Sefer Yirmiyahu, chapter 31. "Thus said Hashem: The people that survived the sword found favor in the wilderness, as I go to give rest to Yisrael." Let us first study it according to Rashi's explanation, which is the plain, straightforward reading. "Thus said Hashem, they found favor in the wilderness": the generation of the wilderness found favor in My eyes. "The people that survived the sword": this is the people that survived the sword, the sword of Egypt, the sword of the Amalekites who came upon them, the sword of the Canaanites who attacked them. "As I go to give rest to Yisrael": Hashem led them through the wilderness in order to bring them to their place of rest, in order to bring them to Eretz Yisrael.
The Malbim finds in this chapter a continuation of the previous chapter. In the previous chapter we explained that the divine awakening to bestow kindness upon us will begin from Him, an awakening from above (itaruta dile'ila). Now he comes and says: look, these matters correspond to what we saw earlier. For earlier we saw "I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your bridal days, your following after Me in the wilderness." There we saw that the Holy One remembers for us the kindness. What kindness? The kindness that Am Yisrael were the first to extend kindness to Hashem, when they recognized Hashem while they had not yet received any good from Him. We had not yet received the Torah, and already "they believed in Hashem and in Moshe His servant," and already when Moshe came to speak with them "the people believed." We followed after Hashem, as it were, with our eyes closed: "I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your bridal days, your following after Me in the wilderness." Afterward there was the love of bridal days, for Am Yisrael were like a marriage with the Holy One through the Torah, and afterward we followed after Him in the wilderness with great trust in Hashem. Hashem says, corresponding to this I too will repay you. "Thus said Hashem, they found favor in the wilderness." The Holy One says: I too will repay you. In the beginning the people that survived the sword found favor in the wilderness.
What is this wilderness? According to the Malbim we are not speaking here of the generation of the wilderness. We are speaking here of the wilderness of the nations, as it is written "and I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations" in Yechezkel chapter 20. The wilderness written here is really speaking of the exile. "They found favor in the wilderness": the Holy One says, this people that are survivors of the sword found favor in My eyes in the exile. And there, after there remained of them in exile survivors of the sword, after all the destructions and murders that the nations carried out against us, Hashem says: they will find favor in My eyes and I will ease the exile from upon them. This is what is written "as I go to give rest": Hashem will go to them in the wilderness and provide them rest. This corresponds to "your following after Me in the wilderness." You followed after Me in the wilderness, so I too will go and seek after you in the wilderness of the nations and bring you out of the exile.
"From afar Hashem appeared to me, and with an eternal love I have loved you, therefore I have drawn you with kindness." Then Hashem will appear to them from afar, says the Malbim. Then, even though Hashem will still stand at a distance, meaning the providence is not revealed, the providence is as though wrapped in concealment, in hidden miracles, yet already then they will see Him from afar. Already then they will see and recognize that Hashem watches over them by easing the yoke of exile from upon them. One could say he is speaking of our time. There were here endless miracles, and they are hidden miracles. Yes? Miracles that Am Yisrael succeeded in conquering the land, that 600,000 people were here in the War of Independence when the overwhelming majority did not even know how to hold a weapon, and nonetheless they succeeded in overcoming the peoples of Arabia, these are miracles. And these miracles are wrapped within nature, as it were unnoticeable. So he says: in the beginning know that "from afar Hashem appeared to me." In the beginning the divine revelation will be from afar, and Hashem will ease from upon them the yoke of exile, for without any doubt, however much we complain here in the land, we are still far from the yoke of exile, thank God. Every Jew here today is like a millionaire of 200 years ago. And I am not even speaking of the rest and quiet and tranquility that a Jew has here. And by the way, this is a justified reason for those living in France, and today also somewhat in America and other places, to begin to return to the land. Even though we are seemingly the most dangerous place for the Jewish people, but "on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance and it shall be holy." Why are we the most dangerous place? Because this is the place where the most Jews are concentrated. If someone wants to destroy the Jewish people, if someone wants to send, heaven forbid, a bomb, then he has an address. With all this we know that even in the Holocaust the great ones of Israel said "on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance and it shall be holy." So said the Chafetz Chaim when they asked him. The Chafetz Chaim passed away before the Holocaust. He would see in his dreams harsh dreams of a fire burning and consuming everything. And he would keep fasts, and who knows, were it not for the many fasts of the Chafetz Chaim, his dream fasts, who knows how the Holocaust would have ended. And they asked him: what will be? So he told them "on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance and it shall be holy." So said the Chafetz Chaim. In any case, we see that even though Am Yisrael here in Eretz Yisrael are seemingly in a state of danger, but as the Malbim says, He will ease from upon them the yoke of exile and they will find rest. So even though it is not yet the redemption, already "from afar Hashem appeared to me." Already Hashem appears to me from afar, already one can see the hand of Hashem.
And then Hashem will say to them "with an eternal love I have loved you." That same love of the bridal days that existed of old will awaken. And through this love I will draw you out of the exile, "therefore I have drawn you with kindness." Through this love I will draw you out of the exile with kindness, which corresponds to "the love of your bridal days" and "the kindness of your youth." Just as you believed in Me, as it were, with kindness at the time of the exodus from Egypt, so too I, as it were, will place trust in you with kindness and redeem you with an eternal redemption. And the love will come through finding favor in the wilderness. The meaning is that through the power of the exile we found favor in the eyes of Hashem. That is to say, the exile is a purification. So like a father who struck his son and afterward is comforted and regrets it and wants to bring him back to himself, so too, as it were, the Holy One placed us in exile for our correction, and afterward this exile brings to a finding of favor. "They found favor in the wilderness." We find favor in the eyes of Hashem because of the wilderness we passed through, through the length of the exile and through what we suffered there. And then the Holy One will redeem us with an eternal redemption.
According to the Radak this verse actually expresses a dialogue between Knesset Yisrael and the Holy One. The Radak says that Knesset Yisrael in exile says: what are You saying, Master of the Universe, that Am Yisrael found favor in the wilderness? She says: true. According to the Radak this speaks of that period of our exodus from Egypt, the people went out of Egypt and found favor in the eyes of Hashem in the wilderness. Knesset Yisrael says: true, but that was long ago. "From afar Hashem appeared to me." But now in the exile Hashem has hidden His face from me. So what are You saying, they found favor in the wilderness, the people that survived the sword? Yes, once. Once. But now I can only say that it was from afar. "From afar Hashem appeared to me."
The response of God: Hashem says "and with an eternal love I have loved you, therefore I have drawn you with kindness." The Holy One says: no, you are mistaken. My love is not a love for the moment, but rather a love forever. "Therefore I have drawn you with kindness": therefore I revealed Myself to you in My glory on Mount Sinai in order to show that this love and connection is an eternal bond, not a temporary bond. And even though I abandoned you, I still promise you "again I will build you and you shall be built, O virgin of Yisrael, again you shall adorn yourself with your drums and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers." The continuation here is that the Holy One says: even though you say that I am far, I promise you "again I will build you and you shall be built." What is "I will build you and you shall be built"? "I will build you" is one, "you shall be built" is two. It says "you shall be built": in the past you had two buildings by man, meaning the First Temple and the Second Temple. And therefore they were destroyed. But Hashem says: I will still build you, I will build you a Third Temple, which will be an eternal building. "Again you shall adorn yourself with your drums and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers."
The Radak says that "I will build you and you shall be built" does not speak only of the building, but rather like a demolished house, what happens? The stones scatter. When one wants to rebuild it, they gather them and arrange them anew. So too Hashem says, Am Yisrael are like stones scattered in the world, and the Holy One says "I will build you and you shall be built, O virgin of Yisrael," meaning I will bring you back and from this there will be a complete building of the House of Yisrael. And He calls them "virgin of Yisrael," that she will be like a virgin who was not possessed by foreign masters. Today we are not like a virgin but like one possessed, since we have masters, we have overlords. But Hashem says: no, you will be the virgin of Yisrael, like one who never had masters. "Again you shall adorn yourself with your drums," meaning from the abundance of good you will rejoice with drums, with dances, which will be for you as an adornment. "Adorn" (ta'adi) means like an ornament, "you shall adorn yourself with your drums."
The Malbim too explains that "I will build you" means the building of the kingship, the building of the Beit HaMikdash. "And you shall adorn yourself with your drums" over the miracles that I will do for you, you will have a dance of merrymakers just as the women went out after Miryam with drums and dances over the miracle of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, so too "you shall adorn yourself with your drums" in order to go forth in dances over the ingathering and the building of the Beit HaMikdash.
"Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Shomron, the planters shall plant and enjoy them as ordinary fruit." "Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Shomron": there is here a promise that on the mountains of Shomron there will yet be vineyards. And this is a promise being fulfilled before our eyes. "The planters shall plant and chilelu." What is "chilelu"? There are two explanations here. Rashi says: the planters shall plant and redeem (chilelu) the plantings in the fourth year, they redeem it with money, this is the chilul. Yes? That is to say, they will reach such a state that the plantings will grow and reach the fourth year when they can be eaten. For the first three years "orlah shall not be eaten," in the fourth year "holy, for praise-offerings" (kodesh hilulim), chilulim, they redeem it and eat it. And why does it mention the chilul here? The Radak explains: because their custom was that when they performed the chilul, they would do so with feasting and rejoicing. As it were, we have mentioned this several times, that when they would shear the flock, when they would gather in the grain, at the stage when they received all the produce of the field or of the flock, they would make a celebration. And so too here. When they would redeem the vineyard, that was the stage at which one could enjoy it, they would make a celebration, they would dance. By the way, this is also the matter that is brought, that they were accustomed to dance with the various crops of the land. And this is what the early authorities bring, that this is the reason for the festival of Sukkot, that at the time of ingathering they take species from the crops of the land and dance with them. They take the lulav, they take the etrog, the hadas, the aravah, and dance with them to thank Hashem, for it was accepted in their time to dance with, as I said, the species from the crops of the land. So since their custom was to make a celebration, it is called "holy, for praise-offerings" (kodesh hilulim); hilulim, they would praise. And at a time when they were in fear, since with fear no one makes a celebration or praise, so he tells you: look, this time will be a time when "the planters shall plant and chilelu" and they will then make parties and celebration over the redemption of the vineyards.
Why did he specifically mention the mountains of Shomron? The Radak says, what he mentioned the mountains of Shomron is because at that time in the period of the First Temple they were there in fear of the enemy for many days, they were under siege. Therefore he mentions that this place that was under siege, which is the place of the ten tribes, this place will yet merit renewal, that there they will plant vineyards, "the planters shall plant and chilelu."
The Malbim, by contrast, says, first regarding the matter of Shomron, he says "Shomron became heaps of the field, places for planting vineyards," as brought in Micha chapter 1. That is to say, the Kutim whom Sancheriv settled here planted vineyards there because Shomron was completely destroyed. Where do you plant vineyards? Not on built-up ground, only in fields. That is to say, Shomron was so destroyed that it became a field, like "Zion shall be plowed as a field." And then the Kutim planted vineyards there. He says: you shall plant vineyards there in the place where "the planters planted and chilelu." The Malbim explains "and chilelu" not like Rashi and the Radak, but rather "and chilelu" means the Shomronim who planted vineyards there, they made them ordinary (chulin). They did not take them and go up for the festival in order to give the first fruits. So "the planters planted and chilelu," in the place where the planters planted and made them ordinary, you shall plant vineyards and bring them up for the festival in order to bring of their fruit to the House of Hashem as first fruits.
"For there shall be a day when watchmen call on Mount Efrayim: arise, and let us go up to Zion, to Hashem our God." "There shall be a day" means a day will come when watchmen call on Mount Efrayim. Rashi gives one explanation that "notzrim" means lookouts. Those who stand on the tops of the high towers in order to announce with a voice heard from afar, these are the notzrim. Another explanation Rashi gives: "notzrim" like keepers (shomrim), "keeper of kindness for thousands," a term of guarding. There shall be a day when those who kept the Torah and the mitzvot are called and they say "arise, and let us go up to Zion." So too translated Yonatan: "For there is length of days and much good that the Holy One is destined to give to the righteous who kept My Torah from before." That the Holy One is destined to give to the righteous who kept My Torah in the past. So if so it turns out that "watchmen call on Mount Efrayim," who are these notzrim? Keepers of His Torah and His commandments. It is about them that we are speaking. We are speaking of those who keep the Torah and the mitzvot. By the way, certainly, certainly it is not possible to speak here of Christians (notzrim), yes? And not to be confused. Since "notzrim" (Christians) is an expression that comes from the expression Nazareth, from the city of Nazareth, and this is a much later expression. We are speaking already of the era of the Talmud. Here, when we speak of notzrim we are speaking of the era of the First Temple. In the First Temple there was not even pie-in-the-sky dreams of such a concept as Christianity. Yes? So that it is not possible at all to find here any connection or hint to the concept of Christians, but rather as I said, either lookouts on the tops of towers, or keepers like "keeper of kindness for thousands."
The Malbim adds and says, that instead of the situation where today they would station keepers on Mount Efrayim, perhaps the meaning is in the time of the prophet, they would station keepers on Mount Efrayim so that Yisrael would not go up to Jerusalem. They would place notzrim, meaning guards who would restrict the people, who would not permit them, Yerovam stationed checkpoints (peruzda'ot) so they would not go up to Jerusalem. A day will come and there will stand notzrim and guards who will call, on the contrary, "arise, and let us go up to Zion." And on the contrary they will ensure that everyone brings up his fruits, the neta reva'i and the rest of the first fruits, in order to go up to Jerusalem. They will say "arise, and let us go up to Zion, to Hashem our God."
"For thus said Hashem: sing with gladness for Yaakov and shout at the head of the nations; proclaim, praise and say, Hashem, save Your people, the remnant of Yisrael." "For thus said Hashem, sing with gladness for Yaakov." "Sing with gladness for Yaakov," says the Radak, this is said about the beginning of the redemption. When the voice of the tidings of the redemption comes, Hashem, as it were, commands and says "sing for Yaakov with gladness." The Holy One as though commands us: sing and rejoice. "Thus said Hashem, sing with gladness for Yaakov." Sing and rejoice, the time of your redemption has come. "And shout at the head of the nations," the Targum says: "and rejoice openly before the eyes of all the peoples." The joy will be openly. Not like the situation in which Am Yisrael always fears and is afraid of the nations. It says: there will no longer be a state of exile, but rather the joy will be openly. "Proclaim, praise and say, Hashem, save Your people." Proclaim the tidings, praise Hashem, and say "Hashem, save Your people." Just as You let us hear the tidings, so we ask that the salvation be completed. Hashem says: I will do according to your words. And then Hashem promises: I will bring you from all the lands, as in the following verse, "behold, I bring them from the land of the north and gather them," and so on.
"Sing with gladness for Yaakov." The Malbim says: pay attention, it is written here "sing with gladness for Yaakov," and after that "Hashem, save Your people, the remnant of Yisrael." Why does it once speak of Yaakov and once speak of Yisrael? The Malbim says, as is known, that there is a difference between Yisrael and Yaakov. Yaakov speaks of Am Yisrael in their lowly state, from the word "heel" (akev). And Yisrael speaks of them in their high state. Yisrael is a term of dominion (serarah), which speaks of a high level. It says "sing with gladness for Yaakov." In the beginning they will sing over the joy that Yaakov will have. What is the joy of Yaakov? "And shout at the head of the nations." That the subjugation will be removed from us. And this itself will be a reason for us to rejoice and shout. We will be at the head of the nations, the nations will give us honor, we will be at their head, whereas until today we are humiliated and despised, this will be a reason for Yaakov to rejoice, that we will be on top. Yaakov, as we said, is the people with the lowly ones of the nation. And therefore this joy will be only for Yaakov. For the lowly ones of the nation, from what do they rejoice? We received freedom, there is no more subjugation, Am Yisrael merits recognition among the nations. This is "sing with gladness for Yaakov." For the simple ones, for "Your people," this is for him the redemption. What is the redemption? They do not persecute us, we have honor in the world. But by contrast Am Yisrael, these are the more spiritual people, the people who serve Hashem, for them this will not suffice. For them it will not be enough that Yaakov has only the physical redemption. They will want the spiritual redemption. They will want the Holy One to return His Shechinah to Zion. And therefore at that time they proclaim and announce with publicity and praise Hashem, through what you will say: "Hashem, save Your people." Who is "Your people"? "The remnant of Yisrael," meaning the righteous. Master of the Universe, we ask You, Hashem, save. And the true salvation, this will be a salvation of the connection with the Holy One, the salvation of prophecy returning, the salvation of nearness to God. This is the salvation that we ask for. And therefore "proclaim, praise and say," the request will be "Hashem, save Your people," that the salvation be from You and be recognized and be a spiritual salvation. From this they also explain this matter, that when they came here, as is known the ingathering of the exiles was not led by observers of the mitzvot at the head. Indeed in the past the observers of the mitzvot were at the head, as was in the time of the Gra, when there was the aliyah of the Gra and Rabbi Yehuda HeChasid and others and the Baal Shem Tov and other periods when God-fearing and complete Jews came here. But in the final redemption we see that it was done by people who are far from Torah and mitzvot. And for them, what is the redemption? As he emphasizes here: "sing with gladness for Yaakov." Yaakov has a joy there, that "they shout at the head of the nations," that we merit recognition from the nations. This is for them the joy. But truly this is not the complete redemption. For the fact that the fields give their fruit is nice and it is good and it is a revealed end. This is the beginning of the end. But what are we truly awaiting? For what? For the building of the courthouse standing in its splendor and glory there in Jerusalem? For Teddy Stadium? For the arena stadium? For what are we awaiting when we speak of the redemption, that we want Jerusalem to be built and established? Is this the building of Jerusalem, or is all of this the destruction of Jerusalem? The building of Jerusalem is when the Shechinah is in its place, when the kohanim are at their service, the Levi'im at their platform, and so on. When Am Yisrael draw close to Hashem and cleave to Him, there is spiritual influence. This is the complete redemption. And therefore he says "and say, Hashem, save Your people, the remnant of Yisrael." Yisrael will ask "Hashem, save Your people." Master of the Universe, save us, a salvation from You, that will be a spiritual salvation. But by contrast for Yaakov, "sing with gladness for Yaakov and shout at the head of the nations." How wonderful, we were redeemed with a political redemption, we are at the head of the nations, we received recognition, the UN recognizes us. Ah how wonderful, thank you very much, well done. It recognizes us. It does not matter what you write about us, what you say about us, the main thing is it recognizes us. There is such a nation called Yisrael. Yes? So this is the aspect of Yaakov, a very low aspect. The high aspect is to truly merit genuine recognition and true nearness to God, speedily, amen and amen.
"Behold, I bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth; among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who gives birth together; a great assembly shall return here." "Behold, I bring them from the land of the north," why did he specifically mention the north? The Radak says because most of the exiles are in the north. "Among them the blind and the lame," meaning the redemption will be so gentle that even the blind and the lame, even the pregnant woman and she who gives birth, even they will be able to walk at their own pace. The way will be smooth, they will not stumble as they walk. Normally when there are the blind, the lame, the pregnant and she who gives birth, they lag behind you. But here the redemption will be such that they will walk gently, the redemption will be gentle, so they will be able to walk gently, they will walk at their pace without fear. The Malbim explains "behold, I bring them from the land of the north," that there in the land of the north they are already assembled. What are they lacking? Only the bringing. They are already there, they are concentrated. By contrast "from the ends of the earth, and I will gather them" since there they are already scattered. "And I will gather them from the ends of the earth," meaning from the extremities of the earth. "Among them the blind and the lame." And even, says the Malbim, in places where there is only one blind man and one lame man, only two people of Am Yisrael, and even both with defects, the Holy One says: them too I will redeem. This is "among them the blind and the lame." Even weak and few and strengthless people, they too will have a redemption. "The pregnant woman and she who gives birth together." According to the Malbim we are not speaking here in the plain sense, a pregnant woman and a birthing woman. Rather he says I will perform for them a miracle, since "the pregnant and she who gives birth together." The reality will be that the nation will as though become pregnant and give birth immediately. That is to say, immediately she will both be a pregnancy and be a birth. Suddenly a great assembly will be born to Am Yisrael, that a vast assembly will return here. And this is "the pregnant and she who gives birth together." Normally it is pregnant, then after nine months gives birth. But here the redemption will be so immediate that it will be like she conceived and gave birth simultaneously. And this, the Malbim says, is a wondrous figure of speech, that even from places where it will seem that only a few of the children of Yisrael are found, and even these few cannot in the natural way be able to walk on the road, this one blind, this one lame, nonetheless immediately they will multiply until a vast and great assembly accompanies them.
"With weeping they shall come, and with supplications I will lead them; I will guide them to streams of water, on a straight path on which they shall not stumble; for I have been a father to Yisrael, and Efrayim is My firstborn." "With weeping they shall come," Rashi says through prayer and repentance. According to Rashi this is weeping over the sins. The Radak, by contrast, explains that it refers to weeping of joy. Like "and Yaakov kissed Rachel and lifted his voice and wept," "and he fell on his neck and wept more," that all these are weeping of joy. And indeed when they came up here from abroad, people kissed the soil of the land and wept. There was here weeping of joy that they merited to go up to Eretz Yisrael. "And with supplications I will lead them." "Supplications" (tachanunim) the Radak explains is a matter of compassion and mercy. Like "I have prayed to God that He be gracious to us," meaning have mercy on us. And with supplications and with mercy, the Holy One says, I will redeem them. To where? "To streams of water," like "beside streams of water." "I will guide them to streams of water," like "and he drove the Philistine to (el) his forehead," meaning upon his forehead. Yes? As it were, I will lead them upon streams of water, meaning with a leadership of gentleness. "On a straight path on which they shall not stumble; for I have been a father to Yisrael, and Efrayim is My firstborn." Why did he specifically mention Efrayim? The Radak says because they are the majority of Yisrael. Efrayim is the ten tribes. Since the first kingship there was from Efrayim, therefore he often calls all the ten tribes Efrayim. This is one thing. An additional explanation: because Efrayim was the firstborn. He calls him "Efrayim is My firstborn." Why does he call him My firstborn? Because the birthright was given to Yosef. So therefore he calls him "My firstborn" since he is the son of Yosef. Or another explanation, that he is beloved to Me like the firstborn son. Just as the firstborn son is beloved to his father, so "Efrayim is My firstborn," meaning the one beloved to Me. Like "My firstborn son is Yisrael." So too translated Yonatan: "Efrayim is beloved before Me," meaning beloved before Me.
The Malbim explains, "with weeping they shall come," they will be like a son who weeps before his father and pleads that his father return him to his home. According to the Malbim the weeping written here is not weeping of joy, but rather closer perhaps to what Rashi says, that Rashi explained it is a matter of repentance, so according to the Malbim too the meaning of the matter is that they will weep and plead with Hashem to redeem them. Like a son who was expelled from his father's house and afterward he pleads that his father return him. This too according to this is the supplications, not as the Radak explained in the sense of compassion, but rather in the sense of pleading. He will weep and plead that the Holy One redeem him. "With weeping they shall come, and with supplications I will lead them": through his pleading, then they will merit that I lead them to Eretz Yisrael. And I will fulfill their request, I will guide them to streams of water, as it is written "for the One who has mercy on them shall lead them, and by springs of water shall He guide them." And they make the way straight, as it is written "and I will make all My mountains into a road." The meaning is that they will not need to walk through rivers or in places where one cannot walk, but rather the way will be straight before them. "For I have been a father to Yisrael," and this is a reason to have mercy on them, and they too will be like a son, meaning they too will honor Me, not as it was until now that Am Yisrael rebelled against Hashem's word, but rather they will be to Me like a son, the son who treats his father with honoring of the father. About this he says "and Efrayim is My firstborn," so therefore they will conduct themselves in this way.
There is here a wondrous explanation of the Malbim in the explanation of the words. He says "I will lead them" (ovilem) and "I will guide them" (olichem). What is the difference between "to guide" (leholich) and "to lead" (lehovil)? The Malbim says the one who leads (movil) carries something that cannot walk on its own feet. As we say today, he transports (movil) it in a vehicle. The one who leads carries something that cannot walk on its feet. And the one who guides (molich) is something that walks on its feet. So he says: in the beginning "I will lead them." "With weeping they shall come, and with supplications I will lead them." Afterward "I will guide them," they will already be able to walk on their feet. But pay attention, says the Malbim, and it is borrowed for the carrying of a person as though he is carried on the wings of the wind. Do you hear? Here he is describing the redemption, that Am Yisrael will come here as though carried on the wings of the wind. What is this if not airplanes? Am Yisrael arrived here on the wings of eagles, in the Magic Carpet and other kinds of flights that brought them here. And the Malbim writes these things even before this reality existed in his time, "carried on the wings of the wind."
"Hear the word of Hashem, O nations, and declare it in the distant coastlands, and say: He who scattered Yisrael will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd his flock." "Hear the word of Hashem, O nations, and declare it in the distant coastlands." Why does one need to hear and declare? The Malbim says because it is a novel matter. And a novel matter, when a person hears it he immediately publicizes it and uploads it to the network. Yes? We live in a generation of publicity, everything must immediately be announced to everyone. So "hear and declare," there is here a novel matter. What is the novel matter? "He who scattered Yisrael will gather him." The Holy One who Himself scattered Yisrael, He Himself will gather them. What this means is that just as the scattering was outside of nature, since the scattering was a dispersion across the entire globe, there is no dispersion like the Jewish dispersion, so too the ingathering, "He who scattered Yisrael will gather him," so too the ingathering, the ingathering will be in a miraculous manner, that it will be in a supernatural manner. This too fits with what the Radak says, that through this the nations will know that they did not exile us by their power, not by their might, but rather the Holy One is the one who willed and delivered us into their hand. For you see that when Hashem willed He scattered Yisrael, and when He willed He would gather him. So what you succeeded in taking and ruling over us, it was not by your power, but rather since He who scattered Yisrael delivered us into your hand. And behold, you see that when He wishes to bring us out of your hand, the matter is not at all in your power, for then Hashem will gather him.
And even the scattering itself, the Malbim adds and says, its purpose is for the sake of the ingathering. That is to say, it is written "and I will sow her for Myself in the land." When a person sows, why do you scatter? In order to gather afterward. Keep it with yourself and it is finished. Everyone understands that I scatter a little and gather much. So too the Malbim says, Am Yisrael, their dispersion among the nations was an aspect of sowing. "And I will sow her for Myself in the land." And the sowing is for the purpose of the harvest. The meaning is that through this Am Yisrael will correct their ways, through this they will grow spiritually, and then afterward it will be possible to redeem them. And then he says "and keep him as a shepherd his flock." Like a shepherd who guards the flock, "as a shepherd his flock," a flock that is his own, not a flock of others. That is to say, the Gemara says that one who wants to lose his money should hire workers and not sit with them. A person who wants to lose his money, hire a worker and you come another day, another day, you will see little by little the work goes slowly, each time they do another furrow or another dig, more slowly, slowly. If you want the work to go as it should, be with them. So we all know that when the owner of the house does the work it is quick, it is fast, it is purposeful. When you let a worker do it, then it is lazily. So this is what he says, He will guard the flock like a shepherd guarding his flock, his own flock. Not like a shepherd who guards the flock of the owner, where his responsibility is faint, his care is in doubt. Here like a shepherd who guards his own flock, and then he watches over each and every one of the sheep so that not a single one of them will be missing.
"For Hashem has redeemed Yaakov and rescued him from a hand stronger than his." "For Hashem has redeemed Yaakov," Hashem will redeem Yaakov from the troubles. And He will rescue him, on account of the nearness that He has with us, even from a hand stronger than his. Even though the enemy who holds us will be stronger than us, Hashem will rescue us even though the enemy was stronger than him, "than his" meaning than Yaakov's, not heaven forbid than the Holy One's. What is the difference between "redeemed" (padah) and "rescued him" (ge'alo)? The Malbim says that "to redeem" (pidyon) is to save on account of mercy. I have mercy on you and redeem you. By contrast, redemption (ge'ulah) we always see is on account of nearness. "For our Redeemer (Go'alenu) He is." If a man has a redeemer (go'el), it is always from his relatives. The redeemers are those close to him. So since the Holy One, as it were, is our Redeemer, meaning He has nearness with us, "you are sons to Hashem your God," then the Holy One will fight on our behalf. And therefore it is written "Hashem has redeemed Yaakov." To redeem, as we said, is even a stranger, he has mercy on him. But if one needs to fight for it? No, not to that extent. I am willing to pay, but also to fight? But if I am your relative, I will also fight for you. This is what it says "and rescued him," a redeemer is a relative, so it is also from a hand stronger than his. So even if there will be a nation stronger than us, the Holy One will fight for us in order to redeem us from their hand.
"And they shall come and sing on the height of Zion, and they shall stream to the goodness of Hashem, over grain and over wine and over oil and over the young of the flock and herd; and their soul shall be like a watered garden, and they shall no longer languish." The Radak brings from Targum Yonatan, "and they shall come and sing on the height of Zion": on the mount of the Temple. They will come and rejoice at the Beit HaMikdash. The mountain of the House of Hashem, this is the meaning of "the height of Zion," the mount of the Temple. The mount of the Temple means the mountain of the Beit HaMikdash that will be built in Zion. "And they shall stream to the goodness of Hashem." "They shall stream" (nahru) means they will go in a rush. Like "and all the nations shall stream to it." And Rashi explains that "they shall stream" means they will be gathered like a river. And the river is apparently also called nahar since it flows in a rush. "And they shall stream to the goodness of Hashem, over grain and over wine and over oil and over the young of the flock and herd. And their soul shall be like a watered garden, and they shall no longer languish." They will no longer have languishing, which means sorrow and worry, but rather they will be calm and restful in that tranquility upon Hashem. The Malbim says, "and they shall stream to the goodness of Hashem": the spiritual goodness. This is the goodness of Hashem. That is to say, we are not speaking here of something physical, material. "The goodness of Hashem" is spiritual influence. "Over grain, over wine and over oil," here we are already speaking of the material. It turns out then that there are here two aspects. The redemption includes within it both nearness to God, which is really the spiritual view, that until now there was as though a barrier interposed between Yisrael and their Father in heaven, and at the time of redemption we will have nearness to God, this is "and they shall stream to the goodness of Hashem." Besides this, and perhaps also in accordance with it, for "and it shall be if you hearken," for when one does the will of Hashem then automatically "I will give your rains in their season" and all the good abundance is indeed promised. So this is what he says, "over grain and over wine and over oil," that all these will be for us in great abundance at the time of redemption. And on account of their streaming to the goodness of Hashem, as we explained meaning in the sense of spiritual drawing near, through this "their soul shall be like a watered garden." This speaks of the soul portion, of the spiritual good. They will be like a watered garden, like a garden that is saturated with irrigation, so too our soul will be sated from the goodness of Hashem. And because of, and by virtue of the material influence, grain, wine and oil, about this is the continuation "and they shall no longer languish." They will no longer have poverty and want, as it is written "my eye languishes from affliction," so we see that there is an aspect of languishing that stems from poverty; there will be no poverty, for there will be grain, wine, oil, the young of the flock and herd. So too there will be economic abundance. So both things will be in the future redemption, both the spiritual abundance and the economic abundance.