Chasidut zu Wajikra 26:16
אַף־אֲנִ֞י אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־זֹּ֣את לָכֶ֗ם וְהִפְקַדְתִּ֨י עֲלֵיכֶ֤ם בֶּֽהָלָה֙ אֶת־הַשַּׁחֶ֣פֶת וְאֶת־הַקַּדַּ֔חַת מְכַלּ֥וֹת עֵינַ֖יִם וּמְדִיבֹ֣ת נָ֑פֶשׁ וּזְרַעְתֶּ֤ם לָרִיק֙ זַרְעֲכֶ֔ם וַאֲכָלֻ֖הוּ אֹיְבֵיכֶֽם׃
So werde auch ich dieses euch tun: Ich werde euch heimsuchen mit Bestürzung, mit Schwindsucht und Entzündung, durch welche die Augen erblinden und die Seele verschmachtet, ihr werdet umsonst euren Samen säen, denn eure Feinde werden den Ertrag essen.
Kedushat Levi
Leviticus 26,16. “I will wreak misery upon you;” the root פקד usually refers to the lack of something, something being missing that should have been there. We find it in this sense when David’s seat near King Sha-ul was empty. (Samuel I 20,25) G’d says that He will remove certain plagues from us, seeing that the fact that we will sow and not reap but our enemies are reaping the fruit of our labours, this is sufficient punishment. According to the predictions of our sages (Shabbat 30) in the future the soil of the land of Israel will bring forth ready made buns and scones so that the Israeli farmer does not need to plough, sow, and harvest. At that time these labours will be performed for us by the gentiles. Our verses describe the very opposite occurring as G’d’s retribution for neglecting the Torah, so much so that even when we perform these labours ourselves, they will serve only others, as we will not benefit from our labours.
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