Sefer Yirmiyahu, chapter 48. Concerning Moav. So says Hashem, Master of Legions, God of Israel: Woe to Nevo, for it is plundered; Kiryatayim is shamed, it is captured; the stronghold is shamed and shattered. Concerning Moav. Here there is now a prophecy about Moav. To Moav, the prophet delivers a prophecy: So says Hashem, Master of Legions, God of Israel, Woe to Nevo. The meaning is that the people of Israel will now be avenged, Hashem, as it were, will take our revenge upon Moav. The destruction of Moav came because the Moavites afflicted us. And about this he says to them, Woe to Nevo, "Woe" is an expression of a cry of anguish, for it is plundered. "Shamed," "plundered" means from the language of a plunderer coming upon it, someone who took their wealth, someone who struck them. "Kiryatayim is captured." What is Kiryatayim? Why does it not say Kiryatam? What is the dual form? Kiryatayim comes from the word for two. So one explanation the Radak offers is that there was a city called Kiryatayim, as in "in Shaveh Kiryatayim" and so on. There is a further possibility he offers, that there were two towers in the city, and therefore it was called "kirya" after the tower, "Kiryatayim" after the two towers. "The stronghold is shamed and shattered." "The stronghold is shamed," the city called Misgav, is shamed and shattered. "Shattered" comes from the language of fear, of breaking, as in "do not fear and do not be shattered." The Misgav, according to this explanation, the Radak explains means the name of a place. But in contrast, Misgav is also an expression for a place where a person wants to take refuge, to be saved, yes, this place will be a stronghold for us, a stronghold for us meaning like "a stronghold for the oppressed," a place in which one will be saved. This is indeed how Targum Yonatan translates it, "they were ashamed from the house of their refuge." The meaning is that they were shamed from the house of their stronghold, from the place where they thought to take refuge and be saved, from there they were shamed, as it were, one thought that there he would have rescue, and he saw that this place is one to be ashamed of, as it were, this place disappointed them and did not protect them as they had thought.
There is no longer praise of Moav; in Cheshbon they plotted evil against her, saying, Come, let us cut her off from being a nation; also you, Madmen, shall be silenced, the sword shall pursue after you. "There is no longer praise of Moav." Since Nevo, Kiryatayim, and the stronghold were plundered, these being the places that were considered praiseworthy and important, so when there is an important place that is destroyed, then that place which is your glory no longer exists. "There is no longer praise of Moav," the place in which you would boast and take pride, no longer exists, this place is no longer in reality. And therefore he says, and not only that, but in Cheshbon the enemies plotted evil against her. There they sat and planned, took counsel together, how to cut her off from being a nation. And also Madmen, for Madmen was at the end of the border, and those who were in Moav fled there to be saved, also that Madmen shall be silenced, and after you the sword shall go. And she too, the sword will pursue them to kill those who fled to that place called Madmen, thinking that there they would be able to escape. And this is as it is written in Yeshayahu, "for the waters of Dimon are full of blood, for I will bring more upon Dimon." This Dimon is the same place called Madmen, and their river, its waters were full of blood because of those who fled there to be saved. The Radak explains that there is a play on words here. He says, in Cheshbon they plotted against her. That is, since the place is called the city of Cheshbon, so there they plotted (chashvu) against her, sat and made plans (cheshbonot) how to cut her off. "They plotted" comes from the word cheshbon. And afterward he says, Madmen shall be silenced. The place called Madmen will be silent (domem). "Shall be silenced" comes from the word Madmen, yes. Just as it is written "Ekron shall be uprooted (te'aker)," we likewise see figurative language, a play on words, since he spoke of Ekron, so the fitting expression for it is an expression of uprooting. And what is written here, "shall be silenced," is also, as we saw earlier, "Ashkelon is silenced," in the sense of being cut off. So too Madmen, she too will ultimately be cut off, and also after them, as we said, after the fugitives, the sword will pursue them.
The sound of a cry from Choronayim, plundering and great ruin. "The sound of a cry from Choronayim," says the Malbim, is based on what is written in Yeshayahu, "My heart cries out for Moav; her fugitives flee to Tzoar, an Eglat Shelishiyah; for by the ascent of Luchit they go up with weeping; for on the road to Choronayim they raise a cry of anguish." There the Malbim explains that those who fled would flee to the place called Tzoar. Following the enemies who would pursue them, they would flee to Tzoar. They would not fight, but flee from them, and moreover flee down a descent. The descent is called the descent of Choronayim. And as is known, when the enemy pursues a fleeing people down a descent, it is much easier for him to strike them, to shoot arrows at them, to kill them. And there indeed they were struck in battle. Those who fled down the descent of Choronayim were struck in battle. Whoever escaped, from the descent then went up the ascent of Luchit. This was the name of a place, that is, whoever managed to escape after the descent went up the ascent of Luchit. And whoever managed to escape and go up, would go up in weeping. The meaning is that he saw the magnitude of the ruin and the magnitude of the disaster and would weep. And this is what is written, the sound of a cry from Choronayim, from this place called Choronayim, where the descent was and they fled, there was plundering and great ruin. And through this Moav was broken, her young ones raised a cry. Moav was broken, and her young ones raised a cry. Who are "her young ones"? Rashi says: the kings, the rulers, as the Targum renders it. The Metzudat David and Tzion, in contrast, explain that the meaning is as we would understand it, "her young ones" means the little ones, the young. So it seems that perhaps because they panic first, therefore he mentions the cry that is their cry. And the Malbim explains that "her young ones" refers to the people of Tzoar. This is the meaning of "her young ones," it does not come to speak of a description, but comes to speak of a place. "Her young ones" (tze'ireha) comes from the city of Tzoar. Her young ones, the people of Tzoar, raised a cry, since the fugitives fled indeed to Tzoar. Since they escaped there, the people of Tzoar heard of this trouble, and they raised a sound of crying. And how did that defeat occur? For at the ascent of Luchit, with weeping he goes up weeping, for on the descent of Choronayim the enemies heard a cry of ruin. "For the ascent of Luchit," when one would go up the ascent of Luchit, as we explained that Choronayim was a descent and Luchit was a place of ascent, they heard a cry of ruin. "On the descent of Choronayim," this is a place that was in the lowland, so the enemies would raise a cry of ruin, since their people were killed, they cried out in bitterness of soul as they would go up the ascent of Luchit. And note, it is written "with weeping he goes up weeping." What is the meaning of this? The Metzudat David explains that each time the weeping kept increasing. With weeping, he was in weeping, and goes up weeping, increasing and increasing, additional weeping. In contrast, the Malbim explains that the first "weeping" is an action, and the second "weeping" is a noun. That is, through his weeping, he would raise up weeping. The meaning is: weeping in the sense of the act of weeping, that is, the action, for the first is the action. With weeping, when he was weeping, he would raise up the weeping, meaning he would add more weeping.
Flee, save your lives, and be like Aroer in the wilderness. It is as though the prophet advises them and says to them, flee for your lives, and be like Aroer in the wilderness. What is Aroer? Rashi explains, Aroer is the tower of Aroer, a tower that was in the wilderness. And a tower located in a place where there is no settlement and no one sits in the tower, appears like a ruin. So he says to them, escape and be like Aroer in the wilderness, like a tower located in the wilderness without inhabitants, which is then essentially like a ruin, be like Aroer in the wilderness. Targum Yonatan explains, and so too Yonatan translated, Menachem explains, and Rashi brings it, like Aroer which is the name of a tree among the trees of the forest. The meaning is he intends to say a solitary tree, this is a familiar expression, "like a lone tree in the wilderness," here he says like Aroer in the wilderness, the name of a tree among the trees of the forest, which is like sitting solitary in the wilderness. The Metzudat David explains that here he says to them, you shall flee and leave all your money. Do not stay to gather wealth, but flee, since you will be like Aroer in the wilderness, that is, there is no chance you will succeed in gathering your money and being saved, and therefore save only your lives. And the Malbim also explains that their advice is not to fight. For in a place where there is a chance through war to overcome the enemy, then on the contrary, fight. But in a place where you have a prophecy that says there is no chance to overcome the enemy, why fight? The only outcome is that you will fall in battle. If there is no chance to overcome the enemy, then it is a kind of suicide. Therefore he says to them, do not fight, but flee, save your lives, and through this you will be like Aroer in the wilderness. The Malbim explains, Aroer was a city of Moav that sat in the wilderness. And then he essentially recommends to them, go dwell in the wilderness and abandon your city of dwelling.
For because you trusted in your deeds and in your treasures, you too shall be captured, and Kemosh shall go forth into exile, his priests and his officers together. The prophet says to them, why do you not flee? Because you trusted in your deeds and in your treasures. You trust in your deeds, that is, in your possessions, in your treasures, and therefore you do not flee. The Radak says, since you trusted in your deeds, the meaning is in your possessions, as it is written "a man in Maon whose possession (ma'aseh) was in Carmel," so it is written of Naval the Carmelite. What is "his ma'aseh"? His ma'aseh means his possessions. "Because you trusted in your deeds" means you trust in your possessions, in your treasures, in your treasury, as Yonatan translates. He says to her, you too shall be captured. You too, like the other nations that have no treasures and were captured, you too shall be captured. That is, the treasures will not help you. The meaning is that many times a nation that had treasures would bribe the opposing king, take the treasures and leave us alone. But here he says to her, do not trust in your treasures, your treasures will not save you, and they will not help you, for also Kemosh your god, that is, the one you rely on, he too will be taken captive, he too will go forth into exile. The Malbim explains that these treasures in which she trusts, says the Malbim, is not in the sense of bribing the enemy with these treasures, but rather, says the Malbim, it is in the sense that a person finds it difficult to detach himself from his material possessions. I will give an example. Rav Shach in his time told that when he became engaged, for several days he was too ashamed to come to the yeshiva. Why? Because in those days, when a young man became engaged, people would ask him what "set" he received. That is, how much his father-in-law committed to give him, how many years of food at his table and so forth. He said, I received nothing. And not only that, after the wedding he would sleep in his father-in-law's house, and they did not even have money to rent an apartment. He would sleep in his father-in-law's house, they divided the house with a plywood board, he says on this side of the board I sleep, on the other side my father-in-law and mother-in-law sleep. Understand what poverty is being described. And he tells that afterward, he told this to a young man who delayed, no no no he was not in a hurry to marry because he was waiting for some complete arrangement to come. So Rav Shach told him thus, come and see that you have nothing to look for. And Rav Shach tells him, my friends, each one received a house, that one received such, this one received such, this one a commitment to feed him at his table. Well, says Rav Shach, winds of war began to blow. My wife and I, all our clothes, everything fit into one suitcase. Understand what poverty is being described. Today a person cannot even fit his shoes into a suitcase. He put everything, all the clothes, Shabbat, weekday, his own, and his wife's too, everything fit into one suitcase. He says, we packed everything and left. He says, but my friends found it hard to leave. That one has a house, this one has a business, this one has such, this one has such, each one had money. And since he had money, they said, well, listen, this will pass, this is a bad period, this. He says, and when they finally understood that it was not going to pass and they already wanted to leave, then the country's borders were already closed and it was not possible to leave. Rav Shach tells them, I, thank God, am still alive, but they, God save us, in Auschwitz. What do you see? That a person need not give his life for money, and a person need not chase after money, since sometimes the money is only the cause of the person's destruction, and is not life better than the pursuit of money? This is also what happened here. Says the Malbim, they did not want to flee so as not to leave their deeds in the field, since they had much money and much wealth, they found it hard to flee. What, shall I leave here everything that is here? And then he says, know this, not only, says the prophet to them, that he will take the treasures, he will also kill you. Kemosh too, and his officers and his priests, will go forth into exile, so would it not have been better for you to leave all your possessions and leave them here and flee to save your lives? At least you would have saved your life.
And the plunderer shall come to every city, and no city shall escape; the valley shall perish and the plain shall be destroyed, as Hashem has said. "And the plunderer shall come to every city." He says to them, know that everything shall perish. Not only the cities, but the valley shall perish and the plain shall be destroyed, which are less populated places. Says the Malbim, the valley, how will it perish? By being filled with dust. So this is one way to make the valley perish, that there is no longer a valley, they fill it with dust. In contrast, regarding the plain, it is not applicable to make it perish. What, will you make the plain perish? A plain is a plain. Therefore he says, regarding the plain it is not written "the plain shall perish," but rather "the plain shall be destroyed." What does "shall be destroyed" mean? It is very possible that the plain is destroyed by the place turning into a salty land, which will not be sown and will not sprout. And then through this, although the place has not perished, it is destroyed. "Destroyed" means the annulment of the form of the thing and its quality, says the Malbim, this is called destruction. So then, do not think that perhaps it is not certain it will come, perhaps we can delay, perhaps we can gather the property. He says to them, the plunderer will come to every city, and no city shall escape, even a solitary city shall not escape, and not only the cities, but also the valley and the plain will perish and be destroyed. And why? As Hashem has said. Since Hashem said this, Hashem promised, this is like "as Hashem has said," as the Malbim explains, yes. Like "you shall eat matzot as I have commanded you," "as I have commanded you." So too here, "the plain shall be destroyed as Hashem has said," as Hashem said, just as Hashem said, so it ultimately came to pass.
Give wings to Moav, for she shall surely fly away, and her cities shall become a desolation, with no inhabitant in them. "Give wings to Moav." Rashi and the Radak explain that the meaning is a wing. Give a wing to Moav. The Radak brings the Targum "fin," tzitzin. And Chazal said, this is the fins with which it swims. For just as there are wings for a bird to fly, so for a fish. The fish swims in the water and the bird flies in the air. So too Rashi says, that anything that hangs, that dangles and protrudes from a person or an animal, is called tzitz. Something that hangs and protrudes is called tzitz, as in "and it shall be for you as fringes (tzitzit)," "and he took me by a lock (tzitzit) of my head." So here they speak of something protruding from the body, and what is it? It is essentially the wing. And what does he say to them? Give wings to Moav, give Moav wings, that she may fly quickly, that she may flee from here, since this place, as we said, is a place of danger, where soon the enemies will come here. And this is what he says to them, for she shall surely fly away. Its meaning is like "as a bird flies away." This is "shall surely fly away," like "for they blossomed (natzu) and also wandered." The meaning is: fill the plumage, fill the wing, yes. In simple words, spread wings and fly, since "nitzah" expresses the feather, and the flight of a bird is by means of the feather. So he says to them, for she shall surely fly away, meaning by the power of the wing they will go forth from there and be driven out. And therefore he says to them, so give wings to Moav that they may go quickly from here and not stay and be struck to death at the hands of the enemies. Yonatan explained that tzitz is like the golden tzitz. And Yonatan says, remove the crown from Moav, for she shall surely be exiled. So "give tzitz to Moav" means remove the crown. The tzitz is the crown, remove the crown from Moav, for now they have kingship, government, remove the crown from them. In fact, in Targum Yonatan as it appears in printed editions, it is written "remove the bitra from Moav." I racked my brain to understand what this "bitra" is, and there is no other similar expression in all of Targum Yonatan and the Yerushalmi, there is no such expression "bitra." What is it, what is this word bitra? No, I did not understand what was being discussed. Only afterward did I see that both Rashi and the Radak bring that it is an error, it is kitra (crown). They do not correct the error, in their versions it appears clearly as kitra. Afterward I searched in Otzar HaChochmah and also saw that they bring from ancient manuscripts that it is not bitra, it is kitra. So "give tzitz to Moav" means give a crown, remove the crown from Moav, remove the crown from Moav, since they are losing the kingdom, for they are now about to be exiled. The Malbim, in contrast, explains in a different way. The Malbim explains, give wings to Moav, that is, he is after all recommending that they flee. The prophet says to them, know this, only if you flee will you have survival and blossom anew. But if you remain, they will destroy you, and you will not be able to blossom anew. And therefore, I recommend that you flee, through fleeing you will have survival, afterward you will return and then you will see that you will anew raise up the horn of the kingdom. And this is what he says here, give tzitz to Moav for she shall surely blossom, that is, only through what I propose to you, fleeing, only by the power of this will you have a blossom and sprout for Moav so that you can bring forth a blossom, like "and it brought forth a blossom (tzitz) and yielded almonds," you will be able to blossom, meaning to flourish anew. Only through fleeing will you survive. In contrast, if you remain in your cities, about this he promises them, and her cities shall become a desolation. The cities shall be desolate, and if so, you will have no survival if you remain here. Do not think that he will leave you as vinedressers and farmers as was the case in the first exiles of Israel, but know this, if you remain here you will be destroyed. If you flee, there will be a blossom for Moav, a blossom will again bloom and flourish.
Cursed is he who does the work of Hashem deceitfully, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from blood. According to the Radak, there is here essentially a call of encouragement to the nations to take vengeance on Moav. As we explained, Moav afflicted the people of Israel, and since so, there is here an evil prophecy against them. So similar to what is written "O daughter of Bavel who is to be plundered, praised is he who repays you, after he seizes and dashes your infants against the rock," so similar to this here he says, cursed is he who does the work of Hashem deceitfully. What is the work of Hashem? That Hashem said to take vengeance on Moav. So cursed is he who does the work of Hashem deceitfully, whoever will not go and take vengeance on Moav as Hashem requests, is cursed, because he does the work of Hashem, the commandment and the work that the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded and instructed, he does it deceitfully, he does not act in the correct way to bring the command of Hashem into effect. And cursed is he who withholds his sword from blood. And cursed is he who withholds his sword from spilling the blood of Moav in order to repay them for the evil they did to us. Says the Radak, note that he said this about Moav which he did not say so about the other nations. That is, we do not see regarding the other nations that the prophet curses in the word of Hashem the one who does not take vengeance on them. And why here in particular? Says the Radak, because Hashem's wrath against him is great, since God warned Israel and said "do not distress Moav." It follows then that we were careful regarding you, we did not distress you, and they acted wickedly toward them, Moav distressed us. So consequently, if there is a nation that we worry and fear that we might harm, and therefore we refrained from harming it, and it harms us, fine, you can say that is self-defense. But here you know that we were warned "do not distress Moav." If we were warned "do not distress Moav," you have nothing to defend against, so why then did you go and distress us? Therefore this trouble will come upon them, who out of great arrogance, out of much ease, yes, went and magnified the trouble upon the people of Israel, and therefore this trouble will come upon them. The Malbim says, the Malbim's approach is essentially the opposite. Cursed is he who does the work of Hashem deceitfully was not said to the detriment of Moav, but was said for the benefit of Moav. What is the meaning of this? Since we saw earlier that the prophet recommends to them and says to them, flee, for whoever remains here will die, and if you flee, says the prophet, through this and by the power of this a blossom will come forth, you will return to blossom. Therefore he says to them, cursed is he who does the work of Hashem deceitfully. Since the work of Hashem and His will is that you go forth and leave the place so that through this, as we said "she shall surely fly away," you will have a blossom, give tzitz to Moav, through this you will have blossoming, you will have survival. So whoever does not go forth and flee, whoever decides at any rate to remain, then he acts deceitfully in the work of Hashem, and through this he is fit to be killed. Since Hashem wants to save you and He recommends that you escape, and you at any rate prefer to remain here, then you do the command of Hashem deceitfully, meaning you do not relate to the command of Hashem. So consequently you are in the category of cursed who deserves death. Hashem wants to save you and tells you to go forth and you insist on remaining, so certainly death is due to you by law. Cursed is he who withholds his sword from blood, that is, whoever withholds his sword from blood is not to kill those who remain among the people who are cursed. Note, according to the Radak, we must explain that the matter is repeated in different words. And the Radak often follows this approach, and we have already explained several times that with the Malbim there is no such thing, and every repetition of expressions or words comes to add to what was said before. There is no such thing as him merely repeating for the beauty of the phrase. According to the Radak, cursed is he who does the work of Hashem deceitfully, cursed is he who withholds his sword from blood, both were said about whoever will not strike Moav, there is here a command, wipe them out. But according to the Malbim, cursed is he who does the work of Hashem deceitfully speaks about Moav. You Moav, whom I recommended to flee and be saved, and you decide to remain, you are cursed because you do the work of Hashem deceitfully, Hashem wants to give you a remnant and you oppose this, you are cursed. And cursed is he who withholds his sword from blood, those who remain, we said, since they are cursed, death is due to them, so cursed is the enemy who withholds his sword from killing those who remain. This is the second curse. The second curse is essentially a command to the enemy, go kill those who remained, since those who remained here are cursed who do the work of Hashem deceitfully, essentially by their remaining. Since so, the prophet as though commands the enemy to kill all who remain here and insist on clinging to their land and not going into exile according to the command of Hashem.
Moav has been tranquil from his youth, and he has been resting on his lees, and he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, and into exile he has not gone; therefore his taste has remained in him, and his fragrance has not changed. "Moav has been tranquil from his youth." This verse is familiar to many from a midrash aggadah that appears on Megillat Esther. It is written that when King Achashverosh wanted to kill Vashti, he called the sages, those who know the times. Who are those who know the times? Chazal say, these are the sages of Israel who knew how to intercalate the years. That is, they knew the times. This is the meaning of those who know the times. He said to them, according to law what should be done with Queen Vashti? They understood that they were getting entangled here in every possible way. Any answer they would give, is an answer in which you fail. Why? If we tell him, my lord the king, listen, let it pass, it is not so terrible, this this this is true, she was insolent, perhaps impose sanctions on her, perhaps reduce her cosmetics, I do not know what, do something, but leave her alone. Ah, you do not care about my disgrace? He would have them executed. The king would order the sages of Israel killed, they disparage the king with harsh and fierce language, for whoever reads there the midrashim of Chazal what she said to him, and these sages of Israel do not care. Well, what shall we tell him? My lord the king, you are right, indeed do things as they should be, wipe her out. Oh, these care about the king's honor. In the end the king will sober up from his wine, and then he will understand and say, who were the fools who gave me this advice? They will tell him, it is the Jews, it is the sages of Israel. They are the ones who told you. He will have them executed. In simple words, this will not end well no matter what. And then one must be wise, not right. The sages of Israel said to him, listen, you know, we, the people of Israel, have gone into exile, you know that we, the people of Israel, in such a state "the wisdom of its wise men is lost and the understanding of its discerning men is hidden." You, you should ask people who have not gone into exile. The sages of Moav, ask them. And then they brought this verse. Moav has been tranquil from his youth, and he has been resting on his lees, and he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, and into exile he has not gone; therefore his taste has remained in him, and his fragrance has not changed. Turn to them, among them there are sages, they surely will know how to give you answers. But why should I get entangled with this story? And so they rolled this burning coal into the lap of the sages of Moav. In any case, let us now see the explanation of the verse here according to the context of the matter with us. "Moav has been tranquil from his youth," the meaning is, until now he was tranquil. Therefore the Radak says, note that the nun is vocalized with a patach, because it is in the past tense. Moav has been tranquil from his youth, until now Moav was tranquil. From his youth he was resting on his lees. "Resting on his lees," like resting on his sediment, like wine that when it is on its lees, is at rest. When it is poured from vessel to vessel, then it is known that its aroma escapes, its taste begins to disperse. And connoisseurs have special glasses for all kinds of wine. There is wine that needs a wide glass so that its fragrance spreads, and there are those that need a narrow glass so that its fragrance does not spread. In short, the very pouring of the wine, leave wine open, it is unfit for kiddush. Why? Because the very fact that the wine is open, it loses its taste. And when you pour it from vessel to vessel, this impairs it. And if so he says, Moav was not emptied from vessel to vessel. This is wine that was not emptied from vessel to vessel. What does this mean practically? It means that he also did not go into exile. The people of Israel until now were emptied from vessel to vessel, went into exile. But Moav did not go into exile, and since so, his taste has remained in him. His taste still exists. And his fragrance has not changed. "His fragrance has not changed," the meaning is, it did not switch. Or an additional explanation, or it did not weaken, yes. The Targum says "did not change," did not expire. "Expire" means passed, like an expiration date, yes. Or "the Torah is slackened," "give yourself no respite," the meaning is rest. So his fragrance did not weaken and did not switch. The Malbim explains, what did he intend to tell them here? Do you know why Hashem decreed exile upon you? He explains to them, after all I am persuading you to flee. Why did Hashem decree exile upon you? Since Moav was tranquil from his youth, with none to frighten him. Resting on his lees. What is the difference between tranquil and resting on his lees? The Malbim explains, that frightening is from the outside. No king came from outside, no nation to frighten them. And what is "resting on his lees"? Lees are inside. Resting on his lees, that is, from within too there was no rebellion, there was no one who rose up against the king, resting on his lees. What is the meaning of this? Says the Malbim, when the wine is emptied from vessel to vessel, then the lees remain in the first vessel. And then we have wine without the lees. What actually are the lees of the wine? The lees of the wine are the sediments. When you take grapes, you press them, then they leave the skins, the seeds, they leave everything. This is the lees of the wine, and this usually sinks to the bottom of the vessel, and this is poured off. But of Moav he says, Moav remained on his lees. They left him on the lees, they did not transfer the wine. He is still in the first vessel. And therefore his taste has remained in him. As we explained, that wine which is removed from the lees loses some of its taste and fragrance. And what is the analogy? The analogy is that the people who are exiled from place to place, essentially acquire the customs and conduct of the nation to which they were exiled. And this is reality. The people of Israel were exiled to Europe, they adopted European manners for themselves. They were exiled to Iraq, to Yemen, to Morocco, and so on, and adopted for themselves those manners and those practices. So that in fact, when a nation moves and is exiled to another nation, it receives from the nation within which it finds itself those manners and practices. And then consequently it is like the wine which is moved from place to place, its taste changes. So too here, when the nation is moved from place to place, its taste changes. That is, its lifestyle, its form of conduct changes according to the people of the place. But of Moav he says, he was not emptied from vessel to vessel, that is, into exile he did not go, he sits here since ancient times, no changes occurred in him, his fragrance did not change, this is from the language of change, no changes occurred in him.