יחזקאל, פרק ל״ח, פסוק כ׳

A profound cosmic shock is destined to shake the world, leaving no living creature or inanimate object untouched, from the depths of the ocean to the highest mountain peaks. This sweeping event captures a dramatic breaking point where all of nature reacts to monumental historical events, characterized by violent movement and intense shaking [מצודת ציון].

Commentators offer different perspectives on the exact nature of this upheaval. One approach views the shaking as a poetic description of overwhelming anxiety, chaos, and immense fear that will grip the world [מצודת דוד, רד״ק]. In this view, the prophecy paints a picture of a massive war at the end of days, filled with the deafening roar of advanced weapons capable of destroying mountains and walls [מלבי״ם]. Conversely, others understand the upheaval quite literally as a massive physical earthquake that will strike the Land of Israel. This quake will split mountains and violently churn the sea, ensuring that every creature in the region physically feels the tremors [מלבי״ם, רד״ק]. The shockwave will spare no living thing, extending even to the smallest, short-legged creeping creatures [מצודת ציון].

Beneath the surface, this sweeping natural reaction carries a deeper spiritual purpose, particularly in the specific order of the animals affected. The fact that the fish of the sea are impacted first hints at a spiritual tremor designed to extract and gather scattered fragments of souls and sparks of holiness from across the world. According to mystical tradition, many of these lost souls reside within fish [צוארי שלל, חומת אנך].

The devastation then moves to the inanimate world, bringing down mountains, steep structures, and walls. The exact nature of these steep, terraced structures is understood in a few ways. They might simply be ordinary staircases leading to upper floors [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם באור המילות], or agricultural terraces carved into mountain slopes [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Alternatively, they could refer to sheer, overhanging cliffs that look as though they are about to collapse, or even towering, terraced siege mounds constructed from dirt and bricks [רש״י, רד״ק]. Along with these structures, every stone wall and fence will be brought to the ground [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

This total destruction of the physical landscape holds a powerful symbolic meaning. Just as Jewish law permits the complete demolition of a building to recover a single stolen wooden beam trapped inside its walls, the shattering of mountains and man-made barriers represents the breaking of evil forces to rescue the oppressed souls trapped within them. Ultimately, the crumbling of these physical walls mirrors a spiritual breakthrough: the final collapse of the barrier separating the people of Israel from God [צוארי שלל, חומת אנך].