Chapter 16 of Shmuel A is a chapter of transition: the Holy One, blessed be He, informs Shmuel that the era of Shaul has ended, and sends him to anoint David the son of Yishai. Out of a brief conversation between the prophet and the Creator of the world, fundamental questions open before us: what is a divine promise and when is it valid, whether one sent to perform a mitzvah can come to harm, when it is permitted to alter one's words for the sake of peace, and what the Holy One, blessed be He, sees within a person's heart that the human eye is unable to see. We will proceed according to the order of the pesukim, following the explanation of the Malbim.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל עַד־מָתַי אַתָּה מִתְאַבֵּל אֶל־שָׁאוּל וַאֲנִי מְאַסְתִּיו מִמְּלֹךְ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל, מַלֵּא קַרְנְךָ שֶׁמֶן וְלֵךְ אֶשְׁלָחֲךָ אֶל־יִשַׁי בֵּית־הַלַּחְמִי כִּי־רָאִיתִי בְּבָנָיו לִי מֶלֶךְ׃ - And Hashem said to Shmuel: How long will you mourn for Shaul, since I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go, I will send you to Yishai the Bethlehemite, for I have seen among his sons a king for Myself.
The Holy One, blessed be He, says to Shmuel: I have rejected him, and after I have rejected him it is not fitting that you continue to mourn over him for such a long time. I have someone else in his place. The Malbim points out that a person mourns over a loss for one of two reasons. The first is the great value of the thing that was lost. One who loses two shekels does not mourn; one who loses ten thousand shekels mourns. The second is that even something small and of little value, if there is no replacement for it, one grieves over it greatly. This can be compared to a case where we made Havdalah and there were no matches. How much does a box of matches cost, half a shekel? And yet when there is no substitute, one waits five or ten minutes in distress until they are brought. The distress is not over the value but over the lack of a replacement.
And the Holy One, blessed be He, comes and cancels both reasons. If you are mourning because of the great value of what was lost - "וַאֲנִי מְאַסְתִּיו מִמְּלֹךְ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל", and since I have rejected him he no longer has importance. And if you would say that there is no replacement - "מַלֵּא קַרְנְךָ שֶׁמֶן... כִּי־רָאִיתִי בְּבָנָיו לִי מֶלֶךְ", there is already another in his place. Both reasons have lapsed, and there is no longer any reason to continue mourning.
Let us note the wording: "מַלֵּא קַרְנְךָ שֶׁמֶן", fill your horn with oil. Shaul was anointed with a flask, and David with a horn. Chazal say: the flask is made of earthenware, and the nature of earthenware is to break. A horn, by contrast, is very strong: take a shofar and throw it, at most it will get a scratch and remain the same shofar. From here we learn that the flask does not last long and breaks, and therefore the kingship of Shaul was broken; whereas the horn is strong and endures, and therefore the kingship of David continued throughout the generations. This is also the meaning of the term "רָמָה קַרְנִי", that the horn of Israel should be raised up to gore its enemies. And therefore Chana said "my horn is raised in Hashem," and Chazal expounded: my horn is raised and not my flask - may the king anointed with a horn be exalted, and not the one anointed with a flask, whose kingship has no continuity.
What is meant by "כִּי־רָאִיתִי בְּבָנָיו לִי מֶלֶךְ", for I have seen among his sons a king for Myself? A king who will do My will, who will listen to My voice, unlike how it was with Shaul. And the Malbim further points out: remember how the need for a monarchy arose in the first place. The people requested it. Demonstrations began, they demanded a king, they launched an initiative and gathered signatures, until Shmuel turned to the Holy One, blessed be He, and said to Him: behold, they have rejected me, and the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: it is not you they have rejected but Me they have rejected; go and set a king over them. That request had its origin not in holiness, for it stemmed from the people and improperly, and therefore they were punished. But here the Holy One, blessed be He, says "I have seen a king for Myself" - the mission begins with Me, not with the people. And since the origin of the matter is in holiness, in the end it will succeed more.
וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֵיךְ אֵלֵךְ וְשָׁמַע שָׁאוּל וַהֲרָגָנִי, וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה עֶגְלַת בָּקָר תִּקַּח בְּיָדֶךָ וְאָמַרְתָּ לִזְבֹּחַ לַיהֹוָה בָּאתִי׃ - And Shmuel said: How can I go? If Shaul hears he will kill me. And Hashem said: Take a heifer with you and say, I have come to offer a sacrifice to Hashem.
On the plain level: Shmuel says, how can I go? Shaul will hear that the prophet is going to anoint another king, and he will say this is one who rebels against the kingship and is liable to death. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: take a heifer with you and say that you came only to offer a sacrifice. And this raises an enormous wonder: the Holy One, blessed be He, in His very own glory, sends you, and you are afraid? It was not some institution that sent you but the Creator of the world; can you possibly have any worry in a mission from Hashem?
The Radak says: Know that even though the Holy One, blessed be He, made a promise to a prophet or a righteous man, he nevertheless takes care not to walk into a place of danger. The proof is from Yaakov Avinu. The Holy One, blessed be He, promised him, "and I will bring you back to this land," "I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you" - a complete promise, he has nothing to worry about. And yet, when he heard that Esav was coming toward him, "Yaakov was very frightened and distressed." Rashi explains: he was frightened - lest he be killed; and distressed - lest he kill others. What was he afraid of? He has a promise! Rather, there is a promise, and yet sin can cause harm.
A promise that was valid two months ago, when a person was on a high level, may not take effect today, if, God forbid, he descended from his level, listened to lashon hara, or anything else. This itself is the idea behind changing one's name: this is no longer the same person, this is a new person. And so too with teshuva: this is not the same person, he did teshuva and is now a different person - the evil decree was not decreed upon him, and from now on good decrees can begin upon him. And just as this is so for the good, so it is for the opposite: when a person corrupts his ways, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, the good decree was not decreed upon this one. Yaakov the righteous received a promise, and if he is not on that same level, the promises do not apply to him.
It emerges that there is a situation in which a person is sent by the Holy One, blessed be He, yet holds no insurance policy in his hand, because the Creator of the world may say to him: you corrupted yourself. As the Gemara said about that person who went up on the mission of a mitzva to send away the mother bird's nestlings and fell - perhaps at that very moment he contemplated idolatry. And if you say, but I went to fulfill a mitzva, and it says "so that it may be good for you and you will lengthen your days" - true, but if you committed a transgression, the promise is not valid, and you receive punishment at that very moment.
And so too with David himself. He was anointed by the word of Hashem through Shmuel, and yet when Shaul pursues him, he flees. Seemingly, what are you fleeing from? You have an anointing from the Creator of the world; stay in your place and tell Shaul: you want to kill me? Try. Rather, there is no insurance policy. Even if you received such a statement, if you are not worthy on that level, it is possible, God forbid, that you will be harmed.
And the greatest proof of all: Moshe Rabbeinu. "If you do not redeem them, no other will redeem them," there is no one else. And the moment he did not circumcise his son, a serpent came and swallowed him, and he reached mortal danger. Had Tzippora not taken a flint and circumcised her son at that hour, Moshe could have died - and there would be no redemption, no exodus from Egypt, and no giving of the Torah. This shows that even though Hashem sent him on a mission, that is no guarantee that he will remain alive.
What do we learn from here? That even when you hold a command from Hashem, you must do things according to the way of nature. You see that people are threatening you - flee. You see that you are in danger - endeavor to do the matter without danger. And furthermore, a person should minimize the miracle, for "it is the honor of God to conceal a matter." Therefore, when the Holy One, blessed be He, split the Sea of Reeds, it was preceded by "a strong east wind all night." Did the wind split the sea? A tornado or tsunami could come and the sea would not split. Rather, the matter was done, as it were, through the way of nature, and one minimizes the miracle, and in this lies the honor of God.
And from this verse the Sages learned: a person is permitted to alter his words for the sake of peace. Here it is about preserving the peace between Shmuel and Shaul, and therefore he was commanded to say "I have come to sacrifice to Hashem," even though his true intention was to anoint David as king.
There are commentators who say there was a claim here against Shmuel. Shmuel comes and says: Master of the world, Shaul will hear and kill me. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: I told you to go discreetly, I did not tell you to go publicly. Walk humbly and let them not know who you are. And if you are afraid, take with you a heifer, and we shall see who can harm you; if I have sent you, no man can harm you.
An example of this is found with Moshe Rabbeinu: he said "a little more and they will stone me," and immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him "pass before the people" - we shall see who harms you. And so too with Noach: "on that very day Noach came." Everyone said, let him just try to enter the ark, we are ready here to take it apart for him within ten minutes. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: that is what you think? I will bring him in on that very day without fearing anyone, and whoever thinks he can harm him, let him come and harm. And so too with Pharaoh: he threatened that they should just try to leave, and the Holy One, blessed be He, said, not like thieves in the night but "on that very day," in the middle of the day; whoever wants to stop them, let him come and stop them.
The Malbim disagrees with the Radak. In his view, one who is sent on a mission from Hashem need not worry, and no harm will befall him. The proof comes from all the prophets who went to deliver harsh prophecies in the name of Hashem. Yirmiyahu was thrown into the courtyard of the prison, and was even sunk in the mud, and had Eved Melech the Kushite not come and rescued him he would have died - yet in the end he was saved, for there is protection from Hashem. And Yeshayahu, for what was he punished? For saying "and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." Not one of the kings who pursued him over his prophecies killed him; rather, his punishment came as a result of an improper statement he made about the people of Israel. But as for fearing that a person might be harmed while carrying out Hashem's mission - he need not fear.
If so, what was Shmuel's concern? The Malbim distinguishes between two types of missions. When the miracle is needed for the sake of the mission itself, in that case the Holy One, blessed be He, guarantees that He will see to it that the mission is completed one hundred percent. But when the miracle is only for the sake of the messenger and is not connected to the mission, in that case there is no guarantee.
And so he explains: when Moshe was sent to Pharaoh, and when Yirmiyahu was sent, they went to a place of danger and relied on the miracle, because they knew that Hashem wanted the matter to be made public and that they would be saved by a miracle before the eyes of all. So that all would see: here is Moshe, unafraid to enter Pharaoh's palace and threaten him; so that the people of Israel would know and all would know that there is a God in heaven, and that the messenger is protected and guarded. In such a situation the miracle is not for the sake of the messenger but for the sake of the mission, since the goal is accomplished through the miracle itself, that the matter be done publicly and that all recognize the Creator of the world.
But here, Shmuel says: had You commanded me to go publicly and to anoint before the eyes of all Israel, I would not have been afraid at all, for then the rescue would be part of the mission. But You are not commanding me to go publicly. And if so, when the matter reaches Shaul's ears and he seeks to kill me and You save me, this would be a private miracle for me alone, a miracle after the fact, and not a miracle for the sake of the mission. And in this there is the concern of "anyone for whom a miracle is performed has it deducted from his merits." And this is "how can I go": I do not want You to perform a private miracle for me and deduct from my merits.
And the Malbim adds another possibility in understanding "how can I go": this itself was Shmuel's question - in what manner do You want me to go? If You want me to go publicly and by way of a miracle, to show all that I do not fear Shaul, then the miracle is for the sake of the mission, since You want the kingdom of the house of David to be publicized with great fanfare. And if You want me to do this discreetly, that the matter not require publicity, then if Shaul hears and seeks to kill me I will require a private miracle, and with such a miracle my merits are deducted.
וְקָרָאתָ לְיִשַׁי בַּזָּבַח, וְאָנֹכִי אוֹדִיעֲךָ אֵת אֲשֶׁר־תַּעֲשֶׂה, וּמָשַׁחְתָּ לִי אֵת אֲשֶׁר־אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ׃ - And you shall call Yishai to the sacrifice, and I will make known to you what you shall do, and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I tell you.
The Malbim asks: could Shmuel not have thought of this himself? What is so complicated about taking a heifer and constructing a cover story? Rather, Shmuel did not want to utter a false word from his mouth, and as long as he had no command from Hashem, he would not do so. And why specifically "take a heifer in your hand", could he not buy cattle there? Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: I do not want you to lie, I want you to speak the truth. What am I commanding you now? To offer a sacrifice there. Therefore take the heifer with you already now, for this is truly the command. And if you say, but the anointing of the king is the task, I have not yet commanded you regarding that.
And when you say "I have come to offer a sacrifice to Hashem", you will be speaking the absolute truth, for as of now I am not commanding you anything else. And only afterward, "and I will make known to you what you shall do", when you arrive there you will have a new command. And through this we gain also if Shaul asks him: Shmuel, did you come only to offer a sacrifice or is there some additional purpose and hidden reason here? Seemingly he would be forced to lie. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: you will not be forced to. As of now you have no other command in hand, and you will be able to say wholeheartedly - I came only to offer a sacrifice. The instructions for the continuation you will receive later.
וַיַּעַשׂ שְׁמוּאֵל אֵת אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהֹוָה וַיָּבֹא בֵּית לָחֶם, וַיֶּחֶרְדוּ זִקְנֵי הָעִיר לִקְרָאתוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁלֹם בּוֹאֶךָ׃ - And Shmuel did what Hashem had spoken, and he came to Beit Lechem, and the elders of the city trembled to meet him, and he said, "Is your coming in peace?"
The Radak explains that they were alarmed at his coming and feared that perhaps there was someone in the city who had committed a great sin, so serious that Shmuel the prophet needed to come and repair the terrible breach. The Malbim explains somewhat differently: when had they seen Shmuel together with the elders of the city? At the eglah arufah (the beheaded heifer). Now they see him arriving with a heifer, and who knows, perhaps someone was killed here on the road and no one knows who struck him, and therefore Shmuel came with a heifer to behead it in the valley. Hence their dread. So they ask "שלום בואך" - have you come regarding a matter of peace, or is there, heaven forbid, a corpse here and someone was killed? And he answers them: peace. I have come regarding a matter of peace, no one has died and you have nothing to worry about.
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁלוֹם לִזְבֹּחַ לַיהֹוָה בָּאתִי הִתְקַדְּשׁוּ וּבָאתֶם אִתִּי בַּזָּבַח, וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת־יִשַׁי וְאֶת־בָּנָיו וַיִּקְרָא לָהֶם לַזָּבַח׃ - And he said: Peace, I have come to sacrifice to Hashem; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Yishai and his sons and called them to the sacrifice.
What is the meaning of "sanctify yourselves"? Its sense is preparation and invitation. Like "prepare (kadshu) war against her," and like "kedeishah," which Rashi explains as one designated for harlotry. Thus the root k-d-sh means to prepare and to designate. So too "behold you are betrothed (mekudeshet) to me," that is, designated for this man alone. There is also in kedushah an aspect of separation and distancing, to withdraw from all matters of this world, and this is the virtue of holiness. Therefore "mekudeshet to me" includes both: designated for me and separated from the entire world, for from that moment she is forbidden to all, "and He forbade to us the betrothed women."
And the Malbim notes precisely regarding "and he sanctified Yishai and his sons": he did this among the rest of those invited, so that they would not sense that they had any special significance, but would think they were part of the general company.
וַיְהִי בְּבוֹאָם וַיַּרְא אֶת־אֱלִיאָב, וַיֹּאמֶר אַךְ נֶגֶד יְהֹוָה מְשִׁיחוֹ׃ - And it was, when they came, that he saw Eliav, and he said: Surely before Hashem is His anointed.
When they entered, Shmuel saw Eliav, who was tall, of handsome appearance and especially impressive. And Shmuel remembered how Shaul had been chosen, of whom it was said that there was none as tall as he, from his shoulders and up higher than all the people, unlike David who was of short stature. And he thought: presumably this is the one chosen by Hashem, for an impressive outward form aids kingship, since through it his awe is cast upon the people. According to the plain meaning, "neged" means opposite, that is: facing Hashem, this is the anointed one.
But the Malbim explains the opposite: "neged Hashem's anointed" means opposed to Hashem's anointed. This is not the one whom Hashem wants. How did he know? Because he had been told "and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I tell you," and here he looks at Eliav and Hashem tells him nothing. This is therefore against Hashem's will. And the reason, so Shmuel reasoned, is that Eliav was not on the same level as Shaul: true, he was tall and handsome, but not like Shaul who was taller than all the people. And so he thought to himself: if there is as yet no replacement for Shaul, perhaps there is a chance that Shaul will still return. And this is "surely neged Hashem's anointed" - perhaps his first anointed, Shaul, still stands before Hashem's eyes, and perhaps the Holy One, blessed be He, will yet accept him in the end and restore him to his kingship.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל אַל־תַּבֵּט אֶל־מַרְאֵהוּ וְאֶל־גְּבֹהַּ קוֹמָתוֹ כִּי מְאַסְתִּיהוּ, כִּי לֹא אֲשֶׁר יִרְאֶה הָאָדָם, כִּי הָאָדָם יִרְאֶה לַעֵינַיִם וַיהֹוָה יִרְאֶה לַלֵּבָב׃ - And Hashem said to Shmuel: Do not look upon his appearance or upon the height of his stature, for I have rejected him; for it is not as man sees, for man sees to the eyes and Hashem sees to the heart.
According to the Malbim's approach, "for I have rejected him" refers to Shaul. Do not look upon his appearance or upon the height of his stature - what was pleasing before Me then has now become rejected. And if so, even though Eliav is not the chosen one, do not expect that Shaul will return, for the matter has already been sealed against him. This explanation resolves the difficulty of how it could be said "I have rejected him" about Eliav, when we find in Eliav no blemish or fault at all; whereas the term "I have rejected him" was already stated at the beginning of the chapter about Shaul - "and I have rejected him from reigning over Israel." And Shaul was indeed of handsome appearance and tall stature, and the Holy One, blessed be He, comes and says: man sees to the eyes, looking at the externals, and I see also the inner self, and I have seen that Shaul's character traits and inner self are no longer worthy of kingship, and therefore he is rejected in My eyes, and there must be someone else.
Other commentators, however, explain that Shmuel was impressed by Eliav's towering stature, and it was regarding him that Hashem said "but Hashem looks upon His anointed": here is the one fit to be the anointed king. To this the Holy One responded, "Do not look at his appearance... for I have rejected him." And why did He reject him? Our Sages say: because the trait of anger was hidden within him. And where was it revealed? When David came to the battlefront against Goliath. His father had sent him to bring food to the field of battle, and when he arrived, "Eliav's anger burned against David," and he said to him, "With whom have you left those few sheep," "I know your insolence and the evil of your heart, for you came down to see the battle." He leveled serious accusations against him that were untrue, for the verse itself explains, "and he left the sheep with a keeper" - his father had sent him, and he was responsible, and he had entrusted the sheep to a keeper.
Here Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz in Sichot Mussar asks a tremendous question: this is all we found regarding Eliav, which implies that apart from this he had no problem at all. Moreover, that outburst of anger occurred at least two years later, and until then no anger was found in him. If so, why did the Holy One judge him on the basis of something that had not yet come to fruition? After all, we have a principle that Hashem judges a person as he is at that moment, and here, as he was at that moment, he had not yet grown angry.
Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz answers with a parable: two men were caught. One was caught with several counterfeit dollars in his pocket, and the second was caught with a machine for counterfeiting dollars in his home, with clear proof that he had never used it. Who receives the harsher punishment? The owner of the machine, of course. The first one - perhaps someone gave the bills to him, perhaps they came into his possession by chance. But you, the owner of the machine, you are the center of it. Such an expensive machine, what is it for? A museum exhibit? To keep the door from closing in the wind? It was made to print. If there is such a machine in your home, it will eventually be used. So too with Eliav: the anger was there, only it was a hidden anger, an anger that had not yet come into practice but that nested in the heart.
They tell of Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian zt"l, a righteous Jew who merited a revelation of Eliyahu. Once he came to the Rebbe of Gur to ask for a blessing. The Rebbe, who was a holy man of God, saw it upon him immediately and said to him: A Jew who merited a revelation of Eliyahu comes to ask me for a blessing? Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian answered him: A Jew who merited a revelation of Eliyahu comes to ask for a blessing from a Jew who is able to see this upon him.
Once they heard him sighing with a broken heart. They asked him what the Rav was sighing about, and he answered: I need to work on the trait of anger, who knows how angry a person I am. They said to him: The Rav, angry? We have never seen the Rav angry, not in any situation, not even the slightest sharpness. He said to them: This is no proof. The reason I have not grown angry until now is that I am a respected man holding a lofty position, and everyone honors me, speaks to me gently, is careful not to provoke me, and immediately fulfills my wishes. But who knows what would happen if someone tried to provoke me? Who knows how I would erupt against him.
This is the way of the righteous. The tzaddik, whose traits are good, suspects himself lest something improper is hidden within, and he examines the chambers of his heart lest a single grain of leaven remains. On the other hand, the one who is actually an angry man, woe to whoever enters his four cubits, says: Me, angry? Heaven forbid, there are people, may Hashem have mercy on them, but I am by nature a calm man. Who said such a thing about me? Bring him to me and I will tear him apart. And he is not ashamed. This is the difference: the tzaddik, with good traits, is certain that something in him is not right, and precisely because of this he reached the level of a tzaddik, for all his days he examined himself with a magnifying glass and did not look for excuses.
With Eliav, the "machine" was in the house. The machine of anger was inside. Until that day it did not print, but the moment someone shifted him a little, the anger erupted. It is like an explosive charge that can sit in its place for many long years, or a dud shell or grenade that did not explode - for years it will remain, and if you touch it, woe. So too the trait of anger: it is hidden until they provoke a person and take him out of his tranquility, and then the whole Pandora's box erupts.
I heard a wonderful explanation regarding Doeg the Edomite. The Gemara relates that one of the Sages grieved greatly over him: see what tremendous virtues Doeg the Edomite had, he was called "the mightiest of the shepherds," a giant among giants, and yet he is among those who have no share in the World to Come. He said: If he is such, what shall we say? They told him: Do not bring proof from him, for there was rancor (tina) in his heart. His wickedness was disguised.
And what is "tina"? "Tin" means mud. Look at a river and you see clear water; stamp your feet a little, and immediately everything rises up and becomes murky. So it was with Doeg the Edomite: outwardly everything was smooth, water clear as a mirror, even a testing of its sources would determine it fit for drinking. But below, at the bottom, there were sediments of mud. And as long as no one touches it, everything remains quiet; but let someone come and stir it a little, and immediately everything rises up. A person drives along calmly in his car, you honk at him a little or do something minor, and suddenly the beast within the man comes out and erupts, and you hear pleasant words, a tractate of blessings, and immediately after it a tractate of blows, and then the entire Shas. Or like the parable of the trash can that you press with your foot and the lid opens: you step on its foot, the lid opens, and all the garbage starts to come out. This is "there was rancor in his heart": there is mud, and if you do not touch it, it remains; stir it a little, and everything comes out.
And what must a person do? Cleanse the chambers of his heart, even the mud at the very bottom, so that even when he is provoked, nothing will burst forth. This was the case with Eliav: on the finest, most subtle level, Hashem, who examines hearts, saw that the trait of anger within him was not refined. And since it was not refined, in the end it erupted, though only two years later, yet the Holy One, blessed be He, saw the machine already beforehand.
The chapter opens with the breaking off of mourning over Shaul, since both his virtue and the absence of any replacement for him had ceased, and with the anointing of the house of David with a horn of oil, a strong horn symbolizing an eternal monarchy that was born in holiness and initiated by Hashem Himself. Along the way we learned how one relates to a divine promise: according to the Radak, even one who holds a promise must be careful, lest sin cause its forfeiture, and must act in the way of nature and minimize reliance on a miracle; and according to the Malbim, an emissary is assured of rescue when the miracle is needed for the mission itself, but not when it is a private miracle that is deducted from his merits. We saw Shmuel's carefulness not to let a false word leave his mouth, and the permission to alter one's words for the sake of peace. And finally, from the verse "האדם יראה לעיניים וה' יראה ללבב" - "man looks at the eyes and Hashem looks at the heart," we learned the great principle: monarchy is not measured by height of stature and beauty of appearance, but by the inner heart, and even a machine that has not yet printed, and a grudge that has not yet risen from the bottom, are revealed before the One who spoke and the world came into being. From here comes a demand upon every person to cleanse the chambers of his heart, not only what is visible to the eye.