So if you want to compare the Holy One blessed be He to one of the stars, first of all: "See who created these." What, did they create themselves? Surely someone created them. How can you compare the Holy One blessed be He to something that was itself created? The Holy One blessed be He was not created, while the stars are created beings. Who created these? Who created all those stars and heavenly bodies? Another point: they have a deficiency, for they are not capable of multiplying any further. But the Holy One blessed be He is able to create more and more. The stars, "He who brings out their host by number," they have a fixed number, that is it. The stars do not multiply. They do not grow greater and greater. There is a set, limited number. But the Holy One blessed be He has the power to create more and more. So there is no comparing the Creator to the created. Another point: the stars are limited in their function.
"He calls them all by name." A name, as is known, expresses essence. And each of the stars has a name. Take, for example, the planets. Shabtai (Saturn) is called Shabtai because it is from the language of "mashbit," one who stops, who destroys. We have spoken in the past about how the star Shabtai is the force of destruction in the world. Therefore one who performs labor on Shabbat, when the star Shabtai rules, it has no permanence. The star Shabtai means cessation. Tzedek (Jupiter) indicates tzedakah, kindness. Ma'adim (Mars) indicates bloodshed. That is to say, every star, "He calls them all by name." Each star has a name. And if it has a name, that means its function is limited only to that name. There cannot be a Tzedek star that produces cruelty. Its function is limited to justice, and Shabtai's to cessation, and so on in this manner. So then, if all these are limited, "He calls them all by name," how do you compare to Him the Holy One blessed be He, who is unlimited?
Another point: "Because of His great might and mighty power, not one is missing." If you ask, but here I see that the stars have eternal existence. For seemingly everything in nature we see undergoes decay. Man himself decays and passes away, "the days of our years are seventy, and if by strength, eighty years." But why did people worship the stars? Because the stars symbolize something eternal. The sun seemingly always exists and "the earth stands forever." So this caused people to attach themselves specifically to the forces, to the heavenly bodies. So he says, if you see that they have a power to exist perpetually, this is not a power of their own, but rather it comes from the power of the One who created them. "Because of His great might," from the strength of the One who formed them, "and mighty power," through this "not one is missing." Through this not one of those stars and heavenly bodies is missing. It is not their private power, it is the power of the One who formed and created them. So about this he says, "To whom will you liken Me, that I should be equal?" To whom can you come and compare Me? To one of those heavenly bodies that only act by the power of another?
The Malbim explains that there is a difference between "onim" (might) and "koach" (power). "Koach" symbolizes the inner power. "Onim," "on," symbolizes bringing the power into action. If one has inner power, through it he also acts and does, and this is called "on." As Yaakov says, "Reuven, my strength (kochi)," this is the inner part, "and the first of my might (oni)," this is the bringing of that power into action. The inner power, says the Malbim, sometimes becomes tired. As we say, "He who gives strength to the weary." And if we see that he truly strengthens himself and continues and grows stronger, then we call this "great might and mighty power." We say he exerts his strength. That is, although from his inner side, that is it, he no longer has strength, but I say, no, he exerts his strength. Meaning, he grows stronger in order to exert the power. "Great in power" means that he has immense power within. He is great in power inwardly, he has tremendous strength within. And "mighty power" means not only that the strength is great, he also exerts the power to continue it over time. The perseverance, that is the part of "mighty power." The abundance of power is "great in power." The perseverance that continues over time is the aspect of "mighty power," he exerts the power over time. So the created beings that you see exist in reality, in being, this existence, both their abundance of power and their exertion of power, all of it is from Him blessed be He. "He said and it came to be, He commanded and it stood." And so, the prophet says to them, then to whom will you liken Me and be equal? To whom is it fitting to compare the Holy One blessed be He? Everything you see here, all the heavenly bodies, it is only from His power and His action. And so, certainly it is impossible to compare the form to its Maker.
The Radak explains, says the Radak, "Lift up your eyes on high." Look at the stars, that the stars are enormous and great bodies. And contemplate them and see "who created these." You must understand that the stars are created and are not creators. Says the Radak, one of the most basic foundations of faith in Hashem is to know that the world is newly created (mechudash). In contrast to the philosophers, among them Socrates and others, who believed that the world is eternal (kadmon). And then this spared them many questions. How, what is here? How, who made it? No, it was always so. That is it, it solved the problem. It was, it was always like this. The world is eternal. These are the deniers of creation (chidush). They deny the newness of the world. And indeed many people of science in the past held this view, but today they already believe that the world came into being, only they call it the Big Bang. Call it the Big Bang, we will call it the creation of the world. The matter of semantics, how to define it, does not matter to us. It really does not matter how we define it. But at one moment they too agree that at one moment the world began. At one moment it began. We too, well, they are slowly getting closer. You will see, in the end they will arrive. In the end they will arrive. Slowly they draw closer. Each time they discover something more and something more, they call it by other names, but in the end they will arrive. So it is clear to us that the world is newly created. And this is the matter of Shabbat. What is the matter of Shabbat? To believe that the Holy One blessed be He created His world in six and rested on the seventh day. That is, faith in the creation of the world. Now, when you see something that is newly created, it is clear that it has a creator. For if the star is created, it is clear that someone created it. It is clear that someone brought it into being. And when you understand that there is someone who created it, it cannot be itself. For it cannot be that it created itself. It cannot be that it brought itself into being. Now, who is it that created it? You must reach the conclusion that it is one. Let me preface. Everything I am speaking about now is philosophy. And the philosophical method was very, very strong in the time of the Rambam, as a way to prove the existence of the Creator, as a way to prove that the Holy One blessed be He is one and has no other alongside Him, as a way to prove that the world is not eternal. This was an accepted approach. Rabbeinu Bachya in Chovot HaLevavot, whoever will look in Sha'ar HaYichud, there he speaks about this matter of proving the existence of the Creator by a philosophical approach. Now, part of this is that there cannot be two. Why? Because if there are two, we will ask which preceded the other? Which preceded the other? If there are two creators, which preceded the other? And if one preceded the other, that means it actually created the second. So it created the second if it preceded the second. For nothing comes into being by itself. And if I accept that there is a creator who is eternal and there is another creator, then how can it be that it too is eternal? That is impossible. Rather it must be that the first created the second. So there must be only one. So he says, therefore, you must reach the conclusion that there is one Creator who created all of reality. So "lift up your eyes on high and see who created these." Contemplate nature and reach the conclusion that there is someone who created all of this. For the stars are created, they are not creators. And so, "He who brings out their host by number." Stars that cannot be counted, "He who brings out their host by number," He knows how to count them.
See what an amusing thing. In the time of the Radak, he says, what the astronomers said and agreed upon, that there is a number to the stars and it is 1,098. Do you hear? 1,098. And this, this is how amusing it is. And you already see in the Gemara, how much they began to speak of enormous numbers and of this, and how many millions of millions of millions the Gemara already speaks of. And these astronomers arrived at 1,098. So he says, do not have difficulties from this. Because even what they counted, that is the great stars, those shining upon the earth. And by the way, all this is also only about our galaxy. There are many other galaxies, and there are other suns and moons that are entirely outside our galaxy. So what, how far can you even reach? How much can you even see? Even today with all the most advanced telescopes, it is impossible to see all the stars. It is impossible to know. What we know is only from signs that we have magnetic forces that we detect. There are stars that cannot be seen. We only know that there is some magnetic force from that direction, so we know that there is a large mass there creating that magnetic force. But to see them themselves, there are certainly many stars that cannot be seen at all. So even what they arrived at then, he says, know, that is only the great stars. Their number, who knows? Only the Holy One blessed be He, "who brings out their host by number." And not only that, but He also counts the number for the stars, "He calls them all by name." The Holy One blessed be He also has names for all those stars. The meaning of this, says Hashem, is when I created a star, I did not simply create it, but I created it for a function, it received a certain role. And a name expresses essence, as we said, it expresses the role I placed upon it. And Hashem "calls them all by name," He gave them a role and power to perform an action. As an example of what Chazal say, that there is not a single blade of grass below that does not have a star and constellation striking it from above and saying to it, grow. So they have actions, they have roles to fulfill here in this world. So he says, "because of His great might and mighty power." What is "because of His great might"? How is it connected to what we said earlier? "He calls them all by name, because of His great might." The Holy One blessed be He called them all by names because each of them has "on," action, power to act in that thing. "Because of His great might," according to the abundance of the might and the actions and the powers required of them, "He calls them all by name." He called each by a name so that it would act according to what is required of it.
And if you see that these created beings, who are created above, "not one is missing." The meaning is, you see that they are complete, lacking nothing. So it was on the day of creation and so it will be all the days of the world, nothing will be added and nothing will be diminished. And says the Radak, know, addition applies only to those who have a deficiency. It is impossible to add to one who lacks nothing. For if I want to add to something complete, I will only harm it. I will only harm it. If I have an airplane, and now I want to attach something to it. If the airplane does not need it, that is to say it truly lacks and needs it, then you have only made it heavier. If I want to attach another wheel to it, glue on another wheel. Am I benefiting it or harming it? Harming it, it will not be able to fly well. But if it is missing a wheel, then I have benefited it. That is to say, addition is always only for what is lacking. For one who lacks nothing, the addition is a diminishment to it. So whoever adds detracts. So when is addition needed? Only for someone who lacks completeness. So he says, behold, you see, the stars and everything that the Holy One blessed be He created are complete. From this deduce that the One who created them is complete in the ultimate completeness. If this is only a creation of the Holy One blessed be He and it lacks nothing, "mighty power, not one is missing," no being is missing from Him, nothing is missing from what the Holy One blessed be He created, then from this recognize the Creator. This is what we say, what we mentioned, "from my flesh I behold God." A person can contemplate his body, can contemplate physical reality, says the prophet, from this deduce that there is immense power to the Creator blessed be He. And therefore Chazal say, whoever does not calculate the seasons and the constellations, about him the verse says, "and the work of Hashem they did not regard, and the deeds of His hands they did not see." From where do we know that it is a commandment for a person to calculate the seasons and the constellations? And one who does not calculate, says the Gemara, it is even forbidden to speak to him. To such an extent. From where? From what is written, "lift up your eyes on high." That is to say, on the contrary, when a person contemplates the heavenly bodies, when a person contemplates the stars, contemplates the immense wisdom and how they revolve on their courses with the precision of atomic clocks, whoever contemplates this must reach the conclusion that there is a Creator of the world who is great and exalted and lofty above all those supernal forces that you see.
The Gaon of Vilna has here a very wonderful explanation. "Why do you say, Yaakov, and speak, Yisrael: My way is hidden from Hashem, and my judgment passes over from my God? Do you not know, have you not heard, the eternal God, Hashem, Creator of the ends of the earth, there is no searching of His understanding." The Rambam's difficulty is well known and famous: how is the contradiction between foreknowledge and free choice possible? If the Holy One blessed be He knows in advance everything that I will do, then where is my free choice? For it cannot be that what I will do would be contrary to His knowledge. So if the Creator of the world knows that Reuven will desecrate the coming Shabbat, that means there is no scenario in which Reuven will keep Shabbat. So when Reuven reaches Shabbat and desecrates it, he is actually compelled and coerced by the knowledge of the Holy One blessed be He. And if you say no, Reuven can choose not to desecrate Shabbat, then, God forbid, did Hashem not know? For we said that Hashem knew he would desecrate Shabbat. The Rambam resolves this difficulty and says that the knowledge of the Holy One blessed be He is not like our knowledge. We have no grasp of the knowledge of the Holy One blessed be He. Just as I do not grasp at all the essence of the Creator, so too I do not grasp His knowledge. That is to say, in our understanding, if there is prior knowledge, there is no choice afterward. But when it comes to the knowledge of the Creator, this is knowledge of a different kind. And therefore there, even though there is prior knowledge, afterward there is choice. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." The Raavad, as is known, objects to this. We brought regarding this an additional answer when we learned Pirkei Avot, we expanded in an answer that in truth there is no contradiction here between the matters. So too when we learned Sefer Iyov, we brought an explanation on the matter. We will not enter into it now, we want to continue with the explanation of the Rambam. Says the Gra, note, the words of the Rambam are found here in the verses explicitly. "Why do you say, Yaakov, and speak, Yisrael: My way is hidden from Hashem, and my judgment passes over from my God?" You say, it must be only one of the two. Either my way is hidden from Hashem, that is to say, the Holy One blessed be He does not know what I will choose, and then through this I have free choice. Or if you say that Hashem knows what I will choose, then "my judgment passes over from my God." There is no judgment and providence over what I do. For if the Holy One blessed be He knows what I will do, then I have no free choice. So consequently it is also not fitting that He should punish me. So "my judgment passes over from my God," it is not fitting that Hashem execute judgment upon me. What does the verse answer to this? "Do you not know, have you not heard, the eternal God, Hashem, Creator of the ends of the earth, there is no searching of His understanding." You have no grasp to understand and search the understanding of the Holy One blessed be He. So consequently you have no understanding or grasp of what the knowledge of the Holy One blessed be He is, and how the knowledge of the Creator blessed be He in fact does not contradict the choice you have afterward. As the Rambam resolves. So explains the Gra of Vilna, sweeter than honey.
"Why do you say, Yaakov, and speak, Yisrael: My way is hidden from Hashem, and my judgment passes over from my God?" Explains the Malbim, "why do you say, Yaakov." After he consoles Yerushalayim, now he answers the people of Israel. For we saw at the beginning that he turns to Yerushalayim. Now he speaks to the whole of Israel. The people, when they see the length of the exile, when they see the tranquility of the wicked, they already despair of hoping for the redemption. And we already saw how much he tried at first to persuade them not to fear the nations and that the Holy One blessed be He will bring the redemption and that before the Holy One blessed be He the nations are as nothing. He now returns and says to them, you contemplate reality and you see that there is seemingly a lack of order. You see that there is no providence. The righteous, those who serve Hashem, you see that they are exiled, you see that they are afflicted and battered. And the traitors to Hashem blessed be He, the nations, the wicked, you see that they are in tranquility. "Why are the treacherous at ease?" "Yishlu" from the language of tranquility (shalvah). Yes, "tranquility (shalvah) in your palaces," "may those who love you be at ease (yishlayu)," this is the language of tranquility. Why are they, you see that they succeed, they flourish like grass. And as a result of this they deny either providence, or, if there is providence, then there is no reward and punishment. For behold I see that a person acts against the will of Hashem and Hashem sees and does not punish him, that is to say there is no reward and punishment. Now, these claims, says the Malbim, are claims that differ between two groups in the people of Israel. There is the group of the common people (amcha), and there is the more learned, more sophisticated group, who are at a higher level, who also make the same claims, but pay attention, in a more philosophical way. And therefore the verse says, "why do you say, Yaakov, and speak, Yisrael." Yaakov speaks of the low level of the people of Israel, from the language of "eikev," heel, those at the heels. And Yisrael speaks of the high level in the people of Israel, from the language of authority, from the language of importance. Now pay attention, says the Malbim, that it is written "you say (tomar), Yaakov" and it is written "and speak (tedaber), Yisrael." There is here a saying, Yaakov says and Yisrael speaks. And what do they say? "My way is hidden from Hashem, and my judgment passes over from my God." The Malbim explains that there is a difference between speaking (dibbur) and saying (amirah). Now see how the verse fits together most wonderfully. There is a difference between speaking and saying. We spoke about this several times, the Malbim follows this line in several places in Tanach. Saying, says the Malbim, is a simple saying, a sentence. I said. In contrast, speaking is always a long speech, composed of several sentences, claims, proofs, this is called speaking. Even today when we want to express, we see this. "I said to him." What is "I said to him"? I threw a sentence at him, I told him to be quiet. I said to him. You do not say I spoke with him to be quiet. But when you want to say I explained the situation to him, I say I spoke with him. What is "I spoke with him"? It was a conversation I had with him. I have a talk with you. It does not matter that grammatically this is not correct, "I have a talk with you," but it does not matter, it only proves that speaking means an expansion of matters, at length. And Yaakov, as we said, is the low part, and Yisrael is the high part. Says the Malbim, therefore pay attention that the claims differ. Between the claims of Yaakov and the claims of Yisrael, they differ. Yaakov says, "why do you say, Yaakov, my way is hidden from Hashem." Yaakov claims, there is no providence. Period. The Holy One blessed be He does not see, the Holy One blessed be He does not watch over, not because of any lack of His ability, God forbid. Even the masses understand that Hashem is the Master, He is without end, He has no edge or limit, there is no end to His ability. But what? Hashem is so high, so exalted, we are so low, like grasshoppers. Hashem does not watch over what happens. This is the claim of the masses, this is the claim of Yaakov. But in contrast, the wise of heart, who are the category of Yisrael, understand that the Holy One blessed be He is the pinnacle of perfection. And it is not fitting regarding the pinnacle of perfection to say that Hashem does not know what happens with us, for then this would be a deficiency in the Creator blessed be He. And therefore they come and say, I will prove to you with signs and wonders that man is not free in his deeds. And why? On the contrary, because I believe that the Holy One blessed be He looks, and because I believe that the Holy One blessed be He knows, and not only does He know, He has supernal spiritual knowledge greater than what you and I know. For you and I know what happens now, but the Holy One blessed be He knows also what will be in the future. That is to say, the Holy One blessed be He knows what you will do next Shabbat, and next year, and in another decade. All of this the Holy One blessed be He knows. And if the Holy One blessed be He knows, then where is free choice? Then where is free choice? For if the Holy One blessed be He knows that next Shabbat Reuven will desecrate Shabbat, and now you say to Reuven, be careful Reuven, keep the Shabbat. He says, for if Reuven does not desecrate Shabbat, it is one of two things. Either you say that the Holy One blessed be He did not know, or you say that he acted against the will of the Holy One blessed be He. And both of these things are inconceivable. To say that Hashem does not know, is inconceivable. So Hashem knew that Reuven would desecrate Shabbat. And to say that Reuven would act against Hashem's knowledge, is also impossible. For then what, he acts against Hashem blessed be He? Also impossible. So of necessity, in conclusion, Reuven must desecrate Shabbat, because Hashem knew he would desecrate Shabbat. So where is Reuven's free choice? So seemingly according to this, this is a very sophisticated philosophical claim, which comes and argues that if so, the Holy One blessed be He, His knowledge compels us to act. And therefore this is the second claim, "and speak, Yisrael." Those who are Yisrael, the more sophisticated, they already come with speech, they come with proof, with claims. They do not say my way is hidden from Hashem, Hashem does not know. No, they know that Hashem knows everything. And that is precisely what leads to "my judgment passes over from my God." Hashem will not judge and sentence me for my deeds. "My judgment passes over from my God," Hashem will not judge me, since all my deeds are not voluntary deeds. For if the Holy One blessed be He knows, consequently it cannot be that I would do otherwise. Now pay attention, this is precise also in the language. For it is written here, "my way is hidden from Hashem, and my judgment passes over from my God." "My way is hidden from Hashem," this is Yaakov speaking. This is the low level. The low level says my way is hidden from Hashem. "Hashem" is the One who created the entire world. A general name. My way is hidden from Hashem. Hashem does not know, the One who created the entire world does not concern Himself with us, does not know at all what happens with us. But in contrast, the more sophisticated, the Yisrael who speak, they do not say, God forbid, that Hashem does not know. They say, "from my God." "My God" we said always expresses His individual providence over me. There is individual providence, my God, He is my God, He sees my deeds at every given moment. But "my judgment passes over." Hashem will remove the judgment from over me. There will be no scenario in which the Holy One blessed be He judges me for all my deeds.
"Do you not know, have you not heard, the eternal God, Hashem, Creator of the ends of the earth, does not tire and does not grow weary, there is no searching of His understanding." "Do you not know, have you not heard, the eternal God, Hashem," the Holy One blessed be He, "Creator of the ends of the earth." Rashi explains, one who has such power and one who has such wisdom, He knows all thoughts. And He consequently also knows why He delays the good that is destined to come to the people of Israel. Seemingly why has He not already sent us the redemption? Why does He not already take us out of the exile? The purpose, says Rashi, is in order to consume the transgression and complete the sin through the suffering. Every month, every year that the world continues to survive means another stage in the process of purification. Another stage in the process of purification. So even if you see that reality is such that seemingly we should have long ago been redeemed, and "the harvest has passed, the summer has ended, and we are not saved," he tells you, do not despair. For the Holy One blessed be He, who is the Creator of the world and created the ends of the earth, does not tire and does not grow weary. And so, there is no impediment for the Holy One blessed be He to redeem us. You ask, then why does He not redeem us? He tells you, there is no searching of His understanding. You cannot understand His thoughts. Rashi himself explains to us a certain idea that may be within this process, that the Holy One blessed be He does not hasten to redeem us, since another generation and another generation and another generation, there is more purification and more purification and more people will be worthy of meriting the life of the World to Come. The Radak explains, "do you not know," says the Radak, this is by way of the intellect. Knowledge as it were from yourself. "Have you not heard," that is to say, someone taught you. What? "The eternal God, Hashem." "Elohim" is from the language of judge. "The matter of both shall come before the judges (Elohim)." The Radak explains that here it means to say, know that everything the Holy One blessed be He does, He does with judgment and providence. Like a God and judge who judges. And since the Holy One blessed be He watches over the entire world, and He created the world, and contemplate in this what a wonder, that the Holy One blessed be He created the ends of the earth. And where is the world located? In the middle. Without anything supporting it, without anything holding it. The Creator of the world, Creator of the ends of the earth, and behold He holds the world and "suspends the earth over nothingness." How is this possible? He says, if so you must reach the conclusion that there is providence. And the Holy One blessed be He is present at all times, and the Holy One blessed be He as it were holds the world so that it endures as it is. And so, this means that Hashem does not tire and does not grow weary. The Holy One blessed be He, when He holds the world, it is by His great power, and He holds it so that it stands in this reality without the Holy One blessed be He as it were tiring and growing weary in this reality. So if this is so, why do you think that the Holy One blessed be He has no power to redeem us? Why do you think that as it were His power is exhausted here? If the Holy One blessed be He created the ends of the earth and holds the sphere at its center and does not tire and does not grow weary from this, then why do you think that the Holy One blessed be He as it were finds it difficult, that it is burdensome for Him to redeem us, that it would tire Him as it were, that it wearies Him, that it is beyond His power? Ah, if so you will ask, well, then why does He not redeem us? Fine, I accept. Hashem, this does not tire Him, this is not beyond His powers, Hashem is all-powerful and He is the Creator of the ends of the earth and holds the sphere at its center by His great power. Well, alright, He has the power. Why does He not redeem us? About this he says, there is no searching of His understanding. To contemplate and understand the deed of Hashem, we do not recognize and know. It is beyond our powers, beyond our understanding. There is no searching of His understanding. And since this is so, then do not ask questions. Rashi already gave us a reason. Rashi gave us some explanation. And one of the explanations, as Rashi said, is that the Holy One blessed be He wants the world to add more and more purification, that there be more people who will be worthy of the life of the World to Come, that more people will rectify themselves. But the Radak as it were says, there is no searching of His understanding. You consequently cannot in any case reach the searching of the understanding of Hashem's deed. So what questions do you have as to why Hashem does not hasten to redeem us?
The Malbim explains, "do you not know" from the intellect, and the proof, meaning a conclusive proof. "Have you not heard," that they told you from what is well known and accepted. "For the eternal God, Hashem," Hashem created the entire world. And do not think that only the upper world, but rather "Creator of the ends of the earth." The meaning is all the worlds entirely. And do not think that the Holy One blessed be He only cast its cornerstone, meaning made the foundations and afterward it continued on its own. He says no, "Creator of the ends of the earth." The meaning is from beginning to end, the Holy One blessed be He did everything by His power. So you cannot deny, as we saw according to the Malbim, for "why do you say, Yaakov, and speak, Yisrael: my way is hidden from Hashem?" For they claimed our way is hidden from Hashem, the Holy One blessed be He does not see, or, as it were, those who said that Hashem does see and watches over, but with all this there is no free choice, since Hashem knows everything that is destined to be. Or that Hashem abandoned the earth after He created it. He tells you, He does not tire and does not grow weary. For the Holy One blessed be He is not weary from any labor. And so Hashem knows everything that happens. And if you ask, wait, wait, then if Hashem knows, then where is free choice as we asked? Where is free choice? For Hashem knows with certainty what I will do. And if He knows, there is no longer room for me to choose. To this he responds as the Rambam responds. For the Rambam, when he was asked this question, he deals with this question in his book in Yad HaChazakah, and the Rambam says, our knowledge is not like His knowledge. Says the Rambam, Hashem's knowledge is different from our knowledge. If I know about something that you are destined to do, and the knowledge is complete, you cannot do otherwise. This is absolute knowledge that as it were compels you to act. But the Holy One blessed be He knows, there is here a knowledge that does not contradict your free choice. Is there an explanation here? There is no explanation here. Rather it is an axiom. The axiom is a determination. The determination says, our knowledge is not like His knowledge. You come and ask according to my knowledge. If Hashem knows, I must act thus. He tells you no, no, with the Holy One blessed be He there is no contradiction between the two. Hashem can know and it does not compel you. How? You cannot understand. If you had His knowledge, you would understand. Our knowledge is not like His knowledge. This is the Rambam's answer. By the way, the Raavad finds difficulty in this. And the Raavad writes, this master did not follow the practice of the wise. In sharp language he writes about the Rambam. And why? Says the Raavad, because if you have a question to which you have no answer, it would have been better for you not to raise it at all. But to raise a question and write, the answer is we do not know, His knowledge is not like our knowledge, this, this is not an answer. If so, it would already have been better that you not raise the question. For thus you aroused a difficulty among people and did not give an answer. And this is what is written here, there is no searching of His understanding. The Malbim explains this, as the Rambam says, there is no searching of His understanding. It is not like your understanding, where if you know something with certainty it cannot be otherwise. With Hashem there is certain knowledge and it can also be that free choice has still not been taken from man. We said that there are additional answers on this matter, and we said that whoever wishes can listen on the disc of Iyov on the topic of knowledge and choice, there is a whole lesson there on the topic, and therefore I would not want to enter into it there, we detail additional answers, answers that are actually more accepted than the answer of the Rambam on the matter. The Malbim explains, it is written here "does not tire and does not grow weary." Says the Malbim, tiredness stems from the person himself, from the fact that he is limited. He needs external things to sustain his strength, such as air, such as water. As it is written, "he did not drink water and grew weary." He has nothing else to strengthen him, so consequently the body weakens. The body is limited, it must have fuel, it must have air, it must have water, it must have food. This is "tiring." What is "growing weary"? Growing weary, a person grows weary from labor. Weariness is because a person exerts himself, performed labor. He tells you, the Holy One blessed be He, His power does not depend on anything else, and therefore He does not tire. My power depends on what I ate, depends on what I drank, depends on the air I breathe. So consequently when one of these things is lacking for me, I will tire. But since the Holy One blessed be He does not depend on another, His power does not stem from anyone besides Himself, then consequently tiredness does not apply to Him. He does not grow weary, since weariness stems, as we said, from hard labor, and with the Holy One blessed be He there is nothing hard. With the Holy One blessed be He there is nothing that exerts Him. Since this is so, consequently He does not grow weary. So it is impossible to say that Hashem grew weary as a result of something, as a result of a certain exertion.
"He gives strength to the weary, and to the one without might He increases power." The people of Israel, who are now in a state where they are weary because of the exile, the Holy One blessed be He gives them strength. Says the Malbim, what is "to the weary strength" and what is "the one without might, power"? The Malbim explains, "weary" is a person, weary is tired, right? This is a person whose inner power, his root power, has weakened. "Without might" is not, I have inner power, but I do not have the tools to bring the power into action. Like, for example, God forbid, a disabled person. It may be that he has plenty of inner power and will, but he does not have the tools to bring it out, for he has no hands, no legs. Or his hands or his legs, their muscles for example have weakened. So this is what he says, "and to the one without might," one who has the inner power but only lacks how to bring the power into action, for he lacks the tools to bring the power outward, about this he says "He increases power (otzmah)." Hashem will give strength and power in his bones. This is the meaning of "He increases power." He increases the strength of his bones, also for one who has the inner power, only he lacks the might, he lacks the power in his bones, since his limbs are soft. "And youths shall tire and grow weary, and young men shall utterly stumble." And the youths who are now strong in their power, you see that they are mighty, He tells you they will tire. And this depends on whether they will have hope to wait for the redemption of Hashem. Why do the youths tire? Why do they grow weary, from the language of weariness? Why do the young men utterly stumble? Because they anticipate the redemption and they see that it does not come, so therefore this is the thing that weakens them. The Malbim explains, they tire and grow weary. "Tire" is on its own, and "grow weary" we already explained earlier, that by my growing weary in labor and work, because of this there is weariness. So even the young men who have greater power than the youths, they on their own do not tire, therefore about them it is said "utterly stumble." The young men, what is a young man (bachur)? From which language is bachur? From the language of "chosen" (nivchar). He is in the prime of his years, he is strongest. He does not tire. Only youths tire and grow weary. But young men do not tire and grow weary, they have might, they have power. But there is something else that will hinder them. What? An external obstacle. And this is the continuation, "and young men shall utterly stumble." So even those who have their own power, they will utterly stumble. This is one who does not hope to Hashem. But in contrast, one who hopes to Hashem, he will truly see power and strength in himself, that he will be able to wait for the redemption until it arrives. I will add here what Rashi and the Radak explain. Rashi explains, about whom is it said "and youths shall tire and grow weary"? This is the might of the Chaldeans, who are stripped bare (menu'arim) of the commandments. And these who are now, you see that they strike us and rule over us and dominate us, He says do not worry, youths shall tire and grow weary. "And young men shall utterly stumble." Do not despair of the redemption. Those who hope to Hashem, they will renew their strength. But those who defy the word of Hashem, those who afflict the people of Israel, they will tire and grow weary. For a person naturally says, how is it possible? See how mighty they are, see how weak we are. He says do not fear this. Those who hope to Hashem will renew their strength. And those who now seem to you strong and mighty, they will tire and grow weary. "And those who hope to Hashem shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not tire." Those who hope to Hashem shall renew their strength. "Kovei" means like "kaveh," hope. This is the accepted version. Those who hope to Hashem shall renew their strength, meaning those who hope and anticipate Hashem, they shall renew their strength. "They shall mount up with wings (ever) as eagles." There is here an interesting interpretation of the Radak. Says the Radak, what is "they shall mount up with wings (ever) as eagles"? For "ever" is considered the wing of a dove or a bird. "Who will give me a wing (ever) like a dove." So "they shall mount up with wings as eagles," wrote Rabbeinu Saadia, for the eagle rises every 10 years very high upon the surface of the sky, and draws near to the heat of the fire, meaning to the sun, and casts itself into the sea from its great heat. After it has become very hot, it casts itself into the sea from its great heat. And it molts and then renews itself and grows wings. That is to say, from its great heat its feathers were burned, and then it falls into the sea, cools down, and then new feathers begin to grow for it. It molts and then renews itself and grows wings. And it returns to the days of its youth. This causes it to renew itself anew. And so every 10 years it undergoes such a general overhaul, until 100. In the hundredth year it rises as its custom and falls into the sea and dies. About this parable that was accepted in their time, I do not know whether it was a clear reality or whether it was a parable that was accepted, like the concept called the phoenix, that there is some mention in the words of Chazal of this concept of a bird that as it were dies and returns and renews itself. So about the concept, about this parable that was accepted in their time, he tells you, so too the people of Israel. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall renew themselves. As it is written, "your youth is renewed like the eagle." That the Holy One blessed be He as it were renews, just as the eagle once every 10 years as it were returns to the days of its youth, so too will be the state of the people of Israel. The Malbim explains, and those who hope to Hashem shall renew their strength, until they mount up with wings to fly suddenly to the heavens as eagles. The Malbim explains, it is written here "they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not tire." Why did he write specifically these expressions? Says the Malbim, one who runs grows weary. This tires him. One who walks does not grow so weary. But observe a person after he has run two minutes, he grows weary. Why? He tires. In contrast, a person can walk 20 minutes, half an hour, an hour, two hours, three. Certainly his strength runs out, but he does not have the weariness of a person who runs. So one who runs, about him it is said "they shall run and not grow weary." In contrast, they shall walk, one who walks, he does not grow weary, but what happens at a certain stage? He tires. His legs hurt. After he has walked several hours, then the tiredness begins. Regarding the tiredness he writes, "they shall walk and not tire." They shall walk and not tire. Now, as we said, that a person who tires needs to eat. For we said the matter of tiredness means the weakness of the body, and as a result of not having food. So one who walks and does not eat something, will reach a state where he tires, will reach a state where his strength is exhausted. He tells you, but in contrast, those who hope to Hashem shall run, even though normally in running one reaches weariness, they shall not grow weary. And those who walk, even though normally the one who walks reaches a state of tiredness, they shall walk and not tire. Against what does this speak? Against the people of Israel whom the Holy One blessed be He is destined to redeem and return to their land. About this the Radak says, in their return to their land they shall not grow weary, they shall walk on the way and not tire. The Holy One blessed be He will redeem them with an eternal redemption speedily, without their having the tiredness, but rather they shall walk with enthusiasm and desire and ascend to Zion with joyful song.