00:00 Sefer Yechezkel, Chapter 6. "And the word of Hashem came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them." Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel. Why does he need to prophesy to the mountains? And further on, "And say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Hashem Elokim. Thus says Hashem Elokim to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys: Behold, I am bringing a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places." He is speaking to the mountains. Does he have some business with the mountains? What, to give them prophecies? So really the explanation here is that when he speaks, so to speak, the expression "to the mountains" is only a metaphor. In truth he is prophesying to the people of Israel, only he tells the mountains what is going to happen to them. And what does this mean? On the high mountains and on the hills they would place their idols, their sun images, under every leafy tree, in the streams and in the valleys. And so He tells him, speak as though you are speaking directly to them, as though you are speaking with them. That is, what does He say to the mountains and hills? That all the idolatry built upon you will in the end be destroyed, will in the end be broken. The Radak says: He connects the worshiped and the worshipers together, because of the act done to them. It emerges, then, that really we are speaking about the worshiped objects, but His intent is about the worshipers. Right? That is, if I say the mountains will be destroyed and become desolate, how? Following what? That the worshipers upon them will also be destroyed. It is like they say, sometimes the husband speaks with his wife but means the bride. They shout at the mother in law but mean the daughter in law, right? What does this mean? The husband comes home, why is the house not in order? Why is there a mess? Why the kitchen? Why are the dishes not clean? He means to hint to the daughter in law, maybe put down the newspaper and wash the dishes. Only, he addresses his wife, as it were, you understand? He only wants her to hear. So he addresses her and expects her to have a listening ear from another direction. So it is here too, so to speak. He turns to the mountains and prophesies against them, but the Radak says, He connects the worshiped and the worshipers. He is really speaking about the worshiped object, but He also means those who worship there on the mountains.
The Malbim explains that the mountains and the hills: the hills were around the mountains, they are smaller. The mountains are always the high ones, the hills are the lower ones. The hills are around the mountains, they are the lower ones relative to the mountains. Between the mountains, says the Malbim, run the streams of water. This means actual rivers. And between the hills there are valleys. "Valleys" means a place that is a ravine, somewhat lower. "And you shall say" - and we will soon see why we need it, why it is important for us to know this. "And say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Hashem Elokim. Thus says Hashem Elokim to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys: Behold, I am bringing a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places." The Malbim explains: the mountains, as we said, are larger than the hills. The hills are around the mountains, and so you will understand that when we speak of the streams, this is the place where the water flows swiftly. Where is that found? Between the mountains, not between the hills. Because in the hills there is no such great incline for the water to flow swiftly. Only between the mountains, since there is a strong flow from the melting snow and so on, what comes down from the mountains, there the water flows swiftly. So it emerges that He speaks here to the mountains and to the hills, and the mountains correspond to the streams, and the hills correspond to the valleys, since we explained that the valley is between the hills and the streams are between the mountains. So He is really speaking to the mountains and to the streams, to the hills and to the valleys. "Behold, I am bringing a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places." What is the sword? It means those who wield the sword. It does not mean that the sword will come of its own accord, but that a gentile bearing a sword will come. And through this "I will destroy your high places" - through this the gentile will destroy the high places.
"And your altars shall be laid desolate and your sun images shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols." "And your altars shall be laid desolate" - the altars will become desolation. For what simple reason? Because there will be no one to come and burn offerings on them, since the gentile will strike them with the sword, and so your altars will be desolate. "And your sun images shall be broken" - the sun images were an idolatry that they would make in the form of the sun. As is known, in their time there were many who worshiped the sun, and they were called worshipers of sun images, and therefore the decree will be that their sun images will be broken. What are the sun images? The form of the idol that was in the likeness of the sun, that too will be broken. What does "your altars shall be laid desolate" mean? Your altars will become desolation and your sun images will be broken. When and how? "And I will cast down your slain" - your slain before your idols. "Your slain" means the dead among you. And they will be before your idols. The idols are their idolatry. And this is as the Metzudat David says: at the place of the wickedness, there is the punishment. This is what the Ramban writes: at the place of judgment, there is the wickedness. The meaning is: if you want to know why they went down to Egypt, since Avraham Avinu, as the Ramban says, should not have gone down to Egypt at the time of the famine, but should have relied on Hashem. "And at the place of judgment, there is the wickedness." You want to know where the sin was? See where they were judged. If they judged us in Egypt, that means that there in Egypt was the sin. This is the principle the Ramban states, and on the basis of this principle he says the same here. At the place of the wickedness, there is the punishment. Where will the slain fall? Before the idols. In the place where you worshiped idolatry, there his corpse will fall.
The Malbim explains: what is the difference between altars and high places? What is the difference between "your altars" and "your high places"? The Malbim says: as Chazal teach us, the high place was designated for the individual. Each individual would go and build a high place for himself. What is a high place? It is an altar. But an individual altar. A person would build himself an altar in his courtyard. There was a period when the high places were permitted, and they would offer there peace offerings, vows, freewill offerings and the like. In contrast, whenever we speak of altars, we speak in the plural. "And your altars shall be laid desolate." Desolation, says the Malbim, is the opposite of the gathering of many. The altars shall be laid desolate, what does that mean, they shall be laid desolate? What does it mean that they shall be desolate? That many will not gather to serve upon them. That is the meaning of "they shall be laid desolate." It is the opposite of many gathering. When I say the land is desolate, there are not many dwelling in it. That is, the opposite of many gathering is desolation. So "your altars shall be laid desolate" means many will not gather to worship at them. Because altars, as we said, are a place of worship for the many, in contrast to a high place, which is a place for the individual.
"And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars." After the killing, the corpses will remain lying there before the idols, before the idolatry. And the bones too will be scattered there, this is "and I will scatter your bones around your altars." Just as they would slaughter the animals before the idols and before the idolatry, and the bones of the sacrifices were scattered there, so too your bones will be scattered around the altars. The Malbim says: until now he spoke about the mountains, the uninhabited places. Now he comes and adds, saying, "In all your dwellings the cities shall be laid waste and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made guilty, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your sun images may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out." In all your dwellings, not only on the mountains which are uninhabited places, but even in the inhabited places the cities will be laid waste, so that the high places found there, which are individual high places, so that these high places too will be abolished. And the purpose of the destruction, says the Malbim, is "so that your altars may be laid waste and made guilty." The meaning is: through their being laid waste, they will know that this is because they were guilty before Hashem. Because there was sin and iniquity in them. "And your idols may be broken and cease." Through their being broken, through this your idols will also cease. "Your idols" is the idolatry; "gilulim" is from the word for dung. And through their being broken, this will be their ceasing. Because a person worships an idol while it exists, but once it is broken, that is its abolition. So "and they may be broken," and through this "your idols will cease." And through "your sun images being cut down," through this "your works will be blotted out." Your evil deeds will no longer continue, they will be blotted out, there will be no continuation of this.
The Malbim says that what is written "and made guilty" (ve'yeshmu) is from the language of sin and guilt (asham). The Malbim says: what is the difference between mere sin and guilt (asham)? Asham is when a person knows that there is iniquity in him. He knows that he is guilty. He knows that there is guilt in him. So He says here, through this "they will be laid waste and made guilty." Through their being laid waste, they will understand that there is guilt in them. They will understand that they sinned. And that is why they were laid waste. And through this, perhaps it will awaken them to repentance. "And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am Hashem." And through the slain falling in your midst, through this you shall know that I am Hashem. You will recognize through this that there is a God who judges in the land. Here you will see that the slain fell in your midst, as we said, that all these are unnatural troubles.
"Yet I will leave a remnant, that you may have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries." What does "yet I will leave, that you may have some that escape the sword among the nations" mean? There are two explanations here. The Radak says "I will leave" (ve'hotarti) is from the word for remnant (notar). Not all will fall by the sword. "Yet I will leave, that you may have some that escape the sword among the nations." This means there will be those who escape the sword among the nations, so "I will leave" - there will be those who remain. In contrast, the Malbim explains that "ve'hotarti" is from the language of advantage and gain, as in "in all toil there is gain (motar)." It means gain, benefit. So there will be for Me an advantage and gain through the punishments with which I will punish you, in that "you may have some that escape the sword among the nations." The meaning is: through the troubles and punishments they will receive here, this caused a remnant of survivors to remain for us. The fact that they received the punishment saved the rest. And we will see the matter more explicitly further on.
"And those of you who escape shall remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, when I have broken their whorish heart which has departed from Me, and their eyes which go whoring after their idols. And they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations." "And those of you who escape shall remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive." The Malbim says: those of you who remain, who remain in exile, they will remember Hashem. "And those of you who escape shall remember." "When I have broken" (nishbarti) means: after I broke their heart and their eyes. "Nishbarti" here is in the sense of "I broke," and so too says the Targum Yonatan. It means after I broke. After I broke what? "When I have broken their whorish heart which has departed from Me, and their eyes which go whoring after their idols." The Malbim says: the heart and the eye are the two agents of sin. The heart and the eye are the two intermediaries of sin. "Sarsur" means intermediary. They are the two intermediaries of sin, since the eye sees and the heart desires. The heart, the heart rules only over what the eye rules over. If we did not see something, we were not drawn to it. When are we drawn to something? When we saw it. So it emerges that they are the agents for us, the intermediaries for us of the worship. And when they are broken, then they will not stray after their heart and after their eyes, after which they go whoring. This is what He says: "and there I will break their whorish heart which has departed from Me, and their eyes which go whoring after their idols." That the heart and the eyes are the agents of sin. Incidentally, why is it written "and you shall not stray after your heart and after your eyes"? After all, the eye sees and the heart desires. So it seems it should have said "and you shall not stray after your eyes and after your heart." That would have been more correct, the eye first. And so too in our verse, "I have broken their whorish heart which has departed from Me, and their eyes which go whoring" - it should have said "their eyes which go whoring and their whorish heart," since everything begins with the eye, the eye sees and the heart desires. The answer, my teachers and masters, is: the eye never sees what the heart does not want it to see. Do you hear? So all seeing begins with the heart. If you decide that you do not want to see, you will not see. But since the heart wants to, a person walks down the street like an ox that is straight. His eyes wander, seeking what to see. So it begins with the heart wanting. Since the heart wants, then the eye also sees. After the eye sees, then it also influences the heart, and the heart now also desires. It does not merely want. But everything begins with the heart; the desire to see begins with the heart. Therefore He says here first of all "I have broken their whorish heart," that is first. And afterward "their eyes which go whoring." Because their whorish heart departed from Me, and from here came their whorish eyes. The same too with "and you shall not stray after your heart and after your eyes." It begins with the heart, and afterward the eye sees, and then in the end the heart desires.
And then what will result from this? "And they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed." Through this "they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed," through their seeing how through their abominations such evils came upon them, until it emerges that they themselves brought the evils upon themselves. And so "they shall loathe themselves" (ve'nakotu). "Ve'nakotu" is from the root k-t-t, says the Malbim. Since the tav here has a dagesh, as in "when You arose" (be'komimecha), "I will quarrel" (etkotet). "Forty years I quarreled (akut) with a generation" - I quarreled with the generation. This is from the language of quarrel and strife. And then through this, when they see what troubles they brought upon themselves, "they shall loathe themselves." Through this they will greatly regret, as if one quarrels with himself. He will have strife and quarrel: how did I do such a thing? Behold, see what evil I brought upon myself. So too Rashi brings in the name of Menachem, that "ve'nakotu" is from the language of "I saw traitors and I quarreled" (va'etkotota). Yes, they will quarrel with themselves over the fact that they did not listen to Me. In contrast, he brings an additional interpretation, that of the Targum Yonatan. That Yonatan says "ve'yidankun" (and they will groan), "and they will see." As "the groaning ones" is translated "de'midankin." From the language of weeping and groaning. So then what is written here, "ve'nakotu," means: then you will weep, then you will groan, then you will have sorrow. So it emerges that this is not from the root of quarrel, but in the sense of weeping, in the sense of groaning, of pain. There is a third interpretation, that "ve'nakotu bifneihem" is from the root k-t-t and its meaning is cutting off. The meaning is: perhaps this is like "cut," to cut is like to sever, right? A kind of severing, "keta" and "katat" with a tet. And this is very interesting since in foreign language, in English, to cut they say "cut," right? So here too we are speaking of "cut" whose meaning is severing, right? This is how the Radak explains it.
Take note, the Radak has a comment here, and there is really a grammatical difficulty in the language of the verse. "And those of you who escape shall remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, when I have broken (nishbarti) their whorish heart." It should have been written "which I broke (shavarti) their whorish heart." And as I said, the Malbim explains that it means "I broke." And so too, as I mentioned, the Targum Yonatan brings "di tavrit," which I broke. But the Radak has difficulty with this. The Radak says it is not correct that a nifal construction should function as a transitive verb; rather it says "nishbarti," that is "I was broken." Not in the sense of "I broke." And therefore the Radak wants to interpret that "nishbarti" means: I was broken by their whorish heart. And so it emerges: "when I was broken by their whorish heart" - this is a bit difficult, but like... I was broken as a result of their whorish heart. That is, like it is written "and it grieved Him to His heart." I had from this sorrow and anguish of soul because of their whorish heart. Now, although we said that the Malbim explains that "nishbarti" means "I broke," the Malbim asks: why does he write "nishbarti"? Why does he not write "shavarti"? Because the expression "nishbarti" really means "I broke," but also "I was broken." The meaning is: he calls this a twin intent. "Twin" means from the language of twins. In simple words, there is here a double meaning. The meaning is: His heart broke at the breaking of their heart. Therefore he wrote "nishbarti." So "nishbarti" is "I broke them," and "I was broken" through this. Like a father who must strike his son over a negative act that he did, and it pains the father, it pains him in his son's pain. So that really there is here a striking of "I broke," but also "I was broken." And therefore he took specifically this language. He also says that it may well be that this is connected to what is written before. "And those of you who escape shall remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, when I was broken by their whorish heart." The meaning is specifically among the nations where they are carried captive, there they will remember their whorish heart. There the strength of the exiled nation, of the people of Israel, will be broken. There they were carried captive, there they see that I do not save them, "I was broken." I do not save them. As it were, I am, so to speak, exhausted of strength from assisting them. He says this will cause them to break. As long as they are here, they are secure, "Temple of Hashem, Temple of Hashem are these," Hashem will not destroy His Temple, there will be no troubles, they even bring false prophets who promise morning and evening that everything will be fine, and there is no need to make all sorts of apocalyptic predictions about the end of the world, and encouraging media, and in short, here they are still secure. When will the break come? The break will come when they are among the nations. Then they will understand the magnitude of the trouble, and then they will see that I, as it were, was broken from saving them, and then there will be a break for them, because they will understand the magnitude of the trouble they are in.
This reminds me of what Rav Zilberstein once related, that some mayor told him, who had been a mayor for years, and at a certain point, in some particular election, he was somewhat too complacent, and some other mayor took the city by storm. He was in total shock, he could not believe it. He says, I have been mayor here for years, and suddenly I became like an ordinary man. He says, but I still had not absorbed it. He says, do you know when I absorbed it? He relates that after a week his car was stolen. "Poverty follows the poor." After a week his car was stolen. And then, he says, he has the phone numbers of all the top officials. He calls the police station chief in the city. "Hello Yaakov, how are you? How are you doing?" "Fine, thank God." He answers him a bit coolly. He says to him, "You know Yaakov, my car was stolen." So he mumbled something, like, "I didn't understand, and fine." Something like, "we'll talk about it later" or something. Fine, I called after that again. And then he says to me, "Fine, go to the police station, file a proper complaint, we will act through the usual channels." And he says, in closing, he told me: "And I would greatly appreciate it if you could delete my number from your phone." In simple words, do not bother me anymore. Who are you today? What are you today? An ordinary citizen, right? So do me a favor, do not bother me anymore. He says, and that was the moment of crisis in which I understood where I stand. Before that I was still in a kind of euphoria, but then I understood, that's it, what was is over. We are finished. So he says, before that, just one phone call to the police commander, to the chief, and immediately a police officer comes to my office, takes my testimony, maybe the commander himself, the police station chief, would come and... he says, where, all this is over. Go to the station, file a complaint. So you understand that there is a reality, and by the way we spoke about this once in a sermon, the Midrash brings this regarding Moshe Rabbeinu, that when Moshe Rabbeinu prayed "pass over now," the Holy One Blessed be He told him that now it has passed. The Holy One Blessed be He told him, the hour has passed. The Midrash brings this parable, of a person who held a high position and was dismissed. And then he comes to the king's palace, and it turns out to him that they changed the lock code. You understand? It turns out to him that in short there is no entry. The guard says to him, who are you? What are you? You are not known here. Turn back. You understand? The hour has passed. There was a time, Moshe, when you could act, but now the hour has passed. Well, this I recalled following what is written here, "when I was broken." There in exile they will remember their whorish heart, the strength of the God, of their stronghold to make war, will be broken, they will see that we are finished. Where is that strength we relied on? Suddenly they will see that here we were carried captive and Hashem did not save us. And then through this the matter will break them completely.
"And they shall know that I am Hashem; I did not speak in vain that I would do this evil to them." And they shall know that I am Hashem, so they will know that I am Hashem. Not through the blows that I will bring upon the people there, the people in exile will repent, and through this "I will leave a remnant," there will be for you survivors, there will be gain in it. And then "I did not speak in vain." It emerges, then, that the blows were not in vain. So the bringing of the punishments here is not for nothing and an act done in vain without purpose, says the Malbim. Through this I will attain the decree of which I spoke concerning them, the evil, and the desired purpose for Me, which as we said, is that the evil should not come, but on the contrary, that they should repent and be worthy of being redeemed.
"Thus says Hashem Elokim: Strike with your palm and stamp with your foot, and say: Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence." "Thus says Hashem Elokim: Strike with your palm." This means like clapping the palms. He claps and strikes palm against palm. That is "strike with your palm." "And stamp with your foot." Rashi says: he strikes his foot on the ground and flattens the mud, in the manner of a mourner. A person in sorrow strikes his foot on the ground, to show sorrow and pain. Or there is an additional explanation, the Radak brings, that the meaning is: strike with your palm upon your thighs. Right? Like "I smote upon my thigh." "And stamp with your foot," the Radak says the meaning is a person who strikes foot upon foot. The reality is not so clear to me; what Rashi says makes more sense, that he strikes his foot on the ground. The Radak says he strikes foot upon foot and flattens the ground beneath him. Perhaps this is striking the foot on the ground. But foot upon foot is not so clear to me.
"For all the evil abominations." The Malbim explains: "strike with your palm," says the Malbim, the intent of the verse is: strike with your palm and stamp with your foot at the evil abominations of the house of Israel, and say that which by the sword, by famine, they shall fall, and so on. The meaning is that he will stamp and strike his foot on the ground out of anger at the evil abominations of the house of Israel. "Evil abominations" is like a construct upon a construct, meaning the evil abominations of the house of Israel, right? That is "evil abominations." But on the other hand He says, "Alas" (He'ach), and joy. "He'ach," and joy, says the Malbim, is always an expression of joy. "Aha, my mother in law, I have seen light" (Heach chamoti, ra'iti or); "Aha, aha, our eye has seen." It is an expression of joy. On the other hand, you say "He'ach," and joy, over what Hashem will punish them and they will fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. "He who is far off shall die by pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die by famine; and I will spend My fury upon them." He who is far off, whoever is in the wilderness, far from the enemy, will die by pestilence. He who is near the city, near the city the enemies stand, he will fall by the enemy's sword. He who remains in the city, he will be besieged there within a siege, he will fall by famine. Over all this you shall say "He'ach," joy. And this joy, what does it accomplish? What joy is there here? The Malbim says: because through this they will gain two things. One, "and I will spend My fury upon them." Through their receiving the punishment, through this the fury will be spent. In the sense of "My arrows will be spent but they will not be spent." So the fury will be spent. An additional matter: through this "you shall know that I am Hashem, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, upon every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every leafy tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they offered sweet savor to all their idols." You will recognize that the punishment and the providence are from Hashem. And one, you will recognize that through this - behold, their slain are among their idols, in the place of the sin, as we explained earlier, there the retribution and punishment. Through this they will know that the punishment came following the sin. An additional matter, and by the way what is written here, "thick oak," means like a leafy tree, right? An oak with many branches. That specifically in the places where they offered sweet savor to all their idols, in these places they fell. So there is in this a clear message: this is from Hashem for your evil deeds.
"And I will stretch out My hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblah, in all their dwellings; and they shall know that I am Hashem." The Malbim says: through My stretching out My hand upon them, I will make the land desolate, and the land will be laid waste. The Malbim says that "meshamah" (laid waste) is a doubling of "shemamah" (desolate), a greater desolation. Right? "Meshamah" is greater than "shemamah." This means "shemamah" can be temporary, "meshamah" is desolation that is, as it were, ongoing, over a long time. So He says, I will stretch out My hand upon them, the land will be desolate and will be more waste than the wilderness, that was the wilderness toward Diblah, which was known in their time, that was a wilderness that was very desolate. And this will be in the places of their dwellings. That is, a place that was more inhabited, its destruction will be greater. This is a thing that is contrary to nature. In this they will know that I am Hashem; they will see that there is here a punishment that came through complete providence from Hashem upon them.