Kommentar zu Dewarim 11:17

את יבולה [THE GROUND WILL NOT GIVE] ITS יבול — it will not yield even as much as what you have brought (יבול) to it (even the same quantity of seed you have sown in it), just as it is said, (Hag. 1:6) “You sow much, but bring in little” (Sifrei Devarim 43:28; cf. Rashi on Leviticus 26:20).

and as a result of such a development ואבדם מהרה, from hunger, which is a more painful death than dying by the sword.. Therefore, remain on guard!

לא תתן את יבולה, "it will not yield its produce." Although Moses had already said that G'd would lock the heavens he repeated that the earth would not yield its produce to tell the people that even if they were to plant their fields adjacent to rivers and wells the earth would not produce a harvest.

Even what you bring to it, etc. Otherwise why is the word יבולה (literally, “its produce”) necessary? For it is already written, “He will restrain the skies and there will be no rain.” It then follows that the soil will not yield its usual produce.

ואבדתם, “you will become lost,” the reference is to exile, similar to when the prophet Isaiah 27,13 refers to the exiles from Ashur returning to their homeland as האובדים בארץ אשור, “the ones who were lost in the land of Ashur.”

ואבדתם מהרה AND YE SHALL PERISH QUICKLY — In addition to all the other sufferings I will banish you from the soil which made you sin (Sifrei Devarim 43:29). A parable! It may be compared to the case of a king who sent his son to the banqueting hall and earnestly charged him, “Do not eat more than you need, in order that you may come home clean!” The son, however, took no notice of this; he ate and drank more than he needed, and vomited it up and befouled all the company. They took him by his hands and feet and cast him out of the palace (Sifrei Devarim 43:23).

In addition to all the other suffering, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Just because there will be no rain and the soil will not yield its produce, is this why they will be swiftly removed? Therefore Rashi explains, “In addition, etc.”

ואבדתם מהוה, "and you will perish quickly, etc." Even if you somehow find a harvest dating back to previous years you will still perish. We have an illustration of this curse in Gittin 56 where the Talmud tells how Jewish zealots deliberately destroyed a 21 year supply of grain owned by a certain Kalba Savua during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans.

מהרה [AND YE SHALL PERISH] QUICKLY — I will give you no respite. But if you ask: Was not respite given to the generation of the flood, as it is said, (Genesis 6:3) “His days shall be (i.e. a respite shall be given him for) one hundred and twenty years”? Then I reply: The generation of flood had no one from whom to learn, but you have someone from whom to learn (Sifrei Devarim 43:31).

Which caused you to sin, etc. The difficulty is: Why is the word, “good” needed? Instead it should have said, “From upon your land,” or, “From upon the land that Adonoy is giving you.” Why should its goodness be mentioned in the curse? Furthermore, it already says, “And the soil will not yield its produce.” If so, the goodness of the land has (already) been taken away. Rather the word “good” means to say: Its goodness that it had in the past is what caused you to sin. Therefore, I will exile you from it.

But you may ask, was not an extension granted, etc. You might ask: Was not an extension granted also to the Jewish People after they sinned? The answer is that Rashi is saying: As soon as the Jewish People’s measure of sin is full, He would immediately punish them. However, regarding the generation of the Flood, even though their measure was full, Hashem granted them a further extension. As it is written (Bereishis 6:3), “Adonoy said, ‘I will not judge… His days shall be a hundred and twenty years.” And Rashi comments [there], “Until 120 years I will extend my anger [i.e. be patient] with them, etc.”

ואבדתם מהרה, “and you will perish quickly, etc.” if you were G‘d forbid to serve idols you will be exiled from Eretz Yisrael, a good land which does not tolerate sinners for long. We also have a verse in Isaiah 13,9 which states וחטאיה ישמיד ממנה, ”and it wipes out the sinners on it (the earth).” Our sages (Sifri Eikev on the word והשתחויתם) have illustrated this concept by a parable. A father leads his son on the way to a feast and warns him not to overeat there so that he would return home from the feast looking clean. The son paid no heed to the warning; he overate, vomited and returned home in utter disgrace after he had dirtied all the other participants at that feast. How did the other guests at that feast react to such conduct? They took the son in question by his hands and feet and tossed him out of the palace.

[They] had no one from whom to learn, etc. Yet Rashi explained in the end of Parshas Bereishis (ibid v. 4), “Although they witnessed the generation of Enosh being destroyed, for the oceans rose up and flooded a third of the world, yet the generation of the Flood did not humble themselves to take a lesson from them”! The answer is: They attributed it to natural causes since only a third of the world was flooded.