"And in the prophets of Shomron I saw folly, they prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray." Let me read another pasuk. "And in the prophets of Yerushalayim I saw a horrible thing, adultery and walking in falsehood, and they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one repents of his wickedness; they have all become to Me like Sedom, and its inhabitants like Amora." "And in the prophets of Shomron I saw folly." The Malbim explains that he is actually describing here that he saw the prophets of Yerushalayim as worse than the prophets of Shomron. That is why he joins them together. For seemingly it is not understood: Shomron has already gone into exile. Why are you telling me this now? In the prophets of Shomron I saw folly, they prophesied by Baal... that is history, they were exiled long ago. So what point is there now in coming and describing what once was? Tell me what is happening with the prophets of Yerushalayim, so the pasuk should have said only "And in the prophets of Yerushalayim I saw a horrible thing, adultery and walking in falsehood." The Malbim says no, he wanted to create a parallel between them, and to tell you: as bad and terrible as the prophets of Baal were, know that the prophets of Yerushalayim are worse than they. That is what he actually wanted to say. For indeed, in the prophets of Shomron I saw folly. They did not sin with malice and deceit, but were merely lacking in understanding. They believed in Baal, they thought that Baal gave them prophecies, they thought there was substance in Baal, and that worship of Baal, that idolatry, led them astray. And as a result they led Israel astray. In contrast, here in the prophets of Yerushalayim I saw a horrible thing. A horrible thing, says the Malbim, is worse than folly. "Folly" (tafel) means tasteless. "Horrible thing" (sha'arurah) is like sa'ar benafsho, related to the roots of the grain, the wheat, barley, the gatekeepers, where there is an expression whose meaning is something foul, repulsive, harmful. So here it is not merely folly, it is a horrible thing. And their horrible thing, which is a very disgraceful matter, is not an error, but rather what is called following the stubbornness of their hearts, through "adultery and walking in falsehood." Since they wanted to commit adultery, therefore "walking in falsehood." We have explained this progression several times in the past. Chazal say: Israel worshiped idols only in order to permit themselves forbidden relations in public. The meaning of this is: the God of these people hates immorality. And the Torah greatly restricts a person in matters of holiness. And when a person wants to break through all the fences, then what is he actually doing? He fires the Creator of the world. If there is no Creator of the world, then that is it, then no one will hold me accountable, then there is nothing, then peace be upon my soul, I can do whatever I want. And in order to reach this state, "they chose new gods." So for this he needs to come and take some idol and embrace it to his bosom, because idolatry, as we have said several times, was very liberal. It permitted them, allowed them, and moreover, we brought from the Gra that we always see that with regard to idolatry it is written "your harlotries," "your whoring," "you go astray after other gods." The Gra says: we have a tradition that beside every house of idolatry there was a house of harlotry. And they would hold all kinds of parties and celebrations of harlotry under the direction of the priests of the idolatry. And so it emerges that they had, so to speak, some way to realize those lusts of theirs without needing to give an accounting, because there is another god. It emerges then that this did not begin from a belief in a god, and consequently he does what that god says; no, it began from a lust to commit harlotry, and consequently he seeks a god who will permit him. The Malbim says: this is what is written here, "adultery and walking in falsehood." Since they wanted to fill the lusts of their hearts, and that is the adultery, therefore "walking in falsehood": he knows it is false, and nevertheless he walks in falsehood, because it is the path that will permit him. And they also did not lead the people astray with the prophecy of Baal, but rather "they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one repents of his wickedness." Even a person who wants to mend his ways, to repent from his wickedness, they strengthened the hands of evildoers. So that the prophets and the people were not erring, but rather they were fabricating lies in order to fill their lusts. That is to say, they turned the people into people like themselves, ones who walk in falsehood in order to fill their lusts. And in this "they have all become to Me like Sedom, and its inhabitants like Amora," for they too had bad laws in order to fill their lusts. And whoever wishes can take this entire pasuk and paste it today onto the media, and it fits exactly. "I saw a horrible thing, adultery and walking in falsehood," since they want to permit themselves all the prohibitions, therefore "walking in falsehood," and if someone tries to come and say something, then "they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one repents of his wickedness," they silence him, shut his mouth, do not let him speak, and "they have all become to Me like Sedom, and its inhabitants like Amora."
We once brought the confession, an essay by a man named Aldous Huxley, who wrote an essay called "Confessions of a Professional Free-Thinker." He was one of the people who proudly spread Darwin's theory. And toward the end of his days he wrote a confession essay in which he writes that in truth the difficulties with Darwin's theory, that man came from the ape or from an amoeba, are enormous and hard. And nevertheless we championed and spread his theory and his approach, not because it was truth in our eyes, but because we wanted to live in a world in which there is no meaning, in which there is no God who determines for me what to do and what not to do. And according to his theory, that even if I came from an amoeba, who will tell me what to do? I can do whatever comes into my mind. And he wrote there, I will phrase it in a delicate expression, he wrote there to permit ourselves lusts, mainly in the realm of modesty. He detailed it further; we will not detail. But it is clear that this is really the progression, and as Chazal say, they worshiped idols only in order to permit themselves forbidden relations. So too here, "adultery and walking in falsehood." They want to commit adultery, so he knows it is false and nevertheless he walks in falsehood, because it is the path that will permit him. And they also did not lead the people astray with the prophecy of Baal, but rather "they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one repents of his wickedness." Even a person who wants to mend his ways, to repent from his wickedness, they strengthened the hands of evildoers. So that the prophets and the people were not erring, but rather they were fabricating lies in order to fill their lusts. That is to say, they turned the people into people like themselves, ones who walk in falsehood in order to fill their lusts. And in this "they have all become to Me like Sedom, and its inhabitants like Amora," for they too had bad laws in order to fill their lusts. And whoever wishes can take this entire pasuk and paste it today onto the media, and it fits exactly. "I saw a horrible thing, adultery and walking in falsehood," since they want to permit themselves all the prohibitions, therefore "walking in falsehood," and if someone tries to nullify their words, then "they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one repents of his wickedness."
They immediately silence him, and on the contrary, they will strengthen every most absurd group and every most insane club of all kinds of madmen who have come out of the closet and those who have not yet come out, and they will strengthen them in their approach and go and encourage them. And why? So that you will walk in falsehood. Walk in falsehood so that all the forbidden relations and everything will be permitted to you even in public, and you will hold a parade and announce to the whole nation and the world that this is it, I have my own way, and let no one determine for me, let the Torah not determine for me, let the Creator of the world not determine for me. May the Merciful One save us.
"Therefore, thus said Hashem of Hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Yerushalayim hypocrisy has gone forth to all the land." Therefore Hashem says, "Behold, I will feed them wormwood," I will bring upon them trouble bitter as wormwood. And "poisoned water" (mei rosh) is the potion of death. The Metzudat Tziyon explains: from the pressing of a bitter grass whose name is rosh. And why? Because through them, as we said, "from the prophets of Yerushalayim hypocrisy has gone forth to all the land." They flatter them, as we said, they beautify their deeds for them, show them favor, do not rebuke them, on the contrary, strengthen them in their evil way, and through this hypocrisy goes forth to all the land. In this they will have a punishment, that behold you will receive, since you brought hypocrisy, which is forgery, He says, therefore you will receive your punishment for your deeds.
"Thus said Hashem of Hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you; they make you worthless, they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of Hashem." "Thus said Hashem of Hosts: Do not listen to (al divrei) the prophets who prophesy to you." "Al divrei," says the Radak, is like "el divrei," the words of the prophets. Like "and Elkanah went to Ramah, al his house," meaning to his house. So "do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you." Those prophets who tell you empty words with no substance, do not listen to them. "They make you worthless": what they tell you are empty words, things they did not hear from Hashem, but rather "they speak a vision of their own heart." What they envision in their heart is empty and has no benefit. It is both false and empty, and they speak from what their own heart envisions, not from the mouth of Hashem.
"They say continually to those who despise Me: Hashem has spoken, you shall have peace; and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say: No evil shall come upon you." The Malbim explains: "they say continually to those who despise Me," now he describes their falsehood, how they would incite each one in a different way. That is to say, since there were two groups among the people, and each of these two groups had a different, even contradictory, path, they incited each of them according to his own path, even though in fact in the things you incite this one with and then incite the other you contradict yourself. The ultimate goal, in effect the target, it did not bother them to act with internal contradiction and to incite each sect according to its own matter. And the Malbim details.
The Malbim says: there were those who believed in prophecy. There were people who believed that there is such a thing as prophecy, and that prophecy is from Hashem and Hashem grants a person prophecy. What would they say to these people? They would say to them: You believe in prophecy? Know that Hashem said there will be peace. Know that Hashem said nothing will happen to you, it will only be good. This was for those who believed in prophecy. Why did they believe in prophecy? They would tell them good prophecies. But on the other hand there were those who walked in the stubbornness of their hearts. And those who walked in the stubbornness of their hearts were people who did not believe at all that there is such a thing as prophecy, but were people who walk in the way of heresy, in the way of denial. To them, to these people, they would say: No evil shall come upon you. And why? The next pasuk: "For who has stood in the counsel of Hashem, that he should perceive and hear His word? who has attended to His word and heard?"
Since here he turns to the deniers, to the people whose path is the path of heresy and denial, who do not believe at all that there is such a thing as prophecy, what would they say to them? Why do you believe the prophecies of the prophets? Who has stood in the counsel of Hashem? Why do you believe the prophecies of the true prophets who said that evil will come upon you? Is there such a thing as prophecy? Who knows what Hashem commands? Who has stood in the counsel of Hashem? Does the Holy One, blessed be He, even speak with human beings at all? Is it possible for a person to stand in the counsel of Hashem? So it emerges then that each of them received what he wanted to hear. "To those who despise Me, Hashem has spoken peace." To those who despise Me, He would say Hashem has spoken. This refers to those who believe in prophecy but were despising the words of the prophets; they would tell them, do not worry, the prophecy says it will be good. And "everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his heart," those who do not believe in prophecy, to them they said, no evil shall come upon you, for who has stood in the counsel of Hashem, there is no such thing as prophecy at all, so do not believe.
Therefore no evil shall come upon you at all, and in general prophecy is impossible. First, because it is not possible for a person to stand and know the counsel of Hashem. Second, "that he should perceive and hear His word." The meaning of this: how is it possible for a person to see a vision in prophecy or to hear the word of Hashem? For the word of Hashem cannot be grasped by eyes of flesh nor by an ear of flesh. These things are physical organs, and it is not applicable that a person should grasp a spiritual reality through a physical power. "Who has attended to His word and heard?" Even if a person listens from afar, like a bat kol or some spiritual voice, through which he would hear and understand, even that is something impossible. So how is it possible that a person who dwells in houses of clay, a corporeal person, should receive divine matters, should receive prophecy from Hashem? Can a limited person receive prophecy from Hashem, who is unlimited? All of this, the Malbim says, they said to the deniers, to those who did not believe in prophecy. And to those who did believe in prophecy, they told them false prophecies. So that in effect, to each one they said what he wanted to hear. The main point: do not accept the word of Hashem.
"Behold, a storm of Hashem, fury, has gone forth, and a whirling tempest; upon the head of the wicked it shall whirl down." So first of all, you say "a storm of Hashem, fury, has gone forth," "has gone forth" is past tense. And you say "a whirling tempest," that is present. "Upon the head of the wicked it shall whirl down," that is future. So what is happening here? First of all, past tense should not be said at all, since you are speaking here about prophecy, and prophecy is about the future. So why do you say "fury has gone forth"? The Radak says: we find an example of this in many places in prophecy, that when a prophet sees something, he sees it as if it is already in reality. That is to say, he experiences it as if it already exists. And therefore when he describes the thing, he tells you it has already gone forth. It is not something that is going to be; I have already seen it. Since in prophecy he sees the things in a tangible way, then from his perspective this thing has already gone forth and this thing has come to pass. Therefore he speaks here and says, "a storm of Hashem, fury, has gone forth," I have already seen the fury, how it went forth.
This prophecy, says the Radak, is a prophecy that speaks about the days of Mashiach. For then the wicked will be destroyed. He tells you, know that the Holy One, blessed be He, will execute judgment against the false prophets, against the wicked. As it is written, "Behold, I will feed them wormwood." And even though Hashem does not execute judgment upon all the wicked, but at any rate upon these, that is to say the Holy One, blessed be He, at this stage, and the Holy One, blessed be He, does not exact retribution from all except in the time to come, but know that at any rate there will be great wrath against those false prophets, who were not merely wicked, but were inciters. And that is far worse than the wicked, for a wicked man is wicked for himself. But the inciter, it pains him why someone else believes the words of the prophet. And what he does is go and spread his lies in order to distance everyone from belief in the words of the prophet. And therefore He says of them "fury has gone forth," there is great wrath; with fury that storm will go forth and it will whirl down upon the head of those wicked ones until it destroys them.
The Malbim says that here he is really speaking against the two sects that we spoke of earlier. Did we see that they told them do not worry, there will be peace, there will be no evil? You need not be troubled by the words of the prophets. He tells them, "Behold, a storm of Hashem, fury, has gone forth." The fury of the Holy One, blessed be He, has already gone forth, and it is a storm of Hashem. And what is this storm? "A whirling tempest." What is "whirling" (mitcholel)? "Mitcholel," the Malbim explains, is from the roots whose middle letter is a vav. The middle root-letter of the verb. The meaning is that it is from the language of "it shall whirl down" (yachul). "Mitcholel" is like "yachul," as it is written "upon the head of the wicked it shall whirl down." And the Malbim himself says regarding "mitcholel," it seems more fitting to explain that the meaning is from the language of a tempest that goes in a whirl (machol). What is a tempest that goes in a whirl? That is a windstorm. That is a hurricane. That is a tempest that goes in a whirl. Have you ever seen how a hurricane goes? It is something that spins and goes and sweeps everything. So then when we speak of a "whirling tempest," we speak of a kind of hurricane that goes and spins, from the language of machol, spins in a whirl and destroys everything.
"The anger of Hashem will not turn back until He has executed and until He has fulfilled the plans of His heart; in the end of days you shall consider it with understanding." "The anger of Hashem will not turn back until He has executed and until He has fulfilled the plans of His heart." As the Radak explained, this speaks about the end of days, in the days of Mashiach. Then "you shall consider it with understanding." Then you will understand and consider this prophecy that I am telling you. Because until the end of days arrives, you still do not see. You still do not understand. You still see that the wicked exist. You do not see how "upon the head of the wicked it shall whirl down," that the wicked will be finished. But in the end of days "you shall consider it with understanding." "Binah" means to consider, deep contemplation. Contemplation and understanding. The Radak says it is like "Hashem was angry (katzof katzaf) at your fathers." "And David fasted a fast (vayatzam tzom)." "In order to slaughter a slaughter (litbo'ach tevach)." Always when the expression comes in a doubled form, it is for additional explanation and to strengthen the action. So this is what he says here as well, the Radak explains: "you shall consider" means you yourselves. He does not say "they shall consider," for "they shall consider" is future language. And here the Radak says: a hint to the resurrection of the dead in the days of Mashiach. Because if you are speaking with me, and you are speaking with me about something that is going to be in the days of Mashiach, then how are you telling me that I will see it? Tell me that your great-grandchild will see. But you are telling me that I will see? If you say "you shall consider," the meaning is you will see. How will you see? You will rise in the resurrection of the dead. And behold, the wicked too will rise, and these to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence, and these to everlasting life. So those who rise to everlasting life will be able to see the judgment being executed upon the wicked, who are to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence. So it emerges here that it is correct to say "you shall consider it with understanding," you yourselves will consider. Therefore the prophet does not say "they shall consider," but rather "you shall consider," yourselves, because you will be there when you rise in the resurrection of the dead.
The Malbim explains that what he adds here in the pasuk is really coming to tell them: not only, as I told you, that Hashem will execute judgment upon the wicked; know that the anger of Hashem also will not turn back until He fulfills the plans of His heart. The meaning is: He will not forget the fury of the judgment, He will not forget the wrath until He fulfills the plans of His heart to take vengeance upon the wicked. And then in the end of days, they will consider that Hashem punished them for having sinned against Him. From the Malbim's language it is implied that "the end of days" written here is not necessarily the days of Mashiach, but rather "the end of days" means at the end of time. At a later time. That is really what is being spoken of, and there is no necessity to understand that it speaks of the period of the coming of Mashiach, of the very end of days.
The Malbim says: we spoke here of "fury" (chemah), we spoke here of "anger" (af). "Fury has gone forth," "the anger of Hashem will not turn back." What is the difference between fury and anger? The Malbim says: fury, and this is an explanation that he explains in several places, fury is in the heart. Anger is in action. We see this in many pesukim, as we say "and his fury burned within him." That is internal. Fury is an internal burning. You do not see it on him, but he is thus seething from within. That is fury. In contrast, when we speak of anger (af), "af" means something recognizable on the outside. "For a fire is kindled in My nostril (af)." When a person is angry, his nose reddens, he sweats, one sees an exhalation of heat coming out of the nose, "a fire is kindled in My nostril." So anger is always an expression of external wrath, in contrast to fury, which is an expression of internal wrath, of wrath that is in the heart. So he says "fury has gone forth," behold, come and see, when the fury goes forth, then "the anger of Hashem will not turn back." That same fury that until now was inside, and always take note, when the fury is inside, then usually the matter does not lead to action. When does a person act? When does a person rage, take vengeance, strike, do some actions to implement his anger? When it is of the category of anger. When it is internal fury, then he is still, as it were, cooking within. But the moment it becomes anger, meaning it is already bursting out, then there is action. And this is what he says: when the fury goes forth into action, then it is called anger. And then it will not turn back until He has executed, and then Hashem will not turn back, the anger of Hashem, until He has executed and until He has fulfilled the plans of His heart. Since there is already anger here, then here there is already implementation. That wrath and that anger will not subside until He fulfills the judgment upon those wicked ones, "until He has executed and until He has fulfilled." What is "He has fulfilled"? You already said "He has executed." The Malbim explains: that the matter will be permanent and will not be nullified, that is called "He has fulfilled." So "He has executed" could be some small blow, after which the situation returned to how it was. But if I say this is a great blow after which it will no longer return to how it was, that is called "He has fulfilled." So the anger of Hashem will be so great that ultimately the wicked will give the reckoning and will no longer return to wickedness, and that is called "He has fulfilled." This deed will be a deed that lasts forever.
"I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied." We saw that the prophets, the false prophets, would tell them there will be peace for you. About this the Holy One, blessed be He, says: what they told those who despise Me, that Hashem said there would be peace, and that they have a prophecy about this from Hashem, this they said to the people who believe in prophecy. About this the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I did not send the prophets. And not only did I not send them on a mission to the people, I also did not speak to them at all. That is to say, it could be that Hashem spoke to them personally but did not send them. He tells you about them: not only did I not send, I also did not speak with them personally. Since they are wicked, how would the divine speech come to them? So He says: I also did not speak with them, so not only did I not send. "Yet they ran (ratzu)." "Ran" means from the language of running. They ran to say their prophecy. By the way, it is written here "vehem ratzu." I can read it with the accent on the last syllable, and then I would read "ratzu." But I read it "vehem ratzu," the meaning being from the language of running. How do we know whether to read "vehem ratzu," meaning they ran to prophesy, or whether I should read "vehem ratzu" (they wanted)? The rule is very simple. You need to take a Tanach that has cantillation marks. You need to take a book with cantillation marks. If you read it vowelized without cantillation marks, you will not know whether it is "ratzu" (ran) or "ratzu" (wanted). But the moment there are cantillation marks, I immediately look at where the accent is. And since here the accent is under the resh, that says "ratzu" (ran). And if the accent were under the tzadi, I would say "ratzu" (wanted), which is from the language of will. And this is always a rule, I have already mentioned it several times in the past. There are many who get confused with this and get entangled in it, and do not know how to read, and even baalei kri'ah, you will hear, sometimes get confused in this matter. I mean beginners more, not the experts. And once it also happened that I told... that my daughter told her teacher that the name Boaz is not read "Boaz." As many think: David, Shlomo, Aharon. No, it is not, it is not read with the accent on the last syllable, but rather it is read with the accent on the preceding syllable. It is read "Boaz." So the teacher said to her, then she told her that this is how her father told her. That is what she told the teacher. Yes? Fine, so the teacher said to her, tell your father to bring me proofs. How ridiculous. Proofs are needed. Do you not have a Chumash? Can you not open a Tanach, Megillat Rut, look to see where the accent is? Open it and see, the accent is under the bet. The accent is never, it is never found, you will never find it under the ayin. If it were under the ayin, I would say "boAz." But since it is under the bet, I say "Boaz." So that in fact it is different, the name Boaz is different from most names that are always read with the accent on the last syllable; it is read with the accent on the preceding syllable. But you do not need great wisdom to know how to understand this. Open a Chumash, open a Tanach, see where the accent is, and you will know how to pronounce the word correctly.
Another example, where by the way there is a great difference in how we read, is the distinction between "ochel" (food) and "ochel" (one who eats). Many times it is written "ochel," and we do not know whether the intent is to the object, that is food, or whether it speaks of the person performing the action, the one who eats. Yes? "Shall not the palate taste its food (ochel)?" Is it "shall the palate taste its food"? Or "shall the palate of the eater taste it"? The palate of the eater will feel the taste. Yes? And so on in this manner. And there too, in all these places, in order to escape the confusion, look at where the accent is. If it is on the alef, then it is "ochel" (one who eats). If it is on the kaf, then it is "ochel" (food). And through this you will know. By the way, the accent can be below, it can be above, that does not matter. The point is where the accent lies. In the place where the accent lies, according to that we know the form of pronunciation of the word.
"But if they had stood in My counsel, they would have proclaimed My words to My people, and would have turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds." Hashem says: come and I will prove to you that I did not speak with them at all. What is the proof that I did not speak with them? He says: if they had stood in My counsel, as they claim that I revealed to them My counsel, then they should have proclaimed My words to the people. They would not create a situation where you strengthen the hands of those who do wickedness. People do wickedness and you strengthen their hands? Had they stood in My counsel, if they had truly heard what I say, then on the contrary, they would have proclaimed My words and turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds. They should have turned the people back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds. For the Holy One, blessed be He, does not send a prophet in order to tell the people you are righteous, you are wonderful, you are marvelous, no, everything is fine, continue on. There is no need for that. Where have we heard that there is a prophecy that comes to the people in order to do what? To strengthen their hands? There is no need for that. If there is a prophecy, that means the Holy One, blessed be He, already sees a need to create contact with the people, which is something that seemingly should not naturally occur. Since naturally we are in a generation of concealment, we are in a reality in which, on the contrary, prophecy constitutes some proof of the existence of Hashem and it harms free will. So ordinarily, prophecy does not reach human beings. And we said once that the matter of prophecy in its plain meaning is only in order to elevate the prophets. Prophets numbered one million two hundred thousand, and most of them were not sent to the people at all, since prophecy was not meant to be a mission to the people. A mission to the people is an accompanying action. Since I am creating contact with you, says the Holy One, blessed be He, then I also transmit messages through you. But this is not, He does not create contact with him in order to transmit messages. For most prophets their matter was self-elevation through connection to Hashem. As we see in the Baraita of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair, up to cleanliness, carefulness, alacrity, and so on, up to the holy spirit. He merits prophecy, to speak with Hashem. What is there? That the Holy One, blessed be He, shows him His way, divine closeness to the service of Hashem. So if indeed Hashem creates contact through the prophet, it is to rebuke the people. Not in order to tell the people, well done, congratulations, you are all right. So if so, how is it possible that you claim you received prophecy from Me and what? To tell the people they are proper? "If they had stood in My counsel, they would have proclaimed My words to My people, and would have turned them back from their evil way." For this is the purpose for which prophecy comes, not in order to tell them there will be peace for them. For that you do not need prophecy.
"Am I a God near at hand, says Hashem, and not a God far off?" The Holy One, blessed be He, says: am I a God near and not a God far off? What is this "far off"? So there are two explanations here. One explanation the Radak gives: there are gods about which it is said "they chose new gods." "New ones that came recently, which your fathers did not dread." That is the intent, it is a new god, which we did not know and did not hear its name. And they tell you, listen to this, it is a trend now, something new, it was not here before. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: am I such a god, that I am new, come recently? Am I not the God from afar? For human beings recognized and knew the Creator of the world already from the time of the creation of the world. I am not like those new gods that each one fabricates from his heart and worships. For would you say that the Holy One, blessed be He, is, so to speak, some new invention that people came and invented? Another explanation, what is "near and not far"? Am I a God near, meaning that I am able to see only what people do nearby, and not able to see what they do at a distance? That is the intent, "am I a God near and not a God far off?" And what is the meaning of the matter? When we speak in the perception of a person, then for a person there is a difference between far and near. Something that is near, I saw, I heard. Something that is far, I do not see and do not hear. So the Holy One, blessed be He, says: am I a God near at hand, says Hashem, and not a God far off? Am I able to see and hear only from nearby and not able to see and hear from afar? The Targum Yonatan explains: "I am the God of the everlasting covenant from the beginning, said Hashem." That is the God near. Not only from nearby, I created the world from the beginning. And I am also the God far off. What is the God far off? What is going to be in the far future. What is going to be in the far future? "I am the God who is going to renew the world for the righteous." So near is the act of creation, and far is the renewal of the world for the righteous.
The Malbim says that here at this point he responds to those who would say, those who walked in the stubbornness of their hearts, and to whom the false prophets would say, prophecy is not possible. There is no such thing as prophecy from Hashem. Why? Since they claimed: the Holy One, blessed be He, is exceedingly exalted. The Holy One, blessed be He, is exceedingly lofty. When the philosophers and the people of denial wanted to rid themselves of the Master of the world, they would send Him to the heavens. And that is it, and then we are done, so I am exempt. What do you mean? He tells you, what are you talking about? Does the Creator of the world see what you do? Does the Creator of the world care how you put on tefillin? Whether you put on the hand tefillin before the head tefillin? Whether you have the little tip of the yud? What are you talking about? The Creator of the world is exalted, exalted and lofty. They would thus throw Him to the heavens, and then no, He is not interested at all in everything that happens here. And on the contrary, in saying that Hashem is interested and knows what is happening with you, you have degraded the Master of the world. Tell me, when you have some problem with, I don't know what, they did not remove your garbage, do you call the mayor? Do you call the minister of sanitation? A person immediately sends you to a hotline, do not bother me, there are clerks. Right? So he says here too, what do you mean? You have some financial problem, you have some problem, and you say Master of the world, save me. What do you turn to the Master... you do not turn to the mayor, so you turn to the Master of the world? So what? Turn to the clerks. What are the clerks? Sun, moon, stars, constellations. The Holy One, blessed be He, is the God of gods. This is what they would say. As Nebuchadnezzar said. The intent is: Hashem is God, He is exalted and lofty above all the powers below, and you should create the connection with the powers below, not with the Master of the world independently. And in fact we already learned this matter at length in Nefesh HaChaim, the corruption of this perception, and how much this thing contradicts what is written, "gods of silver and gods of gold you shall not make with Me." Chazal say: "with Me," even to worship Me. The intent is as an intermediary, and prayer, we pray only to Hashem, and "one who sacrifices to gods shall be destroyed, except to Hashem alone." Since all appeals must be only to Hashem, only to His Essence, blessed be He, and not to any clerk and not to any other power that exists in creation. So that in fact this perception is completely corrupt. And we also explained once at length in the Kuzari, I will not go on at length, we explained that this perception is also corrupt logically. Even though seemingly by logic it appears to us, listen, it is true, you do not turn to the mayor, you do not turn to the prime minister, he has clerks. So why only to the Master of the world do you bother about every little problem you have? The answer is that they feel that in this they are elevating the honor of the Creator. While the opposite is true. They are merely diminishing and shrinking the Creator. And why? We explained, we gave an analogy: if a person wants to measure how much it is from here, from this point up to infinity, what is the distance? Infinity. And if I advance one kilometer, how much will it be from there to infinity? It is infinity minus a kilometer, right? There is no such thing. You cannot say infinity minus a kilometer. Infinity will forever remain infinity. And if I advance a hundred thousand kilometers, and a billion kilometers, and a trillion kilometers, it will not change; no matter how much you advance, from there to infinity it remains infinity. In simple words, when I speak of an entity that has no, has no size, has no limit, is without boundary, then you cannot say, listen, this is big beside it, and this is small beside it. Because if it is infinite, then everything beside it is zero. You cannot say this is big beside it and this is... there is no big and small beside it. Big and small you can say beside something that is finite. You say, its height is a kilometer, place beside it something of a height of a meter, then I will say this is small. Place beside it something of a height of a hundred meters, that is big. Why? You say, but it is very big, it is a kilometer. True, but in relation to it there is big and small. But if the big one is such that it has no boundaries, it is, as I said, infinite, whatever you place beside it, big, small, huge, mighty, it will always be zero. Because it is beside infinity. So then, when you say that the Holy One, blessed be He, is not interested in the life of the person, what do the philosophers say? In what then is He interested? The Holy One, blessed be He, is interested in the cosmos, in the existence of planet earth, in global warming, I don't know what, wars between countries; in bigger matters the Holy One, blessed be He, is interested. Not in the fact that your back is itching now. In that the Holy One, blessed be He, is not, is not interested in that. Why? Because you say, for the Holy One, blessed be He, there are big things and there are small things. You have turned the Holy One, blessed be He, into something limited. Because only about someone limited can I say this is a big thing for him, this is a small thing for him. Someone unlimited, infinite, has no big and small. Everything for Him is zero. So that in fact, on the contrary, we are the ones who elevate the Creator of the world, and they who say that beside Him there are big and small things, they are the ones who shrink the Creator of the world, because they place Him within a form and a size, and in effect they say that the Holy One, blessed be He, has a limit to His size.
And if so, says the Malbim, then they would tell them, the deniers, they would tell them: know that the Holy One, blessed be He, is exceedingly exalted above the lowly world. And since this is so, the Holy One, blessed be He, is not interested in what happens here. To this the answer is: "Am I a God near and not a God far off?" Am I a God of the upper world, which is really near, and not of the lower world, the world of the lowly ones, human beings, which is, so to speak, far? Namely, what did they actually do, as I said? They sent the Creator of the world to the firmament. So am I the God of the firmament alone and not the God of the earth? Do I have far and near? This is akin to what Rashi explains: that I see only what is close to Me, and it is not in My power to judge the lower ones who are far from Me and I do not know their deeds? Behold, My Presence is in every place. So how do you make such a claim?
The pasuk continues and says, and if you should say that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not see and does not watch over the deeds of human beings, "Can any man hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says Hashem. Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? says Hashem." "Can any man hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?" For there is nothing that separates between the sight of the Holy One, blessed be He, and reality. For "the heavens and the earth I fill." And if to us once this thing sounded impossible, or that Adam HaRishon used to see from one end of the world to the other. A person will tell you, ah, how is it possible to see from one end of the world to the other? So first of all, today you can take out some impure device from your pocket and look at what is happening at your factory in Australia. You know each worker exactly what he is doing at any given moment. Not only that, you also know which game he is now playing on the computer. Because you enter his computer and see that he is playing cards there on the computer with some virtual opponent instead of doing his work. You know everything, you have cameras everywhere, and everything through the device that is now in your hand, in your pocket, or in your office. So first of all we see that there is no limitation of place. Fine, but you might say, a wall still constitutes a limitation. Today we know that even this no longer constitutes a limitation, since today it is possible to know by X-ray, for example, even what is beyond the wall. So that in fact, today we understand, and the Chafetz Chaim in all these things saw the lowliness of the generation, that from Heaven they must bring us illustrations so that we will understand that there is such a reality. Because without this we would not grasp it. They want to tell us, come and understand that your deeds are written in a book, so they show us how everything is documented and everything is photographed and everything is filmed and everything... this today we know. There is no person today who commits a crime without afterward seeing the person enter, take, lift, return. Just recently I read, three sifrei Torah were stolen in America, and one day the gabbai goes outside, sees three large bags placed there on the threshold of the synagogue. He checks, what does he discover? That the three sifrei Torah were returned intact. What turned out? There were cameras there in the synagogue, they published the pictures of the thief, and this person was afraid that soon someone would identify him and run to the police to report him, so this person hurried to return the sifrei Torah so that he would not, not be caught in his disgrace, with a criminal file and so on. What do you actually grasp? There is nothing that moves without it being documented. This was done so that we too, people of weak intellect, would understand, sir, all your deeds are written in a book. So Hashem says, "Can any man hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says Hashem. Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" And there is no partition that separates, says the Malbim. The meaning of this: even a partition does not conceal, because today you know that it is possible to photograph even through a partition. So then, understand that there is no place empty of My honor and My providence, and nothing is hidden and concealed from Me.
What is the meaning of "the heavens and the earth I fill, says Hashem"? This seemingly also contradicts, because you say "that I shall not see him, says Hashem." If the heavens and the earth I fill, then there is no need for any seeing. Seeing means I am here, I saw what you did there. But if I fill every place, then I am present in every place, there is no need to come and see what you are doing, I, I am there. So indeed we saw that there are two aspects to the providence of the Omnipresent. There is the aspect of filling all worlds (memale kol almin), and there is the aspect of encompassing all worlds (sovev kol almin). The Baal HaTanya elaborates on this, we saw this at length also in Nefesh HaChaim, in the explanation of the secret of the tzimtzum. We also saw an explanation of this matter in the Michtav MeEliyahu of Rav Dessler, who dwells on the matter and explains it. I will explain it briefly. When we speak of the Holy One, blessed be He, then we speak that there is an aspect in which Hashem is the place of the world, as the Nefesh HaChaim says. We speak of "HaMakom," blessed be He. What is the meaning of "HaMakom," blessed be He? There is the place and we are in the place. But the place itself, they tell you, is the Holy One, blessed be He. The meaning of this: we can think, just as there is a world, so I am in the world, Hashem too is in the world. He tells you, that is a mistake. It goes the opposite way. There is the Holy One, blessed be He, and the world and everything you see is within the Holy One, blessed be He. Everything is within Hashem. So Hashem is the place of the world. This is the aspect of the place of the world, therefore He is called HaMakom, blessed be He. Now, when we speak of the Holy One, blessed be He, then there is the aspect of filling all worlds. Filling all worlds means that the Holy One, blessed be He, is present in every place in complete equality. And there is the aspect of encompassing all worlds. The intent is that He is not present inside, but present from without. That is the aspect of encompassing all worlds. And we explained then that in truth Hashem is filling all worlds. But this can lead to corruption. Because if a person feels that Hashem fills all worlds, then according to this the Holy One, blessed be He, is present in complete equality in the Holy of Holies just as, l'havdil, with a thousand thousand distinctions, in the lavatory. Since there is no place empty of Him. And then consequently a person by force of this can come to corruption, we said, he could even eat pork. Because he will say, what, there is no less divinity in the pig than in a kosher animal slaughtered according to law. So that we would not come to this corruption, they told us the Holy One, blessed be He, encompasses all worlds. Encompassing all worlds means that He is around and radiates with the light of His providence. And there are places in which there is more providence, and then those are more holy places, like the Holy of Holies. And there are places from which the Holy One, blessed be He, so to speak, removes His light, and then that is the lavatory, the place of filth and the like. And then consequently it emerges that a person through this will understand that not in every place can you pray and learn and fulfill mitzvot and eat everything and so on. But so that the person will not come from this to corruption and say, ah, then the Holy One, blessed be He, has within Him, He is not in complete equality, there is a concentration of the Holy One, blessed be He, and there is less of the Holy One, blessed be He, then that too is corruption. Therefore they tell us, know that according to the truth, from the perspective of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is filling all worlds in complete equality. Only you, if you look this way, you can come to corruption. And therefore Hashem constricted our light, our perception, as "she constricted her face," she concealed her face, this is how he explains it. And then through this we will look at things in the way we have just explained, namely that we will know that Hashem is in providence, but in a running-and-returning motion we will remember and know that Hashem is filling all worlds. But it is forbidden to contemplate this, because whoever contemplates this will come to corruption.