00:00 Sefer Yeshayahu, chapter 64. "כִּקְדֹחַ אֵשׁ הֲמָסִים מַיִם תִּבְעֶה אֵשׁ לְהוֹדִיעַ שִׁמְךָ לְצָרֶיךָ מִפָּנֶיךָ גּוֹיִם יִרְגָּזוּ." "As when fire kindles the brushwood, and fire makes water boil, to make Your name known to Your adversaries, so that nations tremble before You." "As when fire kindles the brushwood." Just as fire kindles a substance that melts (הֲמָסִים means melting). "And fire makes water boil." Rashi says that when you place some glowing metal object into water, bubbles begin to form. The water rises up in bubbles. So it is like "water made to boil by fire," all of which You did in Egypt. Hail with fire flaring inside the hail. It comes out, then, that we are coming to recall the past, and this is a continuation of the previous chapter, where we recall: Master of the World, You performed miracles, You brought them out of Egypt, You split the sea for them, fire flaring within the hail, according to this explanation.
The Targum Yonatan says that this recalls the miracle that took place on Mount Carmel through Eliyahu. "As when fire kindles the brushwood" refers to Eliyahu on Mount Carmel, for there it is told that even the water in the trench was licked up. It comes out, then, that the fire kindled there within the water, "fire makes water boil," the fire consumed the water. The Radak explains that הֲמָסִים is from the root מסס, meaning something that melts. Which fire is being spoken of? According to Rashi, we said the fire was in the plague of hail; according to the Yonatan, it is the fire on Mount Carmel; while according to the Radak, it is the fire on Mount Sinai. For the Holy One descended in fire upon Mount Sinai. "As when fire kindles," a fire that burns and blazes, as it is written, "for a fire has kindled in My anger." So, "as when fire kindles." And there was such a fire that made water boil. For we know that Mount Sinai was entirely in smoke, and there was water there. Where did the water come from? We said, "the thick clouds also dripped water." The Radak says, what happens when water comes upon a scorching place? What do we immediately see? Steam, right? We see much steam, it becomes like a place of smoke. So this is what he says, "as when fire kindles the brushwood, and fire makes water boil": as a result of this a cloud of smoke arose, and this is what is written about Mount Sinai, that the mountain was entirely in smoke. From what was it entirely in smoke? From the combination of the fire and the water; by force of this there was smoke.
All this was "to make Your name known to Your adversaries." So that those who do not recognize You would see His awesome deeds, and thereby recognize the greatness of Hashem. All this so that the entire world would submit its will to the service of the blessed Creator. And then he says "so that nations tremble before You." That the nations tremble before You, that the Holy One becomes known in His world, and now the nations understand that all their idolatry is empty and that there is a Creator of the world.
Here the Radak examines a grammatical point: what is "water makes fire boil" (מַיִם תִּבְעֶה אֵשׁ)? Does the water make the fire bubble? It should have said "fire makes water boil." The fire makes the water bubble. So in fact he brings that this is a matter about which there can be no confusion, and therefore nothing is lost if the order is reversed. Therefore they were not particular about which came first and which second. But more simply, as we see in the expression "stones wear away water" (אֲבָנִים שָׁחֲקוּ מַיִם). Do the stones wear away the water? "Stones wear away, [by] water": the stones are worn away by the water. So too here, "water, [made to boil by] fire." The water is made to bubble, made to bubble by whom? By the fire. Yes, so in the end we have arrived at the same result.
The Radak says that one may also explain the entire verse by way of a parable, about the wars that the Holy One waged against the enemies. And You, Master of the World, tore open the heavens and descended, as it is written, "the stars from their courses fought against Sisera." The mountains are a parable for the great ones, the fire as it is written, "and the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime." So You, Master of the World, descended from heaven and fought; therefore, Master of the World, perform miracles for us as You did for them then. The Malbim explains that now the divine spirit of the prophet soars over his earlier words. What he said before, "had You torn open the heavens and descended, the mountains would have flowed down before You," and now he is as though seeing a vision before his eyes: how a consuming fire, a mighty fire, descends from heaven, how the mountains as though flow and water pours out from within them, "as wax melts before the fire." And then all the mountains melt like wax melting before fire. And so this image, how he pictures in his imagination the great mountains spewing fire while their peaks are covered with snow, is now as it were what he sees with his spirit's eye. How the mountain pours out fire and sulfur and hailstones, and the snow and ice kindle, meaning grow hot, melt, turn into water. And when this happens, when the mountains flow down, when the ice melts and streams down, "water makes fire boil," he sees the fire bubbling, like a pot bubbling over the fire beneath it. All this, Master of the World, You would do "to make Your name known to Your adversaries." It comes out, then, that according to the Malbim the entire plea here is a continuation of what he says, "had You torn open the heavens": so, Master of the World, perform now signs, miracles, wonders, make Your name known to Your adversaries. That Your name be revealed in the world, that the world be perfected under the kingdom of the Almighty, that all should know that there is none besides Him. Master of the World, why will You not do so now as well, just as You did in the past, just as You saved the people of Israel from their earlier troubles?
"בַּעֲשׂוֹתְךָ נוֹרָאוֹת לֹא נְקַוֶּה יָרַדְתָּ מִפָּנֶיךָ הָרִים נָזֹלּוּ." "When You did awesome things we did not expect, You descended, the mountains flowed down before You." "When You did awesome things" in Egypt, says Rashi. You executed judgments upon all the enemies. "When You did awesome things we did not expect." What is "we did not expect"? Awesome things for which we did not hope. According to Rashi the meaning is: because we were not worthy of them. When I have merit before You, then I hope for some benefit from You, for some help. I have merits before You, I am in the plus with You. But when I am in the minus with You, then it is hard to say that I hope for any benefit from You. I know that I am not right with You, I know that I owe You, so how could You possibly help me? That is what they say. The prophet says: Master of the World, "when You did awesome things," You did for us then awesome things "we did not expect." Awesome things for which we had no reason to hope. Awesome things for which we had no merits, we were not fitting for them. "You descended, the mountains flowed down before You." And behold the mountains flowed down before You, even though we were not worthy. The Radak explains "when You did awesome things we did not expect" to mean: we did not hope for the great awesome things You would do with us. We did not hope that You would do so much for us, essentially along the same line as Rashi. The Malbim explains further: for You already did this in ancient days, for if You did awesome things for us when we were not worthy, "awesome things we did not expect," all the more so now that You should do awesome things for us when we are already past the receiving of the Torah and we are at a higher level. So when we left Egypt, that was "awesome things we did not expect": these were idol worshippers and those were idol worshippers. There was no hope that You would do awesome things for us. And yet You did. If so, then why now, Master of the World, will You not do awesome things for us as You did in ancient days, at a time when there was no hope at all that You would perform for us any sign or wonder?
"וּמֵעוֹלָם לֹא שָׁמְעוּ לֹא הֶאֱזִינוּ עַיִן לֹא רָאָתָה אֱלֹהִים זוּלָתְךָ יַעֲשֶׂה לִמְחַכֵּה לוֹ." "From of old they have not heard, they have not perceived, no eye has seen a god besides You who acts for one who waits for Him." "From of old they have not heard," says Rashi: they have not heard of awesome things like those You did for us; never from of old was it heard that You did such awesome things for the idol worshippers, for the nations. "From of old they have not heard, they have not perceived." And also "no eye has seen" other gods who did so "for one who waits for Him," as You did for one who waits for You. According to this, "no eye has seen a god besides You" means a god apart from You. We have not seen any other god, a god besides You, another god who did as You did for one who waits for Him. Chazal expound: all the prophets prophesied only concerning the days of the Mashiach, but the World to Come, "no eye has seen a god besides You who acts for one who waits for Him." The meaning of this is that everything we have in the books of prophecy is what is destined to be in the days of the Mashiach. In contrast, what is destined to be in the ultimate future is beyond the grasp and comprehension even of the prophets. And the reason is that words of prophecy can perceive things that are still within the reality of the world. Things that are above and beyond the reality of the world have no perception within it. To what may this be compared? If we wish to explain to a blind man what color is. He cannot understand it, since he has no way in, he has no perception at all of the concept of colors. He asks me, what is white? I tell him, white is like milk. So he says, ah, wet. No, no, it has nothing to do with wet. Like the color of the wall. Ah, hard, like the wall. He cannot grasp what white is; he is blind from birth, so concepts of colors he does not have, it is beyond his world of concepts. So too, when one wishes to explain to a prophet, one cannot explain to him things that are beyond his world of concepts. Thus, consequently, all the prophets who prophesied did so only concerning the days of the Mashiach, because the days of the Mashiach are still within the world of concepts, for one is still speaking of this world. But the World to Come is something that is not grasped or comprehended at all; we do not even have an imagination for it. And consequently "no eye has seen a god besides You." G-d, no eye has seen besides You. Only You have seen. But an eye besides You, G-d, has not seen. What He will do for one who waits for Him.
The Malbim explains that this verse is actually connected back to the previous verse. In the previous verse we saw, "as when fire kindles the brushwood, and fire makes water boil, to make Your name known to Your adversaries, so that nations tremble before You." The Malbim says: You, Master of the World, "when You did awesome things we did not expect, You descended, the mountains flowed down before You." You did awesome things we did not anticipate. Awesome things we did not hope for. Who believed that the Holy One would come and redeem us by the power of ten plagues? Who believed that He would split the sea for us? "When You did awesome things we did not expect." Awesome things such as were never heard of nor perceived. That is to say, we never heard such tales nor listened to anyone describing before us someone who did such miracles, such awesome things. And even "no eye has seen a god besides You." The meaning is: besides You, G-d, no eye has ever seen such awesome things. That is to say, man has not seen such awesome things. Besides You, G-d, none have seen such awesome things. It comes out, then, that these awesome things were wondrous. And let us consider: during the period when Hashem did for us those awesome things, did we anticipate? Did we believe? Did we wait for them? Certainly not. Who knew that the Holy One would do such awesome things for us? And then the argument comes here: if back then, when we did not anticipate, did not believe, did not wait, nevertheless "when You did awesome things we did not expect," upon this comes the argument: if so, a god besides You will act for one who waits for Him. So how many awesome things, then, is it fitting that You should do for one who does wait? For one who does anticipate? If You did such awesome things for those who did not believe in awesome things, for those who did not think such things could be, "awesome things we did not expect," all the more so for one who waits for Him. Only, what we must understand is: why did he say "awesome things we did not expect" (נְקַוֶּה)? He should have said, "no eye has seen a god besides You who acts for one who hopes for Him" (לִמְקַוֶּה). Since you are speaking of "awesome things we did not expect," so we did not hope, all the more so should You do for us today, when we do hope. We know Your ability and Your greatness. Why here is it written "for one who waits" (לִמְחַכֵּה)? The Malbim explains that there is a difference between one who waits (מְחַכֵּה) and one who hopes (מְקַוֶּה). And this distinction is familiar to us also from the Holy Tongue, from the everyday speech we speak. I ask you: tell me, will so-and-so come? Tell me, is the bus supposed to come now? What will I tell you? I hope so. What does that mean? I have no knowledge, I have no idea, I hope it comes. In contrast, if a person is one hundred percent certain that a bus is supposed to come. No, let us not give an example from Egged; let us speak of something truly certain. And he is certain that it is supposed to come. So I ask the person: tell me, you, do you know anything about the bus? He tells you: what, do you not see that I am waiting? "Waiting" means clear knowledge, there is something to wait for. "Hoping": I do not know, maybe they will decide to put out another bus. I hope one comes out. So hoping is always about something concerning which there is no certainty. Waiting, in contrast, comes from prior knowledge that so it will be. Now see how wonderful. The Malbim says: "when You did awesome things we did not expect." For then, when You did the awesome things in Egypt, we did not hope, and all the more so we did not wait; we did not even hope. To hope, what, I hope Hashem will act? Even such a thing did not enter our minds. To wait? Who could even dream of it? To wait truly means: it was promised to us and I am waiting for it? That is a thing that would not even enter one's mind. In contrast, when we speak of ourselves after the experience, here we already come and argue: "He will act for one who waits for Him." Master of the World, after the experience we are now already waiting. If we are waiting, then it is fitting, Master of the World, that You should now do miracles for us.
"פָּגַעְתָּ אֶת שָׂשׂ וְעֹשֵׂה צֶדֶק בִּדְרָכֶיךָ יִזְכְּרוּךָ הֵן אַתָּה קָצַפְתָּ וַנֶּחֱטָא בָּהֶם עוֹלָם וְנִוָּשֵׁעַ." "You met the one who rejoiced and did righteousness, who remembered You in Your ways; behold, You were angry and we sinned; in them is the world forever, and we will be saved." "You met the one who rejoiced and did righteousness." The truth is that this verse is rather obscure. It has several explanations. The first explanation is what Rashi brings: "You met the one who rejoiced and did righteousness." פָּגַעְתָּ is from the language of "and he struck him and he died." The meaning is: Master of the World, You killed, You removed from the world the one who rejoiced and did righteousness. The righteous, the men of faith, have been lost. The righteous, Master of the World, You removed them from the world. What is "rejoiced"? Those who rejoice in Your commandments. Those who do righteousness, meaning they perform charity. Some commentators say פָּגַעְתָּ is from the language of "do not entreat Me," meaning I will not accept a person's plea. It is from the language of "and you, do not entreat Me," where the meaning is do not pray to Me. "Insistently" (בְּמַפְגִּיעַ) is also a language of prayer and request. So according to this explanation, "You met the one who rejoiced and did righteousness" means: You accepted the plea and prayer of the righteous who rejoice to serve You and to do righteousness. And according to both explanations, says the Radak, the essential meaning of the matter is that now we no longer have them. There is no one to entreat on our behalf. Now we are in a state where the pious have vanished from the land; those righteous ones, there is no longer anyone to stand in the breach for us as they did, they are no longer here, and consequently we are now in a state where there is no one to entreat on our behalf. And this is what he says: "who remembered You in Your ways; behold, You were angry and we sinned; in them is the world forever, and we will be saved." You, Master of the World, were angry and we sinned. You are angry with us because we sinned before You. And upon what did we rely? We relied upon them. "In them is the world forever, and we will be saved." We would rely, all the days of the world, upon the righteous of every generation, that they would pray for us, that they would entreat on our behalf. But now, in our exile, the righteous no longer accompany us. You met them, meaning You took them from the world. Or, as we explained, the meaning is that those who entreat, meaning who pray, are no longer in the world, and consequently we are far from salvation. And how did they pray? "Who remembered You in Your ways." What are the ways of the Holy One? The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. "Make known to me now Your ways," these are the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. "Who remembered You in Your ways," how did they arouse the mercy of Heaven? When they would stand, as Moshe Rabbeinu stood in the breach when they made the golden calf: Hashem, slow to anger and abounding in kindness, forgiving iniquity, "please forgive the iniquity of this people." That is to say, the way was through mentioning the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, arousing mercy from above. Arousing that the mercy descend and flow down here below. Thus the mention of the Attributes of Mercy has within it the power and force to bring mercy upon us. So "You met the one who rejoiced and did righteousness, who in Your ways would remember You," they would mention Your ways and arouse mercy. But now You were angry and we sinned. And "we sinned" here is understood: You were angry because we sinned. For it might have been understood: You were angry, and afterwards we sinned. But that is not the plain meaning. You were angry as a result of our having sinned, You were angry. "In them is the world forever, and we will be saved": for we were saved through them with an eternal salvation, and now we do not have this salvation.
The Malbim explains that here he is essentially arguing: for in that manner You acted, Master of the World, as we saw two verses ago, "when You did awesome things we did not expect," and "from of old they have not heard nor perceived; no eye has seen a god besides You." So, Master of the World, when You did such wondrous awesome things, such special miracles, such things that are above and beyond nature, You then "met" in this way someone who rejoiced and did righteousness. What is the meaning of this? The Malbim explains that the meaning is not from the language of killing, "and he struck him and he died," nor from the language of prayer, "do not entreat Me," and so on. Rather the Malbim explains that according to the grammar of the Holy Tongue it is from the language of encountering. That is to say, two who walk and one meets the other, yes? Like "if you encounter your enemy's ox." What is the meaning of "if you encounter"? Not that you struck it, and not that you prayed to it, but rather "if you meet." So according to this, says the Malbim, this is also the meaning here. For if it were understood as killing, it would have to say פָּגַעְתָּ בּוֹ (with the letter bet). It does not say "You met the one who rejoiced" (אֶת שָׂשׂ) in that sense, but rather "You struck at the one who rejoiced" (בְּשָׂשׂ). Killing always comes with the connecting bet. He says here, then, that one cannot explain it as from the language of killing. Rather it is from the language of encountering. Like "lest the pursuers meet you." And so he says: "You met the one who rejoiced and did righteousness." Master of the World, in that manner in which You then walked, when You did miracles, whom do You meet on that path? The righteous one, who rejoices and does righteousness. The meaning of this is: the righteous, when they would see such a thing, on the contrary, they rejoice and are glad, for behold, there is proof that my service is a service of truth. There is proof that the path on which I tread is the right path. And then not only does the righteous one receive confirmation of his deeds when he sees that the Holy One performs miracles and things beyond nature, which strengthens him, but the righteous one can also thereby strengthen others. For he says: behold, see the hand of Hashem, behold, see how the Holy One performs miracles, do you not understand that here the Holy One directs His world? And this is what is written further on, "in Your ways they will remember You." See the miracles, see the ways of Hashem; through this one reminds others, they will remind others to serve the Holy One. In this manner in which You act above the way of nature, You give power to the righteous themselves and strength also to strengthen the community. "In Your ways they will remember You." And also in all their prayers they mention You, that You do great and wondrous things. "Behold, You were angry and we sinned." And even at the time when You were angry, when was that? At the time when we sinned, "in them is the world forever, and we will be saved." What is the meaning? Through these ways we will be saved. The meaning of this is: the righteous, when they would mention the Holy One in prayer, what would they mention? They would mention the miracles that the Holy One performed for us, and through this arouse the mercy of Heaven so that the Holy One would perform further miracles for us. And this mention had within it the power to remove wrath and to atone for iniquity, in the language of the Malbim. As we saw that Moshe Rabbeinu prayed, what was his prayer? "And Egypt will hear that You brought up this people by Your power from among them." As we saw, "and Your cloud stands over them, and in a pillar of cloud You go before them." That is to say, there is benefit in mentioning the miracles of Hashem when one prays. And upon this he comes and says: so "in Your ways they will remember You." The meaning is: when they stand in prayer before You they will remember You, they will also mention these miracles that You did for the people of Israel. And what do these miracles tell? "Behold, You were angry and we sinned." That even though we sinned, and even though it was fitting that You be angry with us, nevertheless "in them is the world forever, and we will be saved." Nevertheless You, Master of the World, saved us from all our troubles. If so, Master of the World, why would You not do miracles for us as You did then? And this is a continuation of the previous verse. "No eye has seen a god besides You who acts for one who waits for Him." Master of the World, He will now act for one who waits for Him. Now that we wait for You, on the contrary, do miracles for us, for through these miracles You as it were meet the righteous, through whom entreaty is made before You and through whom merit is advocated for the people of Israel, bringing them salvation.
And now let us see what our state is today. "וַנְּהִי כַטָּמֵא כֻּלָּנוּ וּכְבֶגֶד עִדִּים כָּל צִדְקֹתֵינוּ וַנָּבֶל כֶּעָלֶה כֻּלָּנוּ וַעֲוֹנֵנוּ כָּרוּחַ יִשָּׂאֻנוּ." "We have all become like an unclean thing, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us off like the wind." "We have all become like an unclean thing." Since the righteous have been taken from us, then whatever spirit of purity was within us has already departed. So what remains? "We have all become like an unclean thing." "And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment." A "filthy garment" (בֶּגֶד עִדִּים) is a repulsive garment, from the language of removal, something one strips off, meaning as they say "it shall not depart from us," meaning it shall not be removed from us; יַעֲדֶה means to remove. A "filthy garment" is a repulsive garment that one seeks some way to remove. The Radak explains that the garment, בֶּגֶד עִדִּים, עִדִּים means soiled. Thus he explains that the meaning of the word עִדִּים is filthy. Like "her sickness soils her" (ספחת עדיה) or "one who is pregnant soils her," meaning that when a woman is pregnant her garments are soiled with blood, that is, when she gives birth. He further explains that there is another interpretation, that the meaning is a garment that is a rag and worn out, called בֶּגֶד עִדִּים. As it is written, "who examines herself with a cloth" (בְּעֵדִים). The meaning is that after relations she checks herself with a cloth, that is what is called an examination cloth (עֵד בְּדִיקָה); this is the source of this expression, from here comes מֵעִדִּים, בֶּגֶד עִדִּים, meaning that it is a rag. Why must it be a rag? Since if it is not laundered and not, but rather new, one cannot perform an examination with it, since it does not absorb the blood well. So then עִדִּים comes to say a garment that is a rag and worn out. And the idea is one idea, says the Radak. The meaning is a garment that is repulsive, a garment that people remove. We have remained in exile like the unclean thing, like a filthy garment, like a garment that everyone desires to remove, to strip off themselves. So too even the righteous deeds we perform, says the Radak, they too are not desired, they too are repulsive in Your eyes. And why? Because when you perform charity truly for the sake of Heaven, your charity is accepted. But when you perform charity only in order to boast or aggrandize yourself or out of rivalry between one man and his neighbor, in order to show, what, he gave like that? I give much more. What is he thinking to himself? That is a repulsive thing in the eyes of Hashem. I recall that once there was a chassid who brought a Rebbe copper candlesticks. He saw that the Rebbe was using tin candlesticks, so he brought him copper ones. The Rebbe rejoiced and thanked him. A week later one of the wealthy men came, who saw this, and when the Rebbe rose and thanked that chassid, his eye was jealous, and he brought golden candlesticks. The Rebbe says to him, what is this? He said to him, Rebbe, is it not written thus, "instead of the copper I will bring gold"? The Rebbe saw this, thanked him, and returned them to him. He said to him, why does the Rav not take them? He said to him, look, it is written that when they would bring the first fruits (bikkurim), then "after the poor follows poverty." The poor would bring them in wicker baskets, and the Kohen would take them and leave the basket upon the altar together with the fruits in it. In contrast, when the wealthy would bring golden baskets, the Kohen would take the basket, pour out the fruits, and return the basket to him. He said to him, look at this poor unfortunate man, he bought a basket for ten shekels, he lost them. The wealthy man indeed brought a basket for 2,000 dollars, but he received it back, so he did not even lose ten shekels. So this is what Chazal say, the poor man, poverty pursues him, "after the poor follows poverty." He said to him, truly, what is the plain meaning of this? Well, there is a well-known interpretation that says the poor man brings things that are worn out, that are inferior; what does he already have? So then when he brings this within a basket, if the Kohen were to expose what is inside, it would be a disgrace to him. So he leaves it in the basket, so that people will not see exactly what is inside. But the wealthy man brings only the best and finest things, the most prestigious, so it can be poured out, it is an honor to the altar that the fruits he brings be seen. Well, but the Rebbe told him a different explanation. Come, let me explain to you. He says to him: the poor man, how does he bring bikkurim? His wife says to him, you know, I saw that there is a fig that has ripened first, there is a pomegranate that has ripened first. Ah, yes? Excellent, wonderful, so we will bring up bikkurim this year, with joy and... wonderful, I will weave a special basket in honor of the mitzvah. Righteous people, they go and actually do it and... Then along comes the wealthy man; his assistant comes to him. You know we need to... bikkurim, there is the mitzvah of bikkurim. Once again the tithes have gotten smaller, the Kohen was also here not long ago, and Rosh Yeshivah so-and-so also came to ask for donations. Come now, listen, this story never ends. Fine, you know what, all right, prepare bikkurim, what can I tell you. But listen, listen, I want to tell you something. Bring a proper basket. I want something like this, made of gold. Last year the Zalmans brought such a basket, made an impression, he strutted about like a peacock; I will show him a thing or two. You bring a basket, make everyone's eyes pop. Make a real gold basket, properly. So the Kohen comes, sees the basket, understands where it comes from. He says to him, take it, sir, leave the fruits here. The basket, take it for yourself. The Holy One does not desire gifts of arrogance, does not desire donations that have haughtiness in them; Hashem does not want it. Take it back. But the poor man, his basket is a basket of mitzvah, a basket of holiness, a basket of purity. It is a basket made out of love of Hashem. It is a basket made out of a desire to give satisfaction to his Maker. It is a basket made out of the joy of a mitzvah. It is a holy basket. It is a basket fitting to be upon the altar. It is a basket fitting to be placed before Hashem. It is a basket fitting to be placed before the Potter, who can make of it whatever He wishes. So if so, Master of the World, why would You not change our heart for the good? Why would You not do miracles for us that would bring us to a recognition of His blessed G-dliness? "For are we not all the work of Your hands?" The meaning of this is: a person who created something, it is very hard for him to see how that thing is ruined. The Holy One takes Shmuel before his time so that he will not see the work of his hands, the kingdom of Shaul, being nullified in his lifetime. It is very hard for a person to see something in which he invested, to see how that thing dissolves, how that thing goes to ruin. So, Master of the World, is it not hard for You to see what is happening to Your people Israel, "the people I formed for Myself"? "We are all the work of Your hands," is it not hard to see the work of Your hands suffering?
"אַל תִּקְצֹף יְהוָה עַד מְאֹד וְאַל לָעַד תִּזְכֹּר עָוֹן הֵן הַבֶּט נָא עַמְּךָ כֻלָּנוּ." "Do not be angry, Hashem, exceedingly, and do not remember iniquity forever; behold, look, we pray, we are all Your people." "Do not be angry, Hashem, exceedingly," that the wrath, the anger, should not be great in its intensity. That is to say, let there not be great wrath, for great wrath, Hashem have mercy, is also great harm. A further matter: it may be that the wrath is not great, but the trouble is that it lasts a long time. And this itself is very burdensome. This is the second request, "and do not remember iniquity forever." That is to say, even if it is not great, it may be that if it is forever, then consequently we may be consumed by that very wrath. The plague of blood was not so severe, but if it were to continue for two months and four months and a year and two years, all of Egypt would die. That is to say, it may be that the punishment itself is not truly terrible, but its length magnifies it many times over. So, "do not remember iniquity forever." "Behold, look, we pray, we are all Your people." Master of the World, look that we are Your people, we anticipate You, we believe in You. And that we strayed from the path, that we did not do Your will, we are not so much to blame for it.
"עָרֵי קָדְשְׁךָ הָיוּ מִדְבָּר צִיּוֹן מִדְבָּר הָיָתָה יְרוּשָׁלִַם שְׁמָמָה." "Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation." For "Your holy cities have become a wilderness." The essence of holiness is in the Land of Israel. The Land of Israel is the place prepared for the providence of Hashem. The Land of Israel is holier than all lands, as the Mishnah says in the first chapter of Tractate Keilim. "Zion has become a wilderness." Zion is the place where the Sanhedrin sit, from there Torah goes forth. So "Zion has become a wilderness," it became desolate like a wilderness. Jerusalem, where the prophets were, it too is desolate.
"בֵּית קָדְשֵׁנוּ וְתִפְאַרְתֵּנוּ אֲשֶׁר הִלְלוּךָ אֲבֹתֵינוּ הָיָה לִשְׂרֵפַת אֵשׁ וְכָל מַחֲמַדֵּינוּ הָיָה לְחָרְבָּה." "Our holy and glorious House, where our fathers praised You, has become a burning of fire, and all our precious things have become a ruin." "Our holy House," our fathers praised You in our holy House, and this House in which we praised Hashem became a burning of fire twice. The First Temple and the Second Temple, and it has not been rebuilt since. "And all our precious things," behold, this is the Beit HaMikdash, "has become a ruin," destroyed now for many years. The Malbim explains: "Our holy and glorious House, where our fathers praised You." There our fathers learned the fear of Hashem, there they learned the love of Hashem, as it is written, "so that you may learn to fear Hashem your G-d," when they would come up for the festival. A place from which one draws the fear of Heaven, a place from which they would draw the holy spirit, the Simchat Beit HaSho'evah. A place where they would be elevated in holiness. And if so, these places became a burning of fire. Here is an answer to what we said earlier, Master of the World, "do not remember iniquity forever." And why? Because we are not to blame for this. For behold, "Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation, and our holy and glorious House has become a burning of fire." So the place from which one draws holiness and purity is no more. So what wonder is it that we descended ten rungs backward? Through this we became lax in the observance of the commandments, in the observance of the Torah. If this, Master of the World, You will restore to us, then You will see how our state will improve, then You will see how we will return and be elevated spiritually.
"הַעַל אֵלֶּה תִתְאַפַּק יְהוָה תֶּחֱשֶׁה וּתְעַנֵּנוּ עַד מְאֹד." "Will You restrain Yourself over these things, Hashem, will You be silent and afflict us exceedingly?" "Will You restrain Yourself over these things, Hashem." For through this we are far from the salvation of the soul, for the salvation of the soul depends upon holiness, upon purity, upon the fulfillment of the commandments. And when we do not have our holy House, there is no Sanhedrin, there are no Kohanim in their service, no Levi'im on their platform with their song and their music, we do not have any of this. From where shall we draw the holy spirit? From where shall we draw the service of Hashem? So, Master of the World, do not look upon our troubles and restrain Yourself. Do not look upon our troubles and take no action whatsoever to save us. "Will You restrain Yourself over these things, Hashem, will You be silent" (תֶּחֱשֶׁה), meaning Master of the World You are silent, תֶּחֱשֶׁה meaning You do not respond, You are silent. "And afflict us exceedingly." Through this You afflict us with affliction upon affliction, "and afflict us exceedingly." This is the plain explanation, so the Radak explains. But in contrast the Malbim has here a very novel explanation. The Malbim explains "and תְעַנֵּנוּ exceedingly": the Malbim says this is not from the language of affliction, but from the language of "rise up, O well, sing (עֱנוּ) to it." From the language of answering. From the language of "and he answered" (וַיַּעַן). "Will You restrain Yourself over these things, Hashem, will You be silent and answer us exceedingly." "And answer us exceedingly" means that by Hashem's being silent, by this He answers us an answer that is "exceedingly." The meaning: an answer that is exceedingly sufficient. Through the silence, the silence is in fact the answer, an answer that is exceedingly sufficient. And the Malbim says here that the prophet as it were interrupts his eloquence; the strings of the harp of eloquence fell silent until now, the great storm returned to stillness in the spirit of the eloquent one, and the answer will already be in the next chapter. As it were, the Malbim explains that the eloquent prophet spoke thus with immense emotion until as though his strength was spent, and the answer the Holy One will already give in chapter 65.