"Every man is dull without knowledge, every goldsmith is put to shame by the idol, for his molten image is a lie, and there is no breath in them." "Every man is dull without knowledge," from the expression "a brutish man does not know, and a fool does not understand this." "Every man is dull without knowledge" means every man is as though dull from knowledge, unable to comprehend His wisdom, His understanding, the works of Hashem. "Every goldsmith is put to shame by the idol." Every goldsmith will be ashamed to fashion an idol and call it a god, when your god has no power in it at all. Is there among all the vanities of the nations one that brings down rain? Which nation is able, with its gods, to bring down rain? So through this, "every goldsmith is put to shame by the idol." The goldsmith who sat and refined the idol for long hours and days will be ashamed, for it will become clear to him "that his molten image is a lie, and there is no breath in them." The Radak asks, what is meant by "his molten image is a lie"? "Nisko" is from the language of "masecha" (mask), as Rashi says. And the Radak too says it is from the language of "masecha." But what is a mask in essence? It is a covering. A covering over the face. So "nisko" is from the language of covering. The goldsmith, as we already saw above, they would take a large idol, for example of wood, since it is very expensive to make an idol entirely of gold, so they would make it, for example, of wood and cover it with gold. They would coat it in gold. And then it would create the impression, first of all, that it was gold, one thing. Second, it would arouse a certain amazement, a certain excitement in people who saw such a large idol made entirely of gold. And then what would become clear to him? "That his molten image is a lie." "Nisko" is the covering, as we said. It will become clear to him that for a lie he coated his idol in gold. There is no breath in it at all. You did not do it for any need, you did not do it for any benefit, there is no breath in it at all. So "his molten image is a lie": the covering and the mask you placed around it, this is for a lie. The Malbim explains "every man is dull without knowledge." The Malbim says, all the researchers of nature are dull from knowing how Hashem arranged these laws so that they would be constant and set in a measured order, whereby the rain always falls in its time according to the need of the land, in measure and in weight. What the Malbim says here is very interesting, because to this day this has not changed. That is, to this day the researchers have no measure by which they can determine how much rain will fall, what kind of rain, in what quantities, when. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And their forecast, the annual forecast, is disappointing year after year. And this does not stop them from once again issuing an annual forecast, what is the forecast for rain this year, even though they have no... even though they have no basis for determining such things. And every time they are surprised anew. One year they predicted it would be a dry year, whoever remembers, it was the year of the Gulf War, which came after two years of drought. And rains fell, there were pools, one could not drive on the roads anywhere in the land. In the year of the Gulf War. And they had predicted that this year there should be no rains, because after two dry years and global warming and in short, apparently there would be no rains, the year was going to be arid. And such rains fell that all the researchers were left speechless. They gave no explanation. In short, you understand that there are things they cannot know. The Malbim says, "every man is dull without knowledge." All the researchers of nature are dull from knowing how Hashem arranged these laws so that the rain falls in its time according to the need of the land, in measure and in weight, and they cannot determine when it falls and how it falls and how much falls. These are things that are solely under His providence. So there are many other things you can still predict, you can still estimate. Regarding rains, they have no understanding of it at all. The Malbim says, when they would contemplate the workings of nature, the researchers would try to give every matter a natural explanation. Especially for things that are fixed operations recurring upon themselves. Such as, for example, sunrise and sunset. Such as the month and the year. Such as a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse. All these are things that are cyclical, and then one can know, look, once every so many years this happens, and then we also know where the sun stands, where the moon is. How is this phenomenon actually formed? The researchers always tried to bring all the forces of the world under the framework of nature. Yes, this is clear. What, that is, the moment there is such a pressure here and such a pressure there, then it is clear that the direction of the earth will be thus, and then this automatically creates such an influence, and then there is barometric pressure creating... and in short, all sorts of fancy and lofty terms, and he explains it all to you, bring a paper and I will explain to you how it is done, there is no miracle here, there is nothing here. They reach rain, they get stuck. They get stuck. After all, nothing changed. What changed? The sea is the same sea, the sun is the same sun, only a bit of global warming. The sun is the same sun, the wind the same wind. So why do you sometimes see that there are rains and sometimes see that there are no rains? What change in nature occurred? If you took now a pencil and paper and began to work out the calculation for me, you could not find a logical explanation for it. That is what he says. These are things they could not give natural laws to, he cannot give him an explanation. They attributed these things to hidden matters and supernal forces. And then following this...
What did they do? They simply began to worship those very supernal forces. Where does the rain come from? We have no natural explanation, it is a supernal force. So now we must worship an idol, which is responsible for the supernal matters. That is, every matter for which they had no explanation, they attributed it to demons, to supernal forces, to the stars. I once told you that when Columbus arrived in America, they captured him. The Indians there put him in prison. And Columbus was a great astronomer. And he knew when a solar eclipse was supposed to occur. And he told them, if you do not release me, tomorrow I will take away your sun. And the next day there was a solar eclipse. They took him out of there with great honor and made him into a god. Yes? He took away their sun. Now he knows, according to his calculations, when a solar eclipse is supposed to occur, and based on this he essentially threatened them. But from their perspective, this is a god. This man has divine powers. So understand this in every single matter. When they saw something outside the framework of nature and the logical, natural explanation, they immediately attributed to it divine powers. And this brought them to worship idolatry, to worship the idols. The Malbim says, but now, the prophet tells them, when you will see the wisdom of Hashem, and how the Holy One, blessed be He, is the one who forms rain, and behold you will see that this matter cannot be grasped. A person cannot understand, a person cannot find any natural explanation for it. And even the vain ones cannot attribute it to their idols. Even those men of vanity who attribute every matter to the idols, even they cannot find such an explanation. But "every goldsmith is put to shame by the idol." If he prays to it about the rains, then he will know "that his molten image is a lie." Why? The Malbim says, he will see three deficiencies. One thing, he has nothing to expect that his prayer will be fulfilled. Since what the worshipers of Baal promise is a lie. As he already said to the god, what is this? A block of wood, you took it, you carved it, you coated it in gold. From where would it have knowledge? From where could it tell you anything in its name? So everything the worshipers of Baal say is a lie. Another matter, there is no living spirit in it. And this is what he says, first, "his molten image is a lie," second, "there is no breath in them." So from where would this idol know anything? From where would it provide you with rain or anything else? A further matter, he says, there are things, there are realities in nature that were considered a special power. A special power means something whose power is astonishing and for which we have no natural explanation. Today already for many of these things there is a natural explanation, he gives an example that today we already know the explanation, but in their time it was considered something wondrous. And that is the magnet. How does the magnet work? And whoever knows, it is written back then that one of the ways to entice people to walk in the sin of Yeravam was by suspending the calves through the power of the magnet. And then they were suspended between heaven and earth. And through this, people who saw it would say, ah, look, there is a spiritual power here. Look how this calf floats in the air. And no one knew that in fact there was a magnetic force acting on those calves and holding them in the air. Or they did it by means of threads tied below to the ground and a strong magnet above, and then what happens is it is drawn upward, and then you see it tied with threads and floating. Come, some kind of floating balloon, what is this? Where does this power come from? Or they placed two magnets, one below and one above, and then it stood exactly in the middle. Something else that is a bit less logical. Whatever the case, we see that there are things that were perceived in their time as something special. How does it work? I do not know, but this is its property. This is the property of the magnet. So he says, come and see, this too they do not have. "They are vanity, a work of delusion, in the time of their punishment they shall perish." He says "they are vanity," all their works are a work of delusion, there is no special quality in them. "And in the time of their punishment they shall perish," when Hashem visits punishment upon them, then they shall perish. And the Malbim says, note that this parallels what we said earlier. We said "and Hashem is the God of truth," and about this he tells you the idol "his molten image is a lie." We said "He is the living God," and corresponding to this he tells you the idol "there is no breath in them," there is no life in it. We said "an everlasting King," and about this he tells you "they are vanity." Vanities cannot even rule over themselves, certainly not over the world. We said "at His wrath the earth quakes" about the Holy One, blessed be He, and about them he said, not only does no one tremble at them, but they themselves shall perish, "in the time of their punishment they shall perish."
The Radak explains, and this is as we saw above, they shall perish from the earth. What is "their punishment"? "Their punishment" means when Hashem visits punishment upon Bavel. After all, we know that Bavel was destroyed by Madai and Persia. And then in fact came the punishment of the idols. "Bel bows down, Nevo stoops." Bel is the god of Bavel. They believed in it. And these were their deities. And about them it is said "their idols were upon the beasts and the cattle." The meaning of this is, they dismantled their god into parts, loaded it upon animals in order to take it and use its metal. This is what is written, "their idols," the idols they worshiped, "upon the beasts and the cattle." They loaded them onto animals and cattle in order to melt them down and make gold from them for their use. So you see that "in the time of their punishment," he tells you, know that the time of their punishment will come. When Hashem visits punishment upon Bavel, then punishment will be visited upon their idols too. And so it was customary, when one nation conquered another nation, it would immediately destroy its god. For what does this actually prove? That our god is strong and their god is nothing. And therefore they would immediately take the god of the other nation, break it, destroy it, crush it, and use all its gold for their needs and their affairs. This is what he says, "they are vanity, a work of delusion," when I visit punishment upon Bavel, then their idols will also be punished, "in the time of their punishment they shall perish." "The Portion of Yaakov is not like these, for He is the Fashioner of all, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance, Hashem of Hosts is His name." "The Portion of Yaakov is not like these." Not like the idols, which are the portion of the nations; the Portion of Yaakov is not like these. Hashem is the Fashioner of all, says the Radak. Hashem is the tribe of His inheritance, that Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. And we do not worship...
Anyone else but only the Holy One, blessed be He. And they are the tribe of His inheritance because the Holy One, blessed be He, chose it, chose it for Himself as an inheritance; they are His portion and His inheritance. And even though we have been exiled from our land, yet we have not abandoned our God, we still believe in Him with complete faith and we recognize and acknowledge that Hashem of Hosts is His name. What is "Hosts"? Master of the hosts above and below. Everything is only from Him. Note, says the Radak, all these matters Yirmeyahu the prophet sent to the elders of Israel who were exiled in the Babylonian exile, the first exile with Yehoyachin. We saw that it all began with "thus shall you say to them." That is, this is how you shall say to the nations who try to persuade you to idolatry. Up to here is the statement he tells the elders of Israel to say to the nations, that their god has no substance in it, that we do not believe in it, that we do not accept it, and that there is only one great God in heaven who is the Portion of Yaakov and who is the Fashioner of all, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance, Hashem of Hosts is His name. All of this is what you shall say to the nations who try to entice you to serve idolatry.
The Radak brings here another matter, that regarding what is written "they are vanity, a work of delusion, in the time of their punishment they shall perish," he brings that the sage of the Kuzari explained "in the time of their punishment they shall perish": if you examine them and search them out, for "lifkod" means to search, yes? try to see what is in it, examine and search them out, they will amount to nothing, like a counterfeit thing that if one searches it out one will find the trick. But the divine matter, whatever you search out in it you will find it to be like gold. We elaborated on this in the Sefer HaKuzari, whoever wishes may hear it on the disc. We will explain briefly. When it comes to a trick, when it comes to cleverness, and let us give an example, everything a magician does is a kind of trick. No one thinks he is some great sorcerer or wizard or the like. Everyone knows it is a trick. And what? The magician afterward reveals to you what the trick is, ah, that, well, an obvious, simple trick, once you know. But before you know, you really do not know from where he pulls out doves and how he floats in the air and how he saws boxes with people inside them, and all these things look very astonishing. So too he speaks about the idol. The idol, which they supposedly try to create some impression that it influences and acts and operates, "in the time of their punishment," when you investigate it, when you examine it, you will find the trick, you will find the cleverness, you will find the counterfeit and the deception with which they supposedly operate. In contrast, the divine matter, the more you examine it, you will discover that it is gold, real gold. Not coverings, not all sorts of tricks and all sorts of techniques, but Hashem is the God of truth who influences all His creatures, Hashem of Hosts is His name.
The Malbim explains that here the prophet essentially returns to what he wrote at the beginning of the matter. Here he told them, "do not learn the way of the nations." Why? Because the Portion of Yaakov is not like these. The Holy One, blessed be He, gave us spiritual powers, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is the Fashioner. The people of Israel do not believe in those forces in which the nations believe, since even according to their own approach they do not believe that the idol is the fashioner. Perhaps it brings down influences, but not that it is actually the fashioner. And even according to the view of its worshipers, says the Malbim, they are only appointed over one matter. Whereas Hashem is the Fashioner of all. What is the meaning of this? As we spoke previously, they believed there are many deities. Each god is responsible for something. There is a god of the sea and a god of the land and a god of war and a god of love and a god of hatred and a god of peace and so on and so forth. They believed in many deities. So each one is responsible, as it were locally, for its department. In contrast, Hashem is the Fashioner of all. And also, do not fear that perhaps Hashem handed us over under their authority and providence. Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The people of Israel are not placed under the celestial array, but solely under the tribe of the inheritance of Hashem. And His name is Hashem of Hosts. The meaning of this is that He rules over all the hosts to do with them as He wishes. Note, says the Malbim, it is written "the Portion of Yaakov" and it is written "Israel." "The Portion of Yaakov is not like these, for He is the Fashioner of all, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance." Israel, the tribe of His inheritance, and the Portion of Yaakov, what is the difference? Well, we have already explained several times that "Israel" is a term of dominion. And "Yaakov" is a term of "ekev" (heel). A term of following behind. That is, the lower level. So either he is speaking here of the great ones as opposed to those who are less great, or he is speaking of the tribe of Yehudah as opposed to Israel who had already been exiled. Israel, who are now the Ten Tribes and are found among the nations, corresponding to them they are called Yaakov. So "the Portion of Yaakov is not like these," and Israel are truly the tribe of His inheritance. Israel, who are the tribe of Yehudah, are truly the tribe of His inheritance because they are much more connected and bound to Him, therefore they are His inheritance in particular, in that there is individual providence over them.
"Gather up your wares from the land, O you who dwell under siege." "Gather up your wares from the land," Rashi explains, hide your merchandise from the land. "Kinatech" is from the language of Kenaan. And Kenaan, we know, is an expression for merchants. "Kenaan, in whose hand are deceitful scales." Kenaan is an expression for a merchant, "no Kenaani shall dwell there." Kenaan is an expression for a merchant. And about this he says "gather up your wares from the land," meaning hide the merchandise. And the reason is because of the enemy. Rashi brings another explanation, that "kinatech" is from the language of submission and lowliness. What he essentially comes to say is that you should be more submissive and humbled, more than the lowliness of the earth. You, Yerushalayim, who are now under siege, dwelling under siege, "gather up your wares from the land." Be bowed down and humbled more than the lowliness of the earth. Thus shall be your submission. The Radak explains that this does not speak about us at all. The Radak says that this is an address to Bavel. The Radak says, he speaks against Bavel. You, Bavel, today pride yourselves over Israel, since you are the rulers and Israel are given over to be trampled under your feet. And since it is so, what you say to them is to serve idols, you compel them to idolatry. He tells them, thus says Hashem, He says to you, Bavel, "gather up your wares from the land." The submission with which you subdued the nations, gather up that submission, meaning you will no longer have the strength to subdue them. What kind of expression is "gather up"? Like "withdraw your hand." "Withdraw your hand" means pull back the hand. As it were, withdraw your hand. Now, as is brought, when he told him to inquire through the Urim VeTumim, and he saw that there was no longer time, he told him withdraw your hand and we will go, we will not wait. So here too, "gather up your wares from the land." You, Bavel, who subdue Israel, as it were withdraw your hand from them. "O you who dwell under siege," so as we said this refers to Bavel. So what is "who dwell under siege"? "Under siege" means in a place like a fortified place. Like in the strength of their cities and their walled towns and their towers, you dwell under siege, you feel that you are in a fortified place and no one can harm you; know that in the end the cup will pass over you too, "O daughter of Bavel who is to be plundered, happy is he who will seize and dash your little ones against the rock," meaning your time too will come, as we know, through Persia and Madai at the end of Bavel.
The Malbim explains, "gather up your wares from the land," he is in fact addressing the daughter of Yehudah. And he says to the daughter of Yehudah, why do you submit to other nations? Why do you submit to the host of heaven? And this is a continuation of what we saw earlier. That the Holy One, blessed be He, rules over all and there is no power in the idols. So you, daughter of Yehudah, "gather up your wares from the land." The meaning is, do not submit to those supposed forces, to those idols. You who dwell under siege, dwelling under siege because indeed they were under siege and distress. So gather up your submission toward those forces; on the contrary, to whom should one submit? Only to the Master of the world.
"For thus says Hashem, behold, I sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress upon them, that they may find." "Thus says Hashem, behold, I sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time." What is "sling out"? From the language of throwing a stone with a sling. What is called a slingshot. This is "sling," as one hurls a stone with a sling. So he says, likewise every single nation will be cast out from its place. Not only the people of Israel. And then there is in fact an address here, according to what the Radak explained, that this is an address to Bavel: do not pride yourselves over the people of Israel; so he continues and addresses them and says to them, wait a moment, you too will be slung out. After all, you too will be exiled. So why do you feel so lofty above the people of Israel? "Thus says Hashem, behold, I sling out the inhabitants of the land." He says, likewise Yirmeyahu prophesied about Edom, about Moav, all of them were struck by Nevuchadnetzar, and after this Nevuchadnetzar was struck and Bavel was captured at the beginning of the reign of his grandson. Nevuchadnetzar's son was Evil Merodach, his grandson was Belshatzar, and after all we know "in that night Belshatzar was slain," so you see that the reality of Bavel in rest and quiet was temporary.
"And I will bring distress upon them, that they may find." What is "and I will bring distress upon them, that they may find"? I brought siege and distress upon them. What is "that they may find"? So the Radak explains in the name of his father, that the meaning is that they may find many troubles. Until each and every one of them says, woe to me that Israel is being struck. That is, they will understand that our situation reflects upon them too. That our suffering will cause suffering to them too. Therefore he says, "and I will bring distress upon them, that they may find," and then they will say woe to me for my breaking, my wound is grievous, and I said, this is but a sickness and I shall bear it. That is, they will reach such a state that they will say woe to me for my breaking, as we will explain shortly in the next verse. The Ibn Ezra explains that Hashem will bring against them slingers. And these slingers will bring distress upon them in their place. The meaning of this is that these slingers will besiege them. And these people will go and hide in a certain place in order to flee and escape from the slingers. And the hiding in that place, there will be many people hiding in that place, so consequently the place becomes cramped. And this is what he says, "and I will bring distress upon them," meaning through the slingers who will come and search for them, they will hide in a cramped place, "that they may find." And this matter will cause the slingers to find them. And through their being concentrated in one place, it will be easier for the slingers precisely to kill them. So they went and fled and hid themselves in a certain place so that they would not be found, and on the contrary, says the Holy One, blessed be He, this is "that they may find." Since through this they will all be concentrated and the slingers will be able to kill them all. The Malbim explains, "for thus says Hashem, behold, I sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time." What has come upon you, here this is an address to the people of Israel, not as the Radak says to Bavel. Rather to the people of Israel, know, all the evil that comes upon you is not from the celestial array. It is not from the idols and images as you believed; it is only from Hashem. Hashem says, behold, I sling out. I throw you in the pouch of the sling outside their borders. And there I will bring distress upon them. And why? "That they may find." That they may find whom? That they may find Me when they seek Me. So says Hashem. That is, here everything is an address to the people of Israel. Behold, I sling out the inhabitants of this land, this is the land of Israel. "And I will bring distress upon them, that they may find," here they do not seek Me and do not find. But when I exile them, then they will seek Hashem. As it is written, "and Hashem will scatter you among the peoples, and from there you will seek Hashem your God and you will find Him." So this is "that they may find." The Holy One, blessed be He, says, I will sling them out from here and exile them, and then they will truly begin to seek Hashem. As is brought, that Yirmeyahu the prophet said to them regarding "by the rivers of Bavel, there we sat, we also wept," he told them, by My life, if you had wept a single weeping before the exile, you would not have been exiled. That is, you see, where do they find? Precisely there, by the rivers of Bavel, they began to weep to Hashem. That is, precisely the exile and the pouch of the sling that slung them there, meaning banished them among the nations, this brought them to seek Hashem.
"Woe to me for my breaking, my wound is grievous, and I said, this is but a sickness and I shall bear it." "Woe to me for my breaking." Here the prophet is speaking about the calamity of the inhabitants of the land. And then he says, the rest of the nations too, either way, woe to me for my breaking. Why? After all, the calamity is upon the rest of the nations. He says, true, there is calamity upon the rest of the nations, but who is struck first? The people of Israel. The people of Israel are struck first. And then "my wound is grievous." This is a sickness, this is a blow that turns you into someone ill. And I thought, well, this is a bearable sickness, as it were. "And I said, this is but a sickness and I shall bear it." But behold I see that this is a sickness that cannot be borne. "My tent is plundered" and so on, as he says in the next verse. The Malbim explains that the prophet is essentially crying out over the breaking of his people. And he says, come and see that this breaking is a breaking of My providence. It is by means of Hashem. It is a breaking that comes from Him. It is by individual providence. They turned away from Hashem, and therefore woe to me for my breaking. My breaking has two deficiencies. First, it is an external breaking. Second, "my wound is grievous." There is an internal blow. And it is a most painful blow. That is, sometimes a person suffers a blow and it is external. So, well, it heals easily. But if the blow is also internal, if it is an internal illness, that is already far more dangerous. "And I said, this is but a sickness." That is, I thought I have only this sickness, a private sickness, "and I shall bear it," I will be able to endure it. As it is written, "I will bear and deliver" and so on. And I will endure it, as Targum Yonatan says, I will be able to endure it. But I see that I have many faithful illnesses that are far more severe and cannot, as it were, be borne.
"My tent is plundered and all my cords are snapped. My children have gone forth from me and are no more; there is none to spread my tent anymore and to set up my curtains." He says, "my tent is plundered and all my cords are snapped." Even if I wish to pitch another tent after my tent was plundered, meaning it was taken and plundered from me, I see that all my cords are snapped. The cords that bind the tent are already snapped, severed. And even if I find cords to bind the tent anew, he says, after all my children have gone forth from me, they have gone forth from me and are no more. So then there is none to spread my tent anymore. The meaning of this is that there is no longer any reason to spread my tent. And this explains how severe the external breaking was. Now he explains what is written "my wound is grievous," which is essentially the internal breaking. The internal blow, how grievous this blow is, my wound is grievous, how much this is a blow that in fact places me in the category of one who is ill.
"For the shepherds have become dull and did not seek Hashem; therefore they did not prosper, and all their flock is scattered." "For the shepherds have become dull." After all, we saw that "my tent is plundered, my cords are snapped, my children have gone forth from me and are no more, there is none to spread my tent anymore." All this is because of what? Because "the shepherds have become dull." "Became dull" is from the language of a brute and a fool. And therefore there is no longer anyone to spread the tent. And who are the shepherds? This is Yehoyachin, this is Tzidkiyahu, who were the kings. The kings are called shepherds. And so Targum Yonatan rendered, the kings became foolish. The kings became foolish, they acted foolishly. "And they did not prosper," the meaning is they did not succeed. As it is written, "and David was prospering in all his ways." And since Yehoyachin and Tzidkiyahu did not seek Hashem, therefore they did not succeed in their kingship, unlike Yoshiyahu who did succeed, yes? Since he did seek Hashem. And therefore "all their flock is scattered." What is "their flock"? The meaning is the people, the sheep whom they were shepherding, were scattered into exile. The Malbim says, the reason they did not act wisely in their deeds to guard the tent and the flock, this is what caused their flock to be scattered. The meaning of this is, had their deeds been proper, through this the tent and the flock would have been guarded. And through this their flock would not have been scattered, the meaning of which is there would not have been exile.
"A sound of a report, behold it comes, and a great commotion from the land of the north, to make the cities of Yehudah a desolation, a den of jackals." "A sound of a report," says the Radak, the sound that we hear and a great commotion in the terrifying reports, like the commotion that comes from the land of the north. And what was that commotion? In Yechezkel 21:24 it is explained that Nevuchadnetzar went out from his land and stood at the parting of the road in order to perform divination. The meaning is to cast a lot. Where do I go now? What is the direction? Whether upon the children of Amon or upon Yerushalayim? And the divination fell upon Yerushalayim. The lot fell upon Yerushalayim. As we saw that they would make attempts, sometimes with arrows that they would shoot to the four winds of the heavens and the arrow reached Yerushalayim, and various other examples of this sort. So their way was to perform divinations and through this divination to see in it a sign, what should now be the action and deed they should perform. About this he says, behold, a sound of a report. "A sound of a report, behold it comes." What is "a sound of a report"? That Nevuchadnetzar went out from his place. And after this there is a sound of great commotion, for he goes out with all his armies, and this makes a great commotion. And what is the intent? The intent is "to make the cities of Yehudah a desolation, a den of jackals." The divination already fell upon Yerushalayim, so his face is toward Yerushalayim in order to make it a den of jackals. "A den of jackals" means a place where the jackals will be. And in what kind of place are jackals found? In a place that is desolate. In a place where there is no life, where there are no people, there the jackals come to dwell. So he wishes to make Yerushalayim a desolation, a den of jackals.
"I know, Hashem, that man's way is not his own; it is not for man who walks to direct his steps." There are two directions here on how to explain this statement. The Radak explains, and so too it is implied, yes, not necessarily, the Radak, let us stay for now with the Radak, this is what he brings in the name of his father. That this is in fact a statement regarding Nevuchadnetzar. And he says, Master of the world, after all, Nevuchadnetzar's plans are to come here, to destroy Yerushalayim, to make it a desolation, a den of jackals. And then, as we said, he was uncertain where to go. About this the prophet says, after all, the divination led to Yerushalayim. But "I know, Hashem, that man's way is not his own." Who is "man"? This is the known man. This is Nevuchadnetzar. I know, Master of the world, that this is not from him. It is not he who determines the address. It is not he who decides where to go. It is not within his authority. It is in Your hand to change his will. "And it is not for man who walks to direct his steps." Likewise, for a man who walks in the world, walks on a path, it is not his own way to direct his steps. That is, he does not know what his next step will be. He does not know what the day will bring. He does not know how matters will unfold going forward. He knows what he does when he sets out. But a moment later, this is already not in his control. For from Hashem a man's steps are established. That is, everything is from Him. And to wherever his feet will lead him, from Hashem, there he will arrive. And if so, I request, Master of the world, that You stop Nevuchadnetzar. That is, that You not bring him here. This is in fact a prayer that he prays here before the Holy One, blessed be He, so that Nevuchadnetzar will not come. "I know, Hashem, that man's way is not his own," it does not stem from him, but rather it is from Hashem. And if so, it is in Your hand and in Your power to stop him. So please, Master of the world, restrain Nevuchadnetzar before he arrives here. So too it is implied from Rashi. For Rashi says, "man's way is not his own," the evil inclination that You created in him diverts him from the way. This is a first explanation. This is on "man's way is not his own." A second explanation: "I know, Hashem, that man's way is not his own," no man has the power to make his way succeed if not by Your word. And then if so, says Rashi, the enemy has no power to destroy Your house. So again, according to this it comes out as the Radak explained, that the intent of the matter is that the power to destroy Your house is not in the hand of Nevuchadnetzar but in Your hand. And therefore, Master of the world, please stop Nevuchadnetzar a moment before. In contrast, the Metzudat David, and so too it is implied from Rashi's first explanation, says that "I know, Hashem, that man's way is not his own" is in fact an argument and a statement of the children of Yehudah. The people of Israel dwelling in Yehudah say, You, Master of the world, know that man's way is not his own. The meaning of this is, there is no one here who truly prepared his way to walk in the way of Hashem. "And it is not for man who walks." The meaning of this is, there will not be found among us a man who would walk and direct his steps. In what respect? To walk in the upright way, to walk according to the command of Hashem. Rather they walked according to what came their way and according to chance. The meaning is, they walked according to what happened to them and according to happenstance. They did not walk and did not step in the way of Hashem. And this fits what Rashi explains in the first explanation, the evil inclination that You created in him diverts him from the way. That is, they were, as it were, drawn after the desires of their heart, they do not have the self-control to walk in the way of Hashem.
The Malbim explains, "for man's way is not his own." Concerning the choice of man as to which way he will walk, this is not for man, this is for Hashem. And even if he chooses the way, it is not for man to direct his steps. The meaning is, also the walking and the step, this too is from Hashem. So there are two matters here. There is the aim and purpose, where I want to arrive. So let us say I want now to arrive at Yerushalayim. So they say, "man's way is not his own." The choice itself is with the assistance of Hashem. And also when I want to begin walking in practice, this too is from Hashem. This is the second stage, "for man who walks to direct his steps." Even directing his steps is from Hashem. And then according to this the Malbim explains, as the Radak explained, so Master of the world, You can delay him. That even though it is in his plan to come to Yerushalayim, send him to Rabbat Bnei Amon. Send him to the other address about which he was uncertain, whether to come here or there. It is in Your hand, Master of the world, to send him there. The Malbim explains that there is a difference between "adam" and "ish." For note, the verse here says, the verse says "I know, Hashem, that man's (adam's) way is not his own, and it is not for man (ish) who walks." Says the Malbim, what is the difference between "adam" and "ish"? "Adam" denotes the human species from the aspect of the intellect within it. From the aspect that man chooses, from the aspect that man is intelligent. So this denotes man. A man of stature. "Man's (adam's) way is not his own." Even though it seems to him, I chose, and this was through thought and this was through prior intent, it is from Hashem. Know that it is from Hashem. Afterward he says, "and it is not for man (ish) who walks to direct his steps." "Ish" comes to express the language of "yesh" (existence). Anyone who is alive is called "ish." From the aspect of its existence. "Man's way is not his own," and incidentally one can use "ish" also as an expression regarding animals. And then the meaning of the matter is, "it is not for man who walks to direct his steps" refers also to animals. That every living being in creation does not direct its steps, but rather its steps are from Hashem.
"Chastise me, Hashem, but with justice, not in Your anger, lest You diminish me." "Chastise me, Hashem, but with justice." The Radak brings, as Rabbeinu Yonah explained, that the prophet here in fact speaks as it were in the name of the people of Israel. And he sees Nevuchadnetzar, as it were, coming to the land of Yehudah in order to make everything a desolation. And he says, Master of the world, I know that this is chastisement for us. I know, I know that this is meant to chastise us. So I request, Master of the world, chastise me with justice. "With justice" means with law. With law means according to the line of fairness and not according to what is fitting at a time when there is great fury. When there is great fury, then, God forbid, there can be a situation in which the attribute of justice consumes everything. And I request, Master of the world, chastise me but with justice. "Not in Your anger, lest You diminish me." Do not do it in anger and wrath, and then diminish me from being a people, from being a nation. The Malbim explains that I request that the chastisement be like justice and according to the measure of the sin. For anger does not distinguish between good and evil. When there is anger, it does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. But I request that it be with justice. And then when it is with justice, then whoever deserves punishment will receive, and whoever does not deserve punishment will not receive.
And then I request, Master of the world, that instead of sending him against us, send him to Rabbat Bnei Amon. "Pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You, and upon the families that do not call upon Your name. For they have devoured Yaakov, they have devoured him and consumed him, and they have made his dwelling desolate." Master of the world, send Nevuchadnetzar to the children of Amon. "Pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You." That is, I request that with us You act with justice. And if there is wrath, if there is anger and fury, then pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You. And upon the families of the kingdoms that do not call upon Your name. For although Israel, says the Radak, sinned, they have not entirely left Your authority, Master of the world. After all, they have not mingled with another people, they are separate from all the star-worshipers, they still hold to most of the mitzvot, they call upon Your name, they pray before You. So although they still need to repent and we still know that they corrupted their deeds, in any case hope is not lost from them and there are still pious ones among them. So Master of the world, if You already wish to act in wrath and anger, then pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You. What is "and upon the families that do not call upon Your name"? What is "families"? "Families" means nations. For a nation is called a family. As it is written, "and if the family of Egypt will not go up." So here too they speak of the families of the nations. And why? For they have devoured Yaakov. Behold, come and see, even though they are the rod of My anger, after all the Holy One, blessed be He, says of Ashur "the rod of My anger." And the nations, even when they chastise us, this is the rod of anger of Hashem. The meaning is, this is the staff of His wrath. No one can harm us unless it is deserved by us by justice from Hashem. With all this, Master of the world, You were a little angry and they helped for evil. Master of the world, You were only a little angry. And behold, come and see, these nations were making things harsh with the rod of Your anger. That is, the claim against the nations, we also see this with Pharaoh and elsewhere, why does the Holy One, blessed be He, hold them accountable? After all, if Ashur is the rod of My anger, then ostensibly he did the deed of Hashem, he even deserves reward. Since he is in the hand of Hashem. And if he is in the hand of Hashem, then ostensibly why should he be punished for carrying it out? The Malbim says, there are among them those who knew Hashem, but did not call upon Your name. Although they knew Hashem, still they did not call upon the name of Hashem, but rather called upon the name of Baal. "For they have devoured Yaakov," note, says the Malbim, it is mentioned here time after time. For after all the devouring is mentioned here, "for they have devoured Yaakov, they have devoured him and consumed him." That is, devoured, and devoured him, and consumed him. Time after time. Once devoured, then devoured him, and then consumed him. That is, after he devoured him for his pleasure, he consumed him entirely. And this is the absolute annihilation that shows there was here a wickedness of heart aimed at annihilation. For when a person eats, you say for the sake of benefit. But when he consumes, this is out of wickedness of heart. So therefore he says here "and consumed him" entirely. "And they have made his dwelling desolate." Says the Malbim, one may explain this matter regarding Rabbat Bnei Amon. Rabbat Bnei Amon were adversaries of Yehudah. And we saw this, that they were, the Gemara calls them bad neighbors. Thus the Gemara calls them, the Amonim and the Moavim, the Gemara calls them bad neighbors, for they are the ones who advised the nations when to come and conquer the people of Israel. Another possibility, says the Malbim, is that this refers to Nevuchadnetzar. That "pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You," Master of the world, pour out Your wrath upon Nevuchadnetzar. For Nevuchadnetzar came against Yerushalayim three times. As the Gemara says, they were exiled in the seventh, exiled in the eighth, and exiled in the eighteenth. After all, there were several exiles. We know that at the beginning the two and a half tribes that were across the Yarden were exiled. Afterward Shomron was exiled, meaning Israel, the Ten Tribes. And finally Yehudah was exiled. And even in the exile of Yehudah we know that there were stages. They were not all exiled at once. There was the exile of the craftsmen and the smiths, afterward there was the exile of the poorest of the people, and finally nothing remained, this was after Gedalyah ben Achikam. So you understand that the exiles were in stages. So therefore I request, Master of the world, behold, come and see, he devoured Yaakov and afterward devoured a second time, "and they have devoured him," and afterward "and consumed him," which is three exiles; it is against Nevuchadnetzar that he speaks.
Incidentally, there are certain refined souls of various kinds who do not so much like this. From where do they know it, you may ask? What have they to do with Yirmeyahu? They know it from the Pesach Haggadah. And there are all sorts of correctors of various kinds, all sorts of refined souls, I am not even speaking about those who made themselves an alternative Haggadah in the kibbutzim and all sorts of places of this sort, I am not speaking about them. I am speaking already about those who supposedly still remain with the original texts, but "pour out Your wrath upon the nations," what is this? What is this thing? Why pour out wrath upon the nations? We are already a small global village and the State of Israel is accepted as part of the family of nations of the world, and why suddenly pour wrath upon them and consume them and... So first of all this is refined-soul posturing, because at the first opportunity they can consume us, that is what they do. And even if you see them speaking politically correct, whoever truly knows what is in their heart and what they do when they have an opportunity can see, this is exactly Europe. Europe speaks politically correct, but 70 years ago it showed us what it knows how to do when it takes off the gloves and no longer speaks politically correct, but rather speaks what is truly happening inside it. Today they try to act against us through the UN and through boycotts and all sorts of ways in order to constrain our path. But if they could, they would once again open the crematoria anew, and we all know how much the Poles and how much the Hungarians and all those who were supposedly private individuals there, how much they helped the Nazi machine, may their name and memory be blotted out, to exterminate the Jews, and there were, and among the Ukrainians, how much they devoted themselves for the sake of heaven, with no gain, with nothing, to come and inform on the Jews and hand them over and kill them. So this refined-soul posturing that the nations, what suddenly, they too are living creatures and they too want to live and... do not be naive. Do not be naive, these people, if only they could, would immediately exterminate everyone. But let us leave this aside; from the outset there is no question here at all. For whoever reads what is written here, "pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You and upon the families that do not call upon Your name," and he immediately writes, "for they have devoured Yaakov, they have devoured him and consumed him, and they have made his dwelling desolate." That is, about which nations is he speaking here? He is speaking about those who devoured Yaakov. He is speaking about those who subjugated us. That is, if there is some gentile in Rwanda with whom I have no connection at all, then what do I care about him? Why should Hashem pour out His wrath upon him? I have no interest in this at all; on the contrary. After all, it is written that they will know Me from the greatest of them to the smallest of them, and the world will be perfected under the kingdom of Shakai, and Rabbeinu Yerucham of Mir says that the world will not be complete and perfected until the most distant and most coarse gentile recognizes Hashem. So in fact, we certainly have no interest in the annihilation of the nations, that is not our goal. Our goal is that they not disturb us from serving Hashem. And if we already request "pour out Your wrath upon the nations," this is upon the nations that devoured Yaakov and made his dwelling desolate. This is those who chastise us, this is those who torment us, this is those who persecuted us; about them we request. Master of the world, when You chastise them and "I will be magnified and sanctified before the eyes of many peoples," when will this be? When all those who caused us distress, the Holy One, blessed be He, on the great and awesome day of judgment, fire will come and consume and burn all those who caused distress and all the destroyers and uprooters of the vineyard of the house of Yaakov, then indeed His name will be magnified and sanctified in the world, and this in fact is our request.