Let us return to verse 17. "Ah, Lord God, behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm; nothing is too wondrous for You." The Malbim explains that there are three types of governance through which the Holy One directs the world. There is the governance at the time of creation, when Hashem created the world. About this governance Yirmiyahu says, "Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth." At that time the Creator set the laws of nature, laws that would not change. And this was "by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm." The very act of forming the world out of nothing is a mighty force, the tremendous power of the Creator. The world continues to exist. How does the world continue to exist? By what force? By the force of inertia? By what force does the world continue to exist? By the force that the Holy One, at every single moment, gives life to all the worlds. And if the Creator, for even one second, were to withdraw His will from the world, it would return to chaos and void. That is correct. This is what Rav Chaim of Volozhin discusses; whoever wishes may study the first chapter of Nefesh HaChaim, where he explains this point at length, that the world exists at every second from His blessed will, "who in His goodness renews each day, continually, the work of creation." We have spoken about this. Not only each day, but continually, every single second Hashem renews the work of creation. This is not like a building that a builder built, and after finishing the building he leaves and the building continues to stand by the force of the original construction. Rather it is like someone who holds up the ceiling for you and grasps it. If for a single moment he tires and lowers his hands, the ceiling falls on you. So too Hashem, as it were, at every single moment holds up the world and sustains it. If for one second Hashem withdraws His will from the world, the world returns to chaos and void. In the past this was hard to accept, because a person says: here it exists, it stands, how could it possibly return to chaos and void? But today, when we know that there is nothing in the world that is not composed of atoms, everything in the world is made of atoms, how do you sense matter at all? For the atoms, the reality of matter is not truly substantial. How do you sense matter? Because the atoms, the electrons and the neutrons, revolve around the nucleus, correct? The atom is the inner point, and they revolve around it. Like a fan: when you see a fan spinning, it gives you the sense that there is something whole there. Only when it stops do you suddenly see that it is four blades. But when it spins it looks to you like a complete unit. So too everything we sense is composed of atoms, with electrons revolving around them, and through this the atom, or really any physical thing, gives us a kind of sense of a solid, stable object. Whereas if we wanted to concentrate it down to its atoms, scientists say that the entire Eiffel Tower could fit inside a matchbox. That is, the net amount of matter in the entire Eiffel Tower is a matchbox. All the rest is really those very atoms. The atom, what is an atom? "A-tom" is two words. It means indivisible. It is a Greek word. Indivisible. It is the nucleus, the inner point that cannot be divided. And if you do divide it, then enormous energy is created, and this is really the idea of the atom bomb. So that point alone is the matter. It follows, then, that if the Creator decides for a moment, now all the electrons and neutrons and all these will stop for a single moment, what happens to the whole world? It all collapses in a single moment. That is to say, His blessed will is, as it were, a machine that Hashem set into operation so that the machine would work. This is the life force. This is what is called in the early works, it is brought in the writings of the early ones, that in every physical thing there is an operating soul. When people read this two or three hundred years ago, they said: what is this nonsense? In every physical thing there is an operating soul? What operating soul is there inside a cup? In a physical thing, in inanimate matter, this was said about the inanimate. What operating soul is there in a physical thing? There is no soul in it at all. The Rambam writes that in the stars and such there is an operating soul. What operating soul is there? Rather, what is the operating soul? What is a soul really? Movement. A soul is that which causes movement. A thing that has a soul has motion in it. This is the concept of a soul. Therefore, in the human soul, what is the human soul really? That which enables the movement of the body. The flow of the blood, the blood is the soul. The thing that enables movement is the soul. Higher spiritual levels are already about perception, but at its essence, a thing that enables movement is a soul. In everything there is an operating soul; these are really the atoms. In one second Hashem withdraws His will, and the world returns to chaos and void. This is what he mentions here. And this is what he says: "You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power." When? When You created the world. A mighty and tremendous force to create a world and all that fills it. "And by Your outstretched arm." What is an outstretched arm? It is an arm that is continually extended. What are You really doing all the time? Sustaining the world with Your outstretched arm. The outstretched arm, as it were, constantly, the outstretched arm holding up the world. Here he is really speaking about the reality of the constant continuation and existence from the Creator, which is at every single moment from His blessed will, like a person who stretches out his arm and grasps something. The moment he lets go, that thing will fall. So too His arm is outstretched to sustain the world at every single moment.
What is "nothing is too wondrous for You"? The Malbim explains that "nothing is too wondrous for You" means: You, Hashem, Master of the world, if You wish in a single moment to overturn the systems of nature or to dismantle the world, nothing is too wondrous for You. According to what we have just explained, this is truly wondrous. For there is no need for Hashem to start bringing in new bulldozers in order to dismantle the world if He wishes. Rather, what is needed in all? To withdraw His will from the world. This is what he says. Since by Your outstretched arm the world exists at every single moment, then nothing is too wondrous for You; even if You wish in a single moment to return the world to chaos and void, it is enough to withdraw the will. Rabbi, energy too is depleted. Say the power surges, so who invests further energy into the world? He does, the Holy One. Without a doubt. Yes. Yes. Correct. No, there are just those who wish to say, that is, one can explain it physically, that energy derives from something that exists here in the world. That is, if you found more coal, then you have more power to run a power station. That is, you have more energy. You understand? But once the energy has been actualized, you no longer have it, if you do not have it, you need new coal. You understand? This coal has already released all the energy in it, you need new coal. But all these things exist in the world. It is coal, you did not bring it from nothing, it exists in the world. The Holy One created the sources of energy in advance in the world that He created. You understand?
"Who shows kindness to thousands, and repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them, the great, the mighty God, the Lord of Hosts is His name." First of all, what is missing here in this verse? "The awesome." Where is "the awesome"? Chazal say: Yirmiyahu did not say "the awesome." And why? He said, strangers are croaking in His sanctuary; where are His awesome deeds? We do not see the awesome. What does this mean? Did he then not know that Hashem is awesome? What is the meaning of strangers croaking in His sanctuary, so what? Rather, the meaning of the matter is: certainly Hashem is also awesome and has wondrous and tremendous awesome deeds. But I cannot say something that will not ring true in the ears of the person who sees, for he will say: I do not see His awesome deeds. That Hashem is awesome is simple, this was clear to Yirmiyahu. But he could not say something that, for the one who sees, is not real. And therefore, at that time, he did not mention the term "the awesome." What is "awesome"? What is its meaning? "Awesome" means casting dread and fear. Now, if they come to croak in His sanctuary and to bring in an idol and to do all the abominations in the sanctuary, can one say that those who were there had fear of Hashem? Did Hashem cast dread upon them? Where are His awesome deeds? Had Hashem done even the smallest thing and the fear of God fell upon a person, they would have fled or died in a single moment. And since Hashem did not do this, the fear that Hashem instills in His creatures did not come to expression. Therefore he could not say "the awesome." The Malbim continues and explains: here we see the second governance. In the previous verse there was the first governance, as we said, the governance at the time of creation. Here he speaks of the governance by which the Holy One conducts the whole world through granting them free will, and the Holy One "shows kindness to thousands, the great God," meaning the Holy One arranges and directs the entire world according to advance planning. The whole world operates according to the will and plan of the Holy One. He rules over all the hosts through His overarching governance in every generation and in every era. And this goes beyond what we said in the previous verse. For in the previous verse we mentioned that Hashem created the world and also sustains it. The view of the philosophers, brought in the Kuzari and elsewhere, is that the Holy One created His world, but afterward ceased to take interest in it. For the Creator is a lofty, exalted, and tremendous reality, and this reality does not really take interest in whether you ate this morning or not, or whether you made a blessing or not. This was the philosophical conception. We have already explained at length on another occasion why this conception is utterly distorted even from the standpoint of straightforward logic. In any case, in this verse, "who shows kindness to thousands," he comes and says: this is not correct. You, Hashem, as I said in the previous verse, created the world, and You, Hashem, continue to sustain it. And in this verse he adds: and You, Hashem, also continue to direct it, taking interest and observing and seeing what a person does in every single one of his deeds. This is what he says here, "who shows kindness to thousands, and repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children," when the children continue and hold in their hands the deeds of their fathers, You, the Holy One, Master of the world, punish them. "The great, the mighty God, the Lord of Hosts is His name." What is "the Lord of Hosts"? He rules over all the hosts of the world through Your governance. You did not abandon the world after You created it, but rather You continue to direct it at all times and in every era.
"Great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give to each according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds." Here he now descends into the details. The Malbim explains that here he speaks of the individual governance by which the Holy One directs the world. Until now, in the previous verse, we spoke of the general governance. That is, the governance of the nations, the very governance of the Holy One with the people of Israel, that is an overarching governance. In this verse he says: You, Hashem, Master of the world, You are "great in counsel." Your counsel is a great counsel, namely to oversee all the great things that happen in the world. And immediately afterward, "mighty in deed." "Mighty in deed" means according to the deeds of the sons of men. That is, over every single small and private act, of every person, You, Hashem, oversee it. Not only the macro, but also the micro. Not only the great things, but every detail and every thought and every word and every deed of a person. "Whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give to each according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds." That is, You, Hashem, give to a person according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds, according to the thought and according to the deed that the person does.
"Who set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt until this day, both in Israel and among mankind, and made for Yourself a name as at this day." He continues and says, "who set," now he begins to explain these governances. What we said, that Hashem created heaven and earth and the laws of nature, where can we see that this power came to expression, that Hashem created the world and at every single moment sustains it? In that Hashem by His will overturns the systems of nature, correct? We said, through this we see that Hashem is the One who created nature. Where did we see this governance? When Hashem set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. He overturned the systems of nature. This corresponds to verse 17, where we said, You, Hashem, made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm, nothing is too wondrous for You. We explained, what is "nothing is too wondrous for You"? If You wish, in a single moment You can overturn the systems of nature and change the entire governance of the world. This Hashem already showed us, when there in the land of Egypt we saw that You made a name for Yourself, You set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt "until this day." That is, this matter, these signs and wonders, were not a one-time event, but we have seen "until this day" that Hashem still performs signs and wonders in every generation. As we saw afterward, "sun, stand still over Givon, and moon, over the valley of Ayalon," in the days of Yehoshua. As we saw in the days of Chizkiyahu, that the sun returned backward, correct? fifteen degrees. And these signs and wonders, "both in Israel and among mankind." Whether in Israel or among the other nations. "And made for Yourself a name as at this day." That is, through this the Holy One has a name that He created the world, and His name is publicized and revealed in the world. For whoever has the power to overturn the systems of nature is necessarily the one who created nature. He has the key how to overturn the systems of nature as well, to change them. How could it be that the rivers turn into blood? How could it be that for a full week there was a plague of darkness? And so on in this manner. It must be that the One who created light and darkness is the One who has the power to overturn and change the systems and to change the governance. "And You brought out Your people Israel from the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great fear." We said that the Holy One, beyond having created the world and sustaining it, has an additional governance, the general governance by which Hashem conducts Himself with the collective. And this, we said, is beyond the individual governance that we will soon see. Corresponding to the general governance, about this he said "who shows kindness to thousands." He says: behold, this we see, that You, Master of the world, brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, You gave them the land that You swore to their fathers, You did kindness with them. "And You gave them this land which You swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey." Behold the place that is so special, You promised and You fulfilled. Here he speaks of the second governance already, the general governance.
"And they came and inherited it, but they did not obey Your voice, and in Your Torah they did not walk; all that You commanded them to do, they did not do; and You caused all this evil to befall them." Here at this stage he moves to the third governance, which is the individual governance. This individual governance came to expression when the people of Israel came and inherited the land and did not obey Your voice, did not fulfill Hashem's commandments, "in Your Torah they did not walk, all that You commanded them to do they did not do," and as a result, "and You caused all this evil to befall them." As a result, You brought upon them the exile, You caused all this evil to befall them. Here he already speaks of the individual governance, the reward and punishment for the individual people, as we said, "mighty in deed," that Hashem descends to the smallest details in order to judge and give to each person according to his ways. "Behold, the siege ramps have come to the city to capture it, and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword and the famine and the plague; and what You spoke has come to pass, and behold, You see it." He says, behold, the siege ramps. What really are the siege ramps? Some say these are timbers by means of which they would hurl stones at the city. Apparently flexible timbers that they would draw back, tie a stone, and hurl this stone into the city. A kind of catapult. Another explanation, which most of the commentators give, is that the siege ramps mean what is called laying a ramp. A mound of earth that they would go and lay adjacent to the wall and raise up so that one could climb over the wall and come to fight against the city. In their times, when they wanted to conquer a city, either they would make a mound of earth against the wall and climb up on top, or the other way was by battering and breaking the wall. The way to break the wall was usually by means of an iron ram. There was a kind of very heavy rod of iron or of wood, and this rod was tied by two chains to the upper part of some wagon, and they would move it forward, back, forward, back, boom, until it struck the wall. They would swing it and strike the wall, and thus they would break the stones of the wall. Here the siege ramp has already been laid, meaning that same earthen ramp that they already erected adjacent to the city, "and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it." Why do I have no doubt that the city will already be given into the hand of the Chaldeans? First, the siege ramps have come to the city to capture it. Even without that, there is here sword, there is here famine, there is here plague. Even without the siege ramps we already know that this city's days are numbered. Another matter, we have no doubt: even if the city were strong, and even if there were no famine, and even if there were no siege ramps, "and what You spoke has come to pass." For, Master of the world, You promised that this city would fall into the hand of the Chaldeans. So even if the whole city shows no signs of breaking, it is clear to us that this thing is about to be fulfilled at any moment. "And behold, You see it." The meaning is, Master of the world, all of this is surely revealed to Your eyes, I need not tell You. And if so, then I have an enormous perplexity.
"Yet You said to me, O Lord God, buy for yourself the field with money and call witnesses, though the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans." How can You, Master of the world, command me now to buy the field and to summon witnesses? What benefit is there in buying the field? What will this accomplish? For this city has already been handed over to the Chaldeans. And if so, this purchase contradicts the original commands that You commanded me until now, to go and testify to the people and tell them that the city is about to fall into the hand of the Chaldeans, and there is no point in establishing themselves here, and that they should begin to settle in Bavel. "And the word of Hashem came to Yirmiyahu, saying." Hashem now answers him regarding the question, regarding the enormous perplexity that Yirmiyahu asked. "Behold, I am Hashem, the God of all flesh; is anything too wondrous for Me?" The Holy One says to him: indeed, nothing is too wondrous for Me. I know that the city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans. My burning anger toward them has not yet abated. And nevertheless, I tell you that they should go and you should go buy this field from Chanamel. The Holy One, according to what the Malbim explains, the Holy One says to Yirmiyahu: indeed, the people of Israel are destined to be exiled. That is, in the near term you are correct, I, Hashem, so promised and so it will be, the city will be destroyed, Israel will be exiled, and this, as we said, corresponds to what we said above, that the Holy One with individual and personal providence oversees that each person receive according to the fruit of his deeds, and to this people at this stage exile is due. But, says the Holy One, I have an ancient promise. And the ancient promise says that this land will be an inheritance for the people of Israel. And I do not intend to retreat from that ancient promise either. For I, the Holy One, am the God of all flesh. And the meaning of the matter is: I have a governance that is also a general governance across the generations. That is, there is a present governance and there is a general governance. In the general governance the land of Israel is ours. In the general governance the people of Israel are meant to return here to the land. In the present governance, you are meant to undergo refinement. You are meant to undergo a process, and in this process it is a kind of purifying, a clarification of everything you have done until now. It is a kind of punishment, and this punishment does not come as revenge, as we have explained several times in the past, but rather the punishments of the Holy One come as refinement and purification for the earlier deeds that you did. Therefore, "thus said Hashem: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nevuchadretzar, king of Bavel, and he shall capture it." Since My voice, and the voice is from Me, now I truly give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans. By the way, note: that is, Hashem here is really telling him, the Chaldeans on their own cannot take the city. How will they ultimately be able to conquer it? Because I give the city into the hand of the Chaldeans. Nevuchadnetzar has no ability or power on his own to come and conquer the city, rather I handed it into his hand. "And the Chaldeans who fight against the city, against this city, shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, and the houses on whose roofs they offered incense to the Baal and poured libations to other gods, in order to anger Me." The Holy One says: what I now do, giving the city into the hand of Nevuchadnetzar, all of this is in order to burn the houses on whose roofs they offered incense to the host of heaven. These houses became a form of idolatry. And what is the law of idolatry? One must burn it, one must destroy it. And therefore, says the Holy One, there will be no choice, this entire place is about to undergo destruction for all that they did in it. For...
"For the children of Israel and the children of Yehudah have done only evil in My eyes from their youth; for the children of Israel have only angered Me by the work of their hands, says Hashem." The Holy One says: the children of Israel and the children of Yehudah did only evil in My eyes. Note here that he compares them. "The children of Yehudah" is Yehudah and Binyamin; "the children of Israel" is the kingdom of Israel. "From their youth," that is, from the very first stages of their arrival here in the land, they did evil in My eyes. And besides this, the children of Israel "only angered Me." Who are these children of Israel? These are only the ten tribes. For their rebellion and the anger with which they angered Hashem was greater than that of the tribes of Yehudah and Binyamin. They never had a righteous king. From Yeravam ben Nevat onward, all their kings, one after another, were wicked kings. And there was no particular stage at which they did what was good in the eyes of Hashem. And he says they "only angered Me." And therefore, says the Holy One, the exile was a necessary consequence.
"For this city has been to Me a cause of My anger and My wrath from the day they built it until this day, that I should remove it from before My face." The Holy One says: this city, Yerushalayim, from the moment, from the day they built it, aroused My anger and My wrath. Who built Yerushalayim? Who built the Beit HaMikdash? Shlomo. What does this mean? How was the Beit HaMikdash, from the moment it was built, a cause of My anger and My wrath? Chazal say, what is "this city has been to Me a cause of My anger and My wrath from the day they built it"? Chazal say: on that very day that Shlomo built the Beit HaMikdash, on that very day that was the dedication of the Beit HaMikdash, on that very day Shlomo married the daughter of Pharaoh and brought her to Yerushalayim. Chazal say from that time they began to sacrifice on high places, the wives whom Shlomo brought. They made a high place, as it is written, "Then Shlomo would build a high place for Kemosh and for the abomination of Moav and for the abomination of the children of Amon." What is "would build"? Chazal say that his wives built, and he did not protest against them. That is, already from when this city was founded, it was what is called "its conception was not in holiness." Already from then it aroused My anger and My wrath. "And until this day I extended My patience toward them." Until this day, says the Holy One, I restrained Myself, I waited, perhaps they would return in repentance. But, says the Holy One, this is no longer possible.
What is the plain meaning? The Malbim explains, to what may this be compared? A parable, to what may this be compared? To a person who planted some sapling in a garden. And this sapling he looks at, and he sees that it is not growing well. He sees that it grows crooked and it begins to sprout all kinds of thorns and it does not grow in the proper way, and not as that sapling is supposed to grow and blossom and bring forth good fruit. Now he sees that if this sapling continues like this, it may itself ruin all the trees of the garden. And therefore what is the choice, what to do? To uproot this sapling and to plant, to plant a new sapling. This is really what the Holy One says here. Hashem says: this city, from the outset, this place in itself when they built it, in this place there is a deficiency. This place, as it were, the city, is the cause of the corruption of the people of Israel. Since this place, from the start, is a place in which the corruption and the seed of calamity is already planted from the time they built the place. And therefore there is no choice but to destroy the city and to spend His wrath upon the trees and the stones. This is what he says: "for this city has been to Me a cause of My anger and My wrath." This city that they built has been for Me a shield for My anger and My wrath. That is, when the people of Israel sin, says the Holy One, I will spend My anger and My wrath upon this city. And then through this I will, as it were, destroy the city and not destroy the people of Israel.
That is to say, as it were, if we want to draw the parallel, then the Holy One, as it were, says: instead of destroying the corrupted sapling, I will destroy the garden. And, as it were, in consequence of the garden that is not right and produces corrupted saplings, through this I will preserve the sapling, so that this sapling might perhaps become better. This is really the meaning of the parable here. The Holy One says: since this city was a cause of My anger and My wrath, I will destroy the city and through this I will spare the people of Israel. As it were, the city is what is not right. And then through this the people of Israel will return in repentance and mend their ways. "For all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Yehudah which they did to anger Me, they..." What? [Speaker in the background: The Holy One was angry with them in the past] Correct. [Speaker in the background: With the stones...] That is it, that is what he is speaking about. Which they did to anger Me, "they, their kings, their princes, their priests and their prophets, and the men of Yehudah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim." For all the evil that the children of Israel and the children of Yehudah did to anger Me, here he already includes both parts of the people of Israel, both Israel and Yehudah. "They," this is the people, "their kings, their princes, their priests and their prophets." What is "their prophets"? [Speaker in the background: The false prophets] The false prophets. The prophets who prophesy to them and tell them it will be good, the king of Bavel will not come here, the king of Bavel will return the vessels that he took, he will bring them back to the Beit HaMikdash. For all the evil that they did, this was not the sin of individuals, it was the sin of the collective.
"And they turned to Me the back of the neck and not the face; and though I taught them, rising early and teaching, they do not listen to receive instruction." "And they turned to Me the back of the neck and not the face." This is a metaphor. A person you are speaking with who turns his back on you, as it were, does not want to receive your words. The Holy One says: and yet in every way I sent, rising early and teaching. What is "rising early and teaching"? Chazal say that the prophets would come to them rising early in the morning and toward evening, at every possible time. The prophets would come, "and they do not listen to receive instruction." They did not want to receive their prophecies from them. [Speaker in the background: As it is written, they gave a stubborn shoulder and did not take instruction] True. "And they set their detestable things in the house that is called by My name, to defile it." They were not content with this; Achaz and Menasheh went and set their detestable things, their idolatry, in the house that is called by My name. Why? For what purpose? To defile it. That is, they were not content with going to serve idolatry, but they went to fight against the Creator, to anger the Creator. The idolatry and the detestable things, which are vain beliefs, they went to bring into the house of the God of Israel. And even this was not enough for them.
"And they built the high places of the Baal that are in the valley of Ben Hinnom, to pass their sons and their daughters over to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come up on My heart, to do this abomination, in order to cause Yehudah to sin." They were not content with this, but rather, the Malbim explains, the Holy One, as it were, says: behold, after all that they did, after I uprooted the sapling and destroyed the place, all of this was in order that this city should return and be rectified. All of this was really with the intent that ultimately this city would be rectified and this people, who are really the sapling, would improve their ways. And therefore the Holy One says: they did all these deeds in order to cause to sin and to corrupt the people of Israel. And now, this is what he explains here, "and now, therefore, thus said Hashem, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, it is given into the hand of the king of Bavel by the sword and by famine and by plague." That is, the Holy One says now that you come and say, why is this city given into the hand of the king of Bavel? "Behold, I will gather them from all the lands where I drove them in My anger and in My wrath and in great fury, and I will bring them back to this place and settle them in safety." This is what the Holy One says to Yirmiyahu. Since in the overall reckoning this is to preserve the city, and the overall reckoning is that the land of Israel is due to the people of Israel, and the overall reckoning is that the people of Israel will remain in existence forever and never be destroyed. Therefore, the only way for Me to preserve the people of Israel is by uprooting the sapling from here, by destroying the garden here, but the sapling at least will remain in existence. And then the sapling will rectify itself, will improve its ways, and then I will return and plant it anew when the garden will be a better garden, and then this sapling will return and give its fruit in a good and positive way. "Behold, I will gather them from all the lands where I drove them." One may say, by way of hint, that the whole purpose here is only to cleanse them and to refine them. So "where I drove them," this is also from the expression that I drove them away, but it is also from the expression to rinse and to wash. Correct? Rinsing. "Where I drove them" ("hidachtim"), a dishwasher. To rinse and to wash. The Holy One says: I washed them through this. For "Hashem has washed away the filth of the daughters of Tziyon." This is the meaning here. Through the great fury and the anger and the wrath, the Holy One says, "and I will bring them back to this place and settle them in safety." In the end I will bring them back here and settle them in safety, that is, they will dwell here in safety without any fear, without any harm. So do not be surprised at what I tell you, go buy an estate here. This exile is a temporary exile, since in the overall reckoning the purpose is for rectification, and they will return here.
"And they shall be to Me a people, and I will be to them a God." They will believe in Me, they will keep My commandments, and I will return and be their God as before. "And I will give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days, for their good and for the good of their children after them." The Holy One says: and then they will no longer sin. When they are exiled again, rather I will give them one heart and one way to fear Me. The meaning of the matter is that when a person sins, his heart is really divided. What does it mean that his heart is divided? For this is the reality of which we speak, the evil inclination and the good inclination. What are the evil inclination and the good inclination? These are two pulls of the heart. On one hand the heart is drawn to do good, this is the power of good in a person, the good inclination. On the other hand the heart is drawn to do evil, this is the power of evil in a person. This is what we call the evil inclination. So he says: in that future reality this will no longer exist. "And I will give them one heart and one way to fear Me." The meaning of the matter is that their heart will be a heart drawn only to words of Torah, only to matters of holiness, only to do what is good in the eyes of Hashem, to fear Me all the days. That is, there will no longer be a pull toward evil, God forbid, but rather they will be drawn only to good.
Let us explain matters a bit more deeply. Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin brings in Nefesh HaChaim, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin writes it briefly and expands upon it more, that the reality of the evil that is in a person, says Nefesh HaChaim, its source is really from the fact that Adam HaRishon was entirely good. There was no evil in him at all. There was no reality of evil at all. Where was the evil? All the evil was only outside Adam HaRishon. When the evil inclination wanted to entice the man, who was the evil inclination? The serpent. That is, there was no internal evil inclination within him; the evil inclination was external to him. The serpent is an external force that came to the man and enticed him. After the man was enticed by the counsel of the serpent, really Chavah and afterward Adam HaRishon, what happened as a result? The evil inclination became mixed within the man. It became part of him. And therefore the Tree of Knowledge is not called the Tree of Knowledge in the language of the Torah; rather, what is its name? The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. You will never read "the Tree of Knowledge" alone. Rather always in the Torah it is written the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. What is "knowledge"? Connection. Knowledge is connection. A person who has knowledge (da'at) knows how to compare one thing to another. This is called da'at. To compare, this is similar to that. This is called da'at. In contrast, a fool does not know distinctions. Everything looks the same to him. A person of da'at knows how to make a distinction. Da'at is connection. "And Adam knew (va'yeda) Chavah his wife." What is "knew"? He connected, correct? What is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? It is the tree from which, following the eating of its fruit, knowledge of good and evil. Good and evil became connected together. And consequently a corruption was created in all the worlds. In all the worlds, and consequently in all the worlds evil became connected as well, except for the world of Atzilut as is brought in the works of Kabbalah, and also in the man himself evil became connected with the good. And this is what we say, that really the evil inclination, after the sin of Adam HaRishon, the evil inclination speaks from within our throat. What is the meaning of the matter? When a person wants, this is an interesting distinction that Rav Dessler dwells upon, that when a person wants some sinful thing, what does the person say? "I feel like it." "I feel like it." In contrast, when he has an inner conscience that tries to prevent him, then he says to you: I have an inner voice that tells me do not do this, it is a sin. That is, did you notice what a terrible situation was created following the sin of the Tree of Knowledge? We identify completely with the evil inclination. To the point that when the evil inclination comes to entice me toward something, it is not him, it is me. We do not even notice that it is the inclination enticing us. "I feel like it." The feeling is that I feel like it, that I am interested in it. In contrast, when the good inclination comes to speak with us, there the reality is different. We feel that there is another force, that it is a force, an inner voice from within us that tells us do not do this. That is, we do not at all identify with the good inclination. The good inclination is another force, it is an external force. In contrast to the evil inclination, which became an internal force, to such an extent. To such an extent did the evil become mixed with the good, to such an extent did the will for evil become an internal will and an internal aspiration to do evil.
As a result, what did the Holy One say? Now the Creator says: I will banish Adam HaRishon from where? From Gan Eden. Why? What is the reason? For what reason does the Creator banish Adam HaRishon? "Lest he eat from the Tree of Life and live forever." A wonder of wonders. The Holy One is the perfection of good. He wants to bestow good. What do You care that the man should eat from the Tree of Life and live forever? What is wrong with living forever? Wonderful indeed. How lovely, no need to die. No, no, no, woe and alas. If he remains here further, in the end he will live forever. Let him live forever, what is the problem? Nefesh HaChaim says: understand, the entire reality of a person drawing close to Hashem after the sin of Adam HaRishon can be created only by the evil separating from the good within him. How will the evil separate from the good? Through the death of the person. And why? Because as a result of the Tree of Knowledge the person became coarse. Physical, material, driven by desire. Before that, "and the two of them were naked and were not ashamed." But afterward he received a physical reality, a material reality, a reality of desire. This reality of Adam HaRishon after the sin, this reality forces that in order to reach refinement, what must you do? Undergo a process of death. Undergo a process of death. Without the process of death, there is no possibility whatsoever for a person to attain the supernal light. The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh writes that Adam HaRishon could ascend to the upper Gan Eden and there, in the supernal spiritual reality, speak as it were with the Creator, and whenever he wished, descend to the lower Gan Eden. Why? Because Adam HaRishon was very spiritual. In the spiritual reality this is not a problem. Afterward the man became a physical man, a material man. And then, in order to reach and connect to the Divine, the man must do what? Undergo a process of refinement, and this is through passing away. And this is what the Creator says: "lest he stretch out his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat and live forever." And what would happen if the man lived forever? The evil would not separate from him. He could never come to rectification. And this is something the Holy One says cannot be, this is something I do not want. So on the contrary, the very fact that the Holy One brought death upon the man, this is good for the man. This is positive for the man, for without death the man would, God forbid, live forever and never be capable of reaching separation from the evil, never be capable of reaching cleaving to Hashem. Therefore the very separation is what is vital and positive for the man. And this is what Chazal say elsewhere, Chazal say about what is written, "and God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good." What is "very good"? Death. What is so good about death? According to what we have just explained, this is wonderful. For without death one cannot reach refinement; were it not for death one could not reach rectification. So "behold it was very good" is death.
When was the people of Israel close to this? To rectification? This was at the time the people of Israel received, at the giving of the Torah they received the Torah. The Gemara says their filth ceased. Their filth ceased. That filth of the serpent that they preceded me with, the people of Israel reached a level of refinement where they already saw visions of the living God while still in their bodies. How did they reach this? Their filth ceased. They returned to being like Adam HaRishon before the sin. But what can be done, afterward they made the Golden Calf. And how did the sin of the Calf come about, tell me? Through an internal or an external evil inclination? How do you know? Chazal say the Satan came and confused the people and flew the bier of Moshe Rabbeinu before their eyes, and they said, "this Moshe, the man, we do not know what has become of him." What is this, the Satan suddenly on the outside? Because the sin of the Tree of Knowledge had already been rectified. We reached the level of angels like Adam HaRishon before the sin. And once again, if so, when the Satan needs to come to us, from where does he come? From the outside. But then we stumbled in that same stumbling of Adam HaRishon. "Indeed, like men you shall die, and like one of the princes you shall fall." We fell from our level and returned to the corruption of Adam HaRishon. For what was the corruption of Adam HaRishon? That he did not wait. That the man did not wait. Had he waited for the entrance of Shabbat, he would have merited to eat from the Tree of Knowledge permissibly, for the Tree of Knowledge was a grapevine, he would have merited to make Kiddush over the wine, to receive Shabbat, and the world would be rectified in the kingship of Shakkai. But Adam HaRishon did not wait, did not hold on. What did he bring about as a result? Corruption to all the worlds. We had already reached the stage of rectification, and at the stage of rectification, once again, what was our sin? We did not wait. Moshe delayed in coming and we did not wait. We were incapable of waiting a few more hours to see whether Moshe would arrive by the end of the day. Immediately, "arise, make us a god." That same iniquity. By the way, Adam HaRishon was reincarnated again. In whom was he reincarnated? David. "Adam" is an acronym: Adam, David, Mashiach. That is the acronym of "Adam." And he was reincarnated in David. What was David's sin? Bat Sheva. Correct? Bat Sheva was fitting for Adam HaRishon, only he ate it unripe. What is "unripe"? Immature. Immature fruit. That is, she is due to you; had you waited you would have received her permissibly. Once again we see that same ancient sin pursuing them along the entire way. [Speaker in the background: It is also written "a hasty people," no?] Yes. "A hasty people" was said in disparagement about another matter, which is really good, that they said "we will do and we will hear." There it is even positive.
And this is really what is written here. "And I will give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days, for their good and for the good of their children after them." That is, the Holy One says: then, when I ultimately redeem the people of Israel, they will have one heart and one way. There will no longer be such a situation where the evil is mixed with the good. There will no longer be such a situation where we feel such identification with the evil and feel as though the will for evil is our inner will. Rather we will return to the state of Adam HaRishon before the sin, where the evil was external to the man and was not a part and partner of him, and consequently they will have only one way, to fear Me all the days. And then in the future it will not even be external to him, for then the Holy One says that He will slaughter the Satan, correct? The angel of death. And consequently it will not even be external to us, and then consequently the entire heart of the man will be only good toward Hashem. "And I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from after them, to do them good, and I will put My fear in their heart, that they not turn away from Me." I will make with them a covenant that will endure forever, that just as they will accept to fear the Holy One perpetually, so too the covenant that I will make with them will not be conditional, but rather it is a covenant that "I will not turn away from after them, to do them good." That is, a covenant that contains a promise that I will not turn away from after them, meaning there will not be a situation that I will exile them, that I will punish them, but rather an absolute covenant that they will have only good. And why? Since there will no longer be in them the power of evil, they will not have the power of evil, so consequently one can promise them an absolute good promise, for they will no longer come to a negative reality. And through this, "and I will put My fear in their heart, that they not turn away from Me." That is, when they prepare their heart to fear Me always, through this My covenant will be an everlasting covenant without condition. Why? Because I am guaranteed to preserve them, for indeed I cannot break My covenant, so I need to preserve them so that they do not break their covenant, meaning, to leave Me all the days. And through this I too will be able perpetually to fulfill My covenant, to give them only good. And through this, what will I gain? "And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land in truth, with all My heart and with all My soul." "And I will rejoice over them to do them good," the meaning is that after the covenant, as we said, is absolute, an irrevocable covenant, then I will necessarily do them good always. And if they were, if they were sinning, then Hashem is compelled to do us good; will He rejoice in this? When we sin, He does us good, but He does not rejoice in this. Why? Does Hashem, God forbid, begrudge doing good to us? No. Rather what? This good is not good for you, the Creator would say. To what may this be compared? To an unruly child who runs wild and they give him more and more prizes for what he does. So on one hand you say, I am glad that my child will have it good, this is my child. But on the other hand I am very sad, for it ruins him and corrupts him that I am constantly giving him prizes for negative behavior. So the Holy One says: then in the future, when He does us good, He will rejoice in this good, He will be glad in it, for we will be good and will be worthy of the good. And if the good were given while we are unworthy, then Hashem does not rejoice in this good, for ultimately it is bad for us, ultimately this good only corrupts us. And then "and I will plant them in the land in truth, with all My heart." That is, now it will already be in truth. What is "in truth"? In an absolute manner, without turning back. "With all My heart," that My heart will be attached to them. Not such a situation that I will hide My face from them and distance Myself from them. "For thus said Hashem: Just as I brought upon this people all this great evil, so I am bringing upon them all the good that I am speaking concerning them." Just as I brought upon them all this great evil, as I promised in prophecy, says Hashem, so too now I promise in prophecy that I will bring the good upon them. And this was the thing that encouraged Rabbi Akiva. When Rabbi Akiva walked with the sages and they were weeping and he was laughing, this was based on this direction, that the Holy One promised the evil and brought it, so Hashem says, just as I brought all the evil, so I am bringing upon them all the good that I am speaking concerning them. So when I see the evil being progressively fulfilled, then it is clear to me that the good too will come and be fulfilled, for Hashem linked one to the other. "For thus said Hashem: Just as I brought upon this people all this great evil, so I am bringing upon them all the good that I am speaking concerning them." "And the field shall be bought in this land, of which you say, it is a desolation without man or beast, it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans." The Holy One says to him, "fields shall be bought with money and written in a deed and sealed and witnesses called, in the land of Binyamin and in the environs of Yerushalayim, and in the cities of Yehudah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the Negev, for I will restore their captivity, says Hashem." The Holy One says to him: what I commanded you, to buy the field from Chanamel, why? Because you come and say this land will be a desolation. I tell you no, know this, fields will yet be bought with money. A place that is desolate, do they sell the fields there for money? You can take it for free. In the Sahara desert go take yourself fields for free. A desolate place does not cost money. And the more attractive and more fertile the place, then the prices there are higher and more expensive. He says: this place will yet be so attractive that fields will be bought with money. You say a desolation, no man or beast, given into the hand of the Chaldeans, He tells you to such an extent, "and written in a deed and sealed and witnesses called." That is, if a person sells a field, he will sell it only with a document and witnesses. Why? So that it will be certain that this field is absolutely mine. Whereas today, if a person sells a field, he does not sell it with a document and witnesses but secretly, so that the Chaldeans will not hear. He says to them, but in the future they will sell everything, fields will be bought with money and the people will be willing to invest and the situation will return to good. "In the land of Binyamin and in the environs of Yerushalayim, and in the cities of Yehudah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the Negev, for I will restore their captivity, says Hashem." The Holy One says: I will restore all those who go to Bavel, I will restore them to their land. They will return from Bavel back to the land of Israel. Only, what is not clear here is that ostensibly this command, this answer, speaks of seventy years. Whereas the Holy One, when He spoke with him about "I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from after them," this speaks of the future covenant that we have not yet reached even today. So how does he link the two things? He suddenly moves with him to the future, to the very end of days, and now he suddenly comes and speaks with him: buy the field because they will return here. But now You spoke with me about the future and about the promises that will be at the very end of days. The explanation is: the Malbim in the book of Daniel explains that the redemption of the Second Temple, which was in the time of Ezra and Nechemiah, the Malbim explains, was a form of the beginning of the redemption and it is a kind of what is called a trial period. It was not that planned future redemption, but rather the redemption in that period as well, only the redemption was a temporary redemption. Hashem gave them the Beit HaMikdash, as it were, for another trial period. And had the people of Israel gone in the way of Hashem and truly merited to serve Hashem in the Beit HaMikdash and, through their return to their land, then at the completion of the 420 years of the Second Temple the Mashiach would have come and there would have been the complete redemption. And thus he explains the verses of redemption that appear in the book of Daniel. That these verses explain about the period after the Second Temple. That at the end of the building of the Second Temple, a perfected Temple, built in fire and from the heavens, was supposed to descend, and then all the prophecies of "and I gathered them from all the lands where I scattered them" would be fulfilled, and then the Third Temple would endure forever. But since we did not pass through this period successfully, what happened is that Hashem ultimately was compelled to destroy the Second Temple as well, through Titus, and he destroyed the Beit HaMikdash, and once again we were exiled among the lands. And so now we await the Beit HaMikdash, without a Beit HaMikdash. In the Second Temple they awaited the future redemption; it was clear to all that this was a temporary redemption. Only a small portion came here to the land, we said 42,000 as appears in the book of Ezra and Nechemiah. A small portion came. But with all this they had an expectation that at any moment the complete redemption would come, the Mashiach would come and there would be a general redemption of the people of Israel, the ten tribes would return, everything would return to its former state. But since they were not worthy, in the end the future redemption was deferred, and we are still in exile and awaiting that Hashem redeem us speedily in our days, Amen.