Below is a full, literal transcript of the shiur, divided into paragraphs:
Sefer Yechezkel, chapter 7. "And the word of Hashem came to me, saying. And you, son of man, so says Hashem Elokim to the land of Israel: an end, the end has come upon the four corners of the land." Let us read another pasuk: "Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will place upon you all your abominations." Hashem transmits a prophecy to Yechezkel: "And you, son of man, so says Hashem Elokim to the land of Israel: an end, the end has come." What does this mean? Why, what is it coming to say here? Rashi explains: the end has come, for in the Torah it is stated "and when you grow old and act corruptly and make a graven image, and so on, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that you shall surely perish." Chazal say: "ונושנתם" (and you shall grow old) has the gematria of 852. Chazal say: after 852 years, when they are exiled, "I call to witness against you this day that you shall surely perish." What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He hastened the end. That is, He exiled them in the year 850, that is, 850 years after they arrived in the land. There were 440 years until the building of the Beit HaMikdash, the first Beit HaMikdash stood for 410 years, and the second Beit HaMikdash stood for 420 years. So we reached 440 plus 410, arriving at 850, and then came the exile.
And there is a hint to this: "Have pity, Hashem, upon Your people, and do not give Your inheritance to disgrace, that nations should rule over them." "Do not give" (אל תיתן), 850, that Your inheritance be a disgrace, with nations ruling over them, "why should they say among the peoples, where is their God." Similarly, in Eichah it is written: "Repay them their recompense, Hashem, according to the work of their hands, give them anguish of heart." Unfortunately, after 850 years, we were struck with anguish of heart. Incidentally, this was said about the nations, but Israel too had anguish of heart, "give them anguish of heart." And we once spoke about this, that there was a kindness of Hashem here, that Hashem hastened the exile by two years. So although they are exiled earlier, since they should have been exiled after 852 years and they are exiled after 850 years, nonetheless this is a kindness. We asked: why, if Hashem wants to extend it to the maximum possible, it would have been a greater kindness had He exiled them after 851 years, and then He would have stretched the time as long as possible, while on the other hand He also would not have brought it to 852 years, it would not have reached what is written "and you shall grow old." From here the Terumat HaDeshen brings a proof for the concept familiar to us in gematria, that we do not count one, what is called "with the collel." In gematria we say "with the collel," meaning that if there is a difference of only one number, we also include the word itself, and here it is the same thing. That is to say, if there is a gematria of 40 and 41, this is considered the same, this is called "with the collel." So here you see, from here is the proof, says the Terumat HaDeshen, for had He made it 851, it already would not have helped, because that is 852 with the collel. Therefore, in order to ensure that it would not be 852, He had to exile them at 850. There had to be a difference of two numbers, and only then is it truly considered a different date, and this is truly a wonderful proof.
The Malbim explains what is written here, "to the land of Israel an end, the end has come." Says the Malbim: there are, as it were, two ends here. He describes, as it were, Israel as one end and the nations as the other end. And the evil, then, is calamity both to Israel and to the nations. Says the Malbim: the calamity that then comes to the nations comes because of Israel. First, because of our sins. For we know "I have cut off nations, their corners are desolate, I said surely you will fear Me, you will accept rebuke." So first, we are the cause, on account of our sins the evil comes. Second, it is also for the purpose, says the Malbim: the evil begins with the nations so that it will reach us and we will be chastened. He says: understand, then, this is what the pasuk is saying, the end comes to the land of Israel, meaning by their cause and for their sake. Through them, says the Malbim, the end comes upon the four corners of the land. And after the end comes upon the four corners of the land, in the end it will return upon them. The meaning is, as we said, that all the evil that comes upon the nations is so that it will ultimately reach us. This is the continuation: "Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will place upon you all your abominations." And behold now the end, as we said, since we are the final end of the evil, that is, the aim and purpose is that it should ultimately come upon Israel, Hashem says: what comes upon the nations now, this reaches upon you.
And the Malbim explains: it is written here "and I will send My anger against you," coming to tell you that this matter is not according to nature. There is a matter here of hashgachah and Hashem's anger. "And I will judge you," explains the Malbim, that the judgment with which Hashem will judge us will be from two perspectives. One perspective, says the Malbim, is a perspective in which Hashem examines the character of the soul of the sinners. Meaning, the Malbim explains that sins can come from being rooted in the traits and characteristics of a person's soul, until all his schemes and all his thoughts are sin. And then it is not something incidental from the side of desire, but rather from that rooting in sin in the traits and characteristics of his soul. Always, says the Malbim, what is written "your ways" refers to the traits and ways of the soul. As opposed to "your deeds," which are the actions. There is a person who can perform deeds but not according to ways. What does this mean? For example, he can kill someone. Does this come from evil ways? Not necessarily. With Pinchas it came from good ways. That is to say, you can see seemingly evil deeds, for you say this is murder, but it is not necessarily that evil deeds come from evil ways. It may be that deeds which appear to you as evil come from good ways. And here the Malbim says: I will judge you according to your ways. "According to your ways" means, according to those sins that were rooted in the traits and characteristics of the soul, which refers to evil traits. And the second thing He says, I will judge you according to the quantity of the sins, their intensity, their multitude, "and I will place upon you all your abominations." "All the abominations" is a plural expression, and "abomination" refers to something very severe, something that is a great abomination.
And the Malbim adds in the section explaining the words, saying that sometimes a person does an evil deed out of the compulsion of nature. What does this mean? His nature inclines toward arrogance, anger, murderousness. And then it is severe, but it is less so. Why? Because when a person does not incline toward it by nature but does it for ideological reasons, that is pure evil. In contrast, when a person, let us define it this way, became angry and burst out, then certainly we do not praise this, certainly it is disgraceful, but as you say, it is somewhat above his point of choice. At that moment anger surged in him and he burst out. Says the Malbim: here I will judge you according to your ways, meaning, says the Holy One, blessed be He, here it stems from evil traits of the soul. And after I judge you according to your ways, I will place all your abominations upon you, that is, you did not sin because of the compulsion of nature, but rather, as we said here, it was from will and arbitrariness of heart. Therefore He says "your ways I will place upon you." What does this mean? Something that is not from the nature of creation, only from choice, you chose this for yourself as a way, as an evil way, this shows the wickedness of the heart. And regarding this wickedness of heart, says the Holy One, blessed be He, for this you will be punished, and therefore "your abominations shall be within you," you sinned with malice and contempt, as we will see now in the next pasuk.
"And My eye shall not pity you, nor will I have mercy, for I will place your ways upon you, and your abominations shall be within you, and you shall know that I am Hashem." The Malbim explains that here the statements are parallel. As we explained several times, that the clauses of the verse are parallel, meaning that sometimes there are four statements, and then statement one corresponds to statement three and statement two corresponds to statement four. This is called parallel clauses of the verse. So here it is written "My eye shall not pity you, nor will I have mercy." Not to pity, not to have mercy. Afterward He says "for I will place your ways upon you, and your abominations shall be within you." There are ways here, there are abominations here. Says the Malbim: there is a difference between having mercy and pitying. And this is something the Malbim explained many times in the past. One who pities does not destroy a certain thing because he will derive benefit from it, so he pities it. He pities it because I will profit from it, a shame, I can still use it. "And let not your eye pity your vessels." You pity your vessels because you can use them. In contrast, the person who has mercy, even if he will not profit from it at all, he has mercy because it is a shame to destroy it. For example, you pass through some place, you see someone taking something and destroying it, even if you have no use for it and do not want it, but you say to him, is it not a shame? This is called having mercy, this is not called pitying. Pitying is when something is being destroyed and I can use it and I want it, so I have mercy on something I can profit from. Pitying, I pity something even if I gain nothing from it, only because the thing itself is good and beautiful and it is a shame to destroy it. As we saw "for the people had mercy on the best of the sheep," and there it is written not in order to profit from something, but to sacrifice to Hashem as an offering. Had it been written that they wanted to take for themselves, it would have been written "for the people pitied the best of the sheep." But since they did not take it for themselves, not to profit from something, then "the people had mercy," because it is only for Hashem, is it not a shame to simply kill? So the Malbim says: mercy, as we said, is from the side that the thing is good and beautiful. So the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will not have mercy on you from the side that you are supposedly good and beautiful, and why? Because "I will place your ways upon you." For the ways of your soul have been corrupted, so you are not worthy in yourselves. As we said, mercy, I have mercy on something worthy in itself. You are not worthy, for as we explained your soul is corrupted, this is "your ways upon you," their blemish is corrupted within them. They will not be found desirable, says the Malbim. What will you say? Perhaps I will derive benefit from you and therefore it is fitting that I pity you at least? Says the Holy One, blessed be He: My eye shall not pity you, and why? Because "your abominations shall be within you." Meaning, they are all evil, so it is impossible that any benefit could grow for Me from you, as it were.
"So says Hashem Elokim: an evil, a single evil, behold it comes." Targum Yonatan reads, and this is implied as the Radak brings, "an evil after evil, behold it comes." But in contrast, the version of everyone else is "an evil, a single evil, behold it comes." Says Rashi: a complete and singular evil. A single evil that is truly called evil. What does Rashi mean? This is the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. A complete and singular evil among all the evils, the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. And "it comes" means behold, now it is acting. It is not "it came" in the past, but rather He says "it comes," now it arrives. The Radak explains that "an evil, a single evil" means: this evil is an evil like no other. What I will do to you, I will do, is something I have never done to any nation, and I will also never do again, as we have seen. The Malbim explains: He tells them, know that this evil will be different from all the evils that have been until now. And the difference is that until now no verdict had been sealed, but here, where the verdict has been sealed, this evil will differ in three matters. The first difference: until now the evil, says the Malbim, did not come all at once. In the beginning they were struck in their money, afterward they were struck with afflictions, for the Master of souls does not touch the souls first. And why? Perhaps they will repent, perhaps they will change their ways. Now He says: no, there will be a single evil, He tells them, it comes at once and immediately, and it will be a punishment of the body. That is one thing. The second thing: until now the evil came for a good purpose, so that they would repent and then the evil would not come. But in contrast, now He tells them, this will be a single evil that is evil. "Evil" means for an evil purpose, in order to do you harm. But do not misunderstand, even here the intent is not that it is not for the good. Since whatever the Merciful One does He does for the good. Rather, the meaning is in order to do you harm in order to purify you. For until now I do evil to you so that there will not be evil, that is, repent and I will remove the evil. Now this will no longer help, because the verdict has been sealed. So the evil is the essence of the purification. So it is still for the good, right? But not in the sense that when you change your ways the evil will depart. The decree has already been decreed. This is called "for an evil purpose." The third thing, says the Malbim: until now the evil did not come immediately. Hashem waited and delayed, perhaps they would repent. And now He says "behold it comes." "Behold" means immediately, "behold" means it is here, before my eyes already.
"An end has come, the end has come, it has awakened against you, behold it comes." "An end has come, the end has come," the Radak says: all these expressions are the repetition to strengthen and hasten the matter. This fits very well with the Radak's approach, that the Radak explains all the repetitions as repetition of the matter in different words, and he does not analyze the repetitions closely. But certainly here we need to seek out the Malbim, since the Malbim is the one who analyzes all the repetitions closely. And what is "an end has come, the end has come, it has awakened against you," what is this threefold mention of "end"? The Malbim explains: now he explains what he said earlier. I said that this evil will be different from the rest of the evils that were until today. Since the rest of the evils came in order to correct the people, so that they would repent and through this be corrected. He says here: this is an end of destruction. "An end has come. The end has come, it has awakened against you." In his metaphor he compares the day designated to be a day of evil, a day of calamity, to a full day composed of night and day. He tells them, as it were, the night has already passed. Until now the end, so to speak, was sleeping. But now the day has come, so what happens? Then the end awakens. This is what he says, "the end has awakened." He says the end has awakened from its sleep against you. Until now it was night, the end was slumbering, but now it awakens. The final watch has arrived, when the end which had slept, now it awakens to carry out its action. "And behold it comes," he says, behold you will see that now it is already arriving.
"For the tzefirah has come to you, dweller of the land, the time has come, the day is near, tumult and not the echo of the mountains." "The tzefirah has come to you, dweller of the land." What is the tzefirah? The plain meaning, as most commentators explain, is that tzefirah is from the term for dawn. The light of dawn has come. And why is this called tzefirah? Because it is from the term for morning, "tzafra." When they went out to war and feared there was an ambush, and the Holy One, blessed be He, said the people are too many to save, then it is written that He told them, whoever is afraid should return and depart early from Mount Efrayim. "Return and depart early." What does "return and depart early" mean? There too they explain that he should return in the early morning. Return in the early morning at tzafra, before people see. For if people see, he will suffer disgrace, saying why are you fleeing? Why are you returning? Why are you afraid? So He told them return and depart early, meaning this thing should be at tzafra. Similarly, some say that birds (tziporim) are also so called, they herald the morning light, they herald the tzafra. So here too, "the tzefirah has come to you," means the night has passed. This fits very well with what the Malbim explained, that in fact there was already night here and the end had already awakened, it had already woken, and behold the tzefirah has come, the dawn light has come, the time has come when the end comes into effect. "The day is near." The Malbim explains: the day is already established. "Tumult and not the echo of the mountains." What does this mean? The day has come, the time has come, the tumult has come. There is here a correspondence between the day and the time and the tumult. Meaning, the day and time that were fixed, and the tumult that is to occur at the time of the end. What is the tumult? He tells you immediately, "the tumult and not the echo of the mountains." Meaning, when one hears a sound from afar, one hears ahh, you hear the echo that comes out from among the mountains. And then through this, when I hear the echo, I understand that there is someone far away approaching, so I flee. But here He says no echo of the mountains will be heard. The trouble will be sudden. There will be no advance warnings, right? Rather the trouble will be immediate. This is what He says, "not the echo of the mountains." Suddenly the trouble will come to their place of dwelling without there being an echo of the mountains beforehand. The Radak explains that tzefirah is also the explanation we gave there when we explained "return and depart early," for there we saw an additional explanation that "depart early" (yitzpor) means from the term for going around. This is the meaning of yitzpor, from the term for surrounding. So too the Radak explains here, that "the tzefirah has come to you," the cause from Hashem that the enemy should come upon you. From the term for cause and effect. In contrast, Yonatan explains that tzefirah is from the term "a crown of glory." A crown of glory is a diadem, it is a sign of kingship. Its royal revelation, meaning the kingship was revealed that will come and here exact payment from Israel. And plainly he speaks of Nevuchadnetzar, this is the same tzefirah he intends here. "The day is near, tumult and not the echo of the mountains." What is "and not the echo of the mountains"? Targum Yonatan says that it will not be possible to hide in the mountain strongholds, in the fortresses that are in the mountains. So according to the Malbim it is from the term for an echo coming out from the mountains, whereas according to Targum Yonatan it means that in the places where you will want to hide among the mountains, there will be no place there where there is any possibility of being saved.
"Now soon I will pour out My wrath upon you, and I will spend My anger against you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will place upon you all your abominations." "Now soon," as we explained earlier, He told them "behold," as we explained earlier "and not the echo of the mountains," this will be immediate. He tells them "now soon," the thing will come suddenly. Both regarding time, He says it will be immediate, "now." And regarding place, He tells them it will be from nearby, it will come from a nearby place. Another thing He tells them, suddenly I will pour out My wrath. As we explained earlier that it will not be gradual but rather it will be sudden. And what is the analog? That the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, would arrange it through the natural system so that the thing would come from the power of the system. And what comes through enemies means that the enemy will come from a distant land. But He says here, this will not come through the system, but rather here it will come through hashgachah. And if it comes through hashgachah, then it will come suddenly and it will come from a nearby land, that is, all the things you least expect. And why? Because what comes through the system, those are all the things caused, so to speak, according to nature. So by nature I know I have a problem with Iran. But for example, not according to nature, who could suddenly think, for example, that the Arabs of Israel would suddenly rise up and there would be a war here, for example. That is to say, when things are not according to nature or that we do not think about them, then you see in this the hand of Hashem. So He said here, you will see that things will be from Hashem because they will not be from the expected things, where you say an enemy will come from afar, you say there will be time, these are things according to nature. Hashem says here, this will not be according to nature, it will be immediate, it will be a nearby enemy that you do not expect. And this thing will be "and I will spend My anger against you." What does this mean? Says the Malbim: there is a difference between "af" (anger) and "chemah" (wrath). And this too we explained several times. That the chemah is the internal, the af is the external. "A fire has kindled in My anger," fire goes out. When a person is angry the nose (af) heats up and inflames and reddens. This is noticeable outwardly. In contrast, "in his wrath," it burned within him, "within him" is internal, it is not noticeable. And if the af comes without chemah, says the Malbim, He does not punish quickly. Rather there are limits of time and place, perhaps they will repent. But here He says "I will pour out My wrath upon you and I will spend My anger against you." There will also be internal wrath here, and internal wrath, as we said, hastens to punish. And then "I will spend My anger against you, and I will judge you according to your ways," as we saw above that there are both ways and abominations, there are the ways of the soul and there are the abominations which are the actions through which they act to anger Hashem.
"And My eye shall not pity, nor will I have mercy, according to your ways I will place upon you, and your abominations shall be within you, and you shall know that I am Hashem who strikes." "And My eye shall not pity, nor will I have mercy, according to your ways I will place upon you." The punishment will be directed precisely against the sins and according to their measure, "according to your ways." And in this too the thing will be evident that it comes from Hashem. Every punishment that comes through the natural array, meaning according to nature, then it does not come in a measured way, but according to the state of nature. If there is a storm now, then there will be a storm, from disease, everything. And if there is now abundance, then there is abundance for everyone. But when it comes through individual hashgachah, then as the Gemara says, one field will be rained upon, one field will not be rained upon. On one field rain will fall, on the other it will not. And here Hashem says, My eye shall not pity, nor will I have mercy, according to your ways I will place upon you, it will be directed precisely according to the sins and their measure. "Your abominations shall be within you," through this you will recognize "and you shall know that I am Hashem who strikes." Through this it will be evident that I am Hashem who strikes, and that the thing does not come, as we said, in a natural way but rather in a way of hashgachah.
"Behold the day, behold it comes, the tzefirah has gone out, the rod has blossomed, the insolence has bloomed." "Behold the day, behold it comes." Behold the day has come and the evil has come. What is "it comes"? The day should have said "behold it comes" (masculine). Why does He say "it comes" (feminine)? "It comes," explains Rashi, refers to the evil. "The tzefirah has gone out," the dawn of the day of evil has risen. And behold "the rod has blossomed," Rashi explains this refers to the rod that will strike you. "The insolence has bloomed," Nevuchadnetzar the wicked has been revealed, who is the insolence, the wicked one who comes to exact payment from us. The Radak explains that what is written "the rod has blossomed" is not from the term for a striking rod, but rather from the term for perversion of justice. And the proof of this is "the insolence has bloomed." The evil deeds that Israel did will now blossom and bloom. "The rod has blossomed, the insolence has bloomed." Now blossoms and blooms the perversion of justice, the insolence and the evil that you did, all this now blossoms and blooms, and these things will cause payment to be exacted from you, now the time has come, the recompense and punishment for these matters. He gives another explanation like Rashi, that the intent is that Nevuchadnetzar is called a rod, as it is written "Woe, Ashur, the rod of My anger, and the staff in their hand is My wrath." So then Nevuchadnetzar is a rod with which the Holy One, blessed be He, strikes, as it were. And Nevuchadnetzar is also called insolence, as in "Behold I am against you, insolence," we saw that He calls him by this name, so the insolence written here fits very well, it speaks of Nevuchadnetzar. So too Yonatan translates, "the rod has blossomed," the ruler has sprouted, the wicked one has appeared. The Malbim says: behold, come and see, as we explained earlier that he speaks here of a full day, and we saw that the end was slumbering and when the tzefirah, the morning, came, it already awakens, the end has come. Now the day itself has already come. The day has come, this is not merely dawn, it is already what is called the height of the day, which is already after dawn. And the tzefirah has already gone out, the pillar of dawn has already gone out and moved away, we are already in the middle of the day. "Behold the day, behold it comes." And "the rod has blossomed," this is in place of the pillar of dawn, the striking rod has blossomed, which is the Kasdim. And with all this "the insolence has bloomed," the insolence too blooms. Note, not as the commentators explained regarding Nevuchadnetzar, but rather the Malbim explains that our insolence has bloomed. Meaning, we would have expected that now when the striking rod has blossomed, the Kasdim are already on the way, perhaps you will repent, perhaps you will awaken. And with all this the insolence has bloomed, we see that the insolence among you blooms and flourishes, there is no direction toward repentance at all.
"The violence has risen into a rod of wickedness, not from them and not from their multitude and not from their tumult, and there is no wailing among them." There are several words here that require examination. "The violence has risen into a rod of wickedness." Rashi explains: the violence that is in your hands, your transgressions, now rise up against you to be a rod of wickedness to destroy you. And this we already explained several times, that the verse says "your evil will chastise you." The one who punishes a person is not a punishment separate from the transgression he did. We learned this in the Nefesh HaChaim, we learned it in the Michtav Me'Eliyahu many times. The one who exacts payment from a person is the destroyer himself, the transgression itself, it is what punishes him. And Gan Eden is the mitzvah itself. He delights in his mitzvot. So then it turns out, who now punishes us? The violence. It is what rises and becomes a rod of wickedness. The violence that is in your hands, the transgressions of theft in which we stumbled, they rise against us to be a rod of wickedness to destroy them. Hashem says, "not from them and not from their multitude and not from their tumult." So says the Holy One, blessed be He, to the destroyer, you need not leave any soul from the wicked of Israel, since no good comes out either from them or from their multitude. "From their tumult" refers to that which comes out from them. This is the meaning of "from their tumult," and therefore Rashi explains that the intent is from their children. "And there is no wailing (noah) among them." What is "and there is no noah among them"? Rashi says, there is none who yearns after Me among them. This is "noah," from the term for yearning. There is none who longs and turns his heart to Me. As in "and all the house of Israel yearned after Hashem." Like we use today the expression to yearn after so-and-so. As the Targum says, "and they yearned for the worship," this is a term of desire and longing. In contrast, Rashi brings an additional explanation, that this is the interpretation of Menachem, that Menachem connects it with wailing. Like "nehi," a sound of wailing. "Nehi" means a sound of wailing, a sound of crying. "And all the house of Israel wailed," he takes it as a term of wailing. And so, "and there is no noah among them," I see there is no wailing among them. According to how the Radak explains, apparently this was also the direction in Menachem. We explained that it is from the term for wailing, that the intent is that there is no one who truly cries and wails over the trouble. He explains that from the abundance of troubles the living will not cry over the dead. When do the living cry over the dead? When the living have leisure and rest to cry. But if the living are in constant flight and fleeing, one has no time even to cry over the dead. He is presently occupied with how I save my life. This is what he says, "and there is no noah among them." From the abundance of troubles that will be, they will not cry at all, there will be no wailing among them over their dead, but rather each one will be occupied with saving his own life. As Yirmiyahu said, "they will not be eulogized and will not be buried, and so on." The Malbim explains, as we explained in Rashi, as the Radak said, that the violence itself is what will chastise them, until nothing will remain from them or from their multitude. And with all this "and there is no noah among them," as Rashi explained, there is no person whose heart yearns to repent.
The Malbim says in explaining the words: "and not from their tumult (hamehem)," this is from the root "hamah." Like "yafeh," like "kasheh." Nothing remained of their tumult. Nothing of their commotion remained. But "there is no noah," he explains that this is either from the term "and they yearned," or from the term "nehi," right? Either there is no person who raises a wail over these troubles and repents.
"The time has come, the day has arrived. Let the buyer not rejoice and let the seller not mourn, for wrath is upon all its multitude." "The time has come, the day has arrived. Let the buyer not rejoice and let the seller not mourn." The Radak explains: ordinarily, the way of the world is that the buyer rejoices and the seller mourns and is distressed, for out of his hardship he sells. Today we do not recognize this. Today the reality is, as someone once told me, a car, a person is happy with it twice. The first time when he buys it, the second time when he sells it. Today this is not specifically with a car, it is with a car, with an apartment, with everything. You got a refrigerator, you sold it, you are pleased. You managed to sell it, it is not lying downstairs blocking the entrance to the building. So today the reality is different. Why? Because today, thank God, in 98 percent of cases a person does not sell out of his hardship. A person sells because he is upgrading. This is the reality of a person today. So even when he buys he is happy, ah, he bought something more advanced. He has a hybrid refrigerator, he has something modern. Good, he sells the other one, he wants to sell it, whatever we can get from it. Today a person is happy twice. But in the past a person would sell because a person had fallen into hardship. So consequently a person who was selling would mourn, he was forced to sell his field, he had great distress. Today a person is dying to sell the apartment because he wants to move to a more advanced apartment. He wants to move to something else. So then he is very, very interested in selling. But as I said, understand the pesukim in the appropriate context, in the reality that was accepted then. So the reality that was accepted then, the way of the world, was that the buyer rejoices and the seller mourns. As the Gemara brings that the way was to say "you bought, you acquired; you sold, you lost." The meaning is when you bought something, "zavnat," you acquired, you have something, you have reason to rejoice. But if "zavinat," if you sold, "you lost." You lost, you were diminished. So that in fact, note incidentally that in the Holy Tongue this is the difference between "zavnat" and "zavinat." "Zavan" means to buy, and "zavin" means to sell. And in the piyut of Chad Gadya, "that father bought for two zuzim," and not "that father sold for two zuzim." Father did not sell anything, father bought. "One kid that father bought for two zuzim." So grammatically the correct thing is to say "dizavan aba" and not "dizavin aba." "Zavin" is to sell. Good, in any case, so what did we learn? That the buyer would rejoice and the seller would mourn. Here they come and tell us, a person who sells a field in the Land of Israel, naturally the seller mourns. They tell you, let the seller not mourn. And why? Since even if he does not sell it and this field remains in his hand, very soon you will be exiled. So then what will remain for you? Would it not already have been better had you sold it? So the seller naturally mourns, they tell you let the seller not mourn. And the buyer naturally rejoices, they tell him do not rejoice, do not rejoice, you bought something confiscated. Any moment they will come and take it. In a little while the enemies will come, nothing will remain for you. So let the buyer not rejoice and let the seller not mourn. And why? Since soon he will be exiled and this thing will remain here. The purchase will not stand in his hand except for a short time. "For wrath is upon all its multitude." Since there is wrath upon all the multitude of the house of Israel, upon their sins. So the buyer should not rejoice that he became rich and the seller should not mourn that he became poor, but rather on the contrary, the seller even received money here.
I brought this quotation from Mishnat HaChalomot, regarding a very interesting question concerning a person who sold his Olam HaBa. There is on this, I brought there several stories about people who sold their Olam HaBa and afterward the person came in a dream and asked that it be returned to him, and several such stories. And there in a note I brought a discussion that many of the poskim discuss, does this have any validity at all? Is Olam HaBa something that can be sold at all? Can eternity be sold? For merits are something a person acquires himself. As we explained "your evil will chastise you," a person's transgressions are what chastise him, so it is something internal to him. His merits are something internal to him, so how can they be sold? It is like if you were to say, this person, listen, he is very, very wise, are you willing to sell me your wisdom? What is there to sell? What, shall I extract the brain? What is there to sell? So merits are something imprinted in him, in his soul, how can they be transferred? So in fact there is a responsum of the Radbaz, and so most take the position, and they say this, the quotation is like this: "Let the buyer not rejoice and let the seller mourn." Not as it is written here, "let the seller not mourn." But rather "let the seller mourn." So when I read this, at first I did not understand what the matter referred to. The idea is understood, but I did not understand that it is a quotation of a pasuk. Until I reached Yechezkel and then I saw that he was in fact quoting the pasuk. "Let the buyer not rejoice and let the seller mourn." And why? He says, let the buyer not rejoice, for what did you buy? Olam HaBa is not something that passes for pennies. And let the seller mourn, for you truly lost. In fact, by your contempt and disdain for the mitzvot, you showed that they are not important in your eyes. And this can cause you to lose Olam HaBa even if no one buys it. That is to say, even if it did not pass to someone else. And therefore if you see that he comes afterward to receive it back, this is not because he comes to receive it, as if you took something, no. Rather, when I come and show that I desire it, this returns Olam HaBa to me. This is a rectification for the fact that I disdained it earlier. I said Olam HaBa is nothing to me, bring 10 shekels and take it. You lost Olam HaBa. But the moment I come and say I am willing to pay even 2000 rubles, ah, here you valued it. So through this Olam HaBa shows that it is truly something of value to you. So this is what is written, let the buyer not rejoice, where it is stated "and let the seller mourn."
"For the seller shall not return to what is sold, though they are still in life, for the vision is upon all its multitude, it shall not return, and each man in his iniquity, his life, they shall not strengthen themselves." Now he explains, why should the seller not mourn? He tells you, since you did not lose in what you sold. Since in any case the seller shall not return to what is sold. This person will indeed not return to what he sold. For the land here will be desolate. So the seller shall not return to what is sold. So what does he have to mourn? Another thing he says, you will even gain through this, in what you sold, since through this you will still live, "though they are still in life." Through selling the field, you no longer have a reason to remain here, you left the land. Through leaving the land you remained alive. As Rav Shach told, that when he became engaged, his father-in-law had nothing to give him. He did not even have enough to rent him an apartment. Rather he divided his house, a one-room apartment, he divided it in two with plywood. On one side of the plywood slept Rav Shach and his wife, on the other side slept his father-in-law. Do you know of any groom today who is willing to marry like this today? In short, he says that he was so embarrassed that for three days afterward he did not come to the yeshiva, so that they would not ask him what "kest" he received from his father-in-law, how much his father-in-law gave. It was customary that they would give, a yeshiva student, some wealthy man would commit to support him for so and so many years at his table. And here, he tells that afterward, when bad rumors arrived and winds of war began to blow, he says my wife and I had only one suitcase to pack, that is all. We had no more than that. Our entire life fit into one suitcase. Today a person's life fits into a truck, it does not fit. In their time everything was inside one suitcase. He tells, we took the suitcase and left. He says but I had many friends, and those friends received apartments and received lands and received houses. Would he leave? War? True, there was the First World War, fine, there was, a war passed, we survived. No one believed it was heading toward the crematoria. Everyone was sure there would be a war and we would get through it. True, it will be hard, absorption alert and we will get through it. Says Rav Shach, and see, of all those friends of mine, nothing remained. They stayed there until the last moment and when they understood that there was already nothing to stay here for, they could no longer leave. He says but I, who had nothing, my life was as spoil to me. He said this to some young man who delayed in shidduchim because he was looking for some father-in-law with warm hands, right? He was looking for someone who would part with some of his money. And in short he told him, why are you delaying? Behold, see, you think that money is what makes a person? Come and see that I have life thanks to the fact that I received nothing. So this is what the Malbim says here too. Says the Malbim: on the contrary, one who sells what is sold, on the contrary, this will give him vitality, "though they are still in life," "in life." He will have through this vitality and his life. And why? Because through this he leaves the land, he remains alive. And also one who sold and remained in the land, but was of the lowest of the people, it is written that Nevuzaradan left here the lowest of the people to be vinedressers and farmers. In contrast, the wealthy field-owners, it is written that them he struck with the sword. Only the lowest of the people he left here. And so, says the Malbim, the vision of the prophecy that I bring...
They will come upon all its multitude, "for the vision is upon all its multitude, it shall not return." This vision will not turn back, it will be fulfilled and come upon them. And what is the vision, in fact? This vision says "each man in his iniquity, his life." Meaning "his life," what is "his life"? His life is in his iniquity. Meaning, his life, his soul is bound up in iniquity. "In his iniquity, his life." His life is bound and connected to iniquity, he lives the life of iniquity and crime. "They shall not strengthen themselves." These people will not be able to strengthen themselves against the enemy, they will have no salvation from the enemy.
Another explanation the Malbim gives, that what is written "is not the vision upon all its multitude," the intent is: was a vision and harsh prophecy not spoken to me, the prophets prophesied about all its multitude. And why then does no man return from his evil way? For each man's life, that is, each man in his iniquity, his life. Meaning, each man's life depends on iniquity. Through iniquity he loses his life. So then you will say, why do they not leave the iniquity? Iniquity is a weight that sinks his life, through it his life sinks because of this weight. Cast off the weight and you will float. Leave it and you will live. So then according to this it turns out, that according to the first interpretation, I will now explain the difference. According to the first interpretation, "for the vision is upon all its multitude, it shall not return," the vision shall not return. A prophecy was spoken, Hashem will not return from this prophecy empty. According to the second interpretation, this is a question against them. Behold the vision is upon all its multitude, behold a prophecy was spoken here to all of them, shall it not return? Why do they not repent? "It shall not return" refers back to the people. Why do they not repent? Why does each man in his iniquity, his life, and they shall not strengthen themselves? Why do they not strengthen themselves to repent, and he clings to the iniquity through which he loses his life, loses his life? "They have blown the shofar and prepared everything, but none goes to war, for My wrath is upon all its multitude." He says they have blown the shofar and prepared everything. For they have already blown the shofar and prepared everything against the enemy. And if everything is ready, there are already all the alarms and shofarot, then why does no man go to war? Why do they hide in the houses? The prophet raises the objection and he resolves it. He asks and he answers. "For My wrath is upon all its multitude." Says Hashem, I have turned back the weapons of war that are in their hands, since I have wrath upon all its multitude, as it were the Holy One, blessed be He, turned them back. That is, they are unable to go out to fight.
"The sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword, and he who is in the city, famine and plague will consume him." He says why do they not go to war? For even though the sword is outside, you have no reason to hide in the house. The prophet tells them, are there not also the plague and the famine in the house? So what do they gain by sitting in the house? For "better are those slain by the sword than those slain by famine, who ooze away pierced, and so on." So then what is preferable for you? To remain in the house and die the death of weaklings, or to go out to battle and die the death of heroes? So then he asks, the sword is outside, better already that you go out to the sword. Why do you sit in the house, for the plague and the famine are within? And though those in the field will die by the sword, he tells them, behold also he who is in the city, famine and plague will consume him. So is it not better that you die the death of heroes?
"And their fugitives shall escape, and they will be on the mountains like the doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each man in his iniquity." He says, and their fugitives shall escape, even their fugitives who escape, behold they will be on the mountains like doves found in the valleys and plains. What does this mean? On the mountains like doves found in the valleys. Valleys and plains are the opposite of mountains. So according to the other commentators, this is merely an example of doves, a type of doves that if they are called doves of the valleys, then the people here were on the mountains. But in contrast, now the Malbim explains, he says on the contrary, the analogy here is written precisely. Just as doves of the valleys are not accustomed to being on the mountains, that is, if you place them on the mountains they moan, so too their fugitives shall escape and be on the mountains, they will be on the mountains and moan, all of them like the doves of the valleys, like doves of the valleys that cannot be on the mountains. And they will be moaning, moaning. And each one asks, says the Malbim, why was this? And to this he answers, each man in his iniquity. All this was because of their iniquities.
"All hands will grow feeble, and all knees will go to water." They cannot fight, for all hands will grow feeble. So what will you say, at least let them flee? They also cannot flee, for all knees will go to water. What does "will go to water" mean? Either as if they melted, like water, the knees became water, he cannot flee, there will be no strength in them. Or an additional explanation that it is like they will drip water. This is "will go to water." Meaning, sweat and fear will seize them so that they will be unable to walk. "And they will gird sackcloth, and terror will cover them, and shame will be on every face, and baldness on all their heads." "And they will gird sackcloth," they will wear sackcloth to lament over the evil of their deeds. "And terror will cover them," through the calamity. What is "terror" (palatzut)? The Metzudat Tzion explains that the intent is trembling and dread, as in "and the pillars tremble." So trembling will seize them. Terror will cover them through the great calamity that will be. "And shame will be on every face," on their faces will be the shame because of their iniquities, they will be ashamed of their deeds. "And baldness on all their heads," this will be as mourning over the calamity.
"Their silver they will cast into the streets, and their gold will be as an impurity. Their silver and their gold will not be able to save them on the day of the wrath of Hashem, they will not satisfy their souls and will not fill their bellies, for it was the stumbling block of their iniquity." "Their silver they will cast into the streets," says the Malbim, they will not be able to take it into exile. And also their gold, not only the silver but also the gold, which they will indeed cast away, they will cast it as an impurity, whoever gold is found with him will be killed. Meaning, "as an impurity" is from the term for banishing, from the term for distancing, for abhorring. So then their gold will be as an impurity. And why? Anyone found with gold will be killed. So each one will quickly throw off the gold from himself so that he will not be killed. So it is like an impurity, something banished and distanced. And then he explains, their silver and their gold also will not be able to save them from the enemy. Meaning, through the silver and gold, famine will not depart from you. What will you do? Eat the silver and gold you certainly cannot. Their bellies will not be filled. What is the difference between being satisfied and being filled? Says the Malbim, being filled is less than being satisfied. So too their bellies will not be filled. And he explains and says, the reason is because it was the stumbling block of their iniquity. Meaning, through the abundance of silver and gold they stumbled in iniquities. So how do you want something that was the cause of the stumbling to be the cause of salvation? "Silver I multiplied for them, and gold they made into a baal." Through the silver and gold they rebelled, through it they corrupted, through it they were drawn after desires. So do you want this silver that constituted the cause and source of their corruption, that it should now be the cause of their salvation? Therefore their silver and their gold, which ruined and corrupted them, will not be able to save them on the day of the wrath of Hashem.
"They will not satisfy their souls and will not fill their bellies." Why? For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity, since this silver was the stumbling block of their iniquity. And so, certainly this silver will have no power to save them. To save them is also in the sense that they will not be able to buy with this silver, they will not be able to buy anything to sustain themselves. Also they will not be sold to, and also the enemies will not permit them, will not allow them to keep silver with them. So anyone who comes with silver will be killed, how will silver remain with you? For we saw that they would throw off the gold as banished. So all this will cause that you have nothing to rely upon that your silver will be the factor that saves you, since it itself will not save you from all the trouble.