"They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, those who trust in a graven image, who say to a molten idol, You are our gods." The Malbim explains that the clauses of the verse are parallel. If you recall, this means the verse divides into four phrases, where the first phrase continues into the third, and the second phrase continues into the fourth. So we read the verse this way: "They shall be turned back, those who trust in a graven image. They shall be greatly ashamed, those who say to a molten idol, You are our gods." Among the idol worshippers, says the Malbim, there were two groups. There were two approaches among the idolaters, and we see this in many expressions in the verses and in the words of Chazal, that there were two conceptions among the idol worshippers. There was the approach of those who believed that Hashem is the God of gods, like Nevuchadnetzar. He always speaks of Hashem as the God of gods. But what did he think? In order to make a connection, we need to connect with the gods. Only the chief boss is the Holy One, blessed be He, and you do not make contact with Him, you cannot, you have no access to Him at all. So what do we do? We make contact with the lower gods, which is essentially the graven image that serves as an intermediary, a medium, connecting us to the Infinite. Because the Infinite has no connection at all with us, He has none, we have no access to Him at all. That is one possibility. Now, the second possibility: there were those who denied entirely and attributed all the power to the graven image, to the idol, to the molten image. They believed that it was the god and there was none besides it, that it formed us and formed the world literally, and that it was really everything. Now against these two distorted conceptions, He now confronts them. "They shall be turned back, those who trust in a graven image." Those who believed that the graven image is only an image, but that there is a God above everything, they shall be turned back. They will no longer trust in the graven image, because they will recognize that there is none besides Him, and all the idols that you thought were powers emanating from Him, blessed be He, are all vanity and misleading nothingness, everything is really Him alone. So they will be turned back from their belief and from their idolatry. "And those who say to a molten idol, You are our gods" - but those who are deeper in the mire, those who say to the molten idol, You are our gods, those who held that the molten idol is the god itself, not merely an official but the god itself, whom one must worship since it formed and created the world literally. And this, by the way, is also the meaning of the term "masechah" (molten idol). "Masechah" indicates rulership, like "nesichei Midyan," princes, yes? The molten idol, they say to the molten idol which holds power and dominion, "You are our gods," the molten idol is our god. And then when it will be revealed that you took for yourself a thing of vanity and misleading nothingness and made it into a god, and out of what did you make it? A piece of wood, a piece of stone, clay, out of this you made yourself a god, and the true God will be revealed, what disgrace, what shame there will be for those people. The first group will not have such great disgrace, because one of them says, I believe that Hashem is infinite and that Hashem exists, I merely sought an official. So when it became clear to you that there are no officials, then they are turned back, they retract. But the latter ones, who say to the molten idol, You are our gods, what will happen to them? What will happen to them is that they will be greatly ashamed. They will have terrible disgrace. What did you exchange for what? Hashem, the Infinite, blessed be He, you exchanged for a graven image? To think that the graven image is the god, that it brings evil and does good, and there is none besides it? Those who say to the molten idol, You are our gods, they will be greatly ashamed. Whereas those who trust in a graven image are merely turned back.
"You deaf ones, hear, and you blind ones, look, that you may see." The Malbim says, when we say of a certain thing or a certain person that he is deaf, when we say of a certain person that he is blind, the Malbim says, it is not fitting to call someone deaf or blind unless by his nature he should have been able to see and does not see. But if by his nature he is not fit to see and not fit to hear, then it is not fitting to call him deaf or blind. It is like I would not say a blind wall. The wall does not need to see and cannot see, so it is not fitting to call it blind. I also would not say a deaf wall, for the same reason. In contrast, when I say of someone that he is deaf, meaning you have the organs of hearing, you have the organs of sight, you were able to see, yet indeed you do not see, you are deaf, you are blind, you do not hear. The Malbim says, so too the nations did not see the wonders of Hashem, the nations did not hear prophecy, for Moshe Rabbeinu asked "and we shall be distinguished, I and Your people," and Bilam the prophet was the last prophet the nations had, so the word of Hashem does not reach them, and therefore by nature sight is not applicable to them, by nature hearing is not applicable to them. To whom, then, is blindness and deafness applicable? Only to Yisrael. Because Yisrael by nature has sight, by nature has hearing. And this is the claim against them: after all, you have the inner senses to see and hear the voice of the Divine speech, and nevertheless you do not see, and nevertheless you do not hear, so you are the true deaf ones, you are the true blind ones. And the Malbim explains that perception is in two ways...
In two ways. Either through the inner eye, that is, the intellectual eye, to grasp the deeds of Hashem, to grasp the signs of Hashem. And this all of Yisrael can attain. Therefore, when they do not want to contemplate the wonders: contemplate, you have an intellectual eye. What do I call him? Blind. There are wonders, the Holy One, blessed be He, performs a wonder, and I do not want to look. I say, no, what is this, it is nature, that is all. What am I called? Blind. Because behold, they present it before you and you do not want to look. Against this He says, "you blind ones, look, that you may see," see and contemplate the wonders of Hashem, and through this you will see His greatness and return to Him.
Or hearing through the inner ear, which means the level of the prophets. The Holy One, blessed be He, speaks with the prophet, and the prophet conveys His word to the people. But unfortunately here too the prophets were in the category of deaf ones. Because the prophets do not want to hear and prophesy to the people, and they are called deaf. Therefore He turns and says, "you deaf ones" - you prophets, hear. Receive the prophecy from Hashem in order to convey it to the people. "And you blind ones" - which is the people - when they see the hand of Hashem and contemplate His deeds, "look, that you may see." So did you notice, we are really speaking here about something spiritual, not about physical sight and hearing.
Now He explains, "Who is blind but My servant? And deaf like My messenger whom I send? Who is blind like the perfect one, and blind like the servant of Hashem?" So this is what He explains regarding what we said earlier. Who is blind? To whom is it fitting to apply the term blind? Only to one who by nature should have been able to see and does not see. So who is that really? "But My servant." Only Yisrael has the preparation to see and does not see. And who is deaf? For the nations, as we said, have no prophecy, is it fitting to call them deaf? They do not have this at all by nature. This is what He says: do you know who is deaf? It is "My messenger whom I send." It is the messenger; "malach" is a term for one who is sent, whom I send, who has the preparation to hear the word of Hashem, but nevertheless does not hear.
And why do I call only them deaf and blind? Only Yisrael, only the prophets, why are the nations not called by Me deaf and blind? Because they, Yisrael, have the preparation to see the intellectual visions. And the Malbim says, this preparation is of two aspects. First, the natural preparation. One must be complete in his intellect, in his character traits, and in the faculties of his soul from birth. Where do we see that one must be complete from birth? That one must be prepared from birth for prophecy? "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." That is, from the outset: "a prophet to the nations I made you." One needs the natural preparation from the outset. Who has this natural preparation? Yisrael.
The second thing: one needs the practical preparation. Fine, you had a natural preparation, what did you do with it? Did you go and elevate yourself, engage in Torah, sanctify yourself? This is called practical preparation. That is, it is not enough that Hashem created in me the possibility, the preparation, that there is here a preparation for prophecy. What did you do with it? Did you go and act in that direction? This is called the practical preparation, to prepare oneself for this attainment, through the service of Hashem, through good deeds.
Yisrael has both of these virtues. First, the natural perfection, as we explained, complete in his intellect, his character traits, and the faculties of his soul. And this is what He says, "Who is blind like the perfect one (meshulam)?" What is "meshulam"? A term for perfection. Yisrael has the preparation of natural perfection. And if they have this and nevertheless do not see, how can we define them? Blind. Because after all you are meshulam. Meshulam means perfected, a term for completeness, I prepared in you a complete preparation to see properly, and you do not see. So who is blind like the perfect one? Is it not the one born perfect who nevertheless does not want to use his eyes, is he not fitting for the definition of blind? "Who is blind like the perfect one."
As the Sefer HaKuzari says, there are four species in creation. There is inanimate, vegetative, animal, and speaking, and what is the fifth level? Yisrael. The people of Yisrael. Why Yisrael? Because it is a species unto itself. Yisrael has the preparation for prophecy. The capacity for prophecy, which no nation has. This makes them a species unto themselves. They are not merely another part of the nations. They are a species unto themselves. And if you recall, we once explained that the fact that Yisrael is a species unto themselves also causes, on the other hand, that when they fall, their downfall is many times greater.
As it is written there, "Fortunate are you, Yisrael," that when they rise, they rise up to the heavens, and when they fall, they fall down to the abyss. Lower, how is it written there, lower than the beast, it is written there that from the dung of the beast they would gather barley to eat. So what is this "Fortunate are you"? Fortunate are you, do you say fortunate are you about people who, when they fall, fall down to the abyss? Where is the "fortunate are you"? So it is explained, there are several commentators who explain, that in essence his wondering was: is Yisrael a virtue unto itself, or is Yisrael an upgraded gentile? What is Yisrael? Is it a level unto itself, or is it the same thing but at a higher level?
What is the practical difference? What is the practical difference whether we are a level unto ourselves or something at a higher level? I will give an example. If, for instance, we have a bicycle. Take a bicycle, add a motor to it. What did you get? A bicycle plus a motor. Does it ride like a bicycle? No, much better. And if the motor is disabled? Well, what can you do? I am left with a bicycle. This means that the motor is an upgrade of the bicycle. In contrast, if you take a vehicle now with a motor, now tell me, a motorcycle with a motor, alright? Is a motorcycle with a motor an upgraded bicycle? No. What is the proof? Take the motor and disable it, what are you left with? You are left with a block of metal that you now become a slave to, searching for how to lug it around... Do you understand? That is, when you are speaking about another species, you took away its virtue, you got zero. Much lower than a bicycle already, a bicycle is preferable to a motorcycle without a motor. In contrast, when you merely upgraded the virtue, it was a bicycle and you added a motor to it, the motor comes off, I am left with a bicycle. This is the difference between two species and a species that is merely upgraded.
Is Yisrael an upgraded species or not? By the way, it is always like this, take an example, the beast. Is the beast an upgraded plant? No. And what is the proof? A plant, behold, look, a plant has the power of growth. A beast too has the power of growth. Plus the power of life. So perhaps we would say it is a more advanced plant. Let me tell you what happens when a beast dies. A carcass. A rotting carcass, you cannot come near it. So which is preferable, this or a plant? Surely a plant is preferable. That is, behold, you see, its virtue came down, it became complete zero, worse than a lower level. From here you learn that the beast is a level unto itself, distinct from the plant.
Let us look at Yisrael. What is Yisrael? Is Yisrael an upgraded gentile, or is Yisrael a species unto itself? How can I know this? Behold, let us see. Yisrael received the Torah, Yisrael received holiness, Yisrael has the service of Hashem. Behold, wonderful indeed. What happens when Yisrael abandons this? If I saw that Yisrael forsook the Torah, what is their state? "Like all the nations, the house of Yisrael." Behold, Yisrael is like all the nations. So I would say, behold, listen, it is a bicycle with a motor. You took off the motor, you are left with a bicycle. But if I see that when Yisrael falls, they deteriorate, to where do they deteriorate? To the abyss. And they reach a state of picking barley out of the dung of the beasts of the Arabs, than which there is no lower level. What does this show you? That the level of Yisrael is a species unto itself. It is not an upgraded gentile. It is a different essence. And when you took away its virtue, you got complete zero. You did not get a gentile, you did not return to a lower state, to a lower level, you got absolute zero.
This is essentially what we are explaining here as well. Yisrael has the natural perfection. What is the meaning of natural perfection? As we explained, that already at their root they are perfected, and in terms of nature they have this level of preparation for prophecy, which is a fifth species in creation. They have the virtue that no gentile has. Second, they have the practical perfection. What is essentially the definition of practical perfection? Practical perfection means that Yisrael, in their...
In their deeds advance themselves toward the service of Hashem. That is, they not only received the possibilities, they not only received the capabilities, they also actually bring this to fruition. And this is the continuation, "and blind like the servant of Hashem." A servant is out of choice. The fact that I was born complete, that is, with the capabilities to reach prophecy, I did nothing for it. It is the kindness of Hashem upon me. The Holy One, blessed be He, brought me forth as part of Yisrael, and Yisrael are born in perfection. But the fact that a person is in the category of a servant of Hashem, that is his own matter, that is his own virtue, that is his own level. He worked and toiled for it. So then, of whom is it fitting to say he is blind and does not receive prophecy? Only of Yisrael. Because Yisrael, after all you are in the category of a servant of Hashem, you have the possibility to be in the category of a servant of Hashem and to rise, and nevertheless you do not want to see and you do not want to hear, so what are you? Blind. You are blind, you are deaf, because you have the capabilities. But the gentile, as we said, was created without ears, without eyes. Is it fitting to call him blind? It is like a block. Is it fitting to call him blind? He has no preparation at all. Neither the natural preparation nor the practical preparation, for as they say, even if a gentile works on himself extremely hard, he will reach very, very low. He will not reach high. It therefore follows that the nations do not have all these virtues, so it is not fitting to call them deaf and blind. And therefore "who is blind but My servant, and who is deaf like My messenger whom I send." Who is blind? Why do I call him blind? Because he is meshulam. For after all you have the perfection, as we explained, the perfection of the soul with which you were born, the natural perfection. "And blind like the servant of Hashem," I also call you blind, since you also have the practical perfection, it is in your power to act and become a servant of Hashem. And why did you not see and not hear? This is nothing but deafness and blindness.
The Malbim explains that there is here an expression of "meshulam." That is, "meshulam" is a term for complete. What is the difference, says the Malbim, between "shalem" (complete) and "tamim" (whole)? A "tamim" lamb also means complete. Apparently both express completeness. What is the difference between them? The Malbim says, "tamim" is the opposite of blemish and deficiency. Something that has no blemish and deficiency is called "tamim." "Shalem" means perfected in the best possible way. Do you understand? That is, "tamim" does not necessarily have some great perfection. It has no blemish. It has no blemish, it is called "tamim." In contrast, if it has been perfected in all possible virtues, this we call "shalem." The best that can be according to the matter.
A person who has no blemish, this is called natural wholeness. In terms of nature he was born complete, he has no blemish. And if he is also not hypocritical and not a flatterer or liar, then I would say he also has wholeness of soul. In his soul too he is whole. In his soul too it is whole. Did you notice? He has no flaw. I have not yet spoken of virtues. He has no blemish in the body, bodily wholeness. He has no blemish in the soul, wholeness of soul. I have not yet spoken of him having virtues in the soul. In contrast, one who has managed to reach, say, wealth, health, success, this I call complete in natural perfection. Do you notice? He is not "tamim," meaning merely not lacking, but complete, having attained a virtue. This is in the category of "shalem," he has natural perfection. Natural wholeness is being born without blemish. He is not lacking. But I want to tell you, no, not merely not lacking, he has additional virtues, so I will call him complete, he has natural perfection. And if I want to speak of the perfection of the soul, then we said, one who is not a flatterer, not a liar, not a hypocrite, I say he has wholeness of soul. Meaning he has no flaw. What does it mean to attain perfection of soul? One who has attained the virtues of the soul, attained the lofty virtues of the prophets, of the holy ones, this is called being complete in perfection of soul. He perfected himself. He is not merely whole without deficiencies, he is not merely not a liar. He attained spiritual, inner attainments, this is called perfection of soul.
Therefore He says, notice, with animals we do not use the term perfection for them, only "tamim" (whole). A "tamim" lamb. Why? Because what is the maximum that the lamb can be? Without flaw. Can I say this lamb attained perfection, it is a wealthy lamb? What wealthy? What? Not materially, certainly not spiritually, I cannot say that it attained and rectified itself. So what is the maximum applicable to it? It is "tamim." "Tamim" means complete, it has no deficiency. That is its entire virtue, without flaw. But to say that it attained something, that is not applicable. And also, He says, with things that do not have limbs, we use the term "shalem" (complete). For example, whole stones, "where it is complete." Why? Because for a body that does not have limbs, a blemish is not applicable. What would I say? For example, stones without blemish? Is there a certain size that a stone must be, that less than this is a blemish? Or "where it is complete," where is it without blemish? Here we have a problem because I cannot write regarding it the term "tamim." I cannot write regarding it, because "tamim" means without blemish. What would you say, without deficiency? "Where it is without deficiency"? Is there a certain measure it must be, that less than this is a deficiency? Here I need to say "shleimah" (complete), meaning it perfected itself. Meaning it is at the maximum. There, only in these cases will I express with the term "shalem." But with something that has a certain size it is supposed to be, like a lamb, it has a certain number of limbs it should have, if it lacks one of them I will not say it did not attain perfection, I will say it did not attain wholeness, it is not "tamim," it is not complete, meaning perfected in what it should be. And "shleimut" (perfection) always comes to express something beyond. An additional attainment, beyond what one who is merely whole can attain, he adds further unique virtues. This is what He says, "Who is blind but My servant and deaf like My messenger whom I send, who is blind like the perfect one (meshulam)." For "meshulam" means you have the possibility to reach a high perfection, not merely no deficiency, you are not a lamb. You are a Jew, you are Yisrael. And out of Yisrael one can reach a much higher level, the level of, as we explained, not merely having no deficiency but even having a virtue and lofty perfection.
"Seeing many things but you do not observe, opening the ears but he does not hear." You can see many things from which, if you contemplate, you would see and recognize the greatness of Hashem. And nevertheless, "but you do not observe." You do not examine, you do not open your eyes. Contemplate, see the kindness of Hashem upon you, see how many miracles the Holy One, blessed be He, performs. About this He essentially opened, "you deaf ones, hear." Why do you not contemplate, "you blind ones, look, that you may see." And now He moves to speak about the prophet. He says, your prophet too, he is the deaf one about whom I speak. Because "opening the ears," Hashem wants to open his ears, to let him hear His word, but "he does not hear." The prophet is not interested in hearing, not interested in going to reprove the people.
"Hashem desired, for the sake of His righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious." "Hashem desired, for the sake of His righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious." The Malbim says, when one wants to bring a proof, there is a way, in fact there are two ways in which one can bring a proof. There is a way from the premise to the outcome, and there is a way from the outcome to the premise. When we speak from the premise to the outcome, this means, I have something that I saw, and now based on that thing I saw, the facts known to me, I want to draw conclusions about what will be in the end. This is called the way of drawing conclusions from the premise to the outcome. Based on what I see now, I estimate from this what will be born. This is a way of research, when one examines what has changed over a certain time, and based on this draws conclusions about the future, what is going to be. There is another way, and this is the way from the outcome to the premise. What is from the outcome to the premise? It is exactly the reverse. I see what is happening with this today, and based on this I want to draw conclusions about what was in the past. Based on this I want to draw conclusions about how it developed, how it began. Based on what? Based on the outcome, from the outcome we go to the premise. The Malbim explains, that generation had questions about the Holy One, blessed be He. And they asked their question from the premise to the outcome. This is a question asked, so to speak, forward. There is a possibility to ask backward, from the outcome, what are the results, from this I want to conclude what was in the beginning, this is called going backward. But that generation asked forward. That is, they bring a proof from what was in the beginning about what will be in the end. And they come this way and lay down a premise and say, after all, Hashem desired for the sake of His righteousness. After all, the Holy One, blessed be He, desired for the sake of His righteousness, meaning, why did Hashem give us so much Torah.
Ostensibly the seven Noahide commandments would suffice, why did Hashem give us 613 commandments? Because Hashem wants to grant us merit. The Holy One, blessed be He, wants us to have many merits, that we have eternal reward, that we have contentment in the world of truth. And therefore, by giving us many commandments, through this we have the greater possibility to attain merits. For Hashem desired for the sake of His righteousness, and for this reason "to make the Torah great and glorious." For this reason the Holy One, blessed be He, made the Torah great and glorious for Yisrael, giving them 613 and not contenting Himself with only seven.
But they say, if this is the reason, here they are still at the premise, if this is the reason, let us see what happens in the result. Let us see whether the results really brought about this matter or not. "And it is a people plundered and spoiled, they are all snared in holes, and hidden in prison houses; they became a prey with none to deliver, a spoil with none to say, Restore." And if so, if this is, so to speak, the reckoning of the Omnipresent, that Hashem desired for the sake of His righteousness to make the Torah great and glorious, why do we see that those very means which Hashem prepared in order to make Yisrael righteous, in order to make the Torah great for them, in order to glorify them, we see that these means did not, in the end, bring about the hoped-for result.
Behold, see what happens, what the state of Yisrael is. The abundance of Torah and commandments, instead of giving them greater reward, greater virtue, elevation over the other nations, following this what happened? "And it is a people plundered and spoiled." Yisrael are despised and plundered, meaning they are looted, and all they have is spoiled. "Spoiled" means destroyed. "They are all snared in holes." And they are "hafeach," "hafeach" meaning they ask and breathe it out in their speech. "Hafeach" with the mouth is a term for speech.
"They are all snared in holes." The Malbim explains that "bachurim" (in holes) does not mean from the word "bachur" (young man), but from the word "chor" (hole). That is, within the holes where they are, they "hafeach," they breathe out and ask with their mouths, uttering it like a breath from their mouths and asking, why is Yisrael a prey with none to deliver? "And hidden in prison houses," in those prison houses where they hide, they ask why is it the reality that we are a prey with none to deliver, a spoil with none to say, Restore? And if so, ostensibly the original plan of "Hashem desired for the sake of His righteousness" did not bring about the hoped-for result, that through this Yisrael would truly be elevated and distinguished from all the nations for good, but on the contrary, "Hashem desired for the sake of His righteousness to make the Torah great and glorious," instead of bringing about the hoped-for result, see what this brought about, that Yisrael are plundered, despised, and persecuted by the nations, with none to deliver them.
The Malbim explains that "hafeach" is a matter of speech. As we saw "I will restore, I will speak," "he breathes out lies," "a false witness who breathes out lies": the witness who lies utters and speaks words of falsehood. Here we see that there are those in holes, meaning those who are in holes, and there are those who are in prison houses. The Malbim explains, what is the difference between them? The Malbim says, a place where a person hides himself, this is called a hole. He sought some hole to hide in. Prison houses, in contrast, are a place where they threw him against his will. So this is essentially two expressions that come to express two things. First, because of the persecution and searching, they search for some hole to hide in. Second, the pursuers, the enemies, also those whom they catch, they also imprison them.
And they ask why Yisrael became a prey with none to deliver, a spoil with none to say, Restore? Why regarding prey does He say none to deliver, and regarding spoil does He say none to say, Restore? The Malbim says, let us explain the difference between prey and spoil and then we will also understand the expressions. Prey is what the enemy plunders for his own use. For example, we conquered, say, a country, and there is oil there, there is property, and there are weapons, and we plunder them for ourselves. This is called prey. In contrast, spoil is not something we take, but something we destroy. Whatever remains, they consume with fire. They take it and burn it. No, they leave nothing, not with the intent to take for ourselves, but spoil always means what is trampled and stamped underfoot in order to destroy it.
When the army goes and plunders, the general does not hold it back. Because it is coming to them. The soldiers deserve to plunder what they fought for. They fought, they conquered the enemy, part of what pays off for the soldiers for the whole war is the plunder they take at the end of the war. So this the general will not prevent them from taking. In contrast, what they spoil, sometimes this the general will indeed prevent them from doing. Sometimes the general will tell them not to go and destroy. If he sees some reason, some interest, sometimes the general will say not to destroy what remains there.
It follows, then, that when they want to plunder, the general does not prevent them. I need someone from among our friends, from among our allies, someone who will be with us and prevent the opposing army. Someone who will come and deliver from them. In contrast, when they come to spoil, as we explained to destroy, then sometimes you do not need someone of your own to come and deliver. Sometimes their own general will prevent them. Their own general will say, restore it to them, do not simply destroy. Therefore notice the wording. "They became a prey," when the enemies come against us to plunder us, "with none to deliver." There is no one to help us, to deliver us from the plunder of the enemy. "They became a spoil," and they come as well and what they do not take they come to destroy, "and none to say, Restore." Here a deliverer is not needed, it is enough that their own general say, Restore. But even this there is not. There is not even one to say, Restore. That is, He comes and shows how severe our situation is. So they, as I said again, come from the beginning to the end. After all, Hashem desired for the sake of His righteousness, that is the premise, the result of this should have been that Yisrael would be in a good state. And behold, on the contrary, we see that "Hashem desired for the sake of His righteousness to make the Torah great and glorious," He gave us much Torah and commandments, not only did it not bring good upon us, but it even brought evil upon us, we are the lowliest people of all the nations.
To this comes the answer of Hashem. "Who among you will give ear to this, will attend and hear for the time to come?" The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, you began to ask forward as we asked, from the premise to the result. You did not go in the correct way. You should go the opposite way. You should go from the result to the premise. Who is the man among you who will give ear to this, will not go in the way in which you went, from the premise to the outcome, but from the outcome to the premise. That is, from the conclusion, from the result, he will draw conclusions about the beginning. And this is called, as we said, going backward. Not in the way in which you went, but the opposite. That is, come now, we need to see what the results are. What are the results? Yisrael are given over to plunder. This is the result.
Let us go to the results, and now you ask why Hashem does not deliver? Let us go to the premise. Let us see from what this was caused. Not as you went, you went from the premise, after all Hashem wants to grant us merit, He gave us much Torah, so why are we plundered? He says, let us go the opposite way. We are plundered, these are the facts. The facts are that we are plundered. Since we are plundered, let us try to clarify what caused this. What caused this? You will now understand that everything is with providence. And this is now in verse 24, He goes according to this way. First of all let us see the results. "Who gave Yaakov for a spoil, and Yisrael to the plunderers?" From this you will arrive at the premise. "Was it not Hashem, against whom we sinned, and they were not willing to walk in His ways, and they did not obey His Torah?" Who gave Yaakov for a spoil? Was it not Hashem. You think, so to speak, that it is the hand of chance, Hashem gave us many commandments, why in the end are we plundered? From the hand of chance? He says, no, no, no, no. Let us go and see what actually happened here. After all, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave you Torah and commandments, why? Because Hashem truly desired for the sake of His righteousness. And Hashem truly wants to make the Torah great, and wants Yisrael to have many merits. And if you see that in the end "Yaakov was given for a spoil and Yisrael to the plunderers," necessarily this is with providence. It did not happen on its own. And if it did not happen on its own, then let us try to search at the root, let us go backward. What caused this? What caused this? Was it not Hashem, against whom...
"Was it not Hashem, against whom we sinned, and they were not willing to walk in His ways, and they did not obey His Torah." The cause is you. The cause is you, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, since you were not willing to walk in the Torah of Hashem, consequently through this He brought upon you all the troubles and all the calamities. "Was it not Hashem, against whom (zu) we sinned," what is "zu"? That very same reason for which I wanted to make the Torah and commandments great for you, in order to make the Torah great and glorious, in order to give you abundant reward, and following this you went and despised it, and this very thing we sinned against Him, in this very matter that He made the Torah and commandments great for us, we despised those Torah and commandments, and consequently through this "Yaakov was given for a spoil and Yisrael to the plunderers."
Now notice, the Malbim says, if there is a situation where there is someone to whom I did not do good and he went and rebelled against me, I will be strict with him, but not such a great strictness. In contrast, if there is someone to whom I did good, and with what I did him good he went and rebelled against me, went and transgressed against me, then this is a much greater punishment, the anger is much greater. And this is what He says to them, "Was it not Hashem, against whom we sinned." The Malbim actually notes there is a difficulty here, I want us to understand, what is "Hashem, against whom we sinned"? What is "zu"? After all, Hashem, it is against Him we sinned. If you are speaking about Hashem, say "against Him we sinned," and altogether perhaps the word "zu" is superfluous, "Was it not Hashem, against whom we sinned." What is "zu"? He says, no, understand what doubles and increases your sin, for in that very thing, in that very reason for which the Holy One, blessed be He, did good to us, in what did He do good to us? He made the Torah great for us, He made the commandments great for us, why? Because He wanted to make the Torah great and glorious, He wanted, He desired for the sake of His righteousness, that we be worthy, that we be righteous, that we have abundant reward, in this very thing we transgressed against Him. Not only did we not use it, we even transgressed and used it against Him, we even violated His commandments and rebelled against Him.
He says, then, how do you think this would pass in silence? After all, we sinned against Him "and they were not willing to walk in His ways," even when the prophets came and reproved them, they were not willing to walk in His ways, their heart was not inclined toward Him, and they did not content themselves merely with not being willing, "and they did not obey His Torah," they violated it with contempt. So that very reason which I gave you to increase your virtue, in the end you used it to diminish and lower your virtue. So do not be surprised at the punishment, because these commandments were given for your good, and you, by not being willing and not hearing, through this were punished by them. And if so, who is to blame? The person himself, so he has no complaint against the King.
The Malbim says, notice, there is here "a spoil, Yaakov, and Yisrael to the plunderers." The Malbim, as is his way always, explains that Yaakov comes to symbolize the state of Yisrael at their lower level. The portion of their masses, they are Yaakov from the term "akev" (heel), the people at the lower level, those who are at the heel. In contrast, Yisrael comes to express the great ones, the ministers, the important ones. He says, therefore notice, Yaakov which is the lower level, they gave them for a spoil. As spoil the enemy came and killed them and destroyed them. In contrast, among Yisrael there were also important ones, like Daniel and his companions. What did the enemy do with them? He placed them in the king's palace as ministers and advisors. So were they given for a spoil or for plunder? Plunder, he plundered them for himself so that they would serve before him. Therefore this fits very well: who gave Yaakov for a spoil, the masses of Yisrael, the simple people, were given for a spoil, they destroyed them, killed them, slaughtered them. And Yisrael, those who are at the higher level, at the level of Yisrael, they were for the plunderers, they plundered them, the enemy did not destroy them but took them to his palace, plundered them like a person who plunders wealth.
The word "zu," says the Malbim, alludes to a hidden thing and applies both in the masculine and the feminine. "This people (zu) I formed for Myself," yes, "they are caught in the schemes which (zu) they devised," "from the wicked who (zu) despoil me," "this thing despoiled me," and so on, "and the path in which (zu) she will go," "zu" is used both in the masculine and in the feminine.
What is somewhat difficult here in the phrasing of the verse is that the verse opens in the first person and concludes in the third person. "Was it not Hashem, against whom we (anachnu) sinned," we, we sinned, "and they were not willing (lo avu) to walk in His ways." How should it have said? "And we were not willing to walk in His ways." Or it should say, either "Yisrael, against whom they sinned and they were not willing to walk in His ways," speaking entirely in the third person. But to open in the first person and conclude in the third person? So Rashi senses this, and therefore Rashi says that here they are speaking about two groups, they are speaking about us and about our fathers. "Was it not Hashem, against whom we sinned," us, and this did not begin with us, "and they were not willing," our fathers, to walk in His ways, this already began with our fathers who were not willing to walk in His ways. So it follows, then, that it speaks here essentially about two groups, and therefore He speaks both in the first person and in the third person. The Radak, in contrast, also senses this difficulty, and the Radak says, do not be surprised, such is the way of the verses. It is possible that in a single verse it would use pronouns different from one another. "Their seed (zaram) was for the mornings, indeed our salvation (yeshuateinu)": it should have said "their seed, indeed their salvation," "our seed, indeed our salvation," "their seed, indeed our salvation": "their seed" is third person, "our salvation" is first person. Here you see that such is indeed the way of the verses, so here too, "Was it not Hashem, against whom we sinned, and they were not willing to walk in His ways," the Radak says, do not be surprised at this phrasing.
"And He poured upon him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle; and it set him aflame all around, yet he did not know, and it burned in him, yet he did not lay it to heart." "And He poured upon him the fury of His anger." Since, following the fact that Yisrael strayed from the path, and I made the Torah abundant for them for their good, and they used this to defy the word of Hashem, so what did this thing cause? "And He poured upon him the fury of His anger," the Holy One, blessed be He, poured out His fury upon them. And what is the reason that "the strength of battle set him aflame all around"? The reason for this is because "he did not know, and it burned in him, yet he did not lay it to heart." Had they repented, well, the Holy One, blessed be He, would have forgiven them, but they did not repent. After He poured out the fury of His anger, after it set him aflame all around, "he did not know." As it were, he does not know why this happened to him, he does not understand from where this came upon him, he does not understand that there is here a hint from Hashem and one must return in repentance. "He did not know," he does not sense and does not know.
"And he did not lay it to heart." That is, at first the fire began to burn all around. "And it set him aflame all around, yet he did not know." He still does not understand: sir, you are in danger, this is about to reach you. All around is fire and he did not know. Afterward "and it burned in him," well, now you see that it has already caught on in you yourself, "and it burned in him, yet he did not lay it to heart." And he nevertheless did not lay it to his heart to return in repentance, does not extinguish the fire, does not remove the fury and wrath of the Holy One, blessed be He, from upon himself by doing repentance. What is the analogue? The analogue is that at first the enemy did not immediately come and strike us, the enemy came and conquered all around, at the borders of the Land of Yisrael. This is called "and it set him aflame all around." "And he did not know," it is as if he does not understand that soon the enemy is reaching you. And afterward the enemy comes directly and "and it burned in him," and we already see that he comes upon us, not upon the nations, this is already upon us literally, "yet he did not lay it to heart." And he nevertheless did not lay it to his heart to return in repentance.
The Malbim says, it is written here "chemah" (fury) and it is written here "apo" (His anger). "Chemah" the Malbim always explains is the inner anger. And "af" is what comes out. Therefore it is written "a fire has kindled in My anger (api)," this is always the "af," when a person's nose turns red, vapors begin to come out of the mouth, this is already when the anger goes out from within to the outside. In contrast, "chemah," as it is written regarding Achashverosh, "and his fury burned within him." "Chemah," when it burns, it is within. There too we explained according to the Malbim why at first it merely burned within him and he could not allow himself to show anger outwardly, the Malbim has there a wonderful explanation, whoever wishes can hear it on the disc of Megillat Esther. In any case He says here, at first there was the category of "chemah," and afterward it became "apo," the fire went outward, and in the third stage "the strength of battle," He came in battle with strength against Yisrael, that Yisrael do not pay attention to the hints, Yisrael do not pay attention to how the Holy One, blessed be He, speaks with them, and then the war is already an open war.