Perek 10, part 2

So for for all those who miss the zoom, today's your lucky day rabosai. Little little did you know what bracha you can get keheref ayin. Okay. So we left off here in the middle of in the middle of kapittel yud. Let's let's pick up posuk vav. אמר בלבו בל אמוט לדור ודור אשר לא ברע. The subject of the amar belibo is is the rasha of of pesukim bais and gimmel. The Malbim comments amar belibo kedarko with the his his uncanny capacity to to notice the nuances, the progressions, the differences. Hop, I'm I'm sorry. So אמר בלבו בל אמוט with the holding off on that for a minute. I'm sorry. אמר בלבו בל אמוט, the the rasha says I won't falter. לדור ודור אשר לא ברע and not only is that something that's he in in the short term does he feel secure, but long term, l'dor vador also. Hu boteiach belibo says the Malbim

שלא תשיגהו רע וגם בוטח שלא ישיג רע את בניו.

So lemaise it's you know whether it makes logical sense to us or not, but but what the posuk here is depicting is something that that we see that reshaim have a sense of being invulnerable. You know rachmana litzlan when when when one hears of of of a scandal and the scandal which unfortunately is true, it's not not a terrible case of hotzas shem ra, but but which unfortunately the the what surfaces is true and and there's a whole invariably there's a whole pattern which which which emerges in in in those terrible cases. So one reaction obviously there there are many many reactions this isn't necessarily the most significant or important one but it's the one that's relevant to what what we're learning now. But one reaction is and how did this person not realize that it was all gonna catch up with him? Like how did he how did he think that that that he was going to get away with it? And what the posuk here is is depicting hagam that the the is that there is this certain sense of invulnerability that a rasha cultivates. Maybe it's it's sort of his way of constructing a scheme whereby he can continue to practice as as he wills and as he does. But this sense of bal emot, I'm untouchable I'm not gonna falter, l'dor vador, it can go on year after year, asher lo vera, is something we taka we see it in, we see it empirically rachmana litzlan. אלה פיהו מלא ומרמות ותוך. He's always righteously affirming, swearing, but u'mirma sfatav, but he engages in trickery, in deception in the biurei hamilos the Malbim explains that תוך הוא המרמה הצפונה. Tachas leshono on his tongue, what's ostensible, what's on the surface again is the righteous affirmation but tachas leshono is omal v'aven, is cheit, is iniquity. It's something which if the person doesn't correct his course is something that will persist throughout a person's life if he doesn't consciously look to change course. Yoshev b'maarav khatzerot.

במסתורים יהרג נקי עיניו לחלכה יצפנו. יארב במסתר כאריה בסכה יארב לחטוף עני יחטף עני במשכו ברשתו.

So the Malbim explains that the rasha is being compared to a lion. And just as in the lion there are three stages of life, when the lion is a, what's the word for baby lion again? What do you call it? What's the word? I'm blanking. Anyway, in lashon hakodesh layish, when the lion is a cub, is not for a lion, is it? It is also for a lion, so you have a lion cub which corresponds to a person's youth, so the lion actually at that point doesn't really go out to attack; it's only if its prey ventures into its domain. But contrary to that, the rasha in his youth does go out in chatzerot and to ambush. וכי איש שנא לרעהו וארב לו, maarav is an ambush. Subsequently the rasha acts like an arye b'sukko. The rasha has no need anymore to go out, but because he becomes prominent, so then he's able to lure his victims into his own area, so that's the second stage of the rasha's life. And even yidke v'yashokh, even when the rasha ages, becomes bent over with age, but even then v'nafal b'atzumav cheylkayim. Even then people fall prey to his strength. You know sometimes we see people of a very advanced age, zekeinim according to every definition that a person could come up with, not just if a person learns avos and ben shishim l'zikna but by any measure that a person would adopt, and we assume that the natural reaction when a person reaches a certain age is that a person would be confront. And yet the reality is that without conscious concerted effort a person continues on life in the same trajectory. If a person doesn't make conscious concerted effort ad yomo ha'acharon the person continues on the same trajectory. That's what the Malbim is explaining here by showing how the psukim are depicting the rasha in three stages of his life, bimei yalduto, then in his prime, then beziknuto, but throughout it's the yaharog naki, it's lachtof ani, and venafal be'atzumav chelkha'im, and the et zikna doesn't affect him. Nothing affects us automatically. Ze klal. Nothing affects us automatically. Pasuk yud aleph: אמר בלבו שכח אל הסתיר פניו בל ראה לנצח. So the Malbim explains: תחילה יאמר הרשע בלבו שכח אל, kevayachol, whatever this means in the rasha's mind, Hakadosh Baruch Hu forgot, שהגם שהאל רואה ומשגיח הוא שכח מלהעניש תיכף. So initially the rasha sort of reassures himself, encourages himself by saying there's no immediate consequences. Shachach Keil. He doesn't deny hashgacha. Initially the rasha is not denying hashgacha entirely. He's just postponing the din vecheshbon to such a remote point in the future that he doesn't really need or choose to focus on it. However, אחר כך פוקר יותר, lashon hefkerus, but hefkerus in terms of belief. אחר כך פוקר יותר ויאמר שהאל הסתיר פניו, right? Amar belibo aleph. First, initially the rasha says shachach Keil, but then the kefirah becomes greater. Then he says hastir panav, דהיינו אינו משגיח בשפלים כי על השמים כבודו. No, there is no hashgacha. It's not that the hashgacha is postponed, is delayed. No, there is no hashgacha. And ultimately אחר כך פוקר יותר ויאמר שהאל בל ראה לנצח. No, there isn't even yedi'ah. Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't know what happens in our world. Not only is he not the mashgiach, but he doesn't even know what's happening in our world. He only knows what's eternal and fixed and unchanging. He doesn't know what's happening in our world. What emerges from the Malbim's peirush here is the following. You know, just as Chazal tell us on an action on the level of action that aveira goreret aveira, it's true in inyanei emunah v'de'os as well. In inyanei emunah v'de'os as well, an element of kefirah is goreret further and more far-reaching and more wide-ranging kefirah. There's a natural progression. And the same way on the level of action is aveira goreret aveira, so too on the level of belief there's a natural progression of אחר כך פוקר יותר and אחר כך פוקר אפילו יותר. The mashal to see how this is intuitive, the mashal perhaps is as follows. So... Imagine you have a ship, and the ship has dropped anchor. So as long as the ship has dropped anchor, it’s secure, it’s stable. The very minute you lift anchor, it begins to drift. So initially, only a little bit of time has passed, so it only drifts so much. But again, if there's no correction in terms of the mashal, if they don’t drop anchor again, then as time goes on, it drifts further and further. And that’s the natural progression. Once a person, again in the area, let’s talk in the area again that the Malbim is here depicting based on his understanding of the pasuk, in emunah and de'ot, once a person moves away from true, traditional, correct belief, once a person is not anchored and allows his own inadequate analysis, his own subjective, without realizing it, assimilationist biases to affect and influence, then the anchor is lifted. And once the anchor is lifted, there's no reason that the drifting will stop after one initial drift. No, the natural state of affairs is that he drifts more and more, the same way the ship is going to drift further and further once it raises anchor.

קומה ה' אל נשא ידך אל תשכח ענוים. קומה ה' נשא ידך.

Nesa yadecha, to literally lift your hand, means that it should be done in a very overt, demonstrative way. Right? As we said at the beginning of the kapitel, למה ה' תעמד ברחוק תעלים לעתות בצרה. David Hamelech is saying the fact that hashgacha is camouflaged and hidden allows people, it doesn't exonerate them from doing so, but it allows people to not recognize the hashgacha for what it is. So David Hamelech is asking, no, nesa yadecha, right? Raise your hand in the sense that leharot gevuratcha, that it should be something which is demonstrative. על מה ניאץ רשע אלהים אמר בלבו לא תדרש. So the Malbim basically says that al meh is the same as lamah. Dehainu, Ribbono Shel Olam, I'm mispallel nesa yadecha, because why is it that the rasha is mena'etz, that he blasphemes? Why is it, how is it that אמר בלבו לא תדרש, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu isn’t going to hold him accountable? It’s because again, he doesn’t see the evidence, the demonstration of hashgacha. In fact, ra'ita, according to the Malbim, basically it should be punctuated with a Hakadosh Baruch Hu, You are Mashgiach, You do see. And what's more, not only actions, but אתה כי אתה עמל וכעס תביט. But but you see the machshovos as well. Amal here referring to to the the sinister thoughts and planning and planning. And the reality is that lases b'yadecha that with your own hand, dehinu, directly, without the camouflage of of and facade of teva that עליך יעזב חלכה יתום אתה היית עוזר. Knesset Yisrael here is is compared to to the to an orphan who's been forsaken, obviously forsaken by his parents, whom the Melech attends to directly. Shevor zeroa rasha, you Hakadosh Baruch Hu, again, without the the the mask, the veil of nature, Shevor zeroa rasha, ורע תדרוש רשעו בל תמצא. Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't have to be constrained in in punishing the reshaim in terms of depleting his malchus. ה' מלך עולם ועד, the Malbim explains, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is is inherently, intrinsically a Melech. Avdu goyim meartzo. Even even when goyim will have perished, it doesn't deplete Hakadosh Baruch Hu, it doesn't diminish Hakadosh Baruch Hu's status. תאות ענוים שמעת ה'. Not only Hakadosh Baruch Hu should you hear and respond to the tefillah which is articulated, but תכין לבם תקשיב אזנך. Even the what has not yet been articulated, תכין לבם תקשיב אזנך, resulting in lishpot yasom vadach to to demand justice for the orphan, Klal Yisrael, vadach, the downtrodden. And it should be in a way that בל יוסיף עוד לערוץ אנוש מן הארץ. Larotz is to exert strength. Enosh, the Malbim has commented previously in the beur hamilos, refers to man in his frailty, his mortality. Again, that there should no longer be the perception of that that some powerful human agency that that's carrying out the that's that's getting justice for the yasom. No, there should no longer be the case that any enosh continues to exert gevurah. Larotz min, the Malbim explains here, means more than, not from, but more than. That that no frail mortal should appear to be any stronger than anyone else on earth. So that the mishpat of the yasom vadach everyone will see is coming from Hakadosh Baruch Hu and and there will be no misattribution to. Okay, we'll stop here. Let's see. Page one thirteen. Veyechakeh Hashem lachanancham. And therefore Hakadosh Baruch Hu waits to show you grace. Velachen yarum lerachamchem. And therefore He will be exalted in showing you mercy. כי אלהי משפט ה'. For Hashem is a God of justice. אשרי כל חוכי לו. Praiseworthy are all who wait for Him. For a people shall dwell in Tzion in Yerushalayim. You shall weep no more. He will surely show you grace at the sound of your cry. He will answer you as soon as He hears it. Now the gemara says as follows:

מבי שילה אמרי שילה שמו שנאמר עד כי יבוא שילה. מבי רבי ינאי אמרי ינון שמו שנאמר יהי שמו לעולם לפני שמש ינון שמו. מבי רבי חנינה אמרי חנינה שמו שנאמר אשר לא אתן לכם חנינה. ואיכא דאמרי מנחם בן חזקיה שמו שנאמר כי רחק ממני מנחם משיב נפשי. ורבנן אמרי חיוורא דבי רבי שמו שנאמר אכן חלינו הוא נשא ומכאבינו סבלם ואנחנו חשבנוהו נגוע מוכה אלהים ומעונה.

Okay, let's look at this gemara for a moment. This is a gemara in Masechet Sanhedrin. The gemara asks what is the name of Mashiach? And it gives all of these answers. Now, notice that all the answers are really names of the schools of the people who were suggesting these names. In other words, the school of Shila said his name is Shilo. The school of rabi Yannai said his name is Yinon. The school of rabi Chanina said his name is Chanina. They were all naming Mashiach after their own rebbe.