In this part of the chapter, we stand at the turning point: after the prophet described Israel's evil deeds and their betrayal of the Holy One, blessed be He, through the parable of the unfaithful woman pursuing her lovers, he reaches the bottom line - a wind will carry off all those you relied upon, and only the one who takes refuge in Hashem will inherit the land. From here onward, the prophet opens an entirely new section: a great call to repentance, "Build up, build up, clear the way," and a decisive answer to all the arguments that the evil inclination poses before the penitent.
בְּזַעֲקֵךְ יַצִּילֻךְ קִבּוּצַיִךְ וְאֶת כֻּלָּם יִשָּׂא רוּחַ יִקַּח הָבֶל וְהַחוֹסֶה בִי יִנְחַל אֶרֶץ וְיִירַשׁ הַר קׇדְשִׁי׃ - When you cry out, let your collections save you! But the wind shall carry them all away, a breath shall take them; but he who takes refuge in Me shall inherit the land, and shall possess My holy mountain.
Who was it that relied upon the Master of the World? King Chizkiyahu. He relied upon the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Holy One, blessed be He, listened to his voice, struck down the entire army of Sancheiriv, and saved Jerusalem. Thus, "he who takes refuge in Me shall inherit the land, and shall possess My holy mountain" - and "My holy mountain" refers to Jerusalem.
The Radak explains: Although these words refer specifically to the matter of Assyria and Chizkiyahu, it serves as an archetype for all situations where the Jewish people take refuge in forces outside of the Holy One, blessed be He. Ultimately, whoever takes refuge in them falls, while "he who trusts in Hashem, loving-kindness surrounds him." And we have already seen throughout history that all the powers that were relied upon have always disappointed. At one time, they relied on the French - the State of Israel was then a "European state": French movies, French Mirage jets, everything French - until De Gaulle turned his back on us and we realized salvation would not spring from them. Then we turned to America: here is the big brother who will help us and save us. But in the end, an American president sits with his feet up on the desk, dictating endlessly to the prime minister: release prisoners, do this, do that, and now they make a deal with the Iranians, saying, "It will be fine, don't worry, just don't attack." Are these the ones to rely on? Are they the ones who will help you in a time of trouble?
The Holy One, blessed be He, says: all our hope has disappointed. All those we relied upon - behold, we have seen that our help is in vain. Thus Yirmiyahu laments in Eichah: "Still our eyes failed looking for our help in vain." Until the very last moment, they still thought Egypt would save them. It is like the people of the generation of the Flood: the waters are already covering the treetops, and they say, "Listen, this is truly unusual, but it will stop in a moment; the whole thing will be over shortly." It is like the musicians on the Titanic who continue playing until the very last moment, when people are already bailing out water with buckets. And in this way, people still rely on the nations to help us. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: "A wind shall carry them all away, a breath shall take them." Why not rely on the Master of the World?
Someone recounted being present at a meeting of the IDF General Staff, reviewing and drawing conclusions from the Gaza operations - Operation Protective Edge and Operation Cast Lead - in which there were numerous, great miracles. A high-ranking officer there, who was religious, stood up and said: "Gentlemen, we have no other definition for what happened here. What happened here was simply an open miracle. We saw open miracles at every single step." And we have already spoken at length about soldiers who saw miracles with their own eyes. And the astounding thing, he recounted, was that everyone remained silent. You cannot imagine what progress this represents: the very essence of the army is "my strength and the might of my hand" - the IDF's tactics, the IDF's technological progress, the weaponry, the intelligence. They live "my strength and the might of my hand" twenty-four hours a day. And suddenly someone stands up and says such a thing - and they remain silent. To ask that they openly acknowledge it would take another twenty years. But the mere silence is already tremendous progress, a miracle no less significant than the first miracle.
In America, it is very customary that after a victory in war, the president stands and says: We thank the Master of the World who was our help. And this is not to cast aspersions on the Jewish people, for it is very easy for an American to express thanks - it obligates him in nothing. But a Jew who gives thanks knows that he will immediately be asked: Wait, and what about Sabbath observance? "Thank You, Master of the World" - and what comes next? For a Jew, it is much harder, because he knows the Holy One, blessed be He, does not accept mere lip service. What do you intend to do with this acknowledgment, continue just as you have until now? Even so, the very fact that such a statement could be voiced and received in silence - as someone who spent years in the military observed, that in itself is a tremendous achievement. Everyone realizes that a wind will carry them all away, a breath will take them, and only the one who takes refuge in Me shall inherit the land.
The Malbim continues with the parable introduced by the prophet: you went and committed infidelity with others, and now, when you cry out, you expect them to come and save you. But the parable fits point for point: just as someone consorting with an unfaithful woman has no genuine care for her, seeking only to satisfy his lust, so too when you think you are forming an alliance with Egypt, Assyria, and the nations, and that they genuinely care for you - at the very first opportunity, they will turn their backs on you. They derive a temporary benefit from you, and it is only that benefit they wish to extract, like someone consorting with an unfaithful woman.
And where is the test? "When you cry out." Cry out now, and see if all those who were with you and flattered you stand by you in your hour of distress. "A wind shall carry them all away, a breath shall take them" - and this reveals that their entire purpose was merely to take from us, with no intention whatsoever of forming a genuine bond. You will see that there is no substance to them.
The Malbim distinguishes between yerushah (inheritance/dispossession) and nachalah (heritage). Yerushah denotes the transfer and emptying of property from the domain of the grantor to the domain of the heir, until the former becomes rash - meaning impoverished and empty. That is why it is called yerushah: the one passing it on is emptied of the asset, and through this the heir receives it. This is why the Torah speaks of "dispossessing (lehorish) many nations" - the conquest of enemies is called horashah, meaning to impoverish them and strip them of their land. The same is true of one who passes away: the deceased is left destitute of physical property, leaving his wealth to those who follow him.
Nachalah, by contrast, means continuity: he possessed a property, and he transmits it onward to his children after him, bequeathing it to his descendants. This is why the term nachalah is also found in non-physical, abstract matters, such as "The simple inherit (nachalu) folly" (Mishlei 14:18) and "Our fathers inherited (nachalu) only falsehood" (Yirmeyahu 16:19) - applied to concepts and beliefs. We also find the term yerushah applied to a nachalah, as in "every daughter who inherits (yoreshet) a nachalah" (Bamidbar 36:8), meaning that an estate can also be referred to with the language of yerushah; yet "dispossessing nations" (lehorish goyim) is never phrased as "lehanchil goyim."
Here, both expressions appear together: "he shall inherit (yinchal) the land and possess (yirash) My holy mountain." The Malbim explains: not only will he inherit the land as a heritage received from his ancestors, but he will also dispossess the nations dwelling upon it, impoverishing them and taking their land, and thus possess My holy mountain. The prophet consistently progresses in stages, from lesser to greater and from the modest to the exalted: one merits this, receives that as well, and attains even more. First, they inherit the land as a heritage from their fathers; and beyond that, they will dispossess the nations dwelling upon the holy mountain and inherit My holy mountain, which is on a far higher plane than the rest of the land - for "land" refers to the land as a whole, while "My holy mountain" refers to the Temple Mount and the Sanctuary, which is vastly more exalted.
וְאָמַר סֹלּוּ סֹלּוּ פַּנּוּ דָרֶךְ הָרִימוּ מִכְשׁוֹל מִדֶּרֶךְ עַמִּי׃ - And he shall say: Pave, pave, clear the way; lift up the stumbling block from the path of My people.
Rashi explains: So said the prophet in My Name to My people - pave a highway, clear the yetzer hara (evil inclination) from your path. What is the stumbling block? The yetzer hara. And what needs to be paved? To walk on a paved, well-trodden path where the evil inclination cannot trip us up. "Lift up the stumbling block" refers to the stones that trip people along the road, which represent sinful thoughts. For when a person contemplates sin, he ultimately ends up committing the sin; the sin itself is the fall, while the contemplation is the obstacle, the snare, and the stone along the way. Remove the stumbling block, banish sinful thoughts from yourself, and you will not arrive at the actual sin.
The Radak explains that this is a continuation of the preceding verse: "and possess My holy mountain" - who? "He who takes refuge in Me." And the one who takes refuge in Me will say, when the enemy is routed and falls before him: pave, pave, clear the way! That is to say, the obstacles that stood along the path have been removed. Until now, the Jewish people were unable to reach Jerusalem because the enemy stood against them, but now the obstacle has been removed and the people of Israel can come - he who takes refuge in Hashem will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.
The commentators differ regarding the meaning of "solu" (pave). The Radak explains that one paves a road by laying down stones so that people can walk on it. Nowadays we lay asphalt, but on ancient roads, as well as in advanced places like England in later centuries, they laid stones for carriages to travel upon. Targum Yonatan, on the other hand, interprets it conversely: removing stones from the roads so that travelers will not stumble over them. In other words, even on a dirt or gravel path where stones protrude, those stones must be removed.
The Malbim explains that a new subject begins here. Earlier, in chapter 55, the prophet spoke of repentance; from chapter 56 until this point, he depicted the evil of their deeds, comparing them to an unfaithful woman and detailing their grave corruption. Now he comes and tells them: now pave a new road, return in repentance. This is the way of a speaker who seeks to inspire the people: first he must spell out their sins, in the manner of the prophets, for only when the people recognize that "we have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have rebelled" is there room to speak to them of repentance. "Behold, I enter into judgment with you because you say, 'I have not sinned'" (Yirmeyahu 2:35) - the greatest sin of all is the claim, "I have not sinned." Once the prophet has rebuked them and exposed their sins, it becomes possible to speak to them of repentance, showing that Hashem paves a way to receive sinners who return before Him.
Three expressions are used here, corresponding to three different situations. "Solu, solu" (pave, pave) means blazing a new path where no path existed at all - referring to those who were never on the path of Hashem and must pave one anew, or a road that was ruined and must be rebuilt. "Panu derech" (clear the way) refers to a path that existed, but which had not been walked upon for a long time and became choked with obstacles, "overgrown with thorns, its surface covered with nettles" (Mishlei 24:31); to those whose path has deteriorated, the call is: clear the way and prepare it once more. "Harimu michshol miderech ami" (lift up the stumbling block from the path of My people) applies where the road is still generally intact, with only occasional stumbling blocks. These are people who have not strayed from the path; they are still on it, yet they have localized lapses, certain areas where they treat mitzvot lightly. They do not need "clear the way," because they have not abandoned the road and it is not blocked by impassable obstacles; rather, walking is simply difficult for them. To them it is said: lift up the stumbling block, rectify the specific details of your conduct.
כִּי כֹה אָמַר רָם וְנִשָּׂא שֹׁכֵן עַד וְקָדוֹשׁ שְׁמוֹ מָרוֹם וְקָדוֹשׁ אֶשְׁכּוֹן וְאֶת דַּכָּא וּשְׁפַל רוּחַ לְהַחֲיוֹת רוּחַ שְׁפָלִים וּלְהַחֲיוֹת לֵב נִדְכָּאִים׃ - For thus said the High and Exalted One, Who dwells forever, Whose name is Holy: I dwell on high and in holiness, yet also with the crushed and humble of spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the crushed.
Rashi explains: "I dwell on high and in holiness" - the place of My dwelling is on high and in holiness. One might have thought: for One Who dwells in such an exalted place, what has He to do with mortals of clay dwelling down below? The Holy One, blessed be He, says: nevertheless, from there I watch over the crushed and the humble of spirit, and I incline My Shechinah down to him. To the lowly and downtrodden - down to him I bring My Shechinah. And "the humble", Rashi explains, refers to the afflicted who suffer poverty and illness, and the Holy One, blessed be He, says: with them I dwell.
Radak explains: "Who dwells forever" (shochen ad) - the Holy One, blessed be He, exists for all eternity, forever. And the word "shochen" (dwells) denotes one who continuously resides in one place. That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, continuously resides here in the world and watches over what takes place among His creations forever: I dwell among you, related to the word mishkan (dwelling). "Whose name is Holy" - just as the Seraphim proclaim, "Holy, holy, holy," so do they refer to Him.
And what is the meaning of the word kadosh (holy)? Exalted and set apart. The Holy One, blessed be He, is holy, meaning exalted and distinct from us. Indeed, the entire concept of becoming holy is to separate and distinguish ourselves. "Behold, you are consecrated (mekudeshet) to me" - set apart for me from all the world, designated exclusively for me. Incidentally, this is also why a kedeshah (harlot) seems to be the exact opposite of holy, even though it seems difficult to understand how two contradictory concepts share the same root. But it is the very same idea: a holy woman is separated from worldly matters and elevated to the service of Hashem, while a kedeshah is also set apart and designated - she has separated and designated herself for promiscuity. In every instance, "kadosh" denotes being set apart. "Who has sanctified us" (asher kideshanu) - that Hashem elevated and set us apart from physical matter through the performance of the mitzvos. And likewise, "Whose name is Holy" - the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted and set apart far above all beings fashioned of clay.
And what does the Holy One, blessed be He, say? "I dwell on high and in holiness" - I dwell in an exalted place, and among holy beings I dwell. Yet even though I dwell on high and in holiness, in the celestial realm of spheres and the world of angels, and not here in the lower world, this does not prevent Me from also dwelling with those below: "and with the crushed and humble of spirit." Even when you see them in distress, do not think, "He is in distress, Hashem has abandoned him" - make no mistake. Even though the Jewish people are in exile, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I dwell on high and in holiness, and in equal measure I dwell with the poor and the humble of spirit, and I am found with the downtrodden.
There is a well-known parable written by a man reflecting on his life story. He described feeling as though he were walking along the sand, and throughout the entire journey he noticed a second set of footprints beside his own - evidence that the Holy One, blessed be He, was always walking with him, as in "Hashem is your shadow upon your right hand." Yet he had one troubling question: "Master of the Universe, why is it that specifically during the hardest times, the periods when I went through crises, I saw only one pair of footprints and not another set beside me? Why were You not with me precisely then?" The Holy One, blessed be He, answered him: "Know, My child, that specifically during the difficult times I was with you in the closest possible way. And if you wonder why you saw only one set of footprints - know that they were Mine, for during those times I carried you in My arms." In other words, when a person is in distress, that is when he is connected to the Holy One, blessed be He, on the very highest level. So too, if you see the Jewish people lowly and crushed, do not assume this indicates that Hashem is not with them; on the contrary: "I am with him in distress."
The Malbim explains that here, after the prophet demanded that they repent and pave a way, each person according to the extent of his deviation, the people of Israel come forward with three arguments - and these correspond precisely to the three descriptions in the verse.
The first argument: "High and Exalted." Whenever we evaluate a sin, we consider against whom it was committed. One who insults a grocer is not comparable to one who insults the leading sage of the generation, and the latter is incomparable, by thousands of degrees of separation, to one who angers the Master of the Universe. If so, since we have sinned against Hashem, and Hashem is high and exalted, how could such an offense ever be atoned for? Surely this is an unforgivable sin! The evil inclination is remarkably creative in devising arguments, anything to prevent a person from doing teshuvah. And what is unique about this claim? It even gives the person a sense of pious satisfaction: "You have no idea who the Master of the Universe is, but I have a profound grasp; I comprehend His greatness. And when you truly understand Who He is, you realize that repentance cannot possibly apply - do you realize Whom you angered?" Thus, he actually feels self-righteous in his despair.
The second argument: "Who dwells forever" - unchanging, remaining eternally the same. As we saw earlier, this was part of the philosophers' contention: how can repentance be effective before a Being Who is entirely unchangeable? The Holy One, blessed be He, does not change. Change applies to us: we were young and grew old; once I wanted something and today I do not, once I did not want it and today I do. But with the Holy One, blessed be He, there is no change. If He is exacting with you now, how can He suddenly change to love you? Here, too, the yetzer hara exploits this philosophical concept: "He is not flesh and blood! What do you think, that you can just do teshuvah and that's it?"
The third argument: "Whose name is Holy." The Holy One, blessed be He, is holy and exalted, and with what can a servant appease his Master? It is inconceivable that I, who have defiled and degraded myself, could have access or any path of rectification before One Who is so holy and exalted.
And in response to these three claims, the prophet answers: "I dwell on high and in holiness, yet also with the crushed and humble of spirit." "On high" (marom) counters "High and Exalted" (ram venisa); "holy" (kadosh) counters "Whose name is Holy" (vekadosh shemo); and "I dwell" (eshkon) counters "Who dwells forever" (shochen ad). The answer is that not only are these claims no basis for rejecting repentance, but quite the contrary - they are the very reason you should hasten to repent, and the guarantee that your repentance will be accepted.
Regarding "high and lofty": on the contrary, that is precisely the point. Because Hashem is so high and exalted, even the heavens are not pure in His eyes; in the presence of the Holy One, Blessed is He, no one can truly be called innocent and worthy, and even in the heavens there is, as it were, deficiency relative to Him. If so, the world could not exist at all - "If You, Hashem, should keep account of iniquities, who could stand?" How, then, does the world survive? Precisely because, commensurate with His greatness, the Holy One, Blessed is He, accepts repentance. Thus, the prophet answers them: Hashem is high and lofty far beyond what you imagine, and because of that, nothing in creation has any independent existence of its own; you are forced to conclude that existence is maintained only through repentance and rectification, for otherwise the entire world could not endure before His vast greatness and exaltedness.
And regarding the claim that Hashem is unchanging: here, too, that is precisely the point - "For My thoughts are not your thoughts." We have already seen above how the prophet confronted this misconception. You assert that there is no change in Him, and therefore it is impossible for Him to be appeased. It is true that there is no change in the Holy One, Blessed is He, but you do not even begin to understand the thoughts of the Creator of the universe. If the Holy One, Blessed is He, says that repentance exists, it is a sign that these two apparent opposites are reconciled; and even if you cannot resolve them, know that this is indeed how it is. Why do you assume you understand better than the Master of the Universe? In your human understanding, one who undergoes no change cannot be angry yesterday and appeased today, but you have not begun to grasp the Master of the Universe, and with Him this is entirely possible. Thus, all of these claims actually prove that the Holy One, Blessed is He, accepts their repentance.
"And with the contrite and humble of spirit" - one who repents does so for one of two reasons: either through suffering, which corresponds to "contrite" (daka), where Hashem has crushed him, as it were, through affliction; or because he possesses a lowly spirit, meaning humility. For to repent requires humility: an arrogant person says, "Forget it, what do I care?" and does not repent; but a humble person says, "I was wrong, I did not act properly" - and this is the fundamental prerequisite for teshuvah. Therefore, corresponding to the humble in spirit it is said, "to revive the spirit of the humble," and corresponding to the contrite, the crushed and suffering, it is said, "and to revive the heart of the contrite." The heart represents the outer vessel, the body that suffers in agony, while the spirit is the inner realm, for a person broken in soul is called humble of spirit. So do not despair: precisely from within your condition, Hashem desires your repentance and accepts it; your teshuvah is essential, and Hashem yearns for it.
כִּי לֹא לְעוֹלָם אָרִיב וְלֹא לָנֶצַח אֶקְצוֹף כִּי רוּחַ מִלְּפָנַי יַעֲטוֹף וּנְשָׁמוֹת אֲנִי עָשִׂיתִי׃ - For I will not contend forever, nor will I be angry for all eternity; for the spirit would faint before Me, and the souls that I have made.
Rashi explains: If I bring afflictions upon man, I do not bring them forever, nor am I angry for all eternity. And when will I remove the afflictions from him? When I see that the spirit granted from before Me, which I placed within him, "faints" (ya'atof) - that is, confesses and humbles itself over the transgression it committed, similar to the expression "those who faint from hunger," recognizing its error. And when the souls I have made faint before Me, meaning they repent of their evil deeds, I will then subdue My wrath and the anger I hold against him.
Radak explains: From the very beginning, from the day the Jewish people came into being, I have had a grievance with them. Just forty days after receiving the Torah they already made the Golden Calf; and on the very day the Temple was dedicated, Solomon had already brought Pharaoh's daughter there. We see that there was not even breathing room, a period in which they were wholly righteous. The same was true of Adam: on the very day he was created, he sinned on that same day and was banished from the Garden of Eden on that same day. "From the day they became a people to Me until now, I have been in strife with them" - they sin and I am incensed with them. Yet the Holy One, Blessed is He, says: I will not contend forever; this strife and this wrath will not continue indefinitely.
And what causes human sin? The heart of stone within man. The Holy One, Blessed is He, says: I will remove the heart of stone from Israel and cause them to follow My statutes. "For the spirit from before Me shall wrap" - the spirit within man wraps and clothes the body from before Me, and it is the spirit that will guide him on the straight path. For when a person walks a crooked path, it stems from the body, from its lusts, pleasures, and material desires, whereas the soul constantly yearns for the higher realms. The Holy One, Blessed is He, says: Since the spirit comes from Me, it will compel the body to follow the good path, unlike the present situation where the body drags the spirit and soul after animalistic desires. This state of affairs will not last forever; rather, to the souls that I have made, I will grant immense and greater power, so that through this the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as water covers the sea. And when will this happen? At the time when Israel emerges from exile. This should not be misunderstood as if free will will cease to exist; rather, it refers to a stage when Israel has already emerged from exile and only those who are most devoted to Hashem remain, and at that point the Holy One, Blessed is He, says: I will remove from them their evil inclinations, lusts, and base character traits.
Radak further cites the Targum: "For I will not punish in judgment forever, nor will My anger endure for all eternity, for I am destined to restore the spirit of the dead." According to the Targum, "the spirit from before Me shall wrap" means that I will restore the spirit so that it returns to envelop the body - the soul will descend and return to the body, meaning that I am destined to revive the dead. This is the third explanation.
The Malbim explains: Sometimes the Holy One, Blessed is He, punishes a person and contends with him, and regarding this it is said, "I will not contend forever." And sometimes He does not punish or contend with him actively, but merely hides His face from him - He is angry and wrathful and conceals His countenance, and regarding this it is said, "nor will I be angry for all eternity": there will never be a situation where I conceal My face forever and remain in wrath toward Israel.
The clauses of the verse are parallel. As we have explained several times, this means the verse divides into four clauses, where clause 1 corresponds to clause 3, and clause 2 corresponds to clause 4, complementing one another. Accordingly, the verse is interpreted: "I will not contend forever - for the spirit would faint before Me," and "nor will I be angry for all eternity - for the souls that I have made."
"For I will not contend forever, neither will I be continually wrathful; for the spirit would faint before Me" - I do not punish man forever, because man's spirit comes from Me. How could I crush him forever, when the spirit that enters him comes from before Me? A person has compassion on the work of his hands, and so too the Holy One, blessed be He, has compassion on the work of His hands. If the spirit is from Me, I will not contend with him forever, nor will I afflict him forever for his evil deeds. "Neither will I be wrathful forever [lanetzach], for I made the souls" - and wrath, as mentioned, refers to the hidden wrath, the concealment of the Divine countenance. This too will not be forever, for I made the souls, and the soul is a part of God from above, so how could I remain in wrath against it forever? Just as a person pities the work of his own hands, and just as Yonah was shown regarding the castor-oil plant: "And should I not spare Nineveh, that great city... and also much cattle?" So too says the Holy One, blessed be He: If the spirit is from before Me and I made the souls, how is it possible that I should remain angry with them forever and harbor their sin for all eternity? There will come a stage when the world will be repaired and this wrath will no longer be perpetual.
Let us examine this with precision: the verse uses both the word le'olam ("forever") and the word lanetzach ("eternally"). What is the difference between saying "I will never do this le'olam" and "I will not do this lanetzach"? In our spoken language, they are considered identical, but the Malbim explains that there is a major difference. Le'olam speaks within the framework of time, what the Malbim defines as "moving time", the passage of time as it flows. This can be limited to the lifespan of a single person, or to the existence of the physical world, in which case it refers to epochs spanning thousands of years: "for the heavens shall vanish like smoke" - until the heavens dissolve like smoke and the world comes to an end. Or "and he shall serve him le'olam (forever)" - meaning for his own world, the term of the Levi'im, or the lifespan of the Hebrew bondsman, which is fifty years until the Jubilee. In any event, le'olam is always situated within the framework of time.
By contrast, netzach refers to that which is beyond time, what is defined as Divine time, or the realm of the angels. As has been noted several times, there exists a reality above time, a place where time does not pass. This is difficult for us to grasp, yet modern science understands it as well: Einstein, in his Theory of Relativity, showed that wherever there is matter, there is time, and where there is no matter, there is no time. Theoretically, if you were to place a child in a spaceship traveling at the speed of light, time would not pass for him; twenty years later, when the spaceship returns, he would remain the exact same age. This can be verified even today: the closer one gets to extreme velocities, the more time slows down. While an object cannot actually attain the speed of light, at which point mass would diminish entirely and convert into pure energy, atomic clocks nevertheless prove that time dilates at high speeds. Thus, there is indeed a reality that transcends time.
Incidentally, as has been pointed out before, Einstein was eight hundred years late, for the Ramban had already written that time is contingent upon the existence of physical matter: where there is matter, there is time, and where there is no matter, there is no time. Consequently, the question of what the Holy One, blessed be He, was doing a thousand years before the universe was created is fundamentally flawed - there is no such concept. Once the universe was created, matter was brought into being and time was created; before the universe was created, there was no matter, and without matter, time did not exist either. Time is therefore a relative reality, and when the Torah speaks of netzach, it refers to the reality in which there is no time, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is above time.
As has been explained more than once, when the expression Attik Yomin ("the Ancient of Days") appears in Sefer Daniel, it does not mean "old". To describe the Holy One, blessed be He, as "ancient" as though He were aged is a misconception, for that which is old is still bound by time. The literal meaning of Attik Yomin is ne'etak min hayamim - removed and detached from days. We all exist within the framework of days, beneath the canopy of time and subject to time, but the Holy One, blessed be He, is detached from the framework of days - He is above time.
In this section of the chapter, we have learned three major points. First, "the wind shall carry them all away, a vanity shall take them" - all the powers in which the Jewish people placed their trust are like an adulterer with a woman in whom he has no real interest; the true test comes "when you cry out", in the hour of distress, when it becomes clear that they have no substance, and only "he who puts his trust in Me shall inherit the land and possess My holy mountain" - inheriting it as an ancestral heritage and possessing even the Holy Mountain, which stands at an even higher spiritual level. Second, "Pave, pave, clear the way" - the call of teshuva, using three distinct terms corresponding to three spiritual conditions: one who had no path at all and must pave a new road; one whose path became corrupted and obstructed and must clear it; and one who is still on the path and only needs to lift the stumbling blocks, which are the sinful thoughts that lead to sin. Third, the three claims of the evil inclination - that God is high and exalted, dwelling in eternity, and holy is His Name - are all transformed into catalysts for teshuva: precisely because Hashem is high and exalted and the world has no independent existence of its own, and precisely because "My thoughts are not your thoughts", teshuva is accepted. "I dwell with him who is crushed and of a humble spirit" - with the one crushed by suffering and with the one whose spirit is humbled in modesty. "For I will not contend forever, neither will I be continually wrathful", for the spirit is from before Me and I made the souls, and a creator has compassion on the work of his own hands.