Midrash su Levitico 26:44

And it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus. "Woe, woe," remarked Rab, "it was then that the prophecy in the Torah was fulfilled (Ib. 28, 68) And there ye will offer yourselves for sale unto your enemies for bondwomen without anyone to buy you." But Samuel explained: "(Lev. 26, 44) I will not cast them away, neither will I loathe them, to destroy them utterly; i.e., I have not cast them away, refers to the times of the Greek government; and I have not loathed them, refers to the time of Vaspasian, the Roman emperor; to destroy them, refers to the time of God and Magog." In a Baraitha it was taught: I will not cast them away, refers to the times of the Chaldeans, as in that time I set up for them Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; and I have not loathed them, refers to the time of Haman when I raised for them Mordecai and Esther; to destroy them, refers to the Greek, when I gave them Simon the Just and Mattathias b. Jochanan the High-priest and his sons, the Hasmoneon (Maccabias); to break My covenant, refers to the time of Rome when I gave them the House of Rabbi and the sages of that generation; for I am the Lord their God, refers to the Messianic future, when no nation or people will dominate over them. R. Levi based his [Purim] lecture on the following passage (Num. 33, 55) And if you will not drive out, etc. R. Chiya based his lecture on the following: (Ib.) And it shall come to pass that as I proposed to do unto them, so will I do unto you.

“Let all their wickedness come before You, and do to them as You did to me for all my transgressions, for my sighs are many and my heart is suffering” (Lamentations 1:22).
“Let all their wickedness come before You, and do to them,” bring upon them what You brought upon me. Be exacting with them as You were exacting with me. “And do [veolel] to them,” pluck their infants [olelateihon] as You plucked my infants.
“For my sighs are many and my heart is suffering.” You find that in the matter that Israel sinned, with that they were punished, and with that they were comforted. They sinned with rosh, they were punished with rosh, and they were comforted with rosh. They sinned with rosh, as it is written: “Let us appoint a leader [rosh] and return to Egypt” (Numbers 14:4). They were punished with rosh, as it is written: “Every head [rosh] is ill” (Isaiah 1:5). And they are comforted with rosh, as it is written: “Their king passed before them, and the Lord is at their head [berosham]” (Micah 2:13).
They sinned with the ear, as it is written: “They made their ears hard of hearing” (Zechariah 7:11). They were punished with the ear, as it is written: “That anyone who hears it, both his ears will ring” (I Samuel 3:11). They are comforted with the ear, as it is written: “Your ears will hear a matter from behind you, saying: [This is the way, walk in it, when you go right and when you go left]” (Isaiah 30:21).
They sinned with the eye, as it is written: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and they walk with outstretched necks and painted eyes” (Isaiah 3:16). They were punished with the eye, as it is written: “My eye, my eye sheds water” (Lamentations 1:16). They are comforted with the eye, as it is written: “For with their own eyes they will see the return of the Lord to Zion” (Isaiah 52:8).
They sinned with af, as it is written: “Behold, they extend the branch to their nose [af]” (Ezekiel 8:17). They were punished with af, as it is written: “I, too [af], will walk with them indifferently” (Leviticus 26:41). They are comforted with af, as it is written: “And despite [ve’af gam] this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not have spurned them and will not have rejected them, to destroy them, to violate My covenant with them” (Leviticus 26:44).
They sinned with the mouth, as it is written: “Every mouth speaks depravity” (Isaiah 9:16). They were punished with the mouth, as it is written: “They consumed Israel with every mouth” (Isaiah 9:11). They are comforted with the mouth, as it is written: “Then will our mouths be filled with laughter” (Psalms 126:2).
They sinned with the tongue, as it is written: “They drew their tongues, their bow of falsehood” (Jeremiah 9:2). They were punished with the tongue, as it is written: “The tongue of the suckling cleaved [to the roof of his mouth in thirst]” (Lamentations 4:4). They are comforted with the tongue, as it is written: “And our tongues with song; [then will they say among the nations: The Lord has done great things for them]” (Psalms 126:2).
They sinned with the heart, as it is written: “They made their hearts as adamant, not to hear” (Zechariah 7:12). They were punished with the heart, as it is written: “Every heart is suffering” (Isaiah 1:5). They are comforted with the heart, as it is written: “speak to the heart of Jerusalem” (Isaiah 40:2).
They sinned with the hand, as it is written: “Your hands are filled with blood” (Isaiah 1:15). They were punished with the hand, as it is written: “The hands of merciful women cooked their children” (Lamentations 4:10). They are comforted with the hand, as it is written: “The Lord will continue setting His hand again, a second time [to recover the remnant of His people…]” (Isaiah 11:11).
They sinned with the foot, as it is written: “For their feet run to evil” (Proverbs 1:16). They were punished with the foot, as it is written: “Before your feet stumble on the mountains of the night (Jeremiah 13:16). They are comforted with the foot, as it is written: “How pleasant are the feet of the herald upon the mountains” (Isaiah 52:7).
They sinned with hu, as it is written: “They denied the Lord and said: He [hu] is not” (Jeremiah 5:12). They were punished with hu, as it is written: “He was transformed into their enemy, He [hu] waged war against them” (Isaiah 63:10). They are comforted with hu, as it is written: “I, it is I, who [hu] am your Comforter” (Isaiah 51:12).
They sinned with zeh, as it is written: “For this [zeh] man Moses” (Exodus 32:1). They were punished with zeh, as it is written: “For this [zeh] [our heart] is suffering” (Lamentations 5:17). They are comforted with zeh, as it is written: “Behold, this [zeh] is our God, we hoped to Him [that He would save us; this is the Lord to whom we hoped, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation]” (Isaiah 25:9).
They sinned with fire, as it is written: “The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire...[in order to anger Me]” (Jeremiah 7:18). They were punished with fire, as it is written: “From on high He sent fire into my bones” (Lamentations 1:13). They are comforted with fire, as it is written: “I will be for it,²¹⁶Jerusalem. the utterance of the Lord, a wall of fire all around” (Zechariah 2:9).
They sinned with yesh, as it is written: “Is [hayesh] the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7). They were punished with yesh, as it is written: “Is there any [yesh] pain like my pain?” (Lamentations 1:12). They are comforted with yesh, as it is written: “To bequeath substance [yesh] to those who love me, and I will fill their storehouses” (Proverbs 8:21).
They sinned doubly, as it is written: “Jerusalem has committed a sin [ḥet ḥata]” (Lamentations 1:8).²¹⁷The Hebrew verse employs the word sin [ḥet] twice, such that a literal translation would be “Jerusalem has sinned a sin.” They were punished doubly, as it is written: “For it has received from the hand of the Lord double for all its sins” (Isaiah 40:2). They are comforted doubly, as it is written: “Comfort, comfort [naḥamu naḥamu] My people” (Isaiah 40:1).
End of the First Alphabetical Acrostic

“And despite this, even when they are in the land of their enemies, I have not spurned them and have not rejected them, to destroy them, to violate My covenant with them, as I am the Lord their God” (Leviticus 26:44).
Shmuel began: “And despite this, even when they are in the land of their enemies, I have not spurned them and have not rejected them, to destroy them, to violate My covenant with them, as I am the Lord their God.” – “I have not spurned them,” in Babylonia; “and have not rejected them,” in Media; “to destroy them,” in Greece; “to violate My covenant with them,” in the evil kingdom;⁸Rome. “as I am the Lord their God,” in the future. Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: “I have not spurned them,” during the reign of Vespasian; “and have not rejected them,” during the reign of Trajan; “to destroy them,” in the days of Haman; “to violate My covenant with them,” in the days of the Romans; “as I am the Lord their God,” in the days of Gog and Magog.

“Why do You forget us forever, forsake us for so long?” (Lamentations 5:20).
“Why do You forget us forever?” Rabbi Yehoshua bar Avin said: Jeremiah employed four expressions: Spurning, rejection, forsaking, and forgetting. Spurning and rejection, as it is written: “Did You spurn Judah, did Your soul reject Zion?” (Jeremiah 14:19). And he was answered by Moses, as it is written: “I did not spurn them and I did not reject them” (Leviticus 26:44). Forsaking and forgetting, as it is written: “Why do You forget us forever, forsake us for so long?” And he was answered by Isaiah, as it is written: “These too may forget, but I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15).
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Jeremiah employed four expressions: Spurning, anger, forsaking, and forgetting. Spurning, he answered himself, as it is written: “So said the Lord: If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below probed, I too will spurn all the descendants of Israel because of everything that they did, the utterance of the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:37).²⁷Since the heavens and earth cannot be measured, Israel will not be spurned. Anger, he was answered by Isaiah, as it is stated: “For I will not contend forever and I will not be eternally angry” (Isaiah 57:16).

“For if you are silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish; who knows if it was for a time like this that you attained royalty?” (Esther 4:14).
“For if you are silent” – if you [Esther] are silent now and refrain from advocating on behalf of your nation, ultimately you will be silent in the future and you will have no claim. Why? Because you have the opportunity to perform good during your life and you [will have] failed to do so. What, do you think that the Holy One blessed be He will abandon Israel? In any case, he will provide them with a redeemer; that is what is written: “Relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place.”

“Esther said, to respond to Mordekhai” (Esther 4:15). She said to him: “Go, assemble all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast on my behalf; do not eat and do not drink for three days” (Esther 4:16). These were the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth of Nisan. He sent her [in response]: ‘But isn’t the first day of Passover among them?’ She said to him: ‘Elder of Israel, why is it Passover?’⁷The festival of Passover was given to the Jewish people; if they are destroyed, of what value is the festival of Passover? It is better to desecrate Passover once so that it may be observed forever more (Etz Yosef). Immediately Mordekhai heard and conceded to her contention; that is what is written: “Mordekhai went on [vaya’avor] and acted in accordance with everything that Esther had commanded him” (Esther 4:17). There they say: That he violated [shehe’evir] the first day of Passover with a fast.
Regarding that same trouble, Mordekhai prayed to God and he said: ‘It is revealed and known before Your Throne of Honor, Master of the universe, that it is not due to haughtiness or arrogance that I did not prostrate myself to Haman; rather, it is due to my fear of You that I acted in this way, and did not prostrate myself to him. It is because I feared You, and did not wish to grant the honor due to You, to flesh and blood, and I did not want to prostrate myself to anyone other than You. For who am I not to prostrate myself to Haman at the expense of the salvation of Your people Israel? For that, I would be prepared to lick the shoes on his feet.
Now, God, rescue us from his hand, and let him fall into the grave that he dug, and let him be ensnared in the net that he concealed at the feet of your pious ones. And let this instigator know that You have not forgotten the promise that You promised us: “And despite this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not have spurned them and will not have rejected them, to destroy them, to violate My covenant with them, as I am the Lord their God”’ (Leviticus 26:44).
What did Mordekhai do? He assembled the children and deprived them of bread and water, he dressed them in sackcloth and sat them in ashes. They were shouting, weeping, and engaging in Torah study.
At that time, Esther was very frightened due to the evil that had developed for Israel. She removed her royal garments and her glory, donned sackcloth, loosened her hair and filled it with dirt and ashes, afflicted herself in a fast, and fell on her face before God and prayed. She said: ‘Lord, God of Israel, who has ruled since the days of yore and created the world, please help your maidservant, as I have remained an orphan from my father and my mother, and am comparable to a poor woman begging from house to house. So, I am requesting Your mercy from window to window in the palace of Aḥashverosh.
Now, Lord, please grant success to this poor maidservant of yours, and deliver the sheep of Your flock from these enemies who have arisen against us, as You have “no restraint to save by many or by few” (I Samuel 14:6). You, father of orphans, please stand to the right of this orphan, who has relied on your mercy, and let me be viewed mercifully by this man, for I fear him. Lower him before me because You lower the haughty.’

10) (Vayikra 26:44) "And notwithstanding also this": "this": This is the sin of the desert, (e.g., the golden calf); "also this": This is the sin (in the incident) of Ba'al Peor; "and even also this": This is the sin (of their desire to emulate) the Emorite kings. "I did not despise them and I did not abhor them to destroy them": Now what remained to them that they were not despised and not abhorred! Were not all the goodly gifts that had been given to them taken from them? And if not for the Torah scroll that remained to them, they would not differ from the nations at all! (The meaning is rather;) I did not despise them (to allow them to be destroyed) in the days of Vespasian, and I did not abhor them in the days of Greece. "to destroy them": in the days of Haman. "to break My covenant with them": in the days of the Kasdim. "for I am the L–rd their G d": in the days of Gog and Magog, when no nation or tongue will prevail over them. And whence is it derived that the covenant (that Israel will not be destroyed) was (also) made with the (twelve) tribes? From (Vayikra 26:45) "And I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I took out of the land of Egypt." (Vayikra 26:46) "These are the statutes and the judgments and the teachings": "the statutes": These are the midrashoth; "and the judgments": These are the laws; "and the Toroth": This teaches us that two Toroth were given to Israel, one written, and one, oral. R. Akiva said: Did Israel have only two Torahs? Were not many Torahs given to them? (viz.) "This is the Torah of the burnt-offerings," "This is the Torah of the meal-offerings," "This is the Torah of the guilt-offerings," "This is the Torah of the sacrifice of peace-offerings," "This is the Torah — a man if he die in the tent." "which the L–rd set forth between Himself and the children of Israel": Moses merited becoming the messenger between Israel and their Father in heaven, (viz.) "on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses": We are hereby taught that the (entire) Torah — its halachoth, inferences, and interpretations — was given by Moses at Sinai.

... Teach us oh, teacher: once the Ninth of Av has ended, is everything permitted? R’ Chiyah the Great taught like this: once the Ninth of Av has ended, one is permitted to do anything. Why? Because it is like the case of a person whose dead is laid out before him, who is forbidden to eat meat or drink wine. Once the dead is buried, the mourner is permitted to do so. So to on the Ninth of Av one is a mourner – once the day has ended one is permitted to do anything. Even though we are permitted, we must always have a sigh in our hearts until the Holy One returns to her. The Holy One said to them: by your lives! I burnt her, as it says “From above He has hurled fire into my bones…” (Lamentations 1:13) I will build her, as it says “Yet again will I rebuild you, then you shall be built, O virgin of Israel…” (Jeremiah 31:3) Zion said to Him: Behold, I have been sitting thus for many years! I have counted the days from old and I have not been redeemed, therefore I have despaired. She said that my master has abandoned me. And from where do we learn that Zion said this? From that which is written regarding it “And Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.’” (Isaiah 49:14) ... Another explanation. “And Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me…” (Isaiah 49:14) What is written before this? “Sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, and mountains burst out in song, for the Lord has consoled His people, and He shall have mercy on His poor.” (Isaiah 49:13) Once Zion saw that the prophet recalled His people and His poor, but did not mention Zion or Jerusalem she said ‘the Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.’ Immediately the Holy One replied and said to her: just as it is impossible for a woman to forget her sucking child, so to I am not able to forget you, “Shall a woman forget her sucking child, from having mercy on the child of her womb?” (Isaiah 49:15) She said to Him: Master of the world! How is that possible? There is no end to the evils I have done! I caused Your Holy Temple to be destroyed and I killed the prophets. R’ Berachia the Kohen said in the name of Rebbe: the Holy One said to her, I will forget your evil but I will not forget your good. “…These too shall forget, but I will not forget you.” (ibid.) I have forgotten “"These are your gods, O Israel…” (Exodus32:4) but “I am the Lord, your God…” (Exodus 20:2) I will not forget.

Jeremiah asked the Holy One four things at the hour when he separated from Him, on two he received an answer and on two he did not. They are: despising, rejection, abandonment and forgetting. Since Jeremiah saw the outlandish judgments which He brought upon Jerusalem he stood astonished, saying: is it possible that the Holy One will return to them after this? Then he asked the Holy One about these four things. So it says at the end of the scroll of lamentations “Why do You forget us forever, forsake us so long?” (Lamentations 5:20) “For if You have utterly rejected us, You have been exceedingly wroth against us.” (Lamentations 5:22) This is like a king who had a matron who was very beloved to him. Because the matron knew that the king loved her too much she violated the king’s honor and transgressed his decrees. One time decreed upon her that his servants come and drag her by her hair. Her dear friend who was present stood astonished, and seeing this immediately ran to come before the king. He said to him: my master the king, tell me what you intend. If you intend to return to her, then a man should rule over his wife. If you do not intend to return to her, you should divorce her that she can go and marry another. So Jeremiah said before the Holy One: Master of the World! “Have You indeed rejected Judah? Has Your soul despised Zion?” (Jeremiah 14:19) If Your intention is to return to her “Why have You smitten us and we have no cure?” (ibid.) He replied: go to your teacher, and to the teacher of your teacher – Moshe, the teacher of all the prophets. This is what I said to him at the end of all the curses: “But despite all this, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will not despise them nor will I reject them…” (Leviticus 26:44) Here we see that on two he received an answer and on two he did not. Since Zion saw that Jeremiah asked four things of the Holy One - despising, rejection, abandonment and forgetting – and that the Holy One answered him about despising and rejection but not about abandonment and forgetting, she began to make claims regarding the other two. “And Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.’” (Isaiah 49:14) Another explanation. And Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and has forgotten me.’ The verse doesn’t say this, but rather ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.’ Why does it say ‘the Lord and the Lord’? She said to Him: even the two attributes of mercy which are written about You “Lord, Lord, benevolent God, Who is compassionate and gracious…” (Exodus 34:6) have abandoned me and forgotten me. Another explanation. He forfeited me to all the nations, gleanings, forgotten sheaves and the corners of the fields as it says “When you reap the harvest of your Land…you shall leave these for the poor person and for the stranger.” (Leviticus 23:22) Another explanation. ‘The Lord has forsaken me (azavtani).’ He loaded me up with many punishments as it is written “You shall surely help along with him (azov ta’azov).” (Exodus 23:5) Another explanation. ‘The Lord has forsaken me.’ That is, made me worth abandoning, as it is written “…and the Lord shall pour out their vessels.” (Isaiah 3:17) This comes to teach that He hinted to their springs and they poured forth and they were sunk in blood and abandoned and they cast them away. The Holy One said to them: complainers the sons of complainers! I was engaged with the first man, in order to make him a helpmate, as it says “…I shall make him a helpmate opposite him,” (Genesis 2:18) and he complained about Me, “The woman whom You gave to be with me she gave me…” (Genesis 3:12) I was engaged with Yaakov’s son to make him king over Egypt, “Now Joseph was the ruler over the land…” (Genesis 42:6) and He complained before Me, saying “My way has been hidden from the Lord…” (Isaiah 40:27) Even his sons did the same in the wilderness! I was engaged in choosing for them an easy food like that which kings eat, so that not one of them should be seized by indigestion or diarrhea, and they complained before Me, saying “…and we are disgusted with this rotten bread.” (Numbers 21:5) So too Zion did to Me. I was engaged in removing the kingdoms from the world, haven’t I already removed Babylon, Maday and Greece? I was about to cause the fourth kingdom to pass away and she complained before Me, saying ‘You have abandoned me, You have forgotten me.’ Another explanation. Knesset Yisrael said before the Holy One: You have forgotten that might which my children mentioned before you at the sea “The Eternal's strength…” (Exodus 15:2) Another explanation. “And Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.’” (Isaiah 49:14) Forsaken is the same as forgotten! R’ Elazar said: Knesset Yisrael said before the Holy One – Master of the World! A man who marries another wife in addition to his first still remembers the actions of the first, but You have forsaken me. The Holy One replied to her – my daughter, I created twelve constellations in the firmament opposite the twelve tribes and for each constellation I created thirty troops, and for each troop I created thirty routes, and on each route I created thirty legions, and for each legion I created thirty camps, and for each camp I created thirty squares, and for each square I created three hundred and sixty-five stars like the number of the days of the solar calendar. All of these I created only for you, and you say ‘He has forgotten me, He has abandoned me?!’ “Shall a woman forget her sucking child (ulah)…” (Isaiah 49:15) I will never forget the burnt offerings (olot) and firstborns which you offered before Me. She said before Him - Master of the World! Since there is no forgetting before Your Holy Throne, maybe then You will not forget what I did with the Golden Calf? He replied to her – I will also forget this. She said before Him – Master of the World! Since there is forgetting before Your Holy Throne, maybe you will forget what I did at Mount Sinai? He said to her “I will not forget you.” (ibid.)