00:00 Sefer Yeshayahu, chapter 44. "And now hear, Yaakov My servant, and Yisrael whom I have chosen." After the harsh words with which the previous chapter concluded, now come words of comfort. Even though I profane you, striking you for your sins, I will still do you great good, so the Radak explains. Therefore, hear the comfort: you My servant, who dwell among the idol worshipers, hear, Yaakov My servant, for I chose you out of all of them. See what wonderful things the Radak says. A good servant, even though he sins at times, is not driven out by his master but rather is disciplined. I still need him. Fine, he transgressed, alright, so we give him some punishment, but I still need him. And in the end, after he is disciplined several times, the servant will receive the chastisements and be comforted, and the servant will return to serve his master with an upright heart, and his master will do him much good. This is our pesukim. You, Am Yisrael, you are Yaakov My servant, says the Holy One blessed be He, indeed a servant who transgressed, but a servant whom I still want. For a servant whom I do not want, I cast away. I sell him. I do not want this trouble. But if I discipline him, that means I still have hope in him. So on the contrary, these are words of comfort: Yaakov, you are My servant, and Yisrael whom I have chosen.
The Malbim also explains along the same line. The Malbim says: the sins of this generation have already received their punishment, the debt has already been paid. Therefore now the time of redemption has arrived, to redeem Am Yisrael after they have paid the price. And so he says, "Hear, Yaakov My servant, and Yisrael whom I have chosen." My servant, from the perspective of the service with which you serve Me. But the service with which you serve Me, is it on a high level or a low level? Says the Holy One blessed be He: Yaakov My servant. It is on a low level. Yaakov, we explained, is from the word akev (heel), coming to express our low level, not the high level of Am Yisrael. But if so, you might ask, what does Hashem have with us? What is He looking for with us? What does He want from us? If we only serve Him on a low level, not as we should. Says the Holy One blessed be He: you know why I still seek you? Because "Yisrael whom I have chosen." From the aspect that I chose you, from the aspect that you are Yisrael, meaning that you are My special nation from ever and always, Am Yisrael, a high level, therefore I desire you, therefore I chose you. Now pay attention: there are merits of ours from our own side, and there is, as it were, that the Holy One blessed be He desires us. It is always good to come with merits of our own, yes? To come by the power of one's deeds. People of faith are lost, they come by the power of their deeds. Today people do not come by the power of their deeds, today everyone comes by force. Everything is by strength of arm, by violence, and that is how they come to demand. But once, by the power of one's deeds, they had merits. So what is My matter with you? Says the Holy One blessed be He: "Yisrael whom I have chosen." Since I have already chosen, you are My chosen nation, therefore, as it were, from this aspect I will redeem you.
The Malbim notes a change. Here it is written "Yaakov My servant, Yisrael whom I have chosen." But in chapter 41 verse 8 it is written the opposite, "Yisrael My servant, Yaakov whom I have chosen." Do you hear? Exactly reversed definitions. Here "Yaakov My servant," there "Yisrael My servant." Here "Yisrael whom I have chosen," there it is written "Yaakov whom I have chosen." The Malbim asks: what is the difference? There he intended to magnify their service, to show their virtue. So he says, I chose them because they were in the category of Yisrael. "Yisrael My servant," for they served Me at the level of Yisrael. This shows their high level. And "Yaakov whom I have chosen," meaning I chose them already from long ago, already from Egypt. What were they then? They were Yaakov, they did not have many merits. But now, when they serve Me, they are in the category of Yisrael. There, to elevate their virtue. And here exactly the opposite. Here he comes to show their lowliness, to diminish the virtue of their service. He tells you: there they achieved this through kindness, through Hashem's choosing, and in every place he actually speaks according to its matter. Here it comes as rebuke, in order to tell them: behold, see, you are not worthy, but the Holy One blessed be He had pity and mercy on you.
"Thus says Hashem your Maker and your Fashioner from the womb who will help you: do not fear, My servant Yaakov, and Yeshurun whom I have chosen." "Thus says Hashem your Maker." What is "your Maker"? The Radak explains, it is like "who made Moshe and Aharon." What is "made"? It means raised up, like "and she shall trim her nails." It means to grow the thing, that is called making it. Or "your Maker," like He who creates you, like He who fashions you. Now see, this is a wonderful explanation the Radak brings here in the name of the Ibn Ezra. There is something written here, "your Maker and your Fashioner from the womb who will help you." He spoke here about Yaakov. It is written, and he intends to hint here, says the Ibn Ezra, regarding the matter of Yaakov. It is written about Yaakov that in the womb he grasped his brother's heel, right? His hand grasping onto Esav's heel. Now tell me, is it natural for a child to grasp his brother's heel? No. Why not? He says, because they have a placenta. And the moment their placentas separate, how could he possibly grasp his brother's heel? For their placentas are separate. And if so, how did this happen? He says: a fetus does not extend its hand out of the placenta, all the more so that it would grasp with its hand. And this was a miraculous act. So who then performed the miracle? The Holy One blessed be He. So the Holy One blessed be He was there with Yaakov Avinu in the womb, and, as it were, drew Yaakov's hand to grasp Esav's heel. This is a miracle the Holy One blessed be He performed then. This is what he says: "Thus says Hashem your Maker and your Fashioner from the womb." He who was with your father there in the womb, He will be with you in exile, which resembles a tight and pressed place like the womb. Like the womb of a fetus. And by the way, this parallels: just as the womb of the fetus is a stage in which the woman undergoes a process and afterward comes the birth, exactly so too is the exile. Exile is a period of difficulty, of suffering, of pressure, but afterward come the birthpangs of Mashiach, which are in fact those very labor pains. And the greater the pressure grows upon the fetus, and the greater the woman's pain, what does that mean? That the birth is closer. So too, the more the troubles increase and intensify, this shows that the redemption is nearer. So this is in fact a most precise parable and application. "Thus says Hashem your Maker and your Fashioner from the womb," He who fashioned Yaakov who grasped Esav's heel from the womb, He too will help you and bring you out of the exile.
"And Yeshurun whom I have chosen." The Radak explains Yeshurun: why is he called Yeshurun? It is known that this is Yisrael, and he is called thus because he is upright (yashar) among the nations. Do you hear what Yeshurun means? Am Yisrael are upright among the nations, therefore they are called Yeshurun. And if you ask, perhaps today this is not exactly the symbol of uprightness, that is because they mingled among the nations and learned from their deeds. And it is written "the Egyptians did us evil (vayarei'u)." What do Chazal expound? That they made us evil, it does not say "they did evil to us." Rather, as a consequence of our unfortunately having adopted all sorts of ideas of the nations, as a result of this we have all those who spread evil slander about us. But in truth, Am Yisrael, from the perspective of their virtue, are the most upright of the nations, they are at the highest level.
The Malbim explains, "Thus says Hashem your Maker and your Fashioner from the womb." The Malbim dwells on the difference in the holy tongue, what is the difference between "your Maker" and "your Fashioner." Says the Malbim: the fashioner is the one who makes the form of the thing. The maker is the one who completes the making. The fashioner takes material and forms a vessel. Who is called the maker of the vessel? The one who afterward polishes it, coats it, does the finishing of it, he is called the maker. Concerning this, the Holy One blessed be He says, "Thus says Hashem your Maker." I, Hashem, am your Maker, meaning I completed you. But lest you think only the completion, rather I am also "your Fashioner from the womb." Even your beginning, even your formation, even that I did. And even after I made you, "He will help you." I will watch over you always. Not like a fashioner who fashioned a vessel or a maker who completed the vessel, who after finishing leaves and goes away. Says the Holy One blessed be He: no, I will help you. I still continue and watch over you with constant providence. The Malbim says: what is the application here in fact? As it were, like the child formed from the drop, and afterward when it emerges from the womb, as it were Hashem watches over it always. So there was here the stage of formation, that is "your Fashioner," and there was the stage of making, which is the completion and the birth, and afterward, throughout the child's growth, Hashem watches over it. Such is the condition of Am Yisrael. The Holy One blessed be He, as it were, gave birth, the birth of the nation was in Egypt. There the Holy One blessed be He fashioned them. He brought them to completion, that is the making, when? At the giving of the Torah. "This day you have become a nation." That was their making. And afterward the Holy One blessed be He leads them in His abundant kindness and brings them to Eretz Yisrael and watches over them. That is the continuation, "He will help you." I help and support and uphold your right hand in order to assist and watch over all your deeds. As it is written, "Is He not your Father who acquired you," that is against the fashioner. "He made you," that is against the maker. "And He established you," which means like "from the womb He will help you," meaning He continually establishes you and sets you on your base, meaning watches over you, to lead you in the right path. Therefore, "do not fear, My servant Yaakov, and Yeshurun whom I have chosen." Do not fear, My servant Yaakov, as He said before, "Hear, Yaakov My servant." And Yeshurun, meaning Yisrael whom I have chosen, as He said before, "Yisrael whom I have chosen." For just as I made you, and just as even before that I fashioned you, I continue and will help you and watch over you. So of whom do you have to be afraid?
"For I will pour water upon the thirsty and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit upon your seed and My blessing upon your offspring." "For I will pour water upon the thirsty." The Radak explains: just as I pour water upon a thirsty place, so too, meaning a desert and the like, so too "I will pour My spirit upon your seed." This is like what is written in Sefer Yoel, "I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh." And "all flesh," says the Radak, do not err, we are not speaking of the nations. About Yisrael, as it is written, "and your sons and your daughters will prophesy." Here he foretells this prophecy. I will pour My blessing upon them. What is that "water," as it were, that the Holy One blessed be He will pour upon them? The water is the power of prophecy. And what are "your seed" and "your offspring"? Says the Malbim, says the Radak, he speaks here about that generation and promises them that the salvation will be for their children, that is, for their offspring. Now pay attention, there are two things here. The Radak notes that there is "My spirit" and there is "My blessing." "I will pour My spirit upon your seed," and there is here "My blessing upon your offspring." What is "My spirit" and what is "My blessing"? Says the Malbim, says the Radak, there is here a blessing for the soul and a blessing for the body. And he explains: regarding the soul, prophecy had ceased from Am Yisrael. They are like ones thirsty for the word of Hashem. Thirsty to hear a word from Him, blessed be He, as it is written, "not a hunger for bread nor a thirst for water, but to hear the word of Hashem." That is, this is the thirst of which he speaks at the beginning. Says the Holy One blessed be He: I promise you to quench your thirst. "I will pour My spirit upon your seed." Here he speaks about the spiritual part. I will elevate your spiritual level, you will merit prophecy. Regarding the body, Am Yisrael await salvation. The Holy One blessed be He says, "and My blessing upon your offspring." This will be the blessing that I will give upon your offspring, meaning that He will redeem them, the redemption of the body. So there are two things here, both the physical redemption and the spiritual redemption. And what is "I will pour water upon the thirsty and streams upon the dry ground"? According to the Radak, "dry ground" does not mean the general concept of the earth, as "God called the dry land Earth," but rather "dry ground" means a place in the land that is dry. So he says, this is the meaning here of the term "dry ground," not the general concept of dry land.
The Malbim explains: the Divine abundance, says the Malbim, is like rain. When the Holy One blessed be He wants to bestow rain upon a certain field, He does not rain only upon that plot. Although it is brought in the Navi that one plot would be rained upon and one plot would not, and the Gemara brings this regarding sages who merited it, but that is not the standard. Usually, when the Holy One blessed be He wants to bestow upon a plot, He bestows upon the whole area. Everyone benefits on his account. Like "the whole world is nourished for the sake of Chanina My son." The Holy One blessed be He, when He bestows, bestows upon everything. Concerning this he says: after Hashem sends down the abundance that is fitting and prepared for those who are truly righteous and worthy, this abundance generally comes down also upon those who are not at that level. Also those who did not prepare themselves. And this is what he says, "for I will pour water upon the thirsty." Just as I send down rain and pour water for whom? For the thirsty. For the ground that is thirsty for rain. As a result of this, what comes out? "And streams upon the dry ground." According to the Malbim, "dry ground" refers to the whole dry land, not to a dry place. As a result of my wanting to pour water upon thirsty ground, who drinks? All the dry land drinks. Even the places that are not really thirsty, "and streams upon the dry ground." Behold, such is the way abundance is bestowed in physical matters. Says the Holy One blessed be He: so too, when I bestow spiritual abundance upon the people prepared for it, the abundance will come down and be bestowed also upon the people who are not prepared for it. Can someone give us an example of this from Tanach? We see, when they came to Shmuel, when he was prophesying, what happened to all those who came with Shaul? What happened to them all? They all became prophets. Suddenly they all began to prophesy. That is, when the abundance comes down, it comes down with such tremendous force that whoever reaches the place of abundance benefits automatically. As it were, one who draws near to an anointed one gets anointed. He draws near to someone who anointed himself with oil, so drops fall on him too, he too receives that oil. So we see that there is such a reality that the Holy One blessed be He rests and pours upon the worthy, and automatically those around also get wet. So too, "I will pour My spirit upon your seed." The seed are the older children. "Your offspring" are the younger children. The Malbim explains thus in several places, that when it says "your seed" it is the older ones, "your offspring" is the younger ones. So too with the Divine abundance. Says the Holy One blessed be He: upon whom will I pour? Upon your seed. Why? Because your seed are the older ones, they are the worthy ones, those who prepared themselves for prophecy. Upon them I will pour the abundance. And automatically, "and My blessing upon your offspring." "My blessing," what is it? From the word berachah. Berachah is a term of increase, as we explained several times. The letters bet, kaf, resh are the beginning of the increase. The unit is one, the increase of the unit is two, that is bet. The tens is ten, the increase of the tens is twenty, that is kaf. And the hundreds, the unit of the hundreds is a hundred, the increase of the hundreds is two hundred, that is resh. Bet, kaf, resh. By the way, that is also why the firstborn inherits a double portion, so the Gaon of Vilna explains. And behold you see that berachah means the beginning of the abundance. Says the Holy One blessed be He: "and My blessing upon your offspring." Your offspring are the younger ones. The younger ones will receive as a result of what? That "I will pour My spirit upon your seed." Since upon your seed, the older ones, I will pour My spirit, they being fitting and worthy, automatically My blessing will rest, as it were, as if by its own power, also upon your offspring, they will be blessed on account of the older ones.
"And they will spring up among the grass, like willows by streams of water." Am Yisrael will spring up among the grass, as though they were sown among the grass. Why does he specifically compare it to grass? Says the Radak: grass also has a downside. The grass does not last for a long time. We see expressions on this in the Navi, "like grass they will quickly wither." The grass does not last for a long time, it quickly dries up. But on the other hand, it grows quickly. And here the parable is regarding the speed of the growth, not, God forbid, regarding the length of life, but regarding the speed of the growth. "And they will spring up among the grass," they will grow quickly. Ah, but what, God forbid, will they also wither quickly? No, no, no, "like willows by streams of water." Willows means aravot, yes? "Upon the willows in its midst we hung our harps." Were they not Jews? What is aravim? Willows, yes? It means willows. So "like willows by streams of water," it means you will not be like the grass that quickly withers. The willow lasts for many years. Rather you will remain in your moisture like the willows that grow by streams of water. The Malbim explains that grass has two shortcomings. On one hand it dries up quickly, and secondly the grass grows in a dry place that has no water. There are two advantages that willows have over grass. The first advantage: the willow is strong, it is firm, it is not like grass which is soft. Secondly, it grows by water. This is what he now wishes to say. So even though I said that they will spring up in a place that is among grass, meaning what grows around them? Grass. Nevertheless they will be like willows by streams of water. They have two virtues, against the place of the grass and against the grass itself. We said one downside of grass is that it grows in a dry place. So we grow among the grass, does that mean, God forbid, that we too will be dry? He says no, no, no, rather you will be like streams of water, in a place of streams of water, like the willow that grows by streams of water. And secondly, against the grass which dries up, he tells you also this you have nothing to worry about, since you will be like willows, and the willow does not dry up, but rather it grows for a long time. So you will have both virtues that the willow has and not the two downsides that the grass has. What is the application? The application is that Am Yisrael are among the nations. And when we are among the nations, then we have a downside from their side and a downside from the side of their place. As we said, from their own side, which is like they are dry grass, quickly withering, so there is a downside from that side. Says the Holy One blessed be He: you will be like willows that do not wither. And we also have a downside from the side of the place. That the place is a land of impurity, a land of the nations. Now this is not a place fitting for Divine bestowal. So perhaps this is a reason that our being among the grass will harm us? Says the Holy One blessed be He: no, you will not be among the grass like the grass itself, but rather like willows. As we explained, the willows are planted by streams of water, the spiritual Divine bestowal will apply to you in the aspect of water, as He said before, "for I will pour water upon the thirsty." So automatically, neither from the side of the place nor from the side of the people who are in that place, meaning the idol worshipers, this will not be the limitation, but rather even in those places I will bestow abundance upon you.
"This one will say, I am Hashem's; and this one will call himself by the name of Yaakov; and this one will inscribe his hand to Hashem, and by the name of Yisrael give himself a title." Now he describes the reality of that generation. "This one will say, I am Hashem's." Rashi explains from what is brought in Avot deRabbi Natan. Who is "this one will say, I am Hashem's"? These are the completely righteous. "And this one will call himself by the name of Yaakov," these are the small ones, the children of the wicked. As we explained that Yaakov always comes to show a low level. "This one will inscribe his hand to Hashem," these are the baalei teshuvah, who, as it were, come and say: from now on our hands are to Hashem. And "these by the name of Yisrael will give themselves a title," these are ones who until now were not called by the name of Yisrael. Who are these? The gentiles who converted. They will now be titled by the name of Yisrael. The Metzudat David explains here more, along the same line, what is written in Avot deRabbi Natan. Says the Metzudat David: the righteous will say, I am Hashem's. Why are these the righteous? Because "I am Hashem's" means from of old I am Hashem's. It is not that only today I arrived. Already from ever and always we believe in Hashem. "And this one will call himself by the name of Yaakov," these are the small ones, the children of the wicked; he cannot call himself by his father's name, because his father was not a man of virtue, his father was wicked. So whose son are you? He will call himself by the name of Yaakov. He attributes himself to Yaakov, because he cannot attribute himself to his father's name, since his father is wicked. Therefore "this one will call himself by the name of Yaakov," speaking about the small ones, the children of the wicked. "And this one will inscribe his hand to Hashem," we said these are baalei teshuvah. Like one who obligates himself and writes: I am Hashem's. This is the meaning of "he will inscribe his hand to Hashem." He will write with his hand, I am Hashem's. "And by the name of Yisrael give himself a title," these are ones who now will title themselves by the name of Yisrael. They were not titled thus, and from now on they will title themselves thus. Of whom is he speaking here? The converts who joined them, they will title themselves from now on by the name of Hashem. In short, what does he wish to tell us? That those who remain in Am Yisrael will all be holy. All will proclaim that they are Hashem's. They will be baalei teshuvah, they will be converts, they will be doers of Hashem's will. All will desire to draw close to Hashem. And this fits with what is written, "and it shall be that the one who remains in Tzion and the one left in Yerushalayim will be called holy." Who will remain? Whoever is in the category of holy. And this is what he says, "and it shall be that all who call in the name of Hashem will be saved." In simple terms, those who remain at the end of the process, after the sifting, those who remain, only those will remain who are either the righteous who were, or those small ones whose fathers are wicked but they themselves are righteous, or baalei teshuvah or converts. But the prosecution will not remain, in short. All the wicked, those who go out... they will repent, yes? Do not understand incorrectly. They will repent. But all the wicked, all those you see fighting against everything holy, at the time of the redemption they will not be here. For them nothing will remain. The Targum explains, what is written "he will inscribe his hand to Hashem," the Targum explains: he will offer sacrifices. And the Radak dwells here on one more point. What is "this one will say, I am Hashem's, and this one will call"? Why not "these ones"? After all, you are not speaking about individuals, you are speaking here about groups. So why does he use the singular? Says the Radak: since it is written that at the time of the redemption "one from a city and two from a family" will come. That is, they will come and be gathered as individuals. And as it is written, "and you will be gathered one by one, Bnei Yisrael." So therefore "this one will say thus and this one will say thus and this one will say thus," for he speaks here about individuals who will come and be gathered and collected.
The Malbim explains that this is a continuation of what we said earlier, that the Holy One blessed be He will bestow spiritual abundance. The Holy One blessed be He will bestow Divine abundance until there will be one who says, I am Hashem's. According to the Malbim it goes in reverse, pay attention. The former ones begin with the most distant and move toward the closer ones. "This one will say, I am Hashem's," according to the Malbim these are the idol worshipers. The idol worshipers will say, I am Hashem's. Do you serve Hashem? Do you keep His Torah? No, but what do you have? I am Hashem's. I recognize the Creator of the world. This is, as it were, the lowest level, "I am Hashem's." In contrast there will be at a higher level, "this one will call himself by the name of Yaakov." This is the multitude of the people, who preserve their lineage, who keep the faith of their fathers: I am of the seed of Yaakov. There is a higher level, one who will inscribe his hand to Hashem. These are the righteous who walk before Hashem always, until it is as though he has written and signed a document: I am with the Master of the world. Whatever Hashem says, that I do, "he will inscribe his hand to Hashem." And there is this level, which is in fact the completely righteous, this man will be titled by the name of Yisrael. He is truly worthy of being called Yisrael. That is, not at the level of Yaakov, which as we explained is the lower stratum, the lesser level. The Holy One blessed be He, as it were, will title him from now on with a new name. What will the new name be? The name Yisrael. For he is now in the category of authority. We said he was in the aspect of a servant, Yaakov, a low stratum, but now he will be in the aspect of authority, on a high level, that he will be titled by the name Yisrael. The Malbim says that every place where a title (kinui) is written in the holy tongue, it means in the way of praise. A name of honor. As it is written, "and I called you by your name" - "and I called you by your name, I titled you." "I titled you" there is a name of honor. In contrast, in the Talmud, says the Malbim, we find a title also as a name of disgrace. As it is written, "one who gives his fellow a title," which is written that he has no share in the World to Come, or other such expressions about people who give a title, which is a name of degradation. But in the holy tongue, always when it is written "I will title," it is always for the sake of importance. So when it is written "by the name of Yisrael he will be titled," it means you will no longer be called Yaakov. Just as with Yaakov, when he rose in his level, I changed his name and called him Yisrael, so too you will be uplifted and your level will be elevated and you will be worthy of being called by the name Yisrael.
"Thus says Hashem, King of Yisrael and its Redeemer, Hashem of Hosts: I am first and I am last, and besides Me there is no God." "Thus says Hashem, King of Yisrael and its Redeemer, Hashem of Hosts." Says the Radak: why did he insert here "King of Yisrael and its Redeemer"? When the Holy One blessed be He redeems Am Yisrael, then He will be in the aspect of King of Yisrael alone. It will not be under the authority of the kings of the idol worshipers. Rather, when Hashem redeems us, then it will be recognized by all that Hashem is the God of Yisrael. Hashem the God of Yisrael is King, and His kingdom rules over all. "I am first and I am last, and besides Me there is no God." I am first, also to the hosts above. The heavens, the stars, those that do not change, I am first to them, I created them. And I am last, even if the heavens are dissolved like smoke, and even if the sun and the moon and the stars are removed, in any case the Holy One blessed be He exists forever, and I am last. "And besides Me there is no God." With this, says the Radak, he comes to nullify the belief of those who worshiped the sun, the moon, the stars. He says: in all of them there is no power of divinity. There is no god. The word "god" (elohim), it is a power. In the sense of "gods of the land," as they say today "tycoons of wealth," "oil barons," "el" is a power. So says the Holy One blessed be He: besides Me there is no God. It means there is no power other than Hashem, blessed be He. And what you see, stars, and what you see, sun, moon, all that they worshiped, the sun worshipers and the star worshipers, says the Holy One blessed be He: they all function only by My power. But it is not from anything other than Me. For in truth, besides Me there is no power in creation that is an independent power. Only Hashem, blessed be He. All the other powers in fact draw their power from the Infinite One, blessed be He. The Metzudat David explains, what is "I am first and I am last"? I am first before the creation of the world, and I am last after the world comes to an end.
The Malbim explains that here he comes to confront two mistaken conceptions that were prevalent in his time. One sect, says the Malbim, one conception, found a deficiency in the divinity. As it were, flaws in the Creator of the world, as it were a deficiency in His perfection, as we will soon clarify. The second sect, they altogether denied the providence of Hashem and worshiped idolatry. Literally, they took an image and worshiped it and sacrificed to it. Says the Malbim: up to verse 9 he argues with the first sect, with those who found deficiencies in the divinity. From verse 9 onward he begins to argue with the second sect, those who went and fashioned themselves an image and worshiped it as idolatry. At the beginning he speaks, as we said, with the first sect, those who found deficiency in the divinity. Those who said that Hashem is not eternal, those who said that Hashem is not one. Eternal (kadmon) means that Hashem was, is, and will be. There were heretics who say no, the Holy One blessed be He, as it were, at a certain stage entered into creation. He is not eternal. This is heresy. There were those who denied with a different heresy and said that there is another besides Him. This too is heresy. "Hashem our God, Hashem is One," means there is no other besides Him. Against those who say that Hashem is not eternal, concerning this he says here in our text: "Thus says Hashem, King of Yisrael and its Redeemer, Hashem of Hosts, I am first and I am last." There is nothing preceding Me, so Hashem is eternal. Against those who say that Hashem is not one, "and besides Me there is no God." Here he refutes this conception that says, as it were, that there is another power in creation. He says: Hashem, and besides Me there is no God.
"And who like Me can proclaim, let him declare it and set it in order for Me, since I established an eternal people; and the signs, and the things that are to come, let them tell them." "And who like Me can proclaim." Says Rashi: who can proclaim who is like Me, and declare and set in order before Me all that has been from when I established an eternal people until now. Meaning, who can set this in order before Me and declare all that has been, who like Hashem, blessed be He. "And the signs," meaning from the word "sign and wonder." The signs and wonders that He performed. Who can do so? "And the things that are to come," the future events, what is destined to be. Who can tell and reveal the future? Is there yet some nation or belief in the world, or god in creation, who would presume, as it were, to tell the future? Presume to say what is destined to be? Says the Holy One blessed be He: please, whoever can tell the future, let them tell it. Says Rashi: as I do now, that before the destruction of the Temple I announce its destruction, and before the exile I announce the exile, and before Koresh I announce Koresh. All this I indeed announce to you in advance. Is there yet someone who calls the generations from the beginning, who can come and tell you what is destined to be?
The Malbim explains, "and who like Me can proclaim." Against those heretics we mentioned who claim that there is another god, that there is another besides Him, God forbid. He says: if so, those who say that the Holy One blessed be He, as it were, is not eternal, then they also say that there was someone before Him, right? If you say that Hashem is not eternal, then what is all this? That is, there was someone before Him, and Hashem perhaps replaced him or a rotation or I do not know what, but essentially you claim that there was another one. And those who say that the Holy One blessed be He is not singular, then it is not only that there was someone before Him, now there is another with Him. Those who say He is not singular, that is, there are several powers in creation. So there is the Creator of the world and there are other powers that run creation. This is what the heretics hold. Against them, now he comes to give them an answer. Who is there like Me that can proclaim? He says to them: who can proclaim and say that he is like Me? Who claims that he has, as it were, power like the Creator of the world? Then I say to him, "let him declare it and set it in order for Me, since I established an eternal people." Meaning, the existence of the Holy One blessed be He can be proven in two ways. Pay attention, for what I am now saying is the philosophical mode of proof. The philosophical mode of proof has passed, it has faded, it has lost its flavor from the world. When the philosophical conception ceased and ended, then the philosophical mode of proof is also no longer needed. The Rambam used it in the Moreh Nevuchim, Rabbeinu Bachya used it in Chovot HaLevavot in Shaar HaYichud, and other early ones used the philosophical mode of proof. To us it does not say much, because our conception today is not a philosophical conception. But in their time, when the conception was a philosophical conception, everything was grasped in a philosophical way, as I will soon explain, so consequently, in order to prove something, one had to prove it in a philosophical way. Philosophical means by way of proof of the intellect, according to what is reasonable, according to reason, according to what is necessary, according to logic. That is the philosophical mode of proof. First, I can prove to you that Hashem is singular and there is none besides Him from the existence of the world. If you see a thing that exists, it is clear to us that there is something that is a necessary existent that created it. What does this mean? In creation there are two kinds of things. There is a thing that is a necessary existent and there is a thing that is not a necessary existent. Necessary existent means it must exist, there cannot be without it. Not a necessary existent, that is, it can exist, it can not exist. The world will continue and survive even if it does not exist. Even if the species of elephants had not existed in the world at all, the world would have continued. So elephants are not called necessary existents. That is, the world does not stand upon them. Now, every thing I look upon as not a necessary existent, and I look and I ask who created it? You will tell me something else, that this something else is also not a necessary existent. Immediately this will provoke in me the question: well, who created it? For that thing too was created. It is not necessary that it be here. That is, someone created it. You will tell me another thing created it, and it too is not a necessary existent, it too is not necessary that it exist, so I will ask you: well, but who created it? You will be forced to reach the conclusion that there is one who is a necessary existent, without whom there is nothing, and He is the one who created onward. For if the thing is not a necessary existent, then who says it was always here? Who says it needs to be here at all? It is not a necessary existent, it is not necessary that it be here. So it cannot be that the one who created everything here is someone who is not a necessary existent. It must be that the one who created everything is someone without whom existence is impossible. That is called a necessary existent. And this is a proof by the philosophical way. This is what he says: after we see that we are here, necessarily there must have been here a thing that could not not exist. Necessarily there was here a thing that necessarily must exist and it is impossible that it be nullified. And if so, there must be some god, some supreme power, that this power is an infinite power, that it is the one that created all of existence. Now it cannot be that it is I, for I am not a necessary existent. And it cannot be the one who created me, for the one who created me too, my parents and my parents' parents, they too are not necessary existents. That is, there must be here something separate from us, a separate entity, that is a necessary existent, for everything in the physical world is not a necessary existent. It must be that it is something spiritual, that is a necessary existent, and it is the one that created all of existence. So if so, it must be an eternal thing. For if it entered existence at a certain stage, then that means that existence progressed even without it, right? Let us imagine that the Creator of the world, as it were, according to the conception of the heretics, after the world already existed, entered existence, began to run it. These are those who claim that Hashem is not eternal. It comes out then that Hashem is not a necessary existent. After all, the world existed fine even without Him. So He is not a necessary existent. It could be with Him or without Him, the world exists. If you claim, and you in fact understand with your intellect, that there must be something that necessarily exists, and it is impossible that the world would exist without it, for it must be the one who created, and it is impossible that the one who created is one of the things here in the world, because nothing that is here in the world is a necessary existent. The world can manage with anything even without it being here. Even without the sun, there is even without the moon, and also matter, the earth could be here. Even without the sun the earth could be here. Life would not exist upon it, but it could exist. So then you say, who created the sun? Who created the earth? And so on in this manner. It must be something spiritual and separate, and it must be that it was first. For if it was not first, immediately I will ask, then what was created before it and from what power? Ah, so there was something that was a necessary existent before it? So let us search for it. That is, there must be a supreme spiritual power that created all of existence, without which nothing in existence is possible, and it itself is a necessary existent, and from its power all things that are not necessary existents were created. The second proof, by the way, and this forces too that He is one and eternal. Eternal we proved, right? We said it cannot be, for if not, who created what was before? Why does this necessarily prove that He is one? Because if you say it is not one, you say it is two, it is teamwork. Which of them is the necessary existent? It cannot be that both are necessary existents. For after all one here created someone else. For if I am all-capable, I do not need another all-capable one beside me, right? I am already all-capable. Why do we need two? So if I am all-capable, that means there must be only one. For if there are two, immediately you will begin to ask, who created whom? And if someone created, you say no, someone created both of them. So let us ask who created, so I have again reached an eternal one. I have not yet reached the source, so let us search for the source, who created both of them, who is in fact the necessary existent. So it must be that it is one. For if two, two cannot both be necessary existents. For if one went away, the second would still remain and that is enough. So the second is not a necessary existent. Therefore it must be from this that there is a supreme spiritual power that created all of existence, first, it must be that it is eternal, for if not, what could have been created before, secondly it must be that it is one, for if it is more than one, one of them is certainly not a necessary existent. This is a proof by the philosophical way. The second proof is from the existence of nature. The second proof is more acceptable to our mind in our concepts today, and it is a decisive and compelling proof and demonstration. For by way of philosophy one can always argue and there will always be one who wishes to raise opposing claims. For philosophy depends on the intellect. And a person can always come and raise all sorts of philosophical claims, and indeed this was the argument against the Rambam and against all those who wrote philosophical proofs, for they claimed that in philosophy a person can always come and argue and insist. His intellect understands otherwise. But the second proof is a proof from nature, against which arguing is not applicable at all. And it is a proof that is used to this day, also as a proof to heretical people, also in seminars, it is a mode of proof and clear demonstration about which there is no dispute. If a person now went up to the moon and found there, let us say, a shard, a shard of a Coca-Cola bottle. A Coca-Cola glass bottle, a shard four centimeters by four centimeters. Alright? Not a whole bottle, not with the drink. A shard of a Coca-Cola bottle. The cosmonaut, the first Russian cosmonaut who arrives at the moon, sees such a thing. What conclusion does he reach? The Americans were here, right? Here you see, they litter here, they litter there too, they leave garbage behind them everywhere.