פירוש על ויקרא 26:16

והפקדתי עליכם means, I will order upon you the following calamities.

APH ANI E’ESEH ZOTH LACHEM’ (ALSO I WILL DO THIS UNTO YOU). By way of the Truth, the meaning [of this verse is] as if it were inverted: ‘aph ani zoth e’eseh lachem’ [meaning: “also ani — the term for the Divine attribute called zoth, which signifies judgment — will do unto you”]. This is why He always mentions in this section the word ani (I): then will ‘ani’ (I) also walk;⁹⁹Verse 24. And ‘ani’ (I) also will smite you;⁹⁹Verse 24. and ‘ani’ (I) also will chastise you;¹⁰⁰Verse 28. and ‘ani (I) will bring the Land into desolation;¹⁰¹Verse 32. ‘ani’ (I) also will walk contrary unto them.¹⁰²Verse 41. And in the Midrash of Rabbi Nechunya ben Hakanah [we find it interpreted]:¹⁰³Sefer Habahir, 66. See Vol. I, p. 24, Note 42. “It will not suffice for Me [merely] to pronounce judgment [and have it executed by a messenger], but even I also will chastise [you], etc.”
The principle [of this section] is that it is the Holy One, blessed be He, Who makes this covenant, and this is the meaning of the expressions: seven for your sins;¹⁰⁴Verses: 18, 24, 28. See my Hebrew commentary p. 187. seven according to your sins.¹⁰⁵Verse 21. And the oaths are [thus] the oaths of the covenant, for the expressions are from the mouth of the Almighty, [speaking] in the language of the first person: ‘I’ will do;¹⁰⁶In Verse 16 before us. and ‘I’ will chastise;¹⁰⁰Verse 28. and ‘I’ will smite.⁹⁹Verse 24. Therefore Scripture states [concerning this covenant], which the Eternal made between Him and the children of Israel,¹⁰⁷Further, Verse 46. for He by His Great Name made this covenant. But in the Book of Deuteronomy [Scripture] states, If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Eternal thy G-d, to observe to do all His commandments,¹⁰⁸Deuteronomy 28:15. and it continually mentions there an expression of cursing, thus it starts them [the words of the covenant] with: cursed shalt thou be,¹⁰⁹Ibid., Verse 16. since the blessing is absent from them, and it further states, the Eternal will make.¹¹⁰Ibid., Verse 24. It is this which is the [intention of the] saying of our Rabbis:¹¹¹Megillah 31 b. “The imprecations of the Book of Leviticus were [prounounced] in plural terms [if ‘ye’ will not hearken … if ‘ye’ shall reject …], and Moses, in saying them, said them from the mouth of the Almighty [stating: “Thus did the Holy One blessed be He, say unto me, ‘If ye will not hearken unto Me’ “], but those [imprecations mentioned] in the Book of Deuteronomy were [pronounced] in the singular [if ‘thou’ wilt not hearken … which I command ‘thee'…] and Moses in saying them said them [as though they came] from his own mouth, for the Almighty made Moses a messenger between Him and between all Israel.”
Know and understand that these oaths [stated in this section] allude to the first exile [i.e., the Babylonian exile following the destruction of the First Temple], for it is with reference to the First Temple that all the words of this covenant, concerning the exile and the redemption therefrom, apply. For thus you will see in the exhortations [here] that He stated, And if ye shall reject My statutes, and if your soul abhor Mine ordinances,¹¹²Verse 15. and He further stated, that ye void My covenant,¹¹²Verse 15. mentioning among them [the rejected statutes]: the high places [on which they offered forbidden sacrifices], sun-images, and idols,¹¹³Verse 30. and it was [in the times of the First Temple] that they worshipped idols and did all evil things. It is in connection with this that He said, And I will bring your Sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors,¹¹⁴Verse 31. thus warning them that He will remove from them His Sanctuary and the acceptance of the offerings which were favorable to Him in that Sanctuary, and the punishments which were to follow upon them were: the sword,¹¹⁵Verse 25. wild beasts,¹¹⁶Verse 22. pestilence,¹¹⁵Verse 25. famine,¹¹⁷Verse 26. and finally exile.¹¹⁸Verse 33. And all these things occurred then [at the destruction of the First Temple], as is clearly stated in the Book of Jeremiah. Of that [first] exile He stated, Then shall the Land be paid her Sabbaths;¹¹⁹Verse 34. As long as it lieth desolate it shall have a rest; even the rest which it had not [in your Sabbath],¹²⁰Verse 35. because the years of the [Babylonian] exile were [as many] as the years in which they failed to observe [the laws of] the Sabbatical years.¹²¹See Rashi in Verse 35, who explains how the seventy years of the Babylonian exile correspond exactly to the seventy Sabbatical and Jubilee years that Israel failed to observe in the Land. So also does Scripture state concerning that exile, [that it was] To fulfill the word of the Eternal by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the Land had been paid her Sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years.¹²²II Chronicles 36:21. Thus He warned them and thus it happened to them. If so, it is clear that Scripture speaks here of that [first] exile.
If you examine further the subject of the redemption from it [the Babylonian exile, you see], that He only assures [Israel] that He will remember the covenant of the fathers,¹²³Verse 42. and of the remembrance of the Land,¹²³Verse 42. but not that He will forgive their iniquity and their sin and that He will once again love them as of old, nor that He will gather together those of them who are dispersed. For such indeed happened when they came up from Babylon, for only [the tribes of] Judah and Benjamin returned together with a small group of Levites who were with them, and some¹²⁴See Ramban’s Sefer Hage’ulah (Kithvei Haramban, Vol. I, pp. 272-4) for a full discussion of this important matter — that in the return from Babylon there were small groups from the other tribes besides Judah and Benjamin, but the main bulk of them remained in their places, and hence the words of the prophets announcing their complete return, not having been fulfilled during the Second Temple, will yet assuredly come to transpire in the future. This is the deeper significance of Ramban’s expression here: “and some of the other tribes …” — “some” but not all, and therefore the words of G-d as spoken by His prophets will still be fulfilled in the future when the ge’ulah shleimah (the perfect redemption) will take place, as the return from Babylon did not represent that final and complete redemption. It is obvious that this constitutes a major principle in our faith of Israel’s future and destiny. Ramban will touch upon this theme of the perfect redemption further on in the text. See also further, Note 154. of the [other] tribes that had been exiled to Babylon, and they returned in poverty, and in servitude to the kings of Persia.¹²⁵See Ezra 9:9. Nor does He state that they will return to Him in complete repentance, but only that they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers,¹²⁶Verse 40. and we find that the people of the Second Temple did so, as Daniel confessed: We have sinned, we have dealt iniquitously, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, and have turned aside from Thy commandments etc.¹²⁷Daniel 9:5. O Eternal, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers.¹²⁸Ibid., Verse 8. Thus they confessed also the sins of their fathers. The same applies to the following verses. And it is further written, because of our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people are a reproach.¹²⁹Ibid., Verse 16. And so did Nehemiah confess.¹³⁰Nehemiah 1:6-7. And Ezra said, Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept Thy law.¹³¹Ibid., 9:34. It should be noted that Scripture there ascribes the actual confession to the Levites, and Ezra’s name is not directly mentioned. However, the implication in Chapter 8 Verse 13 is clearly that it was at Ezra’s instigation that they kept the Festival of Tabernacles and the subsequent confession following it (see ibid., 9:1). Besides, Ezra being a priest (ibid., 8:2) he was automatically of the tribe of Levi and was thus included among the Levites who recited the confession. Thus they all deduced from the Torah that they should confess their iniquity and [also] the iniquity of their fathers. All these [matters] are clear indications that this covenant does indeed allude to the first exile and the redemption therefrom.
However the covenant in the Book of Deuteronomy¹³²Deuteronomy 28:1-69. alludes to this our [present] exile, and to the redemption by which we will be redeemed from it. Thus we observe first that there [in the second covenant] neither the end nor the duration [of the exile] are alluded to, and that He did not assure us of redemption [i.e., promising that it would take place at a certain future time as was the case with the Babylonian captivity, whose end was foretold as a definite event in our section here in Leviticus as explained above], but He made it dependent upon [our] repentance. Neither did He mention among the sins [for which they would be exiled that] they would make any Asherim and sun-images, or that they would worship any idols whatsoever. Rather, He said, But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Eternal thy G-d, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes,¹⁰⁸Deuteronomy 28:15. thus stating that because they will transgress some of His commandments, and will not keep and observe all of them,¹³³I.e., they will “transgress” some of the negative commandments and “not keep and observe” the positive commandments. they would be punished. Such indeed was the case during the Second Temple, just as the Rabbis have said:¹³⁴Yoma 9 b. “Why was the First Temple destroyed? Because of idolatry, immorality and bloodshed. But the Second Temple, of which we know that they [the people of that period], were engaged in the study of Torah and the practice of loving kindness, why was it destroyed? It was because of the causeless enmity which was among them.” Neither does He mention there [in the covenant in the Book of Deuteronomy] the Sanctuary, or “the pleasing odor” [of the offerings], as He mentioned here,¹³⁵Verse 31. because the [Heavenly] fire did not come down and consume the offerings [that were brought] in the Second Temple, as the Rabbis testified there in Tractate Yoma.¹³⁶Yoma 21 b. Thus, as it were, there never was a “pleasing odor” in the days of the Second Temple which could be removed at its destruction. And He further states there among the imprecations, The Eternal will bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the vulture swoops down,¹³⁷Deuteronomy 28:49. alluding to the coming upon them of the Romans, who were very far from them. Thus He states there, a nation that thou hast not known;¹³⁸Ibid., Verse 36. a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand,¹³⁷Deuteronomy 28:49. because of their great distance from our Land. Such is not the case concerning the words of this covenant [before us], for [it speaks of the time when] they were exiled to Babylon and Assyria, which are near to [our] Land, and they always warred with them;¹³⁹Therefore, the verse in Deuteronomy 28:49 [The Eternal will bring a nation … from the end of the earth …] could not apply to the period of the First Temple, as their warring enemies were nearby. The case was far different during the Second Temple when the Romans came from far-off Italy. and the stock of Israel comes from there, and they [the Jews] knew their language, as it is said, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Aramean language, for we understand it.¹⁴⁰II Kings 18:26. Similarly, the verse stating [there in the Book of Deuteronomy], And the Eternal shall scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end of the earth unto the other¹⁴¹Deuteronomy 28:64. is [a reference to] our exile today, in which we are scattered from one end of the world to the other. Again He stated [there], And the Eternal shall bring thee back into Egypt in ships,¹⁴²Ibid., Verse 68. and this happened in our [present] exile, when Titus filled the ships with them [captives], as it is written in the books of the Romans.¹⁴³Reference is to the book of Josippon, Chapter 95. See Vol. I, p. 604, Note 249. Similarly, that which Scripture says there, Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people and thy eyes shall see;¹⁴⁴Deuteronomy 28:32. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, and they shall not be thine, for they shall go into captivity¹⁴⁵Ibid., Verse 41. Ramban’s illuminating comment on these verses (see following text) brings to light the ruthless cruelty of the Romans at the destruction of the Second Temple, when they deported all the young and only “the fathers [i.e. the old] remained in the Land.” — these are not references to the [Babylonian] exile, when both fathers and sons were exiled, but [refer] to that captivity of the sons alone [following the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans], when the fathers remained in the Land. Such is not stated in the first covenant, because the exile [which it speaks of] was a complete one [for both fathers and sons], but it is mentioned in the second covenant, because the Romans ruled in our Land and took the sons and daughters at their will. Similarly, [the verse stating], Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemy whom the Eternal shall send against thee in hunger, and in thirst¹⁴⁶Ibid., Verse 48. is a reference to our servitude when we were subject to the Romans in our Land, and their officers ruled over us, pressing upon us a heavy yoke and taking away our people and our wealth, as is known in the [history] books. Another proof [that the covenant in the Book of Deuteronomy refers to the exile after the destruction of the Second Temple] is that He said, The Eternal will bring thee, and thy king whom thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation that thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers,¹⁴⁷Ibid., Verse 36. for King Agrippa¹⁴⁸This was Agrippa II, a loyal servant of Rome. He was the last king of Judea. During the siege of Jerusalem he was with Titus, and following the fall of the city he took part in arranging the Roman triumphal celebrations in Caesarea! He was the opposite of his father King Agrippa I, who in his genuine attachment to the Jewish people and religion won the love of all classes of the people. went to Rome at the end of the [period of the] Second Temple, and on account of his going there the Temple was destroyed.¹⁴⁹Ramban here is referring to Josippon Chapter 65, where it is narrated that “King Agrippa went to Nero, emperor of Rome, and told him all these things [concerning the Jewish uprising against Rome], whereupon Nero sent against the Jews the Roman general etc.” This was the beginning of the war which culminated in the fall of Jerusalem. Now Scripture does not state: “the king who will rule over thee,” but it says, thy king whom ‘thou shalt set’. Thus He, blessed be He, is hinting to us that he [that ruler] was not fit to be king, since he was forbidden to be king over Israel according to the law of the Torah [as he was a descendant of King Herod, the son of Antipater the Idumean, and Scripture states, thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother],¹⁵⁰Deuteronomy 17:15. but they “set up” him and his fathers as kings over them against the law, as is mentioned in Tractate Sotah.¹⁵¹Sotah 41 b.
Now all the hints such as these clearly indicate that the meaning of this matter is this our [present] exile, and the redemption [mentioned] in this second covenant, which will be a complete redemption, superior to all [preceding ones]. Thus He said, And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse etc.;¹⁵²Deuteronomy 30:1. and He promised, And He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers,¹⁵³Ibid., Verse 5. this being a promise to all the tribes of Israel, not [merely] to one-sixth¹⁵⁴I.e., the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which constitute one-sixth of the twelve tribes. Ramban is thus stating that the redemption from the Babylonian exile was not a complete redemption, since the return consisted mainly of two tribes [with small groups of the other tribes, see above Note 124]. But the Divine promise stated in Deuteronomy 30:5 [as mentioned here in the text] refers to all tribes of Israel. Hence the coming redemption will be more complete than all preceding ones. of the people; and there He promised [also] that He would cut down and destroy those who caused our exile, as it is said, And the Eternal thy G-d will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, that persecuted thee,¹⁵⁵Ibid., Verse 7. the expressions, thine enemies and those that hate thee alluding to the two nations¹⁵⁶A reference to the two dominant religions in Ramban’s times — that of Edom and Ishmael — which persecuted the Jews [and still continue to do so] in countless ways. See my Hebrew commentary p. 190. that continually persecute us. Now these words [And He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers¹⁵³Ibid., Verse 5.] assure us of the coming redemption with a more perfect assurance than all the visions of Daniel.
Similarly, that which He stated here, and your enemies that shall dwell therein shall be desolate in it¹⁵⁷Further, Verse 32. constitutes a good tiding, proclaiming that during all our exiles, our Land will not accept our enemies. This also is a great proof and assurance to us, for in the whole inhabited part of the world one cannot find such a good and large Land¹⁵⁸Exodus 3:8. which was always lived in and yet is as ruined as it is [today],¹⁵⁹When these words were written — sometime after the middle of the thirteenth century — the Land of Israel had just experienced the Mongolian invasion (of 1259-60), which following upon the constant wars of the Crusaders, left the country in total ruin. for since the time that we left it, it has not accepted any nation or people, and they all try to settle it, but to no avail.¹⁶⁰A clear reference to the many nations that have tried — and failed — to cultivate the Land of Israel since the Jews were driven from it by the Romans. This indubitable historical fact is, as Ramban correctly points out, “a great proof” that the Land belongs to Israel. Witness also the miraculous response of the Land since the recent return of the Jews to its borders.
Now the first covenant mentioned in this section the Holy One, blessed be He, made, for His Great Name was indeed with us in the First Temple, and the second covenant in the section of V’hayah Ki Thavo¹⁶¹Deuteronomy 26:1. — The covenant referred to is ibid., 28:1-68. expressed by the mouth of Moses, alludes to the removal of his Divine Presence entirely, since in the Second Temple only the Glory of His Name was present, as it is said, and I will take pleasure in it i.e., the Second Temple] ‘v’ikavdah’ (and I will be glorified).¹⁶²Haggai 1:8. The additional letter hei¹⁶³The word v’ikavdah is in this instance actually written without the hei at the end. Ramban however is referring to the fact that according to the Masorah it is to be read as if it had the letter at the end. Hence his language: “the ‘additional’ hei” … alludes to the second hei in the Great Name [i.e., the Tetragrammaton — which refers to the Glory of His Name].¹⁶⁴Abusaula. — Thus the verse establishes that in the Second Temple there was the Glory of His Name. Haggai was one of the prophets who lived at the time of the building of the Second Temple. The Rabbis have also already interpreted this verse by means of another exposition,¹³⁶Yoma 21 b. Thus, as it were, there never was a “pleasing odor” in the days of the Second Temple which could be removed at its destruction. [that the missing hei in the word v’ikavdah, whose numerical value is five], alludes to the five things which the Second Temple lacked etc.¹⁶⁵“They are: the ark with the cover and the cherubim, the Divine fire on the altar, the Divine Presence, the Holy Spirit, and the Urim and Thummim” (ibid.). For Urim and Thummim see Ramban on Exodus 28:30 (Vol. II, pp. 480-4).

אף אני אעשה זאת לכם; I will do what you had meant to do when you broke the covenant, so that I on My part will also free from the obligations it imposed on Me. My undertaking had been to be your G’d as a direct protector instead of protecting them through intermediaries.

אף אני אעשה זאת לכם, "I will also do this unto you, etc." The meaning of the word אני is the attribute of Mercy. G'd says that under the circumstances even the attribute of Mercy will agree to the acts of retribution the Torah is about to describe as being performed by the attribute of Justice.

מכלות עינים, according to Ibn Ezra the diseases described here cause the afflicted person to feel that he had lost his eyesight. The expression מדיבות נפש describe the psychological havoc wrought by these diseases in those who suffer them. Some commentators understand the word עינים here as referring to the eyes separating from the rest of the body.

אף אני אעשה זאת לכם, “also I will do this to you.” According to the plain meaning of the text, seeing that G’d’s mode of operation in our universe is based on the principle of reciprocity, מדה כנגד מדה, G’d says: “I will bring to bear upon you seven different kinds of retributions, each in response to one of your sins.”

I will command against you. Rashi is answering the question: The term והפקדתי implies depositing, but “deposit” is not relevant here. Therefore, he explains that it is an expression of commanding.

אף אני אעשה זאת לכם, “I also will do this to you.” The Torah warns that the punishment will fit the crime. He had promised that if we observe His commandments He will protect us against any and all possible diseases, (Exodus 15,26), whereas if we will break His covenant (deliberately and in order to affront Him) He will actively expose us to them. Instead of acting as your physician, as I did when you observed My statutes, I will allow all kinds of diseases to afflict you.

שחפת CONSUMPTION — A disease which swells the flesh, ampoules in old French; it resembles a thing that has been distended, the distension of which has become reduced — and the appearance of his (the sick man’s) face is thin and woebegone.

והפקדתי עליכם בהלה, I will appoint over you “officials” of alarm, something along the line of Ezekiel 9,5 “then to these He said in my hearing: ‘follow him through the city and strike. Let your eyes neither spare nor show mercy.’”

The appearance of his skin (lit. surface) is washed out. I.e., the appearance of the skin of swollen flesh is washed out [pale]; it is not red like the flesh of other, healthy people.

והפקדתי עליכם בהלה, "I will appoint terror to afflict you, etc." G'd's selection of the list of afflictions enumerated here corresponds to the negative virtues of the wicked. Inasmuch as their principal sin is the neglect of Torah study G'd measured the people with the same yardstick. Torah has been compared to fire (compare Jeremiah 23,29) "is not My word like fire says the Lord."

בהלה, “terror,” the opposite of when I allowed you to go to sleep without worry, as spelled out in verse 6.

קדחת is a disease which inflames the body, makes it hot and burning (feverish). It is similar in meaning to the verb in, (Deuteronomy 32:22) “For a fire burns (קדחה) in My nostril”.

ואכלוהו איביכם. We have evidence of this prediction coming true repeatedly in the period of the Judges when such nations as Amalek, Midian, Aram, and others invaded the Land of Israel. (Judges 6,3)

Your enemies will consume [your crops]. Rashi is answering the question: First it said “You will plant [your seeds] in vain,” which implies that they will not grow, and afterwards it says, “And your enemies will consume the crops,” which implies that they will grow? Alternatively, Rashi is answering the question: How can one sow seed לריק (lit. on emptiness)? A person sows in the ground? He answers that “on emptiness” means that it will not grow, etc.

You have to appreciate that the Torah brings out three good qualities in a man's soul. 1) Preoccupation with words of Torah effectively refines man's soul much as the fire of the crucible refines ore into pure metal. As a result such a person does not need to descend into שאול, hades, after he dies so that his soul will be cleansed by the fires of Hell. Chagigah 27 describes the fire of Torah as being more powerful than the fire of Gehinom. The fires of Gehinom will therefore not make any impression on the soul of a person who has spent his life in Torah study. This is why Shemot Rabbah 7,4 describes Gehinom as complaining that it does not like the righteous as they undermine its power and extinguish its fire. The second advantage derived by Torah is that it illuminates one's eyes. The Israelites require a great light in order to be able to benefit from the brilliance of the שכינה, G'd's presence. G'd gave us the Torah which is called light (compare Proverbs 6,23) out of His great love for us. Torah study will enhance our power of vision. The degree of one's perception of the divine is in direct ratio to the amount of Torah one has studied. Isaiah 42,7 calls all the people who have not studied Torah "blind ones," describing the power of Torah as making the blind see. The third advantage that accrues to the person who studies Torah is that it gladdens his heart; we know this both from Psalms 19,9: "G'd's precepts gladden the heart of man," as well as from Psalms 97,11: "and for the upright there is radiance." Just as there are three distinct advantages which accrue to people studying Torah there are three kinds of corresponding penalties for those who fail to do so. Instead of the purifying fire of Torah study, G'd will smite those who failed to study with a destructive kind of fire, שחפת וקדחת, different kinds of fever. The reason the Torah also speaks about בהלה, terror, is because it is the reverse of the peace of mind one experiences as the result of engaging in Torah study. Whereas G'd had granted מאור עינים, enhanced vision, to people immersing themselves in Torah, G'd will deprive those who failed to study Torah by מכלות עינים, failure of their eyesight. Whereas G'd had granted joy to the people who did study Torah, He will afflict those who failed to do so with מדיבת נפש, feelings of melancholy.

'בהלה את השחפת וגו, “even consumption and fever;” this is to be understood as a special kind of terror caused by your being feverish. The word את in this verse is to be understood as של, “of, caused by.”[There follow detailed examples of diseases and afflictions, the author trying to explain their equivalent in our language. I have decided to skip this, as the principle has been established. Ed.]

מכלות עינים ומדיבת נפש THAT THE EYES PINE AND CAUSE SORROW TO THE SOUL — The eyes look expectantly and pine to see that he (the sick) should be relieved and healed, and in the end it turns out that he is not healed, and the souls of his family grieve when he dies. Any desire that does not come to fulfilment and any hope deferred is termed כליון עינים, “pining of the eyes”.

Our paragraph also contains an allusion to success of the people studying Torah in the celestial spheres. We are taught in Uktzin 3,12 (the final Mishnah in the oral Torah) that in the future G'd will let every righteous person inherit 310 worlds. It is a well known fact that the negative experiences the wicked have to look forward to parallel the positive experiences which the righteous will enjoy. Kohelet 7,14 has already spelled this out when Solomon said: "G'd has made one as well as the other." Just as the 310 worlds described in the above mentioned Mishnah are distinguished one from the other in quality, so the 310 possible domains of afflictions for the sinners are also each different from its counterpart. Their common denominator is called קרי, the word ריק, empty, spelled backwards. This is the mystical dimension of וזרעתם לריק זרעכם, "you will sow your seed in vain." [In talmudic parlance the word קרי often refers to the result of semen which has gone to waste, i.e. which is "empty" of content. Ed.] Instead of 310 worlds the wicked can look forward to 310 different kinds of emptiness. The 310 worlds which the Mishnah spoke about are based on Proverbs 8,21: להנחיל לאוהבי יש, That G'd will give an inheritance to the righteous described as something substantial. The numerical value of the word יש is 310. The numerical value of the word ריק, empty, is also 310. The Torah therefore threatens the wicked with the exact opposite it promises to the righteous. The number of spiritually negative manifestations of the קליפה is 310. The Torah uses the word "sowing," as it is also applicable to activities of a spiritual nature such as in Hoseah 10,12: "sow righteousness for yourselves!" ואכלוהו אויביכם "and your enemies will consume it." The powers of the קליפה derive pleasure from the activities of the wicked. The Torah describes them as "the enemy of man."

ומדיבות נפש, “and mental depression.” This is the opposite mental state of someone lording it over slaves as in verse 13, where the Israelites are reminded how they had had a physical and mental state of being enslaved while in Egypt. Their renewed state of mental depression is the second type of plague that G-d will employ if the people continue to despise and ignore His laws.

וזרעתם לריק AND YE SHALL SOW [YOUR SEED] IN VAIN — ye shall sow your seed but it shall not grow — and if it does grow, ואכלוהו איביכם YOUR ENEMIES SHALL EAT IT.

וזרעתם לריק זרעכם, “you will sow your seed in vain.”

ואכלוהו אויביכם, “and your enemies will eat whatever these seeds produce. This is the opposite of the promise made in verse 5 if we observe the Torah. This is the fourth of the seven plagues threatened in verse 21.