"For My people are foolish, they know Me not; they are silly children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." "For My people are foolish" - the Radak explains that if they were wise, they would recognize the good path, and then they would know Me. That is, they would know that everything happening to them comes from Me. Then they would understand that the only address to remove the trouble from upon them is to turn to Me. I am the One who does good and who brings evil. But since My people are foolish, they know Me not. All the troubles come upon them, and they do not know, as it were, that this stems from Me. "They are silly children." Why does He call them children? Because "you are children to Hashem your God." And these children, what can be done, they are children, but silly. They have no understanding. "They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." All their understanding and wisdom they exploit for evil. For wisdom and understanding are meant to be used for the service of Hashem, for the way of Hashem. But they are wise, yet to do evil, and to do good they have no knowledge. As is mentioned elsewhere, "behold, they rejected the word of Hashem, so what wisdom do they have?" As Yeshayahu the prophet says, "and in the children of foreigners they take pleasure." That is, they would go and learn the wisdoms of the nations, wisdoms for cunning and all sorts of schemes in order to do evil, and not wisdoms through which one recognizes the way of Hashem.
The Malbim in Sefer Mishlei elaborates at length on the definition of the fool (evil), the silly one (sachal), the understanding one (navon), and the wise one (chacham). There the Malbim repeats this many times. We will explain according to the principles brought there. The Malbim says: "For My people are foolish." My people are foolish, they lack the knowledge to grasp the judgment of Hashem with clear knowledge. What is the definition of an evil (fool)? The Malbim explains on many occasions that evil is from the word ulai (perhaps). The evil is the skeptical, doubting type. The one who is never certain. Yes, quite true, it is possible, but listen, there are also other opinions, there are also other approaches, and nothing is clear, and there is no proof, and there is no... he casts everything into vagueness, under doubt, and through this, well, it is not clear that Hashem said so, it is not clear that this is the Torah, and it is not clear... everything to him is unclear. This is the definition of the evil. By arousing doubts about each and every matter, so, as it were, he wishes through this to escape the obligation, the keeping of the Torah, the keeping of the mitzvot, everything is in the realm of perhaps. This is the opposite of daat (knowledge). What is the definition of daat? Daat is clear knowledge. Absolute knowledge. An axiom. Two plus two equals four, that is in the realm of daat. Daat is something that needs no proof, it is absolute, it is completely clear. And therefore He says, "For My people are foolish," as we said this is the skeptic, and consequently "they know Me not." For daat is clear knowledge, and since they have no clear knowledge, then what are they? Evil (fools). The evil is the doubter. This is the one who is constantly uncertain, and therefore they know Me not.
And they also lack binah (understanding). What is binah? The Malbim in several places explains that binah is the intellectual portion acquired through the power of contemplation. Binah is from the word hitbonenut (contemplation). Through contemplation and delving deeply, one understands one thing from another. This always comes from the power of contemplation. He says, they are silly children, they have no understanding. That is, if one were clever, he would learn one thing from another. But since he is silly, then they are silly children, what does this mean? That they have no understanding. This comes right afterward. That is to say, they do not have the power of binah, which is to learn one thing from another.
And they know Me not, from this you understand that they know Me not. Since they lack binah, for through binah they grasp Hashem. What does it mean that through binah one grasps Hashem? One must know that there is a possibility to grasp Hashem also through the power of inquiry. As brought in the Chovot HaLevavot, Shaar HaYichud, through philosophical inquiry one can grasp Hashem. So since they have no understanding, then consequently they know Me not. They do not know Hashem, for if you had binah, you would learn one thing from another, and through inquiry, how did Avraham Avinu grasp his Creator? Through inquiry. For he would contemplate the sun, the moon, the clouds, all the heavenly bodies. Which of them governs us? Until he reached the conclusion that there must be a Governor of the palace who rules over all. So since they do not have the binah to learn one thing from another, through this they do not arrive at the correct conclusions. But what is the original path to arrive at Hashem? It is through kabbalah (tradition). By kabbalah we do not mean mystics, but rather kabbalah means the tradition passed from generation to generation. What we receive from Moshe Rabbeinu. This is called through kabbalah. And this is called chochmah (wisdom). What we grasp through the tradition, this is called chochmah. For there are many matters for which there is no proof. The Malbim elaborates on this in Sefer Mishlei, that there are many matters for which no proof can be brought, and therefore here one needs kabbalah. Kabbalah means what we received from generation to generation, what we received from Moshe Rabbeinu, what we received from the prophets. This is said mainly regarding the realm of ethics. What is proper, what is not proper, what is moral, what is immoral, what is right, what is not right. This is a realm where many will argue. This is a realm where there is much room to come and claim, this action is right, and another will say no, this action is not right. I once gave an example of a question in the realm of ethics. If a young girl became pregnant, out of wedlock, sixteen years old. So there is a person who will say, well, what do you want, that she should give birth to it? And afterward, first of all, that a girl at such an age should experience the ordeal of birth, and all the pain and suffering she will have, and moreover to know that she has some child cast off in some orphanage, whom she never raised and does not know and who does not know his mother, and to make this child miserable too, in what manner will he grow up, surely he is one who will reach the realms of crime and so on and so forth. Morally, one must abort it. And another person will come and say, well, so someone who does not suit you, or who might turn out a criminal, so let us murder him already now. That is essentially what you are proposing. So you are proposing to murder him because of what? Because his future is not paved with roses? Well then, there are many neighborhoods where there are children whose future is clearly very bad, so perhaps let us murder them? Is murder a solution? There is a moral dilemma here. We know the ruling, because we have the Torah. But people who do not, then in the clearest way they will tell you to perform an abortion. And all for reasons of ethics. That is to say, we spoke, then, we notice that in certain matters, in particular in matters of good and evil, here one needs kabbalah. Kabbalah means what we received from Moshe Rabbeinu, from the prophets, which is wisdom that is completely clear that we received it thus from Heaven.
So He says, behold, look, their wisdom, this is an aspect of chochmah. This wisdom, "they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." Chochmah is in the governing of the soul, to know good and evil, as we spoke about ethics. So they, their wisdom, as it were, they always direct toward evil. Their conclusions are always to do evil. "But to do good they have no knowledge." They do not arrive through wisdom, since the wisdom is not received from a supreme spiritual source, it is not received from the prophets and from Moshe Rabbeinu, so consequently its results are always for evil. "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light." "I beheld the earth," the prophet now describes the destruction, as it were, all of creation that came into being in the six days of Creation, how it was all destroyed. And in the coming verses, the Malbim says, you will notice how he describes the creation according to what appears in Chumash Bereishit as the process of creation, and now he describes this creation in a process of destruction. So "I beheld the earth," and behold I see that the earth is without form and void, "and the heavens, and they had no light." That is, creation began in the first two days, it is written on the first day "and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the earth," and everything was without form and void, everything was covered in water. And behold I see that the situation returns to its former state. "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void," everything as at the beginning. Afterward, "and God said, let there be light." And now I look and I see the heavens, "and the heavens, and they had no light." So both the state of without form and void returned, and also "and there was light" returned, for in fact there is no light. And after that, on the second day, on the third day, the dry land began to form, through the waters separating, and then through this and by the power of this the mountains came into being, hills came into being over the waters, as it is written "the mountains rose, the valleys sank, to the place which You founded for them." All this was done afterward on the third day, when the earth began to form. And here he says, "I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly." Here he moves already to speak of the third day, for on the third day the mountains were already created, and behold instead of having mountains, I see the mountains, lo, they tremble, as it were the waters return and cover the earth and sweep away the mountains, and now everything becomes an aspect of destruction. And now he describes all that will happen from the third day onward, inanimate, plant, animal, speaking creature, all of this was created from here onward, he tells you come and see how all that was created is now in destruction, which he sees with the eye of his spirit, which is the destruction of Yerushalayim, as it were he describes everything being destroyed. All that was built in the six days of Creation, how as it were everything is destroyed.
From their great lightness, as it were, they all vanished. The mountains, what holds them up? The hills, what holds them up? Their weight. But here "they moved lightly," the meaning is from the word kal (light), suddenly it vanishes, it is swept away, there are no hills, there are no mountains. The Malbim says, so although here we began from the first day until the third day, from here onward we begin from the sixth day and descend. And why? Because from here onward he moves to speak according to their order of importance in purpose. And what is more the purpose for which the world was created? It is man. Therefore now he will speak of the sixth day. "I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled." On the sixth day man was created, and behold there is no man. Man is the speaking species, and behold I see that the speaking species vanished, the speaking species is finished. "And all the birds of the heavens had fled," all the birds of the heavens, he moves to speak of the animal. We descend a level and speak of the animal. And the animal found on dry land, the species found on dry land and farthest from man is the bird of the heavens. The bird of the heavens was created on the fifth day.
Afterward he explains the annihilation of the plant species. "I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of Hashem, and by His fierce anger." "I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place (haKarmel)," the Karmel is what is known to us as Mount Karmel, I see it that it returned to being like a wilderness. Where are the plants? Where are the vegetables? Where are the grasses? And from here he descends yet another level to the inanimate. Now he speaks of the inanimate, which is the work of man. We speak not of inanimate stone that was created thus in the six days of Creation, but rather of the inanimate that we made, these are cities, these are towers, this is inanimate matter that we built. He says, and behold I see that all its cities were broken down at the presence of Hashem. All its cities is also an aspect of the inanimate, they too were broken down. And if you wish to know all this destruction,
that everything became without form and void, and He annihilated everything, inanimate, plant, animal, speaking creature, He annihilated everything, He tells you, why all this? "At the presence of Hashem, and by His fierce anger." All this did not happen according to nature, it was by the providence of Hashem. And why? By His fierce anger. "For thus said Hashem, the whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end." Thus said Hashem, the whole land shall be a desolation, Hashem says the land will be desolate, but with all this a full end of the people of Israel I will not make. The Holy One, blessed be He, spent His wrath upon the wood and stones and not upon the people of Israel. So although, as we saw, there is a description that everything is nullified, He says but know, all that happens there, it all speaks only of the land. Without form and void, the mountains tremble, the hills moved lightly, there is no man, all the birds of the heavens fled, the Karmel, its cities broken down.
With all this the Holy One, blessed be He, says, and a full end of the people of Israel I will not make. The people of Israel will still remain in existence. The Holy One, blessed be He, will leave a remnant, and these are those, as the Radak says, those refugees who will go into exile. And this is the promise, says the Radak, "and yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly." The Holy One, blessed be He, says, with all this a full end I will not make. Utter destruction, absolute annihilation, such a thing Hashem says will by no means be, but rather the reality will be that only the land will suffer, but the people will still remain in existence and go into exile. Rashi explains that all that is written here comes to allude to the forefathers. "Behold, I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled," the Sages say these mountains are the forefathers. "And all the hills moved lightly," these are the matriarchs. And what is he speaking of here? That the merit of the forefathers has ended. As it were, we lean on mountains, "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains," these are the holy forefathers, we lean on their merit. But I see that behold they are not trembling, we do not have this merit of the forefathers of the mountains. The merit of the matriarchs is the hills, they too moved lightly, they too, their merit has as it were already ended. What is "there was no man"? "I beheld, and, lo, there was no man," also the merit of Moshe, of whom it is said "more humble than any man," this is Moshe Rabbeinu, so also Moshe Rabbeinu's merit no longer operates. "And, lo, the fruitful place (Karmel) was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of Hashem," who performed signs and wonders on the Karmel? Eliyahu. So also the merit of Eliyahu, behold the Karmel too was broken down at the presence of Hashem, his merit too was as it were broken down, and his merit too we do not have to repair and to save the land. Let us mention one more thing that the Radak says here, that the Radak explains that its cities were broken down (nutzu) at the presence of Hashem, he says its meaning is breaking and demolition. But by contrast, in the Targum it is implied that he explains "nutzu" from the word for burning. How is nutzu a term of burning? So he explains that this is like reversible verbs. Nutzu like nitzatu. Yes? The meaning is like when you say to root, it is either to plant in the ground or to uproot roots, so too nutzu and nitzatu, that the meaning of the words is either from the term of breaking or from the term - here it is indeed not reversible verbs but it is from the term of kindling, let us define more precisely, a better example, it is like keves and kesev, salmah and simlah. So you see that the same word can appear in two forms. So too here, to kindle (lehatzit) and to break down (lehatetz), according to its context the meaning of both in our case is burning.
"For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and have not repented, neither will I turn back from it." "For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black," "for this shall mourn" means the earth will be destroyed. "Because I have spoken it, I have purposed it," the meaning is what I spoke to the prophets when I purposed it, "I have purposed it" means I thought it, just as I thought so I spoke, so it shall be upon the land, and the land will mourn and the heavens be black, this is in fact an expression of the magnitude of the trouble that will be, until the heavens grow black, meaning the heavens will darken, their face will be dark from the magnitude of the trouble. The Malbim has here a most wonderful explanation, a whole line of reasoning, listen and hear. What is the meaning of "I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and have not repented, neither will I turn back from it"? What in fact is said here? The Malbim says, there is a difference between a promise for good that the Holy One, blessed be He, promises, and a promise for evil, between the destiny of good and the destiny of evil. The Malbim says, the good that the Holy One, blessed be He, destines for us, Hashem desires it for its own sake, for truly Hashem desires to do good. So when the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to do good, He desires the good for its own sake, for Hashem is the perfection of goodness and therefore He wishes to do good. By contrast, when Hashem wishes to do evil, He does not desire it for its own sake, for truly Hashem would wish to do us only good. But what the Holy One, blessed be He, does evil is in order to attain through it in the end good. What? That they should repent, that they should change their ways. And therefore, if so, it turns out, the Malbim says, that when the Holy One, blessed be He, informs us of good that should be, then His mouth and His thought are equal. For Hashem truly wishes to do good, and Hashem also tells you I will do good to you, I will do good to you. His mouth and His thought are equal, for this is His true will. But when Hashem says I will bring evil, then His mouth and His thought are not equal. For His mouth says I will bring evil, but His thought, would that I did not need to bring evil, would that I could bring only good to this people. In His thought the Holy One, blessed be He, hopes and yearns not to bring the evil, for in fact the goal of the evil is not a purpose in itself, but rather it is a means to arrive at the destiny of good. And what is the good? That we repent. So when Hashem says there will be evil, in His innermost being, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, says I do not want them to have evil, I want only that they repent without the need to bring the evil.
Therefore the Malbim says, notice a very interesting change, further on in chapter 18 it is written: "At one instant I may speak concerning a nation, to pluck up and to break down; and if that nation turn, etc., then I repent of the evil that I thought to do unto it. And at one instant I may speak concerning a nation, to build and to plant it; but if it do evil in My sight, then I repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit it." Did you notice the change? "When I speak to pluck up and to break down," which is that I wish to do evil, "and if that nation turn," and by contrast this evil no longer befits them, "then I repent of the evil that I thought to do unto it." That is to say, it is not written "which I spoke," but "which I thought." And "when I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant, but it does evil in My sight, then I repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit it." The Malbim says, did you notice? Regarding evil He used the term thought, regarding good He used the term speech. And the reason is, for regarding good, regarding a good matter, the Holy One, blessed be He, repents only of what He said, not of what He thought. And therefore when the Holy One, blessed be He, says I repent of the good, of what do I repent? I repent of the good which I said. I repent of what I said, but not of what I thought, for regarding good I always think to do good. Only I said to do good, and I can no longer do it, I repent of the good which I said. By contrast, when it concerns evil, in His thought the Holy One, blessed be He, truly wishes to bring us good. The Holy One, blessed be He, surely does not wish to bring evil. So then, when it concerns "I repent of the evil," it is "I repent of the evil which I thought." That is, even of what I thought I repent, for truly from time immemorial I think only for good, and the thought is always good, only the speech can at times be evil and at times good. But the thought, that is to say the inner cause, is always solely for good.
According to this the Malbim says, every thought that Hashem thinks to bring evil, regret applies to it, being consoled applies to it, for the Holy One, blessed be He, thinks immediately to regret the evil if they improve their deeds. So although I now wish to bring evil, but it is, so to speak, an evil that always has the option to be reversed. It always has the option to change. Since there is no absolute intent to bring evil, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not aspire to bring evil. Since the evil, the Malbim says, that Hashem thinks about, is an evil whose purpose is good. So consequently the will to bring evil is always temporary. It is never an absolute will. By contrast, to bring good is an absolute statement, since the Holy One, blessed be He, always aspires to bring good. For the Holy One, blessed be He, always wants only to do good. And if so, the Malbim says, the evil that the Holy One, blessed be He, thinks is a conditional evil. It is never absolute. It is an evil that depends, if you do, if you change your ways, there will be no evil. It is always a conditional evil. If the evil were decisive, it would be impossible to change it. Absolute and completed and decreed, that is not subject to change. Why can we indeed change the evil? Since the evil is conditional. Change your ways, the evil will change, it will become good. Notice, the Malbim says, here we see something different. He comes and says to us, now I have destined evil. And what is the evil? The destruction of the land. Here this decree differs from all the other evils that I always destine. For we always said that the evils that the Holy One, blessed be He, destines are always conditional, they are not absolute. Change your ways, the evil will change, for truly My thought is always for good. The Malbim says, here notice, the Holy One, blessed be He, decrees this decree in an absolute manner, without the possibility of being consoled, without the possibility of turning back from the very decree, even if they improve their deeds. There is here an absolute determination. "The earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it," meaning I thought in My thought, "and have not repented, neither will I turn back from it." This is completely different from all the evil that the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke of until now, which is always conditional and to which being consoled always applies and turning back always applies. Here the Holy One, blessed be He, says I have not repented, I will not turn back from it, this thing will be an absolute matter, even if they change their ways, even if they improve their deeds, the Holy One, blessed be He, says when I speak this thing, I have not repented, there is here no speech that has an option of change. No, this is a speech that has no option of change, that I have not repented, to which being consoled does not apply.
And what indeed is the explanation? The Malbim says, this will be understood according to what the Sages say, that the destruction of the land caused the Holy One, blessed be He, not to spend His wrath upon the people, but rather He spent His wrath upon the wood and the stones. "The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end." Since the land will be a desolation, this is what protects the people of Israel from being utterly destroyed. If so, the Malbim says, then it comes out most wonderfully. For we said that regarding a good matter the Holy One, blessed be He, does not repent. A good matter the Holy One, blessed be He, always wants its existence. Only regarding an evil matter, from the outset this matter is subject to change. From the outset the thought is not absolute, but rather if you change your ways, I will change it for good. The Malbim says, this is true when the matter is evil in itself. Then there is truly room to change it through changing the deeds. But here the whole matter is that the Holy One, blessed be He, spends His wrath upon the wood and the stones, this is the essence of the good. Since through this there will be protection for the people of Israel, since through this the people of Israel will not be utterly destroyed. If so, the Malbim says, here the purpose, the essence of the matter, is not evil, it is good. And therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, says, in this there is no room to be consoled. For if so it turns out, that although it appears as a harsh decree, as a decree of destruction, yet there is none better than it. Since this decree, its meaning is that the people of Israel will not be utterly destroyed. And if so, if I were to be consoled, then woe and alas. For if I were to be consoled, what would that mean? I was consoled of the decree of the annihilation of the land, and then what would happen? The people of Israel would be destroyed, God forbid. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, no, this is something I will not be consoled about. So it turns out then, that although it appears to you as a harsh decree, on the contrary, its purpose is a good purpose, and this is the survival of the people of Israel. And therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, says, this matter I spoke and thought without being consoled, and I will not turn back from it at all. To this matter there is no longer a possibility of change.
"At the noise of the horsemen and bowmen the whole city flees; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks; every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells therein." Perhaps I will punctuate the verse a bit differently. "They go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks; every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells therein." "At the noise of the horsemen and bowmen." Horsemen are the cavalry that comes, the enemy's horsemen, to conquer. "Bowmen (romei keshet)" are those who shoot the bow, throwers of the bow. "The horse and its rider He hurled (ramah) into the sea," the meaning is from the word for casting. "The whole city flees, they go into the thickets." The whole city flees, they go into the thickets. "Avim (thickets)" means in the forests, for the forests are dense. This is one explanation. There is an additional explanation of "they go into the thickets," the Radak says, that the meaning is, as it were, they went to hide in the clouds. This is an exaggerated expression, as it were, anywhere at all, even, even in a cloud. And these people, by the power of what? Why did they seek a place to conceal themselves? He tells you, since they hear that a great host came up upon the whole city. "Every horseman and bowman," so the Radak says, although the singular form is written here, it is like it is written "and I have oxen and donkeys." No one thinks it means one ox and one donkey. Yes? So too here, "and the frog came up," no one thinks it means one frog, unless we accept the midrash of Rabbi Akiva. But in any case, we understand that sometimes it is expressed in the singular about something that is plural. So too here "every horseman," the meaning is horsemen. "Bowmen" means bowmen, meaning those who cast with the bow. And from all that they will hear and there will be terrible fear, the prophet says, the whole city flees. All the people of the city flee. And here the meaning is that they flee to a place where they can hide. "They go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks; every city." What are "kepim"? Kepim means rocks. "Kifaya," the meaning, the Targum translated rocks. They flee and search for some place where they can hide there, whether it be in a grove, whether it be in the rocks, in order to hide from the enemies who will come upon the city. The Malbim explains that here he in fact describes a terrible situation, that after all the cities around Yerushalayim were already destroyed, and Yerushalayim and its daughter-towns fled from the enemies, there were still those who went to hide in the fortress of Zion. Which is a place surrounded by a wall within Yerushalayim. And they were confident, as it were, that here the enemy could not do anything to us. And therefore he describes Zion amid the rest of the destroyed places, that when they heard the noise of a horseman and bowman, they all fled. But as it were there was only one, and this we will presently see, the Malbim here gives an introduction to what we will see in the coming verses. There was only one, the Malbim says, only one harlot, confident of her beauty, remained in the city. Thinking that the enemy who comes will covet her beauty and have compassion on her. That is to say, since she is pretty and beautiful, she relied on the enemy coveting her beauty and sparing her because of her beauty. So this is it, he says, "at the noise of every horseman and bowman." So the Radak explained that the meaning is plural but it used the singular form. But the Malbim does not explain thus. The Malbim says, that "every horseman" is truly singular. He says, know that it is only the noise of a horseman, and even one bowman, and even that they did not see him, but only heard his noise, this is already enough for her to flee from the city. That is to say, this already causes her such terrible fear that she will not remain, she will not wait for the whole army to come. That is to say, this shows how dire the situation was, that even the noise of one horseman and the noise of one bowman caused flight, and not that they fled across the field, but rather they went into the thickets, seeking the forests to enter within to places covered by trees. And from there they climbed up upon the rocks, which are the high cliffs. And lest you think this was temporary, he tells you, every city is forsaken. "Forsaken" means completely abandoned, and there is no man, not a man dwells therein. That is to say, no one remained to dwell, it is not that they went for a short time and are preparing to return.
"And you, that are spoiled, what do you do, that you clothe yourself with scarlet, that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain do you make yourself fair; the lovers despise you, they seek your life." "And you, that are spoiled, what do you do," as it were the Malbim explains that here he says to her, and you that are spoiled, after the spoilers arrive who have already spoiled all that you have, what remains to you? Only a scarlet garment, some jewelry, ornaments of gold. What will you do that you clothe yourself with scarlet and deck yourself with gold? For this too the enemies will take. And what "that you enlarge your eyes with paint," what is "that you enlarge your eyes with paint"? They would open the eye and put color there. This is called "you enlarge your eyes with paint." The paint (puch) is the type of color that is put in the eyes. And then he says, this is called "you tear open with paint," the commentators explain, for in order to put this in the eye one must open the eye, as it were tearing it open. He opens the eye to its full extent. This is called "you enlarge your eyes with paint." You tear open your eyes to put paint in them. And you think that by this you will find favor in their eyes? I tell you about this, "in vain do you make yourself fair." The lovers, those who are the paramours in whose eyes you try to find favor, they despise you. And the reason is that they do not seek your beauty, but rather they seek your life. They want to kill you. That is to say, what you think, that you will succeed in being saved through this, you have no chance of being saved through charm, but rather they will come with one goal and one intent, and this is solely to kill.
The Radak dwells on a grammatical point, he says "and you that are spoiled (shadud)." "At shadud," either "you (masculine) are spoiled," or "you (feminine) are spoiled." What is "at shadud"? The Radak says, there are those who wished to explain "and you, like a spoiled one." This is the kaf of comparison, as it were. You are like a spoiled one, and then indeed one can say it in the masculine form, for you are similar to a spoiled one. But the Radak says truly one does not need this. Since we know that the Assembly of Israel is sometimes referred to in the masculine and sometimes referred to in the feminine. And each of them is correct. I can speak of the Assembly of Israel, who are the beloved, for example, in Shir HaShirim, and then I will speak of them in the feminine. And I can speak in the masculine, for I speak of the people of Israel, and then I will speak of them in the masculine. So one can say "and you that are spoiled," since we speak of a people whose expression is both masculine and feminine. And regarding this the prophet says to them, and you, what will you do? When the spoiling and the ruin come, by what will you be saved? By what do you think you will have protection? The Radak describes and says, their reality then was that they reached such a state of complete despair. That is to say, they found no chance of protection and rescue. For in their reality they should have donned sackcloth, they should have returned to God in complete repentance. But see that they did not do anything of this. They did not anticipate any salvation. They did not believe in any rescue. Regarding this he says, do not clothe yourself with scarlet, do not deck yourself with gold. The prophet describes the situation that was here, and says that the people here, as it were, all the words of the prophets truly did not speak to them. As it were no, it is what is called dreams of Spain. It is not something that is about to be. For the prophet testifies about them, Yeshayahu, we learned this in "Whoever Wishes Shall Hear" on the disc on Yeshayahu, "and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep." They would say we have made a covenant with death.
They did not anticipate any salvation, did not believe in any rescue. Regarding this he says, do not clothe yourself with scarlet, do not deck yourself with gold. The prophet describes the situation that was here, and says that the people here, as it were, all the words of the prophets truly did not speak to them. As it were no, it is what is called dreams of Spain. It is not something that is about to be. For the prophet testifies about them, Yeshayahu, we learned this in "Whoever Wishes Shall Hear" on the disc on Yeshayahu, "and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep." They would say we have made a covenant with death. "With the netherworld we have made an agreement; when the overflowing scourge passes through, it shall not come unto us." Do not worry, everything will be fine. "Those who drink from the wine bowls." They were confident in themselves. They were tranquil, they were complacent. But behold you see that there is death, there is danger. No, do not worry, we have made a covenant with death. We have a contract with it. Here it does not enter. Do you understand what an illusion they had? With the netherworld we have made an agreement. They have a contract with Gehinnom. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it shall not come unto us. It will not harm us at all. We have already spoken here at times, that a person for some reason always feels that everything around him is temporary. He, he is permanent here. How, how did one prime minister once tell us? How did he say to his people? I came to stay. At a certain stage when the people decided it no longer suited them, but no, do not be confused, I came to stay. I do not intend to go anywhere, and do not hasten to rejoice. I came to stay. He did not stay long, but in any case, let us know that a person always has this illusion.
The Zohar says, a person goes about in this world and thinks that it is his and that he will remain in it for generations upon generations. A person goes about in the world, he has the illusion that the world belongs to him, and that he will remain here for generations upon generations. Everyone is transient, but he is eternal. He will remain here. And this is astonishing, for you can see even, may Hashem save us, may Hashem send a complete recovery to all the sick of His people Israel, you can see even terminally ill patients. He does not digest that he is about to go. He does not digest it, and it always comes to him as a surprise. It always comes to him as a surprise. He does not digest it, even though the doctors tell him, listen, your condition is thus and your condition is thus. This is astonishing, since ostensibly we would say, listen, a healthy person, fine, so he feels that he will be here for 70, for 100 more years, so it does not seem to him at all that he is about to go. But a person who is already informed, listen sir, you are terminally ill, we are talking about a person of sound mind. You see a person not arranging anything at all. Not arranging anything at all. I am telling you of people where a person does not write a will, a person does not, he does, he really wants to, what does it mean he wants? As if when? Next year? The doctors are talking to him about months, so what is he talking about? Suddenly a person after two months, systems collapse, it is over, finished. The person has gone, may Hashem save us, may Hashem send a complete recovery to all the sick of His people Israel. But this is only so that we understand how ingrained in a person is the feeling, I am staying, I am not going, I am not going. And if he truly had only something of the feeling I am about to go, all his spiritual life would surely change. And suddenly you would see how he makes use of every moment. But you see the person who is a few months before the end, and what does he tell you? There are still many documents I need to arrange. There are still many matters, Master of the World, this is as it were a moment before a meeting up above, is this what troubles you? All sorts of documents, I left, who is interested afterward in your paperwork? Who is interested afterward in what you leave behind? Why do you worry? As if, how will people manage with what you left behind? Is this your worry?
You have a meeting up there that, may Hashem save us, how many prayers are needed that we pass through it in peace. And the person, it is astonishing to you, this is no simple privilege. For a person does not know his time, and this person does know his time. That is to say, he can indeed prepare. And with all this you see the person, he has matters, he needs to go to the bank, he needs to go here. How? What, what? The world goes on according to its custom, you, you do not understand toward what you are going? A person has a terrible power of repression, that the person, I am staying here. But the doctors told you? Yes, the doctors are sometimes mistaken too. He will not say this to you, but in his head he is staying here. He says behold look, this was the reality then. The prophet says joy and gladness, slaying oxen, at least you should have a little sadness. The prophet informs here of harsh matters. He speaks of disasters that are about to be. Joy and gladness, there are steaks, slaying oxen, killing sheep. We have made a covenant with death, do not worry, everything will be fine. And then he says, he also compares, the Radak says, he compares her to a harlot, that so the Assembly of Israel, as it were, tried to resemble in her deeds the idol worshipers, in order to find favor in their eyes. And then through this the gentile perhaps will not pursue us. Do you see? This is not, not just, Herzl was not the first genius. This was already long before him. For Herzl said, we suffer from persecutions of the gentiles, because we are distant from them, we are different, we are, we will go to the Church of St. John on Sunday to the sound of the ringing bells, we will convert from the mass religion of the people of Israel, we will all be baptized to the sound of violin and organ, and we will solve the antisemitic problem. If there are no Jews, there are no antisemites, right? Very logical. Do the math, truly it is genius, how, how did we not think of this before? For all the hatred of Jews, if there are no Jews, there is no hatred. Truly quite simple genius. And there was only one small problem, you know, once the mice suffered greatly from the cat. They suffered greatly for years. Until some genius mouse arose and said, he has an ideal solution. What? We will buy a bell, we will tie it to the cat's neck, every time the cat approaches, we will hear. Every time it approaches we will hear, and thus we will never have surprises. For the cat comes quietly from behind, whack, delivers a blow and the story is over. This way we will know. The idea was ideal, only no volunteer was found to tie the bell on the cat's neck, but beyond that, it was simply a genius idea. Herzl's idea was genius, only he did not find the people who were prepared to hand over their neck for slaughter, come take slaughter us, from tomorrow we are Christians. They will slaughter the Jewish people by pleasant ways, by pleasant ways, God forbid, not actual slaughter, we are prepared from tomorrow to be Christians, the false religion we accept upon ourselves with love. He did not find this people, thank God. But beyond that, the idea is truly an ideal idea, the final solution even Hitler did not think of it.
So that in fact we see that already then the Assembly of Israel was resembling in the deeds of the nations, the Radak says, to serve their gods, to wear their garments, to enlarge herself and boast before them with fine clothes and fine chariots, so that they would love her and say behold she is like us. And they would love her. Behold, we are like the gentiles, you see that we are not different from you, so perhaps you will love me. The prophet says to them, what have the lovers done to you? They seek your life. You think that by this they will love you? From the word for lusts, for "agavim" is a matter of seduction of harlotry. He says to them, on the contrary, the opposite of what you thought will come in your eyes. The Radak says, you removed your trust from Hashem, you trusted in the nations, so you will see "where are their gods, the rock in whom they trusted? Let them rise up and help you, let them be a protection over you." Such a thing that you take refuge in outside of Hashem, blessed be He, the Holy One, blessed be He, casts it into your hand. This in whom you trust, go to it, ask it to help you, let it be a protection over you.
"For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her that brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that gasps for breath, that spreads her hands: Woe is me now, for my soul faints before the slayers." "For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail (kacholah)," "kacholah" is from the word for trembling and shuddering. "I have heard anguish as of her that brings forth her first child (mavkirah)," "mavkirah" is a woman who gives birth for the first time. As is known, her first birth is always the woman's most difficult birth. For it is the first time her womb is opened, and this is a great and immense difficulty. So it is not merely a voice as of a woman in travail, but rather such anguish as of one who brings forth her first child, like a woman giving birth to a firstborn, for then her cries are harsh, then her cries are great. And then she gasps for breath, "gasps for breath" means she moans and murmurs and laments over the slain. "Gasps for breath (titaypach)" the Radak explains that this is from the word "vayafach lakeitz" (and it shall speak toward the end). Or there are additional verses where this expression appears. Rashi brings an example, "vayafach chamas" (he breathes out violence). What is "yafach chamas"? He speaks violence, he utters violence. And this is from the word like blowing with his mouth. So speech is from the word for blowing, for when a person speaks he blows with his mouth. So too here "titaypach" is also from the word for speech. We express this today in the language of weeping, so apparently it expresses a speech of lamentation. And what is the lamentation? The lamentation is over the slain. "Woe is me now, for my soul faints before the slayers." My soul faints from suffering, from the great sorrow of the slain who have now arrived here and are now already near me. So I no longer have strength to bear the fear and this great anguish.
The Malbim explains that the analogy is that the daughter of Zion now remained after all the cities fled. And then, as we said, he compared her to a harlot who is confident that her beauty will stand for her against the enemy. So too the daughter of Zion thought that the enemy would have compassion on the glory of Zion, on its splendor, on its beauty, that he would not destroy it. The Malbim says, and they erred in this. Since in truth the enemy came and breached the wall of the city, and did not have compassion on the splendor and beauty of Yerushalayim. And this is like the breaching of the city wall, he compares her to like a woman giving birth, for a woman giving birth, her belly is breached and the child comes out. So too he compared this matter of the breaching of the city, that here too the city was breached and the child came out, the meaning is the daughter of Zion went out from Yerushalayim, those who still remained in it, now they too go out into exile.
So we heard a voice as of a woman in travail, this was a time of anguish like a woman bringing forth her first child, for since until now she was in the category of one in hard labor, that is to say the child was still within her innards, meaning the enemy had not yet succeeded in breaching the wall. And behold now she brings forth her first child, that is to say until now the woman, the one in hard labor, blood comes out from her and amniotic fluid comes out from her, so until now although she shed her blood, but still what is called the child was still inside. The daughter of Zion had not yet gone into exile. But now we heard the voice of the daughter of Zion that gasps for breath, for my soul faints before the slayers. So Nevuzaradan the chief of the guards came in order to slaughter a great slaughter among the people dwelling in Zion. That is to say, all that she thought could stand for her, which is the beauty of the city, behold now the city is breached like one bringing forth her first child and giving birth, and then through this the people went out into exile.