... for once the punishment is completed, they perish on their own, and then the worlds return to their strength, their health, and their original rectification; understand this." This is "I will bear and I will deliver" - unlike idolatry, which is incapable of delivering anything out of itself.
לְמִי תְדַמְיוּנִי וְתַשְׁווּ, וְתַמְשִׁלוּנִי וְנִדְמֶה׃ - To whom will you liken Me and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we should be similar?
To what power and to what idol do you imagine likening the Master of the World? For nothing can be compared to the Holy One, blessed be He, and certainly not idols made of silver and gold, as the prophet will mention immediately in the following verse.
The Malbim analyzes the three expressions: "liken Me" (tedamyuni), "make Me equal" (tashvu), and "compare Me" (tamshiluni), all of which relate to resemblance and comparison. There are three levels here. The highest level: total identity - this is "equality" (hashva'ah), complete parity. Below that: "likeness" or "resemblance" (dimyon) - they are not equal, but there is some aspect of resemblance between them. And below that: "parable" or "analogy" (mashal) - where the parable is entirely distinct from the subject, dealing not with the same matter at all but with something else to illustrate a concept, such as fox fables used to teach about the service of Hashem. Accordingly, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: Can you find any quality whatsoever in which there is resemblance between Me and idolatry? And even if you could find some resemblance, could you make an equality? And not only that, but "and compare Me, that we should be similar" - can I even be compared by way of a mashal to anything from which any similarity could be derived? In truth, neither a mashal, nor resemblance, nor equality is applicable at all between idol worship and Hashem, blessed be He. When we spoke of resemblance earlier, it was regarding the image of God in man relative to the Sefiros; but between idol worship and the Holy One, blessed be He, there is no resemblance, no parable, and nothing whatsoever.
הַזָּלִים זָהָב מִכִּיס וְכֶסֶף בַּקָּנֶה יִשְׁקֹלוּ, יִשְׂכְּרוּ צוֹרֵף וְיַעֲשֵׂהוּ אֵל, יִסְגְּדוּ אַף יִשְׁתַּחֲווּ׃ - Those who pour gold from the bag and weigh silver on the scale; they hire a goldsmith and he makes it a god; they prostrate themselves, they even bow down.
What is the meaning of hazalim (those who pour / lavish)? Rashi explains in one interpretation that it is related to yizal mayim midalyav, "water drips from his buckets" - like the modern Hebrew expression of pouring out lavish sums of gold from one's pocket. Radak interprets it from the word zol (cheap, worthless): a person who pours money freely from his pocket treats money as cheap and worthless in his eyes. When it comes to making an idol, gold is truly cheap to him, and he squanders it without a second thought.
The Malbim explains that the clauses of the verse are parallel: of the four clauses in the verse, the first corresponds to the third, and the second to the fourth. "Those who pour gold from the bag" corresponds to "they hire a goldsmith"; "and weigh silver on the scale" corresponds to "and he makes it a god." That is to say: for the expenses of the craftsman's fee, they pay with gold dinars, minted coins used for payment and kept in a purse - "Those who pour gold from the bag... they hire a goldsmith." And the body of the idol itself is made of silver, so "and weigh silver on the scale" (the beam of the balance scale) corresponds to "and he makes it a god" - from the weighed silver they fashion the god.
What is the difference between yisgedu ("they prostrate themselves") and yishtachavu ("they bow down")? The Malbim already explained previously: prostration (segidah) is not necessarily accepting the idol as a deity, but rather treating it as a conduit for talismanic influence. They had various talismans through which they believed they channeled celestial influx from the stars above, according to pagan belief. Lavan worshipped the terafim, yet he did not necessarily say to them, "You are my god" - rather, they were forces through which people received influx from the celestial princes and constellations. Thus, segidah is more of a ritual practice aimed at drawing down bountiful influence. By contrast, hishtachavayah (bowing down) is always an act of submission to a deity: "You are my god, and as my god I bow down to you." Regarding this, the verse says: "They prostrate themselves" - as a means of obtaining influence, and not only that, but "they even bow down" - they further bow down to it as a god! Yet the man himself hired a goldsmith, gave him silver, and from that silver the goldsmith made him a god - and after all that, he prostrates himself before it and bows down to it! An object you witnessed being fashioned by the hands of a smith cannot possibly be the Supreme God Who shaped and created you; how could you possibly regard it as divine?
יִשָּׂאֻהוּ עַל כָּתֵף יִסְבְּלֻהוּ וְיַנִּיחֻהוּ תַחְתָּיו וְיַעֲמֹד, מִמְּקוֹמוֹ לֹא יָמִישׁ, אַף יִצְעַק אֵלָיו וְלֹא יַעֲנֶה, מִצָּרָתוֹ לֹא יוֹשִׁיעֶנּוּ׃ - They carry it on their shoulder, they bear it, and set it down in its place and it stands; from its spot it does not move. Even if one cries out to it, it does not answer; it does not save him from his distress.
The prophet continues to expose the futility of those idolaters, in descending order. "They carry it on their shoulder, they bear it" - God is supposed to carry you, but instead you carry your god on your shoulders. And if you might claim that it at least possesses some inherent power of its own - "and set it down in its place and it stands": a deity possesses strength, but what kind of power is this, that it cannot even move? They place it down, and that is it; there it stands. And if you might claim that while it cannot walk, it can at least shift locally, to the right or left, forward or backward - "from its spot it does not move": it does not have even the slightest motion, not a trace of sensation or movement. And if you might claim: true, it neither walks nor moves, but it produces results; I make requests and it grants them - "even if one cries out to it, it does not answer": no matter how much you cry out to it, it gives no reply. And if you might claim: it does not speak, but behind the scenes it manages affairs - "it does not save him from his distress": look at reality; you begged it to deliver you from trouble and nothing happened. You can see with your own eyes that it does nothing and achieves nothing.
זִכְרוּ זֹאת וְהִתְאֹשָׁשׁוּ, הָשִׁיבוּ פוֹשְׁעִים עַל לֵב׃ - Remember this and strengthen yourselves; bring it back to heart, you transgressors.
What is the meaning of ve-hit'osheshu? Radak cites several explanations. First, from the root ish (man): act like men, as in the phrase spoken by the Philistines, "Strengthen yourselves and be men." A "man" represents strength, whereas "woman" represents weakness, as in the expression, "My strength was weakened like a female." Second, from the root of ashishei kir, related to ushyot - foundations: the foundations of a building, the foundations of society. That is, be solid like foundations, for foundations are firm and strong. This is also indicated by Targum Yonatan, who translates it as ve-itkifu - "strengthen yourselves." Radak cites a third explanation in the name of his father, that it is related to esh (fire): may a fire consume you when you recall the corrupt deeds you committed and the flawed things you ruined. Like a person who is eaten up inside by remorse and anguish - this is the fire of grief and repentance. Through this, "bring it back to heart, you transgressors," and return in teshuvah.
The Malbim follows the approach that it derives from anashim (men): "Remember this" - all that I have told you in condemnation of the idols and images; "and strengthen yourselves (ve-hit'osheshu)" - be real men! For earlier in the chapter it said, "Their idols have become beasts and cattle" - your idolatry is of beasts and animals. The prophet says to them: Be men and do not be beasts; do not go worship beasts! You are a human being, so what business do you have worshipping animals? And you transgressors, take it to heart - for if you reflect even slightly, you will immediately recognize the folly: that man, the crown of creation, goes and worships a beast that is lowlier and lesser than he! "Ve-hit'osheshu" - act like a true man.
זִכְרוּ רִאשֹׁנוֹת מֵעוֹלָם, כִּי אָנֹכִי אֵל וְאֵין עוֹד אֱלֹהִים וְאֶפֶס כָּמוֹנִי׃ - Remember the first things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.
Remember the miracles and mighty deeds that I performed from the beginning of time, and from this it will become clear to you that "I am God and there is no other God" - contrary to those who say that there are other powers in creation, givers and receivers. "And there is none like Me" - contrary to those who claim there are two deities, a god of good and a god of evil. There is none like Me; there is no other power beside Me, and everything else is nothingness compared to Him.
מַגִּיד מֵרֵאשִׁית אַחֲרִית וּמִקֶּדֶם אֲשֶׁר לֹא נַעֲשׂוּ, אֹמֵר עֲצָתִי תָקוּם וְכָל חֶפְצִי אֶעֱשֶׂה׃ - Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that have not yet been done, saying: My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My desire.
Rashi explains: The Egyptian exile and the redemption from Egypt - I already made this known at the Covenant Between the Parts (Beris Bein HaBetarim), long before it occurred. The Malbim explains that this is not redundant phrasing, but rather reflects two modes of Hashem's actions. There are things that the Holy One, blessed be He, brings about according to the laws of nature, operating within nature itself, and of this it says, "Declaring the end from the beginning" - at the start of a matter He reveals what its end will be, in accordance with the laws He set and established in creation. And there is another realm, in which the Holy One, blessed be He, acts beyond nature, entirely independent of preceding causes, but rather He spoke and it came to be - and of this it says, "and from ancient times things that have not yet been done" - He announces far in advance matters that have no basis in nature and have never been done at all, having neither natural beginning nor cause.
And this latter greatness is vastly greater. If an enemy encamps with his army beside a country and one predicts that they will fight and conquer it, there is no need to be a great prophet, for the developments can be seen naturally. But to announce in advance something that cannot be seen at all, which has no preceding causes and effects and no visible beginning - that is an incomparably greater knowledge. As a practical example: had the Holy One, blessed be He, said during the height of the Babylonian Empire that Babylon would rule forever, that would have been a prophecy operating within the natural order, since Babylon was visibly an empire. But when He says: Babylon, which you now see as a colossal power, will be destroyed and never rebuilt, and the Babylonian Empire will be erased; while the Jewish people, whom you now see as utter nonentities, will be the ones to rise, rule, and endure forever - this runs completely contrary to nature, and even its premise is opposite to the observable reality. This is "and from ancient times things that have not yet been done."
The Malbim adds that here, too, the clauses correspond precisely: corresponding to "Declaring the end from the beginning," it says, "My counsel shall stand" - the very plans I devised in the guidance of the world and the laws I established, through them I act and they endure. And corresponding to "and from ancient times things that have not yet been done," it says, "and I will do all My desire" - since it is My will, I accomplish it, even though the matter has no precedent in nature and no preceding circumstances indicating it would happen. It is the will of Hashem, and therefore it comes to pass.
קֹרֵא מִמִּזְרָח עַיִט, מֵאֶרֶץ מֶרְחָק אִישׁ עֲצָתִי, אַף דִּבַּרְתִּי אַף אֲבִיאֶנָּה, יָצַרְתִּי אַף אֶעֱשֶׂנָּה׃ - Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My counsel from a far country; I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
Rashi explains that "east" refers to Aram, and ayit is an Aramaic term for counsel, as in "he replied with counsel and reason" (eitzah u-t'em). The meaning is: I called Avraham from his place in Aram to consult with My counsel, which is the decree of the Covenant Between the Parts - "and they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them" four hundred years. Not only that, but "I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass," for the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him all four exiles and everything that was destined to occur. Incidentally, ayit also connects to "the birds of prey [ayit] descended upon the carcasses" at the Covenant Between the Parts.
The Radak explains that this refers to Cyrus (Koresh), as is evident from the context, since the preceding verses spoke of Cyrus, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, designated to redeem Israel - though ultimately he only granted permission to ascend and did not execute the full redemption himself. "Calling a bird of prey from the east" - calling Cyrus to come from his land, which lies east of Babylon, arriving swiftly like a bird of prey that swoops down rapidly. "The man of My counsel" - who fulfilled what I planned against Babylon, waging war against it. And "also" (af) - not only that, but I also summoned him to release Israel from their exile. The Radak also brings a third interpretation: that these words refer to Melech HaMashiach, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, calls and terms a "bird of prey," for he will swoop swiftly and come to redeem Israel.
The Malbim notes that an ayit (bird of prey) is a predatory, non-kosher bird, and this is why Cyrus is called by this name - because he was called to prey upon Babylon. He had two callings: one to subdue Babylon, and the second to liberate Israel and grant them permission to ascend [to their Land]. Regarding the latter, it says, "the man of My counsel" - that he would fulfill My counsel to save Israel and rebuild the Temple. Therefore, corresponding to the command to devour Babylon, He said "from the east," which is east of Babylon; and corresponding to the command to deliver Israel, He said "from a distant land," for in relation to Israel he was indeed far away. In this calling we see the two modes mentioned above: that which operates according to the laws of nature - "I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass," meaning this is not a new thing, but rather I spoke of what is destined to occur naturally and I shall bring it about; and that which is supernatural - "I have formed it, I will also do it," a brand-new creation, which is the miracle of Israel's redemption.
שִׁמְעוּ אֵלַי אַבִּירֵי לֵב הָרְחוֹקִים מִצְּדָקָה׃ - Listen to Me, you stout-hearted, who are far from righteousness.
According to the Malbim, these words are addressed to the Babylonians: You are cruel, stout-hearted, and you are far from the righteousness (the charitable deliverance) that the Holy One, blessed be He, will perform - for that righteousness will not rest upon you, but upon others, upon the people of Israel, as will be explained in the next verse. Radak also follows this approach, explaining that these are the people of Babylon, stout-hearted and cruel toward Israel, and "far from righteousness" means they are far from acting charitably toward the Jewish people.
Rashi, however, offers a fascinating interpretation that points in the exact opposite direction: these expressions are directed at the people of Israel. "Stout-hearted" (abbirei lev) - an abbir is someone strong, meaning strong of heart, for you strengthened your hearts and cleaved to Me. This is praise for Israel: stoutness of heart to cleave to the Holy One, blessed be He, even during difficult times, rather than cruelty. "Far from righteousness" means that your days in exile have grown long, and I have not yet shown you the righteousness that I promised in redeeming you; you are worthy of being redeemed, yet I have not yet redeemed you as I promised.
קֵרַבְתִּי צִדְקָתִי לֹא תִרְחָק וּתְשׁוּעָתִי לֹא תְאַחֵר, וְנָתַתִּי בְצִיּוֹן תְּשׁוּעָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל תִּפְאַרְתִּי׃ - I have brought near My righteousness, it shall not be far off, and My salvation shall not delay; and I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory.
According to Rashi, the continuation is also addressed to Israel: Until now you were far from righteousness, but from now on, "I have brought near My righteousness, it shall not be far off" - I am redeeming you. According to the Malbim, however, where the previous words were spoken negatively toward the Babylonians, here comes the continuation: the righteousness I perform will not apply to you, but to Israel. "I have brought near My righteousness" - I will atone for their sins and remember their merits, and by virtue of this, "My salvation shall not delay"; for since there is righteousness, and Hashem judges Israel with righteousness and remembers their merits, salvation naturally follows. And even though salvation has a fixed time - when the seventy years of Babylon are complete - nevertheless, it will unfold in a manner of righteousness and lovingkindness. "And I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory" - for I take pride in their good deeds; not for you, Babylonians, the stout-hearted who are far from righteousness, but rather the righteousness will come specifically upon the people of Israel.
The chapter opens with mockery of the Babylonian idols, which have no power to extract and purge the defilement from within themselves, and contrasts them with the Holy One, blessed be He, Who carries, bears, and rescues - a dynamic explained to us in Nefesh HaChaim as Hashem's governance of the worlds: He does not unleash the forces of strict justice all at once, but rather gradually, through afflictions that a person can endure, until the worlds are completely purified. From there, the prophet proceeds to demonstrate that there is no comparison, no likeness, and not even a parable between Hashem and idolatry, detailing in descending order the utter futility of the idol that must be carried on the shoulder, unable to move, unable to answer, and unable to save. "Remember this and strengthen yourselves" - be men and not beasts; "Remember the former things" - for I am God, and there is none else. The Holy One, blessed be He, declares in advance both the course of natural events ("My counsel shall stand") and that which is supernatural and has no prior natural cause ("and I will accomplish all My desire"), summoning Cyrus from the east to prey upon Babylon and dispatch Israel. Finally, the stout-hearted of Babylon are far from righteousness, yet "I have brought near My righteousness, it shall not be far off" - salvation is placed in Zion, for Israel His glory. May Hashem redeem us with an eternal redemption speedily, Amen and Amen.