"And the word of Hashem came to me, saying." Now He comes to explain what He told us at the beginning, "and I will multiply men upon you," and afterward He says "and I will cause men to walk upon you," for He actually meant to hint to us that the redemption of Koresh would not be an eternal redemption, but rather Israel would come to the Second Temple and then again go into exile. Now He wants to explain why this would truly be so, why Hashem would not redeem us with a redemption that would be permanent, why Hashem redeems us and afterward again scatters us. On this He will now give us an explanation.
"Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt on their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their deeds; their way before Me was like the impurity of a menstruant woman." The house of Israel dwelling on their own land refers to the Second Temple. And they defiled it by their way and by their deeds, they did corrupt things and defiled the land. Hashem says, despite all this I did not banish them from before Me, and banishment means forever. Rather Hashem says, My distancing from them was like the impurity of a menstruant woman was their way before Me. Just as with the menstruant woman her husband separates from her, but waits for her to become purified and then returns to her, so too the Holy One, blessed be He, says, I waited for them, that like the impurity of the menstruant woman they too would return to Me, and therefore their way before Me was like the impurity of the menstruant woman, and there was an expectation that they would return and repent, and then, "return to Me and I will return to you." What is written here, "they defiled it by their way and by their deeds," is something the Malbim explains in several places, that "way" means the traits of the soul, and "deeds" means the actions. So for example I can speak about pride, that is a trait of the soul. I can speak about anger, that is a trait of the soul. But when I speak of a person who became angry and in the end also struck another, then I can say that here there was their way and their deeds. Their way is the soul trait of anger, and the striking is already their deeds, for "deeds" always means the actions that sprouted from those traits. So He says, and they defiled it by their way and by their deeds, both by their corrupt soul traits and by the result, which are the evil deeds they did.
"So I poured out My fury upon them for the blood which they had shed upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols." Hashem says, even though I poured out My fury upon them, and the Malbim, as is known, explains that there is a difference between "fury" (chema), which is essentially inner rage, and "anger" (af), which is outward anger. As he expounded at length on this matter regarding Achashverosh, where it is written that his fury burned within him. What does this mean? Fury is something that burns inside. But by contrast, anger is something recognizable outwardly, "a fire has kindled in My anger." So anger is recognizable outwardly. The greater difficulty is when there is inner fury and one cannot let it out. Now he explains that Achashverosh could not reveal his anger outwardly, because since that anger constituted a certain injury to him, and if he were to reveal the anger then he would in fact show that he was hurt by what was done here, therefore his fury burned within him, the fury was internal. So Hashem says, even though I poured out My fury upon them, which is essentially the inner fury, for the blood which they had shed upon the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. For the blood they shed upon the land, meaning murder, and "they defiled it with their idols," meaning either illicit relations or idolatry. Concerning both of these things it is written that the land vomits out its inhabitants. As it is written, "for blood pollutes the land," and in the portion of illicit relations it is written, "that the land vomit you not out when you defile it." Hashem says, they defiled it with their idols, I poured out My fury upon them, and I scattered them among the nations.
"And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the lands; according to their way and according to their deeds I judged them." I scattered them among the nations, at first He scattered them among the nations, and afterward from this scattering among the nations, from there they were dispersed, and we have always seen that dispersal is more than scattering, yes? Dispersal is a greater spreading apart. From there they were dispersed to the distant lands, as the Malbim already explained this matter above several times, where we saw the expression of "and I will scatter" and "and I will disperse," that dispersal is essentially harsher than scattering. And then consequently "and they were dispersed throughout the lands," for notice, the "I scattered" refers back to the Holy One, blessed be He. Hashem does not say here "and I will disperse them," but rather "and they were dispersed throughout the lands." At first He scattered them among the nations, but from the nations they themselves dispersed and spread themselves to distant lands. Hashem says, according to their way and according to their deeds I judged them. Despite all this, it was not in a way of annihilation or in a way of hiding the face, as if I abandoned them completely and take no account of what happens to them. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, exactly the opposite is true. The punishment here was a punishment with providence. And the advantage of a punishment with providence, as we have explained several times based on the Malbim, is that a punishment without providence has an advantage on one hand, since if according to the natural circumstances there is not supposed to be evil, then there will be no evil. For the reality of a punishment without providence is that Hashem, as it were, casts us to fate. So it depends: if there is supposed to be evil then there will be evil, and if there is not supposed to be evil then there will be no evil. That is to say, we are dependent, as it were, on the conduct of nature. By contrast, in a punishment with providence there is an advantage and a disadvantage. The disadvantage is that this is a punishment by necessity. It is not like a punishment without providence which depends, where it may be that fate points toward success and then you will have no evil. In a punishment with providence you will necessarily have evil, for the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over to bring us trouble. But on the other hand, the great advantage is that in a punishment with providence...
00:00 providence, there is Someone who always checks the dosages, that the dosages should not be too harsh, that they should not bring about a state of annihilation, since the punishment is with providence. Hashem did not throw us away from before Him to the ravages of nature, but watches over to give us the punishment exactly according to what is needed. And this is always, "and yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I am Hashem their God." That is to say, even that punishment was with providence, and consequently there is no annihilation, since the Holy One, blessed be He, says, even in this reality I watch over them. And this is what He tells us here. Hashem says, this punishment that I removed them, as it were, from the land, do not think that this means I also removed My providence from them. My providence is still attached to them. And where do you see this? "According to their way and according to their deeds I judged them." Hashem says, first, this is a way of judgment. Judgment is always directed and precise. And another thing, it is measure for measure. According to their way and according to their deeds. "According to their way," as we said, is against the wickedness of the heart, the thoughts of the heart, the ways of the soul. And "according to their deeds" is the actions they did. So Hashem says, consequently you will understand that the punishment was not excessive but in precise dosages that were coming to them, so that from this you will understand that it was with full providence.
"And when they came to the nations where they came, they profaned My holy name, in that men said of them, These are the people of Hashem, and are gone forth out of His land." What is "and he came to the nations"? Ostensibly it should say "and they came to the nations where they came." For afterward you say "where they came." So why is it written at first in the singular? Rashi brings one plain explanation, since we saw that beforehand He spoke about the house of Israel. "The house of Israel" is singular. The house of Israel. He does not speak of the collective, of Israelites, but of the house of Israel, of one. And since this is so, here too He continues with the same expression "and he came." Who? The house of Israel. Rashi brings from a midrash aggadah, "and he came to the nations where they came," who came? The Holy One, blessed be He, came to the nations where His children came. Wherever Israel came, Hashem also came there. The midrash says, the Holy One, blessed be He, went with them into exile and inclined His ear to hear what the captors were saying. This is "they profaned My holy name, in that men said of them, These are the people of Hashem, and are gone forth out of His land." Since, as it were, "I am with him in trouble," and the Holy One, blessed be He, came with us into exile, so now, as it were, He inclines His ear and hears what the nations here are saying. And what are they saying? These are the people of Hashem, and He had not the ability to save them. A terrible desecration of Hashem's name was created, since they say, how can it be that the people of Hashem are in exile? If the people of Hashem are in exile, that means, God forbid, that their God is weak. And from this matter a great desecration of Hashem's name was created.
The Malbim explains, "and he came to the nations where they came," the Malbim also says that the meaning refers to the Holy One, blessed be He. And he says that the meaning refers to what is written afterward in the continuation. "And he came to the nations where they came, and they profaned My holy name." My holy name came to the nations where they came. This is the meaning of "and he came." We are speaking here of Hashem's name. And why did the Holy One, blessed be He, come there? As the Malbim explained earlier, according to their way and according to their deeds, the punishment is with full providence. So the Holy One, blessed be He, came in order to ensure that the punishment would not be excessive, that the punishment would be with full providence, measure for measure, exactly according to what they deserve, and not something more. And the purpose is also that they should feel and understand that the punishment is providential. And when one understands that the punishment is providential, then consequently it is easier to return to Hashem. When Israel for seventy years did not observe the shemittah years, and then "the land shall enjoy her sabbaths," and corresponding to this they are in exile for seventy years, then you immediately understand the connection. And then you understand that here we are paying a price for a corruption that we corrupted, and through this a person will correct his ways. So the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "and he came to the nations," I came there to the nations in order to see that Israel would receive measure for measure and recognize that the punishment is with providence. Hashem says, but through this "they profaned My holy name." Through this the nations profaned My holy name. And why? What was created here? Since they see that Israel, even though they are in exile, Hashem is with them, for indeed "he came to the nations," they see that the Holy One, blessed be He, is with them, as it were, and providence accompanies them and He has not abandoned them. So concerning this they ask, are these not the people of Hashem? For Hashem's providence is still attached to them, as we said. He is with them, "I am with him in trouble," and even in exile He is still with them, Hashem's providence is attached to them. So if that is the case, why did they go forth out of His land? So why did they go into exile? Why would He not bring them back to His land, for the place of providence is the Land of Israel, "a land which Hashem your God cares for, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year." So why would He not bring them back to His land, to the place where He is supposed to watch over them properly? What is necessarily their conclusion? That Hashem's ability is lacking. Since, as it were, God forbid, Hashem is limited and therefore He was forced to go into exile with them and watch over them here, He cannot bring them back to their land. And from this matter a great desecration of Hashem's name was created.
"But I had pity for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they came." Hashem says, besides this I also had pity for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned. The meaning is: until now we saw what the nations profaned, that the nations spoke sharp words: Hashem cannot redeem them, as it were. Hashem says, besides this I also had pity for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned. Not the nations themselves, but also Israel. How? Through the evil deeds they did there among the nations, they profaned Hashem's name. And then the Holy One, blessed be He, was forced to punish them, with persecutions and murders and pogroms and expulsions and what not. And then, even more strongly among the nations, the recognition grows stronger that the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot redeem them, the Holy One, blessed be He, has no power to save them. Behold, see, they are persecuted here. They do not understand that this in fact proves the providence of the Holy One, blessed be He. This proves that the Holy One, blessed be He, exists and is present and acts within reality, even though Israel is in exile and they are paying a price for the deeds they do even here in exile. Hashem says, each time anew My holy name is profaned through My conduct with the people.
"Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Hashem: I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you came." Therefore Hashem says, thus says the Lord Hashem, I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel. The salvation with which I will save you will not be for your sake. For if I were to do it for your sake, then it would depend on merits and debts. Whether you are worthy, whether you are not worthy, that is when I do it for your sake. One would have to see whether it is truly worthwhile to do it, whether you are deserving. And then what would happen if Israel were to sin again? Then Hashem would be forced once again to exile them. That is when it is for your sake. Hashem says, no, this is not for your sake. "Not for your sake" means it will not now depend on merit or debt. Hashem says, I do this only for My name, My glory that is profaned among the nations. So if that is the case, Hashem necessarily says that in this reality I will make sure that you will not be exiled again. I will make sure that My name will not be profaned among the nations a second time. And how will this be? As He will show us in the following verses.
"And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am Hashem, says the Lord Hashem, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes." And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the nations. First, from the aspect of what was profaned among the nations, as we saw "they profaned My holy name," which refers to the nations who profaned Hashem's name, for the nations said, these are the people of Hashem and are gone forth out of His land. This is one thing. The second thing, we said in verse 21, "which the house of Israel had profaned," that there was also here a desecration of Hashem's name from our side, in that we corrupted our deeds there among the nations. So this is what He says, "which you have profaned in their midst." This is the second thing, what we did and transgressed. Hashem says, now the nations shall know that I am Hashem. Now the nations will know that I am Hashem. How? First, through "when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes." That the Holy One, blessed be He, will sanctify His name through Israel. Through Hashem bringing us to repentance. As it is written, "with a mighty hand will I rule over you, and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will purge out from among you the rebels." And then, through the Holy One, blessed be He, ruling over us with a mighty hand, He will obligate and compel us to repent, and His blessed name will be sanctified through Israel. The second thing, "and I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the lands, and will bring you into your own land." And I will take you from among the nations, corresponding to the desecration that was among the nations, that the nations said, these are the people of Hashem and are gone forth out of His land, so Hashem's name is profaned by the very fact of our being there. Earlier He spoke of how we profaned Hashem's name through our evil deeds, concerning which He said Hashem will obligate us to repent, and consequently we will not have evil deeds. Now He speaks of the desecration of Hashem's name that the nations see us in exile, even if we are people of good deeds, but they see us in exile, and there is desecration of Hashem's name in this. Corresponding to this thing, that His name is profaned by our being among the nations, Hashem says, this desecration too will cease, since "and I will take you from among the nations." I will bring you out from the nations where you are enslaved beneath them. And from the places among the nations where you are scattered, as we saw that from there they scattered to the lands, from there I will gather you. Yes? And gathering is always of something scattered. "I will gather the scattered ones," as we saw above that the Malbim explains this matter. And therefore, "and gather you out of all the lands" where you were scattered. "And will bring you into your own land." I will bring you into your own land, and through this Hashem's name will not be profaned by saying "and are gone forth out of His land." If these are the people of Hashem, then why did they go into exile from His land? Now it will be clear that Israel are again connected to the Holy One, blessed be He, and not in exile.
"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you." But to fix what you sinned in the past, and so that you should not sin in the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, says concerning this that I will perform two actions. Concerning the past, "then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean." This means, just as a person, to be purified from the impurity of the menstruant woman, as we saw above that He said their way before Me was like the impurity of the menstruant woman, requires a mikveh. He says here too, then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean. By contrast, for the impurity of a corpse here one does not need immersion in a mikveh, here sprinkling suffices. But the sprinkling, note, is not clean water. The Malbim says the sprinkling is impure water. Why do we call it impure water? Since the waters of niddah, niddah in the sense of "they cast a stone at me" (vayadu even bi), as we explained above. The waters of niddah are waters that are cast. The meaning refers to the water of the ashes of the red heifer, which purify from corpse impurity, from the corpse-defiled. So the waters of niddah defiled the one who sprinkled them, and the one who carried them washes his garments. So one who takes the water of the ashes of the red heifer, it defiles him. It turns out then that these waters are not called clean water, they are called impure water. The Malbim says, it turns out then that here the sprinkling of clean water would not help. But the Holy One, blessed be He, says, no, know that in the future to come there will be no clean water and impure water, it will suffice that I sprinkle clean water upon you. That is, we have two advantages here. We said that like the impurity of the menstruant woman one must be purified in a mikveh of clean water. In the future to come the Holy One, blessed be He, says, you will be purified through clean water even without immersion. Rather it will suffice that "I will sprinkle clean water upon you." Sprinkling will be enough for you to be purified without the need to enter into the mikveh. That is one thing. Another thing, we say that one must be purified through impure water, which is the waters of niddah, which is the water of the ashes of the red heifer. He tells you, no, they will not need this, but there will be clean water. A little water, and the water will be clean. What is essentially the analogy? What does He want to say here? What is the idea that stands behind these words? The Malbim says that the intent of the words is that when we speak of purity, the meaning is that the mind will be purified, the intellect of the person will be purified, his thoughts and his deeds will be purified, this is what we speak of. And when we speak of "as the waters cover the sea," we speak of increasing knowledge, we speak of increasing knowledge of Hashem and the service of Hashem. He wants to tell you that in the future to come they will be purified through a little water that will be sprinkled upon them, and this water will be clean water, and through this they will be purified. With a slight illumination and with the waters of knowledge and repentance you will be purified. The Malbim says, today, in order to repent one needs effort, needs exertion, and needs to work and do very very much in order to be purified. But then the Holy One, blessed be He, says, with a little clean water that I sprinkle upon you, through this the mind will be purified, through this you will already draw near to Hashem. The Malbim says, in this time purity is effective only to purify the body. One who immerses in a mikveh, his soul was not purified but his body was purified. And another thing, this is effective only for impurity, it is not effective for the practice of idols, it is not effective for idolatry. But He says here, in this purity of the future to come I will purify you from all your uncleannesses. What is "all your uncleannesses"? Whether it is impurity of the body or impurity of the soul. And another thing, and also from all your idols. Which means also from idolatry. Note, there are printings, in many of the printings it is written "purity is effective only for the impurity of the nations (goyim), not for the impurity of the soul." And this is a corruption, provable, since it was written with the abbreviation gimel-vav-yod with a mark. An abbreviation, so there were those who wanted to open up the abbreviation, and from here begin all the corruptions. People who want to open up abbreviations and acronyms and have no understanding of the actual matter, and they come to open up the abbreviation and corrupt it. So it was written "ha-guf" (the body) with a line above it, so they thought, what is this, always "ha-guf" with a line above it is "ha-goyim" (the nations). But this is a mistake, for here it is not the nations, it is the body (ha-gviyah). And you see this also afterward. He means, whether the impurity of the body or the impurity of the soul. This is what he says, purity is not effective today except for the impurity of the body, not for the impurity of the soul. But in the future to come purity will be effective both for the impurity of the body and for the impurity of the soul. I once told you that I saw in some book that someone wrote, I still have it at home to this day, that he wrote that some couple went to a rabbi so that he would bless them to merit being blessed with "zera shabbat kodesh" (seed of the holy Sabbath). And I racked my brain, "zera shabbat kodesh," this expression is unfamiliar to me, what is "seed of the holy Sabbath." Until I understood that he had read the abbreviation zayin-shin-kuf, and he translated zayin-shin-kuf as "zera shabbat kodesh." This is something, this is where the problems begin, that a person wants to help and detail and explain, and corrupts more than he fixes.
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." Hashem says, the purity will be such that "I will give you a new heart." What does this mean? Until now, the Malbim says, what caused the sin was the heart and the spirit. And he explains. The Malbim says, the heart, as the Malbim explains in several places, describes the ruling power of a person. The heart is, as it were, the center, it is the king, it is the ruler. A person goes and acts according to the desires of his heart. What the heart wants and what the heart aspires to, that he does. But the heart, as we know, has desires, inclines toward desire, "You have given him his heart's desire." The spirit, by contrast, is the faculty of imagination. It is the depictions that a person portrays, it is the fantasies that a person imagines. Now, how does every transgression begin? The Malbim says, the spirit paints the evil images, the spirit paints the evil images and this rises up to the heart. That is, it begins in the imagination. Everything begins in the imagination. He imagines to himself that this transgression is something wonderful, and then his heart begins to desire. And the moment he desires, the heart is the ruler and it completes the evil, since the heart has the power of action, it gives orders to all the limbs and it is what finishes the transgression. Hashem says, I will give you a new heart, that this heart will have only an inclination toward good. And the same regarding the imagination, those images that rise in the spirit, the fantasies that a person imagines, for every transgression is in the imagination. Every transgression begins in the imagination. Today all the advertisers know and understand this well. They want to sell you a pizza, so they do not photograph a pizza, they paint it for you like this, how it stretches, how it is cut and the yellow cheese is spread and... no matter how much yellow cheese there really is there, no matter what exactly the taste is, the glands already begin to work. Through imagination they paint you something, they do it in shining and beautiful colors, and this draws the heart. The Holy One, blessed be He, says here, the images that will rise in the spirit, meaning the fantasies, will be only good, the thoughts will be only good thoughts. And until now the heart was not ready to receive rebuke, it was a stony heart, and a stony heart is hard to engrave upon, hard to influence. Hashem says, I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. You will have a heart of flesh, a heart that will truly be influenced by what is said to it, by what is impressed upon it, by the rebukes that are told to it. These influences will leave their mark upon it, and through this it will also change its ways.
"And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments, and do them." And I will put My spirit within you, this is the holy spirit. Through the miracles and wonders with which the Holy One, blessed be He, will make His presence continual here among us, through this Hashem's spirit will be within us. And this is what appears in other prophecies, that "and I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for nazirites," and it is written "I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh," and other verses that express this matter, that Hashem's spirit will rest upon us. And through the resting of the Shechinah and the holy spirit, through this our very nature will change to be a nature that inclines toward holiness, a nature that inclines toward purity. And this is what He says, "and cause you to walk in My statutes." Through this the nature will be refined, and of itself you will walk in My statutes. "And you shall keep My judgments, and do them." And through this you will no longer do evil, you will keep Hashem's judgments and will not corrupt your ways.
"And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God." You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, there will be no more exile. And the reason is self-evident, for if we do good deeds and Hashem is with us and Hashem is not angry at us and we do not provoke Him, as He describes beforehand, with Hashem's spirit within us, we walk in His statutes, we keep His judgments, then why would there be exile? So it turns out then that there will no longer be exile, so this thing will guarantee that the exile will cease. And through this, "and you shall be My people." Hashem says, from now on everything will be through an awakening from below. After you are merely ready for holiness, you will be My people, and through this "and I will be your God." That is, in simple words, at first it begins with an awakening from above. "And I will put My spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes." All this will be through an awakening from above. But afterward, "and you shall be My people," from now on it will be an awakening from below. You yourselves will already be prepared for holiness, you will be My people, and through this "and I will be your God." That even though at first it will come only from Hashem, "then will I sprinkle clean water upon you," as it were this is from Him, blessed be He, Hashem made the beginning, but afterward they will acquire mitzvot and good deeds and act toward closeness to Hashem, and then it will already come through an awakening from below, and consequently through this you will be worthy that I be your God. And this corresponds to what is written about the time of the redemption from Egypt, that constantly the Holy One, blessed be He, demands that Israel open the opening. That Israel are the ones who will take the first step. "Return to Me and I will return to you." First you repent, and then I will return to you. By contrast, at the exodus from Egypt we saw that it was not so. Regarding the redemption from Egypt it is written that everything was done through an awakening from above, when Israel did almost nothing. They had two mitzvot, and even they are mitzvot that ostensibly are very very weak: the mitzvah of the blood of the Pesach and the blood of circumcision. What was the blood of the Pesach? To slaughter an offering and eat steaks. And even in this they did not go with joy, since Israel still refused, since they needed to circumcise themselves, so He brought forth the fragrance of the Garden of Eden of the Pesach, and then they went to circumcise themselves in order to merit eating from the Pesach offering. So these are very weak mitzvot. That is to say, so on what strength was it done? Everything from an awakening from above. This is called, we see it hinted in what is written, "I passed over the door." What is the meaning that Hashem passed over the door? Hashem always says, open for Me an opening, this needs to begin from you. At the exodus from Egypt Hashem passed over the door. Hashem did not wait for you to open the opening, for if He were to wait until we open an opening we would not have been redeemed at all, we would have reached the fiftieth gate of impurity. So too it will be in the future. In the future too it will begin with the Holy One, blessed be He, sprinkling clean water upon us, it will be through an awakening from above. But afterward, "and you shall be My people," the awakening from below will come afterward from within you. And then it is akin to what the Sages say, "as in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt will I show him wondrous things." That the future redemption will be akin to the early redemption of the exodus from Egypt.
"And I will save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you." And I will save you from all your uncleannesses, for even though the evil inclination will still exist, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, the evil inclination still exists but I will save you from its impurity. And I will call for the corn and will increase it. The Sages say that from the day purity ceased, the fragrance of the fruit ceased, and some say the taste of the fruit. Hashem says, when you are saved from your impurity, there will be no reality where purity has ceased as the Sages say, but on the contrary, purity will now increase, "and I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean," so Hashem says, I will call for the corn and will increase it. First, there will be an abundance of corn, which will be through providence from Hashem, there will be no famine. And even though there is already no famine because of the corn, despite all this, "and I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you shall receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations." Hashem says, I will also multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field. For the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field are like luxuries, since the main thing a person needs for his livelihood is the corn, it is the bread a person eats. But here Hashem says, I will also multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, and the reason will be "that you shall receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations." For the nations, the Radak says, would reproach Israel and would say, where are you located? You are located in the Land of Israel, and the Land of Israel is a land that needs rains more than other lands. And therefore, the Radak says, famine is common in it. We see with Avraham that he arrives in the land and goes into exile because of the famine, we see with Yitzchak, we see with Elimelech and Naomi who go down because of the famine. And when a person goes forth and is exiled from his land to another land because of famine, this is a reproach, this is a disgrace. Hashem says, through My multiplying the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, you shall receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations, they will not reproach you that you have a poor land in which there is famine. Why indeed did Hashem make the land in this manner? Why did Hashem not give us the Switzerland of the Middle East? The answer is itself the reason. "A land which drinks water of the rain of heaven." Egypt is like the primordial serpent, the Holy One, blessed be He, threw them, told them, behold you have the Nile, you have a river, you have irrigation, that is it, leave Me, do not turn to Me. By contrast, Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, wants them always to be in connection with the Holy One, blessed be He, so we always pray for rains, we always plead before Him so that the Holy One, blessed be He, will bestow abundance upon us. Like the matter of the manna, that the Holy One, blessed be He, could have given it once a year, but if so where would we have connection with the Holy One, blessed be He? The Holy One, blessed be He, wanted the connection to be preserved, and through the fact that every single day one must go to gather the manna, we remember who gives the manna and pray to the Holy One, blessed be He, and through this we are connected to Him, blessed be He. But when there is drought, when there is famine, then there is reproach among the nations. Behold, see what a land you have. Here, when the produce is so abundant, there will no longer be the reproach of the nations. The Malbim explains, what is the matter of the fruit of the tree with regard to the reproach of the nations? The Malbim says, even though they already have corn, as we saw in the previous verse, but if they lack the fruit of the tree, this they would need to buy from the nations who are around them. And then they would say, why do they come to buy this here? They would say, behold they have the reproach of famine, they will have reproach among the nations. So in order that you not be forced to go and buy from the nations, and because of this be reproached, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, I will multiply both the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, everything will increase, and you will not need the nations at all.
"Then shall you remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations." And you shall remember your evil ways, so you will still remember the evil ways that you had before. First, why? Because "and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight." The meaning is that they will be as if placed before you, you will constantly regret what was before. What is the meaning of "and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight"? Rashi explains that the meaning is from the expression of decaying (namek). You will decay within yourselves in your shame. Like a person who decays, like something that shrivels and feels bad about the evil recompense that you did, as it were, to the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Holy One, blessed be He, in exchange for this bestows good upon you. So this thing will cause a person to be, as it were, decaying, they will decay in their iniquity. The Radak explains that what is written "venekototem" (and you shall loathe), the Radak says, this is from the expression "I loathed (akut) that generation." The truth is, there too some explain it as an expression of a curse, but rather it is from the expression of cutting off, of severing, this is the meaning of "and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight." Yes? From the expression of amputating, yes? As we say "kat," yes? Where the meaning is to cut. So although it is not in Hebrew, it is close. So too you will be as if cut off in your own eyes when you remember your iniquities, you will say, justly the Holy One, blessed be He, exiled us from our land. The Malbim says, there is here "and you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good." The Malbim says, the ways, as we explained, are the traits of the soul, the natures of the soul. And they were all evil, like the traits of pride, revenge, cruelty. The Malbim says, but note, an interesting thing the Malbim explains here, that even though it may very well be that the traits of the soul are negative, it may be that from this good doings emerge. Doings, we said, are actions. How can this be? The Malbim says, for example, a person is a proud person, so he opens a charity fund in order to show how much he is a man of kindness and how much he gives and how much he assists. So from a negative trait something good emerged. Now from this pride something positive emerged, that this person helps other people. For example, in this person there is the trait of revenge and cruelty, and this person will take revenge and be cruel against one who profanes the name of Heaven, against the enemies of Hashem. So although the trait within him is not a good trait, he will use it at least in a place where there is benefit from it. So it turns out then that there are evil ways, but doings are not necessarily evil. It may be that the ways, that the traits of the soul, are negative, but this produces positive doings. Concerning this He says, no, also your doings that were not good. Not only were your ways evil, but also your doings, meaning the results and actions that emerged from them, they too were not good. You did not use those things for something positive, but rather you used this for something negative, so the doings too were not good. And He also mentions here "for your iniquities and for your abominations." What is the duplication? The Malbim also explained this in several places, that iniquity (avon) is always an expression of the distortion of the intellect. That this is the worst thing, that a person acts out of his intellect being distorted. That is to say, he gives logic to what he does. He does a negative thing, and this negative thing he also gives it justification. And this justification is already a distortion of the intellect. For as long as you did something negative and followed the desires of your heart, you can say, my desire overpowered me. But when you also give it justification, this is already the distortion of the intellect, this is to give some intellectual argument for what you do, so you distorted the intellect to justify your evil. And this corresponds to "ways." Since ways, as we explained earlier, means the evil traits, this refers to his conduct, he distorts his intellect in his conduct. The meaning is, he has conduct that stems from the distortion of the intellect, for the intellect tells him thus, that one must be proud and one must do this and one must do that. This corresponds to "ways." And the abominations are the negative deeds, which corresponds to "doings."
Hashem says, "Not for your sake do I this, says the Lord Hashem, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel." Another thing He says here, as we saw, first, our evil ways, we still remember them, the Malbim explains, for one reason, "and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight," so that we regret them. And a second thing, so that through this it will be known to you that I did not do this for your sake. What will we gain by knowing that this is not for our sake? He says, "be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel." Through this you will be ashamed and confounded. And the shame, the Malbim says, is the inner shame, which is part of the categories of repentance and the atonement of iniquity, as the Sages say, that whoever commits a transgression and is ashamed of it, all his iniquities are forgiven. The matter of shame is part of the matter of atonement. And the difference between "be ashamed" and "be confounded" is that "be ashamed" is when a person is ashamed of himself, and confusion is when a person is confounded when others shame him. So then here we will have "be ashamed and confounded for your ways," that we ourselves will be ashamed and also confounded by others, that we did such evil deeds, and this itself will be a repentance of awakening from our side, to draw close to Him, blessed be He.
"Thus says the Lord Hashem: In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded." In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, Hashem here informs them that after complete repentance and the purification of iniquities, no trace of them will remain at all. So too, no trace will remain of the destruction of the land either. For this depends on that. The meaning is, the moment Israel have iniquities, the land is destroyed, and the moment Israel have no iniquities, then the land is built. This is what He says here, in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. The moment you are cleansed of your iniquities, then the land will return to being built. And then the cities that were abandoned will again return and be built.
"And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by." And the desolate land, "desolate" (neshamah) means a place that is deserted, this is the meaning of desolate, a place that is a wasteland. The land until now was a wasteland, now it will be tilled, it will be sown. And until now we saw that everyone who passed through the land here said, what a land that devours its inhabitants, what a desolate land, what a land that is not fit at all for its king. Until everyone who now sees this will be astonished. "And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fortified, and are inhabited." How can it be that such a land that was desolate, such a land that was a wasteland, suddenly became like the Garden of Eden? Cities that were destroyed and also desolate and also ruined, suddenly one sees them as fortified cities. The Malbim says, note, there is here a duplication, "destroyed" and "desolate." The Malbim says, it is possible for a place to be destroyed but not desolate. People live there. It is destroyed but someone is present in that ruin. He says, this was both destroyed and also desolate. There are ruined and there are destroyed. He says, we also saw "your wastes and your desolate places and the land of your destruction." He says, we see that these are two different expressions. "Desolate" applies also to the entire land, "and I will build the ruined places, and I will plant that which was desolate," which means the entire land is in the category of desolation, whereas the place of ruin is a place that is more broken and more corrupt than a destroyed place.
"Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I Hashem build the ruined places, and plant that which was desolate: I Hashem have spoken it, and I will do it." Hashem will make sure that the nations will know of all that happens here with Israel, and they will understand that "I Hashem build." They will understand that this is not in the way of nature, this is according to the holy spirit. And this was like when Hashem created the world, that the Holy One, blessed be He, said "let there be," He commanded and it stood. So too here, "I Hashem have spoken it, and I will do it." The speech that Hashem spoke to the prophets brought everything to actuality in a miraculous manner, the speech of the Holy One, blessed be He, already brings about things in nature.