וְאִם־לֹ֥א תִשְׁמְע֖וּ לִ֑י וְלֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֔וּ אֵ֥ת כָּל־הַמִּצְוֺ֖ת הָאֵֽלֶּה׃
Empero si no me oyereis, ni hiciereis todos estos mis mandamientos,
Bartenura
ברכות וקללות – “If you will follow My laws…’ (Leviticus 26:3 and following) to inform that retribution comes to the world for being engaged in sin (see specifically, Leviticus 26:14-46, “the Rebuke”) so that they will return [to God] in repentance and will be saved from their troubles.
Ramban
REMEMBER WHAT THE ETERNAL THY G-D DID UNTO MIRIAM. “If you wish to guard yourself against being stricken with leprosy, do not speak slander.” This is Rashi’s language. And in my opinion this actually is a positive commandment, like Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy;342Exodus 20:8. Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt;343Ibid., 13:3. Remember what Amalek did unto thee344Further, 25:17. — which are all commandments. If so, this verse, too, is like those, it being an admonition against speaking slander. He commanded by way of a positive precept that we remember the great punishment which G-d inflicted upon the righteous prophetess who spoke only about her brother upon whom she had bestowed her mercy345See Exodus 2:7-8. and whom she loved as herself. And she spoke nothing wrong to his face, but only, in privacy, between herself and her holy brother [Aaron]. Yet all her good deeds were of no avail to her! You, too, if thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son346Psalms 50:20. you will not be saved!
In the language of the Sifra:347Sifra, at beginning of Seder Bechukothai. On Sifra, Sifre, etc. see Vol. IV, p. 46, Note 55. “When Scripture states, and ye will not do all these commandments,348Leviticus 26:14. this refers to everything written in the Torah. If so, why does it say, And if ye will not hearken unto Me?348Leviticus 26:14. It means to study the Torah laboriously. Similarly, He states Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy.342Exodus 20:8. I might think that this means ‘in your heart.’ But Observe the Sabbath-day349Above 5:12. refers already to observance of the heart. How then can I fulfill the command Remember342Exodus 20:8. [if that also refers to the heart? I must conclude that Remember means] ‘verbal utterance.’350See Vol. II, pp. 313-315. Similarly, it is said Remember, forget thou not, [how thou didst make the Eternal thy G-d wroth in the wilderness] etc.351Above, 9:7. “I might think that this means ‘in your heart.’ But forget thou not refers to forgetfulness of the heart. How then can I fulfill the command Remember? It means ‘verbal utterance.’” It is thus a positive commandment throughout the generations that we speak of G-d’s mercies upon us etc. (see my Hebrew commentary p. 463). And so it is also said, Remember what the Eternal thy G-d did unto Miriam. I might think that this means ‘in your heart.’ But Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do352Verse 8. refers already to forgetfulness of heart. How then can I fulfill the injunction Remember [if that also refers to the heart? I must conclude that it means] ‘verbal utterance.’ And so also he states, Remember what Amalek did unto thee.344Further, 25:17. I might think that it means ‘in your heart.’ But thou shalt not forget353Further, 25:19. refers already to forgetfulness of the heart. How then can I obey the injunction Remember? ‘By verbal utterance.’” The meaning thereof is as follows: To the Sages the verse Take heed ‘in’ the plague of leprosy means, “Beware ‘from’ the plague of leprosy, observing diligently that it should not come upon you, and do therein according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you,” and Remember what the Eternal thy G-d did unto Miriam, meaning that you mention it always in the utterance of words. It appears from here [i.e., from this Sifra] our Rabbis considered this a commandment, not as a narrative and advice on how to be saved from plagues [as Rashi had explained it]. And how is it possible that, concerning slander which is as weighty as bloodshed,354Arakhin 15b. there should not be a real negative commandment against it in the Torah, or at least a negative commandment derived from a positive commandment! But this verse contains a great admonition to refrain from it both in public and in private, whether with intent to hurt and to shame or with no intent to harm at all. And this commandment is of the Taryag (613) Commandments which the author of the “Hilchoth Gedoloth”355See Vol. II, p. 350, Note 70. and all those who counted the commandments have forgotten to include.356It is noteworthy that the author of Megillath Esther who in his notes to Rambam’s Sefer Hamitzvoth, comes to the defense of Rambam against the strictures of Ramban, agrees that Ramban’s position is correct (see Ramban’s Additional Positive Commandments, Commandment 7). Rambam, however, did not “forget” the prohibition against slander, for he included it in the prohibition against bearing tales (see “The Commandments,” Vol. II, p. 280).
In the language of the Sifra:347Sifra, at beginning of Seder Bechukothai. On Sifra, Sifre, etc. see Vol. IV, p. 46, Note 55. “When Scripture states, and ye will not do all these commandments,348Leviticus 26:14. this refers to everything written in the Torah. If so, why does it say, And if ye will not hearken unto Me?348Leviticus 26:14. It means to study the Torah laboriously. Similarly, He states Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy.342Exodus 20:8. I might think that this means ‘in your heart.’ But Observe the Sabbath-day349Above 5:12. refers already to observance of the heart. How then can I fulfill the command Remember342Exodus 20:8. [if that also refers to the heart? I must conclude that Remember means] ‘verbal utterance.’350See Vol. II, pp. 313-315. Similarly, it is said Remember, forget thou not, [how thou didst make the Eternal thy G-d wroth in the wilderness] etc.351Above, 9:7. “I might think that this means ‘in your heart.’ But forget thou not refers to forgetfulness of the heart. How then can I fulfill the command Remember? It means ‘verbal utterance.’” It is thus a positive commandment throughout the generations that we speak of G-d’s mercies upon us etc. (see my Hebrew commentary p. 463). And so it is also said, Remember what the Eternal thy G-d did unto Miriam. I might think that this means ‘in your heart.’ But Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do352Verse 8. refers already to forgetfulness of heart. How then can I fulfill the injunction Remember [if that also refers to the heart? I must conclude that it means] ‘verbal utterance.’ And so also he states, Remember what Amalek did unto thee.344Further, 25:17. I might think that it means ‘in your heart.’ But thou shalt not forget353Further, 25:19. refers already to forgetfulness of the heart. How then can I obey the injunction Remember? ‘By verbal utterance.’” The meaning thereof is as follows: To the Sages the verse Take heed ‘in’ the plague of leprosy means, “Beware ‘from’ the plague of leprosy, observing diligently that it should not come upon you, and do therein according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you,” and Remember what the Eternal thy G-d did unto Miriam, meaning that you mention it always in the utterance of words. It appears from here [i.e., from this Sifra] our Rabbis considered this a commandment, not as a narrative and advice on how to be saved from plagues [as Rashi had explained it]. And how is it possible that, concerning slander which is as weighty as bloodshed,354Arakhin 15b. there should not be a real negative commandment against it in the Torah, or at least a negative commandment derived from a positive commandment! But this verse contains a great admonition to refrain from it both in public and in private, whether with intent to hurt and to shame or with no intent to harm at all. And this commandment is of the Taryag (613) Commandments which the author of the “Hilchoth Gedoloth”355See Vol. II, p. 350, Note 70. and all those who counted the commandments have forgotten to include.356It is noteworthy that the author of Megillath Esther who in his notes to Rambam’s Sefer Hamitzvoth, comes to the defense of Rambam against the strictures of Ramban, agrees that Ramban’s position is correct (see Ramban’s Additional Positive Commandments, Commandment 7). Rambam, however, did not “forget” the prohibition against slander, for he included it in the prohibition against bearing tales (see “The Commandments,” Vol. II, p. 280).
Rashi
the curse and the oath the curses of the Covenant with which You adjured us at Horeb (Lev 26:14): “And if you do not listen etc.”; all the curses written there.
Rashi
I shall cast from before Me according to the condition between Me and you, viz. (Lev. 26: 14): “But if you do not heed Me.” What does it say there? (verse 31): “And I shall make your sanctuaries desolate.”
Rashi
והיו שמיך אשר על ראשך נחשת AND THY HEAVEN WHICH IS OVER THY HEAD SHALL BE COPPER — These curses (i.e. all the curses contained in this chapter) Moses expressed them as though they came from his own mouth (Megillah 31b) whilst those he spoke on Mount Sinai (Leviticus 26), he expressed them as though from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, as indeed is implied by them (by the expressions used), for so it states there: “And if ye will not hearken unto Me”; “And if ye walk contrary to Me”, whilst here it says: “[And if thou wilt not obey] the voice of the Lord thy God”; “The Lord shall make cleave unto thee”; “The Lord shall smite thee”. Moses was milder in his curses, expressing them in the singular (“The Lord shall smite thee”, not “you”, the entire people), and similarly in this curse, too, he was milder, for in the former curses (those in Leviticus) it states, (Leviticus 26:19) “[I will make] your heaven as iron and your earth as copper”, i.e., that the heaven would not exude moisture, just as iron does not exude, and there would therefore be drought in the world, whilst the earth would exude moisture (be humid) just as copper sweats, and it would consequently rot the fruits. Here, however, it states, “Thy heaven shall be copper and thy earth shall be iron”, i.e. that the heavens would exude moisture: even though they might not pour with rain, at any rate there would be no ruinous drought in the world; whilst the earth would not exude moisture just as iron does not sweat, and consequently the fruits would not perish. Nevertheless this is a curse: for whether it (the earth) be as copper or whether it be as iron it will produce no fruit, and the heaven, too, will not pour with rain (give rain in abundance) (cf. Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 3 on Leviticus 26:19).