Le Lévitique 26:46 Midrash : Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Midrash Tanchuma, Pesikta Rabbati & Sifra

R. Yishmael says: What is written at the beginning, viz. (Leviticus 25:1-3) "And the L–rd spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying … then the land shall rest a Sabbath to the L–rd. Six years shall you sow your field, etc.", sabbatical years, Jubilee years, blessings and curses. What is written at the end? (Ibid. 26:46) "These are the statutes and the ordinances and the Toroth that the L–rd gave between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses." (At this,) they said: We take it upon ourselves. When Moses saw this, he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, viz. (Exodus 24:8) "And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people," saying to them: You are (hereby) tied and bound and committed. Tomorrow come and take upon yourselves all of the mitzvoth. R. Yossi b. R. Yehudah says: On that day all of the acts (of their induction into the covenant) were performed....

Another interpretation: "See I" (Deuteronomy 11:26). I who have chosen goodness, see how different I am from the whole world, such that the creatures should not say, "When Moshe came to bless us, he blessed us a little, but when he came to curse us, he cursed us a lot." How is this? The curses in [Leviticus] were one less than thirty verses, whereas the blessing were [only] eleven. Rabbi Shmuel said, "The one who looks at them finds that the blessing are more than the curses. How is this? With the blessings, it opens with [the first letter of the alphabet,] alef [of] 'Eem bechukotai telechu' (Leviticus 26:3), and it ends with [the last letter,] tav, [of] 'veolech eetchem kommemiut' (Leviticus 26:13), as the blessings come to you from alef to tav. But the curses open with [the letter,] vav [of] 'Ve'em lo tishmaau' (Leviticus 26:14), and ends with [the letter,] hay [of] 'beyad Moshe' (Leviticus 26:46), and between vav and hay, there is nothing (as they are adjacent in the alphabet)." Rabbi Levi said, "There is a [relevant] parable about a king that had a son. He brought him into his palace and showed a kitchen full of good things, and he showed him a palace full of swords. The son said to his father, 'For whom is this kitchen?' [The father] said, 'For the one who praises me.' [The son continued asking,] 'And for whom are the swords?' [The father answered,] 'For the one that rebels against me.' So [too,] the Holy One, blessed be He, shows them blessings and curses, and they see that the blessings are few and the curses are many." Another interpretation: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "If you do My will - even though the the blessings are few - I will increase them for you, and I will not bring the curses upon you. There is a [relevant] parable about a king who took on a servant with a contract. And he wrote in the contract, "If you do my will and serve me as is fit, I will give you food, drink and clothing like the rest of my servants. But if you do not do my will, I will not give you food and I will not give you drink, but I will rather put you in shackles and put you in prison." [So] the servant entered [into the contract] and did his will more than he stipulated. What did the servant do [afterwards]? He stopped doing the will of his master. His master said to him, "I stipulated with you that I would shackle you and kill you. By your life, I will make a compromise with you." So is it with Israel. The Holy One, blessed be He, wrote about them (Leviticus 26:3), "If you walk in my statutes," I will bring you these blessings. But if not, I will bring the curses upon you, as it is stated (I Kings 8:56), "Not one thing of all of His good word shall fail." And when Israel sinned in the days of Yirmiyahu, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "I stipulated with you that I would bring the curses upon you. [But] I know that you do not have the ability to withstand them. Rather I will make a compromise with you." Rabbi Abba said that Rabbi Yirmiyah said, "'The Lord has done what He purposed, He has carried out His word' (Lamentations 2:17). 'He has carried out,' He has made a compromise with them." Hence it is written (Deuteronomy 11:26), "See I, etc." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "In this world I have ordered in front of you blessings and curses, the good and the bad. But in the world to come, I will remove the curses and the bad from you and I will bless you. And all who shall see you shall say that you are a blessed people, as stated (Isaiah 61:9), 'Their offspring shall be known among the nations, their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall recognize that they are a stock the Lord has blessed.'"

And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be your name (41:18:31). May our Rabbis teach us that Rosh Chodesh, which began to be in Hanukkah, since there are no Musafin prayers in Hanukkah, whoever prays the Musafin prayer, what should be mentioned about Hanukkah? Our Rabbis taught us that Rabbi Simon, in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua, said that Rosh Chodesh, which began to be in Hanukkah, even though there is no Musafin in Hanukkah, but in the Rabach, should be mentioned about Hanukkah in the Musafin prayer. Shabbat, which began to be in Hanukkah, even though there is no Musafin in Hanukkah, but in the Shabbat, should be mentioned about Hanukkah in the Musafin prayer. And where does he mention in the confession: You have found all the miracles that the Holy One, blessed be He, did for Israel and will do for them through the merit of the tribes, even the Temple will be built through the merit of the tribes, as it is said, Jerusalem is built (Psalms 122:3). What did he write after him that there were tribes there (Ibid. 4) and likewise everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, created through the merit of the tribes? The Tribes (Genesis) [Genesis] You find twelve months in the year, twelve constellations in the sky, twelve hours of the day and twelve hours of the night, said the Holy One, blessed be He, even the upper and lower ones, I did not create but by the merit of the tribes, for thus it is written, all these my hands have made (Isaiah 66:2). By the merit of all these, the tribes of Israel are twelve (Genesis 49:28) (hence the twelve constellations, twelve hours). Therefore, when Elijah came to bring Israel under the wings of the Shekhinah, he took twelve stones for the number of the tribes and built them an altar from the number of what he completed with the prophet. And Elijah took twelve stones for the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob: [And Elijah took twelve stones] Thus began Rabbi Tanchuma (Yerushalmi) [in Rabbi Abba] And by the prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt (Hosea 12:14) this is Moses, and by the prophet Nishem (Ibid.) this is Elijah. You find two prophets who stood up for Israel from his tribe. Of Levi, Moses was the first and Elijah the last (redeemed) [and both redeemed] Israel by mission. Moses redeemed them from Egypt by mission. And now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh, etc. (Exodus 3:10) and Elijah redeemed them for the future to come by mission. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, etc. (Malachi 3:23) Moses, who redeemed them from Egypt at first, did not yet return and became enslaved in Egypt. And Elijah, when he redeemed them from the fourth generation of Edom, did not yet return and become enslaved, but [it is] eternal salvation. And the origin of Moses and Elijah is similar to each other in every way. Moses is a prophet. Elijah is a prophet. Moses is called a man of God (Deuteronomy 33:1) and Elijah is called a man of God (1 Kings 17:18) Moses went up and Elijah went up, as it is said, And it came to pass in the ascension, that Elijah (Ibid. 2:21) and Moses killed the Egyptian, and Elijah killed Hiel, and blamed Baal and died (Hosea 13:1) Moses (was confused) [We were deceived] by a woman by the daughter of Jethro, they called him and he ate bread (Exodus 2:20) and Elijah (was confused) [We were deceived] by the woman, "Please bring me a loaf of bread" (1 Kings 17:11) Moses fled from Pharaoh and Elijah fled from Jezebel Moses fled and came to a well and Elijah fled and came to a well as it is written and he arose and went etc. and came to Beersheba (Ibid. 19:3) Moses and the cloud covered him six days (Exodus 24:16) and Elijah went up in a whirlwind and was in the ascension etc. (2 Kings 2:1) Of Moses it was said whether these as many as men should die (Numbers 16:29) and of Elijah the Lord God of Israel lives [before whom I have stood] if there will be [these years] dew and rain except according to my word (1 Kings 17:1) in Moses and the Lord passed over him (Exodus 34:6) And in Elijah, and behold, the Lord passed by (1 Kings 19:11) in Moses, and he heard the voice (Numbers 7:59) and in Elijah, and behold, a voice came to him, etc. (1 Kings 13) Moses gathered Israel to Mount Sinai, and Elijah gathered them to Mount Carmel, Moses in the forest of Obadiah, 7:15, "Put every man his sword on his thigh, etc. (Exodus 32:27) and Elijah in the forest, 7:15, and he seized the prophets of Baal and slaughtered them. Moses was jealous, who is for the Lord to me (I Kings 32:26) and Elijah was jealous, and Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me, please" (1 Kings 18:30) Moses was buried in a cave, and I put you in the cleft of the rock (Exodus 33:22) and Elijah was buried in a cave, and he spent the night there, as it is written, and he came to the cave and spent the night there (1 Kings 19:9) in Moses and he came to the mountain of God (Exodus 3:1) and in Elijah and he came to the mountain of God (Kings 32:1) 8) Moses came to the wilderness and Elijah came to the wilderness and he was walking into the wilderness (Isa. 4:11). Moses spoke with him through an angel and the angel of the Lord appeared to him (Exodus 3:2) and Elijah through an angel and behold, it was an angel (Kings 5:11). Moses stayed forty days and forty nights without eating or drinking, and so Elijah walked in the strength of that eating for forty days. Moses set up the sundial on this day, saying, "I will put away your fear," etc. (Deuteronomy 2:30). And Elijah set up the sundial today, "Today know that you are God in Israel." (1 Kings 18:36). Moses prayed for Israel, "Do not destroy your people and your inheritance." (Deuteronomy 9:26). And Elijah prayed for Israel, "Hear me, O Lord, hear me," and "And you have turned back," etc. (Kings 37). When Moses prayed for Israel, he grasped the right of the fathers, remembering Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Exodus 32:13). And so did Elijah, "The Lord is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel" (Kings 1:11). 36) Moses, the Israelites received from him the love of the place where all the word of the Lord was done and heard (Exodus 24:7) and Elijah received from him the love of the place where it is said, "The Lord is God" (Kings 39). Moses made a tabernacle in the house of the seed, and Elijah made a way (interpretation of a path) in the house of the seed. In one thing we have seen, Moses is greater than Elijah, whom Moses said to, "And you are here, stand by me" (Deuteronomy 5:28) and to Elijah, "What are you doing here, Elijah" (1 Kings 19:9). Moses brought down the fire, and Elijah brought down the fire. When Moses brought down the fire, all Israel stood and watched (it). And all the people saw it and were amazed (Leviticus 9:24) [And Elijah and all the people saw it and fell on their faces] (1 Kings 18:39) Moses built an altar and Elijah built an altar. Moses called the name of the Lord (the altar) [for the altar] and called his name there. The Lord did miracles (Exodus 17:15) and Elijah there the altar of the Lord and placed the stones in the name of the Lord (1 Kings 32). When Moses built the altar, he built it with twelve stones, as it is said: And Elijah took twelve stones [and]: [And Elijah took twelve stones and] Isaiah 65:5 (to Israel) The heavens are my throne and the earth is my footstool (Isaiah 66:1) At the end of Isaiah's prophecy, this verse was prophesied, and when was it prophesied in the days of Manasseh, because Manasseh had brought the image into the temple, Isaiah began to prophesy to Israel and said to them, "Why do you boast about me in this house that you have built for me? The upper and lower do not hold my glory. And this house that you have built for me, I need what house that you will build for me (there)?" Nebuchadnezzar is coming and destroying it and exposing you. Immediately Manasseh was angry with him and said to them, "Seize him." They ran after him to seize him. He fled from before them. The cherub itself opened and swallowed him up. Rabbi Yitzchak, son of Hanina, son of Papa, said: