"Thus says Hashem, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to the despised of soul, to the abhorred of the nation, to the servant of rulers: kings shall see and arise, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, for the sake of Hashem who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and He has chosen you." "Thus says Hashem, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One." The One who is ready to redeem them because of the holiness of their deeds, because of the good deeds they performed, is ready to redeem them with great miracles. "To the despised of soul, to the abhorred of the nation." The Malbim says we must read the pasuk as though it were written this way: kings shall see and arise, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, to the despised of soul, to the abhorred of the nation. The meaning is: the people of Israel are despised and abhorred, despised of soul, people scorn them, yet despite all this, kings shall see and arise. Do not look at the current situation, kings will yet arise and bow to them. Princes will bow to them. "To the despised of soul," the people of Israel are scorned among the star worshiping nations. And why? On three counts, says the Malbim.
The first count, from the side of their soul. Their soul is despised and lowly. The soul is called "honor" in the holy books. And they, the gentiles, relate to us as a nation whose soul is lowly. So those who despise us, "the despised of soul," our soul is, as it were, lowly. Those who despise us from the side of our body regard us as abhorrent and detestable, to the point that they are careful, as it were, even to touch us. It is told that the Baal Shem Tov once walked with his students, and a priest with his clergy attendants passed by them. And the Jews were talking among themselves, the Baal Shem Tov and his students were talking. Then they hear this priest saying, come, come, let us move away from them, so that while they speak, some drop of spittle should not fly onto us and defile us. Tzinora, defilement through spraying spittle. Yes, some drop of spittle should fly onto us and defile us. The Baal Shem Tov said to them, how much kindness Hashem has shown, that the Holy One, blessed be He, distanced the gentile from us. Do you understand? Instead of me distancing myself from him, for he is detestable and repulsive. You know that Rav Baruch Ber, if he shook a gentile's hand, would go immerse in the mikveh. Do you understand? So Hashem assisted us that they would find us repulsive and distance themselves from us. But how do they relate to us? As though our body is detestable. This is what he says, "the despised of soul," as though our soul is abhorred. "To the abhorred of the nation," also our body. "Goy," says the Malbim, is like "gevi." What is "gevi"? "Geviyati," my body. He abhors our body. Not only is our soul abhorred in the gentile's eyes, but also our body. We are considered detestable from the side of our body. And a third matter, from the side of our status. That we are not likened to a servant who has one master, but to a servant who has many masters. And then he is forced to serve them all. The meaning is: today, if you look, unfortunately this is the situation, servants have ruled over us. Today every nation has its comments about us. Those set up a commission of inquiry against us, others put on trial every soldier who reaches them, others file lawsuits against us in The Hague. This is called a servant of rulers. Not just one ruler, if you have one ruler, you know, you have to manage with him. But you have dozens of bosses, all becoming bosses over us. All investigating us, examining us, imposing sanctions on us. You have to serve them all, backbreaking labor.
Now come and see, says the Holy One, blessed be He, how all this will change. Against "the despised of soul and the abhorred of the nation," we will have great elevation with immense honor, to the point that "kings shall see and arise." The kings will rise as a sign of honor before us. Against "a servant of rulers," meaning everyone ruled over us, "princes shall prostrate themselves." Their princes will bow to us, that is, we are now the rulers over them. And this will be "for the sake of Hashem who is faithful." Why? For two reasons. First, because Hashem promised, and when Hashem promises, He is faithful to fulfill His promise. "For the sake of Hashem who is faithful." Second, this is because of the holiness of our deeds. The meaning is because we will rectify our deeds. "The Holy One of Israel, and He has chosen you." "The Holy One of Israel" means the people of Israel sanctify themselves, do the will of Hashem, and from this "He has chosen you." From this the Holy One, blessed be He, chooses us, from the side that we are already worthy.
And this, says the Malbim, alludes to the two redemptions: "in its time," "I will hasten it." If the people of Israel merit, the redemption will be "I will hasten it." This means we will merit to receive the redemption early. Why? Because of "the Holy One of Israel, and He has chosen you." We will sanctify our deeds and then Hashem will choose us. But if we do not repent and are not worthy, then already the Rambam says that the Holy One, blessed be He, will raise up over them a king who will compel them to repent. If we are not worthy and it will not be at the proper level, in any case it will be "for the sake of Hashem who is faithful." The Holy One, blessed be He, is faithful, He will fulfill the promise. Worthy or unworthy, He will fulfill the promise, Hashem is faithful. But it is better for you that it should come about through your truly being worthy. "For the sake of the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you." It is better for you to be the kind whom the Holy One, blessed be He, chooses because you are worthy of it. And if we merit, with Hashem's help, the redemption will be "I will hasten it." And if not, God forbid, they will receive "in its time." So it is not desirable to receive kicks, right? So it is desirable that the redemption be "I will hasten it," that the redemption come swiftly.
"Thus says Hashem: in a time of favor I have answered you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you, and I will preserve you and set you as a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to apportion the desolate heritages." "Thus says Hashem, in a time of favor I have answered you." Says the Malbim, this parallels what we mentioned in the previous pasuk. We said that the redemption can be either "in its time" or "I will hasten it." Either the redemption will be in its time, that is if we are not worthy, or we will merit "I will hasten it," Hashem will hasten the redemption for us and take us out of exile before the time. Regarding this He comes and says, if you improve your deeds, if there is a time of favor for you, "I have answered you." I will answer you even before the time. The Malbim says, "I have answered you," one answers whoever calls. One also helps whoever did not call. But answering, to answer is always a response. To answer is to respond to something. "In a time of favor I have answered you," you are constantly crying out, Master of the Universe, take us out of exile. If there is a time of favor, you being deserving and worthy, then "I have answered you," I will take you out before the time. Or at least, if you are not worthy and deserving, "and on a day of salvation I have helped you." "A day of salvation" means on the appointed day, and it is written "a day of salvation," which is what is called "in its time," then "I have helped you." I will help you as we explained, that one helps even whoever did not call. And this help, says the Malbim, is at a specific time, on a day of salvation. But answering is according to a time of favor. I can answer you even before the time, even before the time has come, that is if there is a time of favor. But if you do not merit, then there is nothing to worry about, there is a day of salvation when the redemption will surely come, and then "I have helped you."
"And I will preserve you." Even during the days of exile the Holy One, blessed be He, promises, you will have special providence. "And set you as a covenant of the people." I will guard you so that you will not perish among the gentiles. For it could be that the appointed time for redemption arrives, and precisely then there will no longer be a people. For, may Hashem have mercy, it is hard to say this, but were it not for the terrible and dreadful Holocaust, where, where would the Jews of Europe be? Would there even be such a thing as the Jews of Europe? Assimilation was terrible and dreadful, devouring with an open mouth. That is, says the Holy One, blessed be He, I have a promise that I will also preserve you. For if I promise you there will be a redemption, in the end it cannot be that the redemption arrives and there is no people, and the people of Israel has already perished. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, says, I also promise you protection. "And I will preserve you and set you as a covenant of the people." What does "and set you as a covenant of the people" mean? Says the Holy One, blessed be He, I will fulfill the covenant, I have a covenant with the people of Israel, I have a promise to the people of Israel that they will never perish. This covenant will be fulfilled. "To raise up the land," I promise you an additional thing, to raise up the land, the Land of Israel, that the Holy One, blessed be He, will raise it up anew, the holy land. "To apportion the desolate heritages." I will return the people of Israel to inherit those heritages that now appear desolate. These heritages, says the Malbim, are not the kibbutzim, that is not what is being spoken of. The courtyards and the Temple, which are the heritage of Hashem for His tribe. Do you know when you will understand that the redemption has come? "To apportion the desolate heritages." When the courtyards and the Temple, which are the heritage of Hashem for His tribe. You know, there were people, mainly those inclined toward Reform, who refused to say "and to Jerusalem Your city return in mercy." They refused to say "comfort Jerusalem the desolate city, the ruined and despised city that sits bereft of her children." He says, what are you talking about? Have you not seen the Menachem Begin highway? Have you not seen the light rail? What ruined, desolate, ruined? Come see how beautiful, have you not seen Jerusalem at night? What beauty, what lights, it is moving. It opens the heart. What ruined, desolate, have you not seen the building of the Supreme Court? The High Court, have you not seen it? You enter there, shhh, what beauty, what majesty and splendor, the palace of justice. Once we had the palace of Hashem, and today we have the palace of justice. One must know, this is part of the ruin and desolation of the city.
One of the great ruins, it is written, is that Turnus Rufus plowed the Temple. Everyone asks, so what, he plowed the Temple? So he plowed, the Temple was already destroyed, does it matter whether they plowed it or not? No, they say it is worse. If the Temple is destroyed, we go, we see ruin, something pinches our heart. We pray and say, Master of the Universe, rebuild Jerusalem for us. Rebuild Jerusalem for us. See the city ruined and desolate. But if we go and see such beauty, such a built up place, see how nicely it is lit, see how wonderful. Ah, all right, so we have, we have, it is fine, we have Jerusalem, thank God. Right, one can upgrade, one always can, but thank God we have it. That is, on the contrary, the building of Jerusalem as it is built today, that is, not on the foundations of the Torah, is a greater ruin. And this is the ruin of Turnus Rufus plowing the Temple. What did Turnus Rufus do? He plowed everything, made gardens. What beauty, there are gardens, there is the... that, over there, well... Sacher Park, see how beautiful, what wonderful gardens. Ah, what, you see ruin? Where is ruin? What are you talking about? Everything is so beautiful. This is the greater difficulty. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, "to raise up the land, to apportion the desolate heritages." What are the desolate heritages? Says the Malbim, this is how he wrote 200 years ago, the desolate heritages are the courtyards and the Temple, which are the heritage of Hashem for His tribe. This the Holy One, blessed be He, promises to raise up, and then you will know that the redemption has begun.
"Saying to the prisoners, go forth, to those in darkness, be revealed. Along the roads they shall graze, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture." We saw above that the tribes of Yehuda and Binyamin were exiled under the hand of the star worshipers. They were bound in chains of iron. In order to go out they needed the permission of Koresh, that he grant them permission to leave there. Against this He says, "saying to the prisoners, go forth." Who are the prisoners? Yehuda and Binyamin who are imprisoned in the places of their dwelling. For we could not leave whenever we wanted. In Yemen, in Iraq, in Morocco, special permission of the authorities was needed. And mostly the authorities did not grant permission until they knew that all our assets would remain there, and then out of their great goodness they agreed that we could leave. These are called prisoners. Prisoners, in that we are not private individuals who can decide to leave whenever we want. Regarding this He promises that Hashem will take them out of confinement, "saying to the prisoners, go forth." "To those in darkness, be revealed." We learned that there is another part of the people of Israel, unfortunately the greater part, the Ten Tribes, and this part sits in darkness. Note, says the Malbim, "to those in darkness, be revealed." We had prisoners, and we have those who sit in darkness. The Ten Tribes are not prisoners. The Ten Tribes are located beyond the Mountains of Darkness, but they are not prisoners. There is no ruler over them who does not let them leave. So what is the problem? The problem is that they sit in darkness. Sitting in darkness means in a place where they are not seen, they are not known to us. Regarding these, those located in Halach, Habor, the river Gozan, one, as it were, does not know their location, they are as if in darkness, they are hidden from us. What is needed? Not that they go out of confinement, but only "be revealed." That they be revealed from the place of darkness. And through this they will already be able to arrive. They do not need to go out, one goes out of confinement. They are not confined, they only need to be revealed, and through this they will already be able to arrive here. And therefore "to those in darkness, be revealed."
"Along the roads they shall graze, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture." "Along the roads they shall graze." When the Holy One, blessed be He, redeems them, then the Holy One, blessed be He, will lead them along an easy and comfortable way. "Along the roads they shall graze." Hashem will shepherd them as a shepherd tends his flock. And sometimes it is necessary to distance the flock, says the Malbim, toward the desert, because there are robbers, or because there is not enough produce in that place, so it is necessary to take them far to a distant place. He says, "along the roads they shall graze." No robber will harm them. No passerby will injure them. No nation will fight against them. And since this is so, "along the roads they shall graze." One can take them along the main roads. There is no need to smuggle them, that they should travel crooked paths. There is no need. "Along the roads they shall graze," Hashem will lead them along the main road and no one will act against them. And sometimes there is a situation where there is no pasture, and then it is necessary to distance them. "And on all bare heights shall be their pasture." Every high mountain will be a place for them to graze. This is a kind of metaphor, they will return from exile openly. Not in a situation where they will need to sneak, not in a situation where they will need to hide, but "on all bare heights shall be their pasture." That is, their pasture will be in every place where there are high mountains that have produce.
"They shall not hunger nor thirst, nor shall heat and sun strike them, for their Merciful One shall lead them, and by springs of water shall He guide them." "They shall not hunger nor thirst." Says the Malbim, one who travels a long road lacks bread, lacks water, needs provisions for the road. Or heat and sun strike him. Regarding this He says, "they shall not hunger nor thirst." They will set out on the road, there will be no hunger and no thirst. Another thing, even heat and sun, one who travels the road, heat and sun, what can be done, this is not subject to choice, it is from Heaven. He says, also "nor shall heat and sun strike them." Why? "For their Merciful One shall lead them." The Holy One, blessed be He, will lead them with mercy. He will lead them in a place, or at a time, when the sun is not strong. "And by springs of water shall He guide them," and therefore they will not thirst.
Let us examine the language here. There is here "yenahagem" (shall lead them) and there is here "yenahalem" (shall guide them). What is the difference between "their Merciful One shall lead them" and "by springs of water shall He guide them"? Says the Malbim, in the holy tongue, "to lead" (lehanhig) is a verb that applies to sheep and cattle. One leads the sheep and the cattle. It comes out, then, that from there we learned every leadership. And if so, the leadership is similar to the leading of sheep and cattle. Sheep and cattle, do you lead them by their consent or against their will? Against their will, do they decide anything? So "to lead" always means against one's will. In contrast, says the Malbim, "to guide" (lenahel) is always with a pleasant countenance. By the will of the one guided. I am the manager of the place, that is, there are no forced laborers here. There are people here who are willing for me to manage them. This is called a manager. A leader, in contrast, is by coercion. He is the unchallenged leader, whether they want it or not, he is like one leading the sheep, and the sheep are led without their will. Regarding this He says, "for their Merciful One shall lead them." Even though there will be leadership here like one leading sheep, but it will be with mercy. And not only that, "by springs of water shall He guide them." Like one who guides, like one who guides a person who has will, who has intellect, whom he guides by his will and does not lead against his will.
"And I will make all My mountains into a road, and My highways shall be raised up." They will not need to seek out a road for themselves, but the mountains will become a road. Always when one travels and there are mountains, one must go around them, because it is impossible to pass through the mountains. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, no, the mountains will become a road. They will be, as it were, flattened and become a road. "And My highways," a highway (mesila) is always a paved path. "My highways" means everyone will already know, these are My highways. It is the Holy One, blessed be He's, He made it for the sake of His children. This is called "My highways." "And My highways shall be raised up." They will be raised and will not be sunken, that is, in a place where they will be visible and one will be able to walk on them with ease.
"Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim." "These shall come from afar." Says the Malbim, here a new matter begins. He wants to describe that the ingathering of the exiles will still be before Zion is built. Even before Zion is built, the Holy One, blessed be He, will gather the exiles of Israel. And he wants to describe how, when the exiles are gathered, Jerusalem will still be desolate. That is, that we should not think that the order will be that the Land of Israel is built and established and only afterward the exiles are gathered. Rather, as we see, as in the process we were in, we are still not in the ingathering of the exiles, for most of the exiles are still abroad. The minority of the people of Israel is here. But this can be a parable to understand how, when we came, nothing had yet been built. He wants to describe how the ingathering of the exiles will be at a stage when the people of Israel come and Jerusalem is still ruined and desolate. And therefore he describes and says, "behold, these shall come from afar." Perhaps... "behold, these." "These" are the exiles of the east, "shall come from afar." Who are the exiles of the east? He is speaking of the Ten Tribes. The Ten Tribes were exiled to the east, to a distant place, and therefore he says "these shall come from afar," beyond the Mountains of Darkness. Them one must bring from afar. "And these," those exiled to the north and to the west, "from the north and from the west." "And these," the exiles of the south, this is "from the land of Sinim." The land of Sinim is not the China of today. Where is the China of today located, direction-wise... east, right? He says no, he calls it east, he calls it the land of the south. "The land of Sinim" is like what the Targum says, "from the land of the south." This is the place of the Sinim, who are of the sons of Canaan, unrelated to the Sinim of today, China, there is no connection whatsoever. Rabbeinu Saadia Gaon says, "Itra Bilfawan." What is that? I do not know what he actually means. But what is clear is that this was a nation or a land that was more toward the south side, and apparently not in the region more toward Egypt, in the region of the south, and from there they will spread out and the entire exile will come to return back to the Land of Israel.
"Sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, and break forth into song, O mountains, for Hashem has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted ones." He comes to describe, as it were, by way of parable, how the whole world will rejoice that the people of Israel have gone out of exile. "Sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth." The difficulty here is in the repetition. "And break forth into song, O mountains." Are the mountains not earth? You already said "rejoice, O earth." So consequently the mountains too will break forth into song, just as the earth will rejoice, so too the mountains. They will rejoice. So the Radak explains that the mountains come on their own, since they are the essence of the creation of the earth. When Hashem created the earth, the essence of the creation is the mountains, which are, as it were, the prominent part above the earth, the enduring part of the earth. Another explanation, because of their importance, for the essence of the metals is in the mountains, says the Radak. I do not know if today this is so, but in their time in any case it was so, that the metals were in the mountains, and therefore he characterizes them on their own because of their importance. The Malbim explains, "sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth." Says the Malbim, even the individual mountains have already broken forth into song. He wants to say, there are heavens, there is earth, and now when he speaks of the earth it is in a general manner. After that he descends to the details. When I say "earth," I do not mean only the whole earth, but even the mountains have already broken forth into song. To the point that the tidings reached even the dwellers of the mountains. According to the Malbim, "mountains" here means the dwellers of the mountains. Why will there be the singing? "For Hashem has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted ones." They will see that the Holy One, blessed be He, has comforted and comforts His people and returns to redeem them. And on the afflicted He has mercy. And everyone sings, everyone rejoices, everyone in gladness and song. Except Zion.
"And Zion said, Hashem has forsaken me, and Hashem has forgotten me." But in contrast, Zion, which is, why does he count Zion? For Zion, we are speaking here of the entire Land of Israel. What is Zion? Usually it is Jerusalem, or the City of David, some characterize Zion specifically as the City of David. So how do you tell me specifically Zion? Seemingly you should speak of the entire Land of Israel. Rather he says, he mentions Zion as the head of the kingdom of Israel. As it were, the city complains about the fact that the children have been exiled from her. About the fact that all of Israel is distant from her. "And Zion said, Hashem has forsaken me." Why? Says the Malbim, as we explained, that when the people of Israel come here, Zion will not yet be built. And since this is so, Zion is not yet aware that the redemption has begun. And therefore she will still complain and say, "Hashem has forsaken me." And not only that He forsook me because of the sin, but it seems to me that Hashem has forgotten me and does not remember me even after the sin. Says the Malbim, forsaking is always because of sin. And then He still remembers that He forsook. I forsook him because he sinned, and then I have a memory of the fact that I forsook him. In contrast, to forget is because I am repulsed by him. I was repulsed by him, from that I have altogether already forgotten him completely. Forgetting is always due to repulsion. Forsaking is following some flaw, some deficiency, He forsakes. So Zion says, "Hashem has forsaken me, and Hashem has forgotten me." Note, the Malbim dwells here on the precision of the language, as is his way. Note that at the beginning, "and Zion said, Hashem has forsaken me." First he speaks of who is the one saying, and after that the action. Who is the one saying? Zion. And what is the action? "Has forsaken me." Hashem forsook me. After that, later, note, "and Hashem has forgotten me." Here it goes the opposite way. Here he mentions first the Holy One, blessed be He, and after that "has forgotten me." At the beginning he said "has forsaken me," Hashem he said at the end. Here he begins with it, "and Hashem has forgotten me." Why? Says the Malbim, the rule in the way of the Hebrew language, the holy tongue, is always to precede the subject before the predicate. This is the rule. Always the subject precedes the predicate. First the one who is being spoken about, then the matter that is spoken of. And if you see the opposite situation, that the predicate precedes the subject, this says "expound me." There is some novelty here, he wants to teach me something. Therefore the Malbim says, note, in the forsaking he preceded the subject. "And Zion said." That is, "and Zion said, Hashem has forsaken me." That is, he precedes the subject, then the forsaking, and after that Hashem. "And Zion said," Zion is the subject. The subject of the matter is the forsaking. "Has forsaken me," and who is it? It is Hashem. This is regarding the forsaking. But regarding the forgetting, he wants to say something novel. Therefore he says, "and Hashem has forgotten me." What is "and Hashem has forgotten me"? Say "Hashem has forgotten me" (with the verb first). That is a correct expression. No, I want to say a novelty. I want to say a novelty, and the novelty is: know, even the One who never forgets, which is Hashem, He has forgotten me. Even the Holy One, blessed be He, has forgotten me, as it were.
The Holy One, blessed be He, answers them. Excuse me, here it is still Zion's claim, before the Holy One, blessed be He's, answer. "Can a woman forget her sucking child, from having mercy on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you." Zion comes and asks, and can a woman forget her sucking child? And can it be imagined that a woman would forget her sucking child? "Ula" means the eldest son, explains the Malbim. The son who no longer needs her. And this is called "ula." Can a woman forget her "ula"? And is it possible that she would forget the love, if she forsook him? He says, it could perhaps be that it is possible. But is it possible that she would forget "from having mercy on the son of her womb"? That a woman would forget to have mercy on the son of her womb? "The son of her womb" is the infant, the babe she carries, nursing from his mother's breasts. And the difference is that with respect to the "ula" she has love. But with respect to the son of her womb, which is the babe she carries, who nurses from her, she also has mercy toward him, because he needs her. A few hours without mother, the infant screams. The son whom she loves, which is the "ula," well, one can imagine that she would forget him. It is possible, it is a rare thing, but it is possible that she would forget him. For the bond between them is a bond of love. But a bond of mercy, that the child has nothing to eat, is it possible that such a thing would happen? "From having mercy on the son of her womb," the little infant who is the son of her womb, is it possible for a mother to forget to have mercy on him? "Ula" here is from the expression "olelim," right? "Ula" from the expression "olel," meaning children. And now You, Hashem, if You have forgotten Your love toward us, how have You forgotten to have mercy on us, that we are forsaken, we have no one to rely on besides You, like the infant who relies on his mother? So says Zion. Zion in essence claims, the husband who has now, as it were, wandered far off, now He comes and reveals Himself to the woman, to the mourning widow. And then the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "but I will not forget you." The Holy One, blessed be He, says to her, "even these may forget." Know that even were it to be imagined that the woman would forget her love for her son, and even were it to be imagined that she would forget to have mercy even on the infant nursing from her, even if it were to be imagined that such a thing would happen, says the Holy One, blessed be He, that thing would happen before I would forget you. Do you understand? He wants to say, what you said cannot be, will happen, and what you think happened, that I forgot you, will not happen. It is possible that a mother would forget her son, and even that a woman would forget the infant nursing from her, and it is never possible that I would forget you. This is what the Holy One, blessed be He, says. "Even these may forget," even if they forget their children, "but I will not forget you." Says the Holy One, blessed be He, but I cannot forget you. This is a thing that can never be.
Why? "Behold, on My palms I have engraved you, your walls are before Me continually." The Holy One, blessed be He, claims, I have engraved your name on My palms, on My palm, on My hand your name is engraved. There, what does He want to say? When a person has something written on his hand, can he forget? The hand is the most used thing there is. Everything I do with my hands. And if it is written on my hand, then I surely remember. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, "on My palms I have engraved you." I engraved your name on the palms, so from the constant use of My palms, as it were in the parable, of course Hashem has no palms, right? So immediately I will remember you. Says the Malbim, that the meaning is that all the actions and deeds that the Holy One, blessed be He, does are means that lead to the purpose. That is, there was room to think, in quotation marks as it were, that the Holy One, blessed be He, is occupied with something else, and suddenly says, ah, right, I left someone over there whom I need to take out. I left the people over there in exile, yes, right, good that you reminded me, we need to, we want mashiach now, we need to take them out. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, no, you are mistaken. Rather, everything I do, I see your name written on My hands. What does this actually mean? That every action I perform leads to the purpose of bringing about your redemption. Taking you out of exile. For every action I do, what is stamped on it? The people of Israel. The name of the people of Israel is written on it. For "on My palms I have engraved you." What does this mean? Every action done with the palms is for you, it is for your sake, it is so that you will merit the complete redemption. The meaning is, as we spoke of in the past, people ask why did the Messiah not already come earlier? So we said, for if the Messiah had come 20 years ago, in the last 20 years there are hundreds of thousands who have returned in repentance. And if the Messiah had come then, where would they have been in this whole story? What would have happened to them? Where would they have been at the time of the redemption? May Hashem have mercy. For it is written that only, as when you came out of the land of Egypt, where we were redeemed as one fifth. Well, is that, God forbid, what we want? That only a minority of the people of Israel be redeemed? So it comes out, then, that in all the processes we are undergoing, this is part of the refinement toward the redemption. So that there will be more people who merit to board the wagon, more people who merit to be part of the people of Israel. So you think I, as it were, forgot and suddenly remember to deal with you? Says the Holy One, blessed be He, to the people of Israel, you are mistaken. All the actions I do, everything is engraved on My hand, as it were, the people of Israel. So all the actions I do are for the sake of the redemption of Israel. And not only that, "your walls" I also engraved them before Me continually. They are before Me, before My face, as it were like a sign and frontlets. This is what they say about the Holy One, blessed be He, what is written on His tefillin? Israel. Right? "Who is like Your people Israel." And this is what is alluded to here. "Behold, on My palms I have engraved you," the meaning is that what is with the Holy One, blessed be He, on the arm, is Israel, it is His tefillin. "And your walls are before Me continually," what is before Me, opposite? This is the tefillin of the head. He says, this is your walls, they are before Me continually. This corresponds to the tefillin of the head. So can a person forget tefillin that are upon him? Says the Holy One, blessed be He, this is upon Me, it is before My face as a sign and frontlets. And not only now, but "before Me continually." Says the Holy One, blessed be He, this is from the time you went into exile until now. So that you should not suddenly think I have awakened now to redeem you. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, no, it is before Me continually. And whoever caused this whole matter, that until now there was concealment of the face, and until now there was a situation of lack of redemption, and the Holy One, blessed be He, did not take the people of Israel out of exile throughout the whole period of the troubles and the Inquisitions and the Holocausts, well, Master of the Universe, how do You say that we are before You continually? Behold, You did not take us out of such harsh and terrible troubles. Regarding this comes the answer, "your children have hastened, your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall go out from you."