The passage before us in chapter 2 of Yoel is the heart of the chapter: after the description of the terrible plague of locusts and the great and awesome day, the prophet comes and opens a portal of hope. Even when the plague is already here, even when the army has already invaded the land - there is still a remedy. In a short series of verses, the prophet teaches us what genuine teshuvah is, how to assemble the community for fasting and prayer, what the kohanim ask in their prayer, and the distinction between mercy that the Holy One, Blessed be He, extends to us for the sake of His great Name and mercy He extends because we are worthy.
"Yet Even Now" - It Is Never Too Late
וְגַם־עַתָּה נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה שֻׁבוּ עָדַי בְּכׇל־לְבַבְכֶם וּבְצוֹם וּבִבְכִי וּבְמִסְפֵּד׃ - "Yet even now," says Hashem, "turn back unto Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."
"Yet even now" - meaning, even though the locust army has already arrived, the blow is already felt, and the great day has already come, the prophet tells them: Do not think that there is no remedy and that it is too late. Even now you can return to Me, and I will remove the locusts from you, as we will see further on.
The Malbim notes the precise phrasing, "turn back unto Me [shuvu adai]," rather than "turn back to Me [elai]." As we have already seen in the Book of Hoshea: "Return, O Israel, unto Hashem your God [ad Hashem]." What is the difference between "unto [ad]" and "to [el]"? When a person has drifted far away, he is told "turn back unto Me" - all the way to Me, from a distant place. "To [el]" is said after he has already returned and drawn close, and then draws even closer. There are thus two stages: first, one returns unto the entity from which he distanced himself or which distanced itself from him, and once he has drawn close, he returns to Him. So too here: the Holy One, Blessed be He, tells them: although I am currently distant from you, nevertheless, turn back unto Me.
However, there is one condition: "with all your heart" - that there not be repentance with a duplicitous heart, not an external teshuvah born merely out of fear that does not reflect a true desire, but rather a complete teshuvah. "With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning" - that there be confession and abandonment of sin, for then we know that the repentance is genuine. Radak explains similarly: let not the teshuvah be half-hearted, displaying outward signs of repentance while inwardly remaining unrepentant. Rather, the essential thing is that the teshuvah be internal, and in addition to that, also expressed outwardly - with fasting, weeping, and mourning, in order to humble the hearts. For when a person sees his fellow fasting, weeping, and lamenting, his own heart is humbled, even if on his own he had not yet reached an awakening to teshuvah.
"Rend Your Hearts and Not Your Garments"
וְקִרְעוּ לְבַבְכֶם וְאַל־בִּגְדֵיכֶם וְשׁוּבוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם כִּי־חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם הוּא אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב־חֶסֶד וְנִחָם עַל־הָרָעָה׃ - "Rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn to Hashem your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, and relenting of harm."
Seemingly, it already stated, "turn back unto Me with all your heart," so what does "rend your hearts" add? The Malbim explains: this refers to rending the heart a second time, which is complete remorse over the past. "And not your garments" - rending garments is an expression of grief over the misfortune that has befallen you. When distress strikes a person, he tears his garments. The prophet tells them: No. The rending should be over your sins, over the ruin you brought about, and not over the affliction that has overtaken you. The reason: the sins you committed are far worse than the distress itself that befell you. The terrible spiritual damage of sin is far more severe than the damage caused by the calamity.
Afterward, he says, "and turn to Hashem your God" - notice the change in wording. At first it said "turn back unto Me [adai]," because we were still far off; but here, in the second stage of repentance, after you have already drawn near - "turn to [el]." This is complete repentance, which is teshuvah out of love. Then, because Hashem is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, and relenting of harm, even now, after the calamity has already arrived and the locusts are already present, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will relent and remove the locusts.
Rending the Heart - The Blockage upon the Heart
Ibn Ezra explains that rending garments was their custom: when misfortune befell them, they would tear their clothes, as we find with Yaakov - "and Yaakov tore his garments" - and similarly with David. Rending the heart is along the lines of "circumcise the foreskin of your heart," and as in the verse, "and tear open the casing of their heart" - because metaphorically, the heart has a layer of fat that seals it and prevents things from penetrating inside. Granted, this is a figurative concept, but the entire term "heart" is figurative: the physical heart is merely a pump. When someone says, "I did this with all my heart" - does he mean that piece of flesh? The term "heart" is a figure of speech for that which is done from one's inner core. And what is the rending of the heart? Ibn Ezra says: there is a blockage over the heart, preventing things from entering. Rend that blockage, and words will penetrate. This is also the meaning of "every prudent [arum, also meaning bare] person acts with knowledge": when the heart is covered there is no knowledge, but when the heart is exposed there is knowledge - in the sense of being stripped of garments.
"And You Shall Place These Words of Mine Upon Your Heart" - Not to Disconnect
It is said in the name of the Rebbe of Gur, it seems, regarding the verse "And you shall place these words of Mine upon your heart": Why "upon"? It should have said "inside" your heart - why should the words of Hashem only rest on top and not penetrate within? Rather, at times a person's heart is closed, the heart is unreceptive, and nothing penetrates. A person then says to himself: What is the point of coming to the shiur? What is the point of praying? What is the point of learning? And he withdraws, saying: with Hashem's help, when I strengthen myself a bit, I will come. This is a mistake, a distortion, the counsel of the evil inclination. A person must know to come to the shiur, to learn, and to pray even when he is not in an elevated state of mind, and even when he is in mochin de-katnut (a constricted frame of mind). For when you place the words upon the heart, there is a chance that someday the heart will open and they will penetrate inside; but if you have placed nothing on the heart, even if the heart opens - everything remains empty.
Therefore, a person must never disconnect from spirituality. Even in periods of darkness and gloom, even during a crisis and a descent - one must still go to a Torah shiur, still learn, and still act. And do not say: "This is merely external; what is it worth?" First, the heart is drawn after one's actions. Second, one mitzvah brings another mitzvah in its train. Third, you have not disconnected - and when your heart opens, you are already in the beit midrash, connected to the shiur, learning and praying. But one whose heart opens only after he has already disconnected immediately feels ashamed: "It is uncomfortable; they will ask where I have been for two months, why I did not come to the shiur, and what will they say in the synagogue" - and so he remains outside and does not return. Therefore, a person must continue to fulfill Torah and mitzvot even when he does not feel elevated emotions.
Rashi's Explanations of Tearing the Heart
Rashi explains "Tear your heart and not your garments": Tear your heart, for I do not care about the tearing of your garments. It is a pity to tear your clothes - the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not look at that. Rashi also offers another explanation: If you tear your heart, you will be spared the tearing of garments. For when does one tear clothes? Heaven forbid, when tragedy strikes. If you tear your heart in time, you will not have to tear your garments; but if you do not tear your heart in its proper time, you will subsequently have to tear your garments, Heaven forbid, over the troubles that will arrive.
"Who Knows Whether He Will Turn and Relent?" - To Whom Does It Refer?
מִי יוֹדֵעַ יָשׁוּב וְנִחָם וְהִשְׁאִיר אַחֲרָיו בְּרָכָה מִנְחָה וָנֶסֶךְ לַיהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם׃ - Who knows whether he will turn and relent, and leave behind a blessing, a meal-offering and a libation to the Lord your God?
The verse is phrased ambiguously, and the commentators therefore disagree. Rashi says: whoever knows that he has iniquity in him should repent and express regret over his sin. The Radak, following the approach of the Ibn Ezra, explains that the words refer to the Holy One, Blessed be He: the prophet is saying, who knows, perhaps Hashem will turn and relent concerning the evil decree. The Radak also brings another explanation, that it indeed refers to man, but that "who knows" is not as Rashi explained - whoever knows that he has iniquity - but rather whoever knows the ways of repentance should return, and then the Holy One, Blessed be He, will relent from the evil He intended to bring upon them. And the Targum explains like Rashi: whoever knows that he has iniquity in him should return, and Hashem will have mercy upon him.
"And leave behind a blessing" is also phrased in an ambiguous manner, and we do not know who the subject leaving it behind is. The Radak explains: the Holy One, Blessed be He, will leave behind a blessing after the locusts. If you repent, Hashem will remove the locusts and leave a blessing in the vegetation, not allowing a situation where the locusts wipe out everything. And whatever remains will be a blessing - from which you will bring a meal-offering and a libation to Hashem, corresponding to what we saw earlier, that meal-offerings and libations were cut off from the House of Hashem.
The Malbim follows this same direction, but he adds: "Who knows [who] will return" - even if the broader public is unwilling to repent, at least the individual "knowers," meaning those who understand that one must do teshuvah, will at least return and regret their iniquities. And if you should say that the repentance of an individual does not suffice to nullify a communal decree - at least the locust will leave behind a blessing. According to the Malbim, then, "and leave behind a blessing" does not mean that Hashem will leave a blessing after the locusts, but that the locust itself, following its visitation, will leave behind a blessing, as the Radak noted that a meal-offering and libation will remain. The underlying principle here is that the severity of the disaster corresponds to the multitude of sinners. When everyone sins, the locust devours everything; but when some repent, a portion remains. Therefore the prophet says: even if only individuals repent, at least a blessing will remain after the locust departs, and not everything will be destroyed.
Resolving the Contradiction Between the Verses
Notice that in his commentary, the Malbim resolves a major difficulty here. For in the previous verse it was stated, "Tear your heart and not your garments, and return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful... and relents from evil" - if you repent, Hashem will relent from the evil entirely. If so, how can it be stated here, "Who knows whether he will turn and relent, and leave behind a blessing," implying that only a blessing will remain? A moment ago you told me that if we repent, Hashem will completely relent from the evil and nothing bad will happen, and now you say not necessarily, but only that He will leave behind a blessing? And it is all the more difficult according to the interpretation that "Who knows whether He will turn" refers to the Holy One, Blessed be He: you just said that He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness, and if you only repent there is certainty of mercy - yet now you say, "Who knows, perhaps He will turn and relent"?
The Malbim resolves this: the previous verse speaks to the community as a whole - "Rend your hearts... and return," in the plural, referring to everyone. When everyone repents, a total relenting is guaranteed, for He is gracious and merciful. But the verse before us speaks of individuals - "Whoever knows shall return," referring to a single individual. Regarding this he says: even when an individual repents, do not say, "What good can individuals do while the public continues to sin?" Still, "He will leave behind a blessing"; all will not be utterly destroyed. For the severity of the calamity corresponds to the number of sinners, and as the sinners decrease, the calamity will decrease and a blessing will remain. In this way, the Malbim resolves the difficulty between the verses.
"Blow a Shofar in Zion" - A Call for an Assembly After the Plague
תִּקְעוּ שׁוֹפָר בְּצִיּוֹן קַדְּשׁוּ־צוֹם קִרְאוּ עֲצָרָה׃ - Blow a shofar in Zion, sanctify a fast, proclaim an assembly.
The Malbim explains: Here begins a third theme. Until now, the prophet spoke of the period before the arrival of the locusts, urging repentance so that the locusts would not come. But here, he addresses the time when the locusts have already ravaged the land, declaring: even now there is a remedy, and that remedy is for it to depart from the land. And how? "Blow a shofar in Zion" - a blast to gather the people. Note that it does not say here "and sound an alarm (vehari'u)," as it said at the beginning of the chapter, because a teruah is meant to arouse dread, whereas here the calamity has already struck and there is no need to awaken fear - the people are already terrified by the crisis. "Sanctify a fast, proclaim an assembly" - initially, he commanded the Kohanim to sanctify a fast and call an assembly, but now he addresses the entire nation: you yourselves must sanctify a fast, now that the disaster has already arrived.
Gathering the Entire Nation - Infants, Bridegroom, and Bride
אִסְפוּ־עָם קַדְּשׁוּ קָהָל קִבְצוּ זְקֵנִים אִסְפוּ עוֹלָלִים וְיֹנְקֵי שָׁדָיִם יֵצֵא חָתָן מֵחֶדְרוֹ וְכַלָּה מֵחֻפָּתָהּ׃ - Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the infants and those nursing at the breast; let the bridegroom emerge from his chamber, and the bride from her canopy.
The prophet continues and teaches how the fast and assembly after the coming of the locusts will become meaningful. First, a gathering of the people. Initially, he told them to gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land so that the elders would speak stirring words of rebuke (divrei chibushin) and inspire the land's inhabitants to repent. But now, when the disaster is already an active reality, the people gather on their own out of sheer distress, and there is no need to first gather the elders to awaken the public. On the contrary, the people themselves assemble the elders: previously, the elders delivered words of admonition to the people because everything was quiet and an awakening was needed; now, the people are already aroused on their own and rush to the elders, begging them to pray on their behalf.
Furthermore, the prophet commands to gather the young children and nursing infants, and to bring the bridegroom out of his chamber, to intensify fasting and supplication. The Radak explains: by having even the little ones and nursing infants fast, all will be united in a single assembly. And what happens in such a situation? The babies cry from their hunger, and when the adults hear their crying, their hearts break and are humbled by all their weeping, and the Holy One, blessed be He, in His abundant mercy, will have compassion and pity on the little ones.
"Let the bridegroom emerge from his chamber, and the bride from her canopy" - the Radak explains: even the bridegroom, who is supposed to rejoice with his wife, must leave his chamber; and the bride must leave her bridal chamber, the place where she resides. He offers an additional interpretation: "from her chuppah" is related to "chipuy" (covering or adornment) - a bride would be adorned with jewels and ornaments. Anyone who has seen a Yemenite bride at a henna celebration sees immense quantities of jewelry adorning her attire. This is the meaning of "from her chuppah" - from the jewelry and ornaments that cover her at the time of the wedding. She should go out and remove these ornaments from upon herself, and all will be together in the same assembly, with the bridegroom and bride weeping along with them instead of celebrating. All these things, says the Radak, break a person's heart, and the Holy One, blessed be He, sees their brokenness - and through this, He will show mercy.
"Gather" and "Assemble" - Malbim's Linguistic Precision
It is written here: "Gather (asfu) the people," "assemble (kibtzu) the elders," "gather (asfu) the infants." What is the difference between asifah (gathering) and kibbutz (assembling)? The Malbim explains: kibbutz refers to something scattered, which must be collected from different places. Asifah, on the other hand, always refers to bringing something from outside to the inside, without it necessarily being scattered - as in "he gathered into the house": the sheep are outside and he gathers them inward. But if one were to say kibbetz, it would imply that each of the sheep was in a different place and had to be assembled together. Similarly, "and he gathered (vaye'esof) his feet into the bed" - there was no need to assemble his feet, as they were not scattered in different locations, but merely to bring them in. Le'esof always refers to something that is not scattered, where the only need is to bring it inside.
According to this, it says "gather (asfu) the people" and not "assemble (kibtzu) the people," because the people had already converged on their own due to the distress, and the only task was to bring them inside the Beit HaMikdash. But "assemble (kibtzu) the elders" - when you want the sages, elders, and righteous to pray, you must assemble them, one from a city and two from a family, and only afterward will they enter into the House of Hashem. Likewise, "gather (asfu) the infants," for the infants are not scattered either, but are right with their parents; the parents are already assembled in one place, and they need only be brought inside.
The Prayer of the Kohanim Between the Ulam and the Altar
בֵּין הָאוּלָם וְלַמִּזְבֵּחַ יִבְכּוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים מְשָׁרְתֵי יְהֹוָה וְיֹאמְרוּ חוּסָה יְהֹוָה עַל־עַמֶּךָ וְאַל־תִּתֵּן נַחֲלָתְךָ לְחֶרְפָּה לִמְשׇׁל־בָּם גּוֹיִם לָמָּה יֹאמְרוּ בָעַמִּים אַיֵּה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם׃ - Between the Ulam and the altar let the kohanim, the ministers of Hashem, weep, and let them say: "Spare Your people, Hashem, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, for nations to rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"
The Malbim explains: Earlier we saw that the kohanim were the ones who gathered the people, whereas in the verses we just read, the people gather on their own. If so, what was the role of the kohanim? To this the verse responds: the kohanim stand between the Ulam and the altar, which is the most sacred area, and there they weep and pray.
And what do they request? First, "Spare Your people, Hashem" - Master of the Universe, have pity on them because they are Your people and You are their King. Whenever someone is under one's charge, one feels responsible to care for them; Master of the Universe, we are under Your charge, we are Your people. Second, "and do not make Your heritage a reproach" - the Land is Your heritage, and the designation "heritage" indicates its inherent sanctity, that the Divine Presence rests in this place by virtue of its holiness.
And corresponding to "Your people," they ask, "do not make... for nations to rule over them": since we are Your people and You rule over us, do not allow the nations to rule over us, for in doing so, as it were, You transfer us from Your sovereignty to the dominion of the nations. Do not let the nations rule over Your people in Your stead. Incidentally, Rashi interprets limshol from the root of a proverb and a byword (mashal veshninah), unlike the Malbim who follows the Radak's approach that it denotes dominion and rule. According to Rashi, the meaning is that they will make proverbs and taunts about them - drawing caricatures of them, like Der Stürmer, making them an object of mockery and derision.
And corresponding to "Your heritage," since God's sanctity rests in this Holy Land, they plead concerning this: "do not make it a reproach." And what is this reproach? "Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'" - for this place is Your heritage and Your Presence dwells within it. When the nations see no manifestation of Hashem's heritage and do not perceive the Holy One, blessed be He, they say: Where is their God? Where is the Holy One, blessed be He, Who was supposed to protect them here in His Holy Land? Not only has He seemingly failed to protect them, but troubles and disasters befall them instead.
"Then Hashem Was Zealous for His Land and Had Pity on His People"
וַיְקַנֵּא יְהֹוָה לְאַרְצוֹ וַיַּחְמֹל עַל־עַמּוֹ׃ - Then Hashem was zealous for His Land and had pity on His people.
Hashem heard their prayer, and the response directly addresses both requests. Corresponding to "do not make Your heritage a reproach," it says, "Then Hashem was zealous for His Land" - zealous for the honor of His Land, the heritage concerning which it is written, "the eyes of Hashem your God are always upon it." And corresponding to "Spare Your people, Hashem," it says, "and had pity on His people."
Our Sages state in Midrash Rut: One verse says, "For Hashem will not forsake His people for His great Name's sake" - why does Hashem not abandon us? For the sake of His great Name, so that it not be desecrated. Yet another verse simply states, "For Hashem will not forsake His people" - why? Merely because we are His people, without any mention of His great Name. The Sages explain: When the Jewish people do the will of the Omnipresent, Hashem acts on behalf of His people and His heritage, for we are worthy and deserving; but when they do not do the will of the Omnipresent, Hashem acts for His great Name's sake, so that His blessed Name will not be desecrated.
And what do the kohanim pray for here? The Malbim notes: Observe that they are praying that Hashem act for His great Name's sake. They are saying: Master of the Universe, even if You say that we are unworthy, nonetheless, "Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'" - there is a desecration of the Divine Name here. Although we may not be deserving, why should Your Name be desecrated? Therefore, they plead that He spare them for the sake of His great Name, and this is the meaning of "Spare Your people, Hashem."
The Difference Between LaChus (to Spare) and LaChmol (to Pity)
Here the Malbim offers a wonderful explanation, which he elaborates in several places. Lachus (to spare) means sparing something that one has a need for; one does not destroy it because it provides some benefit, as in the verse, "Do not let your eyes pity (al tachos) your belongings." Lachmol (to have compassion) means pitying something on account of its own intrinsic perfection, and not because one needs it. To give an example: suppose your wife took a piece of furniture or an item from the house and threw it out. One might react with chus or with chamal. To spare (lachus) means saying: "Why did you throw it away? I use that, I need it!" That is lachus - having a personal need for the item. To have compassion (lachmol) means saying: "I do not use it, but it is a shame to simply discard it; the item itself has value, it is good and well-made in its own right, let me give it to someone." That is the distinction between lachus and lachmol.
This distinction is clearly reflected in our verses. The Kohanim plead, "Spare (chusa) Your people, Hashem" - from the standpoint that, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, has a need in this matter, for if we are punished, His Name will be desecrated. And what is Hashem's "need"? To speak in terms of the lower levels - for in the higher spiritual realms Hashem has no need for anything whatsoever, and this is spoken solely from our human perspective, as explained at length in Nefesh HaChaim regarding the difference between Memaleh Kol Almin (filling all worlds) and Sovev Kol Almin (encompassing all worlds) - from our perspective, desecration of Hashem's Name is, as it were, a deficiency. Therefore: Master of the Universe, spare Your people, for this is not fitting for You, and Your Name will, as it were, be desecrated.
However, after the people of Israel repent, the Holy One, blessed be He, acts on behalf of His people and His heritage - for our sake, because we have now become upright, worthy, and righteous. Therefore it says, "Then Hashem was zealous for His land," for the sake of His land, and "and had compassion on His people" (vayamol al amo) - compassion that stems from the intrinsic worth of the subject itself, rather than from a need for it: it would be a shame to destroy the Jewish people, who are holy, pure, and exalted. The Kohanim's initial plea was solely based on the argument that, as it were, it is not worthwhile for Hashem, for His Name would be desecrated; and at the very least they pleaded on that basis, even if we were not worthy. But once they repent, Hashem is zealous for His land and has compassion on His people - for now they are righteous and intrinsically worthy of Hashem's compassion.
Seven Distinctions - and the First Among Them
From this starting point, the Malbim proceeds to explain seven distinctions that illustrate the difference between mercy granted by Hashem for the sake of His great Name and mercy granted because we are truly worthy, having transformed our deeds so that we merit mercy in our own right. These seven distinctions unfold across the following verses.
וַיַּעַן יְהֹוָה וַיֹּאמֶר לְעַמּוֹ הִנְנִי שֹׁלֵחַ לָכֶם אֶת־הַדָּגָן וְהַתִּירוֹשׁ וְהַיִּצְהָר וּשְׂבַעְתֶּם אֹתוֹ וְלֹא־אֶתֵּן אֶתְכֶם עוֹד חֶרְפָּה בַּגּוֹיִם׃ - Hashem answered and said to His people: Behold, I am sending you the grain, the wine, and the oil, and you shall be satisfied with it; and I will no longer make you a disgrace among the nations.
The first distinction: Had Hashem acted solely for the sake of His great Name, He would have answered the Kohanim, who prayed that He act for the honor of His Name. For it was the Kohanim who prayed - "Let the priests, the ministers of Hashem, weep... and say, 'Spare...'" - pleading for the sake of Hashem's Name, and so it should have written, "And Hashem answered and said to the priests." Yet we see that Hashem responds not to the Kohanim, but to the people: "Hashem answered and said to His people." This indicates that the salvation came because you are worthy, in the merit of your repentance and your own good deeds, and therefore Hashem responds to the people directly.
In Summary:
In this passage, Yoel teaches us that even after the blow has struck, "even now" there is a remedy. Repentance begins from afar - "turn to Me" (shuvu adai) - and reaches intimacy - "turn to Hashem" (shuvu el Hashem); it is performed with the whole heart and by rending the heart over sins, which are graver than the calamity itself, rather than by rending garments over the calamity. Even individual penitents make an impact, for as the number of sinners decreases, the misfortune diminishes and a blessing remains. When trouble arrives, the shofar is blown, a fast is sanctified, and a solemn assembly is proclaimed, gathering everyone - the people, the elders, infants, bridegroom and bride - in order to break the heart. The Kohanim weep between the Porch and the Altar, pleading that Hashem spare His people for the sake of His great Name. Ultimately, following repentance, Hashem does not merely spare - He has compassion and is zealous for His land, responding not to the Kohanim, but to the people themselves, who have now become worthy in their own right.