And then, rejoice with Yerushalayim and be glad in her, all who love her. Be joyful with her, all who mourned for her. Corresponding to the voice from the Heichal we spoke about, a voice came forth from the Heichal telling them to rejoice with Yerushalayim, to be glad in her, all who love her. Notice, there is here "rejoice," there is "be glad," and there is "joy." What is the difference between the three? The Malbim says that simchah (rejoicing) and gil (gladness) indicate an inner joy. They indicate a joy that is in the heart. Simchah indicates only inner joy, but constant. One is joyful in a static way, always. Gil, by contrast, also indicates inner joy, but renewed. Some good tidings, so you have gil. It is something inside, but something that in one moment has been renewed. Simchah, by contrast, is from within, but it is a fixed joy. One is joyful constantly, not over some sudden joy that came to him through some good news, but a constant joy. Sason (joy), by contrast, indicates external things. This person is joyful (sas). When you say sas, it is something you see on him from the outside, his whole face, he dances, you see that he is joyful. So if simchah and gil are internal, simchah being fixed and gil being renewed, sason is entirely external. The Malbim says that regarding this He tells them that the lovers of Yerushalayim will rejoice in her. Regarding this He says, rejoice with Yerushalayim, all who love her. Who are these? Those who love Yerushalayim will have a constant joy. And also be glad in her. What is "be glad in her"? From time to time. Each time they will have new gladness, since each time new miracles will be renewed at every moment, so there will also be gladness here, as we explained that gilah is something renewed. And sason indicates the external joy. Regarding this He says, be joyful with her, all who mourned for her. Why? Because those who mourned for her made an external sign of grief. He wore sackcloth, he sat on the ground on Tishah beAv, he mourned for Yerushalayim. The mourning for Yerushalayim had external elements. Sitting on the ground, there were signs on him that he was mourning for Yerushalayim. From the seventeenth of Tammuz he does not shave, according to the Sefaradim from the week in which it falls, and so on. All these are external markers. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: those who mourned for Yerushalayim will merit to be joyful with her a great joy. That is, afterward they will merit to have such a great joy that it will be visible on the outside. As we explained, that masos is seen when a person is externally joyful, one sees him joyful and exulting. He tells you: those who mourned for her will not merely rejoice an inner joy and be glad an inner gladness, but be joyful with her, all who mourned for her. Just as you performed the mourning in an external and evident way, so too the joy will be evident upon you also in its externality. And this is measure for measure, oil of joy in place of mourning. As we saw above in chapter 61, that the matter will find expression also in its external aspect.
"So that you may nurse and be satisfied from the breast of her consolations, so that you may draw out and delight from the abundance of her glory." So that you may nurse and be satisfied from the breast of her consolations. "The breast of her consolations" is from the language of breasts (shadayim), as this expresses abundance. Therefore He does speak of nursing, when the intent is really nursing like an infant nursing from his mother's breasts. And you will nurse and be satisfied from the breast of her consolations, so that you may draw out and delight from the ziz of her glory. What is the ziz of her glory? Rashi explains: from the great honor moving and drawing near to come to her. "The ziz of her glory," according to Rashi, is from the language of movement. The honor is now moving and drawing near to come. So you will enjoy the ziz of her glory, the honor that is drawing near and arriving. The Radak, by contrast, explains that what is written "ziz of her glory" means like ziv (radiance). The vav and the zayin, as it were, interchange. As Targum Yonatan renders it: the delight of her preciousness. The meaning is chemed, something like ziv, something that a person desires. You mourned for Yerushalayim, and you will nurse and be satisfied from the breast of her consolations. This is the reward corresponding to the mourning you mourned. And you will be satisfied from the breast, the Radak too explains this is like "and you shall nurse the breast of kings," and this is like a breast. Here too the meaning is an analogy for delight, that just as the infant nurses, so too, as it were, Israel will delight in the future tidings, in the future abundance.
The Malbim, by contrast, says that here He compares them to children on their mothers' laps. At first they will nurse and be satisfied from the breast of consolations, and afterward they will merely draw out to delight. What does this mean? Perhaps we can offer an analogy. It is like an infant, whom we often see nursing from his mother, and afterward they bring him a pacifier. Why? It is more of an indulgence, right? Does he now get anything out of it? No, but you see that he delights in it. That is, or if we want to give an example from the world of adults, we would say an adult has his main meal, ask him if he is full, he will tell you yes. But what are they serving now? Ice cream. What is ice cream? Ice cream is an indulgence. You know that Rabbi Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz did not eat ice cream all his days, except once. When he was ten or something like that, once they brought him ice cream, he tasted it, and he said it is too delicious. This is pleasures and cravings. From then on he never ate ice cream all his days. Well, ice cream is delights, ice cream is pleasures. So too there is the main course, and afterward there is what is called the extra that is only for delight. What is the ziz of her glory? The ziz of her glory, the Malbim explains, and this is already a third interpretation, means a cake of honey. Like some small honey cakes that are served just like that for the delight at the end of the meal. And then He says: behold, see, there was the breast of consolations, which as we said is like the main course, and afterward you will have also the ziz of her glory. After the redemption you will have not only something you nurse, which is the main course, but some small sweet that will be at the very end just to draw out. To draw out means like to suck, some small thing, some candy served to you at the end. So He tells you, as it were, come and see that the abundance that the Holy One, blessed be He, will give will be a perfect abundance. There will be a main course, there will be a dessert, you will have the breast of her consolations, which is "and you will be satisfied," which is what the infant eats from the breast, that is for satiety. And afterward you will draw out. "You will draw out" means what a person sucks, taking the abundance of delight and pleasure, and you will delight from the ziz of her glory. This will already be for delight, as if to tell you that they will lack nothing in that infinite spiritual pleasure that the Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future give us.
"For thus said Hashem: Behold, I extend to her peace like a river, and the honor of nations like an overflowing stream, and you shall nurse; you shall be carried on the side and dandled on the knees." Thus said Hashem: Behold, I extend to her peace like a river. Behold, I extend to her peace like a river means the peace, the redemption, the rest from enemies, will be like a river. A river flows gently. It goes and increases, goes and increases, goes and increases: the peace, the redemption, the rest, flows gently. And this comes to say, this is an analogy for what we saw, the breast of consolations, that they will have consolation from all the troubles they had. With this they will, as it were, satisfy their hunger. We are hungry, for so many years, for quiet, hungry for tranquility, hungry for rest. We are far from this, right? Whoever wrote it already wrote that we have a fixed ritual of a war every two years. Each time they call it a different operation. Someone already asked: after so many operations, every ordinary store has a clearance sale. So has the time not come, after another operation, operation, Tzuk Eitan, this operation, that operation, after operations they hold a clearance sale? You see that operations are not working. Well, why not just hold a clearance sale already and be done? So in practice we are in a reality in which we are hungry for quiet, hungry for tranquility, hungry for peace. Beyond that, we are hungry for closeness to Hashem, because we are in distance from Him, may He be blessed. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: you will have the breast of consolations that will console you from all the previous troubles. With this you will satisfy your hunger. And in addition to this, behold, I extend to her the honor of nations like an overflowing stream. Like the stream that sweeps away everything in its path, so too the honor of nations. The wealth of the nations, the honor of the gentiles, will arrive here. And this is like what happened when you left Egypt. After all we suffered from Pharaoh and we left the exile, Pharaoh took care to bring all the silver and gold to us at the Yam Suf, so that we would not have to trouble ourselves. So that we would not need to return to Egypt to bring it. He told them: no, I will haul it. I have wagons, I have chariots, do not worry, I will bring you everything, you will receive it here, just gather it. You will have it like the sand upon the seashore. And then in the plunder of the sea it reached us; the sea cast it all up. So too He says: behold, the honor of nations like an overflowing stream. The wealth of the gentiles, the honor of the gentiles, will be like an overflowing stream and it will come to us. So all this will come to Yerushalayim. And this is the ziz of her glory, as the Malbim says, this is only for delight. Since the essence of what we are seeking, what are we really hungry for? For the earth to be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea. We await quiet, peace, and tranquility. We await that the Holy One, blessed be He, will be our King and our Head. So it turns out that the silver and gold are only the sweets. This is the ziz of her glory. And regarding this He says, like an overflowing stream, the honor of the gentiles will come here.
And you shall nurse; you shall be carried on the side. After He compared them to a nursing infant, He compares them to being carried like an infant carried on the side. As it were, the infant finds it hard to walk, so they lead him along, they carry him, and he thus goes at the mother's side. Or there is another possibility, that they carry him on the side, when the mother carries the infant, she carries him on her side, right? On her right side, holding him with her hand. So that too could be what is written, "you shall be carried on the side." As it were, they will lift and carry you; even if you cannot walk on your own, so too they will bring you out of the exile. And this parallels what we saw with the breast of her consolations and with peace like a river, that behold, you will come along gently, they will bring you. And one can say that perhaps the reality today of flying and airplanes is "you shall be carried on the side." As it were, once you had to walk, with donkeys, walking on foot. Ask people who came from Iran, what it is to flee from Iran, which was truly enormous self-sacrifice. Ask people who came from Yemen, they will tell you how many children they left along the way, Hashem save us, those who tried to walk on foot. Ask those who came from Ethiopia, they will tell you what large families they set out with and with how many they arrived. I am not talking about those who came on airplanes. So it turns out, then, that "and you shall nurse; you shall be carried on the side," He says you will see that you are as though carried on the side, as if someone will carry you and bring you on the wings of eagles. That was in fact the name given to the immigration from Yemen, they called it "On the Wings of Eagles," since this comes to express this matter, that the coming here was a coming with ease. Within a few hours you are here. Only the prophet does not describe things of which the people have no conception, so he describes it in such language that the people can grasp and understand. He tells them: like someone who lifts you and brings you. What do we understand today? An airplane, it lifts you there, brings you here. That is "you shall be carried on the side." And dandled on the knees. What is "dandled on the knees"? Since He compared us to an infant, the infant is a child of dandling; how is the delight of the father or the mother in playing with him? They put him on their knees and dandle him. This corresponds to the ziz of her glory, and to the honor of nations like an overflowing stream. This is an aspect of dandling, like the ziz we explained is the honey cake, the sweet at the end, which is an aspect of delight. So "dandled on the knees" will be like an aspect of love and dandling, what you will receive afterward from the wealth and honor of the gentiles.
"As a man whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you, and in Yerushalayim you shall be comforted." As a man whom his mother comforts, like a man whose mother comforts him over the troubles that befell him. And why specifically his mother? The Radak says, because a woman coaxes with words more than a man. The Gemara says that in the Torah's command about honoring father and mother it says "Honor your father and your mother," placing the father before the mother. By contrast, regarding fear it says "A man shall fear his mother and his father," placing the fear of her before the fear of him: a man shall fear his mother and his father. What is the reason? The Gemara says that a son is more inclined to honor his mother. Why? Because the mother coaxes him with words. The mother knows how to speak to the son's heart, so he honors her. But the father he fears more. The father is less skilled at coaxing with words, but the father knows, if need be, how to give a slap. So the child fears the father more and honors the mother more. Therefore "Honor your father," honor also the father, not only the mother. And "A man shall fear his mother and his father," fear also the mother, do not fear only the father. It turns out, in any case, that we have learned that a woman coaxes with words. So this too is what He says here, "as a man whom his mother comforts," that the mother coaxes more with words, she is more soothing, more speaks to his heart, "so I will comfort you, and in Yerushalayim you shall be comforted." Through this you will have consolation in Yerushalayim. The Malbim explains that "as a man whom his mother comforts" means like a man who mourns for his mother. Why does he mourn? Because he thought his mother had passed away. His mother was far away, in another place, in another country, and he was certain she was dead. As is known in many cases of people who returned from the Holocaust and did not find their relatives, and in many cases were certain their father had passed away, their mother had passed away. And suddenly they discover them somewhere. Whoever remembers, years ago there was a section for searching for relatives. People who did not know what became of them, where they were, and suddenly he discovers the person is alive. And behold, suddenly his mother who lives, she suddenly returns to him. And then she comforts him over all the grief he had until now. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: so I will comfort you. For over what did you mourn? Over the exile of the Shechinah, over the Shechinah that is not with us and has gone out of her home, over this you mourn. This is the aspect of "I mourn over her," which is the aspect of the holy Shechinah, the aspect of Malchut. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: when the holy Shechinah returns, she will comfort you. I will comfort you. That is, it is over Me that you mourned, so I am the Comforter. And in Yerushalayim, for you also mourned over Yerushalayim, there you shall be comforted. The very things over which you mourned will themselves comfort you. Right? This is what we say when comforting mourners. We comfort the mourners that the Holy One, blessed be He, will comfort them with the building of Yerushalayim. That is, when there will be great joy of the building of Yerushalayim, then automatically all the mourning and all the grief and all that we went through in all the years of exile, all of it will be forgotten. And this is what He says: I will comfort you, and in Yerushalayim you shall be comforted. And this corresponds to what we saw, "Comfort, comfort My people, says your God." The Holy One, blessed be He, will speak to us words of consolation, that these consolations will cause us to forget all the troubles that passed, and then there will be only an aspect of abundance and good that the Holy One, blessed be He, will bestow upon us corresponding to all the years, the years we saw evil.
"You shall see and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like grass, and the hand of Hashem shall be known to His servants, and He shall rage against His enemies." You shall see and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like grass. Since when do bones flourish like grass? Rather, we have seen that there is a concept of "a broken spirit dries the bones." When a person is in depression, then a broken spirit, the spirit that is thus depressed, causes a drying up of the bones. So in the analogy, when He wants to say that you will not be of broken spirit but on the contrary, in joy and gladness, He says the bones not only will not dry up, but will flourish like grass. And the hand of Hashem shall be known to His servants means the hand of Hashem will be with His servants for good, and with His enemies for evil, and He shall rage against His enemies. The Malbim explains: until now you believed with hope in what the prophecies destined for you, but you did not see it with your eyes. Now you will see it also with your eyes. You shall see and your heart shall rejoice. This is a redemption that you see with your eyes. And therefore your heart shall rejoice. Through this you will have joy. And as we explained several times according to the Malbim, that simchah is internal and sason is when it bursts forth and comes out. And this joy will spread from the heart to the external limbs, until the dry bones flourish like grass. And then the hand of Hashem shall be known to His servants. Until now the Holy One, blessed be He, did not pay reward to the righteous, did not punish the wicked, and as a result the deniers multiplied, as a result the idol worshippers multiplied, since they did not see the hand of Hashem in a revealed manner. But we are finished: the world in its current format, which is a world of trial, has ended, and on the contrary, now the world of reward already begins. And therefore, through this, the hand of Hashem shall be known to His servants. Now they will see in a revealed and clear manner the hand of Hashem, how He bestows good upon His servants. And on the other hand, and He shall rage against His enemies. How the Holy One, blessed be He, rages and is angry at those who break His covenant.
"For behold, Hashem will come in fire, and His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger in fury and His rebuke in flames of fire." For behold, Hashem will come in fire. As is written in the prophecy of Yechezkel, "Fire and brimstone I will rain upon him and upon his hordes." And there they speak of the war of Gog and Magog. And regarding this too He speaks here: the hand of Hashem will be in fire. And His chariots like a whirlwind. The decrees that come down from Heaven, the Radak says, will be like a whirlwind. The meaning is with great force, with great intensity. For the Radak explains that af (anger) is anger, and cheimah (fury) is great anger, it is intense anger. Therefore He says, "to render His anger in fury." For the fury is greater than the anger. For af is anger, and cheimah is when the matter heats up more and then the anger is greater. As Yonatan renders: to strike in the strength of His wrath. There is wrath, and there is "in the strength of His wrath," meaning a far stronger wrath, which is in the category of cheimah. And what is written here, "Behold, Hashem will come in fire to render His anger in fury," the Radak brings an interpretation in the name of his father, that "to render" (lehashiv) could possibly mean like to bring. But the Radak explains in the name of his father that "lehashiv," and so too the Malbim explains, is from the language of "sparks of fire" (shevivei eish). To render His anger in fury, there will be sparks of fire of fury, which will express His anger. The Malbim explains: corresponding to what we saw that Hashem pays reward to His enemies, behold, now He will show you how the Holy One, blessed be He, takes vengeance on His enemies. Hashem will pay the wicked with fire. And since fire, as is known, the way it spreads quickly is by means of a stormy wind, we all remember, may trouble not arise twice, the Carmel disaster. Within a few minutes they were surrounded by fire, something no one imagined or believed. But there were such terrible winds that within a few minutes everything around them was burning. And as a result there was the terrible disaster. So in practice the whirlwind and the storm in one moment transfer the fire from place to place, kindling many places. So He tells you: come, see, it is not like now, that when the Holy One, blessed be He, brings punishment upon a person, He delays the punishment for him, He is long-suffering yet collects His due, He defers it for him until after death, and then punishment and the punishment of Gehinnom. Here we see that things operate with a delay, with postponement. He says: but then it will not be so. Then it will come like a whirlwind. That is, this fire will come like a whirlwind, like a whirlwind that scatters the fire, so too the retribution will be swift. And His chariots like a whirlwind, it will be like a chariot that runs and gallops swiftly, so too the fire will blaze up through the immense wind. To render His anger in fury. The Malbim, as is known, explains that the difference between cheimah and af is that af is external and cheimah is internal. On this basis the Malbim has a wonderful explanation, and whoever wishes may hear it on the disc on Megillat Esther, of what it means that the king was angry and his fury burned within him. What is "his fury burned within him"? He has there a truly wonderful explanation. But briefly, in our context, cheimah is something internal, so when it says "and his fury burned," it is "within him." What is "within him"? "Within him" means inside. The fury burns inside. By contrast, eish (fire) is something visible. "A fire is kindled in my nostril (af)." One sees smoke coming out of the nose. This means external anger that is evident. So regarding this He says, to render His anger in fury. The fury is the internal anger, the af is the punishment. The Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, blows and fans His af, that is, the external anger, with fury, by means of the internal fury. So the af, which is external, if something internal calms it, then the anger subsides. But if there is external anger and the internal fury still inflames it, is there any chance it will subside? On the contrary, it goes and blazes more, goes and develops more. Regarding this He says, to render sparks of fire in the fury of His anger. The meaning is: the fury will go and blaze and it will further ignite the af. And His rebuke in flames of fire. And accordingly the rebuke with which the Holy One, blessed be He, will rebuke the wicked, the nations, will be in flames of fire, a mighty fire, a fire that blazes up.
"For with fire Hashem will contend, and with His sword against all flesh, and the slain of Hashem shall be many." For with fire Hashem will contend (nishpat). What does nishpat mean? It should have said "He judges" (shofet). So Rashi says that nishpat means like He comes to judgment with him. As it were, He is judged together with him. Like "and I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence," and with hailstones, "behold, I contend (nishpat) with you." The meaning is: He argues with him, He stands with him in judgment. The Malbim explains: in the war of Gog and Magog it is explained in Yechezkel that at first there will be the sword of each man against his brother, and afterward the Holy One, blessed be He, will rain upon them fire and hailstones from the heavens. The fire is the judgment of Hashem. It is a heavenly punishment. For with fire Hashem will contend. And with His sword against all flesh.
No, what does "with the sword" mean? It does not say "for with the sword Hashem will contend," for with the sword your fellow will kill you. With the sword there will be the sword of each man against his brother, and therefore it does not say "with the sword Hashem will contend," but "with the sword against all flesh." All flesh will kill one another, when we will not need to act against them, but they will announce, all these were slain by the fire of our forces. Yes, they will kill one another; there will be no need for a situation in which the Holy One, blessed be He, takes vengeance on them, but they will yet take vengeance on themselves. But the fire is a heavenly punishment, and therefore "with fire Hashem will contend," this will be from Him, may He be blessed.
"Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves toward the gardens, after one in the midst, eaters of pig's flesh and the abomination and the mouse, together they shall be consumed, says Hashem." Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves toward the gardens. What does "sanctify themselves" mean? What are they doing? Rashi says "sanctify themselves" means they make themselves ready. We know that a kedeishah means one prepared, prepared for harlotry. In distinction, a kadosh is a person who prepares himself for the service of Hashem. That is always the expression of the root kuf-dalet-shin; it can be for the negative, it can be for the positive. So too here they "sanctify themselves," meaning they prepare themselves. You come: tomorrow we will go to that idol, tomorrow we will go to a certain Asherah, and so on in this manner.
What is "those who purify themselves"? "Those who purify themselves" is also the same idea, meaning they purify themselves for the sake of their idolatry. What is "toward the gardens"? Rashi explains that they would sow vegetables in the gardens, and there in those places they would set up idolatry. They would place their idols in the gardens. This is also the reason that Navot the Yizreeli, for whoever remembers what we explained then, and whoever wishes may hear it on the disc on Sefer Melachim, there we explained that Navot the Yizreeli was in no way willing to give the vineyard to Achav. And the reason is that he knew Achav wanted this vineyard for idolatry. Therefore he said, "Far be it from me to give the inheritance of my fathers to you," the inheritance of my fathers that is holy, shall I give it to you so that you make idolatry there? And behold, you see that it was their way in the gardens, there in those pleasant places, they would place their idols. So this is "those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves toward the gardens," the vegetable gardens, to set up the idol there.
After one in the midst. What is "after one"? There are several interpretations of this. Rashi follows the interpretation of Targum Yonatan: group after group. That is the meaning of "after one in the midst." As it were, one after another. That is "after one in the midst." A group, after its fellow finished its service, immediately the second group. That is the meaning of "after one in the midst." "In the midst" means in the center. They would set up the idol in the center of the garden, and they would worship it one after another, group after group.
The Radak explains that "those who sanctify themselves" means they would perform actions to prepare themselves so that they could worship the idol. And what is the meaning of "sanctify themselves"? The Radak explains an interpretation that the Malbim also follows, that whenever something is written in the reflexive form (mitpael), its meaning is that it is only imaginary and not really so. Like "there is one who makes himself rich (mitasher) yet has nothing." Did he become rich or did he not become rich? It is imaginary, it is imaginary. Whenever something is written in the reflexive form, it means it is not really so, but he only imagines that it is so. "There is one who makes himself poor (mitroshesh) yet has great wealth." He is, as it were, it is imaginary, it appears that he impoverishes himself, but in truth he did not impoverish himself, he has great wealth. Whenever it is written in the reflexive form, it is not really so, but it only appears so. So when it says "those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves," it is not that he actually becomes holy, not that he actually becomes pure, but he only imagines that he is doing these things and that it, as it were, works upon him.
The Radak further says, so too "those who sanctify themselves" show themselves as holy while they are impure. And likewise "those who purify themselves," the Radak says, and these are the Persians, who purify their bodies and wash themselves constantly, while they are impure in their evil deeds and defiled. And behold, they show themselves as pure and they are not. So here too it is by way of "it appears to him." What is "toward the gardens"? The Radak explains that the gardens refer to the pools of water that were in the gardens, where the meaning is the place where they would bathe and sanctify themselves. According to Rashi, "those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves toward the gardens" means that in the gardens there was the idol. According to the Radak, this is the place where they sanctify themselves and purify themselves toward the gardens; in the gardens there were pools, so there they would immerse in order, as it were, to sanctify themselves for the sake of idolatry.
After one in the midst. According to Rashi we explained group after group in order to worship the idol located in the center. But by contrast, the Radak explains that they would go after the great, special pool that was in the midst of the garden. So according to his words this too continues on the matter of those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves. Where? After one, after the one special pool that was in the midst of the garden. And notice, it is written "after one (echad, masculine)" and the reading (keri) is "one (achat, feminine)." According to the Radak, since we are speaking of the pool, he says it applies in the masculine and in the feminine. Because I can speak of a spring, which is the source of the pool, and I can speak of the pool, which is the pool itself. And a spring (maayan) is masculine and a pool (bereichah) is feminine. So I can say "after one (echad)," which is the spring, or "after one (achat)," which is the pool. And therefore there is here a keri and ketiv.
A further explanation the Radak says: some explain "after one in the midst" to mean after one of the Asherot that were in the midst of the garden. And the Radak already writes: and behold, there are no idol worshippers of the Asherah now; perhaps there are some in the ends of the earth. Indeed, already in the Radak's time worshippers of the Asherot were no longer found.
Eaters of pig's flesh and the abomination and the mouse, together they shall be consumed, says Hashem. The Radak says: the abomination and the mouse refer to the Persians, who would eat the abominations (creeping things) and the mice. "The abomination" (sheketz) is a term that includes all kinds of abominations, all kinds of creeping creatures. "The mouse" is specifically the mouse. They would eat this or that. Together they shall be consumed means in the war of Gog and Magog. For all these kingdoms are those that will be at the time of the war of Gog and Magog, where they speak of the vision of the fourth kingdom that was in the visions of Daniel, and they are considered one kingdom, since they will have only one kingdom in the world, therefore it is characterized there by iron and clay. Whoever wishes may hear the disc on Daniel, where we detail exactly the four kingdoms and explain more, according to the Malbim, how these kingdoms find expression in our very times. And here He describes to you that these kingdoms together shall be consumed, they will all perish.
The Malbim says that "those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves," as the Radak explained, means they only appear as sanctifying and purifying themselves. "After one" means after a form of idolatry that they had, which in their view, the Malbim says, was a power that mediated between them and Hashem. That is, "in the midst," according to the Malbim, here receives a new interpretation. According to everyone, "in the midst" is in the center of the garden, either the pool in the center of the garden or the idol in the center of the garden. According to the Malbim, no, it refers back to the idolatry. They sanctify themselves and purify themselves after one of the idols that is from their standpoint only "in the midst." It only mediates between them and Hashem. It only intercedes, and they did not worship this idol as a power in itself.
"And I, their deeds and their thoughts, it is coming to gather all the nations and the tongues, and they shall come and see My glory." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: And I, as it were, what do I have to do? Their deeds and their thoughts come to Me, and this compels Me to gather all the nations and to prove that their deeds are deeds of vanity, and the thoughts they think, as it were, for the sake of the honor of Hashem, this is falsehood. This is not how one serves Hashem. And when will this be, Rashi says? When does the Holy One, blessed be He, gather all the nations? This is what is said in Zechariah, "And I will gather all the nations to Yerushalayim," the war of Gog and Magog. And they shall see My glory; there it is written, "their flesh and their eyes and their tongue shall rot," there will be great miracles in which the glory of Hashem will be evident.
The Radak explains: And I, their deeds and their thoughts, it is coming, I will be with the deeds and with the thoughts of those nations. For behold, now the time has come to gather the nations, and I will bring it about that they will all see the glory of Hashem, all will see that there is no ruler but only the Master of the world. And this will be by force, as is written, "and I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will bring you out and lead you up and bring you." Whoever wishes may hear this in the prophecies we explain in Sefer Zechariah and Sefer Yechezkel; we have not yet released a disc on this, but one can hear it on Kol HaLashon. There we explain these prophecies, that in fact the Holy One, blessed be He, will, as it were, bring them out against their will. Of their own will they will not want to come here, but the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "and I will put hooks in your jaws," like the animal that they pull by hooks, so too "and I will bring you out and lead you up and bring you," all this in order to bring them down here in Yerushalayim. And there it is written, "things will arise in your mind and you will devise an evil plan," the Holy One, blessed be He, says, And I, their deeds and their thoughts, what is written there, "and you will devise an evil plan," all these things came, they came to Me, and I will gather all the nations to Yerushalayim.
The Malbim explains: And I, their deeds and their thoughts, it is coming, the deeds of the masters of this faith and their thoughts and their corrupt, spoiled faith, come to Me. So that through this I will gather them together and then they will recognize the unity of Hashem. For in truth, according to the Malbim, the entire goal of the whole process is "and they shall come and see My glory." So that through this "Hashem alone will be exalted on that day," Hashem will be One and His Name One, and every creature will know that You created it, and every formed thing will understand that You formed it, and all who have breath in their nostrils will say Hashem the God of Israel is King and His kingship rules over all. This is really the purpose. And if so, the gathering of all the nations and the tongues will be for the goal of "and they shall come and see My glory."
"And I will set a sign among them, and I will send from them survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul and Lud, drawers of the bow, Tuval and Yavan, the distant isles that have not heard My fame and have not seen My glory, and they shall declare My glory among the nations." And I will set a sign among them and I will send from them survivors to the nations, and so on. There is a difficulty here, and the difficulty is that after all those who come will die. So how will "I send from them to the nations"? Whom will Hashem send to the nations to inform them of the downfall of the peoples? Therefore Rashi says: survivors are those who escaped from the war. That is "and I will send from them survivors." The survivors are those who will be spared, there will be those who will be saved; I will leave them in order to go and announce to the distant isles My glory, what they saw in the war.
And also regarding those survivors, about them He says, and I will set a sign among them. That is, he will not come clean, whole, without any blemish. I will set a sign among them; these survivors, it will be evident upon them that they escaped from the war. It will be evident upon them that they were harmed. Whoever knows, it is written about the future war, the Gaon of Vilna says it will last twelve seconds. And there it is written that they will stand, their flesh rotting on their skin, and it is written that they will melt. And one can understand such a thing only if we speak of an atomic bomb. For any other means does not reach such a level, and also not in such a short time. And if the Gra writes, long before the atomic bomb, that it will be twelve seconds, that means it certainly refers only to this type of weapon, unless they invent something more advanced. But for now, according to what is known to us, it is the atom. Yes, that is the blow that can truly bring about a decision in twelve seconds. Beyond that, He tells you, those who flee, you understand that if he was here, then he fled with much radioactive radiation. He did not flee healthy and whole. This is "and I will set a sign among them." It will be evident in them that these people fled the battlefield, and it will be evident in them regarding what their fellows were sentenced to. That is, one will see their fellows were sentenced; you see how much I was harmed, so you will understand where my fellows were killed. And this will be in order to inform those far away that in this plague, those who besieged Yerushalayim were smitten by it.
And I will set a sign among them, the Radak says, this is what is written in the prophecy of Zechariah, "and their eyes will rot in their sockets." This is the sign that God will set among them, meaning there will be a sign evident in them. And those who go among the nations will testify about this sign. And I will send from them survivors, and this is what is written, "and it shall be that all who remain of all the nations that came against Yerushalayim shall go up year by year." What do you see from here? That there will be survivors, and there will be those who will afterward come up on pilgrimage. For the Holy One, blessed be He, will leave them with the aim of revealing His glory among the nations, to show those who did not come to Yerushalayim about their flaw and their deficiency, and those who did come to Yerushalayim will come, meaning to prayers, to bow, to offer sacrifices, about their virtue. For it is written that not all of them will come; in Egypt some will remain, it is written, "and they will not come, and upon them there will be no rain," and so on, as we elaborate on those prophecies there when we explain Yechezkel and Zechariah. And these survivors will go throughout all the lands to declare, also among the drawers of the bow. Very interestingly, the Radak says, I do not know on what basis, that the drawers of the bow are the Turks. The Turks. Apparently in their time the Turks apparently had expertise in the use of the bow.
Tuval and Yavan. The Radak says, even though it is written "Gog, prince of Meshech and Tuval," and if so, as we asked, how is it possible that those who came to fight will yet remain? The Radak says: the meaning is that some of the warriors will go, and the declarers will declare to those who remained in the lands. That is, they themselves will indeed fall there, but there will be such declarers, those who convey the reports, who will publicize this in the lands.
And the Malbim explains: what is written here, "and I will send from them survivors," here He speaks of the distant isles. There are distant isles, as it were, that still worship idolatry, those who have not heard My fame, those who have not heard at all that there is such a concept as God. For we know that the spread of religions in the world, we have spoken of it several times, that the Rambam says, as we mentioned also on the disc on the Kuzari, that the Rambam says this is for the purpose of spreading His godliness in the world. And in fact both Christianity and the more upgraded version, which is Islam, that no longer believes in wood and stone but believes only in the Master of the world, both constitute a certain step to reach God. For beforehand they worshipped complete idolatry. Whereas now at least the nations recognize that there is a single God and He is an abstract God and it is Him whom one must serve, so if so there is here already progress. But the Malbim says, but there are those who are still far away. There are those who are still in the distant isles, they are idol worshippers, they have not heard My fame, they do not know of the God of Israel, they also have not seen My glory. So He says, to them, also to them survivors will come and announce to them the existence of Hashem.
"And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to Hashem, on horses and in chariots and in covered wagons and on mules and on swift beasts, to My holy mountain Yerushalayim, says Hashem, as the children of Israel bring the offering in a pure vessel to the House of Hashem." And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations. How will they bring them? As an offering to Hashem, on horses and in chariots and in covered wagons (tzavim) and on mules and on swift beasts (kirkarot), to My holy mountain. Rashi explains: tzavim are covered wagons. Like a tortoise (tzav), whose shell covers it, so here too they are covered wagons. Like the covered wagons (agalot tzav) that were in the wilderness, where the princes brought six covered wagons. So these are wagons covered with a tent. Like the wagons in which they want to depict the first settlers in America, right, so you see a kind of wagon with a large tent-like covering over it, that is how they will come in the future.
And in kirkarot, in song, playing and dancing (mekharkerim). Kirkarot has here several interpretations. What is the expression? Many make use of the source familiar to us with David, that David was leaping and dancing (mekharker). Therefore he explains here that when they will come it will be with song and rejoicing, with kirkarot, with song, playing, they will be leaping and dancing. By contrast, Rashi brings that Menachem explained it from the language of lamb (kar). Like "send a lamb to the ruler of the land," and "and the meadows (karim) are clothed with flocks," right, where the intent is to speak of animals. So too here, send an offering to Hashem on horses, in chariots, in covered wagons and on kirkarot, the meaning is that part of the offering will also be lambs. What is "an offering to Hashem"? As the children of Israel bring the offering in a pure vessel to the House of Hashem. Just as the meal offering is brought in a pure vessel and it is acceptable, so your brothers will bring an offering to Hashem, this thing will be acceptable to you before Hashem.
The Radak explains: what is written here, "and they shall bring all your brothers," He speaks here of the people of Israel. Those who remained in the distant isles, those who did not go up with them, those who were among the nations. When they hear the tremendous wonder that the Holy One, blessed be He, performed against the camp of Gog and Magog, then they themselves will decide to immigrate. They themselves will decide to join their brothers who are in the Land of Israel. And then Israel will bring them on horses, in chariots, as an offering to Hashem, dressed in garments of splendor, riding on horses and in chariots. So too the nations will bring Israel in fine garments, in clean garments, in pure garments. And in tzavim, these are covered wagons (agalot tzav). What are covered wagons? As Rashi explains, and this indeed originates from the Targum. The Targum says "covered wagons" (aglei tzav), "kedimkhafin," meaning covered, wagons that are covered. Or vessels made of wood in which they would carry people upon a beast. As it was their way to place upon elephants, they would make a kind of canopy, and the elephant would carry it. And why is this called mekhafin? According to what the Radak explains, because they would line it inside with fine garments. It was upholstered inside. Therefore it is called kedimkhafin.
And in kirkarot, kirkarot according to the Radak refers to the camels or the beasts that were swift in their movement, and therefore he calls this kirkarot, because the person sitting on it would be jolted about (mekharker). Like dancing; all the time the camel, when it runs, dances. So from their great speed they seem to be dancing. Therefore this is called kirkarot, and this too connects to David dancing (mekharker), where the meaning is dancing. And by the way, also those who say that kirkarot is from the language of a coach (kirkarah) literally, meaning like tzavim, meaning literally a coach, what today we call a coach, this too is according to the same idea. For whoever rides in a coach is entirely jolted, entirely bouncing, since this vehicle jolts about, therefore it is called a coach. And they will come to My holy mountain.
And they shall bring all your brothers as an offering in covered wagons. The Malbim says this will be with tremendous honor, this will be with great speed, this is what is written, on horses and in kirkarot, as they bring the offering. Also the people of Israel who are in the distant isles, the Malbim says, also those who assimilated among the nations, they will not return to Yerushalayim on their own, but they will be brought. They will not return by themselves; they will be brought in purity, as one brings the offering, they will be brought all the way to Yerushalayim, as one brings the offering all the way to the House of Hashem. One should say that what is written here, "covered wagons" (agalot tzav), according to what is described, since they are covered with partitions and a tent, kedimkhafin, so they are called this after the tortoises (tzavim). Since the tortoise goes with its tent always, it goes with its roof, with its house, constantly. So these wagons are called "covered wagons" (agalot tzav) since these wagons carry their covering constantly, their tent over their backs.
"And also from them I will take for the priests, for the Levites, says Hashem." And also from them I will take for the priests and for the Levites. Who are "also from them I will take for the priests and the Levites"? Even from those who were sunk among the nations, the Radak says, even those who were in the distant isles to the point that we did not hear from them at all, also them I will bring and take from them for priests and Levites. The Radak says: and it is possible that they changed somewhat from the religion. That is, from being so deeply sunk among the nations, they no longer observe the commandments properly. They have already changed from the religion. Even so, from them I will take for priests and Levites. Why should this be? The Radak says, because these are families of priesthood and Levitehood. These are families that originally were kohanim, originally were Levites; I will take them to serve before Me, priests and Levites.
And Chazal say there are two interpretations. There is one interpretation, "and also from them I will take," this is one interpretation as we explained, meaning from the people of Israel. But there is another interpretation that says "also from them" refers back to the nations. For He says, they will bring from all the nations an offering to Hashem, "also from them," from whom? From the nations, I will take for priests and Levites. How is it possible to say such a thing? Rather, the Radak says, because there were people who in the past were sold as slaves and were forgotten and became gentiles. And then, as a result, in simple terms, they assimilated among the nations. But the Holy One, blessed be He, knows that they are kohanim, that they are Levites; the Holy One, blessed be He, says, also from them I will take. Also those among them who were of the kohanim and of the Levites originally, also from them I will take. This is somewhat puzzling, since even if we say they assimilated, you are not saying they assimilated yesterday. Unless we indeed say according to this that they assimilated yesterday, and then not necessarily as slaves but even as Reform, as far as I am concerned. But that is to say they assimilated. But if we say it was already several generations ago, then his mother is already a gentile, so it is finished, what good is it that his father is Jewish? He is already in any case a gentile. One cannot say he has the status of a Jew, so it does not apply now to also give him the elevated status of priesthood, especially since he has already been profaned. The truth is that the more acceptable interpretation is what the Radak explains in the name of his father. And my father and master, of blessed memory, explained: "also from them I will take for priests and Levites," for the needs of the priests, to be for them hewers of wood and drawers of water. That is, the gentiles too will come, I will take from them for the priests, for the needs of the priests, for the Levites, for the needs of the Levites. For it is written in the prophecy of Zechariah, "and there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the House of Hashem." That is, Chazal say that the Givonim will no longer serve in the House of Hashem. So who will? From the great ones of the nations will be the servants of the priests. The president of the United States will come here, he will say I, I will draw water for the Beit HaMikdash, I will. They will tell him no, no, you were against us, you will stand aside, you. No, there are better gentiles. Give it to this one. We will take a-Sisi from Egypt, he will draw water. Right? You were against us. Do you understand? In short, the gentiles will come here, begging to come to do labors in order to be hewers of wood and drawers of water for the Beit HaMikdash.
"For as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making stand before Me, says Hashem, so shall your seed and your name stand." For as the new heavens. What are the new heavens? The Radak says: they are called new because they stand in their renewal. And they have not worn out and also will not wear out; thus they will remain. And the new earth means it stands in its renewal. For its generations wear out, the Radak says, but it does not wear out. The soil has remained for six thousand years the same soil, the heavens are the same heavens, they do not wear out and will not wear out. As Shlomo says, "a generation goes and a generation comes, and the earth stands forever." And the reason, the Radak says, is that the One who maintains them and sustains them is the Holy One, blessed be He. And the Holy One, blessed be He, says: just as I maintain them in their renewal, so too shall your seed and your name stand. So that you should not think that perhaps the redemption is in our time, but tomorrow or the day after there will again be exile, perhaps our seed will again go among the nations. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: no, like the heavens that renew themselves, like the earth that renews itself, that all the time renews itself anew in its existence, and the Holy One, blessed be He, holds the heavens and holds the earth and renews them each day continually, so too with you there will be constant renewal and you will stand constantly, and there will be no situation in which the people of Israel dies from its level.
The Malbim explains that this is a continuation of what we saw in the previous chapter, that the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "Behold, I am creating new heavens." What does it mean, new heavens? A new reality in which there is no loss. For today in our reality everything decays. Everything wears out. There is nothing natural that does not undergo destruction. But by contrast, in the future reality, this is new heavens and a new earth, there will be a new nature. And the new nature will be such, a nature that has no destruction in it. For the matter of destruction is in fact an expression of death. So just as there will be no death in the physical reality of human beings, so too there will be no death in the physical reality of inanimate things. And a kind of decay, of rust, of any of these things, is a kind of death. There will be new heavens and a new earth in which there will be no death, there will be no reality of destruction. So just as the new heavens stand before Me, so too the people who will be in that generation, so shall your seed and your name stand. Your seed will not be destroyed by killings, your name will not be destroyed by your changing your religion to the religions of idol worshippers, and then you will in fact remain in existence, both in the happiness of the body and in the happiness of the soul, that is, both physical existence and spiritual existence.
"And it shall be, from new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to bow before Me, says Hashem." And it shall be, from new moon to new moon. From new moon to new moon means like from month to month. And "from" (midei) means that the thing is constant, without interruption. From new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come, meaning all human beings, also from the rest of the peoples, will come in order to bow before Hashem. All flesh, as is written, "and all flesh shall bless His holy Name," which refers to all the nations, meaning all human beings. All of them will come in order to bow and give thanks to Hashem. And this is what is written in the prophecy of Zechariah, "for all who remain of all the nations that came against Yerushalayim shall go up year by year to bow to the King, Hashem of Hosts, and to celebrate the festival of Sukkot." This is what is written here, from new moon to new moon, they will go up to give thanks to Hashem, and from Sabbath to Sabbath.
The Malbim explains: and it shall be, from new moon to new moon, each month and each Sabbath new people will come from the nations, those who worshipped idolatry, they will come before Me in order to cast off the faith, the faith of vanity, and to accept upon themselves the faith of truth. According to the Malbim it turns out that this is a gradual process, for from new moon to new moon more and more and more people will come, month after month and Sabbath after Sabbath, in order to cast off their faith and accept upon themselves the faith in Hashem, may He be blessed.
"And they shall go out and look upon the corpses of the men who rebelled against Me, for their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh." And then they shall go out and look upon the corpses of the men who rebelled against Me. Those gentiles who will come to bow month after month and Sabbath after Sabbath, they will go out beyond Yerushalayim, they will go out to the Valley of Yehoshafat, and there they will see the corpses of what remained of the camp of Gog and Magog. Ah, but this seemingly is difficult, since we know that for seven months they will bury the corpses. And if so, how will "they go out and look"? The Radak says: even though they will bury them for seven months, it is possible that what is written here is within those seven months. Even before they managed to bury them, they will go out and look upon the corpses of the men who rebelled against Me, those who came to rebel against Hashem and came in order to conquer Yerushalayim, in order to fight against the people of Israel, Gog and Magog and his host, will now look upon the corpses of the men who rebelled against Me, whose worm shall not die and whose fire shall not be quenched.
The Radak and likewise the Malbim also explain here that there is a miracle here. And the miracle is: their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched, and worm and fire seemingly do not go together. Therefore he says here there will be a miracle, that the fire consumes them and with all this their worm does not die because of the fire. Rather the worm continues and eats, even though at that same time the fire burns in them. And this fire will consume the men, but it will not consume the worms. And this burning fire does not go out. So there is here, as we said, a miracle within a miracle. And they shall be an abhorrence (deraon) to all flesh. What is "an abhorrence to all flesh"? All those who come to bow, when they see what happens to those who came to rebel against Hashem, to those who came to fight against the people of Hashem, when they see their corpses, worms eating them, fire burning in them, the Radak says, it will rise as a stench in their nostrils. Phew, what a terrible smell. This stench will rise in their nostrils and it will be repulsive to them. And they will walk away from before them; after they saw their judgment, they will not be able to stand there for an hour from the great stench. So says the Radak. And this is what is written, deraon. Deraon is a matter of loathing. It is something a person cannot come near to. They will be an everlasting abhorrence.
But the Radak says another interpretation, that deraon is from the language of worm. As Chazal say, the "dara" and the "kina" in the grain, these are names of worms. So deraon means the worms of deraon will eat them. The Radak brings another interpretation, that "the corpses of the men who rebelled against Me" are not those who came to fight against the people of Israel, we are not speaking here of Gog and Magog, but he brings the exposition of Chazal, that Chazal say this is the day of judgment for the sinners of Israel. And the righteous will go out beyond Yerushalayim to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, and there they will look upon the sinners, meaning at the judgment that will be carried out on the wicked of Israel. Some explain that this will be after the resurrection of the dead, and then the wicked too will awaken. And regarding the wicked, regarding the righteous who will rise, it is written that they will rise to eternal life, and the wicked who rise to everlasting abhorrence. This is what is written here, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh, meaning regarding the wicked who will rise.
There are those who say that "their fire shall not be quenched" refers to the soul, that it will not separate from their carcass. And then this soul, if it separates and ascends to a spiritual world, wonderful. But if not, it burns in the sphere of the sun, in the sphere of fire. That is, there is a situation in which this soul will not receive constant existence, but on the contrary, it will yet be burned and there will be in it an aspect of abhorrence. And deraon, according to how Rashi explains it, is from the language of disgrace. And he explains another explanation, that deraon means dai reiyah (enough seeing). "Until the righteous will say of them: we have seen enough." Until the righteous will say, we have seen enough. So according to this it is deraon, meaning we have seen enough. This would be a combination of two words. And it shall be, from new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to bow before Me, says Hashem. Sefer Yeshayahu is completed and finished. May Hashem help us, that just as we merited to complete Sefer Yeshayahu, so may we merit to learn and to teach, to observe and to do and to fulfill still other books, amen and amen.