Malachi 3

"Take us back, Hashem, to You! Renew our days of old (yimei kedem) !"

"Renew our days as of old!": Like Adam the first, according to what was written: "He drove the man out, and stationed east of the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24)". Another interpretation: "Renew our days as of old!": According to what was written: "Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to Hashem as in the days of yore and in the years of old (Malachi 3:4)". "Days of yore": This is Moses, as it is written: "Then they remembered the ancient days, Him, who pulled His people out (mosheh) (Isaiah 63:11)". "Years of old": like the years of Solomon. Rabbi says: ""Days of yore": like the days of Noah, as it is said: "For this to Me is like the waters of Noah (Isaiah 54:9)". "Years of old": like the years of Abel, when there was no worship of idols in the world".

"He who sitteth in the heavens" (ii. Ps. 123:4), i.e., He who is everlasting, constant, and in no way subject to change; immutable in His Essence, and as He consists of nought but His Essence, He is mutable in no way whatever; not mutable in His relation to other things: for there is no relation whatever existing between Him and any other being, as will be explained below, and therefore no change as regard; such relations can take place in Him. Hence He is immutable in every respect, as He expressly declares, "I, the Lord, do not change" (Mal. 3:6); i.e., in Me there is not any change whatever. This idea is expressed by the term yashab when referring to God. The verb, when employed of God, is frequently complemented by "the Heavens," inasmuch as the heavens are without change or mutation, that is to say, they do not individually change, as the individual beings on earth, by transition from existence into non-existence.

If He could sometimes be angry and sometimes mirthful, He would be subject to changes. Indeed, such and all kindred attributes are not present in any save in darkened, lowly bodies, inhabitants of houses of clay, whose origin is of dust; but He, blessed is He! in blessings is exalted above all this. God does not change.

In a similar vein, Rabbi Ḥaggai said, and some say it was Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed: The Lord, the Lord, merciful and gracious, long-suffering [erekh appayim], and abundant in love and truth” (Exodus 34:6)? Why does it say “erekh appayim,” using a plural form? It should have said erekh af, using the singular form.

What this means is that God is long-suffering in two ways: He is long-suffering toward the righteous, i.e., He delays payment of their reward; and He is also long-suffering toward the wicked, i.e., He does not punish them immediately.

And all nations shall call you happy; for ye shall be a delightsome land. [And so Solomon declared,] One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; and the earth abideth for ever: Solomon said: Although a generation passes away and another generation comes, one kingdom goes and another kingdom comes, one decree passes away and a new decree is imposed upon Israel, the earth abideth for ever, i.e. Israel will abide for ever, they are not forsaken nor will they be forsaken, they are not destroyed nor will they be destroyed, as it is stated, For I the Lord change not; and ye, O sons of Jacob are not consumed—as I have not changed nor will I change, so you, the House of Jacob, are not destroyed and will not be destroyed.

Rebbi Joshua the Southerner said: Three things did the earthly court decree and the Heavenly Court agreed with them, and they are the following... Also tithes, as it is said (Mal. 3:10): “Bring all tithes, etc.” What is: “ Until ‘without enough?’ ” Rebbi Yose bar Simeon bar Abba in the name of Rebbi Yoḥanan: The thing about which it is impossible to say “enough”, that is blessing. Rebbi Berekhiah and Rebbi Chelbo and Rebbi Abba bar Ilaï in the name of Rav: Until your lips will wear out saying, we have enough blessings, we have enough blessings.

This should resolve the dilemma of "the righteous man who suffers, and the wicked man who prospers." As to the verse (Psalms 73:3): "For I was envious of the revelers; I saw the prosperity of the wicked" — this is to be understood as a lament over the actuation of this principle and not as an expression of ignorance as to its existence. The same applies to (Ibid 13-14): "It is but in vain that I have purified my heart and washed my hands in cleanliness. For I have been afflicted all the day and chastised every morning." It is as if to say: if the essence and end of requital were the goods and evils of this world, one would perfect his deeds in vain unless he attained an exalted eminence by which nature would be changed for his sake. But so long as the world follows its natural pattern, the good man will be visited with pain and suffering. Since, however, the ultimate, essential requital is that for the soul in the world to come, no dilemma remains here, for every deed will there be brought to "the accounting house." And this is the intent of (Ibid 21-22): "For my heart was embittered; my reins were pricked. For it is there and not in this world that the reward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked is revealed. And this itself is the intent of the sealer of the epoch of prophecy (Malachi 3:13-14): "'Your words have been strong against Me,' says the L-rd. And you say: 'What have we spoken against You?' You have said: 'It is vain to serve G-d, and what profit is it that we have kept His charge and walked darkly before the L-rd of hosts?'" And Malachi concludes (Ibid 18): "'And they shall be mine,' says the L-rd of hosts, 'on that day which I choose… and you will return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves G-d and one who does not."

A parable: To what is this matter to be compared? To a man who had precious utensils. And he did not desire to give them as an inheritance except to his son; likewise with the Holy One, blessed be He. The day of blessing and holiness which was before Him, He did not desire to give it as an inheritance except to Israel. Know that it is so ! Come and see ! for when the Israelites went forth from Egypt, whilst yet the Torah had not been given to them, He gave them the Sabbath as an inheritance. Israel kept two Sabbaths whilst as yet the Torah had not been given to them, as it is said, "And thou madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath" (Neh. 9:14). And afterwards He gave them the Torah, as it is said, "And commandedst them commandments, and statutes, and Torah by the hand of Moses, thy servant" (ibid.).

For lo, the sun comes This instance of יוֹם is an expression of sun, for so did the Sages state that there will be no Gehinnom in the future, but the Holy One, blessed be He, will take the sun out of its case; the wicked will be punished thereby and the righteous will be healed thereby. That is the meaning of what is stated (verse 20): “And the sun of mercy shall rise for you who fear My Name, etc.”

neither root nor branch Neither son nor grandson

Similarly, because Moses yearned for the Torah, it is called by his name. Whence do we know that he yearned for the Torah? It is said: And Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights (Exod. 24:18). Where do we find that it is called by his name? It is written: Remember ye the law of Moses My servant (Mal. 3:22). Because he offered to sacrifice his life for Israel, they were called by his name: And his people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses (Isa. 63:11). He executed righteousness, Lord, and his ordinances with Israel (Deut. 33:21). Does not justice, however, belong to God? Indeed! But since he devoted his life to justice, it is called by his name.

He went to Moses and said to him: The Torah that the Holy One, Blessed be He, gave you, where is it? Moses evaded the question and said to him: And what am I that the Holy One, Blessed be He, would have given me the Torah? I am unworthy. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: Moses, are you a fabricator? Moses said before Him: Master of the Universe, You have a hidden treasure in which You delight every day. Should I take credit for myself and say that You gave it to me? The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: Since you humbled yourself, the Torah will be called by your name, as it is stated: “Remember the Torah of Moses My servant... (Malachi 3:22).

And the Shabbat before Passover is called Shabbat haGadol, and many words have come about this, but none explain it except that we read as a haftara that day "And they will be pleasing to haShem" (Malachi 3:4-24) and there it says (Malachi 3:23) "before the coming of the great [haGadol] and the awesome day of haShem:" For this reason it is called Shabbat haGadol. And the explanation that the Exodus from Egypt was called great on account of the greatness of God's awesome acts that God did and acted when they left Egypt, and in the future, in the world to come, Israel will aquire even higher levels, and the Holy Blessed One will do even greater deeds than all the great deeds, and even more awesome than all the awesome deeds. And as Israel merited the level of the Exodus from Egypt when great deeds were done with them, they will merit an even higher level and and deeds will be done in the n world to come. And thus the Shabbat before Passover is called Shabbat haGadol, for every Shabbat is a source and remembrance of the world to come which is called Shabbat as well, and thus the Shabbat preceding Pesach is a remembrance of the great Shabbat that will be the "great and the awesome day of haShem."