"Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: Because you have rejected this word, and you trust in oppression and perverseness, and you lean upon it." Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: the Holy One, blessed be He, whom you reject, speaks thus. "Because you have rejected this word": what is "this word"? This speech, the words of the prophets, the words of the seers. "And you trust in oppression": this refers to matters between one person and another, a man who robs and oppresses his fellow. "And perverseness": perverseness refers to matters between a person and God. What is perverseness? It means straying from the path. Perverse things means things that stray from the path, not straight things. The opposite of the straight path is called perverse, deviating from the straight way. "And you lean upon it": not only do you trust in your heart in oppression and perverseness, but you even lean upon it with all your strength. Sometimes a person commits oppression and perverseness out of no choice, as a way to solve a problem. And there is a person who takes oppression and perverseness and makes them into a system and a way of life. Not out of no choice or as some way to escape distress, no, rather this is the way, this is how it must be, one must rob, one must oppress, one must be perverse from the commandments of God. This is what is meant by "and you lean upon it": you have turned this into a support for yourselves, a way of life.
"Therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant." Therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a falling breach. A wall built upon foundations that are not strong, when it begins to sink, then the wall in fact splits in its middle. On what does this depend? The Malbim says, the stronger the wall and the stronger the thing, so too it is more brittle. And this is reality. Take iron, try to break it. Take iron, try to break it. Can you break it? No. What will you do to it? You will bend it. Take a drill bit, try to break it, you break it. Give it a blow and it snaps. Now I ask you, which is stronger, the drill bit or the iron? Certainly the drill bit. The drill bit was hardened, the iron was not hardened. The drill bit drills through the iron. But this is precisely the point, exactly because the drill bit is strong, it falls and can break. Because of its strength. Anything that becomes strong in fact becomes brittle. Its strength, on one hand gives it strength, on the other hand makes it more breakable. I will give an example from food. There are crisp cookies. Why do you call them crisp? Because they are hard, right? And they crumble. That is, they break faster than if you take a cookie that is not crisp. A biscuit breaks faster than a pita, right? But the pita is soft and the biscuit is hard. Indeed, the harder something is, the faster it breaks. So too he says about the wall. The wall, he brings this with the example of wood, he says a structure of wood will bend and not break. But if it is a structure of concrete, for example, the moment there is some bending, snap, it breaks. So too he says, the wall, when it is a very strong wall, the moment one side leans, what will happen to the wall? It will break, it will split. In contrast, if the wall is not so strong, then the stones will begin to bend and take on some kind of rounded shape, the stones will shift a little, because they are not strong. But if it were strong, pressure at a certain point would cause breaking. Thus the Malbim explains, "therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall." When the wall is high, when the wall is strong, through this a breach falls, the breach of the structure falls, and then a break appears and is revealed in the high wall. Precisely because it is a high wall, precisely for this reason there is a break in it. And then he says there will be here a collapse that will grow from several causes. First, at the time of the fall, he says "whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant." You did not expect it, suddenly the ground sank, suddenly the wall broke. And this is a parable for the break, so to speak, that he wishes to say they will have. That is one thing. The second thing, so to speak the quality of the breaking, as we shall see in the next verse, that there will be break upon break, a breaking that truly means crushing, not only breaking but as though there will not remain of it stone upon stone.
There is here a further explanation of this matter of "a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall." According to the Malbim it means a breach in a wall that fell, and then "a bulge." "Bulge" (nivah) is from the language of, who knows another instance of this word in Tanach? Very good. "How Esav's things are searched out, his hidden treasures revealed (niv'u)." What is "niv'u"? "Niv'u" is a term of revealing. There the Targum renders "niv'u his hidden treasures" as "his concealed things were revealed." The things hidden in his heart were revealed. Where else? Why, what is "mav'eh," does anyone know? A tooth, right. The tooth is called "mav'eh" because it is revealed in the mouth. Therefore it is called "mav'eh." This is according to, yes, "a flowing spring," a term of revealing. This is according to the first interpretation, and this is the first interpretation in Rashi, and it fits the explanation of the Malbim. The Malbim follows this line. But Rashi brings a further interpretation in the name of Dunash, who was one of the grammarians, and also the Radak, who also proceeds in this direction. He explains that the "bulge" is a protrusion. Why, how, what is the connection between "nivah" and a protrusion? He says it is from the language of blisters (av'abu'ot). That is, in the wall, a bulge in the wall, there became a kind of protrusion in the wall, and this through the rains, apparently some swelling formed, some protrusion formed, and this protrusion causes the wall to lose its balance and to fall and break. This is what he says, "therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a wall," through the forming of a large blister in the wall, through this the wall fell, which was a high wall, suddenly, in an instant its breaking comes.
"And its breaking is like the breaking of a potter's vessel, smashed without mercy, so that there is not found among its fragments a shard to take fire from the hearth, or to skim water from a cistern." "Its breaking," this breaking of the wall, as we said, in terms of quality it will be a very severe break, "like the breaking of a potter's vessel." So it will break like the breaking of a potter's vessel. A potter's vessel means the potter (yotzer) is the craftsman who makes clay vessels, he is called a yotzer. After some vessel comes out unsuccessful, he crushes it to dust, why? In order to create from its dust, from its clay, to create a new vessel. He says the crushing will be such a crushing, that among the fragments that were crushed there will not even be found a shard, "there is not found among its fragments a shard to take fire from the hearth." A person who wants to take fire from a place where fire is kindled, he cannot do it with his hands, "can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned?" He cannot do it with his hands, so he takes a shard. He says about the wall, it will not break, it will crumble. There will not even be there a shard with which one could take fire from the hearth, which does not require some huge shard, even a small shard just to take fire, even this will not be. And even a smaller shard, "or to skim water from a cistern." The shard to take fire from the hearth is relatively somewhat large, but to draw water even a still smaller shard suffices. He says even a shard like that, to skim water from a cistern, to lift up from a puddle a little water with that shard, he says even this will not be. That is, the high wall, since its foundations are shaky, what are shaky foundations? As he said earlier about oppression and perverseness and about transgressions between man and his fellow and between man and God, this wall, know that it is a shaky wall, that when it breaks with a great crashing noise, it will break and shatter and return to be truly like dust, until so to speak nothing will remain of it. Thus he wishes to say your reality will also be. You think we are strong, our reality is clear and enduring, he says no, when it breaks it will be sudden, as he said suddenly, in an instant its breaking comes, and it will not merely be a break, it will be a break that crumbles into fine crumbs.
"For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and trust shall be your strength, but you would not." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to you, you do not need to take shelter under the wings of Egypt. For we saw that they went to seek and to request from Egypt help and assistance. God says to them, you shall have salvation in returning and rest. Without any toil, if only you will listen to Me. "In returning and rest" means in composure, in quietness, in trust, you do not need salvation from Egypt. Thus Rashi explains. The Malbim says, we saw above that the Holy One, blessed be He, says that He wishes to establish for us a firm foundation, and you would not. The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to build Jerusalem and to establish it as a firm foundation, from which the kingdom of Israel would develop, but we went to seek all kinds of other nations to rely upon. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, in returning and rest you shall be saved. Your rescue from the enemy will be in one of two ways. Either you will be saved, meaning you will merely be delivered from the enemy. A second possibility is that you will overcome him and also defeat him and strike him. Two possibilities. One possibility, the enemy did not succeed in harming you, but you did not overcome him. A second possibility, that not only did he not succeed in harming you, but you overcame him and struck him a decisive blow. This is what he says to them, "in returning and rest," this indicates rest of the body. You will be at rest, you will do nothing. In contrast, "quietness and trust," says the Malbim, this comes to express rest of the soul, confidence of the heart. Quiet, serene, trusting. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, you have two possibilities. If you wish, "you shall be saved." What is "you shall be saved"? You will be saved from the enemy, delivered from him. What do you need for this? Returning and rest. Rest, do nothing, rejoice in the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will help you. Then you shall be saved. But if you will not be content with salvation, if you want something more than this, not only to be saved, meaning not to be harmed by him, but also to succeed in striking him a decisive blow, He says to them, in quietness and trust shall be your strength. You want to perform an act of heroism, to strike the enemy? Here a higher level is required. Quietness and trust. Quietness and trust as we said is quietness, quietness of soul. You have such perfect trust in the Lord that you also have quietness of soul. I am calm, I have trust, I do not worry, I know that the Holy One, blessed be He, God will fight for you and you shall be silent. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, if you will not be content with returning and rest, meaning only inaction, but you will also have quietness of soul, you will be calm from your great trust in God, this will be your strength. You will not only be saved, but you will also perform an act of heroism and strike the enemies. But He says to them, you did not want to listen. And in any case, "But you said, No, for we will flee upon horses, therefore you shall flee; and, We will ride upon swift steeds, therefore your pursuers shall be swift." You say, what do You propose to us, Master of the world, salvation and rescue from the enemy? Not through returning and rest shall you be saved, but "we will flee upon horses." We will go to Egypt, what did they bring from Egypt? Horses. We will take horses from Egypt and through this we will flee. Through fleeing we will be saved from the enemy. Not in returning and rest shall you be saved, but upon horses we will flee. And the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, "therefore you shall flee." Ah, if that is what you say, you will be forced to flee from the enemy. This will be your punishment. Therefore you shall flee. Your punishment will be that you will have to flee, as you said. The second proposal that was offered, that if you will have quietness and trust, in this will be your strength and you will overcome the enemy. To this what do they claim? What do they claim? "And we will ride upon swift steeds." They say no, we will ride upon swift steeds, meaning we will ride swiftly to pursue the enemy. Not through quietness and trust, we will ride, we will save ourselves and overcome the enemies. He says, ah, that is what you think? Therefore your punishment will be your pursuers shall be swift. Your enemies will be swift, they will become swift ones who pursue you. For so to speak you wanted to ride upon swift steeds, upon swift horses to attack the enemy, so on the contrary, He says know, the enemy will come with swift horses and he will yet strike you, God forbid.
"One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five you shall flee, until you are left like a mast on the top of a mountain, like a banner on a hill." "One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one." A thousand of you will flee at the rebuke of one enemy. That is, one will pursue a thousand. One enemy will pursue a thousand, at the rebuke of one a thousand will flee. And we already spoke in the past that in the terrible and dreadful Holocaust, may such trouble not arise twice, we saw this thing. How can a small youth lead them. You see some German, may his name and memory be erased, walking with some submachine gun, and a thousand people walking after him. One thousand at the rebuke of one. "And at the rebuke of five you shall flee." And if there are five enemies, then all will flee, not only one, but all will flee. Until what remains? "Until you are left like a mast on the top of a mountain, like a banner on a hill." The Malbim explains, the mountain is higher than the hill. The mast is the tall pole that is on the ship, it is seen from afar. The banner (ness) in contrast, the Malbim explains, is not what we are accustomed to think, the pole, but the banner is in fact the flag. The flag that is hung at the top of the mast, this is called the ness. In the language of the Malbim it is called a curtain (vilon). The Sages, who knows why the Sages also call "vilon"? The firmament, but also something else. The sail. The sails of the ship, Rashi in several places mentions that this is the curtain of the ship. The curtain of the ship is called a sail (mifras). So likewise the flag is also called a sail. The mast, says the Malbim, comes to express loneliness. Yes? Lonely at the top there above. It is alone, it is up high, it is lonely. The banner in contrast comes to express a gathering for war. One raises the banner of revolt. What does raising a flag high mean, that all see it, they come and gather after it. Now he says to us thus, if you flee to the tops of the high mountains, to the places where you can be alone, he says you will be alone like a mast. There will be no one with you there, you will be lonely there, you will not be able to survive there. When you wish to descend to the hill, on the hill there it is already a place where one can live, it is a place where there is already a community, there one can survive. He says then you will be like a banner on the hill. Meaning you will be a banner of nations, so to speak raising the banner, as we said the flag that comes to express war, and then all will come to fight with you. In simple words, you have nowhere to flee. If you wish to ascend above, you will find yourselves alone. If you wish to descend below, you will find war before you. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, the enemies will pursue you, at the rebuke of five all of you shall flee.
"And therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He will be exalted to have mercy on you; for the Lord is a God of justice; happy are all who wait for Him." And therefore, since you did not listen to His voice, the Holy One, blessed be He, will not bring the redemption immediately. "The Lord waits to be gracious to you." God will not be gracious to you immediately, but after a long time. And not only will He not be gracious to you out of grace and pardon, as though someone who has grace is worthy of pardon, He says no, but "He will be exalted to have mercy on you." Meaning even though many severe troubles will find you, in which situation naturally the mercy of the beholder is aroused, and then naturally the mercy of God is aroused toward us, to have compassion and mercy on us. He says the Holy One, blessed be He, nevertheless will be exalted to have mercy on you. "He will be exalted" means He will rise to the heights of heaven, He will hide His eyes from you, so to speak so that He will not have to have mercy on you. When you see someone in a difficult situation, then your mercy is aroused. But if you want not to have mercy on him, then you simply do not look at him. The moment you do not look at him, out of sight out of mind, then it no longer arouses your mercy. He says such, so to speak, will be with the Holy One, blessed be He, in relation to us. At first the Lord waits to be gracious to you. You did not hurry, you said we have other options, we will prefer the military option over the spiritual option. The Lord waits to be gracious to you. And not only that, you will say but we are in trouble, God sees our troubles, how does He not have mercy? He says no, He will be exalted to have mercy on you. The Holy One, blessed be He, so to speak abandoned the land, so to speak so that He will not see your trouble, in order that He will not be compelled to have mercy on you. And this is what is written, and this is what happened at the time of the Holocaust. As we mentioned earlier, that people ask where was the Holy One, blessed be He, in the Holocaust? The answer is He was not there. What do you mean He was not there? He was not there, and He announced in advance that He would not be there. The Holy One, blessed be He, said explicitly, the Holy One, blessed be He, said "and I will surely hide My face from them on that day." The Holy One, blessed be He, says if you stray from the path, there will be hiding of the face. And after they stray from the path, ah, hiding of the face, there is no Holy One, blessed be He. He left a note, He said, He said I will not be there. He said I am leaving, I will not be there, there will be no one to have mercy on you. So what does it mean where was the Holy One, blessed be He, in the Holocaust? When He announces in advance that there will be troubles and He announces in advance that He will not be there, and afterward, behold you see, "my God is not in my midst." You see that there is no God. How foolish are those who do not observe that the things are written in advance. And this is what he says here, He will be exalted to have mercy on you. The Holy One, blessed be He, will be exalted to have mercy on you. And if you ask why? He says "for the Lord is a God of justice." There is no possibility of not paying the price for a deed a person does, there is no such thing. The Holy One, blessed be He, is compassionate, His mercies are stirred, but the Lord is a God of justice. So the payment must be. But He says nevertheless, know that in the end there will be salvation. Happy are all who wait for Him. Happy is he who waits and awaits the salvation of God, for after in the end they pay the judgment, they give the reckoning, they are exacted from, happy are all who wait for Him. In the end the redemption will come. But one must know that first they will pay the price. Regarding this that the Holy One, blessed be He, says "I came and there was no man, I called and there was no answer," and the Holy One, blessed be He, comes and gives us such proposals and nevertheless we refuse, He says this will exact a price.
"For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more; He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you." "For a people shall dwell in Zion." He says happy are all who wait for Him, know that the salvation and redemption will come. A people shall dwell in Zion, you indeed are not willing to listen, you are not willing to accept, I propose to you to sit in returning and rest, to do nothing and the Holy One, blessed be He, will save you, you do not want. But the Holy One, blessed be He, says, there will be a people in Zion that will be willing for this. It will not rely on the help of Egypt. And not only in Zion, but "shall dwell in Jerusalem." In Jerusalem means in the whole city. And this people will dwell, it will not flee from the enemies. Which people will this be? The people of Chizkiyahu. That when Ashur comes here, they will trust with perfect trust in the Lord. Not like this father who said we will go to Egypt, they will provide us horses, they will help us, we have an agreement with them, they will assist us. And he already told them clearly that no one is helped by Egypt. Egypt was a promise that was never fulfilled. He says to them no, there will be a people in Zion, that a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem, not only in Zion but in all of Jerusalem. In the whole city, and this people will dwell in rest, it will not flee from the enemies. "You shall weep no more." This people will not need to weep in order to arouse heavenly mercy. "He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry." The Holy One, blessed be He, will be gracious to this people at every cry of yours, meaning only at every cry of the people. Only that they say Master of the world, please save, He will surely be gracious to you. The Holy One, blessed be He, will already grant them grace, be gracious to them, save them. More than this, "when He hears it, He will answer you." Even more than this he says know, the Holy One, blessed be He, will not wait for your cry. Rather it means that the Holy One, blessed be He, so to speak already at the moment you cry He has already anticipated the salvation, in the manner of "before they call I will answer." Until it seems as though the people cry out, so to speak they answer the voice of God. In the ordinary manner I cry out, God answers. He says here God will answer even before you cry. And then it will seem as though the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke first and we answer Him. And this is what he says, "when He hears it," it will seem as though God hears your answer, as though God spoke and we answer Him. When He hears it, He will answer you. Not as though God speaks and we, as though we request and God answers, but as though it begins the reverse, as though God spoke and we answer. Because the answer and response of the Holy One, blessed be He, to save us will be even before our cry.
"And the Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher shall no longer hide Himself, and your eyes shall see your Teacher." "And the Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction." We already said once in jest, bread of adversity and water of affliction is a baguette and soda. That is bread of adversity and water of affliction. What is the meaning here? Rashi says, he has rebuked them, "those who drink from bowls of wine." These were the people who lived in abundance, they used to drink wine in a manner of wealth. He says to them no, it will not be so, but there will be bread of adversity and water of affliction. Meaning you will no longer pursue pleasures, you will be content with bread of adversity and water of affliction. "Yet your Teacher shall no longer hide Himself." "Yikanef" means He will be covered by His wing. There is the wing of the garment, and the wing of the garment so to speak covers your Teacher. Who is your Teacher? This is the Holy One, blessed be He. So to speak then the Holy One, blessed be He, says, as it is said "I will pour out My spirit, your sons will dream dreams, your prophets will prophesy, your young men will see visions." That is, there will be a future generation in which the Holy One, blessed be He, the earth will be full of knowledge as the waters cover the sea. And then it will not be like today when there is hiding of the face, but your Teacher shall no longer hide Himself. The Holy One, blessed be He, will not so to speak cover His face with the wing of His garment, so to speak the providence of God will not be discernible. Rather all will see the guidance of God, and your eyes shall see your Teacher. The Malbim explains that this is according to what is written that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Chizkiyahu. It is brought there that God said to Chizkiyahu, eat this year what grows of itself, and afterward in the second year what springs from that, and in the third year plant vineyards and eat their fruit and so on. Why? Because in fact when the enemy came here, Sancheriv came here, he destroyed everything. He left nothing. And therefore he says, know that at first you will not have a situation of such great abundance. But at first the Holy One, blessed be He, will give you bread of adversity and water of affliction. Since bread of adversity, as we explained, there will not yet be fields of grain. Water of affliction, for the springs of water were sealed up when the enemies came, and they also diverted the place of the water to come into the city. He says and nevertheless, your Teacher shall no longer hide Himself. What is "yikanef"? The Malbim has here an original explanation. The Malbim says "yikanef" means it will fly away on its wings. Your Teacher (morech) will fly away on its wings. Who is your "morech"? Says the Malbim, this is the early rain (yoreh) and the late rain (malkosh). He says do not think that as in the years of famine when the rain, the early and late rain flew away on their wings, they departed and went away. He says your Teacher shall no longer hide Himself, but the early and late rain will come and give its rains in their season. The blessing will return, not like then when the rain (moreh) spread wings and fled, the early and late rain vanished. Your Teacher shall no longer hide Himself. And your eyes shall see your Teacher. Who is your Teacher here? Here it is in a different meaning, here it is in the meaning of a prophet. The Malbim has a principle in the interpretation of Tanach, and he repeats it in many places, that when the same word appears twice in Tanach in the same verse, it means that it comes in two different meanings. There is no way that the same word is written twice in the same verse. And if the same word is written twice, it comes to express two meanings. So too here. The first "morech," from the language of early and late rain. That is, the rain will not cease, but the blessing and abundance will return. And your eyes shall see your Teacher, the second "morech" is the prophet. Those who teach and instruct him in the straight path. He says and your eyes shall see your Teacher, this comes to express what will be your relationship to the prophet. For if we saw above that they said to the seers do not see, meaning they did not want to listen to all the words of the prophets, they did not want to heed, they did not want to look at what the prophets teach them, he says and your eyes shall see your Teacher. Then, when the generation will correct its deeds, they will see the words of the prophets, they will await to receive their words, wanting to see what the prophet has to say.
"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying: This is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right and when you turn to the left." Rashi explains, not like your situation now that you reject the word of God, you say to the prophets do not prophesy to us truths. He says then, in the future, your ears shall hear. Your ears will be inclined to hear. To hear a word behind you. To hear a word from God. Perhaps a prophet will come and rebuke us, will tell us this is the way, walk in it. "When you turn to the right," meaning all the commentators here explain "ta'aminu" like "teyminu" (turn right). When you turn right and when you turn left. Meaning what is the correct path, to the right or to the left. The Radak explains what is "your ears shall hear a word behind you"? Even if he calls to you from behind you, and tells you this is the way you must walk in, you will listen to him. All the more so if he instructs you face to face. Someone behind me, it is easier for me to ignore. As though I did not hear. But in contrast when someone comes before me and tells me this is the way, it is difficult for me to ignore. I can say I do not want to listen, but it is difficult for me to ignore. He says here, you will have such a great yearning to do the will of God, that when you hear a word behind you, even someone behind you who instructs you the way right and left, you will listen to his voice, out of your great desire to fulfill and do the will of God.
The Malbim explains, and your ears shall hear a word behind you. Says the Malbim, he depicts so to speak a guide walking before them. According to the Malbim the prophet is not behind us, but walks before us, for he is the guide. He shows us the correct way, the people walk after him. They walk after him without turning right or left, for this speaks of a period in which they do the will of God. The prophet walks ahead and we walk after him. But sometimes there can be a situation that even the prophet can err. And there is no person who is incapable of erring. I do not say that the prophet erred and received an incorrect prophecy, there is no such thing. Rather it means he erred in leadership, in judgment he can err. We see that even Moshe Rabbeinu erred, and great people erred in judgment. Avraham Avinu erred in judgment when he descended to Egypt, and more. That is, there is a situation that even the prophet can err. So what shall we do then, if he errs, walk in it when you turn right and when you turn left? What will happen when we can err from the way of the right to the left and from the way of the left to the right? So he says to him, your ears shall hear a word behind you saying. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, is still behind you so to speak to straighten your way. If you walk after the prophet and you intend to do the will of God, but what to do, the prophet erred, he leads me on an incorrect way? He says you will have individual providence behind you. The Holy One, blessed be He, is still behind, guarding that you not go astray to the right or to the left. If you turn right instead of left or left instead of right, you still have backing, there is someone behind who instructs you the correct way.
"And you shall defile the covering of your graven images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold; you shall cast them away like a menstruous thing, saying to it, Get out." And then, when the Holy One, blessed be He, is the one who straightens our way, He is the one who awakens us to the correct way, then we will defile the covering of your graven images of silver. We will regard those coverings of graven images as an impure thing. "And the plating of your molten images of gold," "apudat" is like an ephod, that even though it is only the adornment of the idol, it is not the idol itself, nevertheless out of our great loathing of idolatry, "you shall cast them away," we will cast this away, it will be foreign (zar) to us, like a menstruous thing (davah). What is "davah"? "And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days, as the days of the impurity of her menstruation (dvotah) she shall be impure." "Davah" means a niddah. This thing will be loathsome in our eyes like a niddah. And not only that, but "saying to it, Get out (tze)." "Tze," say the Sages, is from the language of excrement (tzo'ah). It will be abominable in your eyes like excrement, like filth.
And then, "And He will give rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce..."
The word "dashen" means the strength of the thing, the abundance that is in the thing, this is the expression of "dashen," as we said it sustains the person in his health, "his bones shall flourish like a fresh plant (dashen)." On the other hand, what is the ash (deshen)? They used to clear the ash from upon the altar. This is the ash, after everything is burned, what remains? Something not fit for anything. This is called deshen. What is the meaning? Says the Malbim, know that this is among the verbs of opposite meaning. Like "sakel," samech-kuf-lamed, it means both to clear away stones, to remove stones, and also to bring stones, to stone him with stones. Like "lesharesh" and "lehashrish." "Lesharesh" is to uproot from the root, "lehashrish" is indeed to put forth roots. Well, another example. "Kilus," he praised (kilseo) him, right? And he made him a mockery and derision (keles). Therefore it is incumbent upon us to laud and praise and extol and so on, and also the opposite. So he says so too here. The "dashen" comes to express the excellent and good thing, and afterward when it is burned upon the altar, then all the parts of richness (dashen) that were in it left it, what remains is the ash (deshen) which means the thing that is entirely devoid of richness, as we said, like the verbs of opposite meaning.
"And the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground shall eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and with fork." He describes the great abundance that will be. The "alafim" are the large oxen, those that work the ground. You cannot see them at pasture, for whom did they used to send to pasture? Only the animals that were the lowly animals, those with which they did no work, such as for example sheep. Sheep, one does not do work with them, one does not plow with them. So those are sent to pasture. But the large animals, the "alafim," why are they called "alafim"? The Malbim explains an interesting explanation, says the Malbim since one trains (melamdim) them to work, from the language of "aleph binah" (teach wisdom). They are trained. Trained to plow, so they are called "alafim," "the young of your flock (alfei tzonecha), the young of your oxen (alfei shorecha)." The large oxen that work the ground, they, and not only they, even the young donkeys, which are the small donkeys, which one does not yet use for work like the oxen, in any case they shall eat seasoned fodder. What is "beleel chamitz"? Clean grain that was winnowed with shovel and fork. The shovel (rachat) and the fork (mizreh) are two implements that were designated to winnow the grain in order that it be clean. With the shovel they would throw it into the wind, one winnows and the wind assists him. The fork is also a special implement made to winnow the grain with it. And they shall eat seasoned fodder, this comes to say how much even the food of the animals will be clean and choice food from the great blessing that will be. For usually what does one give the animals? Refuse, what a person cannot eat, for if I can eat it why would I give it to the animal? But then there will be such great abundance that even the animals will receive most choice food. "Belil," the Malbim explains, means the fodder which is mixed (bolelim) with the grain, therefore it is called "belil." "Chamitz," they shall eat seasoned fodder, "chamitz" means clean, pure. From where else do we see this expression? The Malbim according to this explains several verses, like "strengthen the oppressed (chamotz)." "Strengthen chamotz" means strengthen and support the one who is "chamotz," meaning clean in his judgment. "Chamotz" from the language of clean. Or "who is this coming with crimsoned (chamutz) garments from Batzrah," "chamutz" also there the Malbim explains means in clean garments. Or "rescue a man from the wrongdoer and the robber (chometz)." "The wrongdoer" means one who is a wrongdoer and wishes to become clean, they save him from what? From every matter of sin, from "chometz" that he be clean. Or "when my heart was embittered (yitchametz)," again also a language of cleanness, yes, that his thoughts be purified. There are further explanations for this, but such is the explanation of the Malbim.
"And there shall be upon every high mountain and upon every lofty hill streams and channels of water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall." If at first, as we saw, they sealed up all the springs of water, they brought the outer pool, they brought it into the city so that the enemy would not find a place, so that Sancheriv would not find a place where he could water his soldiers, he says now upon every high mountain and upon every lofty hill, a mountain certainly, but even a hill where there are usually no springs, there will be streams of water. And when will this be? "In the day of the great slaughter," at the time the enemy is slain, when they will no longer fear him, then the Holy One, blessed be He, will give an abundance of much water. And the towers, "when the towers fall," the towers that they erected, which are high places to fight the enemy, for one who is high has the advantage of height, these towers will fall for they will no longer be needed. The Malbim explains "streams and channels of water," says the Malbim what is the difference between "pelagim" (streams) and "yivlei mayim" (channels of water)? The channel (yovel), says the Malbim, is the source of the spring. The streams are what branch off from there. There are streams that come from rain. "Streams, channels of water" are streams that come from a channel. "Yovel" as we explained is the source of the spring. So the source of the spring that branches off is called streams that come from channels of water. Through this there will be such an immense abundance that you will not be dependent on rain any longer, but this immense abundance will come from streams that issue from the channels of water.