Perek 7

Let's pick up Kapitel Zayin Pasuk Tes. Hashem yadin amim שפטני ה' כצדקי וכתומי עלי. The Malbim explains that the tzidki refers to actions and tumi lashon tumim refers to one's thoughts, one's kavanas, one's intention, as Avimelech says, right? בתם לבבי ובנקיון כפי עשיתי זאת. That tmimous is something that describes the way for one's inner, inner thoughts. HaKadosh Baruch Hu render your verdict, render your verdict taking into account both my actions ketzidki as well as uchetumi alai. Here, I think this pasuk yesterday we were struggling a little bit I think it was yesterday to understand what this middah is of the mishpat hatzerufi, this joint judgment. And what we said yesterday itachen there is truth to it, but I think in this context what the Malbim is referring to is something different. If you have two different, I don't know, be it individuals, be it nations, groups, whatever it may be contending with each other. So then the one nation is poised to attack another nation or as in the context of this kapitel where Dovid HaMelech was pursued by Cush. So then the mishpat is a mishpat if Reuven is pitted against Shimon, so then the mishpat is a mishpat hatzerufi. On Rosh Hashanah, it's not a question of Reuven being pitted against Shimon. No, every yachid is being nidon kshehu b'atzmo. כל באי עולם עוברים לפניו כבני מרון. But when circumstances sort of dictate because you have two be it individuals, groups, peoples, pitted against each other, so then the mishpat is tzerufi. That's what the Malbim is telling us and lachora that's Hashem yadin amim. The sense of that according to the Malbim is that HaKadosh Baruch Hu judges the amim together when they're again in such situations as when they're pitted against each other. So then given that context, so Dovid HaMelech says, so look in the mishpat hatzerufi, so shofteini Hashem ketzidki look at my actions as opposed to those of Cush ונגדם אצדק בצדקי ודיני. Could be that another sort of instance or reflection in the Midrash I think in Parshas Emor the way it depicts the mitzvah of daled minim is the mitzvah of daled minim celebrates that Knesset Yisrael emerges from the din with the umos haolam victorious. It's a victory parade, a celebration. So where was that? So apparently in addition to the din of every yachid, hayoys that the umos haolam are always perpetually there's a perpetual state of war. as a perpetual adversarial relationship with Knesses Yisrael, so in addition to the call it absolute individual mishpat that's happening, you have this this idea, the Malbim's what idea that we're encountering here in the Malbim, this mishpat serufi. And that's what Chazal are depicting also happens on on every every Yom Noraim in addition to the to the mishpat of of every yachid veyachid. יגמר נא רע רשעים ותכונן צדיק. So let the ra, the ra which perhaps began by being visited upon me, Dovid Hamelech, let it let it let its culmination affect the reshaim and usechonen tzaddik and establish the the tzaddik. ובוחן לבות וכליות אלהים צדיק. So Dovid Hamelech refers to Hakadosh Baruch Hu A as a vochen libos uchelayos and B as tzaddik. The Malbim again kedarko says that this is is parallel to the fact that the din is about the the temimus of of a person, of Dovid Hamelech, the inner thought, the inner intention, that's that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is vochen libos uchelayos. Hakadosh Baruch Hu discerns what a person's thoughts are. And keneged the the person's external actions that Dovid Hamelech had petitioned Shofteini Hashem ketzidki, my my outer actions, Elokim tzaddik. Magini al Elokim, Moshia yishrei lev, אלהים שופט צדיק ואל זועם בכל יום. These two pesukim again continue the the two sort of foci of din, my shield in the sense of what will protect me is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is moshia yishrei lev, so I feel confident in kasumi alay that when Hakadosh Baruch Hu judges the my my thoughts, my intentions. And keneged the din about a person's actions is Elokim shofet tzaddik and he'll he he he will vindicate the tzaddik. And ואל זועם בכל יום, the Malbim understands the Keil in this phrase is the object, not the subject. Those who anger Hakadosh Baruch Hu, right? Not the those who anger Hakadosh Baruch Hu bechol yom, and that he'll he will judge them accordingly. Im lo yashuv, if he won't back down, and on the contrary charbo yiltosh, he'll he'll continue to to sharpen his sword, kashto darach vayechonenehu, he'll he'll prepare his the the bow and arrow to to shoot arrows. So then let that let that boomerang against him. ולו הכין כלי מות. The klei maves that that he's prepared should should be for himself. And chitzav, and the arrows which he shoots, ledolkim yifol, that they should act against those who are pursuing me, right? Yaakov Avinu says to Lavan, מה פשעי מה חטאתי כי דלקת אחרי, that that you've that you've chased after me. הנה יחבל און והרה עמל וילד שקר. The Malbim says that yechabbel, the first of the we're using the imagery of of conception and birth, but say in English we also have a we speak of you hatch a plan, right? So also that we use the imagery of the of a of a bird hatching out out of its out of its egg, it's a similar type of of simile. So הנה יחבל און והרה עמל וילד שקר. In the beurei hamillos,

יחבל הוא קליטת הזרע. כמו שם חבלת חבלה ילדתה ואחרי זה ההריון ואחרי זה הלידה.

So it's the klitas hazera, meaning the plan that he's hatching is evil. His thoughts, which again correspond to the herayon, is sinful. V'yoled shaker, but let it be that the leida will be sheker in the sense that his plans won't come to fruition. Dehainu, bor kara vayachperehu. The pit that he dug, let it be that vayipol beshachas yifal, that he himself, the rasha himself will fall into the pit that he has made. Malbim explains in the biurei hamillos here kara vayachperehu. K'shebau nirdaphim, when you have them together, מציין בקריאה התחלת הקריאה vechafar gmar hachafira. So kriya means the beginning and chafar means the finishing touches on digging the pit. Malbim himself goes on to say how meduyak it is. Chazal have a drasha in Bava Kamma nun-aleph on כי יכרה איש בור. Chazal say what happens, what's the din if one person digs a bor of tes tefachim. So tes tefachim Chazal says אין בו כדי להמית. It's not deep enough of ונפל שמה שור או חמור that the shor o chamor would die, not deep enough. And a second person comes and he digs down a tenth tefach. So the din is, Chazal say, Chazal see a remez in the posuk כי יכרה איש בור that the achron is chayav. How do you see that? Because ish, that only one person's gonna be chayav, not both. But where do you see in the pesukim that the posuk is talking about a case of where the bor was dug in installments? So the Malbim explains meduyak from the ki yichre. It's ki yichre meaning that initially there was a has'chala to the digging and then understood, implied, and ultimately there was a gmar because ונפל שמה שור או חמור. So then the Torah is coming tell us ish is chayav, not anashim, that boso ha'achron, everyone agrees that boso ha'achron lamisa. Yashuv amolo berosho, may his evil thoughts again, may they bounce back against him ועל קדקדו חמסו ירד. Odeh Hashem k'tzidko, I will thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu for the righteousness that he bestowed upon me ואזמרה שם ה' עליון. Well let's see, the Malbim has a short but very very important comment here, posuk 18. Odeh Hashem,

ההודאה הוא על הטוב שקיבל וגם אזמרה שם ה' להגיד נפלאותיו והשגחתו וגבורותיו.

So I will thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu for the good that I received and I'll sing praise to shem Hashem to recount His wonders, His providence, His miracles. So the yesod, which bik'tzara is here in the Malbim, is as follows. There's an extraordinary Mechilta in Parshas Beshalach. The next two marei mekomos that we're gonna look at are taken from a devar Torah from my brother, Hashem yikom domo. The Mechilta has as follows. When the posuk in the Mechilta is commenting on the posuk of ה' ילחם לכם ואתם תחרישון. So that's when Bnei Yisrael were trapped in between the on-rushing Egyptian army on the one hand and the Yam Suf on the other hand. So they were completely trapped. Trapped. So Moshe Rabbeinu says, ה׳ ילחם לכם ואתם תחרשון. So there's a Mechilta that says as follows: Hashem yilachem lachem. המקום עושה לכם נסים וגבורות ואתם עומדים ושותקים? So we understand the peshuto shel mikra to mean ve-atem tacharishun is be-nichusa. That you're not going to have to do anything. You'll be quiet and Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to take care of business here. The Mechilta doesn't understand it that way. The Mechilta understands ve-atem tacharishun as a question. ה׳ ילחם לכם ואתם תחרשון? Be-timiha. ואתם עומדים ושותקים? Amru lo, so Bnei Yisrael said to Moshe Rabbeinu, what are we supposed to be doing? Mah aleinu la'asos? Amar lahem,

היו מפארים ומרוממים ומשבחים ומקלסים ומהדרים ונותנים שבח וגדולה ותהילה ותפארת והוד ונצח למי שהמלחמה שלו.

Right, you should be glorifying, exalting, praising, ve-chulu, Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Be-osa sha'ah, at that moment,

פתחו ישראל פיהם ואמרו שירה אשירה לה׳ כי גאה גאה.

So hafle va-fele, according to the Mechilta, Bnei Yisrael said Shirat Hayam before Krias Yam Suf. That's what it says in this Mechilta. Shirat Hayam was recited be-osa sha'ah, right, ve-atem tacharishun? You're quiet? What should we be saying? You should be saying shirah. Be-osa sha'ah petachu ve-amru. The Shlah HaKadosh talks about an apparent stirah. That on the one hand, the pasuk says be-avod reshaim rinah, when wicked people perish, so it's an occasion for rinah, it's an occasion for song. And on the other hand, Hakadosh Baruch Hu chastises the malachim and says to them מעשי ידי טובעים בים ואתם אומרים שירה? How do you reconcile that? So he first quotes an answer based on a Zohar HaKadosh. Actually, the truth is that answer actually relates to the idea of mishpat tzerufi that we were talking about before. He says that according to the Zohar HaKadosh the answer is as follows: Be-avod reshaim rinah means when the rasha is punished because he exhausted the middah of erech apayim. Nitmala se'aso. His evil was just so me-al u-me-ever and the middah of erech apayim has been exhausted and there's no he's not serving as Hakadosh Baruch Hu's shevet apo in any way. So then it's be-avod reshaim rinah. But sometimes reshaim are destroyed in order to save tzaddikim. Meaning, if they wouldn't be again in that adversarial contentious position, so then they wouldn't have run out their string yet. But it's because they're persecuting or worse tzaddikim, so then even though lo nitmala se'aso, the rasha will be destroyed, then it's מעשי ידי טובעים בים ואתם אומרים שירה. That's the answer the Shlah HaKadosh says based on the Zohar HaKadosh, so so far an instance of mishpat tzerufi. Mishpat tzerufi. But then he says that he thinks there's a second teretz on the second teretz in this context. He quotes a Medrash in Shmos Rabbah: tashuri me-rosh amana, which the Medrash understands tashuri as lashon shirah. Atidim Yisrael lomar.

עתידין ישראל לומר שירה לעתיד לבוא שנאמר שירו לה' שיר חדש כי נפלאות עשה. ובאיזה זכות אומרים ישראל שירה בזכות אברהם שהאמין בהקדוש ברוך הוא

Shene'emar vehe'emin bahashem. So the Sfas Emes has two kushyas. What does it mean asidin and le'asid lavo? That's redundant, right? עתידין ישראל לומר שירה לעתיד לבוא. So what's pshat in that apparent redundancy? And what do you mean that we can only say shira in the zchus of Avraham Avinu? So he says something extraordinary. Ha'inyan hu, again this is reading from the Sfas Emes,

מידת צדיקים הוא מיד שהובטחו לדבר טוב לומר שיר ושבח להשם יתברך מיד אף שעדיין לא נתקיים.

So the mida of tzadikim is that the minute Hakadosh Baruch Hu promises them a davar tov, so even before the actual materialization, even before it actually materializes, they already sing shira.

כי זהו מצד האמונה שמאמינים בדברו ברוך הוא וברוך שמו.

Their emuna is so great that they're able to sing shira based on the havtacha. He says that's the pshat. עתידין לומר שירה לעתיד לבוא means asidin in the future that we'll all be on such a madreiga like tzadikim to say shira about what's still le'asid lavo. A gevaldig pshat. And he says that's the pshat, מה זה ידי כל היום ואתם אומרים שירה? Now you're saying shira? Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells malachim, only now? Only when the Mitzrim are actually drowning? You should have said shira beforehand. You should have said shira when it was clear that I told Bnei Yisrael they should head head-first into the sea. So I said there was going to be a miracle. Only now atem omrim shira? That's what the hakpada was on the malachim. That's what the Sfas Emes says. But what do you see from this rabosai? How can you say shira on what's le'asid lavo? So there's two, there are two points which clearly are axiomatic here. Number one, that the Sfas Emes spells out explicitly, dahinu the emuna is so strong that as soon as one receives the havtacha one relates to it as a reality. But there's another yesod here also rabosai, and that's as follows. Let's say, mashal lema hadavar, let's take an example. Let's say you have a tzadik, a big ba'al emuna, and he suffers from some excruciatingly painful condition. And then he hears a bas kol that ich veis in two days he's going to miraculously recover and he'll be free of pain. Now his emuna notwithstanding, he still has that excruciating pain for two days. So mizad that, isn't the shira premature even given the vividness and the of the emuna? So the teretz is that there's a difference, and this is what all this lichora is present in this one line in the Maharal. There's a difference between hoda'ah and shira. Hoda'ah, a person thanks Hakadosh Baruch Hu for the benefit he has derived. For the benefit he has derived. In bentching, נודה לך ה' אלוקינו. For the benefit he has derived. You can't give hoda'ah before the fact. But shirah is not about my personal benefit, my personal enjoyment. Shirah is a response to the Yad Hashem which is evident in that tov. It's in that sense impersonal. One sings shirah not in the capacity of the beneficiary. One gives hoda'ah in his capacity as a beneficiary. But one sings shirah as one who sees Yad Hashem. If a person is enough of on a high enough madrega of emunah, so he sees that Yad Hashem already as soon as the havtachah is given. As soon as that havtachah is given, he sees the Yad Hashem. So shirah he can give. Shirah one can say before the fact. I will—our Malbim says

שההודאה הוא על הטוב שקיבל וגם הזמרה לשם ה׳ להגיד נפלאותיו השגחותיו וגבורותיו

doesn't mention me. Because again the shirah is on the Yad Hashem. One should be inspired to shirah equally whether one is the beneficiary or whether one is the spectator. Tzadikim are on such a madrega that they're already spectators when the original havtachah is given, and that's what allows for them to say shir before the fact and it speaks again to what the mechayev of the shirah again is the gilluy Shechinah shebo. Not the benefaction, but the gilluy Shechinah shebo. So that, if a person is on a high enough madrega, he can say shirah even before the fact.