Below is the full literal transcript of the lesson, divided into natural paragraphs:
Sefer Yirmiyahu, chapter 4. "אם תשוב ישראל נאום השם אליי תשוב. ואם תסיר שיקוציך מפניי ולא תנוד" - "If you return, O Israel, says Hashem, return to Me. And if you remove your abominations from before Me, then you shall not wander." "If you return, O Israel," Rashi explains: if you return in repentance, "return to Me," meaning you will return to your glory, to the earlier greatness that you had. "And if you remove your abominations from before Me, then you shall not wander" means you will not need to wander and go out into exile. So here the Holy One, blessed be He, turns to the people of Israel and tells them: still, there is yet a possibility to repair, still a possibility to return.
The Radak says: "If you return, O Israel" means, confess the things we saw above and return to Me, and then I will accept you in repentance and you will not be exiled. And what is "return to Me"? "If you return, O Israel, return to Me." If you return, O Israel, what is "return to Me"? The Radak explains that this second "return" means rest, as it is written, "בשובה ונחת תיוושעון" - "in returning and rest you shall be saved." That is to say, if you return, O Israel, you will be at rest, that is the meaning of "return to Me." You will come to Me in returning and rest. Now you are tossed about, and the sword of exile hovers over your head, but if you return in repentance, then "return to Me," you will have it in returning and rest, and through this you will "remove your abominations from before Me and not wander," you will not need to wander and go out into exile.
Why is this called "remove your abominations from before Me"? The Malbim explains that the intention is the Holy Land, of which it says, "a land that Hashem your God cares for, the eyes of Hashem your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year." The strictness regarding a sin in the Land of Israel is always far more severe than in other lands. Therefore the Ramban writes that the reason Sodom was destroyed, even though it may be that other cities in the world committed greater sins, is that soiling the palace of a king is not comparable to soiling the king's back courtyard. The Land of Israel is the palace of the king. So to soil it here draws great wrath. This is what He says here, "if you remove your abominations from before Me": the abominations are in fact before Me, since you are doing this in the palace of the king, in the Land of Israel. Moreover, as appears in Sefer Yechezkel, where they brought the idol into the Sanctuary, and He gave Yechezkel a tour there, showing him all the terrible things and the forms engraved on the wall, engraved there in the wall, and all kinds of idolatry that they brought into the Sanctuary and further inside. So He says, "if you remove your abominations from before Me," meaning from the place where the presence of Hashem your God is directed, through this, says the Holy One, blessed be He, "and you shall not wander," through this your repentance will be accepted and through this you will not wander.
The Malbim explains that here this is really the response of the divine spirit against the claims mentioned above. We saw earlier that, according to the Malbim, the people of Israel actually made a claim: they say, we want to return, but the multitude of the mountains, the echo of the hills, leads us astray, so we no longer know, they call to us, this is one who pushes off, they call to us, we do not know who, from where this is Hashem, where this is idolatry, where to go, we do not know where to return. Hashem tells them: if you, Israel, return, then automatically "return to Me." That is to say, if you merely set your mind that you wish to return, I will straighten you out. I will already see to it that the returning will be to Me. In other words, when a person begins to repent, he receives divine assistance. He receives an illumination as to the correct path.
Therefore we explained in the past that we see a very interesting thing, a wonder: that people who draw near, who return in repentance, specifically return to the more extreme religious circles. Naturally, if someone had to return, well, he comes from complete secularism, be religious-lite. Be a bit like this and like that, a little television, a little internet, a little iPhone, a little of this, a little of that, and also go pray a bit, go, a kind of folklore, more of this sort of Judaism-lite. Why do you see that specifically the ones who return in repentance go toward greater extremity? They reach Meah Shearim, Breslov, the Chareidim, to... seemingly, naturally, they should have gone to the more casual approaches and paths in the service of Hashem. According to what the Malbim says here, it is wonderful. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: if you return, if you merely open within yourself a desire to return, I promise you, "return to Me." I will straighten your path so that you return all the way to Me. You will not stop in the middle. You will not arrive at all sorts of broken cisterns that try to combine the service of Hashem with their vanities, and then remain with neither this nor that. Such a person has neither this world nor the World to Come. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: if you truly, with sincerity, wish to return, I will see to it that you return all the way to Me. You will reach the precise address.
And the condition is only "if you remove your abominations from before Me." This means, disconnect completely from all the abominations. Now pay attention, "and you shall not wander," we explained means, I promise you that through this you will not go out into exile. But in contrast, the Malbim has a different explanation. The Malbim says, "and you shall not wander": we often know a person who returns in repentance, but what happens to him? He wobbles. Here he returned, and one time he goes there, and one time he comes here, and one time... he is constantly wobbling. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: no, you must take upon yourself a resolution, but a real one, "and you shall not wander." Return in repentance, but not as one who wobbles. He sits and returns to the former path and again returns and again goes back. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: remove your abominations from before Me, cast away, cast away all the abominations. I once told you: there is a person who takes out the television but puts it in the attic. Why? For any trouble that may come. Who knows, maybe he will pull it out in... there will be some situation where he needs it and... that is not called disconnecting. A person who says I stopped smoking and keeps a pack of cigarettes in the freezer for... who knows, an SOS, a very critical situation, that is not called disconnecting. Disconnecting is like when they told Rav Shach that cigarettes are harmful: on the spot he took out the pack, tore it up, threw it in the trash, and from that moment on he never smoked again. He never touched a cigarette again, from then on. From the moment the doctor told him, that was it. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: do you know how not to wander? How not to wobble in repentance? Remove your abominations from before Me. Throw away the abominations completely. But if you leave them still as some sort of possibility, so that it is not yet absolute, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: that is not called returning, that is not called repentance.
"ונשבעת חי השם באמת במשפט ובצדקה והתברכו בו גויים ובו יתהללו" - "And you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, and nations shall bless themselves through Him, and in Him they shall glory." "And you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives.'" According to how the Malbim explained earlier, then what is written here, "and you shall swear," is well understood. The Malbim says: we saw above that they claimed, "shame has consumed the labor of our fathers." What did we say? In effect we are slack, we are in despair, and we no longer have any prospects. We have no prospects, shame has consumed the labor of our fathers, that is, idolatry lay down in our shame, we feel like we are powerless. The prophet says: I advise you, swear "As Hashem lives." What does this mean? Strengthen your repentance with an oath. And here there is counsel. Here there is actually counsel. For it is written: open for Me an opening like the eye of a needle, and I will open for you an opening like the entrance of a hall through which wagons and carriages can enter. In fact, the way for a person's repentance to truly be accepted properly requires that there be an opening on his part. But how did they characterize the opening? The eye of a needle. The eye of a needle has two characteristics. One characteristic is that it is very fine. The second characteristic is that it is very strong. So it can be even the finest of holes, but strong. Stable like a needle, so that it will not be a straw, but a needle. That is what He says here. The prophet told them: do not wander. Do not wobble, return in repentance, return truly. Remove your abominations from before Me, distance yourself from all the abominations completely. Do not leave them like that on standby, but truly distance yourself. And if you feel that you still fear, "I have sworn and I will fulfill it, to keep Your righteous ordinances." This is what He says to them here, "and you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives,' in truth." You shall swear by Hashem that from now on you cleave to truth, to justice, to righteousness. Three things upon which the world stands. Swear on the matter, "As Hashem lives," in truth. And then, through this oath, you will truly cleave to Hashem and not wander. You will not have the situation of the wobbling, the ups and downs, but you will truly cleave to Hashem.
What is "truth," says the Malbim? This is the belief in matters of the intellect, in the theoretical matters. Knowledge of Hashem, the unity of Hashem, belief in reward and punishment, this is called "truth." That in all these matters a person reaches the truth. In contrast, there are "justice" and "righteousness." Justice and righteousness are the deeds between man and his fellow and between man and the Omnipresent. If "truth" speaks of faith, truth and faith, truth speaks of my believing in Hashem that there is none besides Him and that He is faithful to grant reward, this is called truth. Then there are righteousness and justice, which already speak of the practical manner. The practical manner pertains to man and his fellow and man and the Omnipresent. And when we speak of "righteousness," righteousness is between man and the Omnipresent. Righteousness is in the sense of justice, not what we understand as giving charity. Rather, in the sense of justice, to act justly between us and Hashem. In contrast, "justice" - the Malbim always explains that the intention is from the term "justice" that is between man and his fellow. That is, to be upright toward one's fellow, not to commit transgressions between man and his fellow, this is the definition of justice. And if there is a dispute between him and his fellow, he should establish the matters through judgment and clarify to whom the matter belongs, this is the meaning of justice. So Hashem tells them: you must strengthen yourselves in truth, in faith in Hashem without doubt. And the second thing is between man and his fellow and between man and the Omnipresent. And if you do these three things, which are Torah, service, and acts of kindness, then you will no longer say, "we lie down in our shame and our disgrace covers us," you will no longer be ashamed of yourself, you will have no disgrace from others, for we said idolatry is shame. It is the Baal, it is a shame for whoever sees you serving idols that you still believe in this vanity. Here, in this service, when you serve Hashem, then through this "nations shall bless themselves through Him and in Him they shall glory." "Nations shall bless themselves through Him" means, through this you will receive tremendous abundance, and then not only will you have no shame, you will even have blessing. "And they shall glory": the difference between blessing and glory is that blessing is still in private. There is no publicity in it. In contrast, to glory is a matter of publicity. "In this let the one who glories glory." "To glory" means in public. So you will have abundance, you will have blessing, this is for you personally. You will no longer have shame. And a second thing: we said that there is also the disgrace, and this is from others, you have disgrace from others, He says you will not have disgrace but on the contrary, they will even glory in you. That everyone will see that you walk in the way of Hashem and what abundance you have, what blessing rests upon you. And this is what happened in the time of Shlomo, that when the people of Israel walked in the way of Hashem, there was here immense economic abundance, the wisdom of Shlomo was renowned throughout the entire world, everyone came to learn how to run a kingdom, the Queen of Sheba and others came here to bring him tribute, he ruled and reigned over the whole world. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: if you return to Hashem, through this you will also have blessing and you will also glory in the eyes of the nations. Through this everyone will see that your way is the way of truth, the correct way.
Rashi explains that what is written, "and you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives,' in truth," means that they used to swear falsely. As it is written, "though they say, 'As Hashem lives,' surely they swear falsely." Yirmiyahu chapter 5, that is in the next chapter. They used to swear falsely. And the prophet, as it were, rebukes them about this: "and you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives,' in truth." When you swear, swear in truth, not as you now do, swearing falsely. And then through this "nations shall bless themselves through Him." What does "nations shall bless themselves through Him" mean? Rashi explains that it is like what was said regarding Avraham, "and you shall be a blessing," that everyone will say, may you be like Avraham, may you be like Yitzchak, like Efraim and like Menashe, "by you shall Israel bless." This is the meaning here, "nations shall bless themselves through Him." That everyone will say, may you be like so-and-so, Israel. May you be wise like Israel. May you be righteous like Israel. And then through this "and in Him they shall glory." "In Him they shall glory": everyone will speak your praise, everyone will glorify and exalt you. And another explanation he gives: what is "they shall glory"? The intention is that whoever can cleave to Israel, this will be for him a source of glory. It will be a source of renown and honor for him, that he merited to cleave to Israel. So "in Him they shall glory," one will say, I am connected to the people of Israel, and through this there will be glory in the matter. The Radak gives an additional explanation: it is possible that what is written, "and you shall swear," he says, is like "and by His name you shall swear." Chazal say "by His name you shall swear" is a mitzvah. About whom is it said, "by His name you shall swear"? About the one about whom it is said above what is written in the earlier verse. If you walk in His ways and serve Him and fear Him, then "by His name you shall swear." If you have all these virtues, that you cleave to Hashem, then when you swear by Hashem it is for renown, for honor and glory, "by His name you shall swear." But if you are not like that, then you are merely taking the name of Hashem in vain when you swear by His name, since Hashem is not important in your eyes, or you have no fear of Him. So it is like a person who says, I swear to you by my parents, then you understand that presumably his parents are important in his eyes and therefore he swears by them, not that this is proper, a person is forbidden to swear at all, all the more so not by his parents, that is a way of disgrace. But when he says such a thing, or swears to you by his children, as you hear commonly at the market stalls, "I swear to you by my children," then you understand that this is something important in his eyes. But if he says to you, "I swear to you by my mother-in-law"... you understand, oh no, right? So He says likewise: when you are not worthy and you say, "I swear, I swear by Hashem," that is a disgrace. It is a disgrace, for you have no fear of Hashem, so from what impurity do you mention Hashem? But if I truly serve Hashem, then it is like my saying to you, "I swear to you by my children," for I am swearing to you by someone I truly love. So of him it is said, "and by His name you shall swear." Therefore he says, notice that the prophets always used to swear by the name of Hashem, "As Hashem lives." One would always swear by the name of Hashem, as we saw with Eliyahu who used to swear, "As Hashem lives." And through this you truly demonstrate the importance of Hashem, but not every person is truly worthy to swear by the name of Hashem. He says, therefore, this is what he says here: when you return, "if you return, O Israel, says Hashem, return to Me," through this "you shall not wander," according to the Radak's explanation meaning you will not be exiled, and then you will reach the level of "and you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives,' in truth, in justice and in righteousness." Since then your oath will be in truth, for you will be righteous. For you will be truly exalted, and one who is righteous and exalted is indeed worthy and must swear by His blessed name. That all these traits will be in you, "you shall fear Hashem your God, Him you shall serve and to Him you shall cleave," then truly "by His name you shall swear." And then through this "nations shall bless themselves through Him and in Him they shall glory." Even the other nations shall bless themselves and glory in Him and not in the idols. He brings another explanation: that "nations shall bless themselves through Him" refers to the people of Israel. This is a somewhat novel explanation, "nations shall bless themselves through Him" means the nations shall bless themselves through the people of Israel, that is to say, the nations will say, fortunate are you that there is such a people, that there is such a wonderful nation, this is "nations shall bless themselves through Him."
"כי כה אמר השם לאיש יהודה ולירושלים נירו לכם ניר ואל תזרעו אל קוצים" - "For thus says Hashem to the men of Yehudah and to Yerushalayim: Break up for yourselves the fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns." Rashi says: "break up for yourselves the fallow ground," learn from the tillers of the soil, who plow it in the summer days. What is "nir"? The meaning is plowing. "Nir" means to do plowing, the furrow of the field, this is called "nir," the plowing. That they plow it in the summer days. Why must one plow in the summer days? You are not sowing now. In order to kill the roots of the weeds, so that it will not grow thorns at the time of sowing in the winter. When you come to sow in the winter, if you did not plow the fallow ground in the summer, then you will "sow among thorns." You are sowing in a place where thorns will grow along with it, and this will ruin everything. Therefore, in order to ensure that you do not "sow among thorns," "break up for yourselves the fallow ground" in the hot days, so that you will not "sow among thorns" in the rainy days. What does this parable really come to say? So too you, improve your deeds even before the evil comes. For then, when the evil comes and you pray, you will be sowing among thorns. You, with all your evil deeds, stand and pray, how will your prayer be accepted? But if you plowed the fallow ground, that is, you removed your abominations as He said earlier, you removed the thorns, then when I sow, what is the sowing? It is prayer, we will pray before Hashem, once I have already plowed and removed the evil deeds, the prayer is now worthy of being accepted. The prayer is from an upright person. In contrast, when you pray with all the sins, with all your evil deeds, what power does that prayer have to rise upward? For that prayer is despised. As the Rambam writes about the penitent, the Rambam says: yesterday this person was hated, abhorred, abominable, he would pray and his prayer would be flung back in his face. This is when he was wicked. And today he is beloved and dear and pleasing, both below and above, and he prays and his prayer is accepted. We see that when a righteous person prays, why do people go to a righteous person? Whoever has a sick person in his home should go to a sage. Why do people go to a sage? I once heard Rav Mutzafi say, today everyone is looking for some "baba." He says, it is not written anywhere that one should go to a "baba." It is also not written that one should go to a righteous person. Why? How do I know who is righteous? How do I know who is righteous? How many righteous ones thought they were righteous, and suddenly they found a barrel of vermin or a barrel of bribes or who knows what. So to whom should I go? Rather, go to a sage. If he is great in Torah, go to him. But if not, then how do you know what he is? How do you know what he is? Like the one who came and told about his rabbi, what tremendous things he does in secret. He tells, whatever I tell the rabbi, what a hidden tzaddik he is, what things he does. He tells this to another rabbi. So that rabbi said to him, if he is so hidden, how do you know all these things? Apparently he is the kind of "hidden" one who makes sure that people also know he is hidden. He is not just a tzaddik, he wants you to know, I am not just a tzaddik, there are many tzaddikim, but I want you to know I am both a tzaddik and hidden. Yes, so it is not written go to a tzaddik, it is written go to a sage. Why? Because a sage I know, this is one who learned Torah. He is immersed in Torah all his days, very wonderful. You look for yourself some "baba," there it does not work. So therefore he says here, "break up for yourselves the fallow ground and do not sow among thorns," go to a sage. That is, a person who is truly of stature, his prayer is accepted. But if you sow upon the thorns, you go and pray while upon the transgressions, then the prayer has little benefit. Therefore, immediately at the beginning of the prayer, what does a person request first? First, "grant us knowledge." After that, what does he request? "Bring us back, our Father, to Your Torah." Why "bring us back"? Why must this be at the beginning? A person wants to pray, right? If you want to pray, how do you want to pray without repentance? Without repentance, what will be accepted? What will be accepted? You are considered a wicked person, your prayer does not pass the ceiling. You truly want the prayer to be accepted, so ask for repentance, ask for pardon and forgiveness, now approach the prayer. Now say whatever you want. Now, in order to repent one needs knowledge. For without knowledge, how would a person repent? One lacking knowledge does not repent. He does not repent. So therefore, first, Master of the World, grant us knowledge. Once we have knowledge, then now, Master of the World, "bring us back, our Father, to Your Torah, forgive us, our Father, for we have sinned." From here onward, please Hashem, send us redemption, send healing, send livelihood, and likewise the rest, "gather the dispersed of His people Israel," from here come all the requests. But first, that we receive knowledge; when there is knowledge, one repents; when one repents, there is forgiveness, "forgive us, our Father, for we have sinned"; now from here onward the Holy One, blessed be He, accepts the prayer and bestows upon you good abundance.
The Malbim explains that against the claims we saw above, those claims grow from two evil traits. First, we saw that they are wavering, hopping between the two opinions. And we saw from what this stems? Because they say that they hear a voice calling to that "one who pushes off" from among the mountains, and they do not know from where this voice comes. What is its source? And since this is so, they are drawn to the service of Hashem and one time to idolatry, they waver and wander, not knowing which path to choose. What is the voice calling to them? We already explained in the past that idolatry was misleading. It would cause one to believe that there is power in it. He says, do you know from what this stems? Since you did not uproot from the heart the thorns, the thistles, the evil traits, all of which was there originally, instead of uprooting this, you bring the good things and the prayer and the praise and everything upon a field of thorns. Is it any wonder that it is not absorbed? Is it any wonder that you hear several voices and you do not know how to decide? If you distance yourself from the evil, you will see how very clear the way of truth is to you, how very clear which is the voice you must follow. You will not be hopping between the two opinions. The first thing he says is "break up for yourselves the fallow ground." One who plows deeply, through this he removes the thorns, and then it does not choke the grain. And then you do not hear several voices without knowing how to decide. "God made man upright." So if that is so, how is it that they "sought out many schemes"? As he says here, many deities, and he does not know how to decide. Because man distorted his uprightness. How does one distort uprightness, says Rav Dessler? This is the dulling of the heart. What is the dulling of the heart? These are the transgressions a person does. So one more transgression and another and another, until you see the person, his head is completely crooked. Instead of caring for the people of Israel, suddenly you see him caring for the Arabs. Can you understand such a thing? Can you understand from where he became so distorted? "And you shall be defiled by them," say Chazal, dulling of the heart. He eats abominable and creeping things, do you want him to have an upright heart? Do you want him to have logic? Is there such a thing? There is no such thing. So his heart is sealed and dulled, meaning there is a blockage in it. It is impossible, he cannot understand the correct path. Therefore the way to choose the correct path is the ABC, and this is what we say to every penitent. First, stop the transgressions. Leave it, listen, mitzvot, that is a lot, it is complicated, it is complex, I do not even know the halachot, it is so, well, approaches, paths. Leave it, set it aside. First of all, stop transgressions. First of all, stop transgressions. "Break up for yourselves the fallow ground," plow, remove the thorns, that is the first thing. After there are no thorns, you suddenly see how the upright path is clear to you, paved before you, no doubts, no hesitations. But the moment you want to sow upon the thorns, with all your corrupted ways, you think that if I go once to Rabbeinu in Netivot, then what, you will return from there a new man? How are you going there? With all your transgressions, do you have any intention to leave anything? No, so you see these people, every year they arrive there, and afterward they depart the same as last year. They arrive there with the same thorns and put on some yarmulke there, well, and what remains of it? Nothing. Why? That is how it is when you sow upon the thorns. Uproot the thorns, stop the transgressions. And then you will see what influences you will receive. But when you want to continue with the transgressions and think that the mitzvot or the spiritual illumination will bring you to cleaving to Hashem, that is fantasies, such a thing will never happen.
"הימולו להשם והסירו עורלות לבבכם איש יהודה ויושבי ירושלים. פן תצא כאש חמתי ובערה ואין מכבה מפני רוע מעלליכם" - "Circumcise yourselves to Hashem, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Yehudah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim, lest My fury go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds." "Circumcise yourselves to Hashem." What is "circumcise yourselves to Hashem"? It means the circumcision of the heart. To remove the foreskin of the heart. "Circumcise yourselves to Hashem" is like what we said earlier, "break up for yourselves the fallow ground," says Rashi. Plow before the sowing, so circumcise the foreskin, remove the corruption. And then through this you will truly be able to take upon yourselves good resolutions, you will be able to be elevated. This is the sealing of the heart. "Men of Yehudah" means the men of Yehudah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim, who are the ones who remained here in exile, therefore also above, "thus says Hashem to the men of Yehudah and to Yerushalayim," since Shomron had already been exiled at this stage. So with whom does He have to speak? He has to speak with the men of Yehudah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. "Lest My fury go forth like fire," says the Holy One, blessed be He, your deeds have already aroused and kindled a great fire, and now all that remains is for it to go forth. So woe, if you do not return in repentance, this fire that is ready, which already stems from the depth of your deeds, from the evil and terrible deeds you have done, will now go forth against you.
The Malbim explains, according to the line he began earlier, that there were two claims there. So against the second claim, in which they say to Him, we are already in despair, we are already in a state of "we lie down in our shame," we have thrown up our hands, we have no strength to act. The first claim was that they hear several voices, they do not know how to decide. To this He comes and says, uproot the thorns, and you will know how to decide. You will immediately see the truth. Against the second claim, that we have no strength, we are in despair, we are broken, to this He comes and tells them: do you know from what this comes? From where does this stem? It is from foolishness, from the cloud and the fog that covers the light of the soul. Until you already despair of looking toward the light, because all I see before my eyes all the time is only fog. It is only cloud. Impaired vision. He says this is the foreskin of the heart. This is the sealing of the heart. If you remove the foreskin of the heart, that which envelops and covers the heart, he says through this your heart will awaken toward the word of Hashem. Through this you will feel enthusiasm to do His blessed will. We already told once about the Rebbe who was traveling in a wagon, and there was terrible cold, and the wagon driver was a gentile, and he stopped at some inn, drank a shot of vodka, and warmed up, while the Rebbe and the chassid were freezing from the cold. So the chassid says to the Rebbe, look at this, this gentile drinks a shot of vodka and becomes warm, and we are freezing here from the cold. So the Rebbe said to him: this gentile is like a stove. A stove, you throw a log into it and it lights up. But we, our heart is like a pot. A pot, you can throw logs into it until tomorrow, it will not light up. A pot needs a fire from outside to warm it. So he says, the heart of a person, when it is warm, how wonderful. He says this is a source of purity. You serve Hashem out of enthusiasm, out of desire, out of will, this is a source of purity. But in contrast, if the heart is frozen, even idolatry can be in it. Even idolatry can enter it. Therefore he says, what must one do? Remove the foreskin of the heart. Through this the heart will awaken, thaw the heart, remove the freeze, take off the foreskin. And then through this you will not have despair and darkness, cloud and fog, you will feel the Master of the World, you will feel Godliness.
"הגידו ביהודה ובירושלים השמיעו ואמרו תקעו שופר בארץ קראו מלאו ואמרו האספו ונבואה אל ערי המבצר" - "Declare in Yehudah, and proclaim in Yerushalayim, and say: 'Blow the shofar in the land'; cry out, gather together, and say: 'Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities.'" The Malbim says: here he describes before them how the enemy will come to Zion suddenly. To such an extent that no one will prepare, you will not even have time to prepare for war. And behold he says, come and see, "declare in Yehudah," as soon as the declaration is in Yehudah, "declare" from the term "to tell," immediately "proclaim in Yerushalayim." Immediately in the royal city the report will spread all the way there. What does this mean? The Malbim says: normally, to where do the first reports about an enemy or any matter or any trouble arrive? They arrive at the royal city. The king is the first to be updated. There is a runner, for example, who was on the battlefield and he runs to the royal city, informs the king. The people around still know nothing at all. So first the royal city knows, afterward the rest of the cities. In contrast, here he says, it will be so sudden that first it will be "declare in Yehudah," and afterward, in the royal city of Yerushalayim, "proclaim." This will be only at the second stage, out of the sheer suddenness of this development for which you will not be prepared. And then he says, what will the announcement be? They will say, "Blow the shofar in the land." Their way of calling up an emergency draft was by blowing the shofar. "Blow the shofar in the land," in order to hasten everyone to the battlefield. But even as they call to one another, even as they announce the approaching war, and that the enemy is already here, "cry out, blow the shofar in the land, cry out, gather together and say: assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities." In the midst of it they will say, gather together and let us go into the fortified cities. That is to say, the enemy is too strong to fight against. And our only way to be saved from him is to hide and fortify ourselves in the fortified cities. This means, there will be a trouble so severe, first because of its speed, second because of the tremendous power with which the enemy will come, that from the outset we will not go to fight, but the only thing we will do, even as we go out to battle, immediately a second voice will go out saying, gentlemen, flee to the fortified cities, for there is no chance of fighting against this enemy.
The Radak explains: seemingly, what is "assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities"? For everyone is ultimately destined to be conquered, both those in the fortress and those in Yerushalayim. So one explanation is as the Malbim explained, that this is what they will think. They will say, assemble and let us go into the fortified cities, but in truth it will not help. For when Nevuchadnetzar arrived here it did not help. That is to say, according to our thinking the fortified cities will still save us. Or an additional explanation that he gives: assemble, come to the fortified cities so that you will have at least a small measure of rescue for the meantime. For until the enemy strikes you, at least you have gained a few more days of life. So this is "assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities," for this brief time during which, at any rate, you will be able to be saved for the meantime.
"שאו נס ציונה. העיזו אל תעמדו. כי רעה אנוכי מביא מצפון ושבר גדול" - "Raise a banner toward Zion. Take refuge, do not stand still, for I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction." "Raise a banner toward Zion." The Malbim explains that here the prophet is really telling them: do not go to the fortified cities. The fortified cities are weak against the mighty enemy who is about to come upon you. Therefore, "raise a banner toward Zion." The prophet tells them, "raise a banner," meaning like raise the flagpole, to where? Toward Zion. The only place that can protect you is only Zion. This is the place that is considered a fortress, a place that is elevated, and "Zion" means the Tower of Zion, which is a place that truly has protection, where perhaps you can truly receive some temporary protection from the enemy. Why? For "I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction." There is supposed to be a terrible evil and a great destruction. From where? From the north. The north is Bavel. Yes, the Holy One, blessed be He, "from the north the evil shall be opened": from the north He brought the king of Bavel to destroy the Land of Israel. And this is what is written, "take refuge, do not stand still." "Take refuge" means that a person gathers, goes and takes shelter in a place that has strength. A place that is a stronghold and a tower, a place that has protection, this is called "take refuge." He enters a place where he finds strength, a place where he finds a refuge. So "take refuge, do not stand still, for I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction."