Commentaire de citation sur Isaïe 66:16

ונזבחה לה' אלוקינו פן יפגענו בדבר או בחרב, “and we will bring offerings to the Lord our G’d lest He strike us dead with a plague or the sword.” In this verse we hear something about the mystical dimension of animal sacrifice, i.e. that it may atone for people guilty of death. Chabakuk 3,5 spells out that plague is a punishment by G’d when he said: “Pestilence marches before Him, and plague comes forth at His heels.” The reason Moses added death by the sword as an alternative is connected to Isaiah 66,16: ”For with fire will the Lord contend, with His sword, against all flesh.” You are aware that the שכינה represents the attribute of Justice. This is the source of the powerful fire which consumed the Israelites’ offerings on the altar in the Temple. This is what the Torah referred to when it wrote: (Leviticus 9,6) “so that the glory of the Lord will appear to you (and consume the sacrifice).” Immediately after that (verse 24) the Torah reports that “fire descended from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offerings and the fat parts.” This is also the reason the שכינה describes the daily public offerings (Numbers 28,2) as קרבני לחמי, “the offerings of food due to Me.” G’d added the word לאשי, “to be consumed by My fire.” This is why at the beginning of this verse Moses had spoken of G’d as אלוקים as it is this attribute which receives and responds to animal sacrifice. Only subsequent to mentioning this attribute did he spell out the need for the Israelites to offer sacrifices He also mentioned the attribute Hashem, as though the sacrifice is offered to the attribute of Justice, the intent behind it is the great name of G’d, and this is what David had in mind when he said (Psalms 50,14) “sacrifice a thank-offering to G’d and pay your vows to the Most High.” The mechanics are that the sacrifice is presented to the attribute of Justice but the idea behind is is recognition of the Most High, i.e. י-ה-ו-ה. [If this were not so the sacrifice would be no more than an attempted bribe. Ed.]

ונפלו לפניכם לחרב, without your even having to fight them. This is what Isaiah 66,16 referred to: “for with fire will the Lord contend; with His sword against all flesh, and many shall be slain by the Lord.”

ואשר חרב גאותך, “and He will again be the sword of your pride.” This sword will triumph over the nations when these will wage war against us. Compare Isaiah 66,16: ובחרבו את כל בשר, “with His sword against all flesh.”