"And I brought them out of the land of Egypt and I brought them into the wilderness." I took them out of the land of Egypt, I brought them to the wilderness so that there in the wilderness I would teach them My statutes and My commandments. There in the wilderness they have constant miracles. This is what He says: "And I gave them My statutes and My laws I made known to them, which if a man does he shall live by them." I gave them My statutes and My laws, I made them known. The Malbim says: I considered My plans, I planned plans to set their affairs right. "I considered plans" means My entire aim was to bring them to perfection. First, in matters concerning man and his fellow. Second, in matters concerning man and God. As for what concerns man and God, I gave them the statutes. What concerns man and God are matters that one must accept as an axiom. No one can explain why tefillin need specifically four compartments and not five. Why specifically this portion of Kriat Shema and not the portion of the manna. And so on in this way. All the commandments between us and God fall into the category of axiom, one must accept them, they are a statute (chok). "I have decreed a statute, I have issued a decree." So many of these things we say in order to bring them closer to the mind. Certainly in Kabbalah they have more inner depth and one can understand them more according to the teaching of truth. But in any case they are in the nature of a statute. It says these matters, their reason is not known, this is "And I gave them My statutes." Afterward "and My laws I made known to them." "My laws" always refers to the ordinances between man and his fellow. "And these are the laws which you shall set before them." What? Matters of damages, matters of an ox that gored, matters of a Hebrew servant, and so on. All this is included in the category of laws. The laws have a reason. An ox that gored is supposed to pay, there is a reason for this. If it is an innocent ox (tam) it is supposed to pay half the damage, this too is understood by reason. And so on in this way. All matters of the laws are understood logically. And all these things were made "which a man does." Since man is composed of matter and spirit, man needs in his physical conduct to know how to behave with his fellow, and for this purpose there are laws. And in his spiritual conduct, how to behave with his Maker, and for this purpose, as we said, there are statutes, this is Torah and mitzvot. "And live by them." Chazal say, what is "and live by them"? Both kinds of life. Both the physical life and the spiritual life. As the Targum says, "and he shall live by them for eternal life." That a person will live with this for the life of the world to come. And in truth it also means life here in this world. "And live by them." For reality proves that whoever lives according to the Torah, his life is upright. His life is upright, his life is happy, he builds a home as it should be, he raises his children properly, he has, he derives satisfaction from his children, he has grandchildren, he already reaches age 40 and he already sees grandchildren, at 45 he already has grandchildren, he reaches age 60 and he is already marrying off his grandchildren. In short, he has tranquility and peace in his dwelling. Beyond that, as we once said, you see that specifically those about whom you would ask how do they subsist? From where do they have? How do they live? Most of them have apartments. Most of them. Most of the Torah scholars and yeshiva students have apartments. Who can explain this to me? I have an uncle who has 13 children. And he told me, if you ask me now, they all have apartments. He told me, if you ask me from where, he tells me I have no explanation. His wife does not work, he worked as some school principal with a salary that is not sky high. He says, from where does this come? How, what? I have no explanation. He says, I did not marry them off, they asked me how did you marry off the children? I said I did nothing. The Holy One, blessed be He, married them off. They invited me to the wedding. Yes, you ask me how? Come, take a paper now, explain to me how you... There is no explanation. That is to say, when one walks in the way of Hashem, one sees satisfaction, one sees upright generations, "and live by them." Live by them. So when the Torah wants to tell a person to keep the commandments, nowhere in the Torah will you see "keep commandments so that it will be good for you in the World to Come." Nowhere will you see this. The World to Come is not mentioned anywhere in the Torah. Also not in the Prophets, also not in the Writings, the World to Come is not mentioned. There are hints, many. Also the resurrection of the dead, there are hints of everything. But it is not mentioned. The Torah says keep the commandments. Why? So that it will be good for you, so that you will live. The Torah promises all the benefits here. The Torah says examine, see whether one who lives... The Torah says examine, see one who lives according to the Torah, see whether it is good for him or not good for him. Reality proves that whoever lives according to the Torah has a correct way of life. As opposed to a person who chases all his days after desires, after physicality, after pleasures, for there is no end to this. The person destroys himself, destroys his family, destroys his home, destroys everything in an endless chase after desires and physicality. But one who lives a spiritual life, his life is eternal and good, not only there but also here in this world. "And live by them, which if a man does he shall live by them."
"And also My Sabbaths I gave to them, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Hashem who sanctifies them." It says, besides this, I also gave them a good gift. What is the special gift? Hashem says, I gave them the Shabbat. So that on it they would remember the day of rest on which the Holy One, blessed be He, rested when He created the world. And on this day too they would remember that Hashem took us out from slavery to freedom. This is a sign between Me and you. And the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us to know that "I am Hashem who sanctifies you." What is "to know"? Chazal say, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, I have a good gift in My treasure house, go and make it known to them. What is "go and make it known to them"? Chazal say that when a person gives a gift to his fellow, he must inform him. And why? Because sometimes the person will not know how to relate to the gift with the appropriate importance. Say you brought someone a watch. Listen, the watch does not look so new. Fine, well, apparently he had no use for it. You happen to come to a jeweler, he tells you, what are you talking about? A watch like this, there are six such watches in the world. A watch like this is worth 700 thousand dollars. Bring it now, I will take it from you. 700 thousand dollars. What is the name? The one who gave it to me could have thrown it in the trash too. The battery died, he says there is no point repairing it, surely it is not worth... throw it in the trash. No, you give him a gift, inform him. Know that what I just brought you is such a rare watch, it is so expensive. You brought him a bracelet, he thinks it is cheap trinkets. He does not know that everything he sees there, stones, are diamonds. One who gives a gift to his fellow must inform him, tell him what you gave so that he will know to value it properly. So this is what is written, "go and make it known to them." Why must one inform the people of Israel? So that they would not think that Shabbat is some kind of day of fun, and would waste it on pistachios. Go and make it known to them, know that Shabbat is a holy day. Every mitzvah you perform now is a thousandfold. As the Ben Ish Chai writes, a thousandfold, they say it is at least a thousandfold. By the way, people forget that sins too are a thousandfold. People forget. Shabbat is the elevation of the worlds. Everything moves to much higher temperatures. A sin is a thousandfold, and mitzvot too are a thousandfold. So one who comes an hour to a shiur on Shabbat, fortunate is he and fortunate is his portion. There were great ones who did not sleep on Shabbat. They finished Tractate Shabbat over the entire Shabbat, from its beginning to its end. They did not waste Shabbat on sleep. Although it is written to sleep since Shabbat was given for pleasure. Fine, but each person according to his level, in any case let us understand that a person must see what a gift the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him, and through this truly know to value it. I do not remember who tells this, Rav Elimelech Biderman, I believe. That once some poor man came to him and asked for charity, and he searched throughout the house and did not find a single penny. Nothing, he found nothing. Ah, in the end he saw some ring of his wife's, so he went and gave it, gave it to the poor man. His wife arrived, saw that he was giving something to the poor man, immediately became alarmed, perhaps he gave, what is there already in the house to give? So perhaps he gave something from the jewelry or... She says, what, what did you give him? He tells her, I do not know, there was some ring. She tells him, what did you give him? That is a diamond ring. In the end someone immediately ran after him, tells him, you should know that the ring is a diamond, do not sell it cheaply, it is a diamond. He did not go to return it, he went only to inform him, know that this is a diamond, you are now selling it, you will receive, receive accordingly, so that they will not deceive you. This is "go and make it known to them." Go and make it known to them, inform them of the value of Shabbat so that through this they will treat it with the appropriate honor. And the mitzvah of Shabbat is great, it is weighed against all the commandments, yes? We see many times the Radak in the rebukes reproaching them about the matter of keeping Shabbat. One who desecrates Shabbat is like a gentile in all his affairs, his wine is considered wine of libation. And so on in this way, we see the enormous severity in this matter of Shabbat. And the Malbim says that the uniqueness of Shabbat is testimony to the renewal of the world. Why is the wine of one who does not believe in Shabbat considered wine of libation? Because he denies the account of Creation. Why do rabbis among the halachic authorities today tend to be more lenient in this? Because today a person is capable of making Kiddush and traveling on Shabbat. Not because he denies the account of Creation but this is called "the deeds of their fathers in their hands." He is like a captive infant, he has some habits that come more from desire, not from denial. But truly at the source, a person who does not keep Shabbat, the meaning of the matter, does not believe that Hashem renewed His world in six days and rested on the seventh day. This person denies the renewal of the world. So on the contrary, see what special gifts I gave you, the Shabbat which is a renewal upon the individual providence that is attached to them, to the people of Israel. And come see how Shabbat is a sign between Me and you, that I rest My Divine Presence upon you. "And that they might know that I am Hashem who sanctifies them." By virtue of this they must sanctify themselves, as He spoke with us earlier, My statutes, My laws I made known to them that a man should do them and live by them. By virtue of Shabbat you are sanctified, through the mitzvot, every mitzvah you do you say "who sanctified us with His commandments." Each and every mitzvah sanctifies us. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, see what special gifts I gave you in order to elevate you, in order to increase and raise your standing. By the way, also from the physical aspect it is very interesting, for Shabbat was not accepted by any nation. And come see how afterward they all adopted the Shabbat for themselves. So there are those who adopted Friday, there are those who adopted Sunday, but in any case they all adopted for themselves a day that would be a day of rest. And this Shabbat was already given to the people of Israel while still in Egypt. Not only at Marah, where there was only the commandment. It is written that already in Egypt Moshe Rabbeinu was in Pharaoh's palace, and then he said to him, tell me, do you want them to work as they should? You need to give them one day on which they rest. They will rest, they will recharge their batteries and then they will be able to work as they should. He said to him, fine, do as you think. He went and informed them, there is one day of rest, the day of Shabbat. And Moshe designated for them the day of Shabbat that they would rest on the Shabbat day. And through this on the Shabbat day they did not have to work, so says the Midrash. It emerges then that already from then this matter began, that the people already kept Shabbat. The detailed commandments came at Marah, but before that we already see that Moshe designated for them the day of Shabbat. And therefore we say, we have a prayer in which we mention Moshe, "Moshe shall rejoice in the gift of his portion." What is "his portion"? Since this is the portion that came from him, from whom? From Moshe Rabbeinu who is the one who designated the day of Shabbat for Israel.
"But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes and they rejected My laws, which if a man does he shall live by them, and My Sabbaths they greatly desecrated; and I said I would pour out My wrath upon them in the wilderness to consume them." If earlier I mentioned the rule of the letters bet, gimel, dalet, kaf, pei, tav at the beginning of a word, now we can see "vayamru bi beit Yisrael" (but the house of Israel rebelled against Me). Vayamru bi beit. Why? Vayamru ends in a vav, so the letter after it, the dagesh drops, so it is "bi." "Bi" ends in a yud, so the dagesh drops from "beit," and therefore it is written "beit Yisrael." After that "bamidbar" begins with a bet with a dagesh because the preceding letter ends in a lamed. So therefore after that in "bamidbar" the bet has a dagesh. In "bechukotai" the bet has a dagesh, and so on. Good, let us explain what is written here. "But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness." The people of Israel rebelled against Me, meaning they defied the word of Hashem, and this includes everything they sinned in the wilderness. This includes the sin of testing Hashem with the golden calf, at Refidim, afterward leaving over from the manna, "My Sabbaths they desecrated" when they went out to gather the manna, "they did not walk in My statutes" against what He commanded them at Marah, there He set for him a statute and a law and there He tested him, "and they greatly desecrated," this is the first Shabbat which they desecrated as we said, so this is "and they greatly desecrated." And also the statutes and laws that He commanded them, they transgressed them, as it is written there "how long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My teachings." So "they rebelled against Me." And behold, you see that for this thing they would have deserved annihilation, "and I said I would pour out My wrath upon them in the wilderness to consume them." "But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them out." And again the Holy One, blessed be He, says, here too there should have been annihilation, but here too in the wilderness once again, as at the Exodus from Egypt, I acted for the sake of My name so that it would not be profaned among the nations. Also when they were in the wilderness, Moshe Rabbeinu says to the Holy One, blessed be He, "why should Egypt say, He brought them out with evil intent to kill them in the mountains," and so on, "because of Hashem's inability." "That it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them out," that the name of Heaven would not be profaned in the sight of the nations, that they would not say "because of Hashem's inability," so here too it was not because they were deserving.
Rather out of Hashem's mercy upon them and out of a desire that His name not be profaned among the nations. "And also I raised My hand to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given, flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all the lands." "And also I raised My hand," "I raised My hand" is an expression of an oath, the Malbim explains, I swore to them there in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land, a land flowing with milk and honey, glorious and magnificent, as we explained this is also an expression of desire, yes, the place that a person craves and desires above all the lands.
"Because they rejected My laws and did not walk in My statutes, and desecrated My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols." "Because they rejected My laws," "for their heart went after their idols," the Malbim says that the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that their rejection of His laws did not stem from an inclination of desire. Since it stemmed from the fact that "their heart went after their idols," their heart goes after foreign beliefs, after the idols, they do not believe in Hashem. That is to say, when it is a matter of an illness stemming from desire, then something you might say is still curable. But if it comes from foreign beliefs and idols, in that they are drawn after idolatry and do not believe in Hashem, as was the case with the spies who did not believe in Hashem's ability, this is far more severe, because the sin of heresy is a much more severe sin than the sin of desire.
"But My eye spared them from destroying them, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness." Hashem says, "But My eye spared them," nevertheless My eye spared them and I did not destroy them absolutely, this is "mishachatam," from "lehashchitam" (destroying them). Like "shomer Shabbat mechalelo" (keeps the Shabbat from desecrating it), "shomer Shabbat milchalelo." Yes? So "but My eye spared them" from destroying them. And in what did the Holy One, blessed be He's sparing of the eye consist? "And I did not make an end of them in the wilderness." That although the generation of the fathers was decreed annihilation in the wilderness, but I did not make an end of them entirely in the wilderness, for their sons who rose up after them, they did come into the land.
The Malbim says, that although the Holy One, blessed be He, swore that He would not bring them into the land, the destruction was not immediate. The Holy One, blessed be He, said over the course of 40 years their death would occur. For if the destruction had been immediate, then there would also have been no survival for the children. Here Hashem says, "But My eye spared them." The Malbim explains in several places, what is the difference between "to spare" (lachus) and "to have mercy" (lerachem)? "To spare" is always over something for which I have a need. "And let your eye not spare your vessels." "To spare" is always over something that I need, something from which I will supposedly have benefit. In contrast, "to have mercy," I have mercy because the thing is deserving of mercy, even if nothing comes to me from it, in any case I have mercy. It emerges then that here the "sparing" means, as it were, for a need. Hashem saw that if He detained them in the wilderness for 40 years, and through this they would see the hand of Hashem, they would see the constant miracles, the wondrous providence over them, this would bring them to strengthening and to the point that ultimately their children would already be able to arrive and enter the land. This is "But My eye spared them," as it were I saw that there would be benefit in this, as if I would have gain from this, in that I would spare you.
And this is as it is written in Devarim chapter 29: "You have seen all that Hashem did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, and Hashem did not give you a heart to know, and He led you in the wilderness so that you would know that I am Hashem your God." That is, the entire purpose of being in the wilderness was so that they would know that I am Hashem your God. So that through this they would recognize the greatness of the Creator, His infinite ability, that is, the deficiency they had, and this as we saw that "their heart went after their idols," that they distanced themselves from Hashem because of lack of faith, this would be made complete over 40 years. And this is what Chazal say, a person does not fully grasp his teacher's mind until 40 years, which are the 40 years in the wilderness, as it is written before this "and Hashem did not give you a heart to know, and He led you in the wilderness so that you would know." Through the walking in the wilderness for 40 years they did ultimately bring you to know that I am Hashem your God. So Hashem says, "But My eye spared them from destroying them, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness," for I saw benefit in that they would ultimately attain faith after 40 years.
"And I said to their children in the wilderness, do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, and do not keep their laws, and do not defile yourselves with their idols." And here the Holy One, blessed be He, also warns the children after them. For the children after them had not yet been completely purified from the idols of Egypt, from the customs and conduct of Egypt. Hashem commands them to keep the statutes of Hashem and the laws, and not to be defiled by all these idols. "I am Hashem your God, walk in My statutes and keep My laws and do them." Since I am Hashem your God, therefore listen to Me and walk in My statutes and in My laws and do them and keep them in your heart, and do them, fulfill them. And corresponding to what He mentioned before that they desecrated Sabbaths, He says "and sanctify My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you might know that I am Hashem your God." My Sabbaths, sanctify them too, for they, the Sabbaths, are a sign between Me and you. By a person keeping Shabbat he declares thereby that the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world in six days. And this is "that you might know that I am Hashem your God," through this he knows and makes known that the Holy One, blessed be He, is our God, and therefore one who desecrates Shabbat is like one who denies the account of Creation, since in this he does not know that the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world in six days. By keeping My Sabbaths they shall be a sign between Me and you.
"But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes and did not keep My laws to do them, which if a man does he shall live by them, they desecrated My Sabbaths; and I said I would pour out My wrath upon them, to spend My anger against them in the wilderness." If we saw the fathers sinning, afterward the verse says, come see that the children too continued in the way of their fathers. "But the children rebelled against Me." This is the tribe of Dan, this is those who clung to Baal Peor after the generation of the wilderness died, this is Korach and his congregation. "But the children rebelled against Me," they too continued in the ways of their fathers, and against them too anger went out. "But I turned back My hand and acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them out." Hashem says "but I turned back My hand," what is "but I turned back My hand"? The meaning is I held back My hand from striking them. This is "but I turned back My hand." So explains the Metzudat David. I did not exact retribution from them but as it were I held back My hand from striking them. And why? "And I acted for the sake of My name." The Malbim explains that there the plague already began and went out and began to strike them, and therefore the expression here is "but I turned back My hand." To turn it back means to draw it back. After it had already begun, it had already come, it strikes, Hashem says I took it back. Like "and Hashem turned back His hand from swallowing." That is, the hand as if came to swallow everything and Hashem draws His hand back. And this too Hashem says was not because of them, not because they deserved it. Hashem says for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, as we saw above, this too was for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations.
The Malbim says, note, this repeats itself three times in our passage, "for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations." The Malbim says, these three times describe the situations of the people of Israel while they had not yet entered the land. The first time is in Egypt, they had not yet received the Torah, and if Hashem had struck them there, as we saw at the beginning of the chapter, after the Egyptians heard that the people of Israel were about to be redeemed, if Hashem had struck them there, for we already saw that they were deserving of a blow, since we saw above that Hashem reproves them to abandon the idols while still in Egypt and they did not listen, there would have been a great profanation of Hashem's name. Since this is so, Hashem says for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned, I did not strike them in Egypt. Afterward in the wilderness, at the beginning of the Exodus from Egypt, at the beginning of the 40 years, although they received the Torah, they had not yet been completely purified from the idols of Egypt, this was like leaven in dough that permeates the entire dough, and there too Hashem says, there would have been a profanation of Hashem's name, "why should Egypt say, He brought them out with evil intent," because of Hashem's inability. And the third time is our case, which is already the generation of the children, "but the children rebelled against Me" as we saw. When they are already at the end of their time in the wilderness, after 40 years, but they had not yet entered the land. And all these times the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, had not yet completed His task. When Hashem says I will complete My task, I will be able to exact retribution from them. But as long as I have not completed My task, they will come and say because of Hashem's inability. Behold, you see, He did not in the end bring them into the land. Therefore Hashem says, three times I had mercy on them so that My name would not be profaned in the world, until I bring them into the land. The moment they enter the land it is already over, Hashem as it were has done His part. But before that, they would say Hashem cannot, there would be a profanation of Hashem's name here. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, so also at the end of the 40 years, I had not yet completed the act of bringing them to the land, there would have been a profanation of Hashem's name in this, and therefore here too "and I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them out."
"Also I raised My hand to them in the wilderness, to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them through the lands." "Also I raised My hand to them in the wilderness." What is "I raised My hand to them in the wilderness"? The meaning is as its plain sense, I swore to them in the wilderness. What did I swear to them in the wilderness? To scatter them among the nations and to disperse them through the lands. Where is this written? So indeed the Radak brings, as King David says in Tehillim, "and He raised His hand to them, to cast them down in the wilderness, to scatter their seed among the nations." Hashem swore to them that He would cast them down in the wilderness and scatter their seed among the nations and disperse them through the lands. Good, but this is not enough, since we have a question on Yechezkel and we are bringing a proof from Tehillim. Where is this written in the Torah? Where is it written in the Torah that Hashem raised His hand to them, swore to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them through the lands? We saw no such thing in the Torah as a description of a situation in which the people of Israel are in the wilderness and Hashem swears to them that He will scatter them and disperse them through the lands. So indeed Rashi explains that this is what is written in the Torah, "when you beget children and grandchildren and you grow old in the land and act corruptly and make a carved image, a likeness of anything," and then the Torah promises that God forbid the people of Israel will be exiled from the land. It emerges then, that what is written "and I raised My hand to them in the wilderness to scatter them among the nations," does not mean that in the wilderness I swore that I would now scatter them among the nations. Rather in the wilderness I swore that if they reach the land "and you grow old in the land and act corruptly and make a carved image" and so on, then "you shall surely perish from the land which Hashem your God gives you." Then, only then. But it emerges in any case that we have found where this is written in the Torah. In the Torah there is a warning, "when you beget children," behold you see there is an oath that the Holy One, blessed be He, will scatter you from the land.
The Radak in contrast explains that this oath appears in our passage in the wilderness, although we did not see it explicitly, but we saw it being fulfilled. For as it is written, "and the Amalekite and the Canaanite who dwelt in that mountain came down and struck them and crushed them as far as Hormah." Behold you saw that Hashem scattered them there in the wilderness. You see already in the wilderness the Holy One, blessed be He, exacted retribution from them and scattered them. "And the Canaanite, king of Arad, heard, and he took some of them captive." This is to disperse them through the lands. That is to say, the Radak understands that when it is written "to scatter them in the wilderness and to disperse them through the lands," the meaning is that already in the wilderness this began. Not as Rashi explains, that in the wilderness there was the promise about what would be 850 years after they would be in the land. The Radak understands that this speaks of it already beginning in the wilderness. And where? "And the Canaanite came down," the Amalekite, the king of Arad, all these already began to scatter the people of Israel while they were still in the wilderness, they began to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them through the lands. For in that captivity, the Radak says, their captors took them far away and sold them to the rest of the nations of the lands. And the Radak also brings what Rashi brings, brings it in the name of the Midrash. And Chazal say, what is written "and the people wept that night," it was the night of the ninth of Av. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, you wept a weeping for nothing, I will establish for you a weeping for the generations. So here is another expression of the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, already then told them that in the future they were destined to be scattered, that the Temple would be destroyed and the people of Israel would be dispersed among the nations. Here we have that already in the wilderness there was such a promise.
The Malbim explains, "also I raised My hand." The Malbim says, although because of the profanation of Hashem's name we saw that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not exact retribution from them, but I saw that the time of correction had not yet arrived. And I saw that they were still, as it were, prone to sin, they were still ready by their nature toward sin, they had not yet been purified from their sins. And I saw that the redemption of Egypt is not an eternal redemption. I saw that the people of Israel were destined to be in additional exiles in order to reach complete purification. For Egypt did not yet bring the people of Israel to complete purification, for behold you see, they came out of Egypt, there was still idolatry among them, they were in the wilderness, they were still not in perfection. So I saw that they were destined to be in more exiles, that these exiles would bring about complete purification. And then Hashem says, I raised My hand to scatter them among the nations, and from there they would be dispersed through the lands, and there they would be refined in the crucible and in the furnace time after time. That is, then Hashem already says, I saw that there would be no choice but to bring them through refinement after refinement by scattering among the nations and dispersing them through the lands, and through this they would reach complete correction. And based on this the Malbim in essence, what the Malbim brings the matter closer to our mind, for seemingly it is not entirely clear why it was necessary already in the wilderness to promise them about what would be 850 years after they would arrive in the land? Why did He need to swear already then and why did He need to make it known already then? But according to what we are explaining now, as it were this is a natural consequence. Hashem says, I saw that now in the wilderness they are not corrected, but they are destined to be corrected in the coming exiles, and this in fact gives hope for the people, that behold their correction will yet come.
"Because they did not do My laws and rejected My statutes and desecrated My Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols." It says not this sin alone, the Metzudat David explains, not only for this sin were the destructions, but also because they did not do My laws and rejected My statutes and desecrated My Sabbaths and went after their fathers' idols. The Malbim explains that from here until verse 26, the Malbim says, this is like a parenthetical statement. That as it were it comes to say, do you know why this punishment comes upon them? Since they did not do My laws and their eyes were after their fathers' idols, since this is so, Hashem says, "and also I gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live." This is a very wondrous verse that everyone finds difficult. "And also I gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live"? This is a statement that the Holy One, blessed be He, says. How is it possible that the Holy One, blessed be He, would say that I gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live? On the contrary, Hashem gave us good statutes and laws which if a man does he shall live by them, as mentioned several times in our chapter. "And live by them." So how is it written I gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live?
Rashi says, I gave them statutes that were not good, I handed them over to their evil inclination to stumble in their iniquity. As if Hashem says, since you went in the wrong way, I handed you over to the inclination so that it would cause you to fall there into pits, into ravines, into ditches. Had you chosen the right way, you would have gone in a perfect way. You would have been saved from every stumbling block. But since you chose the wrong way, then I gave you statutes that were not good and laws by which you could not live, you were handed over to the evil inclination, that this is "not good" and these are "laws by which they could not live," you were handed over to the evil inclination. So too Yonatan translated, "and I handed them over to their foolish inclination." I handed them over to their foolish inclination. "And they went and served decrees that were not proper and customs by which they could not survive." So who then is "statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live"? They made these. Since I handed them over to their inclination, then consequently through this they went and made for themselves statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live. They established for themselves a supreme court, they made for themselves all kinds of gentile laws, the Ottoman law, the British law and all kinds of laws without reason. So it is as if I legislated these statutes for them. Since I handed them over to their inclination and by virtue of this they went to legislate all those laws, as it were Hashem says, as if this comes from Me. But this is certainly in their iniquity.
The Radak explains, that since they rejected the statutes of Hashem, I handed them over to enemies who would impose upon them statutes that were not good. This is the meaning of "and also I gave them statutes that were not good." "And also I," I handed them over to the enemies, that the enemies gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live. And why does He say "I gave"? Since again, I handed them over to the nations. So according to Rashi this is I handed them over to their evil inclination, and according to the Radak the meaning is I handed them over to the nations, that the nations are the ones who imposed on them and gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live. What is "laws by which they could not live"? The Radak says, that their enemies would impose laws and decrees on them by which they could not live but would die by them. And had they done My laws, they would have lived by them, as we saw "which if a man does he shall live by them." But since you did not go in the way of Hashem, then you were handed over to the gentile, and we all know how the gentiles in each and every generation rise against us to destroy us, how the endless persecution of the gentiles, if once it was with pitchforks and hoes, then today it is through boycotts and all kinds of bizarre UN resolutions, but still the gentiles still seek, and if it is the peoples of Arabia, with them the hoes remained, they only upgraded to missiles and tunnels, but in essence we see, we were handed over to the gentiles, laws by which they could not live, into the hand of the gentiles by whose hand one cannot live. On the contrary, had we gone in the way of Hashem, we would have merited "which if a man does he shall live by them." But we wanted and craved the laws of the gentiles and we were punished by this that they could not live by them, the gentiles do not let us live in their lands.
The Malbim explains, that the meaning of "and also I gave them statutes that were not good" speaks about what the people think. What the people think, they reject My statutes, and why? Because they think to themselves that I gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live. They go and fabricate for themselves statutes of their own, they go and are drawn after the statutes of the nations, since they say these are statutes one cannot live with. Today you hear from all kinds of covenant-breakers, what will you say, is it possible to maintain a state that operates according to halacha? What will they do about electricity? What will they do about the air force? What will they do about the army? What will they do about hospitals? What will they do? As if they invented the wheel today. And as if gentiles ceased to be among human beings. What, are you today building the land? "We came to the land to build and be built in it," that is already passe from 60 years ago. Already since then the contractors are Arabs. So what are you, are you doing something here? So in every job and in every place and in every profession there are gentiles who will do what is needed. Well, so for this I need to desecrate Shabbat? For this to take the most precious day and do works of the light rail? The most special day when in fact most of your workers are Sudanese anyway, or I do not know what, all kinds of personal imports, various Chinese. So for this one needs to desecrate Shabbat? One needs to transgress? The electric company can in one moment be turned into a kosher company. There are those with interests who are not interested, since for Shabbat work one receives three and four salaries, so there are people who are not interested, to our shame. But if they wanted, in one moment it is possible to turn the electric company into a place that keeps Shabbat, and if there are some problems, there is a gentile of Shabbat, which is certainly ideal, that in situations of danger to life and the like, with all the reasonings there are to be lenient in this. With a gentile it is certainly ideal. But if not, Rav Yitzchak Yosef related that once, on the last holiday, if I am not mistaken it was on Rosh Hashanah, one person related that they summoned him, a Jew, they summoned him to the electric company, he had to activate several turbines because there was a shortage. And afterward he had to again, they summoned him, he had to shut down several turbines because there was a surplus. At the electric company they do not store electricity, there are no warehouses of electricity. One must at all times produce according to the output, according to the demand, so the output must be. And in fact on the holiday, they bring a Jew for what? God have mercy. For it is possible to keep Shabbat in the most beautiful and precise manner. But what? For all those to whom keeping Shabbat is not pleasing and keeping the commandments is not pleasing, these are "statutes that were not good by which they could not live." What, how is a halachic state possible? The state has gone. Yes? Perhaps one day there will be a halachic state, then there would be no crimes, if there is a halachic state there would be no murder, no rape, no robbery, there would be no, perhaps society would be a more positive society, perhaps everything would change. No, do not confuse them with facts. They have a theory and the facts only confuse.
The Talmud, Tractate Megillah page 32, Rabbi Shefatya said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, anyone who reads Scripture without a melody and studies without a tune, of him the verse says our verse, "and also I gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live." One who learns, reads without a melody, studies without a tune, of him it is said that I gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live. Abaye asks, Abaye objects to this, just because he does not know how to make his voice pleasant, you read into it "laws by which they could not live"? Abaye says, what, just because he does not know how to trill, he is not expert in the modes, so for this you say that these are "laws by which they could not live"? Rather the Gemara says, like that of Rav Mesharshia, who said, two Torah scholars who dwell in one city and are not pleasant to one another in halacha, of them the verse says "and also I gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live." Even though the Gemara seemingly rejected the first interpretation, the Gemara says "rather like that of Rav Mesharshia" following Abaye's objection, with all this this statement is very well-known and famous, and we are also trusting in the words of the Maharsha that "these and those are the words of the living God," certainly when it comes to aggadah. So I saw a wonderful explanation that explains what the connection is. What is the connection, because a person reads without a melody and studies without a tune, you say this is "statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live"? So according to the plain sense, one must always remember the plain sense. According to the plain sense one can understand, that when a person reads something in a depressing manner, that is to say that this thing saddens him. When a person reads something in a happy manner, out of song and tune, that is to say that he is happy in it. Yes? Naturally it is not logical to sing "we have sinned before You." It is not logical. Usually "we have sinned before You" is something one is supposed to cry about. When does a person sing? When does a person sing? When he has something of joy, "grapes of the vine among grapes of the vine," "how does one dance before the bride," at a time of joy one sings. This is the natural thing. So if a person reads without a melody and studies without a tune, that is to say that he is reading something, some statutes that were not good, something, he is now reading something that saddens him, so what do you want, that he compose a tune for it? Perhaps even if he composes a tune, perhaps it would be some melancholy tune, something depressing like that, songs of weeping like that, "they consumed me, they drank me." Perhaps something of that style, but why on earth, when you read the words of Hashem should you read them in sorrow? On the contrary, one should read them in joy. Good, that is the plain sense.
But come hear what the author of the Mekor Baruch explains. He says, after seemingly when we read such a verse, as we just read it, it is very puzzling. "And also I gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live," how is it possible to say such a thing? Rather what, perforce you must place a question mark at the end of the sentence. Hashem says, "and also I gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live"? What, why do they complain against My statutes? Are the statutes I gave them not good? Are these laws by which one cannot live? So the author of the Mekor Baruch says, this verse cannot be understood unless you read it with melody and tune. Unless you sing it as it should be. If you do not sing it as it should be, then everything is "and also I gave them statutes that were not good, laws by which they could not live." But if you sing it as it should be, then you sing it with a question mark. "And also I gave them statutes that were not good"? Ah, one who reads it without a tune, then this is God forbid statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live. One must read it in the correct way, in the way of song, and then indeed one will be able to understand what the verse says. They tell that once the gabbai of the synagogue, once offended the rabbi. And the congregation thus protested vigorously, and in the end they told him that he must apologize. But since they knew that he was a clever fellow, they told him, we will also dictate to you what you apologize. You must say, "I offended the rabbi and I regret what I did, what I did was not good." Good, the person had no choice, he was forced to stand and read aloud. And then he stands and reads aloud, "I offended the rabbi? I regret what I did? What I did was not good?" Now, what will you say? You said, I read, what is written I read, do not argue. What is written I read exactly, I did not add a single word. See how much a melody changes the meaning. So here too, one who reads it "and also I gave them statutes that were not good," then woe and alas, these are statutes that were not good. Read it in the way of a question mark, "and also I gave them statutes that were not good and laws by which they could not live"? And one who reads it without a melody and studies it without a tune, then God forbid it is as if he says that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave statutes that were not good. A wonderful explanation.