This deals with an internal Jewish issue, which 'Eliyahu will come to resolve.' "A sound from the temple! The sound of the Lord, rendering recompense to his enemies!" The sound, the voice of Hashem that heralds, refers to Eliyahu. Eliyahu is from the root soul of Moshiach ben Yosef (Kol Hator). But on the level of Pshat, it is 'just' the voice of Hashem, which causes an uproar, from the city. Why does Eliyahu come, about what does he herald? What does the voice of Hashem say? He is said to be "rendering recompense to his enemies!" Who are they, his enemies?
The voice of Hashem comes to reinstall, as it were, Zerubavel, Moshiach ben David, who lost the power struggle against the Kohanim. He will come to reinstall the Torah of Zerubavel, and to denounce the Torah of the Kohanim, what we call P. The hateful and smooth-tongued hypocrisy "Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy" will stop working: "it is they who shall be put to shame." It says "He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man," because they murdered in the struggle for power, they killed in the struggle for the truth. The power that was bought with the blood of Zerubavel and others, obviously is still in their hands. "He who slaughters an ox," "he who sacrifices a lamb", "he who presents a grain offering", "he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense" are subjects that are still being learned and taught in the Yeshivot. The blood of Zerubavel, it has left a stain, real Tum'ah. Zerubavel would say that the Kohanim are "like one who blesses an idol." It would make them furious; it would make them wanting to ban him, the criticizer, the man of truth: they "cast you out for my name’s sake." And they have done so many times throughout history, the wolf has caused hazard to the flock of the lambs. But Eliyahu will come, "קוֹל מֵהֵיכָל", a sound will come, from the study hall. It is the sound of Hashem removing the Tum'ah! It will be confirmed that they are indeed like idol worshippers, the worshippers of P. The voice of Hashem will establish that they "chose that in which I did not delight." "Because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen." Zerubavel spoke, and they did not listen.
"Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?"
Social justice and Shabbat are at the heart of the Torah. Religious hypocrisy is emphatically denounced: "Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers." You wolves cause harm to the lambs. Only when you "satisfy the desire of the afflicted" then "shall your light rise in the darkness."
The need for social justice is sandwiched between two descriptions of the Shabbat. The first, "who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” "Keeps his hand from doing any evil" is again doing social justice. In the second one, "you call the Sabbath a delight", "if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly," details appear about what it means to keep Shabbat, and about the reward: "I will make you ride on the heights of the earth." This is not some idle claim, promising later reward for keeping the Shabbat. Rather, you will see the effect of keeping Shabbat now, on earth. You will see a glimpse of Olam Haba. Who understands the 'sight' will understand that without social justice there cannot be a true Shabbat. Therefore, who keeps Shabbat, "keeps his hand from doing any evil." That is why Shabbat is so central. You "call the Shabbat a delight" because of the "delight in the Lord" that you experience. The awesome rewards for Shabbat makes one refrain from "seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly." On Shabbat, one should be seeking the pleasure of the 'other,' rather than "seeking your own." Social justice is justice for the 'other,' and Shabbat was created to solve the problem of man hating the 'other,' and to lift us up to a new reality once that problem disappears. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together.
