Introduction: The Section of the False Prophets
In this part of the chapter, Yirmiyahu turns to a sharp rebuke against the false prophets. These were not merely people who made an honest mistake, but those who turned falsehood into a method: they strengthen the hands of evildoers, prevent the people from repenting, and tell everyone precisely what they want to hear. The prophet contrasts them with the prophets of Shomron, revealing that the prophets of Yerushalayim were actually worse than them. From here, the chapter proceeds to the very fundamentals of faith: What is prophecy, does the Holy One, blessed be He, oversee the earthly realm, and is there any place hidden from His eyes?
The Prophets of Shomron versus the Prophets of Yerushalayim
וּבִנְבִיאֵי שֹׁמְרוֹן רָאִיתִי תִפְלָה, הִנַּבְּאוּ בַבַּעַל וַיַּתְעוּ אֶת־עַמִּי אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And in the prophets of Shomron I have seen tastelessness: they prophesied by the Baal and led My people Yisrael astray.
וּבִנְבִאֵי יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם רָאִיתִי שַׁעֲרוּרָה, נָאוֹף וְהָלֹךְ בַּשֶּׁקֶר וְחִזְּקוּ יְדֵי מְרֵעִים לְבִלְתִּי־שָׁבוּ אִישׁ מֵרָעָתוֹ, הָיוּ־לִי כֻלָּם כִּסְדֹם וְיֹשְׁבֶיהָ כַּעֲמֹרָה׃ - And in the prophets of Yerushalayim I have seen an appalling thing: committing adultery and walking in falsehood, and they strengthen the hands of evildoers so that no one turns back from his wickedness; they have all become to Me like Sedom, and its inhabitants like Amorah.
On the surface, one must ask: Shomron had already been exiled long ago. What point is there now in recounting the deeds of its Baal prophets? The verse should have simply said, "And in the prophets of Yerushalayim I have seen an appalling thing." The Malbim explains that the prophet deliberately drew this parallel to teach us: as terrible and vile as the prophets of the Baal were, know that the prophets of Yerushalayim are worse than them.
Regarding the prophets of Shomron, "I have seen tiflah" - tafel means tasteless or devoid of substance. They did not sin out of malice and deceit, but rather were lacking in discernment. They genuinely believed in the Baal, thinking it had substance and was granting them prophecy; the idolatry misled them, and consequently they misled Yisrael. By contrast, regarding the prophets of Yerushalayim, "I have seen sha'arurah," which is far worse than tiflah: sha'arurah is related to something foul, repulsive, and destructive. With them, it was no mere error, but a calculated pursuit of the stubbornness of their own hearts.
Adultery and Walking in Falsehood - Falsehood that Follows Desire
The sequence in the verse is precise: "committing adultery and walking in falsehood." Because they wished to commit adultery, they walked in falsehood. As Chazal have already taught: Yisrael served idols only in order to permit illicit relations for themselves in public. This means: the God of this people hates immorality, and the Torah sets strict boundaries regarding matters of sanctity. When a person wants to breach all the fences, what does he do? He "dismisses" the Master of the World. If there is no Master of the World, there is no One to hold me accountable, my soul is at peace, and I can do whatever my heart desires. And in order to reach that state - "they chose new gods": a person takes an idol and embraces it, since idolatry was very permissive and allowed them whatever they wished.
Furthermore, the Vilna Gaon pointed out: throughout the Torah, the nation's relationship with idolatry is described in terms of promiscuity - "your harlotry," "going astray after other gods." We know that alongside every house of idol worship there was a house of promiscuity, and licentious celebrations were conducted under the direction of the idolatrous priests. It turns out they found a way to satisfy their lusts without having to give any moral reckoning, since they had a different god. If so, it did not begin with belief in a deity followed by corresponding deeds, but the reverse: it began with lust, and after that, the person sought a god that would permit it. He knows it is a lie, and yet he walks in falsehood, because this is the path that gives him license.
Moreover, the prophets of Yerushalayim did not merely mislead the people through Baal prophecy, but rather "they strengthen the hands of evildoers so that no one turns back from his wickedness": even toward a person who wished to mend his ways and turn back from his evil, they reinforced the hands of the wicked. In this way, the prophets and the people were not mistaken at all, but were deliberately fabricating lies in order to satisfy their lusts. They made the entire people like themselves. And in this, "they have all become to Me like Sedom, and its inhabitants like Amorah," for the people of Sedom likewise instituted wicked laws designed to indulge their selfish desires.
The Confession of a Professional Heretic
Mention was once made of an essay by Aldous Huxley, "Confessions of a Professional Atheist." He was among those who proudly championed Darwin's theory, yet toward the end of his life he wrote a confessional article admitting: The difficulties with Darwin's theory - that man evolved from an ape or an amoeba - are immense and formidable. Yet we championed it and popularized it, not because we believed it was true, but because we wanted to live in a world devoid of meaning, where there is no God dictating what to do and what not to do. And if I came from an amoeba, who can tell me what to do? I can do whatever I please. He stated explicitly - to put it delicately - that the ultimate goal was to license their desires, primarily in matters of morality and modesty. This is precisely what Chazal taught: Israel only engaged in idolatry in order to permit illicit relations.
Anyone who wishes can apply this verse directly to contemporary media, and the fit is exact. "I have seen a shocking thing: adultery and walking in falsehood" - because they want to permit every prohibition, they walk in falsehood. And if someone tries to speak a single word of truth - "they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none turns back from his wickedness": they silence him, muzzle him, and refuse to let him speak. On the contrary, they empower every radical fringe and every perverse movement, encouraging those who have "come out of the closet" and those who have not yet done so, reinforcing them in their ideology. And why? So that you will follow falsehood, so that every immorality becomes permissible even in the public square, marching in parades and proclaiming before the entire world: I have my own way; the Torah will not dictate to me, and the Creator of the world will not dictate to me. May the Merciful One protect us.
The Punishment: Wormwood and Gall
לָכֵן כֹּה־אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת עַל־הַנְּבִאִים, הִנְנִי מַאֲכִיל אוֹתָם לַעֲנָה וְהִשְׁקִתִים מֵי־רֹאשׁ, כִּי מֵאֵת נְבִיאֵי יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם יָצְאָה חֲנֻפָּה לְכׇל־הָאָרֶץ׃ - Therefore so said the Lord of Hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I feed them wormwood and give them water of gall to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy has gone forth into all the land.
"Behold, I feed them wormwood" - I will bring upon them distress as bitter as wormwood. "Water of gall" (mei rosh) is a lethal poison, and the Metzudat Tzion explains that it is extracted from a bitter herb named rosh. And why? "For from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy has gone forth into all the land": they flatter the people, whitewash their misdeeds, show favoritism, and never rebuke them; on the contrary, they encourage them in their evil path. Through this, hypocrisy - falsehood - spread throughout the entire land, and therefore they will receive retribution measure for measure.
Do Not Listen to the Words of the Prophets
כֹּה־אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת אַל־תִּשְׁמְעוּ עַל־דִּבְרֵי הַנְּבִאִים הַנִּבְּאִים לָכֶם, מַהְבִּלִים הֵמָּה אֶתְכֶם, חֲזוֹן לִבָּם יְדַבֵּרוּ לֹא מִפִּי יְהֹוָה׃ - So said the Lord of Hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you; they fill you with futility; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord.
"To the words of the prophets" (al divrei hanevi'im) - the Radak notes that al here carries the meaning of el (to), similar to "And Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house (al beito)," which means el beito. In other words: do not listen to those prophets who speak hollow words devoid of substance. "They fill you with futility" - what they tell you is sheer vanity, things they never heard from Hashem. Rather, "they speak a vision of their own heart": what they fabricate in their own imagination, which is both false and worthless, offering no real benefit, and not from the mouth of Hashem.
Telling Everyone What They Wanted to Hear
אֹמְרִים אָמוֹר לִמְנַאֲצַי דִּבֶּר יְהֹוָה שָׁלוֹם יִהְיֶה לָכֶם, וְכֹל הֹלֵךְ בִּשְׁרִרוּת לִבּוֹ אָמְרוּ לֹא־תָבוֹא עֲלֵיכֶם רָעָה׃ - They say continually to those who despise Me: The Lord has spoken, "You shall have peace"; and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his heart they said: "No evil shall come upon you."
Here the prophet exposes their fraudulent method: how they seduced each person in a different manner. There were two distinct factions among the people, each pursuing a different and even contradictory philosophy, and the false prophets incited each according to its own leanings. They were unbothered by contradicting themselves, because their objective was singular: to ensure that no one accepted the authentic word of Hashem.
The Malbim elaborates: There were those who accepted the principle of prophecy, believing that divine revelation from Hashem exists. To these people they said: You believe in prophecy? Know that Hashem has promised that peace will prevail, nothing will happen to you, and only good will come. This is "They say continually to those who despise Me: The Lord has spoken, 'You shall have peace'" - to those who spurned the words of the true prophets yet still believed in the phenomenon of prophecy, they fabricated reassuring omens. On the other hand, there were those who walked in the stubbornness of their hearts, denying prophecy entirely and following the path of heresy; to them, they declared: "No evil shall come upon you" - and on what grounds? Based on the claim set forth in the following verse.
כִּי מִי עָמַד בְּסוֹד יְהֹוָה וְיֵרֶא וְיִשְׁמַע אֶת־דְּבָרוֹ, מִי־הִקְשִׁיב דְּבָרוֹ וַיִּשְׁמָע׃ - For who has stood in the counsel of Hashem, that he should perceive and hear His word? Who has listened to His word and heard?
Here they turn to the heretics, who do not believe in prophecy at all, and say to them: Why do you believe the prophecies of the true prophets who said that evil will befall you? Is there even such a thing as prophecy? Can a human being stand in the secret counsel of Hashem? Does the Holy One, blessed be He, speak with human beings? And they list three arguments: First, it is impossible for a person to stand and know Hashem's secret counsel. Second, "that he should perceive and hear His word" - how could a person see a prophetic vision or hear the word of Hashem? For the word of Hashem cannot be perceived with eyes of flesh or ears of flesh, which are physical organs, and spiritual reality cannot be attained through physical faculties. Third, "Who has listened to His word and heard?" - even hearing from afar, like a bat kol or a spiritual sound, through which he would understand, this too is impossible in their eyes. How could a person who dwells in houses of clay, physical and limited, receive divine matters and prophecy from the Infinite? All this they said to the deniers, while to the believers they told false prophecies. To each one they spoke what he wanted to hear, so long as he would not accept the word of Hashem.
The Storm of Hashem - The Judgment Destined to Descend upon the Head of the Wicked
הִנֵּה סַעֲרַת יְהֹוָה חֵמָה יָצְאָה וְסַעַר מִתְחוֹלֵל, עַל רֹאשׁ רְשָׁעִים יָחוּל׃ - Behold, the storm of Hashem: wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it shall come down upon the head of the wicked.
There are three tenses here in a single verse: "has gone forth" (yatze'ah) - past, "whirling" (mitcholel) - present, "it shall come down" (yachul) - future. And the past tense is particularly difficult, since this is a prophecy about the future. The Radak answers: We find similar instances in many places in prophecy, where the prophet perceives something and experiences it as though it already exists in reality, and therefore describes it as something that has already come to fruition. He sees it tangibly, and as far as he is concerned, the event has already occurred.
This prophecy, the Radak explains, speaks of the days of the Messiah, when the wicked will perish. That is: know that the Holy One, blessed be He, will execute judgment upon the false prophets and the wicked, as it is said, "Behold, I will feed them wormwood"; and although Hashem does not exact retribution from all the wicked right now, but rather in the time to come, nevertheless there will be immense anger directed toward the false prophets. For they were not merely wicked individuals, but instigators (mesitim), and that is far worse: a wicked person harms only himself, but an instigator is pained that someone else believes the prophet's words, and therefore he goes about spreading his lies in order to distance faith from everyone. Therefore, it is said of them, "wrath has gone forth" - with fury the storm will go out and come down upon their head until it consumes them.
The Malbim adds that the verse is directed against the two factions mentioned earlier. To those whom they told, "There will be peace, no evil will come, do not be troubled by the words of the prophets" - the prophet says: Behold, the wrath of Hashem has already gone forth. And what is this tempest? "A whirling storm" (sa'ar mitcholel). The Malbim notes that it could be derived from the hollow root (ayyin-vav), related to "it shall come down" (yachul), as in the end of the verse, "it shall come down upon the head of the wicked"; however, he prefers to interpret it from the root of machol (dance) - a storm that moves in a dance-like circular motion, that is, a tempest spinning on its own axis. This is a hurricane, which spins continuously, sweeping everything away in its path.
The Wrath of Hashem Shall Not Abate - And in the End of Days You Shall Understand
לֹא יָשׁוּב אַף־יְהֹוָה עַד־עֲשֹׂתוֹ וְעַד־הֲקִימוֹ מְזִמּוֹת לִבּוֹ, בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים תִּתְבּוֹנְנוּ בָהּ בִּינָה׃ - The anger of Hashem shall not turn back until He has executed and fulfilled the intents of His heart; in the end of days you shall understand it clearly.
In the view of the Radak, this refers to the end of days, in the era of the Messiah, and at that time, "you shall understand it clearly" (titbonenu vah binah) - you will comprehend and contemplate this prophecy. For until that time arrives, you do not see and you do not understand; you still see the wicked enduring, and you do not see how "it shall come down upon the head of the wicked" and the wicked will be eliminated. The doubled phrasing, "titbonenu vah binah," follows the biblical idiom seen in "Hashem was sore displeased (katzaf... ketzef) with your fathers," "and David fasted a fast (vayatzom... tzom)," and "to make a slaughter (tevach tevach)" - where the repetition adds clarity and emphasizes the intensity of the action, here indicating deep, profound contemplation.
The Radak notes a precise nuance: it does not say "they shall understand" (yitbonenu), but rather "you shall understand" (titbonenu) - you yourselves. But if this refers to an event in the Messianic era, how can you say that I will see it? It should have said that my great-grandchild will see it! Rather, there is an allusion here to the resurrection of the dead in the Messianic era: you yourselves will rise and see. For the wicked will also arise, as it says, "some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting contempt," and those who rise to everlasting life will witness the judgment executed upon the wicked.
The Malbim adds: not only will Hashem execute judgment upon the wicked, but the wrath of Hashem will not turn back until He has carried out the intents of His heart - the fury of judgment will not be forgotten and the anger will not subside until He takes vengeance upon the wicked, and then they will perceive that Hashem punished them because they rebelled against Him. From his wording, it implies that "the end of days" here does not necessarily mean the Messianic era, but simply the end of that period, a later time, and it does not have to be interpreted as referring strictly to the coming of the Messiah.
The Difference Between Cheimah and Af
In these verses, two expressions are mentioned: "wrath (cheimah) has gone forth" and "the anger (af) of Hashem will not turn back." What is the difference? The Malbim explains, as he does in several places: cheimah is in the heart, while af is manifested in action. "And his wrath burned within him" - an internal burning; outwardly you see nothing, but he is seething inside. By contrast, af is anger visible on the outside: "For a fire is kindled in My nostril" - when a person becomes enraged, his face reddens, he sweats, and hot breath flumes from his nose.
And the general rule is: as long as the wrath remains within, it does not usually lead to action; the person is still simmering inside. But the moment it erupts outward and becomes af, action follows. This is the meaning of what is stated: when wrath translates into action, it is called af, and then "the anger of Hashem will not turn back until He has executed it" - since it has reached the stage of af, there is implementation, and that anger will not subside until He carries out judgment upon those wicked people.
And what is meant by "and until He has established it," after it was already said "until He has executed it"? The Malbim explains: "established it" means that the outcome will endure and not be overturned. "Executed it" could refer to a minor blow after which the situation reverts to what it was before; but here it refers to a decisive blow after which things will never return to their previous state - the wicked will face judgment and will not return to commit wickedness again, making it a lasting and permanent act.
I Did Not Send, Nor Did I Speak
לֹא־שָׁלַחְתִּי אֶת־הַנְּבִאִים וְהֵם רָצוּ, לֹא־דִבַּרְתִּי אֲלֵיהֶם וְהֵם נִבָּאוּ׃ - "I did not send these prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied."
We saw that the false prophets told those who believed in prophecy: "You shall have peace," claiming to have a prophecy from Hashem to that effect. To this the Holy One, Blessed be He, replies: "I did not send these prophets." And not only did I not send them on a mission to the people - for one might have thought that He spoke to them privately and merely did not send them out - but "I did not speak to them" at all. For they are wicked, and how could divine speech come to them?
"Yet they ran" - from the concept of running, for they rushed to proclaim their prophecy. How do we know whether to read "רָצוּ" as meaning running (ratzu) or as meaning wanting and desiring (ratzu)? The rule is very simple: take a Tanach with cantillation notes. If you read a vocalized text without cantillation marks, you cannot tell; but when there are cantillation marks, look at where the mark is placed. Here the mark is under the reish - hence it is accented on the first syllable (mile'eil), meaning running. Had the accent been placed under the tzadi (milra), it would mean wanting.
This is a rule that has been mentioned several times, and many stumble and get confused over it; even novice Torah readers make mistakes here. Once, a young girl told her teacher that the name Boaz is not read milra, the way David, Shlomo, or Aharon are read, but rather mile'eil: Bó'az. The teacher told her: "Tell your father to bring me proof." Does this really require proof? Open a Chumash, open a Tanach to Megillat Ruth and look at where the cantillation mark is placed: the mark is placed under the beit, and you will never find it under the ayin. If it were under the ayin we would pronounce it milra, but since it is under the beit, it is Bó'az in mile'eil. It requires no great genius: open a Tanach, see where the accent mark is, and you will know how to pronounce the word correctly.
Another frequent example is the difference between óchel (food) and ochél (one who eats). Often the word appears in the text and one does not know whether it refers to the food being eaten or to the person eating. In the verse "and the palate tastes food (óchel) for itself" - does it mean the palate of the eater (ochél) perceives the taste, or a palate tasting food (óchel)? There too, the solution is the same: look at where the cantillation mark falls. If it is on the alef, it is óchel; if on the chaf, it is ochél. And it makes no difference whether the mark appears above or below the letter; the main thing is which letter bears the mark, and according to that we know the correct pronunciation.
The Proof That He Did Not Speak to Them: The Purpose of Prophecy
וְאִם־עָמְדוּ בְּסוֹדִי וְיַשְׁמִעוּ דְבָרַי אֶת־עַמִּי, וִישִׁבוּם מִדַּרְכָּם הָרָע וּמֵרֹעַ מַעַלְלֵיהֶם׃ - "And if they had stood in My council, they would have made My words heard to My people, and turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds."
The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Here is proof that I did not speak with them at all. Had they stood in My counsel, as they claim that I revealed My secret to them, they should have proclaimed My words to the people and turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds. Does someone who stood in the counsel of Hashem look like this - strengthening the hands of evildoers?
For the Holy One, blessed be He, does not send a prophet to tell the people, "You are righteous, you are wonderful, keep going" - there is no need for that. Where have we ever heard of a prophecy coming to the people to strengthen their hands in their wickedness? If there is prophecy, it is a sign that Hashem sees a need to initiate contact with the people. That in itself is not natural at all: we exist in an era of concealment, and prophecy constitutes a kind of proof of Hashem's existence, thereby impeding free choice. Therefore, under normal circumstances, prophecy does not come to human beings.
We have mentioned before that the standard purpose of prophecy is to elevate the prophets themselves. There were 1,200,000 prophets, and most of them were never sent to the people at all, because prophecy is not essentially intended as a mission to the nation. The mission is merely an accompanying byproduct: Since I am initiating contact with you, says the Holy One, blessed be He, I will also convey messages through you - but that is not why the connection was formed in the first place. The primary focus of most prophets was personal elevation through attachment to Hashem, in accordance with the Baraitha of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair: watchfulness, zeal, cleanliness, etc., until Ruach HaKodesh, where a person merits speaking with Hashem and the Holy One directs his path - a divine closeness in the service of Hashem. And if Hashem does establish contact with the people through a prophet, it is to rebuke them, not to say, "Wonderful, well done, you are doing fine." If so, how can you claim that you received a prophecy from Me - just to tell the people that they are upright? One does not need a prophecy for that.
Am I a God from Near?
הַאֱלֹהֵי מִקָּרֹב אָנִי נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה, וְלֹא אֱלֹהֵי מֵרָחֹק׃ - "Am I a God from near," says Hashem, "and not a God from afar?"
We have two explanations before us. Radak explains this along the lines of "They chose new gods" (Shoftim 5:8), "new ones who came of late, whom your fathers did not dread" (Devarim 32:17) - a new god whose name was unknown and unheard of, about which people say: This is the latest trend, this did not exist before. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Am I such a god, one of those "new ones who came of late"? Surely I am a God from afar, Whom mankind has known and recognized as the Creator since the creation of the world. I am not like those new gods that each person fabricates from his own heart and worships; would you say that the Holy One, blessed be He, is a novel invention concocted by human beings?
A second explanation: Am I a God from up close - capable only of seeing what happens nearby and not what happens far away? For a human being, there is a difference between near and far: what is near, I see and hear; what is distant, I do not see and do not hear. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Is that how it is with Me?
Targum Yonatan explains: "'I am God Who created the world from the beginning,' says Hashem" - this corresponds to "a God from near," that I created the world from the beginning; "'I am God Who is destined to renew the world for the righteous'" - this corresponds to "a God from afar," that I will renew the world for the righteous in the future. Thus, "from near" refers to the creation of the world, and "from afar" refers to the renewal of the world in the future to come.
Banishing the Creator to Heaven - The Approach of the Heretics
Malbim explains that here the verse responds to that sect of people who followed the stubbornness of their hearts, to whom the false prophets said that prophecy was impossible. Their claim was: The Holy One, blessed be He, is exceedingly exalted and lofty, and therefore He does not concern Himself with what happens down below. This was the way of the philosophers and heretics: when they wanted to rid themselves of the Master of the World, they would banish Him to Heaven - and that is it, I am exempt. "What are you talking about? Does the Creator of the world see what you do? Does He care how you put on tefillin, whether you put on the hand-tefillin before the head-tefillin, or whether there is a tip of the letter yud? After all, He is exalted and lofty!" They would even invert reality, asserting that anyone who claims Hashem knows what is happening with you is actually degrading His honor.
Their analogy went as follows: If your trash was not collected, would you call the mayor? Would you approach a government minister? They would immediately direct you to the service hotline: Do not bother us, there are clerks for that. Likewise, they argued: You have a financial problem or any other issue - and you turn to the Master of the World? Turn to the "clerks": the sun, the moon, the stars, and the constellations. The Holy One is the "God of gods," in the phrasing of Nevuchadnetzar, exalted above all earthly forces, and you should forge your connection with the lower forces, not with the Master of the World Himself.
We have already studied this matter at length in Nefesh HaChaim: how flawed this conception is, and how directly it contradicts the verse, "You shall not make with Me gods of silver or gods of gold" (Shemot 20:20) - which Chazal expound to mean: "with Me" - even serving Me through them as an intermediary. Prayer is addressed to Hashem alone: "He who sacrifices to any god shall be utterly destroyed, except to Hashem alone" (Shemot 22:19), for all entreaties must be directed solely to His blessed Essence, and not to any "clerk" or any other force in creation.
Why This Conception Is Also Logically Flawed
As explained at length in discussions on the Kuzari, this conception is logically flawed. They believe that by taking this approach they elevate the Creator's honor, but in reality the opposite is true: they diminish and belittle Him. Consider an analogy: if you were to measure from this point to infinity, what is the distance? Infinity. And if you advance one kilometer, how much remains? Infinity minus one kilometer? There is no such thing. Infinity will always remain infinity. And if you advance one hundred thousand kilometers, a billion, a trillion, it changes nothing; from the new point to infinity, it remains infinity.
Simply put: when dealing with an existence that has no size, no end, and no boundary, one cannot say, "this is large next to Him and that is small next to Him." If He is infinite, everything is zero beside Him. Large and small exist only in relation to something finite: if an object is one kilometer tall, a meter is small next to it and a hundred meters is large. But if the object is limitless, whatever you place beside it - large, small, colossal, mighty - will always be zero.
Thus, when philosophers claim that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not take interest in the life of an individual person, but only in grand matters - the cosmos, the preservation of planet Earth, wars between nations - and not whether someone's back is itching right now, what are they actually saying? That with the Holy One, blessed be He, there are large things and small things. By saying this, one makes Him finite, for only regarding a finite entity can one speak of what is large to Him and what is small to Him. With the infinite, boundless Creator, there is no large or small, and everything is equal before Him. It turns out that we are the ones who elevate the Creator of the universe, whereas they diminish Him, for they squeeze Him into a mold and dimension, asserting that there is a limit to His scale.
This is the answer given by the verse: "Am I a God from near, and not a God from afar?" Am I the God of the upper world alone, which is seemingly close to Me, and not the God of the lower world, the world of lowly beings, which is supposedly far? They relegated the Creator of the universe to the heavens; the verse responds: Am I the God of the heavens alone and not the God of the earth? Is there near and far before Me? Rashi explains similarly: Do I see only what is adjacent to Me, lacking the power to judge the lower beings who are distant from Me, and ignorant of their deeds? Surely My Shechinah is everywhere.
Can a Man Hide in Secret Places?
אִם־יִסָּתֵר אִישׁ בַּמִּסְתָּרִים וַאֲנִי לֹא־אֶרְאֶנּוּ נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה, הֲלוֹא אֶת־הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת־הָאָרֶץ אֲנִי מָלֵא נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה׃ - "Can a man hide in secret places and I will not see him? says Hashem. Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? says Hashem."
And should one claim that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not see and oversee the deeds of human beings, there is no barrier between the vision of the Holy One, blessed be He, and physical reality, for "do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" "And no partition separates," writes the Malbim. In earlier times this might have seemed inconceivable - when our Sages taught that Adam HaRishon could gaze from one end of the world to the other, one might have wondered: how can someone see from one end of the world to the other? Today, a person pulls a device from his pocket and observes what is happening in his factory in Australia, knows what every employee is doing at any given moment, and even knows what card game an employee is playing on the computer with a virtual opponent instead of working. Cameras are everywhere, and everything is accessible through a device held in the hand or kept in a pocket. Thus, physical distance is no limitation. And if one asks: Does not a wall still form a barrier? Even that is no longer an obstacle, since X-rays can reveal what lies behind a wall.
The Chofetz Chaim already saw in all these technological developments an indication of the lowliness of our generation: Heaven must provide us with tangible demonstrations so that we grasp that such a reality exists, for without them we would fail to comprehend it. When Heaven wishes to teach us, "and all your deeds are written in a book," we are shown how everything in our world is documented, photographed, and filmed. Today, virtually no crime is committed without someone later seeing footage of the perpetrator entering, taking, lifting, and returning. Not long ago, three Sifrei Torah were stolen in America. One morning the gabbai stepped outside and found three large bags on the synagogue threshold, containing all three Sifrei Torah, returned completely intact. What had happened? The synagogue had security cameras, the thief's photos were publicized, and fearing that someone would identify him and notify the police, he rushed to return the scrolls to avoid the disgrace of an arrest and a criminal record. What does this demonstrate? Nothing moves without being documented. All this was arranged so that even we, with our limited perception, can understand that all our deeds are recorded in a book.
Filling All Worlds and Surrounding All Worlds
Seemingly, there is an internal contradiction here: if "I fill the heavens and the earth," what room is there for the language of seeing? "Seeing" implies that I am here and observing what you did over there. But if I fill everything, I am right there, and there should be no need to "see."
Rather, there are two dimensions to the Providence of the Omnipresent: the aspect of memaleh kol almin (filling all worlds) and the aspect of sovev kol almin (surrounding all worlds). The author of the Tanya elaborated on this, as did the Nefesh HaChaim in explaining the secret of the Tzimtzum, and Rabbi Dessler in Michtav Me-Eliyahu. To explain briefly: When speaking of the Holy One, blessed be He, there is the dimension of "Hashem is the place of the world," which is the meaning of the title HaMakom (the Omnipresent). One might mistakenly think that just as a person is inside the world, so too God is inside the world. This is an error. The opposite is true: there is the Holy One, blessed be He, and the entire universe and everything one observes exists within Him. Everything is contained within Hashem, and He is the place of the world.
"*Memaleh kol almin*" (filling all worlds) means that the Holy One, blessed be He, is present everywhere in complete equality. "*Sovev kol almin*" (encompassing all worlds) means that He is not situated within, but transcends from without. In truth, Hashem fills all worlds; however, grasping this alone could lead to grave error. If a person were to perceive only the dimension of *memaleh kol almin*, he might conclude that the Holy One, blessed be He, is present in the Holy of Holies in the exact same manner as He is, *lehavdil* infinitely, in a lavatory, since "there is no place devoid of Him." From this line of thinking, one could easily fall into moral ruin and claim that pork is permitted to him, arguing that there is no less divinity in a pig than in a kosher animal slaughtered according to Halachah.
To prevent us from stumbling into this misconception, our Sages taught us that the Holy One, blessed be He, is *sovev kol almin* - He encompasses all around, illuminating through the light of His Providence. There are places where Divine Providence is revealed more intensely, such as holy places like the Holy of Holies, and there are places from which Hashem, as it were, withdraws His light, such as a lavatory or a place of filth. From this, a person understands that one cannot pray, learn Torah, perform mitzvos, or eat just anything in any place. Yet, so that one does not fall into the opposite error - claiming that there is a greater concentration of Godliness here and less of Him there - we are taught that in ultimate truth, from Hashem's perspective, everything is *memaleh kol almin* in complete equality. It is only man who, by looking at reality strictly through that lens, is prone to distortion. Therefore, Hashem constricted our perception, akin to "turning her face away" and the concealment of the Divine countenance, so that we view reality in the balanced way explained above: recognizing that Hashem oversees all, while maintaining a dynamic rhythm of *ratzo va-shov* (running and returning) - remembering that Hashem fills all worlds, yet avoiding excessive contemplation of this, as delving too deeply into it can lead to spiritual ruin.
In summary:
In the chapter before us, the prophet reveals the root corruption of the prophets of Yerushalayim: not a mere ideological error like that of the prophets of Shomron, but an utter abomination - "committing adultery and walking in falsehood," where lust precedes the lie and the falsehood serves lust, to the point that they strengthened the hands of evildoers and prevented repentance, becoming like Sedom and Amorah. Therefore, Hashem will feed them wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink, for from them hypocrisy went forth into all the land. Their method was to tell each faction whatever it wished to hear: to those who believed in prophecy, false visions of peace; and to the heretics, that prophecy itself is an impossibility. To this, Scripture responds: the tempest of Hashem will crash upon the heads of the wicked, and the anger of Hashem will not turn back until He has executed and fulfilled it; I did not send them, nor did I speak to them, for had they stood in My secret council, they would have turned the people back from their evil way, which is the entire purpose of prophecy sent to the nation. Finally, the prophet shatters the entire foundation of heresy: with the Holy One, blessed be He, there is no near or far, no great or small, no heaven or earth - "If a man hides in secret places, will I not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?"