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לא תעשו לכם אלילם YE SHALL MAKE YOU NO IDOLS This command is repeated here with reference to one who has sold himself as a slave to a non-Jew in order that he should not say "Since my master is a libertine I will be like him; since my master worships idols, I will be like him; since my master desecrates the Sabbath, I will be like hin", on this account have these verses (v. 1 and v. 2) been stated. Indeed all these sections (these of the whole Sedrah) are stated in the sequence in which the incidents to which they refer actually occur. First Scripture warns the people about the seventh year's produce (not to do trade in them). If, however, one is covetous of money and brings himself under the constant suspicion of trading in the seventh-year fruits, he will at some time have to sell his movable property on account of his destitution. It is for this reason that Scripture put in juxtaposition to it (the“And when you make a sale [to your fellow-Jew]” (25:14) “or make a purchase from the hand…,” something that is transferred from hand to hand). If he still does not repent, he will eventually have to sell his inheritance (25:25). If he even then does not repent, he will eventually have to sell his home, and if even then, he does not repent, he will eventually have to borrow money with interest (verses 25:35-38). Now, the later the scenario in this passage, the more severe it is [i.e., first he sells his belongings, then his property, then his home and then even borrowing with interest which is more severe than selling one’s property; (Nachalath Ya’akov) thus, the passage continues accordingly, for] if he still does not repent, he will eventually have to sell himself [to his fellow Jew as a servant] (verses 25:39-46); and [finally,] if he has still not repented, not enough that he had to be sold to his fellow Jew - but he will [be forced to sell himself] even to a non-Jew! (Kiddushin 20a)

YE SHALL MAKE YOU NO IDOLS. “Scripture is speaking with reference to this person [mentioned above] who sold himself to an idolater, that he should not say, ‘Since my master worships idols, I will also worship them; Since my master is immoral, I too will be dissolute; since my master does not observe the Sabbath, I will also profane the Sabbath.’ Scripture therefore states, Ye shall make you no idols … Ye shall keep My Sabbaths, and reverence My Sanctuary.²²⁵Verses 1-2. Thus Scripture warned concerning [the observance of] the commandments.” This is the language of the Torath Kohanim,²²⁶Torath Kohanim, end of Behar. and the interpretation [thereof is as follows]: Scripture warned the servant who sold himself to an idolater to be heedful of the commandments concerning idolatry and the Sabbath, — as well as the reverence due to the Sanctuary, which he should come to on the festivals and treat with awe,²²⁷See “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 29-31. and the same warning applies with regard to all the commandments. However, He mentioned only these commandments as they are the main ones, and they indicate [that the same principle applies] to all of them. Now some texts of the Torath Kohanim have this reading: “Scripture ‘mentioned here’ [the commandments,” instead of “Thus Scripture warned,” as stated above]. If this is the correct text, then the Rabbis [of the Torath Kohanim] alluded to [the concept] that all the commandments are included in the Sabbath and the Sanctuary. The person learned [in the mysteries of the Cabala] will understand.²²⁸See Ramban above in Seder Kedoshim 19:30.
Bechukothai

לא תעשו לכם, even though you yourselves are now subservient to the pagans, as for instance the Jew who was forced to sell himself to a pagan, you must not trade your dignity, i.e. your religion, for a religion which is totally useless. Although this whole line appears superfluous, as the Torah had spoken on this subject repeatedly, the Torah here inserts this line so that people who due to force of circumstances had to enter the service of pagans, and who attribute this to their own G’d having abandoned them, do not commit the additional error of thinking that Judaism no longer has a claim on them in such circumstances. In Ezekiel chapter 20 the prophet dealt with the people who wanted to know how G’d could still have a claim on them seeing he had “sold” them to the pagans into exile. The matter was compared to a husband who had divorced his wife and continued to dictate to her. One of the most convincing answers is that G’d continues to speak of “My servant David” in Samuel II 3,18, the same description G’d applies to Nevuchadnezzar in Jeremiah 28,9. In other words, no human being whether out of his own volition or because he considers himself rejected by G’d, is ever free from the obligation to serve the Creator, His ultimate Master. At the end of the תוכחה, the predictions of the retribution we will experience for failure to observe G’d’s commandments, (Leviticus 26,44) G’d is on record as saying that even when the Jewish people have reached a historic low in their fortunes, G’d did not despise them nor abandon them permanently.

משכית, the word is derived from שכה in the same manner as מרבית is derived from רבה. It has no companion in the Bible except Psalms 73,7 עברו משכיות לבב, a reference to visions of one’s heart. Here too, the stone and its multi-coloured decorations are designed to awaken one’s fantasies.

לא תעשו לכם אלילים, “You shall not make idols for yourselves.” This line is addressed to the unfortunate people who have been sold to idolaters. Even while in the service of idolaters the Torah urges such people to make an agreement with their employers that they need not violate primary laws of our faith, such as working on the Sabbath, to retain his belief in the sanctity of the Temple, etc., and to try and make the thrice annual pilgrimage there. Alternately, seeing the Torah had just written that all the Israelites are עבדי, “My servants,” it had to stress that under no circumstances are any of us to try and become someone else’s (idolatrous cults) servants. According to the Targum Yerushalmi the word שבתותי does not refer to the weekly Sabbaths but to the sh’mittah years, which the Torah has also described as “G’d’s Sabbaths.”

לא תעשו לכם אלילים, “Do not make idols for yourselves.” Here the Torah refers to the various forces named earlier whom people worship as אלילים from the root אילות, “strength, power,” calling such idols אלילים rather than אילים [which would mean something powerful, Ed.] in order to remind us of the impotence of such idols. Even though such idols may sometimes appear as very imposing and therefore powerful, the fact that their power is derived from outside influences makes them essentially weak, impotent. Having already mentioned אלילים, idols which are natural phenomena such as the sun and the moon, etc., the Torah goes on to mention man-made symbols such as statutes and pillars which were constructed in order to be recipients of the power presumed to reside within the aforementioned idols. All this leaves us with the question of why idolatry has been inserted into this paragraph altogether. Our sages in Sifra at the end of our portion answer that the Torah wants to contrast the situation of a Jew who has been sold to an idolater with the danger that being in such an environment he might fall victim to such religious tenets as are believed by his master. He might say to himself that seeing his (successful) master worships such forces it might be well for him to do the same. From this it is only a small step to argue that seeing the sexual mores of his master are quite permissive, he himself would also adopt such mores. Furthermore, seeing that his master does not observe the laws of the Sabbath, he, the servant and property of the Gentile would do the same. The Torah therefore warns that even though one is the employee or slave of such a Gentile this must not lead one to adopt his master’s religious practices.

Since my master commits sexual crimes. You might ask: I can understand [why Rashi mentions] idolatry and Shabbos [as they] are written here, in the verses of this section. But why does Rashi mention sexual crimes which are not mentioned in this section? The answer is: Even though the verses do not mention sexual crimes, it they hints at them by mentioning idolatry. As the Midrash says, “’Your two breasts, etc.’ (Shir Hashirim 4). [This hints] that the two Tablets correlated one to another, with one command corresponding to [the opposite] command. ’Do not commit adultery’ (Shemos 20:13) corresponding to ’You must not have any other gods’ (verse 3),” i.e., idolatry. Alternatively, this is based on the sages’ statement that Yisroel served idolatry only for the purpose of permitting immorality for themselves. Rashi mentions Shabbos since whoever desecrates Shabbos is considered as if he denied God’s Creation of heaven and earth, [which is like idolatry]. Alternatively, the master might buy the slave for homosexuality, which is a sexual crime.

ואבן משכית, “nor any figured stone;” this describes a stone in which the figure or face of a human being has been carved out, so that it would serve as something to be worshipped. The root of the word משכית, is שכיה , “something admired by everybody for its beauty, (exquisite craftsmanship)

לא תעשו לכם אלילים, “do not make for yourselves idols;” this law is repeated as if a Jew is sold to a gentile the subject of making himself an idol out of frustration over what has befallen him is quite understandable. Compare Rashi and Sifra on this verse.

ואבן משכית (a kind of mosaic pavement) — The word משכית is an expression denoting “covering”, similar to the verb in (Exodus 33:22) “I will cover thee (ושכותי) with my hand”. Such a mosaic is so called because people cover the ground with a pavement of stones

ואבן משכית לא תתנו בארצכם להשתחות עליה, “and you must not place a flooring stone made to show an image and bow down to it.” You are not even to use such an image to prostrate yourself to G’d in heaven (Maimonides Hilchot Avodah Zarah 6,6). The same rule applies to the planting of trees next to the Altar in the courtyard of the Temple (Halachah 9 in above-mentioned chapter by Maimonides). The reason for all this is that these were heathen practices at the time. Sifra Behar 9,5 sees in the word בארצכם, “in your land,” a limiting factor for this prohibition; “only in your land,” i.e. outside the Temple, must you not prostrate yourselves to the Lord G’d; inside the holy precincts of the courtyard of the Temple you are allowed to do so on the stones which cover the floor of that building.

If he does not repent. (Gur Aryeh) Re’m asks: Why does the verse mention a “foreign family” (verse 27)? If he is sold to idol worship itself (see Rashi there), how much more [will he be sold] to a non-Jew? I do not understand this question, as Re’m should [also] have asked, why does the verse (ibid.) mention a “resident foreigner”? If he is sold to a non-Jew, how much more to a foreign resident, so why write “foreign resident”? However, the verse writes them all for the reason Rashi says, that the Holy does not bring them all onto upon him at once. So if it wrote “offspring” [i.e. idol worship] (verse 27), I would think that he was sold to the “offspring” first. But the Holy One does not do so; rather He brings it onto upon him gradually.

להשתחות עליה TO PROSTRATE YOURSELVES UPON IT, not even to the Lord, since prostration involves stretching forth of hands and feet (the highest form of adoration) and Scripture forbids doing so outside the Temple (Megillah 22b)

The spreading out of hands and feet. You might ask: How does Rashi know this? Perhaps it is forbidden even in the Temple? The answer is: It is written in the verse, “A prostration stone you shall not set in your land upon which to prostrate oneself,” which implies that the Torah forbade this in your land, but did not forbid it in the Temple.

If you follow My statutes and observe My commandments them: it appears to me that every mitzvah has ten sefirot and the entire organism. The offspring of Yaakov is Yosef, and Yosef is the idea of Yesod, which gives life to Malchus, which gives life to all the worlds. That's the meaning of the words "you shall do them"--them refers to yesod because yesod is a sign. You should do the mitzvahs with love and fear of G-d so that every mitzvah should have yesod in it to give life to the world. This is the meaning that part of the Shema. A part of the expression is redundant, what's the meaning of this? In every mitzvah, the intent is to become one with and arrive to holiness as we say in our prayers "He has sanctified us with His mitzvot" as it says in Zohar: there are 613 pieces of advice as the commentaries explain. If you do the mitzvot, they will bring love, reverence, and holiness, but that's only if you do these mitzvot with the focus of yesod. One limb strengthens the other limb. We cause the yesod, in each mitzvah, bestows holiness and light to those who do the mitzvah. It says in the verse "you fulfilled your words because you're tzaddik and saw the pain of our forefathers in Egypt" The Torah is explains about the divine flow of yesod, which is called tzaddik. Our sages say that when it says in the Torah (about the pain of our forefathers) that this refers to when there was a lacking of intimacy in Egypt. He saw that they were pained. This is the meaning of the verse "who is like this great nation that has chukim, mishpatim, and tzaddikim" this is because every mitzvah has ten sefirot, and the yesod is called tzaddik because it brings life, health, parnasa, reverance, and love.

‎'אני ה‎ I AM THE LORD, Who am faithful to pay you your reward.

את שבתותי תשמורו, even during the period when you find yourselves in exile, even though that any rest observed during such periods is a reminder of your erstwhile freedom instead of your slavery in Egypt, and the fact that even G’d rested on the seventh day.

את שבתתי תשמורו, "Observe My Sabbaths!" Why did the Torah again repeat the commandment to observe the Sabbath? I believe the Torah wanted to write the commandment of Sabbath-observance next to the commandment preceding it not to make anything resembling idolatrous symbols. This is the Torah's way of reminding us that just as idolatry or rather abstaining from it is equivalent to observing the entire Torah, so Sabbath-observance is also equivalent to observance of the whole Torah. [This does not absolve a person from the observance of any other commandment; it simply means that one demonstrates one's commitment to Torah by either Sabbath-observance or abstaining from anything idolatrous. Ed.]

את שבתותי תשמורו ומקדשי תיראו, “You are to observe My Sabbaths and you are to revere My Sanctuary.” According to Sifra Behar 9,6 this verse is a comprehensive warning to observe all the commandments. According to Nachmanides the Sifra means that by warning about the pitfalls of selling a Jew to a Gentile and what might happen to his religious observances while he is in the household of such a Gentile, the Torah effectively issues a warning concerning the observance of all the commandments. Once he is in the house of an idolater he is liable to stop all Jewish observances. Alternatively, we may see in the warning concerning the Sabbath and the Sanctuary a warning which embraces all the commandments, as between them they represent the whole Torah.

את שבתותי תשמורו ומקדשי תיראו, “You shall keep My Sabbaths, and revere My Sanctuary.” The Torah draws a clear parallel between the Temple and the Sabbath. It tells us that just as the observance of the Sabbath as a holy day is a permanent commandment the reverence for the Temple is similarly a commandment that has no time limit. [The temple site is sacred ground even when the temple is not standing. Ed.] This is the meaning of אות היא לעולם, “it is a sign forever.” (Exodus 31,17.)

את שבתותי תשמורו, “You shall keep My Sabbaths;” according to the understanding of Targum Yerushalmi, the Torah here speaks about the sh’mittah years every seventh year. Those years are also called Sabbaths.

ומקדשי תיראו; the holy sites of the Jewish people during the years of their exile, such as Torah academies and synagogues. Ezekiel 11,15 describes such buildings as מקדש מעט, a “miniature Temple.” Our sages state that he referred by this definition to Torah academies and synagogues.

אני ה, “I am the Lord.” These words are a reminder that G’d’s stature as the Lord means that He either rewards or punishes those that observe or transgress the laws of the Torah. Wherever the words אני ה' appear they mean that the commandment they refer to is a very important commandment and that G’d is the one Who rewards or punishes people who observe it or ignore it. This is the reason that this portion concludes with these two important commandments. It is natural that a king commands his subjects to respect and honour him. He does not need to explain why he demands such obeisance. It is enough for him to remind his subjects that he is the king.
Tanchuma (Bereshit 12) in commenting on Genesis 41,44 draws a comparison for us from when Pharaoh said to Joseph: “I am Pharaoh but without you no one shall lift a hand or foot in the whole land of Egypt.” Pharaoh had already given Joseph his ring of office empowering him to exercise his authority. If the use of the word אני when spoken by a ruler who was only flesh and blood such as Pharaoh carried so much weight, imagine how much weight the word אני when spoken by G’d the ruler of the whole universe must carry. Solomon made a similar point in Kohelet 8,2 where he wrote: אני פי מלך שמור ועל דברת שבועת אלוהים, “whenever the word אני appears, I warn you to observe it carefully; it is an oath of G’d.”

In addition to that the fact that the שמיטות are also called "Sabbaths" (compare 28,2) and that commandment is tied to reverence for the Holy Temple, we are reminded of the statement that the Holy Temple was destroyed due to the failure to observe the שמיטה laws (compare 26,34).

ומקדשי תיראו, “and revere My Sanctuary;” keep the Yovel year as a holy year. (This is the interpretation of Midrash Tanchuma)

The Torah linked Sabbath-observance to reverence for the Holy Temple to tell us not to become guilty of the destruction of the Temple due to failure to observe the Sabbath. We have pointed out previously that when G'd pours out His anger over stones and wood, this is one way of G'd's restraining His anger at human beings.

אם בחקתי תלכו IF YE WALK IN MY ORDINANCES — One might think that this denotes the fulfilment of the commandments; but when Scripture states “and ye shall keep My commandments and do them”, it is plain that in this passage there is mentioned the “fulfilment of the commands”. How then must I explain אם בחקתי תלכו? As an admonition that you should study the Torah laboriously (Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 1 1-2)

אם בחקותי תלכו, "If you walk in My statutes, etc." In Torat Kohanim they explain this as follows: "if the Torah had spoken only about בחוקותי, I would have assumed that what was meant were the מצות. Now that the Torah added the words ואת מצותי, the word בחקותי cannot apply to the מצות seeing the Torah already wrote about them. The additional word בחקותי therefore teaches us that that one has to toil in order to get Torah knowledge." The reason the Torah refers to toiling over Torah by using the expression חקה is because there is a commandment to study matters again and again even if one had already studied them several times and they have been well absorbed. G'd wants us to study Torah out of a fondness for it and this is why He formulated a statute to that effect. We find that our sages in Kohelet Rabbah 3 state that G'd decreed that we will forget part of what we learned in order that we should sit down and learn it repeatedly.

אם בחקותי תלכו, chukkot are like Royal decrees, something person has to be guided by if he expects his endeavours in life to prosper. The Hebrew expression describing the fact that one abides by them is called הליכה, “walking.” We have encountered this expression in connection with these חקים already in Leviticus 18,3, as well as in 18,4. We also find the term in the Books of Prophets, for instance in Ezekiel 33,15 בחקת החיים הלך, “he followed the laws of life.” ואת מצותי תשמורו; the term שמירה in connection with G’d’s commandments, [something intangible, so that the word “guarding” seems at first glance somewhat incongruous, Ed.] is the meticulous observance of them, i.e. performance in accordance with what they represent. It means that they cannot just be performed by rote but must be performed consciously as such. This has been spelled out by Sifri, Parshat Re-ay where the wording is: “שמור =study.” The thrust of our verse then is as follows: “if you will conduct yourselves in accordance with the practical part of My Torah, i.e. the performance of commandments requiring deeds, and you will study these laws in order to understand their purpose and in order to give meaning to your performance of these laws, you will accomplish that you will deserve the description of being a creature which reflects “His image.”

אם בחקותי תלכו....ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם, “If you will follow My decrees…I shall provide your rains at their appropriate times.” Nachmanides comments that the reason that the Torah first lists timely rainfall as the reward for observing G’d’s statutes is that as a result of such rainfall the air of the country is cleansed and made softer, people are healthier, the yield of nature is enhanced and appears more appealing to the eye. As a result of all this, disease becomes more rare amongst the people, etc.; in other words, timely rainfall is an indispensable blessing that forms the basis of all the blessings nature has to offer. When nature provides its bounty, there are no aborted fetuses among man or beast, people and animals grow to their optimal size, man’s lifespan is lengthened, the last and ultimate of nature’s blessings.

Behold, the fulfillment of the mitzvos is mentioned. This is the correct text: “When the verse says, ‘And you will fulfill them,’ behold, the fulfillment of the mitzvos is mentioned.” Therefore “If you follow My statutes” means to labor in Torah with no particular intent, and “keep My commandments” means to labor [in Torah] in order to keep and fulfill.

עטרת חכמים עשרם אולת כסילים אולת, ”The crown of the wise is their riches; the foolishness of fools is folly” (Proverbs 14,10).

אם בחוקותי תלכו, ורדפו מכם חמשה מאה, “and five of you will put one hundred of your adversaries to flight;” there is something peculiar about the ratios here. Why would 100 Israelites be able to put 10000 adversaries to flight, not 2000 as we would have expected from the first example given? We can understand this better when comparing the efficacy of a prayer said in the privacy of one’s home, and a prayer said in the Synagogue when each person is part of a congregation. The latter prayers are far more effective, and presumably reach the throne of the Almighty more speedily. In Deuteronomy 32,30 Moses asked the rhetorical question of how it had been possible that under certain circumstances one gentile could put 1000 times his number of Israelites to flight, and only two enemies could put 10000 Israelites to flight? Besides, seeing that we have a tradition according to which blessings are always described as more powerful than corresponding curses, (Compare Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin, folio 100), how come Moses in Deuteronomy appears to paint the opposite of that scenario? Contrary to what we might think, that Moses in Deuteronomy 32,30 speaks about enemies chasing Israelites; he said that if the Israelites had only reasoned logically, they would have realised that the disproportionate numbers in both instances could only have occurred through direct intervention by Hashem. The gentiles had realised this in retrospect when the Israelites had fallen out of favour with their G–d. Previously they had mistakenly credited the Israelites with superhuman abilities. The best example of this completely unbelievable performance in battle, is found in the Book of Judges 15,16, where Samson has been credited with killing one thousand Philistines using only the jawbone of an ass as his weapon. A similar feat of unbelievable military success is reported in the Book of Samuel, I chapter 14, where King Shaul’s son Yonathan and his arms bearer, is credited with putting the Philistine army to flight, killing many on the way. Yonathan had seen a sign that G–d was on his side by judging the Philistines’ behaviour. [It is suggested that the reader read up that chapter in the Book of Samuel. Ed.]

אם בחקתי תלכו, “If you will walk in My statutes;” if you will do what I decreed that you should do, also the clouds and the soil and the trees all of which have been created only for your sake, will do their share, as I have instructed them to do so.” (B’chor shor)

ואת מצותי תשמרו AND TAKE HEED OF MY COMMANDMENTS — Study the Torah laboriously with the intention to take heed and to fulfil its teachings, as it is said, (Deuteronomy 5:1) “and ye shall learn them and take heed to do them".

The reason the word חקותי, "My statutes," is in the plural is an allusion to the two aspects of Torah, i.e. the oral as well as the written Torah. We have a tradition not to spell the word חקתי with the letter ו between the ק and the ת (which would normally indicate that the word is in the plural) in order to emphasise the essential unity of the oral and the written Torah. Another allusion in the plural ending of the word בחקתי is to the instruction G'd gave Joshua in Joshua 1,8 to study (review) Torah by day and by night. We must allocate time to Torah study both by day and by night. This makes Torah-study a dual activity. According to the traditional spelling the study occurs on the same day (date) (i.e. the day following the night) so that essentially we study Torah twice daily. Moreover, the plural hints at the fact that in order to observe G'd's commandments two elements are essential. One has to study Torah and teach it to others as the Torah says in Deut. 11,19: "teach them (the words of Torah) to your children, etc." The word בחקתי therefore refers to both of these activities forming part of walking in G'd's statutes. Moreover, there is the aspect of performing positive commandments and not violating negative commandments. These latter two activities are covered by the words את מצותי תשמרו ועשיתם.

ועשיתם אותם, if you will carry them out in the above-mentioned manner, not as servants who are afraid of incurring the wrath of their masters, this will be the “finishing touch” of your establishing a total claim to the land of your inheritance. You would demonstrate that you perform His will as if it were your own will. (Avot 2,4)

That you should labor in [studying] Torah. Because it is written “follow” and not “study,” this teaches that you should follow the [intricate] exegesis of the Sages [which requires labor]. (Nachalas Yaakov) Rashi infers this from the word תלכו, as we find the expression הליכה [relating to Torah] in Yirmeyahu (9:1), “Because they left My Torah... and did not walk in it,” and also (55:1), “Ho, all who are thirsty go for water,” which refers to being occupied in Torah.

Solomon informed us here that wealth is an attribute possessed by the wise who benefit by it whereas for the sinners it is an attribute that causes them to stumble. When material wealth is in the hands of the wise person it is a crown and honor for him. The reason is simply that all the time the wise man lacks wealth his wisdom is held in low esteem and his words are not heeded as the general public equates wealth with competence of the person who possesses it. Not only this, but wealth is accompanied by authority to lend power to truth and to effectively denigrate lies, etc. Also, the wealthy wise man is able to spend his wealth in a manner where it does a great deal of good, which in turn will reflect credit upon him and enhance his reputation.
The reverse is true when fools are wealthy as they boast about their wealth and they employ their wealth to strengthen other like-minded individuals, in the process increasing the amount of sin committed. The financial success of the sinner is always a danger as it serves the fools to maintain their sinful lifestyle, and encourages them to continue in their mistaken ways.

The reason the Torah uses the term הליכה, walking, when speaking about the חקים is to remind us that one needs to be occupied with matters of Torah even when engaged in walking on one's way, much as when the Torah said in Deut. 6,7 ובלכתך בדרך "and when you walk on the way."

In order to keep [in mind]. Rashi is answering the question: Afterwards it is written, “I will provide your rains in their proper time,” implying that they should study Torah in order to receive reward. But do our Ssages not say, “Do not be like servants who serve the master in order to receive reward”? Therefore Rashi explains, “In order to keep [in mind] as it states: ’And you shall teach them and keep [in mind] to fulfill them.’” This indicates that while one is laboring in their [study], one should keep in mind to do all that is written in it.

Wealth is somewhat like the sun which performs contradictory actions. On the one hand, the sun’s rays bleach garments restoring their original whiteness, on the other hand, it blackens the skin of those who expose their skin to the sun on a regular basis. It is up to the recipient to either benefit or suffer from the rays of the sun. Similarly, it is up to the recipient to make proper or improper use of material wealth. For the former such wealth turns into a crown, for the latter it becomes a mark of his folly.
The reason Solomon used the word אולת, “folly,” twice in this verse is to tell us that wealth for the foolish causes foolishness in the soul of the owners. The following rule governs the matter: wealth first corrupts the body of the foolish (sinful) owners, eventually further corrupting and destroying their souls. The wise, by contrast are on guard against the dangers inherent in owning wealth. As a result of their caution wealth becomes them, enhances their reputation so that they derive both physical and spiritual benefit from it as they are fully aware that wealth and success in this life are only preparatory steps for the needs of the soul so that it will acquire wisdom and perfect itself.

A second reason why the Torah uses the expression of "walking" in G'd's statutes is based on an interpretation of Vayikra Rabbah 35,1 of the verse in Psalms 119,59: "I have considered my ways and have turned back to Your decrees." According to the Midrash David had considered daily to do "his own thing" but had found that invariably his feet brought him to the Torah academy or the House of prayer. The lesson is that when one applies oneself to Torah and its precepts diligently one's very organs will automatically help one to head in the spiritually correct direction. You may translate the line: "if according to My statutes, you will find yourselves walking in the right direction."

Another lesson by Solomon concerning phenomena which appear at first glance as definitely desirable is found in Proverbs 15,21: “folly is joy for someone devoid of reason; a man of discernment walks a straight path.” Joy, abundant peace, i.e. unconcern about problems in the word, are a folly as they bespeak lack of sensitivity; only people practicing foolish pursuits enjoy such feelings. A discerning individual, instead of sitting back and enjoying his lack of immediate problems learns from this that he should use the opportunity to improve his character traits. This is why the Torah always holds out the promise of success in this world both for one’s body and for one’s soul when one performs the commandments written in the Torah. Such people are aware that the so-called serenity in this world is not an end itself seeing they are matters of interest only to the body, i.e. to the material parts of this universe. However, the purpose of the body, the material parts of this world, is to help us attain spiritual goals, i.e. to attain more knowledge about G’d. In this way we will ultimately attain the joy of receiving the radiations of light from His face. This is our real objective. The Torah therefore assures us that the path to achieving our true aim is via performance of the commandments which in due course will result in our acquiring the merit to enjoy eternal life, something we failed to achieve even with the help of the first and the second Temple.

A third meaning of the simile "you will walk" is based on the Zohar volume 3 page 202 that Torah can be studied on four different levels, the פשט, רמז, דרוש, and סוד. These four methods between them account for what our sages call the 70 facets of the Torah. Each of these 70 facets is perceived as being a "path" one walks in the study of G'd's statutes. The lesson is that the approach to Torah study should be along a variety of paths.

אם בחקותי תלכו ואת מצותי תשמרו ועשיתם אותם, “if you will walk in My statutes and observe My commandments and carry them out;” the statutes referred to here are the laws about Shemittah and Yovel which were mentioned in the previous portion. Now the Torah adds that if we observe this legislation G’d will provide rain at the appropriate time and will bless our harvests and all the growth of the earth in order to provide us with abundance of physical and material blessings.

A fourth meaning of the word תלכו is based on Proverbs 3,6: בכל דרכיך דעהו, "In all your ways acknowledge Him." Maimonides writes in chapter 3 of his treatise Hilchot Deyot that "a person should set his mind on having a perfect body in order to possess the physical strength to devote himself to Torah study for it is impossible to properly evaluate and understand Torah and G'd's objectives when one suffers from hunger, thirst or physical pain. When one follows the path I suggest regularly, one is a servant of the Lord." Thus far Maimonides. This is the meaning of our verse "if you walk in the path of My statutes," i.e. if your walking is designed to comprehend My statutes. All your physical activities should be guided by the desire to better observe My commandments.

A fifth reason for the Torah's choice of the word תלכו may be understood in light of Sanhedrin 34 that people studying the Torah have been given permission to offer their respective commentaries and to explore a variety of paths in doing so. [The simile used by the Talmud is that when one beats with a hammer on an anvil the sparks fly in all directions. Ed.] An experienced scholar will elicit new insights through studying the text repeatedly in accordance with his mental capacity. The words ואת מצותי תשמרו ועשיתם אותם are perceived as the framework for investigative Torah exploration. As long as the purpose of Torah study is to lead to performance of G'd's commandments, the Torah encourages the pursuit of diverse paths of study. Under no circumstances must the pursuit of novel ways of Biblical exegesis result in what our sages call מגלה פנים בתורה שלא כהלכה, "revelation of aspects of the Torah which conflict with traditional rulings." That which has always been known as impure must not be declared pure nor vice versa. If Torah study results in such abnormal results it is clear that the approach of the scholar was defective, flawed. This is why we are told in Avot 3,11 that anyone who reveals that he has reached a result in his Torah study which upsets traditional הלכות will not enjoy a share in the life after death.

A sixth reason why the Torah used the word תלכו may be understood in light of Avot 2,6 that an unlearned man cannot truly be pious. This is interpreted to mean that it is forbidden for such a man to practice the lifestyle reserved for the truly pious who impose a variety of restrictive practices upon themselves. The reason is that such a person while thinking that he imposes a restriction upon himself which is pleasing in the eyes of G'd actually contravenes Torah law through his ignorance of what the rules our הלכות are based on. An example of ignorance leading the most well meaning person astray is that the ignorant person knows that it is a commandment to sleep with one's wife on the night following her ritual immersion. He may therefore do so on the night of the Day of Atonement when this is forbidden. For this and simliar reasons the sages forbade the עם הארץ to practice what is called לפנים משורת הדין so that by adhering to the law i.e. בחקתי תלכו walking in My statutes he will perform the מצות properly.

A seventh reason for the Torah's use of the word תלכו may be related to the statement of our sages in Avot 4 to exile oneself to a place where Torah is to be found. One needs to beat a path to Torah centers in order to study there, hence the Torah speaks of תלכו, "you shall walk." There is a story in Chagigah 5 about a certain Rabbi Idi who used to have to travel 3 months in one direction to attend to his business and three months back home in order to spend a single day in the house of his Rabbi. The Torah suggests here that even if one has the opportunity to study at home it is better to to leave home in order to study and to fulfil the commandment to "walk in My statutes."

As to the words ואת מצותי תשמרו, these may be understood in light of a comment by our sages in Shabbat 31: "Rabbi Yannai proclaimed: 'how sad if a person who does not own a courtyard constructs an entrance-gate to such a non-existent courtyard.' He referred to people who do not have reverence for G'd and yet study Torah. The important thing is to observe the commandments. Unless studying Torah has as its objective performance of its precepts, such study is of questionable value. When the Torah speaks of בחקותי תלכו it referred to study whereas it admonishes us that this must be in order את מצותי תשמרו ועשיתם אותם, 'to observe and perform My commandments.'" We have a statement in Berachot 17 according to which if someone studies for unwholesome reasons he would have been better off if he had never been born. Tossaphot question this statement in light of the well known principle that it is acceptable to do things for the wrong reason because this leads to one eventually doing the right thing for the right reason. They answer that there are two ways of doing things for the wrong reason. 1) To find a reason to criticise G'd's Torah; 2) to gain personal fame due to one's Torah knowledge. If one studies Torah in order to criticise G'd and the Torah scholars it is better if one had not been born at all; if, on the other hand, one had ulterior motives such as wanting to be called Rabbi and the like, we may assume that eventually one will study Torah for the right reasons without ulterior motives. The Torah here assures us that if one does not pursue Torah study for the wrong reasons תשמרו ועשיתם אותם, you will observe and perform My commandments even when confronted with temptation, etc. The Torah you have studied for the right reasons will protect you against the pitfalls and the temptation by Satan. Sotah 21 is on record that Torah protects and saves from the evil inclination; Avodah Zarah 17 tells of Rabbi Chaninah and Rabbi Yonathan who were faced with the choice of either passing a house of idol worship or a whorehouse. They debated which was the worse temptation and decided to pass the house of ill-repute in order to merit the reward for resisting the temptation to enter there. When they reached the house in question the harlots withdrew to the inside. One Rabbi asked the other how they had merited to not even have to come face to face with temptation. The colleague answered by quoting Proverbs 2,11: "Foresight will protect you, understanding will preserve you." If one is on one's guard against temptation one will be fortified against it. Rava concluded that the word מזמה (which we translated as "foresight") refers to matters of harlotry against which Torah study is an effective defence. The word ועשיתם is also understood by Kidushin 39 as follows: "When a person sits still, not committing a sin, he receives the reward due for performing a commandment; they understood this to mean that when a sin approaches him he will be saved from committing it; we learn from here that though a person was only passive in abstaining from wrongdoing it is accounted for him as an activity, i.e. ועשיתם אותם.

It is true that in Pessachim 50 the Talmud interprets the difference between the expression: "for your kindness extends to the Heavens" (Psalms 57,11) and Psalms 108,5 "for Your kindness extends beyond the Heavens" to mean that the former refers to a person studying Torah שלא לשמה, but to gain honour for himself. The reason for this is not that G'd is so delighted with this kind of Torah study but He is confident of the eventual impact Torah study makes on the student, refining his character and changing his outlook in life. This kind of Torah study does not possess the power to protect the person studying against the temptation by the evil urge. This fact helps us answer the statement of Rabbi Yoseph that Torah protects the student both at the time he is busy studying as well as at other times. The world asks that if this statement is true how was it that the Torah study of Doeg and Achitophel did not protect them against the evil urge in their time? According to our approach we can answer this simply by assuming that their Torah study was not לשמה but that they had ulterior motives and this is why the merit of their Torah study did not act as a shield against the יצר הרע, the evil urge.

An eighth reason why the Torah wrote the word תלכו in our verse may have been illustrated by the story we related earlier about Rabbi Chaninah and Rabbi Yonathan debating which path to take (Avodah Zarah 17). The Rabbi who had suggested to take the path leading past the house of idolatry did so because he did not worry about the evil urge to commit idolatry, that evil urge having already been destroyed by G'd (compare Sanhedrin 64). The other Rabbi who was prepared to walk by the house of ill-repute was aware of the existence of the temptation but wanted to earn the merit for not succumbing to it. This Rabbi probably relied on having learned Torah לשמה something which would protect him in such situations. He interpreted the three words אם בחקתי תלכו, as a promise by G'd to be able to walk calmly into any situation firm in the knowledge that he had studied G'd's Torah לשמה, for the Torah's sake and not for his own personal reasons. In fact he interpreted the words ועשיתם אותם as an encouragement to face difficult situations rather than to avoid them in order to receive the appropriate reward.

A ninth reason why the Torh wrote the word תלכו may become clear when we recall a statement in Avot 6,3 that the Torah may be acquired in 48 different ways. This means that not every person who wishes to can "acquire" Torah; there are only 48 different ways in which Torah can be acquired. Our verse warns the potential Torah student that one of the preconditions for acquiring Torah is that one observes G'd's commandments. All the details listed in the Mishnah for successful Torah study are summed up in this one line.

The tenth reason for the word תלכו is the Torah's desire to communicate to us the exalted nature of Torah study and preoccupation with Torah. It is an activity which cannot be compared to the preoccupation with any other commandment. When a person is preoccupied with the performance of any other commandment, he may or may not succeed as due to some sin he may fail to observe it correctly. When a person studies Torah for the right reason he need not worry that his purpose will be thwarted because of anything wrong he did in the past. Rather, his righteousness will accompany him as we know from Sotah 21 that "a sin may extinguish a מצוה one is in the process of performing; it will not, however, extinguish Torah. This merit will accompany its student on the way to the Hereafter. See what I have written on the subject on Leviticus 18,4: ואת חקתי תשמרו ללכת בהם.

The eleventh reason why the Torah wrote the word תלכו in our verse is related to the Talmud's (Shabbat 63) interpretation of the verse אורך ימים בימינה, (Proverbs 3,16) "that the "right" side of the Torah offers its student long life." It means that people who keep to the "right" of Torah will enjoy life in the hereafter, whereas the ones keeping on Torah's "left" will enjoy their reward only in this life. The same idea is expressed in our verse, i.e. "if your preoccupation is with My statutes, it should not be for the sake of what Torah has to offer in this life, but תלכו, it should be for the sake of what a Torah student has to look forward to in the hereafter i.e. the group of people who are called the "rightists."

A twelfth reason for the Torah's use of the word תלכו is connected to the admonition in Avot 3,9: "if a person abuses his acquired wisdom to neutralize his fear of committing a sin, he will find that his wisdom does not endure." The reverse is true also, says the author of that Mishnah. Our verse alludes to the same idea when the Torah writes that the governing consideration in one's effort to acquire Torah wisdom must be to observe the commandments which ensure that one does not commit a sin.

A thirteenth reason for the word תלכו is based on the first Mishnah in פאה that of all the things for which the Torah did not set a minimum quantity in order for a person to be able to claim that he had fulfilled that particular commandment the study of Torah is the prime example. The word תלכו describes an activity without setting a specific objective to be reached. As long as one is on the way, i.e. studies G'd's statutes, one has complied with the requirement.

A fourteenth reason for the Torah's use of the word תלכו in our verse is linked to Leviticus 7,37 זאת התורה לעולה למנחה ולחטאת. "This is the law for the burnt-offering, the gift-offering and the sin-offering, etc." Our sages in Menachot 110 explained on this verse that if a person studied the Torah portion dealing with a burnt-offering it is accounted for him as if he had personally offered an animal as a burnt-offering. This is based on Hoseah 14,3: "let us pay with our lips instead of with bulls." This is not the only instance in which Torah study compensates for the performance of a specific commandment. Whenever a commandment is not capable of fulfilment by a person (such as all the legislation involving the priesthood for non-priests) study of the relevant portion in the Torah is accounted for the person studying it as if he had personally fulfilled that commandment. Accordingly we understand אם בחקתי תלכו followed by ואת מצותי תשמרו to mean that "if you study the commandments which you can only study, then you will be considered as having fulfilled My commandments." The word תשמרו means you are anxiously awaiting an opportunity to physically fulfil such commandments. As a result -ועשיתם אותם, you will not only receive the reward for studying the laws in question but for having fulfilled them physically.

A fifteenth reason for the word תלכו may be the reverse of the coin. A person should not use his study of G'd's commandments as an excuse not to perform them physically. The words ואת מצותי תשמרו, refer to the negative commandments which you have to observe. The only commandments one is relieved from observing as a result of Torah study are the ones which are incapable of fulfilment either temporarily or permanently.

A sixteenth reason for the word תלכו may be connected to a statement in Berachot 14 that a person must not set out on a journey until he had studied some words of Torah. [My text only says that one must not do one's thing before one has prayed. Ed.] The Zohar volume 1 page 69 writes that if people engage in a journey together without exchanging words of Torah between them they are endangering their lives. Accordingly we may understand the word in our verse to mean: "if you study Torah, i.e. go in My statutes, you will travel safely seeing that the merit of Torah study accompanies and protects a person."

A seventeenth reason for the word תלכו is based on Shabbat 63 where the Talmud speaks of someone who had intended to perform a commandment but was prevented from doing so by forces beyond his control. The fact that the Torah speaks in the future tense in our verse is understood as an allusion to just such a situation. The Torah therefore assures such a person that G'd will consider the good intention as actually having been executed. You will be rewarded as if you had performed the commandment.

The eighteenth reason for the word תלכו is related to Sukkah 45 where the elite (people experiencing some revelation of the שכינה) of the Jewish people are divided into three levels. The lowest level is the group granted what is termed a "blurred vision." The next higher level of the elite are the people who are granted a "clear vision." The highest level of the elite are those who enjoy such communications without first having to obtain special permission from G'd. I have explained Job 3,19 קטון וגדול שם הוא ועבד חפשי מאדוניו, "both the small and the great are there and the slave is free of his masters" in a similar sense. The "small" refers to the person granted a blurred vision, the "great" to the the person granted a clear vision, and the slave who is free of his masters refers to the person who does not need to ask permisssion in order to receive a communication from G'd. The word קטון is an allusion to the "small luminary," the moon in Genesis 1,16, whereas the word גדול is borrowed from the same verse where it refers to the sun. I would not be sure what are the criteria by means of which a human being achieves the great honour described in that verse. This is why the Torah here defined the rules by saying אם בחקתי תלכו, to tell us that Torah study, performance of its precepts, and the manner in which we do so is the key to achieving this level of communication with G'd.

The nineteenth reason for the word תלכו in our verse is related to Sanhedrin 102 where the Talmud describes G'd asking Jerobam king of Israel, to repent so that both G'd, Jerobam, and David could stroll together in Paradise. Kabbalists explain that the "strolling" the Talmud had in mind is hyperbole for the most intimate and delightful communication. Hail to a human being who is granted this kind of intimacy with the Divine. The way to achieve such a goal is via אם בחקת תלכו, walking in the paths of G'd's statutes, etc. Torah is the means enabling a human being to penetrate areas closed to normal individuals.

The twentieth reason why the Torah saw fit to write אם בחקתי תלכו may be appreciated in conjunction with Yalkut Shimoni item 831 on Psalms. We are told there that when G'd created man He did not do so in order for man merely to remain stationary in this present world forever and not to commit a sin. In fact, such an existence would in itself represent spiritual decline and be sinful. It had always been G'd's intention for man to ascend to the celestial regions just as did the prophet Elijah (Kings II 2,11). Due to the original sin, man has to have his skin removed and his body remains behind in this world when his soul ascends to Heaven. Our verse informs us that by means of intensive preoccupation with Torah he may overcome the pain involved in separation of body and soul but to feel like a person who walks from one place to another when that day arrives. In other words: אם בחקתי, if you are deeply engrossed in My statutes then you will merely walk from the physical domain to the celestial domain. [The relevant passage in Psalms is chapter 82 verse 6. Ed.] The Zohar volume 2 page 174 states that the truly righteous do not feel the pain of dying and that this is what Solomon alluded to when he said in Kohelet 5,11: "sweet is the sleep of the labourer." When someone labours on behalf of G'd his sleep i.e. his death is sweet and he accepts it with joy. Elijah is living proof that if one intensifies one's Torah study even one's body does not die.

The twenty-first reason for the word תלכו in our verse is related to a statement in Avot 4,22 that man had no control over his being born, nor does he have any control over when he may die. The Rabbi meant that man does not die voluntarily even if he wants to die (at a certain point in his life). Alternatively, if he expresses a wish to die he is not free to do so. We are told in Niddah 36: "When Rav was about to die he told Rabbi Assi to instruct a certain Shilo that he had changed his opinion about a certain ruling he had given. The latter refused to believe this and told his wife to prepare his תכריכין, the gown he was to be buried in, as he wanted to die and confront Rav in Heaven concerning this halachic ruling. His wife complied and he died, etc." We see from this incident that on occasion man is in control as to when he wants to die. Our verse אם בחקתי תלכו teaches us what are the criteria which determine who is of such stature that G'd honours his wish to die at a certain time even though it is not the time at which G'd had originally intended for that person to die.

The twenty-second reason why the Torah wrote the word תלכו in our verse is to teach us about the exceptional usefulness of profound Torah study. A person preoccupied with Torah constantly pines for ascent to a higher world because he appreciates the value his personality will derive from sitting in the celestial regions close to G'd. I have explained Psalms 49,16 in that sense. The Psalmist says: "But G'd will redeem my life from the clutches of שאול, Hades, for He will take me. Selah." The author, one of Korach's sons, means that when a person is certain that he will not be consigned to שאול but will enjoy גן עדן after he leaves this world, he becomes filled with the desire to proceed to that sphere, i.e. יקחני סלה. These words are a prayer to G'd. You may compare Yalkut Shimoni in Parshat Massey item 787 that when Aaron ascended Hor Hahor on the way to die he said to Moses that if he had known the manner of his death beforehand he would have volunteered to die sooner. This is what is alluded to in our verse אם בחקתי תלכו, "if you follow My statutes by toiling in your application to Torah study, you will be willing to march, תלכו, towards death."

The twenty-third allusion in the words אם בחקתי תלכון is found in connection with a comment of the Zohar volume 3 page 91 on Leviticus 22,27: "when an ox or sheep is born, etc." The author points out that the essential difference between man and beast is that "once a beast always a beast;" man, on the other hand, is able to refine himself into something far superior to what he is at birth. Man's deeds are the key to his spiritual elevation. Man is endowed with greater and greater potential in accordance with the merits he accumulates. The Torah here provides the key as to how these merits may be earned. This is the meaning of אם בחקתי חלכו, study of and immersion in Torah enables one to progress, תלכו.

A twenty-fourth approach to our verse is based on the Zohar's comment in volume 1 page 175 on Proverbs 6,22: "When you walk it will guide you." The paths by means of which you will experience spiritual ascent when you leave this world normally lead to a region of darkness and the shadow of death. These regions abound with rebuke by G'd. If, however, a person leaves this life equipped with Torah, it will light the path for him as we know from Psalms 119,105: "Your word is a lamp at my feet, a light for my path." The Torah's recommendation is therefore אם בחוקתי, if you are equipped with My statutes, you will walk, you will proceed." If not, your fate is expressed by Proverbs 4,19: "the path of the wicked is like darkness."

A twenty-fifth lesson to be derived from the word תלכו in our verse is that the Torah refers here to a commandment known as חקה, i.e. the commandment to wear phylacteries. In Exodus 13,10 the Torah specifically refers to this commandment as a חקה, statute, when we read: ושמרתם את החקה הזאת, "you shall observe this statute." Prior to that statement the Torah had spoken (verse 9) about placing phylacteries on one's head and one's arm as a commemoration of the Exodus and G'd's part in it. When the Torah describes performance of the commandment with the word תלכו, you must remember that in former days the average Jew wore his phylacteries all day long, on his way to prayer, on his way to study, etc. In fact, we are told in Sukkah 28 that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai and Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi did not use to walk a distance of eight feet without first putting on their phylacteries. This is what the words אם בחקתי תלכו are all about. When the Torah adds ואת מצותי תשמרו this refers to the regulations governing the wearing of phylacteries such as that one must have a clean body in order to be permitted to wear תפלין. Shabbat 49 makes a point of warning us against passing gas while wearing phylacteries. One must not fail to be conscious of wearing phylacteries and what this implies. The Torah adds: ועשיתם אתם the word otam being spelled attem "you." This is a hint that by wearing phylacteries and fulfilling the regulations attached to that you will refine yourselves so that G'd's Presence will come to rest upon you. This is what is meant by Deut. 28,10: "and all the nations will observe that the name of G'd is proclaimed upon you."

A twenty-sixth allusion to be found in these words can be gleaned from Bereshit Rabbah 44,12 on Genesis 15,5: "please look at the sky." G'd meant that Abraham should look beyond a universe governed by horoscopic influences. The words חקתי in our verse mean that if we concentrate on G'd's statutes instead of on what are perceived as the laws of nature as reflected by horoscopic influences, תלכו, "you will be able to proceed" beyond what you think is the limitation imposed on your fate by astrological factors. Abraham succeded in doing so and that is why he was able to father children although he had thought that the horoscopic constellation under which he was born made this impossible. The Torah adds: ועשיתם אתם. Isaiah 41,2 refers to צדק יקראהו לרגלו when speaking about Abraham. According to the Talmud in Shabbat 156 G'd asked Abraham if he thought that his fate was governed by the star צדק, Jupiter. Clearly, Abraham was occupied with astrology and had examined what his chances were to father children else he would not have said to G'd that He had prevented him from having them. How would he have known if not through a study of astrology? He did, however, give G'd credit for having arranged the constellations even at that stage of his development. We have to understand the words ועשיתם אתם as an instruction how to re-arrange the laws of nature in our favour through observance of G'd's statutes. This is the real meaning of the saying of our sages there that אין מזל לישראל, "the fortunes of the Jewish people are not irrevocably determined by astrological factors." Another way of interpreting the meaning of the words ועשיתם אתם, is based on Isaiah 66,22: "just as the new heaven and the new earth which I shall make will stand before Me;" G'd did not speak of something He had already made,עשיתי, but about something He would do. This teaches that Torah study and performing of its precepts lead to the creation of an entire new universe (compare Zohar volume 1 page 5). The Torah tells us that it is up to us to bring this about, i.e. ועשיתם אתם.

A twenty-seventh approach to our verse is connected to the statement in Shabbat 156 that a person born under the constellation Venus would tend to be lecherous. Another statement we find there is that the Chaldaens told the mother of Rabbi Nachman that her son was going to be a thief. She made sure he always had his head covered as a reminder that he had a G'd above him to whom he was accountable. These and other examples seem to prove that our sages thought that Israelites are subject to the influence of horoscopic constellations during the hour of their birth! G'd was very conscious of the fact that if we were allowed to think along those lines we would use our mazzal as an excuse to claim that we were predestined to be evil and could not be held accountable. This is why the Torah had to write אם בחקתי, if you rely merely on the laws of nature such as astrological constellations,תלכו, you will cause yourselves to walk along a path that does not free you from accountability; but ואת מצותי תשמרו if nonetheless you will observe My commandments then your מזל is subject to change just as happened to Rabbi Nachman, i.e. ועשיתם אתם, you will be the architect of reversing the horoscopic influences you were born under.

A twenty-eighth way of interpreting the wording of our verse. We again refer to folio 156 in Shabbat. We are told there that someone born under the constellation of Mars [the hour when that constellation predominates, Ed.] will be a bloodthirsty man. Rabbi Ashi suggested a variety of ways for channelling such tendencies into something harmless and useful, such as such people becoming butchers or physicians concerned with performing bloodletting, or performers of circumcisions. According to that approach the words אם בחקתי refer to channelling a predeliction to engage in a nefarious vocation due to the horoscopic influences under which one has been born into something acceptable so that one can neutralise these influences. This is why the Torah exhorts את מצותי תשמרו ועשיתם אתם, to channel what were perceived to be negative traits into something positive, i.e. Torah study and a vocation involving מצוה-performance.

A twenty-ninth way of explaining the wording in our verse reflects something we have learned from Sifri Ha-azinu that a person has to learn a moral lesson from observing the laws of nature in operation. We observe the planets all performing G'd's directives joyfully, never deviating from their orbits. The Torah speaks of אם, "if" you walk in My statutes; the lesson the Torah teaches is that if, like the planets, we will approach G'd's statutes with an attitude similar to that of the planets in their orbits, we will succeed in observing all of G'd's commandments both the negative ones and the positive ones. Our inspiration should be derived from the planets who obey G'd although they do not receive a reward for their loyalty nor do they face penalties for non-compliance.

A thirtieth way of looking at our verse is based on Avot 3,17 that "where there is no prosperity Torah cannot flourish, whereas where there is no Torah you cannot expect economic prosperity." I have explained that Mishnah to mean that the words "if there is no flour" mean that when you observe that G'd grants His blessing you may be certain that the reason for this is the presence of Torah. This is what Moses had in mind in Deut. 32,2 when he said: "let my doctrine drop as the rain." Just as rain is caused by G'd alone, so in accordance with the amount He wishes to supply, our economic prosperity is due to our absorbing and living in accordance with G'd's doctrine. On the other hand, when you observe lack of economic prosperity you may similarly attribute this to the fact that Torah is not being studied and observed by the multitude. When the Torah speaks about אם בחקתי this means that if you want to be the beneficiary of My statutes, i.e. the causal relationship between economic prosperity and G'd you must observe My commandments. The words ואת מצותי תשמרו are similar to the word לקחי used by Moses as the measure of the rain G'd will allocate in the verse we quoted from פרשת האזינו above. The Torah added the words ועשיתם אתם as a reminder that if we want prosperity to be constant we must be constant in מצוה-performance.

A thirty-first meaning of the words in our verse is related to Psalms 72,5: "Let them fear you as long as the sun shines, etc." our sages in Berachot 29 comment on this verse that the time for all creatures to perform their service for the Lord is in the morning, the time allocated for our morning prayers. The next time for the creatures to perform their service for G'd is when the sun sets. We may understand the meaning of אם בחקתי תלכו as reflecting Psalms 55,15: "let us walk together in G'd's house when there is turmoil (outside)." The words ואת מצותי תשמרו refer to the practice of the early חסידים who used to assemble an hour before prayer in order to prepare themselves emotionally (Berachot 29). The words ועשיתם אתם are to be understood as a medicine against natural disasters involving the sun and the moon (eclipses and the like which are interpreted as harbingers of catastrophes) The premise underlying this concept is that misconduct by the inhabitants of the "lower" part of the universe will have an impact on the conduct of the planets, especially those influencing our daily lives such as the sun and moon (compare Sukkah 29).

The thirty-second allusion found in the words אם בחקתי תלכו is related to the word חקה being applied by the Torah to animal sacrifice as we know from Leviticus 6,11 and 7,36. The words then mean that these sacrifices will be acceptable only if they are the result of observing the commandments pertaining to these sacrifices, i.e. ואת מצותי חשמרו. A stolen animal is not fit to be offered as a sacrifice as we have the principle of מצוה הבאה בעברה, that the fulfilment of a commandment is worthless if one had to commit a transgression in order to fulfil it. Even if the person from whom such an animal was stolen had already abandoned hope to retrieve it such an animal is not acceptable to G'd as a sacrifice. A stolen animal is in the same category as one that is physically flawed, such as a lame animal. Sukkah 30 quotes Rabbi Yochanan interpreting Isaiah 61,8: אני ה׳ אהב משפט שונא גזל בעולה, "I the Lord love justice and hate robbery in a burnt-offering" to mean that G'd hates a burnt-offering consisting of a stolen animal. He compared such an offering to a king who passed the customs house telling his subjects to join him in paying the duties required. The servants asked him: "do not the proceeds of all duties belong to you anyway? The king answered that the travellers were to learn from his personal conduct not to engage in smuggling. Similarly, G'd hates a sacrifice which is a stolen animal although in the last analysis all animals belong to Him. We have learned in Kidushin 39 that if someone is presented with an opportunity to commit a sin and is saved from committing it, he is rewarded as if he had performed a positive commandment. This is the reason the Torah does not want a stolen animal as a sacrifice. We are to train ourselves to escape from anything which smacks of robbery (even if according to legal yardsticks the animal in question had become ownerless prior to its being a sacrifice due to its former owner having mentally given up on ever getting it back). The Torah calls failure to offer such an animal מעשה, a deed, i.e. ועשיתם אתם, even though in the literal sense of the words no deed had been performed.

A thirty-third way of explaining the words אם בחקתי תלכו in our verse has to do with the perception of ordinary people when they evaluate מצוה-performance. Most people believe that unless they understand the deeper significance of a commandment they perform such performance is as useless as a body without a soul. In fact the Ari Zal is reported to have said something to this effect according to Likutey Torah Parshat Eykev where the author quotes him as saying that a deed which lacks proper concentration is comparable to an empty vessel seeing that the most important element of the commandment are the thoughts which accompany its performance. Accordingly, the words אם בחקתי תלכו mean that if you have the right thoughts when about to perform My statutes you may consider that you have performed My commandments in the manner G'd wanted you to perform them. The plural of the word מצותי then refers to the various aspects of מצוה-performance. A person might then conclude that if the thoughts accompanying the performance are all important, why did he have to perform the deed itself? The Torah warns you not to jump to such a conclusion by completing the verse with the words ועשיתם אתם, i.e. the thoughts count in your favour only when you also performed the actual deed. G'd only considers the thought as sufficient when you are prevented from carrying out the deed through forces beyond your control.

A thirty-fourth reason for the wording of our verse is based on Rabbi Karo's (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim) ruling in Hilchot Tefillin 32,18. This is what he writes: "If a letter in the parchment is attached to an adjoining letter so that there is no space separating these two letters, the phylactery is unfit for use." [The difficulty with the writing of phylacteries is that the letters must be written in the order in which they appear in the Torah and are not subject to correction once they were not written in the proper order. Ed.] The Rosh in his discussion of the laws pertaining to the writing of a Torah scroll writes that if two letters touched each other this results in the Torah scroll being unfit to read from; however, if the scribe succeeds in separating these two letters through rubbing out the area where they are attached, the Torah scroll is fit to be used. We learn from the above two quotations that whereas one may rub out part of the letter in the Torah scroll the same is not allowed in a parchment intended for use in the phylacteries. Our verse alludes to this ruling if we understand the word בחקתי as a reference to חקיקה, a form of erasure. The Torah tells us תלכו you may "go ahead," i.e. erase some of My statutes whereas you must strictly preserve מצותי תשמרו, other commandments of Mine, i.e. the laws of the phylacteries, by not erasing any part of them even if it is only the area where two letters touch each other. The words ועשיתם אתם may be understood as reflecting a ruling by the Rosh in his responsum number 16, principle number 3. He writes: "When the open letter מ (as opposed to the final letter ם) has accidentally been written in a manner which makes it appear as if it is closed, it may be completely erased [literally to hollow out, לחקק Ed.] and a new letter מ may be written in its place. [This refers to the rules about writing a Torah scroll. Ed.] If instead of following the procedure indicated the scribe "erased" the part of the original מ which was closed so that it now appears as a regular מ as intended originally, this does not make a usable letter of it as it violates the principle of חק תוכות, "hollowing out instead of writing." We have been taught in Gittin 20 that one must not write by means of hollowing out a blot of ink so that one winds up with the outlines of the letter one wanted to write. All this is derived from the directive ועשיתם אתם, not to hollow it out but to scrape off the whole letter and rewrite it.

A thirty-fifth reason for the Torah writing the words אם בחקתי תלכו may reflect what later authorities such as Magen Avraham write in chapter 143 of the Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim. We find the following comment: "If one finds two letters stuck together in a Torah scroll one may continue to read from it and does not have to take out another scroll from the Holy Ark to continue reading." The reason is that the imperfection is capable of being remedied by the simple expedient of erasure of the offensive area. We therefore apply the well-known principle of כל שראוי לבילה, that if there is enough oil in a mixture of flour and oil for an offering to thoroughly wet all the flour through proper mixing, we consider all the flour as having been wetted although the mixing had not been carried out (Menachot 103). Other authorities such as the author of Turey Zahav on chapter 32 in the Orach Chayim point out that although the letters had been noticed on the Sabbath, a day on which no repair could be made due to the nature of the day, this still does not prevent us from continuing to read in that Torah scroll because the inability to make the repair is not due to the nature of the Torah scroll itself but only to the day which happens to be the Sabbath. What does all this have to do with our verse? The Torah writes אם בחקתי, that if something is subject to being "erased," i.e. the place where the two letters touch, תלכו, you have permission to give a permissive ruling, i.e. you may continue to read without having to take out another Torah scroll. This is so even at a time when you cannot make the correction because of מצותי i.e. the restriction on writing due to the Sabbath. The reason that you are allowed to carry on reading is ועשיתם אתם, because in principle you are permitted to make the necessary correction as soon as the Sabbath is over.

A thirty-sixth meaning of our words is connected with the ruling of Rabbi Karo in Yoreh Deyah 276,11. This is what he writes: "if a letter was attached to another letter forming the name of G'd, it may be erased." Mordechai comments in Menachot on this subject that although the halachah not to erase the letters of the name of G'd is derived from Deut.12,4 "you must not do so to the Lord your G'd," in this instance we are concerned with an erasure in order to achieve a correction. This is the meaning of the words אם בחקתי תלכו, i.e. "even though I have forbidden you to 'erase' (חקק), when such 'erasure' serves the purpose of making a correction you may proceed." The word תלכו is used in a sense similar to Exodus 18,20: "and the way they are to walk." The additional words ואת מצותי are a condition to touch only the area where the two letters touch each other but not to erase either of the letters themselves. The reason the Torah wrote מצותי in the plural is because two letters are involved. Perhaps one may also see in these words an allusion to what we learned in Shavuot 35 that it is forbidden to erase a suffix attached at the end of the name of G'd. This may be the reason that the Torah employed the word מצותי in the plural, i.e. not only G'd's name must not be erased but also the suffix must not be erased. When a letter of the next word is attached to such a suffix it must not be erased as it has been hallowed by the name of G'd preceding it. The words ועשיתם אתם provide the background to the comment of the Mordechai that one may erase the area in which the letters are joined seeing that when one does this it is something constructive, i.e. ועשיתם. This expression may also be the justification for a halachah in Massechet Sofrim chapter 5 that if the scribe's ink spilled onto a letter of the name of G'd already written, he may erase that inkstain because his intention is to restore the name of G'd not to erase it. Bet Yoseph quoting Ri of Ascandrani writes that even if one of the letters is lost (damaged) the scribe may erase the rest of it in order to restore it. We may base this on the word אותם in the expression ועשיתם אותם, i.e. even if the letter itself has to be erased this is acceptable. The condition we read into the words ואת מצותי is applicable when the only problem we have to deal with is that the area where two letters are attached to one another, something that can be fixed by thinning the letters through a slight erasure at the place they are joined. When we are dealing with an inkstain blotting out part of the letter this restriction does not apply.

A thirty-seventh reason for the words אם בחקתי תלכו in our verse may be something we learned in Rosh Hashanah 21. Rav Hunnah bar Avin sent an instruction to Rava: "When you observe that according to the Jewish calendar the winter season [which ends with the equinox on the 22nd of March in our solar calendar, Ed.] would end later than the 16th of Nissan, extend the year (add an extra month of Adar) in order to comply with the Biblical requirement that the Passover festival is to occur in spring i.e. after the equinox (Deut. 16,1)." Our verse speaks of אם בחקתי תלכו meaning that you should apply the calculations on which you base your calendar to comply with the laws of nature, i.e. astronomical considerations based on interaction between solar and lunar orbits. The word אם is conditional, i.e. ואת מצותי תשמרו so that you will also be able to fulfil My commandments, i.e. that פסח is to occur during spring. The words ועשיתם אתם are your authority to manipulate the calendar so that you can do justice to both requirements, as per the instructions of Rav Hunnah bar Avin to Rava.

A thirty-eighth reason for the wording in our verse may be to provide backing for something we learned in Shabbat 156. "Two scholars, Shemuel and the Gentile scholar Avlet, were sitting together when they observed certain people walk towards a lake. Avlet pointed to a certain man in that group and said that the individual in question would not reach that lake alive. A snake would bite him and he would die. Shemuel replied that if the person in question was a Jew he would reach his destination alive. It so happened that the person in question reached the lake alive. When the man in question passed the two scholars on his way back from the lake, Avlet examined his rucksack and found a snake in it which had been crushed to death. Shemuel questioned the man to find out what merit he had which had saved him from imminent death. The man told him that the group he belonged to would usually eat lunch together, each one unpacking his lunch-box and throwing the contents into a common pool. On that particular day one of them had not brought a lunch and he felt embarassed about not having anything to contribute to the common pool. The person who had the snake in his rucksack pretended to take bread from the rucksack of his companion who did not bring any food and threw his own bread into the common pool so as to save his friend from embarassment. Shemuel complimented him on the noble deed. The story indicates that although according to hososcopic influences the man in question would have died on the way, the fact that he had accumulated a merit saved him from the death horoscopic influences would have foreshadowed. This is the meaning of אין מזל לישראל, that Jews need not be the victims of horoscopic influences. The words in our verse provide the condition under which we can free ourselves from unfavourable horoscopic influences. The so-called חקות, horoscopically decreed laws, are inoperative if את מצותי תשמרו, you will observe My commandments.

A thirty-ninth reason why the Torah chose the wording it did in our verse has to do with what we learned in Pessachim 56. We are told that King Chiskiyah destroyed the copper snake Moses constructed (Numbers 21,9). The reason he did so was because he observed people making an idolatrous symbol out of it. The construction of the snake at the time had been a חקה, statute, which G'd had legislated in order that by looking at the copper snake people would demonstrate their trust in G'd. When people started to relate to it in the opposite manner, believing it had magic qualities, the time had come to destroy it. Chiskiyah interpreted our verse simply as follows: "as long (אם) My statutes serve spiritual progress i.e. תלכו, it was alright to look at that copper snake. If, however, this was no longer the case, then the overriding consideration became ואת מצותי תשמרו the need to observe G'd's commandments.

A fortieth justification for why the Torah wrote these words in our verse may be that the Torah speaks here about the people eating untithed produce. We find that people who do this are guilty of death, and that even a priest who does so is guilty of the same. You have good reason to wonder why it is that a priest who is allowed to eat the tithe (תרומה) itself, should be forbidden on pain of death to eat from a quantity of produce which by definition is a mixture of both תרומה, the tithe due to a priest and ordinary produce which has no status as something sacred? We must conclude that the law is in the nature of a חוקה, statute, concerning which G'd has not revealed a rationale. Our verse tells us that if the priest will walk in G'd's statutes not to eat from untithed produce he will contribute to the fulfilment of את מצותי תשמרו ועשיתם אתם that the produce will become permissible to eat for the Israelite once the commandment of tithing it has been performed on it.

The forty-first reason the Torah has written the words אם בחקתי תלכו in our verse may be connected with the advice we are offered in Avot 2,10 to repent one day before one's death. If one heeds this advice one is a penitent all one's life. The Torah therefore says אם בחקתי תלכו if you will be constantly conscious of My statutes that man is bound to die then you will surely be motivated to observe My commandments so that you can face the Day of Judgment.

A forty-second meaning for the words אם בחקתי תלכו in this verse may become clear when we look at a passage in Baba Metzia 85 where one of the scholars was given a sign by the prophet Elijah how to recognise the chair of Rabbi Chiyah because the latter did not require angels to lift his chair to the celestial regions. Rabbi Chiyah's chair ascended unassisted. The reason Rabbi Chiyah merited this was his unequalled vigor in studying Torah and teaching it. The word תלכו alludes to this energetic approach to Torah study. When a person studies and teaches with the vigor of a Rabbi Chiyah his chair will ascend all by itself, i.e. תלכו.

בעתם [THEN I WILL GIVE YOU RAIN] IN ITS SEASON — i. e. at times when the rain is “seasonable”, at such moments when people do not usually go out on journeys, as, for instance, in the nights preceding the Sabbaths (Friday nights) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 1 1; cf. Taanit 23a).

THEN WILL I GIVE YOUR RAINS IN THEIR SEASON. He mentioned the matter of rains first [of all the blessings] because if they come in their proper season, the air is pure and good and the springs and rivers are good [clear], and thus it [the rain] is a [prime] cause of physical health, and all produce will increase and be blessed by it, just as He said, and the Land shall yield her produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.¹In Verse 4 before us. Thus because of this [pure state of the environment] people do not become sick, and none shall miscarry, nor be barren,²Exodus 23:26. even among their cattle,³See Deuteronomy 7:14. and they will live out [the full extent of] their days.⁴See II Samuel 7:12. For when the material frame [of human beings] is large and healthy, they can continue [in health] as in the days of Adam.⁵Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years (Genesis 5:5). See Ramban ibid., on Verse 4, (Vol. I pp. 98-99). Thus this [blessing — the rains in their seasons] is the greatest of all blessings [and therefore it is given first place].
Now He said that the heavens will respond to the earth⁶See Hosea 2:23. with rains in their seasons, and the earth shall respond⁷See ibid., Verse 24. with its “produce”, which includes vegetation and all moving creatures — cattle, beasts, creeping things and fowl, as well as fish — for the term ha’aretz [“the earth” or “the land,” in and ‘the land’ shall yield her produce] includes the whole of the lower sphere [i.e., everything under the sphere of the moon], just as [in the verses]: In the beginning G-d created the heaven and ‘ha’aretz’ (the earth);⁸Genesis 1:1. See Ramban ibid., Verse 3 (Vol. I, p. 25) where he discusses this topic fully, and mentions also the verses cited in the following text. And the heaven and ‘ha’aretz’ (the earth) were finished;⁹Ibid., 2:1. and similarly, Praise the Eternal from ‘ha’aretz’ (the earth), ye sea-monsters and all deeps,¹⁰Psalms 148:7. and so also in most verses in Scripture [where this word occurs]. Thus all things created in the lower spheres are “the produce of the earth.”

ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם, "And I will provide your rains at their proper time." We must first understand why the verse commences with the letter ו seeing the verse is not preceded by another promise that this verse adds on to. If you accept my interpretation of the word תלכו itself being the promise in the last verse, there is no need to wonder about the letter ו at the beginning of this verse.

At the time that it is not the habit of people to go out. You might ask: How does Rashi know this? Perhaps “in their proper time” means at the time you need rain? The answer is: Since it is written “your rain” instead of “rain,” this indicates it will be “your rain,” i.e., at the time you need it. If so, why does Scripture write “in their proper time”? To teach you, “At the time...”

גשמיכם בעתם, “your rains at their appointed times.” If these rains would descend at the wrong time they would make your crops rot instead of ripen.

ועץ השדה AND THE TREES OF THE FIELD [SHALL YIELD THEIR FRUIT] — This refers to the wild trees; and even these will bear fruits in future (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 1 6).

On Friday nights. As it says in Arvei Pesachim (Pesachim 112b), that “in their proper time” refers to [the verse] above where it is written, at the end of parshas Behar (26:2) “You shall keep My Shabbosos,” and [this is based on the rule that] they derive [new laws] from [the juxtaposition of verses]. See more about this later in parshas Eikev.

The letter ו may also be justifiable in light of the plain meaning of this verse appearing to promise that there is a reward for observing the commandments in this life and that this reward is the beneficial rainfall. One might assume therefore that G'd has discharged His promise of rewarding us for מצוה-observance with economic prosperity. The letter ו indicates that prior to promising any benefit for our observance in this life the Torah had already promised reward in the hereafter in the previous verse. I have alluded to this in one of my commentaries on the words אם בחקתי תלכו. Alternatively, the key to the verse is the suffix כם in the word גשמיכם, "your rains." Normally, we would have considered that seeing the rain comes from heaven it is G'd's rain. The Torah had previously promised a reward in the hereafter, which is something no one in this world can experience. The Torah therefore wanted us to know that there is something over and beyond that in our world but that it emanates from the celestial spheres. In order that we should not look upon these rains as a reward for Torah observance G'd describes them as "your rains." It is something that is ours not as a result of our מצוה-observance but because the Torah scholars are the pillars of the world. Anyone who studies Torah is entitled to view them as something belonging to him. Perhaps it is this consideration which led Baba Kama 38 to conclude that since the Israelites can lay claim to the whole world based on this consideration, the properties of the Gentiles legally belong to them. [The Talmud there bases the ruling that the Jewish owner of an ox which gores an animal belonging to a Gentile does not have to pay compensation, on Chabakuk 3,6. Ed.]

These are non-fruit bearing trees. Because it is written “trees of the field,” which is a superfluous [phrase]. Thus “of the field” implies trees that grow in the field that do not generally produce fruit. I.e., non-fruit bearing trees. (Nachalas Yaakov) Rashi is answering the question: We do not find that the bearing of fruit by non-fruit bearing trees was fulfilled, even though “the word of our God stands forever” (Yeshayahu 40:8) and cannot remain unfulfilled? He answers: Even though Israel did not merit to receivereceiving this blessing in this world, it will be fulfilled in the [Messianic] future, soon in our days.

Another reason why the verse commences with the letter ו may be G'd telling us that although we receive the rain as a gift from Him, He does not consider it as belonging or having belonged to Him but as belonging to "you."

The Torah is careful to use the word: "And I will give," to underline that it is the exclusive domain of G'd to provide rain both quantitatively and qualitatively. He alone can judge how much rain is needed by the earth in the land of Israel. This is the meaning of Vayikra Rabbah 28,3 that while man lies down to sleep G'd is busy gathering the clouds to provide rain.

The word גשמיכם may be understood as a collective term for food or nourishment, both the kind which is required for the earth, and that which is required for the creatures inhabiting it. There is both spiritual and physical nourishment. The earth is recipient of nourishment in the form of rain or dew. I have explained all this in my commentary on פרשת בהר.

והשיג לכם דיש את בציר AND YOUR THRESHING SHALL REACH UNTO THE VINTAGE — This means that there will be plenty of threshing-work so that you will be busy with it till the vintage, and with the vintage you will be busy till the time of sowing (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 1 7).

והשיג לכם דיש את בציר. "And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, etc." This is the blessing applicable to the crop after it has been harvested. Our sages in Baba Metzia 42 have taught that when one enters one's barn in order to measure the size of one's crop one is to recite an appropriate prayer invoking G'd's blessing. If G'd would not bless the crop also after man had harvested it such a prayer would be inadmissible as one must not ask G'd for something that has already been determined. Please read my comments on Leviticus 25,21 on the words ועשת את התבואה.

וישבתם לבטח, “and you will dwell in security.” If there were to be famine, G’d forbid, this would result in people leaving the country.

You will occupy yourselves with the grape-harvest. Explanation: He is answering the question: It is no blessing if the threshing is delayed until close to the grape-harvest. Rashi answers, etc.

'והשיג לכם דיש וגו, “and your threshing will extend, etc.;” just as you will be performing My commandments constantly without interruption, I will heap blessing after blessing upon you.”

ואכלתם לחמכם לשבע AND YE SHALL EAT YOUR BREAD TO THE FULL — This means, one will eat only a little and it will become blessed in his bowels (will fully satisfy him) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 1 7; cf. Rashi on Leviticus 25:19).

Eating a little. See what I wrote in parshas Behar.

ואכלתם לחמכם לשובע, "and you will eat your bread to your satisfaction." This is the blessing G'd bestows on the food after we have eaten it and it is within our bowels as stated in Torat Kohanim who write "one eats a small amount and it is blessed within one's entrails."

וישבתם לבטח בארצכם, “and you will live in your land feeling secure.” Previously, in 25,18, this has been worded slightly differently, when the Torah wrote: וישבתם על הארץ לבטח, “you will dwell on the land in security.” Here the Torah stresses the fact that you will consider the land as your land. However, during a famine, people will be exiled as it says: לא תוסף תת כחה לך. נע ונד תהיה בארץ, “the land will not continue to give you from its strength; you will be a nomad on earth wandering from place to place.” (Genesis 4,12) Or, as we find in Job 15,23: ?נודד הוא ללחם איה, “he wanders searching for bread, where is he?”

Another meaning of these words is that you will not suffer from a fairly common phenomenon that in spite of large quantities of food intake one does not feel satiated; G'd promises that one will feel completely satiated.

Another meaning may be related to Megillah 7 where we are told of a popular proverb according to which the stomach is always able to accomodate an additional amount of good tasting food and although one previously had one's fill one can still enjoy this.

The emphasis on the word לחמכם means that there is no need for relishes and other additions but that the bread itself will taste so well a person will not look for any additional condiments.

There may also be a veiled promise here that even if one eats over and beyond what is needed such eating will not hurt one as opposed to Gittin 70.

Still another lesson contained in our verse is related to Sotah 48 where the Mishnah describes the quality of fruit in the land of Israel as having declined dramatically both in taste and food value after the destruction of the Temple. The Mishnah meant that when the fruit contains what is described as שומן, a person eating thereof will experience the feeling of being sated. The reverse is the case when that element called שומן is absent. The Torah promises here that the feeling of satiation will be experienced even if one merely eats bread as G'd has endowed the grain with the element called שומן.

וישבתם לבטח בארצכם, "and you will dwell securely in your land." This promise is most important because all the preceding promises are esentially meaningless unless one can live free from worry that an enemy will invade one's country. G'd promises continued prosperity uninterrupted by the need to defend one's country at the expense of growing crops. The word בארצכם underscores that the whole world will recognise that the land of Israel is rightfully yours.

Another aspect of the blessing contained in this verse is that foreigners will perform the heavy labour in our country whereas the Israelites will "sit securely in your land," not even worrying that the foreign labourers may steal and cheat them out of their harvest.

ונתתי שלום AND I WILL GIVE PEACE [IN THE [LAND— Perhaps you will say, “Well, there is food and there is drink; but if there is no peace, then all this is nothing!” Scripture therefore states after all these promises “I will give peace in the land”. Hence we may learn that peace counterbalances everything. In a similar sense it states: “Who makest peace and createst all things" (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 1 8).

AND I WILL GIVE PEACE IN THE LAND — So that there will be peace among you, and no man shall fight against his brother,¹¹Isaiah 19:2. or “peace” may mean that He will cause evil beasts to cease out of the Land.¹²Mentioned in Verse 6 before us. In other words, it may be that the expression, And I will give peace in the Land is a completely independent thought, and what follows in the verse is another series of blessings, or it is possible that the second half of the verse explains the first half. Neither shall the sword go through your Land at all, but you will pursue your enemies,¹³See Verse 7. going forth against them in battle, and they will flee. And [the meaning of the verse] by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], is that He will give peace which will cleave to the [higher]¹⁴Ricanti. “earth,” which is the all-inclusive peace which is equal to everything.

ונתתי שלום בארץ, "and I will grant peace to the land." Why did the Torah have to mention this seeing it had already promised us that we would dwell securely in our land? Perhaps the Torah refers to the people of Israel keeping the peace amongst themselves, that there would not be internal divisiveness. G'd promises to implant a tendency for mutual tolerance amongst the people. Remember that when the Torah speaks of the land it usually describes it as "your land," i.e. the land with a suffix. When the word ארץ is used without the suffix it refers to the whole earth. In this instance you find that G'd wants universal peace. When you consider the 70 bulls the Israelites offered in the Holy Temple on behalf of the Gentile nations on Sukkot, our rabbis in Sukkah 55 speak about this. Moreover, whenever wars occur on earth even people who are at peace in their respective countries worry about their becoming themselves involved in warfare. This is why the Torah adds the assurance ושכבתם ואין מחריד, "you will lie down to sleep without anyone frightening you."

והשבתי חיה רעה מן הארץ. “I will remove wild beasts from the earth.” Nachmanides accepts the view of Rabbi Yehudah in Torat Kohanim that this verse refers to the removal of ferocious beasts from the land of Israel as the plain meaning. When these beasts observe that the cities are filled with thriving human beings, they will refrain from entering such populated areas. Rabbi Shimon, on the other hand, understands the verse to mean that G’d shall render these beasts harmless as far as the land of Israel is concerned. This appears as the correct interpretation according to Nachmanides. It is a promise that when the Jews observe the commandments they will not have to worry about such problems as wild beasts and the danger to life and property that these represent. As far as the land of Israel is concerned, the norms of the world will return to the idyllic conditions prevailing before man first sinned, when no creature harboured aggressive intentions against man and none of the beasts would even kill each other. Such conditions have been described by the prophet Isaiah 11,6-9 as a period when the wolf shall dwell with the sheep, the leopard will lie down with the kid, etc.” It teaches that the damage and harm caused by such beasts that we know as ferocious, predatory, was never an integral part of such creatures’ nature, but was only the result of their observing man ignore the Creator’s laws, which caused them to copy man’s corrupt ways. We know from the Torah’s report of the creation of all these beasts that they had been meant to feed only on grass, etc. (Genesis 1,30) In other words, the natural disposition of all of these animals is to feed on the vegetation the earth provides, as do the ruminants still, and their becoming flesh eaters was not part of G’d’s original plan. This is also why, originally, man was not allowed to feed on animal tissue. Only after the deluge was the eating of meat permitted to man, certain pre-historic conditions not being restored at that time. At the same time, however, G’d warned the beasts not to attack and maim or kill man, or He would punish them for doing so. (Genesis 9,5). If the animals’ pre-deluge nature had undergone a change for the better during their enforced stay in the ark, G’d would not have had to warn them not to employ their ferocious nature against man. The Torah now tells us that if and when life in the land of Israel will proceed on the lines envisaged by G’d for His people, He will neutralize that part of the animals’ nature that would pose a potential threat to their safety.

Peace is equal to all [other blessings]. Because above it is written “The earth shall give forth its produce,” [which is] speaking about produce. And then, after the verse, “I will grant peace in the land,” it again writes, “You will eat the old [store] long kept,” which is also about produce, and “I will grant peace” is in the middle. Why is it written in the middle? Because it is equal to all [other blessings].

ונתתי שלום בארץ, “I will give peace in the land;” Rashi comments, paraphrasing Isaiah 45,7: עושה שלום ובורא את הכל, “making peace and creating the All.” [The best interpretation of why this is plausible, is that having created evil, the Creator is forced to establish peace, else the evil will ruin all that He had created prior to it. Ed.]

וחרב לא תעבור בארצכם NEITHER SHALL THE SWORD PASS THROUGH YOUR LAND — Surely it is unnecessary to say that they (enemies) will not enter your land to wage war (since this is implied in ‎‎בארץ ‎‎‎‎‎ונתתי שלום). But this means that they will not enter even to pass by way of your land [on their march from one country to another to wage war] (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 2 3).

AND I WILL CAUSE EVIL BEASTS TO CEASE OUT OF THE LAND. According to Rabbi Yehudah who said¹⁵Torath Kohanim, Bechukothai 2:1. that He will remove them from the world [entirely, the verse] is [to be understood] in its plain sense — that evil beasts will not come into their Land. For since there will be plentitude and an abundance of blessings, and the cities will be full of people, [wild] beasts will not come into inhabited places. And according to Rabbi Shimon who says that He will cause them to cease from causing harm, the verse is stating: “and I will cause the evil of the beasts to cease out of the Land.” This is the correct interpretation for when [Israel] observes the commandments, the Land of Israel will be like the world was at its beginning, before the sin of the first man, when no wild beast or creeping thing would kill a man, just as the Rabbis have said:¹⁶Berachoth 33 a. “It is not the wild ass that kills, but it is sin that kills.” It is [because of] this that Scripture says, and the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp,¹⁷Isaiah 11:8. and similarly, and the cow and the bear shall feed … and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.¹⁸Ibid., Verse 7. For dangerous beasts only prey [on human beings] on account of the sin of man, because of which it was decreed upon him that he be a prey to their teeth,¹⁹Psalms 124:6. See in Genesis 9:5 (Vol. I, pp. 134-135) where Ramban also discusses this theme. and preying was made a part of their nature so that they also prey on each other, as is well-known for having once preyed on man, they add [to this tendency that of preying on animals] so that they become more harmful. And so Scripture states, And he learned to catch the prey, he devoured men.²⁰Ezekiel 19:3. Now at the time of the creation of the world, it is said of the beasts that He gave them the herb for food, as it is written, And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food,²¹Genesis 1:30. and Scripture states, and it was so,²¹Genesis 1:30. meaning that such was the nature with which they were endowed forever. It was [only] afterwards that they learned how to prey, on account of [human] sin which causes death, as I have explained. Now when slaughtering animals [for food] became permitted for the sons of Noah after the flood,²²See ibid., Vol. I, p. 57 for the reason for this permission. He warned with reference to humans [that shedding their blood was forbidden saying], And surely your blood of your lives will I require … the life of man,²³Ibid., 9:5. but not the blood of one beast from the hand of another, for they were left to prey [on each other and on man] as was their wont. But the beasts of the Land of Israel, when [man will be] in a state of perfection, will cease from their harmful way, and revert to their original nature with which they were endowed at the time of their creation. I have already referred to a part of this in Seder Eileh Toldoth Noach.²³Ibid., 9:5. Therefore Scripture stated concerning the time of the redeemer who is descended of the stock of Jesse, that peace will return to the world and preying and all dangerous beasts will cease, as was their nature at first. The [original] intention [when referring to the redeemer was in connection with] Hezekiah [king of Judah], whom the Holy One, blessed be He, had wished to make the Messiah,²⁴Sanhedrin 94 a. but their merits [i.e., those of the people of his generation] were not sufficient for such [achievement], so that the fulfillment [of that prophecy] will be with reference to the Messiah who is destined to come.

He makes peace and creates all. Even though the verse does not say this, but rather “He makes peaces and creates evil” (Yeshayahu 45:7), they altered [the words] in order to use pleasant language as we say in Berachos (11b).

והשבתי חיה רעה מו הארץ, "and I will banish wild beasts from the land." In view of G'd having promised that everyone will dwell securely under his respective fig tree and vineyard it is likely that people will not travel a lot and the outlying roads may become relatively deserted so that the roaming beasts may lose their fear of man. G'd promises that He will see to it that there will be a decrease in such activities The word הארץ must be understood as the land where these wild beasts normally have their lairs and from where they forage. This explains why the Torah did not use the expression בארצכם in this instance.

והשבתי חיה רעה, “I will cause evil beasts to cease.” Isaiah has paraphrased this too, saying: Isaiah 65,25, “the lion will lie down peacefully next to the lamb.”

[They will not] even pass. Rashi is answering the question: The verse should have said “No sword ... shall come in your land.” In addition, it is already written “You will live securely... I will grant peace...” Therefore [the verse means], “Not only will they not come to war [upon you], but [they will not] even etc.”

You will eat old grain: Targum Onlekos translates the words "old grain" as atik of atik. This is like the hymn that invites the atika kadisha. On Shabbat, the divine comes down from the Old World (atik). When Moshiach will come, all days will be on the level of atik which why it says that all days will be like Shabbat. This is the meaning of "you will eat old grain": this refers to the mercy of Hashem that we must bring to this world. "You have remove the old grain for the sake of the new grain." Hashem renews each day with His goodness, and every person is created anew and Hashem must bring down His mercy to renew people in this world. Hashem has to bring out the mercy from atik, the old world.

לפניכם לחרב [AND YE SHALL PURSUE YOUR ENEMIES AND THEY SHALL FALL] BEFORE YOU BY THE SWORD — one by the sword of the other (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 2 3).

ורדפתם את אויביכם, beyond the boundaries of your country.

ורדפתם את אויביכם, "and you will pursue your enemies." Why does the Torah have to give the Israelites this assurance after having assured them of dwelling securely and no one frightening them? The assurances which preceded this verse related to Israel feeling secure from surrounding nations. The latter would neither cause death nor destruction. Now the Torah speaks about relations between Israel and the nations with Israel as the aggressor. The Torah assures Israel that the promise of safety from invasion does not mean that it ties Israel's hands versus its neighbours. The Torah therefore speaks of the Israelites pursuing their enemies. This reinforces the previous assurances. Even though Israel may have started a pre-emptive campaign against its enemies, G'd assures them of success. They will return to their country not having to fear retaliation. If the Torah called the opponents of Israel "enemies," this was not because they invaded the country but because they are enemies of the Lord. The wicked people amongst the Gentiles are always referred to as both G'd's enemies and hence our enemies. It is a law of nature that the Gentile nations hate us.

ונפלו לפניכם לחרב, “they (your enemies) will fall before you by the sword.” Nachmanides writes that first G’d assured the Jewish people that when they would keep His commandments, that if invaded, they would succeed in warding off the attackers and pursue them beyond their borders. He now repeats and reinforces this promise by describing that He would make the Israelites so full of self-confidence that five of them would put twenty times their number to flight. He also simultaneously makes their enemy display their fear of the pursuers. This is an additional promise as it is possible that their enemies would escape the sword by outrunning their pursuers. Ibn Ezra writes that the meaning of the repetition is to assure us that even if the enemy would attack repeatedly, they would fall by the sword until they would give up attacking the Jewish state.

Each before his fellow-soldier’s sword. Since it is not written “You will fell them before you by the sword.” Or it should have said “You will strike them by the sword.” Therefore, it means that they will fall by their fellow-soldier’s sword (Re’m). Alternatively, normally a person strikes fleeing people from behind and they fall on their faces. If so, why does the verse write לחרב (lit. to the sword)? Therefore, it means [he will fall by] his fellow-soldier’s sword.

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.”

ונפלו לפניכם לחרב. "and they will fall before you by the sword." The unusual לחרב instead of בחרב, by the sword, is a hyperbole. The way the enemies will fall before the Jewish armies will be similar to their falling by the sword. A moral-ethical approach to these words conjures up the deeds of the Hasmoneans. The historian Josephus describes seeing an angel of the Lord drawing his sword against the enemy. When the Torah speaks here of ונפלו, they will fall, it may refer to the thrusts of the sword by the angel.

ורדפו מכם [AND FIVE] OF YOU SHALL PURSUE [A HUNDRED] — five of the weakest among you — and not alone of the most robust among you (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 2 4).

AND YOUR ENEMIES SHALL FALL BEFORE YOU BY THE SWORD. He assured them at first that they would chase their enemies and that they would fall by their sword,²⁵See Verse 7. and then He stated again by way of repetition [in the verse before us], and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword, in order to give them fortitude of heart and strength so that five [of them would not be afraid] to pursue a hundred. He [furthermore promised that He] would put faintness into the heart of their enemies, so that a hundred would [in fact] flee before five, and would all fall by the sword of the five, for it would be possible that they [a hundred people] would flee because of the sword and because of their fear, but that they would not be able to kill them by the sword because of their few numbers [therefore He mentioned specifically that they would be able to put them to the sword too]. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has said that this repetition [in our verse] means that they [the enemies] will fall continually, time after time, without regaining [their strength].

ורדפו מכם חמשה מאה, "And five of you will put one hundred of them to flight, etc." The obvious difficulty in our verse is that the enemies will fall before the pursuing Jewish army. This promise included such assurances as that even ten thousand enemy soldiers would fall before as few as two Jewish soldiers. Why did the Torah now limit the blessing contained in the previous verse?

ורדפו מכם חמשה מאה, “and five of you will pursue a hundred.” When one is able to pursue 20, one would assume that 100 would be able to pursue two thousand, not ten thousand as described here. Some commentators explain the word מאה in our verse as meaning one hundred times five, i.e. 500 of you would pursue 10000 of the enemy. In this way the Torah’s original ratio would be maintained, but why would the Torah have to tell us something like this, something every youngster can figure out for himself? Ibn Ezra writes (referring the reader to his treatise on Hebrew grammar entitled sefer moznayim,) that it is customary for people describing unusual ratios, abnormal quantities, to use the ratios ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, as basics when discussing multiples. He sees the numbers 1-10 as a unit, followed by the numbers10-100, followed by the number 100-1000, and 1000-10000. He quotes Samuel II 18,3 כי עתה כמוני עשרת אלפים, “even if there were ten thousand such as we, etc.”, as an example for such figures of speech. [He means that the people saying this to their King, David, did not expect David to take their meaning literally. Ed.] The Torah here added an example of a multiple of 20 when describing the miraculous feats that would be performed by the Israelites when assured of G’d’s support. Some commentators reflecting on the Torah’s using the term רדף, and נוס as expressions for flight, explain that pursuit, רדיפה of people already running away requires relatively more people, than merely causing them to flee, i.e. נוס , or להניס. Whereas a ratio of 2 to 10000 may suffice for causing the enemy to flee, 1 to 1000 may be needed to ensure effective pursuit of those already in flight. Pursuit is ineffective unless it results in the fleeing warriors being killed. To do this a relatively greater number is required than to merely frighten them into fleeing.

ורדפו מכם חמשה מאה, “and five of you will take up the pursuit of one hundred (of the enemy).” The verse goes on: “and one hundred of you (in units of five) will pursue ten thousand of the enemy.” When you understand the verse in this manner you will have no difficulty with the apparently inflated ratio of Israelites pursuing the enemy. The ratio of one Israelite to 20 of the enemy is the same in both parts of the verse.
The sages (Sifra Bechukotai 2,4) were not fazed by the apparently lopsided ratio and explained that the power of a few people keeping the Torah is increased out of all proportion when the groups of Torah-observant people increase in number. This is why when there are large numbers of observant Jews they may even put one hundred times their number to flight.

Of the weak. Since it is not written ורדפו חמשה מכם [placing מכם after the number] as it says afterwards, ומאה מכם רבבה, this alteration perforce indicates that מכם here does not have its plain meaning [of “from you”]. Rather, מכם means מך (weak), as in the verse (earlier 25:47), “while your brother becomes impoverished (ומך) by him,” which means poor. And a poor person is generally weak.

ורדפו מכם חמשה מאה, ומאה מכם רבבה ירדופו “five of you will put one hundred 100 to flight, and one hundred of you will pursue ten thousand.”

‎חמישה מאה ומאה מכם רבבה FIVE [OF YOU SHALL PURSUE] A HUNDRED AND A HUNDRED… TEN THOUSAND — But is this the right proportion? Surely it should have stated only “and a hundred of you shall pursue two thousand (and not ten thousand)!? But the explanation is: a few who fulfill the commandments of the Torah cannot compare with the many who fulfill the commandments of the Torah (i. e. the greater the group of those loyal to the Torah, the greater is the morale and, under God’s blessing, the physical strength of each individual belonging to the group) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 2 4).

Is this thus the proportion? Would one not need five hundred men for a hundred thousand according to the calculation of five men for a hundred? I found in the name of Rav Yaakov of Orleans that he explains the verse as follows: Five of you will pursue one hundred, and a hundred times five men will pursue ten thousand. So I found.

I believe the verses have to be explained in accordance with what we learned in Sotah 11 that G'd always quantifies a blessing more generously than He quantifies a curse. [We have examples in Deut. 5,9-10 where G'd promises to remember sins for up to 4 generations whereas He will remember good deeds for up to two thousand generations. Ed.] Tossaphot query the fact that the Talmud phrases the principle as one that applies invariably, i.e. לעולם. They refer to Deut. 32,30 where the Torah asks rhetorically: "How was it that one (enemy soldier) could pursue a thousand Israelites and two could put ten thousand to flight?" Surely this is an example of the curse having been quantified as proportionately far more powerful than the blessing in our portion when you compare the numbers in both instances? They answer that in Deuteronomy 32 the Torah speaks only of pursuit and not killing and that this is is hardly a curse. In our portion the pursuit is described as resulting in our enemies dying. I find this an inadequate response to the question. There is a discussion in Moed Katan 16 about the exploits of David's heroes one of whom is described as having killed 800 of the enemy with a single arrow. David complained that the assurance that he could kill a thousand of the enemy with one stroke had not been fulfilled. A heavenly voice told him that the reason that G'd's promise had not been fulfilled fully was due to his own involvement with Uriah. It is clear from the Talmud in Moed Katan that David understood the promise in our verse to refer not merely to putting the enemy to flight but to killing him. If not, why did he complain about something G'd had never promised?

רבבה, “ten thousand;”

'ונפלו איביכם וגו AND YOUR ENEMIES SHALL FALL etc . — The repetition of this promise already expressed in v. 7 suggests that they will fall before you in a supernatural way (lit., not in the way of the world) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 2 4).

There is no comparison. Re’m writes, You might ask: If so, regarding [non-Jewish] idolaters [pursuing Jews who sin], of whom it is written (Devarim 32:30), “How can one pursue a thousand, and two make ten thousand flee,” it should have said, “and two make two thousand flee”? The work book Imrei Noam asks this question and answers in the name of Rabbeinu Tam, that here it is talking of pursuing and killing as it is written, “Your enemies will fall before you by the sword.” Therefore five can only pursue and kill a hundred. There, however, there is no killing but only pursuing. It seems to me that although pursuit includes killing, this is not the case with fleeing. Therefore, regarding non-Jews, if one of them pursues and kills a thousand, two will kill two thousand and no more, and three will kill three thousand, and so on ad infinitum. But the Israelites are different as Rashi explains when he asks, “Is this thus the proportion, etc.” Regarding fleeing however, two men can make ten thousand flee, and two Jews can perhaps make double that number flee, as with Yonasan and his arms bearer. Perhaps my words include what the Imrei Noam says. See Tosfos Sotah 11a. (Divrei Dovid) It is fitting to give some sort of rationale for the ratio of a hundred to ten thousand. It seems as follows: Since five people kill a hundred, when they are many, each one of the hundred [Jews] is like five and can kill a hundred. Thus, that hundred is capable of killing a hundred times hundred, namely ten-thousand.

We must assume therefore that both verse 7 and verse 8 speak of enemies dying. The way to answer the query of Tossaphot is best answered by reference to Torat Kohanim who understand the word מכם in verse 8 as a reference to the physically weakest of the Israelites. The wording in Torat Kohanim is: "from the weakest amongst you and not from the strongest amongst you." Why did Torat Kohanim add the words "and not from the strongest amongst you?" The obvious intention of Torat Kohanim was to emphasise that the words "from the weakest" should not be interpreted as "even from amongst the weakest amongst you, but should be understood as "the weakest amongst you excluding the strongest." In light of this it is not surprising that in this verse the Torah only speaks of a blessing extended to the physically weak members of the Israelites who are able to mount a pursuit in a ratio of five against a hundred. Amongst the Gentile nations the physically weak specimen do not take part in warfare at all. When the Torah asked rhetorically in Deuteronomy how it is that suddenly one Gentile is able to pursue 1000 Israelites the reference is to the physically strongest Gentiles amongst them. The Torah did not have to make these distinctions amongst the Israelites as we know that the curse is always quantified as proportionately weaker than the corresponding blessing.

Not in a natural way. Rashi is answering the question: Why does the Torah write about enemies falling twice, since before in v. 7 it [already] wrote, “They will fall before you ... ” Therefore, etc.

From all the above it emerges that G'd actually ordered two separate blessings to be effective instead of limiting the blessing of verse 7 in verse 8. First of all the Torah describes the valour of the individual Israelites during generations when the people observe G'd's statutes. Concerning these men of heroic proportions the Torah says that they will pursue their enemies and the enemies will fall before them. In the event you are interested how many enemies a single Israelite can pursue, you only have to refer to the verse in Deuteronomy which describes the exploits of your enemies. Since you are aware that G'd quantifies a blessing more generously than a curse you can draw your own conclusions. The Talmud in Sotah 11 only illustrated how David interpreted the blessing. He based himself on the statement that anyone who studied Torah for a single day is considered as if he had done so for a whole year. This statement is proven from the punishment G'd meted out to the people of Israel who had accepted the majority report of the spies. In Numbers 14,34 the Torah condemns the Israelites to wandering in the desert for one year in exchange for every day the spies had toured the land of Canaan and had returned with a devastating conclusion. If G'd's quantification of the curse was 365 to one, then His quantification of a blessing could not possibly be of a lesser ratio. It is not surprising therefore to hear David complain that even the greatest of his warriors had not been able to destroy 1000 of the enemy with a single blow.

You will find an interesting remark in Chronicles I 12,15. "These are the leaders (in exploits) of the army of the tribe of Gad (in the time of David) the weakest disposed of 100 of the enemy, the strongest disposed of 1.000. This is sort of proof of what the Torah said here that the weak pursue and kill in a ratio of 5 to 100, and 100 pursue 10.000 must refer to the weaker specimen amongst the Israelites. When the Book of Chronicles speaks of "one to a hundred and one to a thousand respectively, the reason the comparison made by the author of the Book of Chronicles is with "one" i.e. a single warrior, is because these are examples of particularly powerful individuals, not the run of the mill. All of this leads us to the conclusion that verse 7 which does not impose a limit on how many warriors will pursue how many enemies speaks of the Israelites whose physique is of heroic dimensions. The Torah deliberately does not describe their feats in terms of numbers as their prowess is unlimited in principle. For all we know one such Israelite could pursue a half million of the enemy; under no circumstances would he pursue fewer than a thousand as in the reverse situation in the Book of Deuteronomy. Inasmuch as different periods in history produced Israelites of different calibre the Torah did not go into specifics.

ונפלו אויביכם לחרב. "and your enemies will fall by the sword." Why did the Torah repeat this promise both in verse 7 and in verse 8? Torat Kohanim explain that the meaning is that the enemies will fall by each other's sword. We may add that the Torah wanted to distinguish between a pursuit by five men of a hundred men of the enemy respectively, and the pursuit by a hundred men of ten thousand. If Israel can dispose of one thousand pursuers, the defeat of the enemies will assume proportions that are greater than a mere arithmetical progression. The word לחרב refers to the effectiveness of the avenging sword.

ופניתי אליכם AND I WILL TURN UNTO YOU — This means, I will turn away from all My business in order to pay you your reward. A parable! To what may this be compared? To a king who hired labourers etc., just as is explained in Torath Cohanim (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 2 5).

AND I WILL MAKE YOU FRUITFUL. This means that they will all have children, fruit of the womb, and there will be no barren man or woman among them.²⁶See Deuteronomy 7:14. And then He stated again, and I will multiply you, meaning that they will have many children, and will not be bereaved of them, because they will live out their days,⁴See II Samuel 7:12. and therefore they will be a large people.

ופניתי אליכם, after the destruction of the gentile nations, as predicted by Jeremiah 46,28 “I will totally wipe out all the nations…but I will not wipe you out totally.”

ופניתי אליכם, "And I will turn to you, etc." This word is to be understood as similar to what we learned in Taanit 2 that G'd holds three keys; one of them is the key to לידה, to birth, i.e. procreation. This is why G'd had to say: "I will turn to you" before mentioning that He would make the Jewish people fruitful. The word ופניתי is indicative of G'd personally involving Himself in the fertility of the Jewish people instead of leaving the matter in the hands of the agent He has appointed as part of the laws of nature to deal with such tasks. It is also possible that when the verse continues with והרביתי אתכם, "I will multiply you," that this refers to a second key G'd holds in His hands, i.e. the key to פרנסה, livelihood. Adequate food assists physical growth. This may be why Torat Kohanim understand this blessing as contributing to the physical size of the Israelites. Moreover, we are taught in Sanhedrin 90 that the words והקימותי את בריתי אתכם at the end of our verse refer to the covenant with the dead that when the time comes their bodies will be resurrected. The word והקימותי then refers to the third key G'd holds in His hands, the key to life and death. The word ופניתי may thus be understood as G'd granting us access to all the three keys in His possession.

והפרתי אתכם, “I shall make you fruitful.” According to Nachmanides the meaning is that all the Israelites will not only conceive, but there will be no miscarriages among them. The Torah continues this them by adding והרבתי אתכם, “I shall multiply you,” meaning that you will have many children from each wife. As a result you will become a numerically powerful people.

ופניתי אליכם, “I will turn (My attention) to you, etc.” I will cause that My grace will remain attached to you. It is a well known fact that this state of affairs is the objective of the intelligence with which man has ben equipped. What is known as 'רצון ה', “G’d’s grace (goodwill),” is what עולם הבא, the world of the future, is all about. We have an allusion to this in Psalms 30,6 that רגע באפו חיים ברצונו, (normally translated as) “a moment of His anger is like a lifetime of His goodwill.” Here the meaning is understood to be the combined amount of time G’d is angry at the creatures in the terrestrial universe. Or, “G’d needs to vent His anger for a moment at the creatures in the terrestrial world in order for them to ultimately merit enjoying His goodwill in the world to come.” It is as a moment compared to the infinitely long time, “a lifetime.” He displays goodwill in the hereafter.
When G’d speaks of והתהלכתי בתוככם, “I will walk among you,” in verse 12, we must not understand this in the purely physical sense, but according to Sifra Bechukotai 3,3 it means that in the future, in the hereafter we have described, the Lord will go for a walk among the righteous who have taken their places in that world. The word may be compared to when G’d used to “walk about” in Gan Eden, in Genesis 3,5. It is a metaphor for G’d’s attribute כבוד feeling at home among people. The written Torah, ever at pains to express concepts which do not exist on earth in language we understand, describes such concepts in words we can understand. The word בתוככם, “among you,” may be understood as related to something round, without beginning or end, a circle in which every spot is equidistant from the centre. People who dance in a circle are happy, seeing all of them are equidistant from the point which is the centre, i.e. in this instance the point where G’d is perceived to be.
Having said that G’d will relate to the Jewish people like the point, centre inside a circle, the Torah goes on to describe the Lord as being G’d for the Jewish people (verse 13). This is an illustration of Isaiah 25,9 who speaks of the Jewish people saying (something sounding almost blasphemous) “here is this One who is our G’d.” This verse is describing graphically the closeness in terms of knowledge and intellectual appreciation of the Lord which will exist in that idyllic period. Just as certain people have intimate psychological knowledge and understanding of certain ones of their friends, so the righteous at that time will have insights into the way G’d operates. Naturally, the word “this” in the verse in Isaiah is not to be understood literally anymore than the mixed multitude speaking of the absent Moses in Exodus 32,1 when they said: “for this man Moses, etc.” meant by the word זה, “this,” that they could see Moses at that time. Seeing that Moses had been well known to the people, it was in order to refer to him as “this man,” even though he was not physically present and visible at that time.
In other words, our paragraph is an illustration of the fact that there is reward in the hereafter for good deeds performed in this life. The Torah garbed this information in language we can understand, relying on our intellectual astuteness to understand what is meant. It is an unusual thing for the Torah to do this as the Torah does not generally spell out matters relating to the world of disembodied spirits. Even our prophets did not have a clear understanding of what goes on in that world, so that our sages in Berachot 34 went on record saying that all the prophecies of the prophets related only to matters on earth, no one having become privy to anything which goes on in that other world except G’d Himself.” Further proof that this paragraph does refer to matters transpiring in the afterlife is the indisputable fact that the promises recorded here have never come true in history, in life on earth.

To a king who hired workers ... They did not serve him faithfully, except for one who served him faithfully. When the workers came to receive their pay, that worker too came with them. The king said to him: “My son, I will turn my attention to you [later]. Because these worked for me a little I will give them a small wage, whereas I have a large calculation [to make] with you.” So is the Holy One. He pays the non-Jews’ wage swiftly. But when Israel comes, He turns away from all his [other] businesses since their wage is very large and He needs time to calculate with them to pay them for all their merits (Nachalas Yaakov). See what I wrote in parshas Ki Sissa and in parshas Acharei Mos.

והקימותי את בריתי אתכם, “I will maintain My covenant with you.” This is the covenant I established with your forefathers that I will multiply you to become as numerous as the stars in heaven and the dust on the earth. (Genesis 26,4 and Genesis 28,14, Ibn Ezra)

והפריתי אתכם AND I SHALL MAKE YOU FRUITFUL — This, of course, means:in פריה ורביה in reproductive power (i. e. in numbers), but —

והקימותי את בריתי, the covenant first mentioned in Genesis 17,7 to be “your G’d and that of your descendants after you.”

With increasing population. You might ask: Perhaps והפרתי והרבתי both refer to “fruitfulness and increase,” as everywhere [else] where פריה ורביה are written together? [Why then does Rashi translate והרבתי as “I will make you great”?]. The answer is since the Torah does not write והפריתי והרבתי אתכם, but rather, והפרתי אתכם והרבתי אתכם, this indicates that they are two separate things (R. Noson). You might ask: Why the Sages do not exposit anything regarding Yishmael where it is written (Bereishis 17:20), “ And as for Yishmael I have heard you..., and I will make him fruitful, (and will increase him exceedingly),” yet they do not expound anything from the [extra] word him? The answer is: Regarding Yishmael the word him is exclusionary: I will bless him with the blessing of fruitfulness and increase, but I will not bless the sons of Keturah, even though they too were the sons of Avrohom. Analyze this.

Another aspect of this verse is related to the statement in Shabbat 156 that Israel is not subject to the restrictions inherent in the term mazzal, such as referred to by Isaiah 41,2 when he described Abraham as having thought his fate was determined by the constellation of Jupiter (compare page 1302). The word ופניתי simply means that G'd will turn aside the horoscopic influences and apply a different set of rules to the dispensation of the blessings involving the three areas to which G'd personally holds the keys. Although, according to Moed Katan 28, the three domains over which G'd holds the key are not subject to man's merit but to his mazzal, G'd will make an exception to this rule by "moving the relevant constellation (מפנה) "aside," to enable Israel to overcome negative influences. The expression לפרות refers to the ability to have children, the expression והרביתי אתכם refers to long life, similar to Deut. 11,21 למען ירבו ימיכם; the words והקימותי את בריתי refer to the supply of adequate sustenance. The reason that the Torah referred to the covenant here is because G'd had concluded such a covenant with Noach in Genesis 8,22 not to again destroy the seasons and the harvest they are to produce. Shavuot 36 comments on that verse in Genesis where G'd is reported as saying this "to His heart," that this is equivalent to an oath. In Genesis 9,12 G'd referred to the "sign of the covenant" i.e. the rainbow as a reminder of this covenant which included all the various promises made by G'd after Noach left the ark. The oath G'd swore at the time did not comprise the whole globe. After all, we all know that part of the surface of the globe does not produce crops in certain years due to some catastrophe or other, the years of famine both in Canaan and in Egypt being just a minor example. What G'd had sworn was that He would not deprive the entire earth of sustenance simultaneously such as happened during the deluge. Please refer to what I have written on the words "and you shall love the Lord your G'd" on Deut. 6,5.

והרביתי אתכם (which may denote: “I will make you large”) means in height (lit., erect stature) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 2 5).

אתכם, I will maintain it with you in your own right, because of your merit, not just because I remember having sworn to keep faith with your illustrious forefathers. This promise has been repeated in Ezekiel 37,27 as an eternally valid covenant, as well as in Isaiah 54,10 “My covenant of peace will never falter.”

With an upright stature. Re’m explains that if they are fruitful they will certainly increase. Therefore הרבתי must mean התרברבות (greatness), i.e., an upright stature.

Another meaning of the words ופניתי אליכם may be gleaned after we examine Samuel II 6,10. The prophet reports that David did not want to transfer the Holy Ark to him in Jerusalem and instead made it detour to the house of Oved Edom Hagitti. As a result of the latter's willingness to be host to the Holy Ark G'd blessed his entire family. Our sages in Berachot 63 describe the blessing as Oved Edom's wife and eight daughters-in-law being very prolific in bearing many children during the three months that the ark stayed in Oved Edom's home. According to Chronicles I 26, 6 children were born to that family during that time. This is the kind of blessing referred to by the words… ופניתי אליכם והרביתי אתכם, "I will turn to you….and multiply you." Once G'd turns His face to you, the rest will follow automatically. The expression והרביתי אתכם contains within it a special distinction. Normally, when we encounter a great number of something, the multiplicity of the numbers is at the expense of the worth of the individual. If someone owns 1.000 head of cattle for instance, he does not treasure each animal as a separate possession as much as he would if he only owned three cows. G'd blessed Oved Edom in that though his family became very numerous this did not detract from the individual worth of each family member (compare our comments on Exodus 1,9 and Numbers 13,18). The words והקימותי את בריתי אתכם are a blessing similar to that in Isaiah 59,21: "and as for Me, this will be My covenant with them says the Lord….My words will not depart from your mouth or the mouth of your children." It is the promise that the Torah will not depart from their offspring. Another meaning of the words is that G'd renews the covenant which He had already entered into with the patriarchs.

והקמתי את בריתי אתכם AND I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT WITH YOU — a new covenant; not like that covenant which you broke by worshipping the golden calf), as it said, (Jeremiah 31:31-32): “[Behold, the days come, saith the Lord that] I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant [that I made with their fathers,… which My covenant they broke, but… I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts]” (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 2 5).

ואכלתם ישן נושן AND YE SHALL EAT STORE OF FORMER YEARS (lit., ye shall eat old that has become old) — This involves a promise that the fruits (grain) will be fit to keep the whole year and will even be of such good quality as to become old, so that the old grain that has grown old, that which is in its third year, will be better for food than that of the last year (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 3 1; cf. Bava Batra 91b).

ואכלתם ישן נושן, after the gentile nations have declined in numbers drastically, your farmers and your vine growers will increase and crops which had been sufficient for a year will become sufficient for a number of years. Not only will you have at your disposal quantity, but whatever you will grow yourselves will be a painless kind of farming, not backbreaking labour. (compare Psalms 72,16) and remember the saying of our sages in Baba Batra 90 that the land of Israel will grow ready made rolls for breakfast.

ואכלתם ישן נושן, "And you will eat old store, long kept." This is a promise that the harvest which has been stored will not rot or become worm-eaten. On the contrary, you will experience that it improves with age.

וישן מפני חדש תוציאו, from the granaries in order to sell it forthwith. Compare Deuteronomy 14,28 תוציא את כל מעשר תבואתך ונתתה ללוי, ”you shall bring out the full tithe of your yield of that year and give it to the Levite, etc.”

ואכלתם ישן נושן, “you will eat very old grain.” This is a promise that although you will keep increasing in numbers on the same amount of land, you will have enough grain left over at the end of a year so that even in the following year you will still eat from the previous year’s harvest.

Good [quality] to be aged. Rashi is answering the question: What blessing is it to “eat the old”?

That is that He commanded us to read the recitation of Shema in the evening and the morning. And that is His saying, "and you shall speak about them" (Deuteronomy 6:4). And the regulations of this commandment have already been explained in Tractate Berakhot; and there (Berakhot 21a), it is explained that the recitation of Shema is [an obligation] from the Torah. And it is written in the Tosefta (Tosefta Berakhot 3:1), "Just like the Torah established [a set time for] the recitation of Shema, so too did the Sages establish a time for prayer." This means to say that the times of prayer are not from the Torah - though the actual obligation to pray is from the Torah, as we explained (Sefer HaMitzvot, Positive Commandments 5) - and the Sages, may their memory be blessed, arranged times for them. And this is the content of their saying (Berakhot 26b), "They established the prayers corresponding to the daily sacrifices" - meaning, that they fixed their times according to the times of the sacrifices. And women are not obligated in this commandment. (See Parashat Vaetchanan; Mishneh Torah, Reading the Shema 1.)

ואכלתם ישן נושן, “you shall eat from stores long kept.” Seeing that you will have been blessed with abundant crops, so that at the end of the harvesting season you still have surpluses from the previous harvests, they will become mixed, and during each year you will eat from the proceeds of two harvests.

וישן מפני חדש תוציאו AND YE SHALL CLEAR OUT THAT OF THE FORMER YEARS BECAUSE OF THE NEW — because the threshing floors in the fields will be full of new grain while the granaries are still full of the old, so that you will have to clear the granaries out into another place in order to place the new fruit in them (for this requires a dry place to preserve them, while the old fruit has already become dry and may therefore be removed from the granaries) (Bava Batra 91b)

וישן מפני חדש תוציאו, you will have enough to eat relying on the previous year’s harvest, even though you export some of that harvest to help needy people of other countries to support themselves. We know that this was the function of this surplus from Isaiah 60,12 כי הגוי והממלכה אשר לא יעבדוך יאבדו, “any nation or government which will not serve You will surely perish.” The reason why Israel would export matters which are a lifeline for itself to pagan nations is because in the meantime they had already harvested the crop of the new year so that there was no reason to fear that any shortage would develop in their own country. Otherwise they would be bound by the edict of our sages in Baba Batra 90 that nothing vital is to be exported from Israel, meaning grain, oil, or grapes. (wine).

Full of new [crops]. Because new crops generally cannot remain on the threshing floor as they will rot if they remain there, and therefore they must put them in the storehouses.

וישן מפני חדש תוציאו, "and you will bring forth the old from before the new." You will not bring it forth because it has become too old and inferior, but because you have to make room for the new harvest. The reason the Torah wrote this here and not earlier when the goodness of the land of Israel is extolled is that the Torah wants to make the point that although the population keeps increasing this does not mean that there will be a contraction of the surplus experienced previously. There will still be so much that the people will eat the old rather than to have to eat the new harvest right away.

To empty the storehouses. Rashi does not say that they throw the old crops away, because what blessing would that be? In addition, how would they eat “the old store long kept”? Furthermore, that verse indicates that old crops are better than new. Therefore, the verse perforce means to take [the old crops] from the storehouse and put them somewhere else in the house. Because the storehouse preserves the new crops from rotting, whereas the old crops do not rot easily once a year has passed.

ונתתי משכני AND I WILL SET MY DWELLING [AMONGST YOU] — This means the Temple at Jerusalem (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 3 2; Eruvin 2a).

AND I WILL SET MY TABERNACLE AMONG YOU. “This means the Sanctuary [at Jerusalem].” AND MY SOUL SHALL NOT ‘THIG’AL’ (ABHOR) YOU. “This means that My spirit shall not reject you. Every [form of the term] ge’ilah is an expression of spewing out something that has been absorbed in another substance, such as: for there ‘nig’al’ the shield of the mighty,²⁷II Samuel 1:21. The reference is to King Saul and Jonathan who fell in battle with the Philistines, and David in his eulogy mentions that their shields were of no avail to them, as Ramban explains. meaning that the shield was not receptive to the oil with which it was anointed; for they used to anoint a leather shield with boiled [fat], in order to make the blows of arrows or spears glance off it, so that it should not pierce the leather.” This is Rashi’s language.
But I do not know what would be the meaning of this, that the Holy One, blessed be He, should say that if we keep all the commandments and do His will, He will not reject us and His soul will not abhor us! Similarly when [speaking of] our transgressing His covenant [with us], and committing great provocations,²⁸Nehemiah 9:18. He said, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them!²⁹Further, Verse 44. And the prophet [Jeremiah] said at the time of cursing [i.e., the prediction of the destruction of the First Sanctuary], Hast Thou utterly rejected Judah? Hast Thy soul loathed Zion?³⁰Jeremiah 14:19. But this subject is one of the secrets of the mysteries of the Torah.³¹The allusion is to the transmigration of the soul (Bei’ur Ha’lvush to Ricanti, and so also clearly in Rabbeinu Bachya’s commentary to the Torah (Vol. II, p. 575 in my edition). Scripture is thus stating that He will set His Tabernacle among us, and that “the soul”³²Here referring to a term which in the Cabalistic sense signifies the very source in one of the Divine Emanations from which the human soul originates (Abusaula). from which the Tabernacle³³I.e., the Divine soul within us. comes, will not spew us forth as a pot which we scour in hot water [in order to cleanse it of substances it has absorbed], but instead our garments will always be white³⁴Ecclesiastes 9:8. — Ramban is thus intimating that human life will be so perfect when we observe the commandments, that man will achieve his goal in one lifetime, and his soul will not be rejected on its return to its original heavenly abode. and new. For the term ge’ilah denotes, as Rashi said, “casting out,” related to the expression, his bull gendereth and doth not ‘yag’il’ (allow the cow to reject as loathsome), his cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.³⁵Job 21:10. He states here My soul [and ‘My soul’ shall not abhor you] similar to the expression, the Eternal G-d hath sworn by His soul.³⁶Amos 6:8. And the prophet [Jeremiah] thus is saying by way of amazement: “Hast Thou loathed Zion, itself³⁰Jeremiah 14:19. which is a city and a mother in Israel,³⁷II Samuel 20:19. and hast Thou cast her from before thee, so that all her sons are clothed with filthy garments,³⁸Zechariah 3:3. polluted [with sin]?”
Now according to their simple sense, these blessings, which are many and [stated in] general terms [affecting the people as a whole], — such as rain, plenitude, peace and the fruitfulness of people — are unlike the blessings with which He has already blessed [the people] in brief, saying, And He will bless thy bread, and thy water, and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.³⁹Exodus 23:25. For there He assured them that their food and drink would be [a source of] blessing, so that no sickness will occur to our bodies, and therefore the organs of procreation will be complete and healthy and we will give birth properly, and live full lives, as He said, None shall miscarry, nor be barren in thy Land, the number of thy days will I fulfill,⁴⁰Ibid., Verse 26. and similarly He said at the beginning, for I am the Eternal that healeth thee.⁴¹Ibid., 15:26. The reason for this [division of the blessings into two sections] is that [all] the blessings [mentioned in the Torah], although they are miraculous, are hidden miracles of which the whole Torah is full, as I have explained.⁴²See in Genesis 17:1 (Vol. I, pp. 215-216), and 46:15 (pp. 556-558). See also at the end of Seder Bo in the Book of Exodus (Vol. II, pp. 174-175). They apply even to an individual who serves [Him], for when there is a pious man who keeps all the commandments of his G-d, the Eternal G-d will guard him from sickness, barrenness and bereavement, and he will live out his days in goodness. But these blessings which are stated in this section are general ones applying to the people [as a whole], and they [take effect] when the whole of our people shall all be righteous.⁴³Isaiah 60:21. Therefore He mentions here always the Land: and the Land shall yield;⁴⁴Above, Verse 4. in your Land safely;⁴⁵Verse 5. peace in the Land;⁴⁶Verse 6. out of the Land;⁴⁶Verse 6. it shall not go through your Land.⁴⁶Verse 6.
Now we have already explained⁴²See in Genesis 17:1 (Vol. I, pp. 215-216), and 46:15 (pp. 556-558). See also at the end of Seder Bo in the Book of Exodus (Vol. II, pp. 174-175). that all these blessings are miracles, for it is not natural that the rains should come [in their due season], and that we should have peace from our enemies, and that they should have faintness of heart so that a hundred of them flee before five, as a result of us observing the statutes and commandments of G-d, nor that everything should be the opposite [i.e., that none of these things should happen] because of us planting in the Seventh year [which we are forbidden to do]. But although they are hidden miracles, for they are [brought about] by means of the natural events of the world occurring according to their habit, yet [the Torah mentions them separately because] they come to be known [as miracles] because of their constant and continuous occurrence in the whole Land. For if one righteous man lives and G-d takes away sickness from him, and he lives out his days, this also happens to some wicked people [and is thus not acknowledged as miraculous]. But when an entire land and a whole people always have rains coming in their season, and plenitude, security, peace, health, strength and defeat of their enemies, in a manner unparalleled in the whole world, it becomes known to all that this is the Eternal’s doing.⁴⁷Psalms 118:23. Therefore He said [in connection with these blessings], And all the peoples shall see that the Name of the Eternal is called upon thee, and they shall be afraid of thee.⁴⁸Deuteronomy 28:10. And the opposite of this will occur because of the curses, when punishments will come upon the [whole] Land, just as He said, and I will make your heaven as iron,⁴⁹Further, Verse 19. and punishments of sickness, as He said, and sore sickness, and of long continuance,⁵⁰Deuteronomy 28:59. meaning that the food will be spoiled and bring about sickness, and thus the miracle will be made known to all because of its continued existence amongst the whole people. Therefore it is written, And the generation to come, your children that shall rise up after you, and the foreigner that shall come from a far land, shall say when they see the plagues of that Land, and its sicknesses.⁵¹Ibid., 29:21. For they will not wonder at that [single] man upon whom all the curse that is written in this book shall lie⁵²Ibid., Verse 19. for it happens many times in the natural order of the world, among all nations, that bad happenings come upon a certain individual. It is only with reference to that Land⁵¹Ibid., 29:21. that they will wonder, and that all the nations will ask, Wherefore hath the Eternal done thus unto this Land?,⁵³Ibid., Verse 23. for all will see and understand that the hand of the Eternal hath done this.⁵⁴Isaiah 41:20. And [by way of reply] they will say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Eternal, the G-d of their fathers.⁵⁵Deuteronomy 29:24.
In general then, when Israel is in perfect [accord with G-d], constituting a large number, their affairs are not conducted at all by the natural order of things, neither in connection with themselves, nor with reference to their Land, neither collectively nor individually, for G-d blesses their bread and their water, and removes sickness from their midst, so that they do not need a physician and do not have to observe any of the rules of medicine, just as He said, for I am the Eternal that healeth thee.⁵⁶Exodus 15:26. And so did the righteous ones act at the time when prophecy [existed], so that even if a mishap of iniquity overtook them, causing them sickness, they did not turn to the physicians, but only to the prophets, as was the case with Hezekiah when he was sick.⁵⁷See Isaiah Chapter 38. And Scripture states [of Asa, king of Judah, by way of rebuke], Yet in his disease he sought not to the Eternal, but to the physicians.⁵⁸II Chronicles 16:12. Now had the practice of [consulting] physicians been customary among them, why should the verse mention [as a sinful act Asa’s consulting] the physicians, since his guilt was only because he did not [also] seek G-d? But the verse can be compared to someone saying: “That person did not eat unleavened bread on the Festival of Passover, but instead [ate] leavened bread.”⁵⁹The intent of this statement is that the transgressor has committed two sins: not only has he failed to fulfill the positive commandment of eating unleavened bread (see “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 168-169), but he has also eaten chametz during Passover, which is forbidden by a negative commandment (ibid., Vol. II, pp. 194-195). In the same way Scripture states that Asa committed two sins: he failed to seek G-d, and he consulted the physicians. This shows that consulting the physicians was not customary. For he who seeks the Eternal through a prophet, will not consult the physicians. And what part do the physicians have in the house of those who do the will of G-d, after He has assured us, and He will bless thy bread, and thy water, and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee,³⁹Exodus 23:25. whereas the physicians are concerned [mostly] with food and drink, warning [the patient] against [eating] certain foods and commanding him [to eat] others.⁶⁰Rambam writes in a similar vein: “Most maladies that afflict people are the result of bad food, or of overeating even wholesome food” (Mishneh Torah, Hilchoth Dei’oth 4:15). Thus also the Rabbis said:⁶¹Horayoth 14 a. To understand the full significance of this Talmudic statement about Rav Yoseph, and especially about Rabbah’s connection with it [“During all the twenty-two years that Rabbah reigned …”] it is necessary to know the background of a certain event that transpired in their lives. When the post of chief of the Academy of Pumbeditha became vacant the Rabbis of Babylon were in doubt as to whom they should appoint — Rabbah or Rav Yoseph. Rabbah’s distinction was that he was the outstanding dialectician of his generation, while that of Rav Yoseph was that he was the greatest erudite scholar. When an inquiry was made of the Rabbis in the Land of Israel the answer came back: “An erudite scholar is preferable.” It was thus Rav Yoseph’s turn to become the head of the Academy. Yet in his humility Rav Yoseph refused to accept the post and insisted that Rabbah should reign. And thus for twenty-two years Rabbah continued to rule over the Academy of Pumbeditha. In recompense for his humility, the Talmudic story continues, Heaven rewarded Rav Yoseph that “During all the twenty-two years that Rabbah reigned Rav Yoseph did not call even a bloodletter to his house,” as was customary in those days, for his health was in such perfect condition. — See in Ein Ya’akov at end of Horayoth, in the commentary Hakotheiv, at end, for source of this beautiful interpretation. It expresses no doubt the intent of Ramban’s words here before us. “During all the twenty-two years that Rabbah reigned [as head of the Academy at Pumbeditha], Rav Yoseph did not call even a blood letter to his house” [as he, being a righteous person, was protected directly by G-d and needed no physicians], and they also say by way of proverb:⁶²Shir Hashirim Rabbah 6:17. “A gate which is not open for the commandments [i.e., a house wherein the commandments are not observed] is open for the physician.” This is also the meaning of their saying:⁶³Berachoth 60 a. “People should not have to take medicaments, but they have become accustomed to do so.” [That is to say]: had they not accustomed themselves to [taking] medicines, people would become sick according to the degree of punishment corresponding to their sin, and would be healed by the will of G-d, but since they accustomed themselves to medicaments, G-d has left them to natural happenings. This is also the intent of the Rabbis’ interpretation:⁶⁴Baba Kamma 85 a. “And he shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.⁶⁵Exodus 21:19. From here [you deduce the principle] that permission has been given to the physician to heal.” They did not say that “permission was given to the sick to be healed” [by the physician], but instead they stated [by implication] that since the person who became sick comes [to the physician] to be healed, because he has accustomed himself to seeking medical help and he was not of the congregation of the Eternal whose portion is in this life,⁶⁶See Numbers 27:3; Psalms 17:14. the physician should not refrain from healing him; whether because of fear that he might die under his hand, since he is qualified in this profession, or because he says that it is G-d alone Who is the Healer of all flesh, since [after all] people have already accustomed themselves [to seeking such help]. Therefore when men contend and one smites the other with a stone or his fist⁶⁷Exodus 21:18. the one who smote must pay for the healing,⁶⁵Exodus 21:19. for the Torah does not base its laws upon miracles, just as it said, for the poor shall never cease out of the Land,⁶⁸Deuteronomy 15:11. knowing [beforehand] that such will be the case. But when a man’s ways please the Eternal,⁶⁹Proverbs 16:7. he need have no concern with physicians.

ונתתי משכני בתוככם, “My Shechinah will reside amongst you, everywhere;” The meaning is that the close relationship which had existed between the Jewish people and its G’d before the sin of the golden calf would be restored. Prior to that traumatic break in the Israel-G’d relations, G’d had been on record (Exodus 20,21) בכל המקום אשר אזכיר את שמי אבא רליך, “I will come to you to any place where My name will be mentioned.” [In other words, there was not even a need for a Sanctuary. Ed.]

ונתתי משכני בתוככם, "And I will place My Sanctuary among you." We must understand this in a sense similar to Psalms 78,60: "the tent He had set among men." The reference is to the souls of His holy people within whom G'd had made Himself at home.

ונתתי משכני בתוככם, “I shall place My Sanctuary among you.” According to Ibn Ezra the meaning is that you should not worry that you will ever experience scarcity of basic supplies seeing that My glory dwells among you, and I am not like human beings whose nature it is to get bored with a certain location and to look for greener pastures. Furthermore, even if you will be forced to take up residence in the land of your enemies, where My Sanctuary will no longer be among you, My glory will not abandon you, so that you will have evidence that I will still consider Myself as your G’d, and all that this entails. This was the reason why I took you out of Egypt in the first place. Nachmanides explains the words והתהלכתי בתוככם, (verse 12) “I shall be taking walks among you,” to mean that My special providence which guides your fate will be in evidence just as when a king travels through his domain his impending presence will be advertised ahead of time and will be brought to the attention of the masses. He will be recognized as the One supplying his subjects’ needs. The Torah, at this stage, makes no mention of the reward for keeping the mitzvoth that accrues to us in the world of disembodied souls after our death. Neither does it mention the reward that accrues to such people after the resurrection of the dead in G’d’s own good time. There is no need to do this as such “reward” is an integral part of man’s having been created as G’d’s most favoured creature. This latter “reward” is automatic unless the creature (man) has forfeited it by committing serious sins without confessing them, repenting them and changing his way of life as a result of such repentance. (Nachmanides had explained his understanding of how this works in his commentary at the end of acharey mot, adding that the concept is rooted in the verse כי נר ה' נשמת אדם, “that the soul of man is part of G’d’s light.” Proverbs) The Torah by repeating all the time the words על הארץ, makes sure that we do not misinterpret the parameters within which all these blessings apply. He writes further that although all these blessings are of a collective nature, applying to the people as a whole on the understanding that the majority observes the Torah, as opposed to when the Torah, briefly, spoke about G’d blessing “your bread, etc.,” addressing each Israelite individually, in the singular mode, the difference is that even though collectively we may have lots of food and drink this does not necessarily mean that each one of us benefits in equal measure from such abundance of food and drink. Individual supervision by G’d of our well being, is always in the nature of a miracle, though not what we call a נס גלוי, a manifest miracle. When addressing the people in general terms such as here, this is part of השגחה כללית, G’d’s broad supervision of the nation (or nations as the case maybe) and this is made clear by the emphasis on the ארץ, i.e. nature, providing the visible aspects of these blessings. [Naturally, nature works under the guidance of Hashem, but that guidance is not usually manifest, and man does not attribute crop failures, destructive acts of nature by hurricanes, etc., to divine intervention, but to nature’s caprice. Ed.] Nachmanides quotes such phrases as שלום בארץ, לבטח בארץ, חיה רעה בארץ, חרב לא תעבור בארצכם, as examples of such indirect blessings, blessings emanating from השגחה כללית, G’d’s general supervision of the fate of man and nations. Anyone familiar with rainfall patterns realizes that if beneficial rains occur year after year at times when they are most welcome to the farmer that this is more than nature at work. It proves that nature is “inspired.” In other words, the Torah promises as a reward for collective mitzvah performance, and refraining from violating negative commandments, that “nature” will display its appreciation by making the individual as well as the national lives of the Jewish people free from the major problems life on earth is beset with. This, in turn, will convince the nations surrounding the Holy Land, that the Jewish G’d takes care of His own, and if G’d forbid, we should fail to live up to the standards expected of us, it will be the nations of the world who will be the first ones to attribute our misfortunes to G’d’s displeasure with the Jewish people, as pointed out by Moses in Deuteronomy To sum up, when the Jewish people behave in the manner expected of them, their lives will not be subject to natural law at all, but G’d will intervene on their behalf all the time, both manifestly and behind the scenes. Expressions such as אני ה' רופאך, “I the Lord am your Healer,” do not mean that G’d will have to heal our diseases when the medical practitioners are unable to do so, but the expression is an oblique way of saying that we will never even have occasion to call on the services of a physician made of flesh and blood. Righteous people in former times would not call on the services of a physician even when they did fall sick, but they would turn to the prophet during their time. When the Talmud B’rachot 60 states in connection with a short prayer invoking G’d’s help that one should say before undergoing even minor surgery, by adding אין דרכן של בני אדם לרפאות, mistakenly understood as “because man has not mastered the art of healing,” the meaning of the Talmud is that we are not to call on a physician as an alternative to G’d, but that the physician when becoming aware of our sickness is allowed to practice his art, as the Torah issued specific permission for him to do in Exodus 21,19 writing (about the physician) ורפוא ירפא, “he shall certainly provide the healing,” the assumption being that the physician does so at his own initiative. The Torah nowhere gave permission for the sick or injured Jew to turn to the physician instead of turning to G’d. [If many great scholars earned their livelihood by curing the sick, they did so primarily to help gentile patients. Ed.] It is interesting that the Torah commanded all of us to pay the physician for services rendered (Maimonides 1,1 hilchot chovel umazik) the reason being that Torah laws do not assume G’d’s miraculous intervention on our behalf, [we must not be arrogant enough to assume that we deserve such miracles. Ed.] After all, the Torah has told us כי לא יחדל אביון מקרב הארץ, “destitute people will never disappear from earth completely.” (Deut. 16,1) [I believe the author uses this verse to make sure that we do not use His intervention in our fates as an excuse not to do all we can to relieve all manner of pain, economic hardship, etc. among our fellow human beings if we feel that we can be helpful to them. Ed.] Nachmanides writes also that the blessings spelled out above never all materialized at any one time in Jewish history, as the conduct of the Jewish people thus far had never been on such a level that we deserved all of these blessings. This is precisely the reason why our sages when speaking of blessings, cite the ones mentioned here as the kind which are reserved for a future after the arrival of the Messiah, as only then will we be on the spiritual level when the conditions are ripe for the fulfillment of all these promises. Fulfillment of such promises as G’d walking with the righteous presupposes a kind of perfect world which is hardly conceivable until our total redemption from the galut.

This is the Temple. But not the Tabernacle, as implied, because there was no Tabernacle in the Land of Israel, only in the desert. [Alternatively], the first sugyah of Maseches Eiruvin (2a) writes, “It is all right to say that the Temple is called a Sanctuary, because it is written, “I will set My Sanctuary among you.” Rashi explains that when this verse was said the Tabernacle was already erected, since this verse appears in Vayikra and this whole book was [of Vayikra was dictated by God] in the Tent of Testimony [the Sanctuary] as it is written (Vayikra 1:1), “And Hashem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting.” Therefore, concerning what [future] Tabernacle could he be promising them, if not the Temple, etc.etc? So far are Rashi’s words.

ולא תגעל נפשי אתכם This means AND MY SPIRIT SHALL NOT LOATHE YOU. The root געל wherever it occurs denotes the casting out (as though spewing) or something that has been absorbed in another substance. In a similar sense the verb is used in (II Samuel 1:21) “For there the shield of the mighty was נגעל, [the shield of Saul, as though it had never been anointed with oil]”, i. e. it did not show itself receptive to being anointed, but ejected, as it were, the oily substance with which it had been smeared; for they used to smear leather shields with boiled fat in order to make the blow of the arrow or the spear glide off, so that it should not penetrate the leather. (Thus, when two things have been in the closest association, the term געל may be used of that which finally discards the other. It spews it out, as it were, it is sick of it, loathes it.)

ולא תגעל נפשי אתכם. Forever. This has been rephrased by Jeremiah in Lamentations 4,22 when he said that Israel would never again become subjected to exile. We find that Isaiah 54,9 writes in the same vein. [If I understand the author correctly, this whole passage is not to be interpreted as chronologically preceding the passage of the תוכחה, which predicts the retribution for non compliance with Torah legislation, but is the Torah’s vision of the ultimate idyllic future of the Jewish people on the soil of the Holy Land. Ed.]

ולא תגעל נפשי אתכם, "and My soul will not abhor you." It was not enough to say that G'd will make His home inside people's souls seeing G'd was afraid that people would not take such a promise seriously. It seemed to exceed their fondest hopes. They could not imagine how a creature of flesh and blood could become "home" to G'd's presence. They would have imagined that G'd merely exaggerated out of His love for the Jewish people. People imagined something akin to what Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai explained in the Zohar volume 3 page 241 on Song of Songs 5,1: "I came to My garden My sister My bride, I ate My honeycomb and drank My wine, etc." The entire verse is a parable describing the relationship between a groom and his bride, i.e. G'd and the people of Israel. Rabbi Shimon's words are worth studying. Nothing in that verse is remotely comprehensible if we try and stick to the literal meaning. The very idea of someone such as G'd Who is totally spiritual being described in such physical terms is repulsive. What G'd is trying to say to the Jewish people is that although by definition His very Essence should be revolted at the mere thought of intimacy with His creatures made of flesh and blood, this will not be the case.

והתהלכתי בתוככם, "And I will walk among you, etc." "Not only will I not find intimacy with you loathsome but I will continue to walk among you." The expression is one which one normally applies to kindred souls. It is remindful of a statement by our sages that seeing that the souls of the Jewish people originate in G'd's own Light, their having been despatched earthwards does not mean that they have become estranged from their sacred origin. The author continues in this vein elaborating on this concept of the intimacy that can exist between man and G'd and how through man's failure to choose the path of Torah this very intimacy turns into loathing.

Another (esoteric) way of explaining our paragraph is to see in it both promises for success in this world as well as promises of even greater bliss in the hereafter. The paragraph commences with the promise of adequate food supply i.e. "I will provide your rains at the proper times," followed by a promise of a secure and serene existence in the Holy Land, i.e. "and you will dwell in it in safety."

From here on in the Torah addresses blessings which will accrue in the hereafter. The most basic is "I will grant peace." Although man may live the life of the completely righteous, the fact is that the mere thought of leaving this life casts a pall over his serenity. This is especially so since man never knows when that day on which he will die will occur. G'd compensates us for this anxiety by promising that on the day such a person will depart this earth he will not experience fright of what lies beyond this physical life, i.e. "you will lie down and no-one will frighten you." G'd will see to it that the transition from one form of life to another will be smooth and painless.

When the Torah speaks of "I will grant peace," you may understand this in light of the Talmud Shabbat 10 that the name of the Almighty is שלום. At the time death approaches, G'd's Light will approach the righteous; this is the mystical dimension of the term "the kiss of death" experienced by people such as Moses and Aaron. The experience of death will thereby be transformed into an experience similar to lying down to sleep, i.e. ושכבתם. The Torah has used this expression when describing the death of the patriarchs. The secret of this is that the soul which experiences the approach of that Light which is so welcome to it longs for a closer union with it so much that it is eager to tear itself loose from whatever still binds it to this life on earth. The process feeds upon itself. I have written more about this at the beginning of my commentary on פרשת אחרי מות (page 1306). This is what Solomon had in mind when he said in Kohelet 5,11 that "the sleep of the labourer is sweet." The "sleep" he referred to is the departure of the soul from the body. The person who was a true עובד, servant of G'd, will find this experience "sweet," i.e. pleasant. The Torah adds the words ואין מחריד, to tell us that the angel of death who has the power to frighten ordinary people, making them afraid of death, does not possess the power to frighten the truly righteous.

Still another meaning of the words ונתתי שלום may relate to the preservation of the body after death so that the 4 basic raw materials of which the body is composed do not disintegrate. You are familiar with the story of Rabbi Achai bar Yoshia related in Shabbat 152 whose remains were found in good shape by Rabbi Nachman many years after his death. Obviously this could only have been due to G'd commanding the basic raw-materials man is made of not to disintegrate in this instance. We are told that this could happen by Solomon in Proverbs 6,22: בשכבך תשמר עליך, "when you go to sleep (die) it will preserve you." The "it" are the Torah study and performance of good deeds by the person Solomon speaks of. When the Torah writes ושכבתם ואין מחריד this may also be understood in the sense of what the prophet said in Isaiah 57,2 where he described the righteous as "resting comfortably in their slumber" meaning they will not be disturbed by their remains being worm-eaten. We have confirmation of this in a story in Baba Metzia 84 where it is related that the remains of Rabbi Eleazar bar Shimon which had been kept in an upper story in his house had remained intact for a number of years (18 or 22). His widow had examined them almost daily and they did not deteriorate. One day she found that a hair had fallen out and there was some blood at the spot where the hair had come out. We have numerous such stories all of which prove that when the conditions are right a body may rest in its grave without disintegrating. This may also be the reason why the Talmud Shabbat 13 describes the body's reaction to worms as being as if a living body would be pierced by a needle. Every creature is sensitive to an invasion of its body by an alien body in accordance with the general capacity for sensitivity with which it has been endowed by G'd.

The words והשבתי חיה רעה מן הארץ in verse 6 refer to the spirit of impurity which is called חיה רעה, a spiritually negative vitality which surrounds the body after death. The reason a priest is forbidden to remain in the roofed domain of a body is the very presence of that חיה רע around the dead body. This is why contact with the dead or even remaining under the same canopy with him results in such a person contracting ritual impurity for a period of not less than seven days. G'd promises here that if the lifetime of the person who has now died was marked by his observing all the commandments, his remains will not be surrounded by such a spiritually negative force so that anyone in touch with such remains would not contract ritual impurity.

As to the meaning of the words וחרב לא תעבור בארצכם, "a sword will not traverse your land," this is the Torah providing the rationale why impurity will not be allowed to surround the corpses of such righteous people. Man's death is perceived as his succumbing to the flawed sword of the Angel of Death. This results in the body becoming נבלה, unfit to serve as a sacrifice as would a body which was slaughtered with a ritually pure and unblemished knife. The Torah has described a נבלה as the kind of corpse fit to feed to the dogs (Exodus 22,30). Impurity itself is often compared to a dog, an inferior animal, representative of all that is despised. The Torah assures us that people who live the kind of life they ought to live will not experience that the sword of the Angel of Death touches their bodies.

The Torah goes on to write: ורדפתם את אויביכם, "And you will pursue your enemies." From this point on the Torah deals with the activities of the invisible spirituality which results through a person's having lived a life dedicated to Torah and its precepts. The purpose of studying Torah and performing its commandments with vigor is to pinpoint isolated "sparks" of holiness. These "sparks" are to be joined one to another so that they can reunite with their origin. They had become isolated as a result of Adam's sin and the power of the forces of the קליפה, the spiritually negative forces in our universe, to separate them from the main body of holiness. This is the mystical dimension of Isaiah 59,2: "your iniquities have created a division between yourselves and your G'd." Please read what I have written in connection with Exodus 19,5 והייתם לי סגולה and how the קליפות are described by such terms as שונאים and אויבים. See my commentary on Psalms 92,10: כי הנה אויביך ה׳ יאבדו. Here the Torah reveals how these forces of the קליפה can be pursued through the preoccupation with Torah and its commandments and how the pursuit will result in these forces collapsing, i.e. ונפלו לחרב. In short, this paragraph describes the defeat of the phenomenon called impurity. The prophet Zachariah refers to this when he writes in Zachariah 13,2: "And I will abolish the spirit of impurity." We may understand the word לחרב in our verse in the same spirit as Song of Songs 3,8: איש חרבו על ירכו, "each with his sword at his side." Concerning this verse we read in Tikkuney Hazohar chapter 7 that people who keep the covenant with the Lord by never touching anything which is forbidden to them possess the power to kill the enemies of the Lord with the breath of their lips. This is the reason the Torah did not write here the usual בחרב, but לחרב.

The words ורדפו מכם חמשה מאה, may be understood as a reference to the five Books of Moses. In other words, that which emanates from you, the teaching of the five Books of Moses, will pursue one hundred manifestations of the קליפות. You may apply Proverbs 16,26 to this situation. "A person who toils, toils for himself." Our sages in Sanhedrin 99 understand this verse as follows: "When a person toils by studying Torah in one place the Torah will toil on his behalf in another place by annihilating G'd's enemies.

The end of this verse i.e ומאה מכם רבבה ירדפו, may be understood in light of a comment by Tanchuma at the end of Parshat Korach on Deut. 10,12: מה ה׳ אלוקיך שואל ממך, "What does the Lord your G'd ask of you, etc.?" the Midrash suggests that we substitute for the word מה, "what," the word מאה, "one hundred." The word would refer to the recital of one hundred benedictions daily. The Torah promises that the merit of reciting 100 benedictions daily enables us to pursue and destroy ten thousand manifestations of the power of the קליפות.

When the Torah repeats the words ונפלו אויביכם לחרב a second time this reflects a statement by our sages in Berachot 5 according to which anyone who recites the קריאת שמע is compared to someone who seizes a double-edged sword. This is based on Psalms 149,6: "when they have the exaltations of the Lord in their throats this is equivalent to being armed with a double-edged sword." The first verse mentioning the enemies falling by the sword detailed the result of performing sacred deeds. The second verse speaks of the result of uttering holy words.

The Torah goes on: ופניתי אליכם, "and I will turn to you." This is a description of the purpose of the destruction of G'd's and Israel's enemies. As a result of the destruction of these enemies all the "sparks" of holiness will return to their roots, i.e. the "umbrella" called כנסת ישראל, the concept of the Jewish people. They will resume their classification as being part of the domain of G'd whence they had originated. From then on they will increase and multiply. Please read what I have written at the end of פרשת ויגש on Genesis 47,27 (page 382).

Another meaning of the words ופגיתי אליכם is that inasmuch as the iron curtain dividing Israel from its G'd has collapsed with the defeat of the concept of impurity, G'd can once more turn to us and cleave to us.

Furthermore, there is a message here that if Israel has made the first move in battering the wall between it and G'd, G'd in turn will help us so that we shall become ever more successful in tearing down that wall.

The words והפריתי אתכם, "and I will make you fruitful" are an allusion to the "sparks" of our holiness which had become prematurely lost and had been aborted and had therefore lost their "sparkle;" they would now resume their appointed function. The Torah adds: "and I will multiply you," to reassure us that we should not think that due to our lengthy sojourn in the domain of the קליפה we have sustained permanent impairment of our ability to develop. The Torah states that this is not so, but that our light would shine forth like the "Light of the King's face."

Another interpretation of the words והרביתי אתכם is based on the root of the word being רב, in the sense of רבנות, authority, or superiority. Accordingly, the promise here is similar to G'd's promise in Exodus 19,6 where G'd defines our purpose as a nation to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation." We have explained in that context that the reference is to the Jewish people exceeding even the angels in holiness. The Torah continues with the words והקימותי את בריתי אתכם; this is a reference to the promise that the dead will be resurrected. G'd restricts this promise to those who have studied Torah. We base this on Ketuvot 111 כל העוסק בטל טל תורה מחייהו, "everyone who is preoccupied with dew, the dew of Torah will revive him." [Actually, this is an inaccurate quotation. The Talmud first said that the word טל may refer to the Light of Torah basing itself on a verse in Isaiah 26,19 i.e. that G'd's dew is equivalent to illumination. In an extrapolation of this, the Talmud continues by saying that if one did not study this divine illumination, i.e. Torah, one cannot look forward to resurrection. Ed.]

The promise contained in the words: "and I will keep My covenant" may also refer to something we learned in Sanhedrin 90 that the patriarchs personally will arise and take possession of the land of Israel as G'd had promised to each one of them separately in different chapters of the Book of Genesis. In Exodus 6,4, G'd made a specific promise that the patriarchs would be resurrected and receive the land He had promised to them. G'd is on record here that everyone who keeps the covenant with G'd will be resurrected; G'd will keep with Him the covenant pertaining to making the land of Israel his eternal possession.

We also find an allusion to where the souls will be stored during the time they wait for resurrection. The ברית the Torah speaks about is the ultimate ברית, i.e. שלום. The domain in which the souls of the Israelites will repose during that period of awaiting resurrection of their assigned bodies is what we usually refer to as the צרור החיים.

The Torah continues ואכלתם ישן נושן, this is a hyperbole for the meal G'd will serve the righteous in the hereafter when wine dating back to the days of Adam in גן עדן will be served as well as the meat of the Leviathan which G'd had salted away since time immemorial. There is nothing more ancient seeing it dates back to a time preceding the creation of man himself.

The meaning of the words וישן מפני חדש תוציאו "that you will clear out the old on account of the new," may refer to a verse in Job 38,15 which is the subject of discussion in Chagigah 12. G'd speaks about the wicked being deprived of their light. The Talmud understands that this refers to the original Light G'd created by means of which Adam was able to see from one end of the earth to the other. As a result of his sin, he and subsequent human beings were deprived of this Light. Our verse may allude to the withdrawal of the "new" light which substituted ever since for the original Light. G'd promises that in the future under discussion He will make available the original Light for the righteous.

The Torah continues: ונתתי משכני בתוככם, "And I will make My Sanctuary among you;" this means that in the future G'd will lower a Sanctuary from the Heaven as we learned in Baba Batra 75. Some of our rabbis claim that that Sanctuary will be made of Shoham stones. Others claim it will be made of Joshpeh stones, each one basing himself on scripture, i.e. Exodus 15,17: "The Sanctuary of the Lord which You have established with Your own hands." G'd promises that this Sanctuary which He has fashioned with His own hands He will erect among us and this is why it will endure forever. The reason G'd will not loathe us is because He will have done away with the spirit of impurity in this world.

Another meaning of this statement is based on what we explained in conection with Numbers 23,23 that the Israelites will form the inner circle around the Presence of G'd so that the angels will have to ask us what G'd is in the process of doing.

והתהלכתי בתוככם, "And I will walk among you." This is best understood as reflecting the promise of the prophet in Yoel 3,1 that "your sons and daughters will all prophesy." G'd's Light will walk among them i.e. a reference to the spirit of prophecy. This reminds us of Moses' wish that all the Jewish people should be granted the spirit of prophecy (Numbers 11,29).

The promise may also refer to something we learned in Taanit 31 that in the future G'd would provide a circle for the righteous and He would take up a position amongst them so that everyone of them would look at G'd and exclaim "This is My G'd let me glorify Him." The reason the Torah chose the expression והתהלכתי "I will walk is that His Light will travel to provide spiritual nourishment to the souls who are sitting around Him. This is called הליכה. The Torah continues with: "I shall be your G'd," referring either to the verse we have just equated the righteous as proclaiming, or that the very dwelling [נוה in the verse זה קלי ואנוהו Ed.] of the righteous is considered something of a divine nature. The additional promise: "and you will be My people" means that the Jewish people will be closer to G'd than any of the hosts of the heavens.

The words: "and I will be your G'd," may also reflect the contrast between then and now. Nowadays the faith in G'd is due to G'd having provided prophets for us who help us maintain our faith. In the future described in our verse there will no longer be a need for prophets as G'd will be recognised as such directly by everyone without any external assist. This is in line with the prophet's Zachariah's promise that "on that day G'd and His name will be one." The words: "and you will become My people" refer to the fact that the degree of recognition of G'd by various layers of the population will be the same; there will no longer be such distinctions as עם on the one side and בני ישראל on the other.

אני השם. "I am the Lord." We may understand this in light of the comment in Berachot 12 that in the future the outstanding attribute of G'd will no longer be the fact that He took us out of Egypt but His new manifestation as the G'd who brought the Messiah (compare Jeremiah 23,7). The first half of our verse refers to G'd who manifested Himself through orchestrating the Exodus from Egypt, whereas the second half refers to G'd redeeming us from any kind of exile, i.e. the final redemption. Please compare what I have written on Exodus 20,2.

והתהלכתי בתוככם AND I WILL WALK AMONG YOU — I will, as it were, walk with you in the Garden of Eden as though I were one of yourselves and you will not be frightened of Me. One might think that this implies: you will not fear (reverence) Me! Scripture however states, “but I will be your God” (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 3 3-4).

AND I WILL WALK AMONG YOU. This means that My conduct with you will be well-known, as when a monarch walks in the midst of his army, supplying them with all their needs.
This then is the way of the simple sense of the words of the covenant, and it is true, for so indeed will He do with them. Now Scripture did not mention here the reward of the existence of the souls in the World of Souls,⁷⁰This is the world to which the soul of a person goes immediately following the death of the body. At the resurrection, body and soul will be reunited in the World to Come, which is the Olam Haba. and in the World to Come after the resurrection, for their existence [following the death of the body] is a matter of necessity in the way of creation, as I have explained in [the section on] excisions,⁷¹Above, 18:29. this form of punishment being the “cutting off” of the guilty ones [from life eternal], and all the other [souls] will continue to exist on account of their fundamental nature inherent in their creation. But by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], these blessings [in this section] are also heavenly blessings in matters above, as I have explained.⁷²Above, Verse 11. Thus, And I will give peace in the Land;⁷³Verse 6. and My soul shall not abhor you,⁷²Above, Verse 11. and similarly, and I will walk among you,⁷⁴Verse 12 before us. allude to the [Divine] attribute which our Rabbis have called Shechinah (the Divine Presence), of [the root found in the expression], And I will set ‘mishkani’ (My dwelling) among you,⁷²Above, Verse 11. and as the Rabbis say:⁷⁵See Rashi to Deuteronomy 30:3. “The Shechinah (Divine Presence) dwells with Israel.” And in Bereshith Rabbah they have said:⁷⁶Bereshith Rabbah 19:13. “The Divine Presence was mainly in the lower world.”⁷⁷That is, even after Adam committed the first sin, the Divine Presence was still mainly in the lower world. With each progressive sin on the part of mankind, this Presence withdrew to the remote heavens, until the patriarchs appeared and gradually brought His Presence back into the lower world. When the Tabernacle was completed and His Glory came to dwell therein, the process of return was completed. Thus the Garden of Eden [i.e., the World of Souls] and the World to Come [after the resurrection] are mentioned here⁷⁸In the expressions: And I will set My dwelling (Verse 11); and I will give peace in the Land (Verse 6), as hinted to above (Ma’or V’shamesh). to those who know [the way of Truth].
Now these blessings in their perfection will only occur when all Israel do the will of their Father [in heaven], and when [as a result of this] the structure of heaven and earth will be perfect, in accordance with its [original] plan. There are no other blessings in the Torah as perfect as these, which constitute the words of the covenant and the conditions between the Holy One, blessed be He, and us.
Know, [however], that Israel never attained these blessings in their perfection, neither many of them [i.e., as a people] nor as individuals, since their merits were never sufficient for them, just as the Rabbis have said with reference to David’s [captains]:⁷⁹Moed Katan 16 b. “And he [Adino the Eznite] lifted up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.⁸⁰II Samuel 23:8. But he [David] was troubled about the [remaining] two hundred.⁸¹As the verse states, How should one chase a thousand (Deuteronomy 32:30) (Moed Katan 16b). Thereupon a Divine Voice came forth and said to him, Save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”⁸²I Kings 15:5. In other words, because of the affair of Uriah (see II Samuel, Chapter 11) King David did not completely achieve that particular blessing mentioned in the Torah. Therefore you will find our Rabbis of blessed memory speaking of [the fulfillment of] these verses [containing the blessings] in the future [which is yet] to come. [Thus they have said].⁸³Torath Kohanim, Bechukothai 2:2. “This teaches that a child of Israel will in the future stretch forth [his hand into the pupil of an adder’s eye, and remove his gall through his mouth.” Similarly they have said]:⁸⁴Ibid., 3:3. “The Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future walk about with the righteous in the World to Come.” This is because [these blessings] have not yet been fulfilled, but they will be fulfilled for us at the time of [our] perfection.

והתהלכתי בתוככם. The meaning of this reflexive conjugation is as if the Torah had written: “I will walk with you in whatever direction you are going, back and forth and sideways.” In other words, G’d says that He will not limit His benevolent presence to a single location or route of His choosing as it was as long as the Temple or Tabernacle stood, and only these locations were holy domains, the people having to come there if they wanted to experience sanctity and holiness. While it is true that this had been the primary objective in Exodus chapter 25 when the command to build the Tabernacle had first been issued, this was only an initial step in regaining the closeness between G’d and Israel which had been shattered due to the sin of the golden calf. During the immediate period being ushered in at that time, the operating clause for such manifestation of holiness would the words אשר אועד לך שמה, “where I choose to manifest Myself” (Exodus 30,6) Or Exodus 29,43 ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל, “I will manifest Myself there to the Children of Israel.”
In the future, wherever the righteous would be found holiness would be present. This is the meaning of והתהלכתי בתוככם. At that time My glory will be manifest universally, not only within the confines of the Temple. This is the time of which Isaiah 66, 1-2 said “The heaven is My throne, and the earth My footstool.”

(1) And I will walk among you - the explanation of Rashi "I will walk with you in Gan Eden" - his idea is to remove from our holy Torah any and every claimant who says "I have a place to rest" by stating that there is no point in our Torah that affirms a reward for the soul, if so, the only force of mitzvot is to make one inherit the reward for a soul in the world to come, and the practical reality of doing mitzvot is to receive rewards in this world, this world tied up in disgrace. And many were already aroused to doubt - but here are seven different ideas of our sages, and I come to summarize and organize their opinions so as to stop up the mouths that say untruths about our holy Torah.

והייתי לכם לאלוקים, “and I will remain your G-d;” the word elohim here is used as a simile for judge, the one who will avenge the wrongs done to you by your enemies. (B’chor shor)

והייתי לכם לאלוקים, I will be a special G’d, yours alone. You will not have recourse to any other “leader,” any intermediary who will have an input into shaping your destiny. This is why your eternal existence will not again be threatened. This is the true significance of being בצלמי ובדמותי, “in My image (and in My form.”), meaning as it had been G’d’s original intention. This intention had been briefly realised again at the revelation at Mount Sinai, only to have again been aborted when the golden calf was made and the people danced around it. When G’d said in Exodus 6,7 “I will take you to be My people and to be your G’d, He had meant the restoration of man’s original perfection as he had been when first created, becoming the gift of the Jewish people at Mount Sinai.
On the other hand, Deuteronomy 29,12 when G’d also speaks of the result of the covenant being that He will be the G’d of the Jewish people, He did not refer to such lofty ideals at that time. At that point the Torah was satisfied with ensuring the uninterrupted function of the Tabernacle as the home of the Shechinah on earth. This was the reduced objective we had heard about in Exodus 29,45 when G’d spoke about making His residence among the Jewish people in that Tabernacle, not wherever they would be in areas beyond the Tabernacle. G’d would indeed be the Jewish people’s G’d, with all that this entails in terms of His personal providence, but He would not be described as dwelling “among” them, or “within” them, depending on how we want to understand the word בתוכם. However, we would be His people, if all our efforts would be designed to carry out G’d’s will to the extent that He had revealed it to us. After all, every people does no less than this for its king of flesh and blood.

The first opinion, Ramba"m's, is that all these promises aren't (considered) the main reward, rather all that is mentioned here are things which remove challenges and obstacles that would prevent a person from serving the Holy One, meaning, if you observe My mitzvot I will remove from you everything that prevents, such as wars, sicknesses, hunger, grief so you will be ablt to serve God without any obstacle, but the essence of the reward is of the world to Come and it is not mentioned so a person would serve the Creator for its own sake, and not because of desire of reward or fear of punishment, see Sevefr Hamada (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Teshuvah 9:1)

The second opinion is from Rabbi Avraham ben Ezra, in his commentary to parashat haazinu, and these are his words: "according to my opinion the Torah was given to all and not to one individual, and the things about the World to Come cannot be understood even in its one thousandth, because it is very deep." And in his opinion, since it is hard to picture such a reward, since what is physical cannot grasp what is spiritual, the Torah concealed this very deep issue from the many due to their limited awareness.

The third opinion is Rabbeinu Bechaye's. It is the same of the Ramban's, and this is that all the promises of the Torah are above Nature, since it is not a natural thing for rain to fall at the time when we do a mitzvah, and that rain should cease from the earth when we do not do the will of the Place, Blessed be. However, the soul going up to the place from which it was hewn is a natural thing to the soul and this is not a miracle, and the punishment of excision [karet] in the Torah is that it will be excised from the place it was hewn, and from this we can learn that if the soul does not sin, she returns to her lodge, to the place where her tent was at the beginning (Gen. 13:3) and it seems that on this it is written "Look to the LORD and keep to His way, and He will raise you high that you may inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it" (Ps. 37:34). Meaning, in that excision of the wicked, promised in the Torah, you will see that there is spiritual reward that God will raise you to inherit the land of the living, when the soul goes up to the place from which was hewn, since it is needed to cut off the souls of the evil ones from there.

The fourth opinion - since in those days everyone was lying regarding the Holy Name's Providence, and were contending that everything that happens in the world is of necessity, and not of the will of the Creator, the Holy One wanted to prove that part of Providence is true through those promises, that eyes could see, that those who do the will of their Creator received good with all those goodnesses, and if the promise was spiritual they would still remain in this denial since the one who wants to lie could distance [oneself] from the end, and the essence of this opinion comes from Rabbeinu Nissim's commentary in the parsha of Bereshit and its root is in the Sefer Kuzari (Kuzari 1:110-112): "The anticipations of other religions are grosser and more sensuous than yours" and the friend explained "But none of them are realized till after death, whilst during this life nothing points to them. The Kuzari: May be; I have never seen any one who believed in these promises desire their speedy fulfillment. On the contrary, if he could delay them a thousand years, and remain in the bonds of this life in spite of the hardship of this world, he would prefer it." And this is, in truth, the best explanation, that the Torah is promising something that a person really wants.

The fifth opinion is that before receiving the Torah they were all idolaters and they did all sorts of specific rituals so as to continue the blessings for produce and bring rain on their time and all other bodily success, and when the Holy One of Blessing gave the Torah and prohibited those rituals, God wanted to assure them that through the keeping of the Torah they would receive those promises, and that through the idolatrous rituals they would lack all those, but the life in the world to come was not included in the promises because it was not assured through those rituals either. And this is the opinion of Rav Saadia Gaon, in the Book of Beliefs and Opinions, and also in the Guide for the Perplexed, third part.

The sixth opinion is that after it says "I will walk about in your midst"(Lev. 26:12) and "I will place My Mishkan among you" (Lev. 26:11) this is the clinging of the Shechina on Israel, even in this world where the soul is entangled in the material, that the soul should cling to the Shechina after she is separated from the material, behold, every promise of the fake religions regarding what happens after death the Torah has promised us also in this life of this world, and the prophecy found with us also proves that, and this opinion you will find in the responses of the Friend to the King Kuzari at the end of the first dialogue in his book, and Rabbeinu Nissim also supported this opinion in a new explanation.

The seventh opinion is that all the promises written in the Torah are for the nation in general, since the world is judged according to the majority, and the promise of rain, produce and peace and so on is for the whole people Israel as one, but the reward of the soul in the world to come is not included in the promises for the people in general, rather, it is to every individual, who will be judged according to that individual's deeds, and this is hinted in the mitzvot of honoring parents and in the sending away the mother bird, and this opinion is found in the Book of Principles (R. Joseph Albo) and in the commentary of the Ramban on parashat Ekev (Ramban on Deuteronomy 11:13) on the verse "with all your heart and all your soul" see there. And on those seven ways great words were said regarding our holy Torah, and so our own eyes see the greatness of the love of the Holy One for our patriarchs Avraham, Itzchak and Yaakov. And were their success in this world the end of their success, what would be the difference between Avraham and the evil Nimrod, who was a king in a domed castle, and Avraham just a wanderer from tent to tent and people to people, and also Yitzchak and Yaakov we have no idea what happened to them regarding the real reward, since this reward promised to their descendants is the end of their reward, what is the profit to the master that after their deaths their children will inherit the land, and they would take leave of this world empty despite all their efforts? What profit would be to them, even in a peaceful time in which all kings were successful and reigned in this world, and some even more than others, only if a great goodness comes to the righteous , which is their portion and the inheritance of the patriarchs, and of all their descendants, since there is only one Torah to all.

אני ה׳ אלהיכם I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD [WHO BROUGHT YOU FORTH FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT] — I deserve that you should put your trust in Me that I am able to do all these things, for, behold, I brought you forth from the land of Egypt and have wrought great miracles for you (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 3 4).

קוממיות, the opposite of Isaiah 51,23: “your tormentors who have commanded you: ‘get down, that we may walk over you.’”

מוטות עולכם, similar to Jeremiah 27,2 עשה לך מוסרות, “make for yourselves thongs and bars, etc.” The thongs are used to connect the yoke of wood which is known as מוטות because it depresses the neck of the ox.

מוטות עולכם, “the bars of your yokes.” This is a reference to yokes which force the bearer to incline his head and neck towards the ground. (B’chor shor)

מטות are a kind of peg inserted in both ends of the yoke which hold back the strap from slipping off the head of the ox whereby the knot might become undone. Similar is (Jeremiah 27:2). “Make thee strips and poles (מטות)”; cheville, in old French, English pins.

קוממיות. When the yoke is removed he can hold his head high.

ואולך אתכם קוממיות, “I will enable you to walk upright with your heads held high.” This is reminiscent of Exodus 14,5 describing the Israelites as holding their heads high when leaving Egypt. (B’chor shor)

קוממיות means erect in stature (in contrast to the bent position of a person who is under a yoke) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 3 7).

ואם לא תשמעו לי BUT IF YE WILL NOT HEARKEN UNTO ME to study the Torah laboriously in order to fathom the textual interpretation of the Sages…, I also will do this unto you, etc. One might think that this refers to the fulfillment of the commandments! When, however, Scripture states immediately afterwards: “and ye will not do [all my commandments]”, it is evident that the fulfilment of the commandments is mentioned there! How, then, must I explain לא תשמעו לי? Obviously as meaning: “But if you will not hearken unto Me to study the Torah industriously” as I bid you do when I said אם בחקתי תלכו (cf. Rashi on v. 3). And what is the force of the word לי? (To express this idea would it not have sufficed to state: ואם לא תשמעו?) It implies that your disobedience is directed לי against Me. The word לי is used only in the case of such a one who knows his Master and yet of set purpose rebels against Him (i. e. the entire chapter containing these threats of punishment is addressed only to such a person, not to one who sins against God unwittingly). Similarly in reference to Nimrod: (Genesis 10:9) “a mighty hunter before (לפני) the Lord” which means that he knew Him and yet of set purpose rebelled against him. Similarly in reference to the men of Sodom: (Genesis 13:13) “[But the men of Sodom were] evil and sinful against the Lord ('לה‎) exceedingly” — they knew their Master and yet of set purpose rebelled against him (Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 2 1-2; cf. Rashi on those two verses).

ואם לא תשמעו לי, to follow in My statues, as explained earlier

ואם לא תשמעו לי, "And if you will fail to hearken to Me, etc." We need to know where obedience to G'd ever was something optional at the beginning of our portion so that the Torah would be justified in introducing this paragraph with the conditional "if." The paragraph should simply have commenced with the words: "If you despise My statutes, etc." Apparently, the wording of the Torah in this verse shows that the meaning of the opening paragraph of the portion "if you will walk in My statutes" refers to precoccupation with Torah study and not to performance of any specific commandmments. This is why the Torah is able to consider the alternative in our verse as something which is related to one's hearing. It is similar to Isaiah 55,3: "listen so that you will live," or Proverbs 1,5 "the wise will listen and increase learning." Inasmuch as the Torah intended to convey so many different lessons with the words אם בחקתי תלכו as I have demonstrated, the failure to exercise these options are at the root of all the misfortunes which will befall the Jewish people if they ignore such glorious opportunities as offered by the Torah in the opening verse of our portion.

ואם לא תשמעו לי, “and if you do not listen to Me, etc.” The Torah refers to the people not heeding the instruction to study Torah; it goes on to list a succession of seven different sins, each progressively more serious than the preceding one. The words ולא תעשון, “and you will not perform,” are a direct result of your failing to study Torah. The next sin which results from the previous one is that you will “despise My statutes.” The reason for this is that you do not know he reasons behind this legislation. Having reached the stage of rejecting part of My laws you will also find fault with My משפטים, social legislation, feeling revolted by them. Your negative attitude will include both such legislation involving stealing and robbery as well as regulations governing with whom you may have sexual intercourse. You, in common with the Gentiles, will find such legislation burdensome, often running counter to your natural instincts, especially when people whom you believe you love are forbidden to you as marriage partners. The Torah is aware of the impact of this legislation and this is why in verse 43, at the end of the paragraph, it repeats once more that your failure to observe these commandments is the principal cause of all the disasters predicted in this chapter.
When the Torah speaks about לבלתי עשות את כל מצותי, “not to perform all My commandments” (verse 15), this is not a repetition but means that not only will you not observe My commandments but you will try to prevent others from performing them, i.e. the words mean: ”so that they will not be performed.” The words: “all My commandments,” mean that you have reached the stage when you deny the validity of any of My laws. This accounts for the sixth of the seven sins we said are listed in the introduction to the warning of retributive action by G’d. Finally, the seventh sin is described as להפרכם את בריתי, “to breach My covenant,” i.e. you deny the essential tenets of Judaism. The verses 14-15 are a model lesson of the Talmudic axiom that “one sin brings another sin in its wake.”

To know the expositions of the Sages. Explanation: Rashi is answering the question: Why does the Torah make a change? Before (26:3) it is written, “If you follow My statutes,” meaning that you should labor in Torah, while here it writes “If you will not listen to Me,” when it should have said, “If you do not follow My statutes.” This question is answered if the verse is also referring to “the exposition of the Sages,” as the exposition of the Sages is called “receipt,” since they received [the tradition] from each other [by listening to their teachers].

את כל המצות האלה, “all these commandments;” if you will fail to observe any of these commandments;” [it would be impossible to ignore all of these commandments. Ed.] We find a parallel expression to the construction in Exodus 20,10: לא תעשה כל מלאכה, “you shall not do any work,” or in verse Exodus 22,9: כל אלמנה ויתום לא תענון, “you are not to mistreat any widow or orphan.” [In both these verses the meaning of the word כל could not possibly be “all.” Ed.]

ולא תעשו AND YOU WILL NOT DO — Because you will not learn you will not practice the commandments: thus you have two separate sins mentioned here (Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 2 3).

ולא תעשו את כל המצות האלה, seeing that you did not follow in My statues it follows that you do not keep all My commandments but only those that find favour in your eyes.

Resulting in two sins. Rashi is answering the question: If they did not learn, obviously they will not know what to do? He answers: This is indeed what the verse is saying; since you will not learn, you will certainly not fulfill.

Furthermore, seeing that the Torah is about to discuss the result of not carrying out G'd's wishes the Torah pinpoints the root of such non-observance as being the failure to listen to the Torah's instructions by not studying the Torah. Concerning this we learned in Kidushin 30 that G'd told the Jewish people that the only antidote to the danger of succumbing to the temptations by the evil urge is Torah, i.e. study of Torah and performance of its precepts.

Our paragraph is also concerned with awakening sleeping hearts. If someone pursues a path which is not good this is only proof that he has not acquired knowledge about G'd and the good he would derive by serving the Lord. We may therefore understand the conditional "if you will not listen" in the sense of "if you fail to understand." Failure to understand the advantages of serving the Lord may result in someone refusing to do so. The prophet Isaiah summed it up when he said that Israel went into exile as a direct result of lack of knowledge (Isaiah 5,13).

Another message contained in our verse is derived from the Torah's emphasis on the words ולא תעשו את כל המצות, "and you will not perform all the commandments, etc." Seeing we have explained on the words אם בחקתי תלכו that one's preoccupation with Torah protects one against and saves one from the evil urge (Sotah 21), the Torah here spells out the condition both positively and negatively, i.e. what will happen if you study Torah for My sake, and what will happen if you do not study for the right reasons. G'd reminds us that even if we study Torah as long as we do not do so for the sake of G'd and perform the commandments, Torah will not act as a shield for us against the evil urge.

Another nuance contained in our verse is the message that even preparedness to perform all the commandments is of not much use by itself; unless one has studied Torah in depth one simply is not able to perform all its precepts properly. As a result such performance cannot protect one against temptation by the evil urge. We may also understand this pronouncement along the lines of Menachot 110 on the verse "This is the Torah of the burnt-offering (Leviticus 6,2)." If one studies the details of the legislation of the sacrifices nowadays when there is no chance to translate one's knowledge into practice, he has fulfilled the commandment better than when the Temple stood and one performed the actual sacrificial rites without knowing all its details.

The word לי in our verse reminds us that failure to heed the words of Torah is similar to someone refusing to listen to his king when he wants to speak to his subject. The words אם לא תשמעו לי are G'd's way of saying that He, personally, will feel insulted by our failure to study Torah.

You may also understand the verse as conveying a message similar to that in Jeremiah 16,11: "and Me they have forsaken and My Torah they have not observed." Rabbi Moshe Alshech explains this verse by means of a parable. He warns that the Israelites should not think that because they studied Torah this would neutralise their abominations including idol worship as proved by the fact that the Temple had not been destroyed while idol worship was going on for hundreds of years. The Torah explains here what the parameters are to be. "If you do not listen to Me this will lead to non-performance of My commandments and eventual destruction." If, however, you listen to Me, i.e. your attitude to G'd is positive, even if you do not fulfil all the commandments, this will not bring about catastrophe either on a personal or national level.

Another way of justifying the opening words of our paragraph is that G'd is aware of how man's mind and heart functions and of the machinations of the evil urge which exploits man's psyche. G'd therefore decided to address the very first stage of any seduction planned by the evil urge. We have explained repeatedly that Satan is well aware of the intimate relationship between G'd and Israel as a result of which he never counsels that a Jew commit acts of outright rebellion against G'd and His Torah. Satan works far more insidiuously. He will ostensibly agree that everything written in the Torah is, of course, binding on a Jew but that all the additional ordinances with which the sages have surrounded Biblical Law are not really of significance and may be ignored without peril to oneself. Once a person begins to consider if there is merit to that argument he has already been entrapped by the evil urge.

In our verse the Torah addresses two kinds of seductions. 1) "If you do not hearken to Me;" this is a reference to G'd having authorised the Torah scholars to make ordinances. This authority is based on Deut. 17,12; "Any man who deliberately fails to listen to the priest who stands to minister to the Lord your G'd, that man shall die." The reason the Torah insisted on writing the word לי in our verse is to remind us that anyone who questions the authority of the rabbis is as if he questioned G'd Himself (compare Sanhedrin 110). The word לי means: "it concerns Me." Moreover, the sages are considered as the "Sanctuary" of the Lord.

Concerning the second kind of seductive tactic by Satan namely his trying to convince us that the number of positive commandments is unnecessarily large, the Torah writes: "and you will not perform all these commandments." The Torah also implies here that if someone fails to believe in the authority of the sages to interpret the law he most certainly will not fulfil any commandment. The reason is simple. The definition of the 613 commandments (מנין המצות) is something which the sages of former generations have determined. Anyone who does not accept that principle is not considered as having observed any of the commandments. When the Torah speaks of ולא תעשו this is merely the result of not listening. [The letter ו is not meant as an alternative to the words ואם לא תשמעו. Ed.]

ואם בחקתי תמאסו AND IF YE WILL SCORN MY ORDINANCES — scorn those who practise them.

And I will walk among you, and I will be your God - there are two levels here. (1) Holiness will be inside you, really, in your divine soul, and through holiness the divine soul will again be the master in [your] reality. This is similar to the righteous being described as tenants who are partners to a king in the orchard: even though the garden is not their possession, they are partners with him in their work, by fixing and fencing and trimming the grapevines, so too the righteous are tenants with God, that keep the great garden which is the world, maintaining the world that was created through Ten Sayings through Torah and mitzvot. They stroll with the king through the work, they are partners with the Holy One of Blessing in the works of creation by keeping the great garden with Torah and mitzvot. I [God] say to them - behold I am like you [Sifra, above in this source sheet] because they with their actions sake the lines of judgment and through their decisions they make the world go through lovingkindness and punishment, as the sages say in various places "who rules over Me? The righteous. And from a second perspective (2) "I will be your God" from the side that God behaves with the righteous according to God's will, for good, and God's reverence will be with them in their recognizing of God's greatness and majesty. And regarding those two aspects it is said "I will place My Sanctuary among them forever. My Presence shall rest over them; I will be their God and they shall be My people." (Ezekiel 37:26-27). And those are two levels, the tabernacle among them and the Presence in them and above them. And there (Ezekiel 37:28) "And when My Sanctuary abides among them forever, the nations shall know that I, Ad-nai, do sanctify Israel" since once the Presence is in them, and they control all their actions, it is made known to idolaters that Israel is holy and beyond nature.

AND IF YE SHALL REJECT MY STATUTES. Because “statutes” are commandments the reasons for which have not been revealed to the majority of the people,⁸⁵To the “majority of the people” the reasons for “the statutes” have not been revealed, but actually there are reasons for each and every precept of the Torah. See Ramban on Deuteronomy 22:6, where he develops this theme at great length. therefore fools reject them, saying: “Why does G-d desire that I should not wear this garment which is woven with threads of linen and of blue wool?⁸⁶See above, 19:19. And how do we benefit by burning the [Red] Heifer, and sprinkling upon us the ashes thereof?”⁸⁷See Numbers Chapter 19. The “ordinances,” however, everyone desires and everyone needs, for there can be no civilized life for any people or country without ordinances. No one will reject the ordinances of: he that smiteth a man so that he dieth;⁸⁸Exodus 21:12. and if men strive together;⁸⁹Ibid., Verse 22. and the laws of the ox and the pit⁹⁰Ibid., Verses 28-37. and the [four] guardians,⁹¹Ibid., 22:6-14. and so on. However, the judgment that we execute upon those who transgress the commandments, such as one who has forbidden sexual intercourse, or profanes the Sabbath, or does [the sorcery of] the ov or yid’oni⁹²Above, 19:31. See “The Commandments,” Vol. II, pp. 9-11. they will despise, because of [the necessity of keeping these] commandments, which constitute a heavy yoke upon the wicked. Therefore He said, and if your soul abhor Mine ordinances so that ye will not do all My commandments,⁹³Verse 15 before us. for their abhorrence of the “ordinances” is in order that they should not keep the commandments.⁹⁴In other words, they reject even the rational parts of the Torah in order to “free” themselves entirely of the commandments which they find a burden to keep.

ואם בחקותי תמאסו, that you do not only ignore them but actively despise them;

ואם בחקתי תמאסו, "And if you will despise My statutes, etc." Why did the Torah have to repeat the conditional word ואם once more instead of being content with the opening word ואם in the previous verse? Besides, why did the Torah write בחקתי instead of merely חקתי תמאסו, "you will despise My statutes?" The letter ב is no more appropriate for describing a negative attitude to G'd's statutes than it would have been to the reference about G'd's social laws of which the Torah merely says את משפטי תגעל נפשכם, "your soul abhors My social laws" without adding the letter ב in front of the word משפטי. Moreover, why does the Torah again use the word ואם when speaking of our attitude to G'd's משפטים? Why did the Torah not simply lump together our attitudes to both G'd's statutes and G'd's social laws by writing ואם בחוקותי תמאסו, or something similar? Furthermore, why does the Torah describe the attitude of the sinners to the "statutes" as one of מאוס, i.e. "despicable," whereas the attitude to the social laws is described as תגעל נפשכם, "something your soul abhors," i.e. a stronger form of rejection? Having already described the sinful Israelites' attitude to G'd's respective commandments, why did the Torah have to elaborate that "they would refuse to carry out all these commandments?" The Torah had already mentioned in verse 14 that we speak about a situation when the Jews would not carry out the positive commandments! We had offered an explanation to that statement but we must not forget that the verse must make sense as it is written! What does the Torah mean by adding: "to break My covenant?"

ואם בחוקתי תמאסו, “However, if you will despise My statutes, etc.” Nachmanides writes that the reason why the Torah described the חוקים, statutes, as the laws that the people would refer to with disdain, distaste, is, that no rational justification has been offered by the Torah for these kinds of laws. This is why fools jump to the conclusion that these laws are of no use or value to man. The social laws, משפטים, on the other hand, which any fool can understand as being useful tools in any society and which therefore should enjoy ready acceptance by the people, also do not fare better when they involve the violation of the Sabbath, the prohibition of sexual intercourse with family members or consenting adults, or when it involves forbidden foods. These restrictions are considered as capricious denial of a person’s freedom and therefore, in the right atmosphere, result in one’s feeling revulsion against them and the authority who imposed such laws. The Torah describes the people not observing those mishpatim as excusing themselves by their being revolted at the Creator Who demanded from them to so restrict their desires, i.e. that is the meaning of the words לבלתי עשות את כל המצות, “as a reason for not performing all the commandments.” Nachmanides goes on to write that the curses following contain allusions to both the first and the second exile of the Jewish people, as well as the total redemption that will follow the second exile. The references to חמנים “symbols of sun-worship” (verse 30) and גילולים, (man-made idols) (verse 31) were the major sins of the period of the first Temple; G’d predicts that He will have to destroy the Temple which the Torah calls “your Sanctuary,” on account of their sins. (Verse 31) The entire verse is a threat not to accept offerings tendered to Him. As a result of such rejection of even their offerings, the people would experience death by the sword, at the hands of ferocious beasts, as well as pestilence, famine, and, ultimately, exile if all that had not brought about a change in their attitudes. (Verses 32-33). During this exile the land would make up for all the sh’mittah years that the people had not observed while they were enjoying prosperity in their land. The seventy years of the Babylonian exile would match the number of years the sh’mittah legislation had been neglected. The redemption from that exile is not described as a real redemption, but only as a manifestation of the fact that G’d had not allowed His covenant with the Jewish people to become severed. (History records that men of the caliber of Daniel, Ezra and Nechemyah, did confess the guilt of their fathers, and this is why the second Temple endured for hundreds of years, though it lacked many features symbolizing the close ties between G’d and His people. The admonitions by Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 28,15-68 describe the destruction of the second Temple and the vicissitudes that the remnant of the people would experience during the far longer second exile. During that lengthy paragraph the Torah does not refer to specific sins as it had done in our portion here. On the contrary, the wording there suggests that even relatively minor disobedience and failure to observe Torah in its entirety by all the people could bring about such a catastrophe as is described there most vividly. In fact, we know that during the existence of the second Temple large sections of the people did devote themselves to intensive Torah study and to meticulous observance of the Torah’s commandments, and still the Temple was destroyed and the people experienced terrible times, all because too many of them had become guilty of senseless hatred of one anther, totally unjustified and unjustifiable animosity between different sections of the society. The reason why the Torah does not bother to mention the manifestation of G’d’s displeasure by His refusal to accept the people’s sacrifices, is that heavenly fire had never resumed to consume these sacrifices as it had done during the hundreds of years that the first Temple had stood. In the admonition in Deuteronomy 28,49 we find the following line: ישא ה' עליך גוי מרחוק מקצה הארץ וגו', “Hashem will bring a nation against you from afar etc.,” a reference to the Romans, a nation described a speaking a tongue you are not familiar with. It is a nation not knowing the meaning of pity, etc. It is clear that these lines do not refer to the Babylonians who were relatively close at hand, and whose tongue the Israelites certainly were familiar with. The Assyrians who exiled the ten tribes while the Temple remained standing were even closer to the land of Israel in terms of physical distance. Seeing that the Jewish people had their historical roots in those Mesopotamian regions, the Torah in verse 49 in that chapter most certainly could not have referred to either one of those nations. It is clear from reading the remainder of that chapter that the exile we still find ourselves in at the time of writing these lines, is the one referred to by the Torah in that chapter in Deuteronomy. Verse 36 in which Moses predicts that the victorious nation will appoint a king over the Jewish people whom they never had heard of, is also clearly a reference to King Agrippas, (Herod). It was during his reign that the uprising against the Romans in the year 66 occurred which ended with the destruction of the second Temple. The covenant referred to in our portion is the one that we have to thank for the presence of the Shechinah during all the years of the first Temple, whereas the covenant in Deuteronomy, which enabled the Temple to be rebuilt, was of an inferior type of relationship with Hashem, seeing that only the כבוד השם, “G’d’s honour”, manifested itself during the over four hundred years that the second Temple was standing. This is what was meant by the author of Torat Kohanim who describes the admonitions in our portion as having originated from G’d Himself, directly, whereas those in Deuteronomy were initiated by Moses. [Reflecting the far weaker bond between G’d and His people during that era. Ed.]

Despise others who do perform [My statutes]. Because if not so, it already written above “and you will not fulfill,” which is to despise the mitzvos. If so, why does the verse need to say, “If you despise My statutes? Therefore, it must mean to despise others. This too is the explanation of [Rashi’s interpretation of] “[if] your souls loathe My laws.”

ואם בחקותי תמאסו, “but if you will despise My statutes;” this is the opposite of “if you will “walk” in My statutes, אם בחקתי תלכו, “when you will “walk” according to My statutes, because you find them appropriate.”

משפטי תגעל נפשם [IF] YOUR SOUL LOTH MY JUDGMENTS — This implies hating the Sages.

THAT YE MAKE VOID MY COVENANT. [This means that they desire] that the covenant be completely voided so that they will thus be without Torah, in order to permit themselves openly forbidden sexual intercourse, and every desire which is sweet to their soul.⁹⁵See Proverbs 13:19. By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the verse means that this covenant will be made void and annulled, [this being] the opposite of [the Divine assurance], and I will give peace in the Land.⁷³Verse 6. It is with reference to this that He said, forasmuch as they voided My covenant, although I ruled over them,⁹⁶Jeremiah 31:31. [meaning that] “because they annulled My covenant of peace,⁹⁷Numbers 25:12. I Myself ruled over them.”⁹⁸I.e., the punishment was not done through a messenger.

ואם את משפטי תגעל נפשכם, if you treat them as a person who deliberately spits something out because he detests it. You would not have any objective reason to do this as you are familiar with the purpose of such commandments, knowing them to be fair and just.

You hate the Sages [lit. the wise ones]. (Gur Aryeh) Why does the verse say “Your souls loathe My laws (משפטי)” regarding this, [and not “If you despise My statutes (חקותי)”]? Because [monetary] laws (משפטים) require wisdom [to understand]., This is as the Sages say (Bava Basra 175b), “He who wants to be wise should occupy himself with monetary laws.” And so they expounded (Sifri 9, 10) regarding Shlomo, “Would he, of whom it is said (Melachim I 5:11), ’He was wiser than any man,’ say (Melachim I 3:9), ’Who can judge this, Your great nation’?’” [This indicatesing that judging monetary laws requires wisdom and logic].

Clearly, we must understand the wording of these verses as corresponding to the manner in which Satan operates in seducing us into neglecting G'd's commandments. Satan is clever enough to attack the weakest link in the chain, i.e. observance of the commandments called חקים, the ones for which the Torah does not offer a reason and which we ourselves find impossible to rationalise. Satan appeals to us on two fronts; on the one hand he claims that it is impossible to believe that someone as clever as G'd could have legislated laws that appear to make no sense. Alternately, he argues that granted that G'd may indeed have legislated such a law, but surely the legislation was not meant to be understood literally. Once Satan finds that he has the attention of his prospective victim he begins to attack other commandments also even though they appear to have good reasons. He will then easily inveigle his victim to transgress one of G'd's commandments due to some ficticious argument he presented. The doubts he sowed in his victim's mind previously had already caused the victim to become somewhat removed from holiness. Once a person has committed the first sin without experiencing negative fallout it becomes ever easier for his evil urge to lead him further astray. Eventually the evil urge will convince a person that instead of facing punishment for each one of his transgressions he might as well commit a trangression of a cardinal nature and face only a single punishment for that transgression, i.e. his treason against the covenant he became a party to at Mount Sinai.

ואם את משפטי תגעל נפשכם, “or if your souls despise My social laws;” this is the opposite of ואת מצותי תשמורו, “and you will observe My commandments.”

לבלתי עשות (lit., that my commandments should not be done) — this therefore implies that one prevents others from practising them. (That they themselves do not do them has already been stated in v. 14).

לבלתי עשות את כל מצותי, your supposed detestation of My commandments was not an objective evaluation of them, but a signal that you wanted to throw off the yoke of Divine legislation, a deliberate act of disobedience. Our sages have often stated that the Israelites who worshipped idols were perfectly aware that these idols were totally helpless, could not help themselves, much less those who professed to worship them. If they worshipped them in spite of knowing that they were all nothing but sham, it was only in order to anger G’d. They did so in order to be free to practice incest in public. (Sanhedrin 63) The Prophet Hoseah 5,4 states explicitly when he writes: “their habits do not let them return to their G’d because of their lecherous impulse within them. They pay no heed to the Lord.”

The verses we have here confront the different stages of seduction and deception by the evil urge. The Torah first deals with the opening argument of the seducer which was aimed at undermining observance of the חקים by saying "if you will despise those of My commandments which have no rationale;" our sages in Bamidbar Rabbah 19, portray both Satan and the nations of the world as questioning the reason for the law of the red heifer. The letter ב in the word בחקתי, is a letter denoting a reason. You may translate the verse as: "If you despise My statutes because they do not have a rationale, etc." The Torah continues with the word ואם, leading to the next level of seduction by Satan, i.e. that you may follow up your initial sin by even transgressing some negative commandment. The additional ואם also means that there is separate culpability for failing to observe negative commandments.

לבלתי עשות, “by not performing (them);” this is the opposite of ועשיתם אותם, “and you will perform them” (in verse 3, of this chapter.)

את כל מצותי ALL MY COMMANDMENTS — This refers to him who denies the Divine origin of the commandments, asserting that I have not commanded them. It is for this reason that Scripture states, “all My commands” and does not state, as in v. 14, "all these commands”.

להפרכם את בריתי, in order not to be different from the other nations surrounding them, neither of whom have been burdened with ethical/moral legislation and rituals such as demanded of the Jewish people by the Torah. The prophet Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 20,32 already challenges the people who would use the fact that they were now in exile, apparently abandoned by their G’d, as an excuse do divest themselves of the claims the Torah makes on them. He accuses them as making all this an excuse to serve deities made of wood and stone.

Concerning the second assault on us by Satan, his attempt to seduce us further, the Torah writes ואם את משפטי תגעל נפשכם, this is a reference to commandments for which there is ample rationale. The reason the Torah uses the stronger "your soul loathes them" is that unless one did so what possible reason could a Jew have to defy those of G'd's laws which are demonstrably beneficial and reasonable? Ignoring G'd's statutes could at least be due to one's failure to appreciate the purpose of that legislation.

Thereby breaking My covenant. This includes two connotations: One is the covenant that the people of Israel made with Hashem to be His nation, to keep the Torah and mitzvos. They would break this covenant solely due to their desires. It also includes breaking another covenant which Hashem made with the people of Israel to watch over them. Because they wanted to throw off the yoke of Torah and mitzvos, they increased in rebelliousness and did things to anger Hashem, disgusting things of which they were in truth not worthy. They only did them so He would remove His Divine Presence from the Holy Land and from the people of Israel. They thought that if Hashem would remove His Divine Presence from them they could be like all the other nations and all the other lands, under the guidance of the celestial kingdom, which is the sun. The Torah numbers seven transgressions: 1) Agreement not to do for the sake of Hashem. 2) Not to do at all. 3) Despising one who does according to the ways of tradition. 4) Despising the study of Torah in general. 5) Trying to prevent anyone from doing according to the Torah. 6) Trying to cast off the entire yoke of Heaven’s kingship. 7) Doing deeds to anger Hashem so that Hashem will break His covenant with us.

להפרכם את בריתי, “thereby breaking My covenant;” this is the opposite of והקימותי את בריתי אתכם, “I will maintain My covenant with you,” (in verse 9.)

להפרכם את בריתי TO MAKE VOID MY COVENANT — denying the great principle of the existence of God (Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 2 3). — Thus you have here seven sins the first of which brings the second in its train and so on to the seventh. And these are: he has not studied and therefore has not practised the commandments; consequently he scorns others who do practise them, hates the Sages, prevents others from practising, denies the Divine origin of the commandments, and finally denies the existence of God.

Another reason why the Torah attributes non-observance of the social laws to such strong feelings on the part of the sinner may reflect a statement in the Sefer Hayashar by Rabbenu Tam chapter 9 who views an attitude such as described here as reflecting a diseased psyche and body. Berachot 61 describes this as saying that the wicked are judged by their evil passions. This is the reason the Torah writes לבלתי עשות את כל מצותי, such people object to doing anything which G'd has said merely because G'd has said it. Finally, the words להפרכם את בריתי are the Torah's reference to Satan's ultimate challenge when he asks his victim to commit a provocative act against G'd justifying it by promising his victim that he then will have to face only a single penalty namely the one for that ultimate act of rebellion. The Torah goes on record that the prospective sinner should not be deceived but that he would be held culpable for all his transgressions. We also have this spelled out in Ezekiel 25,8 and Ezekiel 20,33 respectively. Satan had argued that the same rules which apply to mankind at large also apply to Yehudah (25,8), whereas the prophet threatens Israel in the name of G'd that it will be treated with G'd's full retributive arm (20,33).

The verses under discussion may also be understood along the lines of the Zohar volume 1 page 100 that in order to achieve perfection in one's service of the Lord three ingredients have to be present, i.e. thought, speech, and deed. By repeating the word ואם, the Torah alludes to all of these three factors. The words ואם לא תשמעו refer to a flaw in one's speech when serving G'd; the words ולא תעשו refer to a flaw in the deeds required when serving the Lord. The words ואם בחקתי תמאסו refer to flaws in the thought processes which accompany one's service of G'd. Inasmuch as one's thoughts are generated both in one's brain and in one's heart, the Torah employed the term תמאסו when speaking about thoughts originating in one's brain, whereas it used the term תגעל נפשכם when referring to thoughts originating in one's heart.

It is also possible that the Torah speaks here about three different spiritual levels that are present amongst the Jewish people. One level comprises the Torah scholars, the spiritual elite of the people whose principal concern is Torah and service of the Lord. Concerning this group of people the Torah says ואם לא תשמעו לי, "if you do not hearken to Me, etc." Seeing that this group of people have to be most circumspect in their performance of the commandments it is essential that they listen to every detail of the Torah's instructions else they forfeit their very lives. We are given an example of this in Yuma 86 where the scholars themselves debate the nature of the sin of desecrating G'd's Holy Name. What may not be considered as desecration of the Holy Name for one person may yet rank as such for another, depending on his stature in the community. Rav said that if he entered a butcher store and did not pay immediately this would be accounted as a desecration of G'd's name (seeing onlookers would assume he received it for free as a sort of bribe.) Rabbi Yochanan said that if he walked around for a distance of 4 cubits without Talit and phylacteries this would be accounted against him as the sin of desecrating the name of the Lord. Concerning such people the Torah wrote: "if you will not hearken to Me." The Torah adds: "and you will not perform all these commandments." What is meant by the word all is that such Torah scholars must observe the commandments down to the very last detail otherwise it would be held against them as a great sin. There is another category of Jews who are not well versed in the Torah but who are intelligent and certainly understand the difference between right and wrong, and who are careful to practice the virtue of gratitude. Concerning this category the Torah writes ואם בחקתי תמאסו that if they display disdain for the statutes because they do not understand their reasons G'd will punish them although He will not punish them for performance of the commandments without attention to all the finer points. There is a third category, the fools, whose knowledge is so limited that they will not perform the statutes at all, but not because they despise them. Concerning this latter category the Torah writes: ואת משפטי תגעל נפשכם; G'd will hold such fools responsible for their sins only if they loathe social laws which even they are fully conversant with and the need for which they can fully understand. This latter category of people will not be punished by the penalties listed in the remainder of this chapter. G'd will treat them as if they had sinned inadverently.

לבלתי עשות את כל מצותי, "not to carry out all My commandments." G'd limits retribution to people who are still bent on defying Him by not performing the commandments. If such people have changed their attitude and plan on observing the commandments G'd will hold off punishing them until they have had a chance to prove their penitence. G'd may even hold off punishing people who have not yet expressed the intention to mend their ways but concerning whom G'd knows that they will do so.

להפרכם את בריתי, "to break My covenant." G'd makes the punishments in store for the Jewish people in the verses following dependent on their intention to break the covenant by their failure to observe the Torah. People who violate G'd's commandments merely because it is less burdensome for them or they believe they will enjoy life better by doing so (מומר לתאבון) are not included in what the rest of this chapter threatens in the way of retribution. Torat Kohanim writes as follows on the verse ואם לא תשמעו: "There are people who do not study the Torah but they do observe its commandments. Concerning such people the Torah wrote that they will be punished only ולא תעשו, if they fail to observe the commandments. There are other people who neither study nor practice Torah laws but they do not despise others who are observant. Concerning such people the Torah writes that as long as they do not despise G'd's statutes the list of retribution which follows does not apply to them. All those who neither study, nor perform and at the same time despise others who are observant and who hate the Torah scholars to boot are included in the description תגעל נפשכם. Finally, there are people who actively prevent other Jews from observing the commandments. This latter category is meant by the words לבלתי עשות, 'they do not let others perform.'" Thus far Torat Kohanim. According to what we have just quoted from Torat Kohanim one forms the impression that the whole chapter of the retribution G'd threatens is addressed only to the final category of sinners who not only anger G'd on purpose but interfere with the observance of the Torah by other Jews. If so, we must ask ourselves why the Torah bothered to list any of the other categories of sinners altogether? The reason the Torah was not content to list only the last category of sinner is that the Torah wanted to describe the stages that lead a sinner to eventually become so entrapped by his evil urge that he even prevents other Jews from observing their religion. When reading the entire passage one appreciates the terrible consequences which ensue if one takes the first step in ignoring our traditions. This is what Jeremiah 9,12 had in mind when he describes the loss of Jewish statehood as due to the people forsaking the Torah and not listening to G'd's voice. It is the first step away from tradition which is crucial.

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.

ונתתי פני AND I WILL SET פני [AGAINST YOU] — i. e. פנאי שלי, My leisure, — I will turn away from all My other affairs in order to do you evil (cf. Rashi on Leviticus 17:20).

ונתתי פני בכם, "And I will set My face against you, etc." The Torah speaks of G'd's angry "face." The reason that justice or judgment is called פנים, face, is that there is always a group of creatures whose whole intent is to bring about destruction. They are therefore described as "the face of G'd," i.e. the ones facing the presence of G'd. The words: "I will set My face against you" are addressed to these evil forces. The words: "and you will fall before your enemies" are about the Gentile nations all of which are branches of these forces of evil. The word פני may also mean that G'd will not hide His face from them even while He delivers the Israelites into the hands of their enemies, otherwise they would perish, G'd forbid. The Torah reveals the intent of G'd only at the very end of the passage in the words of verse 44. The reason the Torah writes the word בכם here is to emphasise that at this stage G'd's anger will become manifest against the people not against the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary will become the victim of G'd's anger only at a later stage than that discussed in our verse.

ונתתי פני בכם, “I will set My face against you.” A reference to G’d’s anger. We find the word פנים used in this sense in connection with Hannah in Samuel I 1,18, when the prophet describes Hannah as having been appeased by the blessing of the High Priest Eli.

This is a deathly plague (מותן). Some explain that this is an expression of waiting (המתנה), that people will wait and expect the disease to leave him any moment and [they wait for] he will his recovery., and wWhen he dies, people will be alarmed (נבהלים) that he suddenly died. Others explain that it is an expression of מתניים, a disease that begins from the hips (מתניים), and this [terrible] disease alarms him. The expression of מותן [instead of מתניים] is similar to the expression (Kiddushin 22b) “The ear (אוזן) that heard on Mount Sinai, etc.,” where it should have said “ears” (אזניים). Here too, it means מתניים.

ונתתי פני בכם, “I will set My face against you.” This is the opposite of ופניתי אליכם, “I will turn to you with goodwill.” This is the fifth of the seven plagues.

ורדו בכם שנאיכם — These words mean exactly what they imply: THEY THAT HATE YOU SHALL RULE OVER YOU. — The Agadic explanation of the Torat Cohanim (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 4 1-5) on this section is as follows:

[He sows it] the second year, and it grows. I.e., if it happens to grow the second time.

ונגפתם לפני אויביכם, “you will be smitten before your enemies.” This is the reverse of the blessing that “you will pursue and overwhelm those who hate you.” This is the sixth of the seven plagues.

אף אני אעשה זאת — I speak to you only with the expression אף. Similarly it states, (v. 41) “So, too, (אף) I will walk contrary unto them”.

For the days of siege. I.e., they gather produce to eat while they lay siege upon Jewish towns.

ונסתם ואין רודף אתכם, “you will flee even when no one pursues you.” This is the reverse of the blessing that five of you will put to flight a hundred of your enemies. (verse 8) This is the seventh of the seven plagues that will befall you.

והפקדתי עליכם I WILL ORDER UPON YOU denotes that the calamities will come upon you from one to another — while the first will still be on visit to you (will afflict you) I will bring another and add it to that.

Within [your cities]. You might ask: From where does Rashi [know to] explain like this? “You will be stricken before your enemies” implies that they will kill them with the sword? The answer is: Rashi proves this from “I will set My face against you,” which implies that the verse is speaking of death by the hand of Heaven, i.e., excision. [This is], when a person dies prematurely on his bed as it is written in parshas Kedoshim (above 20:5), “I shall set My face against that man and his family; I shall cut him off.” This indicates that wherever it is written “My face” it means excision. Yet after this it is written, “You will be stricken before your enemies,” which implies death atby the hand of man by the sword? Therefore, Rashi answers that it means as follows. When it says, “You will be stricken before your enemies,” it means that you will be killed within, by excision. And when it says “You will be stricken before your enemies,” it means that your enemies will surround you without, i.e., standing outside and rejoicing at their your death. Thus, you will be “stricken before your enemies.” Alternatively, [Rashi derives this] from ונגפתם, which is an expression of plague, a death by the hand of Hheaven.

בהלה is a plague that causes terror upon people. And what is that? It is an epidemic plague of pestilence.

From you. Rashi is answering the question: It is already written “you will be stricken...” Therefore, this must come to be expounded upon. [Later], Rashi has to say the double expression “from you and over you” in his commentary, because the exposition indicates that the enemies will be “from you,” while the verse indicates that they will rule “over you.” Therefore he says both in his explanation.

וזרעתם לריק זרעכם — One shall sow it (the soil) but it shall not grow grain. Well, then, what does it mean when it states that your enemies will come and eat?. How is this possible? But the explanation is: One shall sow it (the soil) the first year and it will not yield; the next year, however, it will yield, and then the enemies will come and will find grain for the time of siege, whilst those within the beleaguered city will die of famine because they will have gathered no grain the year before. Another explanation of וזרעתם לריק זרעכם is: Scripture is speaking in reference to your sons and daughters — you will rear them only after much toil but sin, the enemy, will come and destroy them, as it is said, (i. e. a similar thought is expressed in the text) (Lamentations 2:22) “those that I have swaddled and brought up mine enemy hath consumed”.

את השחפת THE CONSUMPTION — You may have a person that is sick and even confined to his bed, but his flesh is in a well-preserved state; therefore Scripture states, “I will visit you with שחפת” — that he will waste away. Or there are times that he may be wasting away but is calm and without fever, Scripture therefore states, “I will visit you with… קדחת” — that he will be in a fever. Or there are times that he may be in a fever but still cherishes the belief that he will recover (and therefore is easy in mind), Scripture therefore states, “I will visit you… with fever that shall make the eyes pine”. Or there may be the last stage when he cherishes no belief that he will recover, but others (his relatives) cherish the belief that he will recover, Scripture therefore states, “I will visit you with… fever… that shall cause sorrow of soul (utter despair).

Because of panic. Because afterwards is written “when no one is pursuing.” If so, why will they flee? Perforce, only because of panic.

Because of lack of strength. Rashi is answering the question: Its its [not] a blessing if no one pursues them? He answers that [the enemy] will not need to pursue them, as they will have no strength. They will think, “Why pursue them? They have no strength to wage war.”

ונתתי פני בכם — Even as it is stated in the case of the promise of good (v. 9), “I will turn (ופניתי) unto you” so is it stated also with regard to the threat of evil “I will set My face (פני) against you”. They (the Sages) illustrated this by a parable: it may be compared to the case of a king who said to his subjects, “I will turn away from all My other affairs and will devote myself to you alone — for evil”.

ונגפתם לפני איביכם — (This may signify: and ye shall be plagued in the presence of your enemies) — it means that death (pestilence — נגף) will kill you within the city whilst your enemies are besieging you outside (cf. the first Agadic comment on ‎וזרעתם לריק ).

‎ ורדו בכם שנאיכם — ‎(בכם is taken to signify: those who are amongst you) — this means that I will raise up haters of you only out of your own people and in your own midst. Internal enemies (שונאים) are a greater curse than external enemies (אויבים) for when the nations of the world rise against Israel they seek only what lies in the open, as it is said, (Judges 6:3, 4) “And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east,… and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the land”; but when I raise up against you those of your own people and in your own midst they search also after your hidden treasures. And thus it states, (Micah 3:1—3) “[Hear, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel…] who also eat the flesh of my people and flay their skin from off them etc.”

ונסתם AND YE SHALL RUN AWAY — from sheer panic,

ואין רדף אתכם WHEN NONE PURSUETH YOU, since there is no strength in them to do so.

ואם עד אלה means AND IF, WHILE THESE ARE YET with you,לא תשמעו YOU WILL NOT HEARKEN,

לא תשמעו לי, "you do not listen to Me." Teshuvah is made conditional on "listening" to G'd, i.e. studying Torah. True repentance is impossible without Torah study.

שבע על חטאתיכם; meaning that you will be struck with many afflictions for your sins. The expression is similar to the use of the word שבע by Solomon in Proverbs 24,16 שבע יפול צדיק וקם, “the Just will fall seven times, (many times) and each time he will rise up again.” Compare also Isaiah using the word שבעתים, literally, “sevenfold,” to compare the light of the sun in the future. He means it will be immeasurably stronger than in the pre-messianic times. (Compare Isaiah 30,26) The same prophet also employs the word “seven” as meaning “many,” In Isaiah 4,1 when saying that many women will beg to be just allowed to use the name of a chosen man, asking not to be supported by him but just to be allowed to be known as belonging to that man.

שבע על חטאתיכם, “seven ways for your sins.” According to Ibn Ezra the number seven here is not to be taken at face value, but it is a number representing some whole unit, some indivisible unit, such as Bileam asking Balak to build for him “seven” altars (Numbers 23,28), or Hannah’s prayer in Samuel I 2,5 claiming that the barren woman had given birth to “seven” children. [At that time, at least, she had given birth only to one child. Ed.]

And if while these [are happening]. Rashi is answering the question: ואם עד אלה (lit. if until these) implies that there is a time limit and the verse is saying that if the time passes and you still do not listen to Me, then I will increase your punishment. However, it is impossible to say that Hashem would set for them a time [until when they] transgress the commandments. Therefore he explains that עד is like עוד (while), because if not, the verse should have said, “If, you still do not listen to Me because (על) of these [catastrophes].”

ואם עד אלה, “if, as Rashi understands the word בעד, as בעוד, “still not,” we find a similar construction using this expression in Job 2,4: עור בעד עור, “skin for skin!” Compare also: ויסגור ה' בעדו, “G-d closed the door (of the ark) on his behalf.” (Genesis 7.16)

ויספתי — This together with ליסרה means, THEN I WILL ADD still other afflictions,

Still other sufferings. Not that ‘I will once again increase to bring the first sufferings onto them a second time’, since the second sufferings are not the same as the first.

שבע על חטאתיכם "sevenfold for your sins." The Torah does not mean that G'd will exact seven retributions for each sin but that G'd will exact retribution for the sins of the Jewish people which number seven. The punishment will fit the crime both qualitatively and quantitatively. The seven sins consist of the following: 1) failure to listen; 2) failure to perform; 3) relating to the statutes with disdain; 4) loathing of G'd's social laws; 5) preventing others from performing the commandments; 6) breaking G'd's covenant; 7) remaining unaffected by G'd's penalties and thereby closing the gates of repentance. This explains what the sages meant when they said in Rosh Hashanah 16 that three books are open in front of G'd on New Year's Day; one contains the names of the totally wicked; one contains the names of the totally righteous, and one contains the names of the "average" people (the ones whose merits and demerits are in balance). The latter are given until the Day of Atonement to see if they will repent. If they fail to do so they will automatically be inscribed in the book of the confirmed sinners.

ויספתי ליסרה אתכם, “I will continue to discipline you.”

שבע על חטאתיכם SEVEN punishments FOR THE seven SINS which were mentioned above (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 1).

Seven punishments. Rashi is answering the question: The verse implies that the Holy One will punish them seven times for their sins, yet this cannot be as He does not punish a person more than he transgressed against Him.

שבע, on account of the seventh year (sh’mittah) during which you did not release your hold on material possessions, especially by working the land. In the event you consider this interpretation far fetched, compare what the Torah writes in verse 34, where it describes the soil of the land of Israel making up during their exile for the years when its owners did not observe the shmittah legislation.

על חטאתיכם, “for your (various) sins.” Compare Psalms 44,23 where the psalmist writes: כי עליך הורגנו כל היום, “since for Your sake we are being killed all day long.” (the word על being used in the same sense) Also compare Psalms 69,8:כי עליך נשאתי חרפה, “for on Your account I have been reviled.”

ושברתי את גאון עזכם AND I WILL BREAK THE EXCELLENCY OF YOUR STRENGTH — This is a reference to the Temple; for thus does it state, (Ezekiel 24:21) “Behold I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength”.

ושברתי את גאון עזכם, by the destruction of the Tabernacle in Shiloh. Compare Psalms 78,60 “He forsook the Tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had set among men.”

ושברתי את גאון עזכם, "And I will break the pride of your power." According to Torat Kohanim our verse speaks of the Holy Temple and its destruction. Seeing the Jewish people did not repent in spite of their afflictions G'd will deprive them of the Holy Temple. The Jews erred in thinking that as long as the Temple remained standing this was proof that G'd related to them positively.

ושברתי את גאון עוזכם, as we read in verse 26 בשברי לכם מטה לחם, “when I will break your proud glory,” (economic independence) Ezekiel 16,49 uses similar words to express the same thoughts In the aggadic literature the predictions are understood as predicting the destruction of the Temple. In Ezekiel 24,21 the Temple is referred to as גאון עזכם, “your pride and glory.” The plain meaning of the text is in accordance with what I explained as testified to by the end of the verse ונתתי שמיכם כברזל ואת ארצכם כנחושה, “I will make your skies like iron and your earth like copper.”

Destroys its produce. Because [the land] is damp, its the fruits rots.

I will make your heavens like iron and your land like copper. Moshe said the opposite (Devarim 28:23): “And the heavens above your head will be like copper and the earth that is beneath you, iron.” This is because most commentaries agree that this entire rebuke corresponds to the Destruction of the First Temple, and that of Parshas Ki Savo corresponds to the Destruction of the Second Temple. It is known that iron is harder than copper. In the First Temple period, their main sin was towards Heaven, through the worship of the stars and the constellations, as it says (Yirmiyahu 44:18), “But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven.” Therefore, the heavens were as hard as iron, as it says (Iyov 20:27), “The heavens shall reveal his iniquity and the earth shall rise up against him.” During the Second Temple period, however, they did not worship idolatry. Their main evil was in the earth through baseless hatred and disputes among themselves, and the earth was destroyed as in the generation of the flood. Therefore, the earth was harder [like iron] than the heavens [like copper].

I will break the pride of your power. The gematriah (numerical value of the letters) of את גאון is זה המקדש (this is the Temple). The gematriah of the phrase את גאון עוזכם isזה ירושלים (this is Jerusalem).

ושברתי את גאון עוזכם, “I will break the pride of your power;” this has to be contrasted with verse 13 where the Torah described G-d as breaking all the yokes that the Egyptians had used to keep the Israelites down. This is stage one in this process of humbling the Jewish people. Step two follows with: ונתתי שמיכם ברזל, “I will make your heaven as iron;” this is the contrast to verse 4 where rain was promised to fall at the appropriate time of the year.

ונתתי את שמיכם כברזל ואת ארצכם כנחשה AND I WILL MAKE YOUR HEAVEN AS IRON AND YOUR EARTH AS COPPER — This threat is even severer than that of Moses, because there it says, (Deuteronomy 28:23) “And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be copper, [and the earth that is under thee shall be iron]” which implies that the heaven will at least exude moisture (will give some humidity) just as the copper exudes moisture, whilst the earth will not exude just as iron does not exude, and so it will keep its fruit in good condition, since it will not be too humid. Here, however, Scripture threatens that the heaven will not exude moisture, just as iron does not exude, and there will therefore be draught in the world, whilst the earth will exude (be too humid) just as copper sweats, and it will consequently make its fruits perish (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 3).

ואת ארצכם נחושת, “and your soil like copper.” This contrasts the word בעתם, “at their proper time” in verse 4 above. This was a separate blessing, i.e. the third one.

The word נחושת, “copper,” is a noun, as in Psalms 18,35: ונחתה קשת נחושה זרועותי, “my arms can bend a bow of copper.”

ותם לריק כחכם AND YOUR STRENGTH SHALL BE SPENT IN VAIN — Behold, if a man does not toil in his field — neither tills, nor sows, nor weeds it, nor clears away the thorns, nor hoes it, and then at harvest time blight comes and strikes it (the field, i. e. destroys that which sprung up of itself), surely it does not matter much (he does not take it to heart). But if a man has toiled — he has ploughed, sown, weeded, cleared away the thorns and hoed it, and then blight comes and strikes it, surely then the teeth of that man become blunt! (a figurative expression for becoming speechless, terror-stricken) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 4).

ותם לריק כחכם, "and your strength will be spent in vain." The meaning is the same as if the Torah had written ותם כחכם לריק, meaning that your entire efforts will be to no avail. The Torah had to tell us this as the power of destructive forces often is only partially effective.

כחכם, for the earth will no longer lend you its strength.

Who does not weed, nor harvest. נוכש is to gather weeds from among the seedlings, כסח is to harvest, and עודר is to dig.

ותם לריק כוכחם, “your strength will be spent in vain.” This is the opposite of verse 5, ובציר ישיג את זרע, “and the grape harvest will last until it is time to sew again.” We find the expression כח used in connection with harvest in Genesis 4,12 when G-d tells Kayin that the earth will not continue to give its strength to him as it had cooperated with him in hiding his brother’s blood. This is the fourth curse.

ולא תתן ארצכם את יבולה — This means, the earth shall not yield even as much as you brought to it at sowing-time (יבולה as passive participle with suffix of יבל “to bring”, may denote: that which is brought to it) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 4).

Behold the teeth of such a one are set on edge. Thus “Your strength will be exhausted in vain” means after this labor and effort, since then the teeth of such a one are set on edge. If “your strength” meant their money that comes from [exerting] strength [effort], the verse need not have mentioned this, as Scripture had already written, “I will make your heavens like iron,” and probably they exhausted [their money] in vain. (Gur Aryeh) You also cannot say it means that their physical strength will be exhausted, because if so it need not have said “in vain,” but [simply], “Your strength will be exhausted.”

ולא תתן ארצכם את יבולה, “your land will not yield its harvest.” This is the fifth curse.

ועץ הארץ AND THE TREE OF THE GROUND [SHALL NOT YIELD] — This implies that even from the very earth a curse will rest upon it — that it will not bring its fruits to development at the time when they should develop (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 4).

What you bring to it. Rashi is answering the question: Why is it written “your land”? It should have written “The land will not yield,” as above in the blessing (verse 4), “The earth shall give forth its produce.” Therefore, “your land” implies even what you bring to it of your own at the time of seeding; even this it will not yield. Alternatively, Rashi infers this from the word יבולה (produce), which connotes moving something (מוביל), [implying] that he brings [seed]. (Re’m)

לא יתן פריו, “the trees will not yield their fruit.” This is the sixth curse. According to Rashi, this is a twofold curse. (as it refers both to the trunks of the trees and their fruit)

לא יתן serves as the verb with what precedes and with what follows — with “tree” and with “fruit”. Thus we obtain a second sense —

Even from the very earth a curse will be upon them. Rashi is answering the question: It should have said “And the tree will not give forth its produce”! Why write “of the land”?

לא יתן פריו IT WILL NOT GIVE ITS FRUIT — when it does produce fruit, it will cast its fruits (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 4). This gives two curses, and so you have here seven punishments in all.

ואם תלכו עמי קרי — Our Rabbis said (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 5): this word signifies “irregularly”, “by chance” (מקרה), which is a thing that happens only occasionally; thus this means: if you will follow the commandments irregularly. Menachem explains it as an expression for “refraining”. Similar is, (Proverbs 25:17) “Refrain (הוקר) thy foot [from thy neighbour’s house]”; (Proverbs 17:27) “of a refraining (יקר) spirit”. This meaning approximates to the translation given by Onkelos which is a term denoting “stubbornness” (קושי) — that they harden their hearts so as to refrain from coming near unto Me.

ואם תלכו עמי קרי, "and if you walk contrary unto Me, etc." Inasmuch as the afflictions which have been visited upon the Jewish people are clearly the hand of G'd, their failure to react is described as walking contrary to G'd.

ואם תלכו עמי קרי, Menachem interprets the word קרי as related to Proverbs 28,17 הוקר רגלך, “restrain your foot.” This is nonsense. The word הוקר in Proverbs is derived from a group of verbs known as פ'ה, first root letter being the letter ה, as in Genesis 47,6 הושב את אביך, a transitive mode of the root ישב, meaning: “settle your father, etc.” The word קרי is derived from the root קרה as in Numbers 23,15, meaning: “if you will walk with Me as if your fate is subject to coincidences, totally arbitrary happenings, not subject to providence, as a person who walks haphazardly, not following a definitive direction.”

קרי, Ibn Ezra writes that according to the opinion of many scholars, the expression is unique throughout Scripture, meaning that the person so described is so full of self confidence or obstinacy, that he fears nothing and no one. Others hold that the word is related to מקרה, happenings which are popularly attributed to pure chance. If so, the Jewish people are described as instead of taking their misfortunes as a sign of G’d’s displeasure, they attribute their misfortunes to pure chance. Still a third view understands the expression as describing a hindrance, obstacle, as in הוקר רגלך, “restrain your foot from going to a certain place.”

ואם תלכו עמי קרי, “and if you behave casually with me, etc. This is the way a Torah-oriented Jew relates to his experiences: if he is successful in his endeavours he does not credit his astuteness with his success but sees in it an act of loving kindness by Hashem; he certainly does not think that he was so deserving an individual that G’d rewarded him for his righteousness by granting him this success. This is the Torah’s warning in Deut. 9,5: “not because of your righteousness and the uprightness of your heart are you coming to possess their land, etc.” However, if bad fortune strikes a Torah-observant Jew (or what he perceives as bad fortune), the first thing he must do is to confess his personal inadequacies and assume that the reason for his afflictions are sins which he committed; on no account is he to attribute his misfortune to “bad luck,” i.e. to coincidence. If he were to make the mistake of doing so he will find that G’d adds more such “bad luck” as a punishment for his mistaken attitude. In other words, the mistaken notion that his fate was due to coincidence, מקרה, causes G’d to add more such מקרים"“. This is what is meant when G’d said in verse 24: “also I will behave toward you with casualness.” The Torah repeats the same sentiment in verse 28 in an accentuated form. In that instance the קרי will be an expression of G’d’s anger, חמה. It will appear as if G’d is “unloading” a measure of such coincidences on the Jew who refuses to heed the warnings expressed here.

ואם תלכו עמי קרי, “but if you will walk with Me as if what happens to you is only coincidental;”

שבע כחטאתיכם SEVEN ACCORDING TO YOUR SINS — i. e. seven other punishments. These words mean: I will bring upon you more plagues (ויספתי עליכם מכה) in number, seven, corresponding to your sins (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 5).

שבע כחטאתיכם, "seven times more, according to your sins." Even though the Israelites had not become guilty of additional sins the fact that they had not become penitent is accounted as if the sins had been committed anew.

שבע על חטאתכם, “seven plagues;” just as your sins were committed by ignoring the legislation governing activities in the seventh year.

והשלחתי is an expression for “inciting”.

חית השדה. "the wild beasts of the field." Inasmuch as the Israelites were guilty of behaving like animals they in turn will be afflicted by animals.

An expression of inciting. Because [the other meaning of והשלחתי] “sending on a mission” only applies to [a human] who has intellect.

'והשלחתי בכם וגו, “I shall send forth against you, etc.;” this corresponds to the blessing in verse 6, where G-d promises to destroy or keep in check wild beasts as a reward for our keeping the Torah. Seeing that the positive virtues are always evident in greater measure than the negative ones, when speaking about the wild beasts in the blessings, when referring to the wild beasts in the curses, the Torah uses the whole species, חיה רעה, whereas when referring to them in the context of His blessings, He mentions only “free roaming animals of the field,” not the whole species.

ושכלה אתכם [I WILL INCITE THE WILD ANIMALS AGAINST YOU] WHICH WILL ROB YOU OF YOUR CHILDREN — I find here mention only of wild animals robbing them of their children, i. e. of animals whose nature consists in this (to attack human beings); whence do we know that cattle whose nature is not thus will also rob them of their children? Because it states in a similar series of threats (Deuteronomy 32:24) “I will also incite (אשלח) the teeth of cattle (בהמות) against them”. — Thus you have two of the seven calamities mentioned above (the attacks of wild beasts and of cattle). And whence do we know that it (the cattle) will kill by its bite? Because Scripture states immediately afterwards, “with the poison of serpents of the dust". How is it in the case of these (the serpents)? They bite and kill by their bite! So, too, will those (the cattle) bite and thus kill. There were indeed such years in the Land of Israel when both a tame ass bit someone and caused his death and the wild ass bit and caused death (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 6).

I will set (אשלח) upon them. And here too it writes “I will send (והשלחתי) among you,” giving us a gezeiroh shovoh.

ושכלה אתכם,”He will cause you bereavement amongst your children;” this is the opposite of when in the blessings the Torah portrayed you as pursuing your enemies (verse 9). Now that you have suffered bereavements you will not have enough people left to pursue your enemies.

ושכלה אתכם AND THEY WILL ROB YOU OF YOUR CHILDREN — This means your little children.

There were indeed years. Rashi mentions this so that you do not ask: Where do we find that a domesticated animal killed with its bite? He cites an incident that there were indeed, etc.

והכריתה את בהמתכם, “it will destroy your cattle;” this corresponds to the blessing in verse 6 where wild beasts are destroyed, thus protecting your cattle against attack. The word מן הארץ, in verse 6, a second time is the link to the word from the land is the link to the והמעיטה, “it will diminish your numbers,” in our verse here. [The reader will notice to what length our author goes to demonstrate how the curses match the blessings throughout this chapter. Ed.]

והכריתה את בהמתכם AND THEY WILL DESTROY YOUR CATTLE — those being outside in the fields (and so unable to escape the attacks of wild beasts),

These are minors. The death of one’s children when they are minors is called משכל as we find byin the case of Rivkah who said (Bereishis 27:45), “Why should I lose (אשכל) both of you on one day?” At that time they [Yaakov and Eisav] were minors. See parshas Toldos.

The word והמעיטה is exactly the opposite of the words והרביתי, “I will make more numerous,” in verse 9 of the blessings in our chapter.

והמעיטה אתכם AND REDUCE YOUR NUMBERS — you being inside in the houses (reduce your numbers and not destroy entirely, for some of you will be able to escape).

Within. Rashi alters his wording and says “within” regarding people. He is answering the question: Why did it not [simply] write “I will destroy your cattle and you”? The answer is: The wild animals will completely destroy the cattle that are outside in the field. But since people are within, inside the town, the wild animals will not destroy them all, but will only reduce them.

ונשמו דרכיכם, “your ways will become desolate.” This is the opposite of ונתתי שלום בארץ, “I will grant peace in your land;” [when no one will be scared to walk alone on these ways. Ed.] This is the conclusion of the seven curses as explained by Rashi.

ונשמו דרכיכם AND YOUR ROADS SHALL BE DESOLATE — both the highways and the by-paths (דרכיכם plural!) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 7). — Here again you have seven punishments: 1) the teeth of domestic animals, 2) the teeth of wild animals, 3) the venom of the crawling things of the dust, 4) and they will bereave , 5) utterly destroy, 6) and diminish, 7) and [your roads] will become desolate.

‎‏ לא תוסרו לי‏AND IF YOU WILL NOT BE CHASTISED — so that you should return unto Me.

To return to Me. Because the expression לא תוסרו לי (lit. do not accept your sufferings) is problematical, as people obviously do not want to accept sufferings [and they sufferings are given to people whether they want them or not]. Therefore Rashi explains: If, despite all these sufferings, you do not want to return to Me.

והלכתי אף אני עמכם בקרי, "and then I will also walk contrary unto you." This means that from now on G'd will not bother any longer to make the afflictions fit the sins committed so that the very afflictions would serve as a reminder to do תשובה. Up until this point G'd had brought the kinds of retribution which could be traced to specific sins the people had been guilty of. Up until then G'd had done as the Psalmist describes in Psalms 62,13: "You pay each man according to his deeds." From now on the people will be deprived of the positive effect of the afflictions as they cannot relate them to any sins they have committed.

והלכתי אף אני עמכם בקרי, “and I too will walk with you as if what happens to you is only coincidental, and not related to your disloyalty to Me.” [This will make it harder for you to return to Me in penitence, as you cannot see cause and effect in your history. Ed.] This is another example of the punishment fitting the crime.

נקם ברית [AND I WILL BRING UPON YOU A SWORD AVENGING] THE VENGEANCE OF THE COVENANT — Scripture speaks of “the vengeance of the covenant” because there is vengeance which is not mentioned in “The Covenant” (i. e. in this chapter of Scripture) being in the manner of other acts of vengeance (i. e. like the barbarous acts of revenge that are customary among other peoples, but which are not threatened in the Torah), and such a one was the blinding of the eyes of king Zedekiah (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 1; cf. 2 Kings 25:7). Another explanation of נקם ברית is that it means vengeance for My covenant which you have transgressed. Wherever “bringing of the sword” is mentioned in Scripture it signifies a war waged by the enemies’ armies.

והבאתי עליכם חרב, as happened repeatedly during the periods when Israel was governed by its kings even though the Temple was standing. Kings II 8,12 describes a meeting of the prophet Elisha with King Ben Haddad of Aram (Syria) in which the prophet tells the king that the reason he is weeping is because he foresees the death and destruction which this king will cause his homeland.

נקם ברית, vengeance for the covenant which you broke. Compare what was written in verse 15.

There is “avenging” ... I.e., “I will bring an avenging sword upon you avenging the covenant,” implies the sword written in the covenant, i.e., the Torah. But there is another avenging not [mentioned] in the covenant, and that is the blinding of Tzidkiyohu.

חרב, “sword,” this is the opposite of the promise in verse 6, that no sword will cross the boundaries of your land. Regarding this “sword,” Isaiah 1,20, has said that you will be devoured by it. נוקמת נקם הברית “it shall execute the vengeance of the covenant (that has been broken by you.) The Torah had warned of this already in Exodus 24,8, when it was first described as a great blessing for you. In Vayikra Rabbah 35,6, the author, quoting Isaiah 1,18, אם תאבו ושמעתם טוב הארץ תאכלו, speaks of if you will agree and listen you will eat of the best the earth has to offer,” adding that “you will be devoured by the sword if you do not listen.”Rashi adds on our verse that there is also a vengeance that is not related to this covenant between the Jewish people and their G-d, citing the gouging out of King Tzidkiyahu’s eyes for having broken a covenant with King Nebuchadnezzar. (Torat Kohanim) This is a form of vengeance not mentioned in the Torah. [The first time we encounter it occurs with Shimshon, whose eyes were gouged out by the Philisitines, but in his caseaccording to our sages, it was actually retribution not for what he had done to the Philistines, but by what he had done to himself by following his eyes when repeatedly choosing Philistine women to cohabit with. The Torah, and Shimshon’s father, had warned him not to rely on what his eyes saw when choosing a wife. Ed.] There is yet another kind of vengeance not mentioned in the Torah, which is also described as violation of a covenant; When the Torah wrote in Deuteronomy 28,69, at the end of Moses’ version of the reprimands, Tochachah, אלה דברי בהרית, “these are the words of (warning) of the covenant concluded with the people at Mount Chorev,” the very word: אלה “these,” hints to us that in addition to “these,” there may be other contractual and mutual obligations, but not necessarily the ones entered into at Mount Sinai. [Keeping one’s solemn promise surely did not have to become part of morality only after the Jewish people accepted the Torah. Our forefathers already encountered this problem in their lives, Ed.]

ונאספתם AND YE SHALL GATHER YOURSELVES from outside (from the open country) WITHIN YOUR CITIES on account of the state of siege (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 1).

נוקמת נקם ברית, vengeance for violating the covenant, the very vengeance which is mentioned in the Book of the Covenant, in the words of our sages (Ketuvot 30) “even though the institution of the Supreme Court became void, the penalties which this court was authorised to hand out have not become void.” [if someone guilty of such a penalty which could not be administered because we are in exile, forfeits the atonement which administering the penalty would grant him, so that he is in fact much worse off seeing the court could not convict him. Ed.]

The blinding of Tzidkiyohu. Blinding is not written in the Torah. Alternatively, “avenging the covenant” refers to Tzidkiyohu who made an oath [covenant], [then] transgressed the oath, and was blinded. And “other avengings” means cases where people transgressed the Torah’s commands such as theft and immorality, [where one does not transgress a specific covenant. Rashi is saying as follows: “There is ’avenging’ which is not for the (violation of a) covenant, such as with other avengings, while this (case of our verse) is the blinding of Tzidkiyohu.]

ונאספתם אל עריכם, “you shall be gathered within your cities;” you will have to take refuge within the walls of your cities from the swords of your enemies. Even this defensive measure will prove useless; because pestilence will break out amongst you within these cities, and you will be delivered into the hands of your enemies. This is the second curse contrasted with verse 13 where G-d promised that He will lead us in upright and selfconfident posture. The third plague follows when the Torah writes here that we will be delivered to our enemies as opposed to verse 8, when the Jewish people were described as so powerful and feared that a mere one hundred of them put to flight 10000 of their attackers. This is the third of the seven curses, the fourth being that you will fall before your enemies instead of at least being able to save your lives.

ושלחתי דבר בתוככם AND I WILL SEND THE PESTILENCE AMONG YOU, and through the pestilence it will happen, ונתתם ביד THAT YOU WILL BE GIVEN INTO THE HAND of the enemies who besiege you. This is because no corpse was permitted to remain in Jerusalem over night, and therefore when they would carry the corpse out of the city to bury it they would be given (they would fall) into the hands of their enemies (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 1).

ונתתם ביד אויב, as happened to the Ten Tribes who were exiled by the King of Assyria.

Which you have transgressed. I.e., the Torah [according to the first interpretation].

Enemy armies. Rashi is answering the question: How can a sword on its own strike them? Why does Rashi not explain this above in v. 6 where it said, “No sword shall pass through your land”? The answer is: Above it is written “I will grant peace in the land.” Since peace is the opposite of war, as it is written (Tehillim 120:7), “I am for peace, but when I speak they are for war,” [“sword” of that verse] certainly refers to an armed force [i.e., war]. Here, however, no enemy is mentioned as it is only written, “I will bring an avenging sword upon you.” Therefore, he explains that “sword” refers to an army of enemies.

When they take out. Because otherwise, how is pestilence relevant to “You will be given into the hand of the enemy”? Even though did every evil, they did not leave the dead overnight because the [holy] Land is unable to bear it and the corpse immediately gives off a stench if left overnight.

מטה לחם THE STAFF OF YOUR BREAD: מַטֵּה — This expression denotes [a source of] “support”, similar to “staff (מַטֵּה) of strength” (Jeremiah 48:17).

עשר נשים, meaning “many;” the number “10” is not to be understood literally. It is used in the same sense in Job 19,3 עשר פעמים תכלימני, “time and again you humiliated me.”

ואפו עשר נשים, “and ten women will bake (in one oven).” This number is not to be understood literally, but is an example of an unusually large number, not appropriate for the subject under discussion. We find an example of this in Job 19,3 where he said: “you humiliate me ten times.” It means that Job complained about being humiliated time and again. The reason the number “ten” is used to illustrate such concepts of something occurring frequently is because this number is the conclusion of a number of digits which are all included in it. The number “seven” has similar properties as it includes all the days of the week, a recurring phenomenon. When Solomon writes in Proverbs 24,16 that a righteous person can fall seven times and recover, this does not mean that he cannot recover an eighth time, but that he can recover after having fallen many times. The Torah describes Yaakov as prostrating himself before his brother Esau “seven times” in Genesis 33,3. The number “seven” need not be understood literally but is a metaphor for “many times.” The reason that that number has become the symbol of “many times” may be that the only sequential combination of letters in the aleph bet which produces the number seven are the letters ג and ד, a combination of these two numbers as letters yields the word דג, fish, a species whose rate of multiplying is described as ישרצו, in Genesis 1,20 as “the waters shall teem with fish.” Yaakov applied this to human beings also when he blessed Joseph’s children wishing וידגו לרב בקרב הארץ, “may they increase abundantly as fish,” in Genesis 48,16. We may therefore view both the number seven and the number ten as metaphors for large numbers of something.

I will break for you. Rashi needs to explain that בשברי means “I will break,” because the [literal] meaning of בשברי is “when I break,” but the intent here is “I will break” and not “when I break.”

בשברי לכם מטה הלחם, ”when I break your staff of bread;” this curse is the reverse of the blessing in verse 5 that we will eat our bread and find that it satisfies our requirements and we will be sated. This is the fifth curse. והשיבו לחמכם במשקל, “and they shall deliver your bread again by weight;” the vowel under the letter is a patach. Dough which has been put inside the oven for baking will be found not to have increased in weight. The entire expression symbolises how even the little that is available will be measured minutely. This curse is contrasted with the blessing in verse 10 where the abundance of food is described as lasting well into the next harvest season. It is the sixth of the seven curses.

בשברי לכם מטה לחם WHEN I BREAK THE STAFF OF YOUR BREAD — This implies: “I will break for you every support of food”. These are the “arrows of famine” alluded to by Ezekiel (5:16), for he continues with exactly the same words: “and I will break your staff of bread” (cf. Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 2).

בתנור אחד, for one woman does not have enough dough with which to fill the oven.

For lack of wood. Gur Aryeh explains that you cannot say it is for lack of bread, because it is already written “When I break the staff of your bread.” But, this is no proof, because “staff of bread” can refer to anything that gives sustenance (הסועד), as every meal (סעודה) is called [bread] because of bread [which sustains most of all]. This is clearly indicated in Rashi who writes “every support (מסעד) of food.” Rashi’s proof [that the verse refers to lack of wood] seems to be because it is not written “Ten women will knead one dough,” which occurs before baking. This indicates that even though they have flour and each woman can make dough by herself, they are unable to bake [separately for lack of wood]. This is easy to understand. (R. Yaakov Taryosh)

ואכלתם ולא תשבעו, “even when you eat that you will not experience the feeling of having been sated.” This is the opposite of the blessing in verse 10 that you will eat from grain long held in storage.

בתנור אחד [TEN WOMEN SHALL BREAK YOUR BREAD] IN ONE OVEN — on account of scarcity of wood (fuel) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 2).

והשיבו לחמכם במשקל, because it had been brought into the oven by weight, and according to the same weight it will be returned to the owners of the dough. The whole expression describes the minute amount of bread available. Ezekiel 4,16 graphically describes these conditions, writing “they shall eat bread by weight, in anxiety, and drink water by measure, in horror.” בשברי לכם מטה לחם, “when I break your staff of bread,” it will be baked and consumed strictly according to weight.

“And you will be given [into the hand of the enemy]” is not of that number. Because otherwise, there would be eight. Rather, it is [the same as] “the sword” written in the beginning of the verse. And its explanation is: through the sword, that is, the enemy armies, you will be given into the hand of the enemy through pestilence [that breaks out during the siege].

והשיבו לחמכם במשקל AND THEY SHALL DELIVER YOUR OWN BREAD AGAIN BY WEIGHT, because the grain will rot and the bread will become פת נפולת (crumbly bread) and break into pieces in the oven, so that they (the women) will deliberately weigh the pieces in order to divide them between themselves (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 2).

ואכלתם ולא תשבעו, because the rations are so inadequate. Alternatively, the meaning is that “although you eat a lot of it, it will not satisfy because a curse rests on the bread.”

ואכלתם ולא תשבעו AND YE SHALL EAT AND NOT BE SATISFIED — This is a special curse that will take effect on the bread already in their stomach (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 2; cf. Rashi on v. 5). Thus you have seven punishments (alluded to in v. 24): (1) the attacking armies, (2) the siege, (3) the plague, (4) the destruction of food supply, (5) a lack of wood, (6) crumbly bread and (7) a curse in the intestines.

ויסרתי, same as Deuteronomy 8,5 כאשר ייסר איש את הנו, “as a father who disciplines his son.” The word occurs in this sense also in Deuteronomy 21,18 ויסרו אותו, “after they disciplined him.” (physical punishment.) Similar constructions are found with the root ישב, as in Ezekiel 25,4 וישבו בך טירותם, “they will establish their palaces within you.”

ויסרתי, “I will chastise;” the vowels here are: sh’va, followed by chirik. [strong conjugation piel. Ed.]

ואכלתם בשר בניכם, "and you will eat the flesh of your own sons." The reason the Torah repeats this statement by also writing: "you will eat the flesh of your daughters" is to tell you that even after having eaten the flesh of their sons their pity will not have been stirred and they will continue by eating the flesh of their daughters.

ואכלתם בשר בניכם, “you will eat the flesh of your children.” This curse corresponds to the blessing in verse 9 והפרתי אתכם, “I will make you fruitful.”Some commentators understand this as referring to children who are from highly respected families getting married to families of far lower social standing, by trading their superior ancestry for making an alliance with a wealthier family through marriage. If so, this would be the first curse.

It is also possible that the Torah stresses that the sons will be eaten first so that they would not try and escape when they observed their parents getting ready to eat their daughters. The daughters were weaker and therefore less likely to escape.

It is also possible that the reason the parents would eat the sons first is because according to Rashi on Shabbat 66 fathers display extraordinary leniency and mercy towards sons. Once they had consumed the sons they would certainly not feel any compunction about also consuming their daughters.

במתיכם YOUR HIGH PLACES — towers and castles.

ונתתי את פגריכם על פגרי גלוליכם, seeing that the city is under siege, as the Talmud Sanhedrin 63 relates about a certain encounter between Elijah the prophet and a young child suffering from hunger; when he urged the child to recite the שמע ישראל prayer so that he would be revived, the child refused even to utter the name of G’d, pulling out his particular miniature idol kissing it, and dying on the spot, instead.

וגעלה נפשי אתכם, "and My soul will abhor you." Why did the Torah have to spell this out? It is something that we can extrapolate from verse 11 where G'd had said that as long as the Israelites would observe the commandments they would be blessed in that G'd would not abhor them. Clearly such a blessing would not continue when the people turned sinful. If G'd wanted to write how blessings would be reversed during periods when the Jewish people rebelled against G'd, the Torah should have presented all of the previously mentioned blessings as being reversed.

על פגרי גילוליכם, because in the very houses which served as your temples you will be killed; there is a parallel verse in Jeremiah 7,32 describing the lack of suitable burial grounds for the dead.

והשמדתי את במותיכם, “I will destroy your lofty buildings.” The meaning of this verse is that once the retribution starts there will no longer be a place from which to offer the prayers and to plead with G’d to halt the process. The reason is that G’d will destroy the locations of the altars where such prayers might have been accepted by a G’d so inclined.

And he would fall [dead] upon it [the idol]. Rashi is explaining how the verse can say, “I will set your corpses upon the carcasses of your idols,” implying that the people fall on their idols when they are already dead.

והשמדתי את במותיכם והכרתי את חמניכם, “I will destroy your high places and cut down your sun pillars;” This is not part of the curses, as it refers simply to your idols being destroyed.

חמניכם SUN IMAGES — a kind of idols which they used to set on their roofs; and because they were placed in the sun (חמה) they are called “sun images” (חמנים) (Sifra, Kedoshim, Section 1 11).

וגעלה נפשי אתכם, ”for My essence will despise you.” For as soon as I withdraw My Presence from you, your cities will be ruined.

We must assume therefore, that G'd listed the various punishments independent of the fact that the blessings would now be absent. I believe the message of the verse is that even the righteous who would live during these times when the bulk of the people turned sinful would not enjoy a display of G'd's favour. We find a statement to this effect in Hoseah 4,5 that "even the prophet who is among you will stumble." Another meaning of all this is that the gift of prophecy will be withdrawn [or handed to totally ineffectual individuals such as children or idiots, Ed.] so that no longer will there be prophets to admonish the people. G'd's "soul" manifests itself through His communication with His prophets. This is just about the worst curse there is and it is the reason the Torah mentioned it only after having already listed many other curses. Tragically, we are still witnessing this curse as being in effect in our own days.

חמניכם, from the word חמה, another word for “sun, שמש; the letter נ in this word is extraneous, just as the letter נ in the word נשים for “women” is extraneous in the expression: נשים רחמניות, (Lamentations 4,10)

ונתתי את פגריכם AND I WILL CAST YOUR CARCASSES [UPON THE CARCASSES OF YOUR IDOLS] —[This actually happened, for it is related (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 4; Sanhedrin 63b) that] people were once swollen from starvation during a siege, and yet they took their idols from their bosom and kissed them, and whilst they were so doing each person’s belly burst open and he fell to the ground upon it (the idol).

ונתתי את פגריכם על פגרי גלוליכם, “I will cast your carcasses next to the carcasses of your idols.” This curse corresponds to the blessing in verse 12: “I will be your G-d, and you will be My people.” This is the second curse.

וגעלה נפשי אתכם AND MY SOUL SHALL LOATHE YOU — This refers to the departure of the Shechinah from their midst (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 4).

וגעלה נפשי אתכם, “My soul shall abhor you.” This corresponds to the blessing in verse 11 that “My soul will not abhor you.” This is the third curse.

ונתתי את עריכם חרבה AND I WILL MAKE YOUR CITIES WASTE — I might think that this means that they will be so waste that there will be no human being there (no inhabitants)! But when Scripture states (v. 32) “I will bring the land into desolation” its becoming desolate of human beings is expressed there. How, then, must I explain the words "[and I will make your cities] waste”? That there will not even be occasional passers to and fro — no occasional visitors (cf. Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 1 4).

ונתתי עריכם חרבה, at the hands of the King of Babylon and his hordes.

ונתתי את עריכם חרבה, "and I will turn your cities into ruins." The Torah means that not only will our cities no longer be a model for other nations but that they will be inferior to the civilisation of the Gentile nations. This is a source of great distress. Isaiah had this in mind when he described the cities of Yehudah and Zion as being turned into a desert (Isaiah 64,9) unless the Jewish people would mend their ways.

והשמותי את מקדשיכם, “I will utterly destroy your sanctuaries.” Note, that while G’d was in a benevolent state of mind He had described these sanctuaries as “My sanctuaries.” As soon as the Israelites became habitual sinners He no longer associated His name with these sanctuaries. Having first spoken only of the destruction of the cities and sanctuaries in the Jewish state, He now speaks of:

והשמותי את מקדשיכם, “I will make your Sanctuaries desolate.” The fact that the Torah still refers to these buildings as “sanctuaries,” is to teach us that even when they have been destroyed their sites retain their original sanctity (compare Megillah 28). We read in Midrash Tehillim (11,4) “Rabbi Pedot said that regardless of the Sanctuary being operative or destroyed, the Shechinah did not depart from that site as it is written in Psalms 11,4: ה' בהיכל קדשו ה' בשמים ה' בשמים כסאו, ‘the Lord is in His holy palace, the Lord- His throne is in heaven.’” The psalmist says that although G’d is in His Sanctuary in heaven on His throne, His Shechinah is in the Sanctuary on earth. The fact that this Sanctuary retains its sanctity is derived from Kings I 9,3: “My eyes and My heart will remain there forever.” Another verse in Scripture stating the same is found in Psalms 3,5: ”He answers me from His holy mountain selah,” (forever). Even though it is now only a mountain (as opposed to a Sanctuary) it retains its sanctity, selah. Another verse having a bearing on this subject is found in Micah 4,10: “for now you must leave the city and dwell (ושכנת) in the field;” the fact that the prophet says of G’d (Shechinah) that it will continue to “dwell,” means it will be at home. [According to the author’s version of Micah, the word we have as ושכנת was spelled as ושכנתי, “I will dwell”. Ed.] This means that although the area has become as desolate as a field, the Shechinah will continue to dwell there. Rabbi Acha said that the Shechinah has never departed from the Western Wall as it is written in Song of Songs 2,9: “there He stands behind our wall.”

עריכם חרבה, ”your cities will be waste;” this must be contrasted with the blessing in verse 5, “you will pursue etc.” This is the fourth curse.

והשמותי את מקדשיכם AND I WILL BRING YOUR SANCTUARIES UNTO DESOLATION — I might think that this means they will be desolate of sacrifices! But when Scripture states, “and I will not smell [your pleasing odors]”, their being desolate of sacrifices is expressed there! How then must I explain והשמותי את מקדשיכם? As referring to their being abandoned by the bands of pilgrims — by the caravans of Israelites which used to prepare and to band together in order to pilgrim there (Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 1 4). Thus again you have seven punishments: the eating of the flesh of their sons and daughters, the destruction of the high places, these make two. — The cutting off of the sun-images, however, is not reckoned as a separate punishment, for that statement means that through the destruction of the high places the sun-images which were placed on the top of the roofs would fall and so be destroyed. — “I will cast your carcasses etc.”, three; the departure of the Shechinah, four; the laying waste of the cities, the desertion of the Sanctuary by the pilgrim bands and “I shall not smell the pleasing odor of the sacrifices” — make altogether seven.

והשימותי את מקדשיכם, at the hands of the general Nevuzaradan.

והשימותי את מקדשיכם, "and I will make your Sanctuaries desolate." This is a reference to symbols of impurity in the Temple. The forces of the קליפה are also known as שממון.

והשימותי את מקדשיכם, “I will lay waste your sanctuaries.” This is to be contrasted with the blessing of ונתתי משכני בתוככם, “I will set My Tabernacle amongst you in verse 11. This is the fifth curse.

ולא אריח את ריח ניחוחכם, even though during the period in question there were priests, descendants of the illustrious High Priest Tzadok who faithfully performed the service in the Temple, including the daily incense offering, no doubt. This offering was rejected by G’d on account of the immense guilt the people had accumulated.

ולא אדיח בריח ניחחכם. "and I will not savour the fragrance of your sweet odours." This means that G'd will not even be pleased by the good deeds of the Jewish peolpe at that time. Good deeds also qualify for the description ריח ניחח, sweet odour. Jeremiah made the same point in Lamentations 3, 5 שתם תפלתי, "He shut out my prayers."

ולא אריח ברית ניחוחכם, “I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.” This may be contrasted with the blessing in verse 12: והתהלכתי בתוככם, “I will go for walks amongst you.” This is the sixth of the curses.

והשמתי אני את הארץ AND I WILL BRING THE LAND INTO DESOLATION [AND YOUR ENEMIES WHO ABIDE IN IT SHALL BE DESOLATE UPON IT] — This was a kindly measure for Israel that the enemies would find no satisfaction in their (the Israelites') land and so it would become desolate of its inhabitants (of the enemies also, and Israel might again easily take possession of it) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 5).

והשמותי אני את הארץ, "And I will make the land desolate, etc." The reason the Torah uses the word אני although it is implied in the word והשמותי is to identify the Attribute of G'd causing this desolation. It is the attribute of mercy. Torat Kohanim explains that the desolation of the land is intended to deny our enemies the pleasure of what had been our land before they conquered it.

ושממו עליה איביכם, when they come there with the intention to settle in them. (compare Tzefaniah 2,15 כל עובר עליה ישרוק, יניע ידו, “everyone who comes by her hisses and gestures with his hand (in disgust).”

והשמותי אני את הארץ, “I will make the whole land desolate.” This is a reference to the entire Holy Land.

ושממו עליה אויביכם, “your foes who dwell upon it will be desolate.” The desolation will be experienced by your enemies who will never feel comfortable in your land. This verse is good news for the Jewish people. G’d promises this in order that Jews in exile should never have to lament that seeing that they have been exiled from the Holy Land, others will now experience the pleasures to be experienced in that land. Thus far Sifra Bechukotai 6,8 on our verse. As a result the peoples who will dwell there will not engage in civilising the country which they took over as desolate; they will not wall their cities. Any nation attempting to rebuild this country will find themselves lacking in strength to do so. This is a tremendous source of encouragement for exiled Jews that the land awaits their eventual return to it before it will begin to bloom again.

This is [actually] a kindly measure for Israel. Rashi is answering the question: Why is this not counted among the punishments, making them eight? Therefore he explains: “This is a kindly measure, etc.” Do not ask: Why does Rashi not include the even harsher “I will scatter you among the nations, etc.” among the punishments? The answer is: Once the verse interrupted with a kindly measure, it is not counted as being part of the above mentioned punishments. This is not like Re’m who explains: “This is a kindly measure.:” Rashi is telling us the truth of the matter and is not saying that if it was not a kindly measure, but a punishment, there would be eight [punishments]. Because if so, you could ask that since “I will scatter you among the nations” is a measure of punishment, there would [still] be eight. Therefore one must say that once the number of seven is complete, the Torah is not particular if there are eight [punishments or for that matter] other punishments in addition to the seven. So far are his words. [Alternatively,] Rashi is answering the question: Why does Scripture write, והשימותי אני and not [simply] write והשימותי את הארץ as it is written in v. 31, והשימותי את מקדשיכם without writing אני (Myself)? This indicates [the direct involvement of] the Holy One Himself. But, being that no evil comes from Him as “evil does not come from the Most High,” therefore Rashi has to explain, “This is [actually] a kindly measure.”

והשמותי אני את הארץ, “I will bring the land into desolation;”

For their enemies will not find any satisfaction. I.e., when the verse writes “Your enemies who live on it will be desolated,” it means that they will not be able to live in your land because of the desolation. [It means] that they will not be able to live in your land because of the desolation.

ושממו עליה אויביכם, but your enemies will be amazed by the desolation in your country. Your cities will also become desolate, i.e. ארצכם שממה ועריכם יהיו חרבה. We find a repetition here.

ואתכם אזרה בגוים AND I WILL SCATTER YOU AMONG THE NATIONS — This again was a harsh measure; because when the inhabitants of a country go into exile in one and the same place they have the opportunity to see each other and so find consolation for their bad lot. Israel, however, was scattered as though by a winnowing fan — as when a man winnows barley with a fan — when not even one grain of them adheres to the other (not even two grains remain in the same place; cf. Jeremiah 25:7) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 6).

ואתכם אזרה בגויים, a reference to the Israelites who emigrated to Egypt after the destruction of the Temple.

ואתכם אזרה בגוים, "And you I will scatter among the nations." This verse is best explained in conjunction with what we have learned in Ketuvot 111 that G'd made the (Jews) people swear three (two) oaths at the time they went into exile.. 1) they would not try and recapture the land of Israel by force of arms; 2) they would not start a rebellion against their host countries while in exile. 3) G'd made the nations swear that they would not oppress the Jews excessively. In our verse the Torah alludes to two things. The word אזרה alludes to the oath not to try and recapture the land of Israel by force. The word בגוים refers to the oath not to start a rebellion against the host countries. The words והריקותי אחריכם חרב, "I will draw out the sword after you," is a threat that if the Israelites do not abide by the oaths mentioned G'd would make their lives הפקר, abandoned property. The words והיתה ארצכם שממה "your land will be waste-land," is the reason why G'd has to scatter the Israelites among the nations. Otherwise He could not fulfil His decree for the land to rest by not being worked and thus make up for the failure of the Jewish people to observe the שמטה years while they occupied the land. This is also why the Torah emphasises that all this would happpen while the Jewish people are in exile, i.e. ואתם, "as for you."

The scabbard is emptied. Because the expression of ריק (empty) is not applicable to a sword as Rashi explains in parshas Beshalach. הנדן is the sheath of the sword.

How am I going to do this? ואתכם אזרה בגויים, “I will scatter you among the nations.” This is to be contrasted with verse 5 of the blessings where the Torah promised that you will dwell securely in your land. This is the seventh of the curses.

והריקתי — (lit., I shall empty out) — This term may be used for drawing the sword because when one draws the sword the scabbard becomes empty (cf. Rashi on Ex 15:9). A Midrashic explanation (referring the word והריקתי to the sword itself not to the scabbard) is the sword once drawn to pursue you will not soon return unto the scabbard — as a man pours out water and it can never return to the vessel that once contained it (i. e. I will, as it were, empty out the scabbard — pour forth the sword from it, and it shall never return, but always follow you) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 6 7).

והריקותי אחריכם חרב, a reference to Nevuchadnezzar’s sword, the latter invading Egypt as predicted by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 42,15.

As a person who empties. And therefore it is written והריקותי.

והיתה ארצכם שממה AND YOUR LAND WILL BE (REMAIN) DESOLATE — This implies that you will not soon return unto it, and on that account עריכם יהיו חריבה YOUR CITIES WILL BE WASTE, i. e. they will seem to you waste; for when a man is exiled from his house, or from his vineyard, or from his city, knowing that he is ultimately to return to it, it appears to him as though his vineyard or his house were not waste. —Thus is it explained in Torat Cohanim (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 7 1).

It does not return. I.e., the water.

אז תרצה means: then the land shall appease the wrath of the Omnipresent who was angry because of the neglect of the Sabbatical years.

אז תרצה הארץ, the debt owed it will be paid.

אז תרצה הארץ, “Then the land will be appeased.” Ibn Ezra, quoted only by Kimchi, explains the meaning of the word in Chronicles II 30,18 as תשלים, “complete, in the sense of “making up for lost time.” He quotes a parallel in Chronicles II 36,21 עד רצתה הארץ את שבתותיה, “until the land has made up for its Sabbaths.” The meaning is that only then will the guilt of the Jewish people be expiated. (Compare Isaiah, 40,2).

It will appease the wrath of God. Re’m writes: Rashi’s explanation, “It will appease the wrath of God,” is not referring to the word תרצה, because תרצה is a verb referring to the subject [the land which will be appeased], while “It will appease the wrath of God” is a verb referring to an object, meaning that the land will appease the wrath of God. Rather, “It will appease the wrath of God” is the explanation of והרצת את שבתותיה (and appease for its Shabbosos) which is written at the end of the verse. But תרצה means to be appeased, i.e., “The land will then be appeased for its Shabbosos.” Because the purpose of the land’s appeasement is in order so that it will then appease God, Rashi writes this purpose at the very beginning, by saying, “It will appease the wrath of God.” Proof to this is that regarding והרצת Rashi explains “the King,” meaning that the word “King” is missing, whereas regardingתרצה הארץ he does not explain that the word “King” is missing and says, “It will appease the King of His wrath.” Therefore, one must say that above he is only explaining the verse’s intent when he says, “It will appease the wrath of God.” (Gur Aryeh) The word תרצה is similar to the word פיוס, appeasement. Rashi says “It will appease the wrath of God,” since he cannot explain that it will appease the wrath of the sabbatical years, because it is not feasible to appease sabbatical years that they already transgressed. Rather, they will appease the wrath of God who is angry about the sabbatical years. But והרצת את שבתותיה is a verb applying to an object, since the verse does not write ותרצה שבתותיה as in the beginning of the verse. Therefore it means “It will appease its Sabbatical years to the King,” since it is a verb applying to an object, that the land will appease the King regarding the sabbatical years.

אז תרצה הארץ, “then the land be recompensed for the Sabbath (years) [during which it had been worked although it should have been allowed to rest. Ed.] After 6 of the evil decrees which we demonstrated as representing a measure for measure type of punishment have already been endured by you, i.e. you should work the land for six years consecutively and then let it rest during the seventh year, the land will finally enjoy a rest during the seventh year. It will make up for all the sh’mittah years you had not observed during the 70 years of your exile. [It will experience 70 consecutive such sh’mittah years. Ed.]

והרצת — means, it will give satisfaction to the King as regards its Sabbatical years.

את שבתותיה, the sh’mittah and Yovel years which had not been observed. Chronicles II 36,21 mentions that the 70 years of exile corresponded to the years referred to.

תרצה; this expression also occurs in the sense in which we have translated it in Psalms 49,14: ואחריהם בפיהם ירצו, “and their descendants approve of them with what they have learned from their mouths.”A different approach to our verse: the word תרצה is to be understood as equivalent to תשלים, “will conclude.” Compare Job 14,6: עד ירצה כשכיר יומו, “until he finishes his day like a hireling.” Or: כי נרצה עונו, “for her sin has been expiated;” (Isaiah 40,2) A third interpretation: the meaning of the word is: “to become reconciled, to have made peace, settled a disagreement.” This would be reflected by Psalms 77,8: ולא יוסיף לרצות עוד, “and will He never again show favour?” Psalms 145,16, ומשביע לכל חי רצון, “and You feed every living creature to its heart content,” also reflects this sentiment.

אז תשבת הארץ, “then the land will rest.” The letter ב has the vowel patach, [the word being a verb. Ed.]

כל ימי השמה — The word השמה expresses the idea of something being done (passive infinitive; here Hophal); and the מ has a Dagesh in place of doubling that letter in the root שמם.

כל ימי השמה תשבות, for the 70 years of exile in Babylonia are to compensate for the years the land should have lain fallow during the sh’mittah and Yovel years.

בשבתכם עליה, “when you used to dwell on it.” From the words אז תרצה, “then it will be appeased,” in verse 34, up until the words בשבתכם עליה here, you will find ten references to Shemittah, in one form or another. The message is that the 70 years of exile in Babylon represented ten shemittah cycles. Seeing that the entire Torah is a string of allusions to the past and the future there is nothing surprising in this.

You will lie on your right side [again]”ùforty days.” Forty days hints at the forty years that Judah remained behind after the exile of the ten tribes.

כל ימי השמה, “during all the years of its being desolate;” it will be as if emptied out of its people.

את אשר לא שבתה BECAUSE IT DID NOT REST [IN YOUR SABBATHS] — The seventy years of the Babylonian exile exactly corresponded to the seventy Sabbatical and Jubilee years that were due in those years when Israel was provoking the anger of the Omnipresent whilststill in their land, i. e. in 430 years. Three hundred and ninety were their years of sin from the time they entered the Land until the Ten Tribes went into exile. The people of the Kingdom of Judah provoked Him still another forty years, — from the exile of the Ten Tribes until the destruction of Jerusalem (in the days of king Jehoiachin; cf. 2 Kings 24:10 ff.). It is this that is mentioned in the case of Ezekiel (4:4—6): “Moreover lie thou upon thy left, [and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto thee a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days…]. And again, when thou hast accomplished these, thou shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days [each day for a year have I appointed it unto thee]”. This prophecy was spoken to Ezekiel in the fifth year of king Jeoiachin’s captivity (cf. Ezekiel 1:2). They spent another six years in the Land until Zedekiah (the last king, who reigned eleven years) went into exile; thus you have altogether forty-six years. — And if you say “But this period must have covered more than forty-six years because the years of the reign of Manasseh (the son of Hezekiah during whose reign the Ten Tribes became exiled), were alone 55 years, and there followed other kings also until the destruction of the Temple!” Then I reply that Manasseh lived in a state of repentence 33 years of these and that the years of his wickedness with which alone we are concerned were only twenty-two, as it is said, (2 Kings 21:3) “For he (Manasseh)… made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel”, and Ahab reigned 22 years, just as they (the Rabbis) stated (i. e. they stated that this comparison of Manasseh with Ahab shows that the latter was wicked for 22 years only) in the chapter Chelek (Sanhedrin 103a). Then we have the years of his successor, Amon, two; eleven of Jehoiakin, and a similar number of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah — altogether 46 years. Now, go and calculate for four hundred and thirty-six years the number of Sabbatical and Jubilee periods contained in them and you will find that they are sixteen for every hundred years, viz., fourteen Sabbatical periods and two Jubilee-periods; so for four hundred years there are sixty-four. For the remaining thirty-six there are five Sabbatical periods, making seventy less one. There is yet one year over (the thirty-sixth, since five Sabbatical periods give only thirty-five years) which entered into (began) the Sabbatical period and which completes seventy such periods, each terminating in a Sabbatical year. And because of them (i. e. because of the neglect of these seventy years) exactly seventy years of exile were decreed against them. Thus, too, it is said in Chronicles, (II Chronicles 36:21) “[and them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon…] until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths [for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbaths] to fulfill three score and ten years” (Seder Olam).

תשבות. Spelled plene, with the tone sign etnachta. If it were not for the tone sign it would have been spelled תשבת, tishbat, as in verse 34. Similar constructions are found in Genesis 11,28 וימת, or Genesis 39,12 וינס, whereas in Psalms 114,3 the spelling is וינוס, and in Genesis 5,5 it is וימות, all on account of the tone sign etnachta. (or end of verse).

And if you say Menashe’s years were fifty-five. I.e., Menashe was born immediately after the exile of the ten tribes and he lived for fifty-five years, and we find that Menashe was wicked. If so, during Menashe’s years the people angered Him for fifty-five years, in addition to what they angered Him during the years of the other kings. Rashi answers, “Menashe repented.”

תשבות, “it shall have rest;” the word is spelled with the vowel cholem, on account of the cantillation mark etnachta under it. Compare Psalms 114,3: הים ראה וינוס, “the sea saw and fled;” and verse 34 that we just read: והרצת את שבתתיה, “and repay her Sabbaths.”

And on them was decreed [an exile] of seventy complete years. There was an exile of seventy complete years, even though only sixty-eight sabbatical years and jubilee years passed over them. The reason the Holy One did not wait until seventy years passed was because He acted righteously with them, as Rashi explains in parshas Va’eschanan on the verse “When you have children ... ” (Devarim 4:25).

והבאתי מרך AND I WILL SEND A FAINTNESS [INTO THEIR HEART] — מרך‎ means timidity and faint-heartedness. The מ is an essential letter of the noun, which, however, is omitted in the root; as is the case with the מ in the nouns מועד and ומוקש.

והנשארים בכם, "As to those of you who are still left, etc." Here the Torah refers to Israelites who continue in their wicked ways in spite of having experienced all the curses listed come true. At this stage G'd announces that such people would be afflicted with faint-heartedness while they are in exile and they would experience fear without cause and fall even without being pursued. In spite of all the terrible experiences the Jewish people undergo while in exile they will not be wiped out as a nation.

מרך בלבבם, this does not mean that the heart has become soft, as in Deuteronomy 20,8 or as in Job 23,16, but the letter מ in the word מרך is an integral part of the word, not a preposition. In fact, even the emphasis is on that letter, as in the word אהל, tent. The word and its intonation is similar to Isaiah 58,13 וקראת לשבת עונג, and the word אוכל, ochel, which is intoned on the first syllable. The word מרך does not appear again in Scriptures.

As though the pursuers... [We read the verse] as if it said, “And they will flee as though fleeing from a sword,” and not “(And they will flee), fleeing from the sword,” because afterwards it is written, “With no one chasing them.”

The sound of a blown leaf will put them to flight. This is what it says (v. 37): “They will stumble over one other.” This is speaking about discord, which is more common among the people of Israel than any other nation in the world. It says (v. 33): “I will scatter you among the nations.” Israel is scattered as by a winnowing fan, as when a person winnows barley with a fan, and not one of them (the barley grains) clings to the next; so too, the people of Israel are detached from one another even while in the land of their enemies. Although exiles usually console one another, the people of Israel are not that way, for they are scattered and separated even when they are in exile. Each one pushes his fellow man with a strong arm and seeks to depose him from his situation, to incriminate him and fall upon him. Achiyah the Shilonite cursed them in this fashion (Melachim I 14:15): “And Adonoy shall smite Israel as a reed sways in the water.” Each reed is pushed and sways from the wind blowing on it, and in addition to being blown by the wind, each reed pushes the other one. So too, each Jew is pushed by the wind, which refers to the kingdoms … and in addition to gentile nations’ pressure on the Jews, each Jew pushes his fellow into his pit. Therefore, they were compared here to a blown leaf, for the leaf is very fragile and blown around by the wind. Yet despite this, each leaf pushes the other one and hits against it. So too, the Jews strike one another with the whip of their tongue, either by informing against one another to the gentile nations, or with malicious slander in the Jewish neighborhood. The verse refers to this when it says, “the sound (voice) of a blown leaf.” Therefore, it says immediately after, “They will stumble over one other.”

והנשארים בכם והבאתי מורך בלבבם, “and I will bring faintness into the hearts of those that are left of them;” I shall continue to heap more curses upon them until they have endured 49 curses corresponding to the yovel cycle of 49 years that they have ignored.

ונסו מנוסת חרב AND THEY SHALL RUN AWAY AS RUNNING AWAY FROM THE SWORD — as though pursuers were about to kill them.

In tapping it. Because נדף means נדחף (pushed). However, a pushed leaf only produces a noise when it is pushed against another leaf; also, a leaf is not pushed of itself but only by the wind. Therefore Rashi explains this at length, citing proofs. When Rashi cites the Targum who translates שקיף, i.e., beating, Rashi is not saying that נדף means beating, since נדף is an expression of pushing. Rather, he means that the pushing causes beating, and the Targum is explaining the verse’s intent and not the actual word; such is the way of the Targum when explaining the meaning in many places. [In some texts], Rashi first explains that “They will flee, fleeing from a sword” does not mean actual fleeing from a sword, so that the explanation of “The sound of a driven leaf” applies to it. That the reason they are fleeing is not because of an enemy killing them, but because of the great fear in their hearts. (Re’m)

This is a further allusion to the large amount of profane, false conversation spoken in all the neighborhood streets … for each one rejoices at his fellow man’s misfortune. If he finds the opportunity to speak maliciously about him it is as sweet as honey in his mouth … and in our generation this attribute alone is a sufficient reason for the length of our exile.

מורך בלבבם, this is the first plague; ורדף אותם קול עלה, “and even the sound of a leaf fluttering in the wind will frighten them.” This is the second plague.

עלה נדף A RUSTLING LEAF — i. e. a leaf which the wind pushes along and beats it against another leaf, so that, in tapping it, it produces a sound. This, too, is its translation in the Targum: the sound of a leaf דשקיף — a term that signifies beating. The words (Genesis 41:6): שדופות קדים are rendered in the Targum by שקיפן קידום, beaten by the east wind, the first word being of the same meaning as משקוף, a lintel, that being the place against which the door beats. Similarly the Targum translation of חבורה, a wound, (Exodus 21:25), is משקופי (a spot that has been beaten).

ונסו מנוסת חרב, “they will flee from it as if fleeing from a sword.” This is the third plague.

ונפלו ואין רודף, “they will fall even though there was no pursuer.” This is the fourth plague.

וכשלו איש באחיו AND THEY SHALL STUMBLE ONE UPON ANOTHER — When they are running in order to escape they will stumble one against the other because they will be in a hurry to run away.

וכשלו איש באחיו, “they will stumble over one another, etc.” According to Sanhedrin 27 the Torah means that they will stumble each over the sins committed by the other, i.e. their reciprocal responsibility which they disregarded became their undoing. This is also what Moses had in mind in Deut. 29,9 when he described each Israelite as “standing upright” at that time, (i.e. not stumbling over his fellow’s sins). The example for this reciprocal responsibility was illustrated most powerfully when because of failure to admonish Achan who had taken money from the loot of Jericho declared sacred for the Temple, this sin became the cause of Israel losing its first campaign after the capture of Jericho. (compare Joshua chapter seven with special emphasis on verse 11) [Contrary to Moses who had asked G’d in connection with Korach why the sin of one man should cause G’d’s anger against a whole nation, in Achan’s case G’d spelled out that it did. Ed.] G’d tells Joshua that “Israel has sinned;” He did not tell him that “an Israelite had sinned.” The whole nation was held responsible for the sin of an individual. An accessory after the fact, i.e. someone who does not admonish the sinner has made himself his partner. Seeing that what Achan had done could not have been concealed completely, there had already been many accessories.
This incident prompted the sages in Shir Hashirim Rabbah 6,16 to comment that the use of the word "nut” in אל גנת האגוז ירדתי, “I went down to the nut-grove” (Song of Songs 6,11), describes that just as it is impossible to pluck one walnut without making the whole tree shake, so it is impossible for an individual to commit a sin without ripples of what he did affecting the entire Jewish people. This is what had bothered Moses in Numbers 16,22: “one man sinned and You are angry at the whole congregation!”

One by the sin of the other. And “As though before a sword” means, just as one stumbles before a sword that pursues after him so he will stumble because of his fellow’s sin (Nachalas Yaakov citing Toras Kohanim). I think the verse is giving a reason for what was said above. Since v. 36 is speaking of “those who survive among you” who are apparently righteous, why then are they punished by “timidity in their hearts,” and that “The sound of a blown leaf will put them to flight and they will flee ... and fall?” Rashi answers, “They will stumble over one another”ùone by the sin of the other, since all Israel is responsible for one another.” Therefore, He will bring these punishments upon them. Gur Aryeh explains that [this interpretation is deduced] because it says, איש באחיו (lit. man against his brother). It should have said “one man against [another] man” or “one man against another,” since it is inappropriate to mention brotherhood in connection with falling [against one another]. But regarding sin it is fitting to write “his brother,” because the reason they will stumble against each other is that all Israel are brothers [i.e., all Israel is responsible for one another].

וכשלו איש באחיו כמפני חרב ורודף אין, “they will stumble upon one another, as if on account of a sword although there is no pursuer;” there is some repetition here.

כמפני חרב AS IT WERE BEFORE THE SWORD — i. e. as though they were fleeing from before murderers. It means that in their heart there will be timidity, and at every moment they will think that somebody is pursuing them. A Midrashic explanation of וכשלו איש באחיו is: one will stumble by reason of the sin of the other (באחיו is taken in the sense of: on account of the other), for all Israelites are held responsible for one another (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 7 5; Sanhedrin 27b).

ולא תהיה לכם תקומה, “you will not have the strength to stand up to your enemies.” This is the fifth curse.

ואבדתם בגוים AND YE SHALL BE LOST AMONG THE NATIONS — when you are scattered about among the nations you will lose sight of each other (lit., “you will be lost from one another”) (cf. Rashi on v. 33; see also Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 8 1).

ואכלה אתכם ארץ אויביכם, ”the land of your enemies will devour you.” This is characteristic of all people who are exiled to a strange country. The change of climate and water by themselves result in their being decimated in numbers.

When you will be scattered you will be lost. But not really lost, because it is written (v. 44), “All this notwithstanding ... to annihilate them.”

You will be lost among the nations. The exiled Jews will be lost among the gentile nations, for none of the nations’ leaders will watch over them in pity or try to bring them close, as is the usual nature of royalty that befriends the refuges in their country. Instead, you will be despised because they will see you pursuing one another.

ואבדת בגויים, “you will perish among the nations.” This is the sixth curse. Exile is also called אובד, as we know from Psalms 119,176: תעיתי כשה אובד, “I have strayed like a lost sheep.”

ואכלה אתכם [AND THE LAND OF YOUR ENEMIES] SHALL EAT YOU UP — This refers to those who will die in exile (cf. Targum Jonathan on).

ואכלה אתכם ארץ אויביכם, “and the land of your enemies will eat you up." This is the seventh plague. What is meant here is that the frequent need for you to change your place of residence and to move to different climates, will not give you an opportunity to acclimatize to the climate and result in disease and death. (Ibn Ezra).

בעונת אבתם אתם means if the iniquities of their fathers shall be with them, i. e. if they hold fast to (imitate) the doings of their fathers (cf. Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 8 2; Sanhedrin 27b).

ימקו from the word נמקו חבורותי, “my wounds stink and fester.” The construction is similar to יסעו and יסעו (yissu and yissa-u)

When they hold onto the deeds of their ancestors. Rashi is answering the question: Why does it say “with them”? He is also answering the question: The Torah says, “Fathers shall not be executed through sons, (and sons shall not be executed through fathers)?” Therefore, he explains, “When they hold...”

ימקו — This is an expression denoting “melting away” and therefore means the same as ימסו, “they shall melt away”. Similar to it are (Zechariah 14:12) “[their eyes] shall melt away (תמקנה) in their holes”; (Psalms 38:6) “My wounds נמקו, melt” (i. e. run with pus).

והתודו את עונם, only some of them, as we know from Daniel and Ezra.

והתודו את עונם, "And they will confess their sins, etc." Earlier commentators have not explained these verses to our satisfaction; most of their commentaries are too far fetched to be taken seriously. One of the reasons is that there appears no reason why the Jewish people at that time should confess the sins of their ancestors. As soon as they confess their own sins they are no longer guilty of perpetuating the evil ways of their fathers (compare Berachot 7). Secondly, why did the Torah (verse 41) write: "also I will walk contrary unto them?" Why does the Torah mention a punishment after the people have already confessed their sins? Thirdly, why does the Torah speak about G'd bringing the Israelites into the land of their enemies when we have heard this already in verse 33? Fourthly, what is the meaning of the words או אז יכנע לבבם הערל, "or perhaps their uncircumcised heart will be humbled?" Nachmanides interprets the word "or" as alluding to the two possible causes of the eventual redemption. Either it would occur due to repentance on a nation-wide scale or it would occur because G'd's timetable had been exhausted and the Jews had experienced sufficient punishment during their long years in exile. I believe this is a very forced explanation..

I believe the appropriate approach to these verses is an examination of the causes of sinful conduct by the people. The people who experienced G'd's retribution on their own bodies had first observed how their fathers and forefathers had failed to observe the Torah and G'd had not seemed to react. The sinners appeared to have prospered. As a result of G'd's long-lasting patience, even reading in the Torah all the warnings about what would happen if we failed to observe the Torah or even listening to the warnings of the prophets became progressively less effective. The evidence of the people's eyes contradicted what they read in the Torah. As a result it became impossible to warn people of the disastrous results in store if they continued to ignore the Torah's precepts. In fact, the so-called facts undermined the people's belief in the whole concept of reward and punishment. This is why once G'd began to exact the retribution He had warned of such misfortunes as befell the Jewish people they would not be recognised as part of G'd's system of reward and punishment. Only after most of the dire warnings in the Torah had actually occurred, matching what the prophets had warned of for a long time, would the people begin to recognise it for what it was. G'd therefore demanded that when the time came the Israelites would not only have to acknowledge and confess their own sins, but unless they also confessed that their fathers and ancestors had been at fault, confessions of their own misdemeanours would not guarantee that this would not occur again.

Confessing their fathers' sins reinforces the people's confession of their own sins as it deprives them of the argument that whatever sins they had committed were no worse than what their fathers had committed without being punished. When the Torah writes ואף אשר הלכו עמי בקרי, "even though they walked contrary unto Me," this is the Torah's way of explaining the reason why the Israelites interpreted their misfortunes as being accidental, מקרה, rather than as a natural consequence of continued defiance of Torah precepts. The people would have to confess this error as an additional sin.

והבאתי אתם AND I SHALL BRING THEM [INTO THE LAND OF THEIR ENEMIES] — I Myself shall bring them; this is a kindly measure for Israel in order that they should not say, “Since we are banished among the nations let us do like their doings”. “For”, says God “I will not suffer them to do this, but I will raise up My prophets and so bring them back under My wings, as it is said, (Ezekiel 20:30) “And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, — [that ye say, We will be as the heathens, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone]. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out, will “I” be king over you etc.” (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 8 5).

O’ (OR) THEN PERCHANCE THEIR UNCIRCUMCISED HEART BE HUMBLED. “[The word o here has the same meaning] as in ‘o’ (or) it is known that the ox was wont to gore.¹⁶⁶Exodus 21:36. Another interpretation is [that the word o means] ‘perhaps’ — perhaps then their uncircumcised heart will be humbled; and they then be paid the punishment of their iniquity, meaning that they will achieve atonement for their iniquities through their sufferings.” This is Rashi’s language. The correct interpretation appears to me to be that He is stating: “And I will bring them into the land of their enemies, o (either) until such time when their uncircumcised heart will be humbled, o (or) until the time when they will have been paid the punishment of their iniquity by the length of the exile.”
Now it is after [the verse], and they shall confess their iniquity¹⁶⁷Verse 40. that He should have said, Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob etc.,¹⁶⁸Verse 42. for what reason is there [to state here, between these two verses] and I will bring them into the lands of their enemies, since this is not a time when He would exile them and bring them into the lands of their enemies [since they have just confessed their sins]! Therefore Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra interpreted [the verse to mean]: “This also I did with them, that I punished them by bringing them into the land of their enemies in order to humble their uncircumcised heart.” And He mentioned this here [in order to indicate] that they confessed their sin “because it was I Who brought this about, for even at the time that they became corrupted, My intent was that they should repent and confess.”
In my opinion He hints here [by placing the verses in this order] that [even] after the confession [of their sins], He will walk contrary to them and will still bring them into the land of their enemies until their uncircumcised heart is humbled, this being an allusion that He will bring them back into the Land but it will not be subdued before them; rather, they will have adversaries and enemies there, as it is said, And our adversaries said;¹⁶⁹Nehemiah 4:5. And it came to pass when our enemies heard.¹⁷⁰Ibid., Verse 9. The Land [at that time, when they returned from Babylon], was in the hands of foreign peoples, just as Ezra said in his prayer: Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the Land that Thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold we are servants in it. And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom Thou hast set over us because of our sins; also they have power over us, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.¹⁷¹Ibid., 9:36-37.

והבאתי אותם בארץ אויביהם, when they return from exile to the land of Israel at the command of King Cyrus, the land of Israel remained under the political power of the gentiles. We know this from Nechemyah 9, 36-37 “Today we are slaves, and the land You gave our fathers to enjoy is fruit and bounty-here we are slaves on it! On account of our sins it yields its abundant crops to kings whom You have set over us.” They rule over our bodies and our beasts as they please, and we are in great distress.”

אף אני אלך עמם בקרי, "Also I will walk with them as if accidental." Part of what the people have to acknowledge as part of their confession is that all G'd's retributions were justified. Even G'd's having withdrawn His personal supervision over the fate of the Jews must be acknowledged.

או אז יכנע לבבם הערל, “perhaps then their unfeeling heart will be humbled.” Rashi understands the word או in our verse as similar to Exodus 21,36 או נודע כי שור נגח הוא, “but if it becomes known that the ox is wont to gore.” [Rashi often views the word או as meaning: “if.” Ed.] Nachmanides considers that the meaning of the word here is that the Torah offers two different scenarios for the duration of the exile. It will either last until the people’s uncircumcised heart will become humbled, or until their sins have been expiated (in full) due to the length of the exile. The word או refers to what follows, i.e. “or the exile will last until the people experience a change of heart, and confess their guilt, etc., or it will last for such a long time that time itself will expiate for their sins as their suffering has been so prolonged.” After the Torah had already mentioned that the people did confess their guilt (verse 40) we would have expected that at that point G’d would remember them kindly, i.e. that He would remember His covenant with the patriarchs, but we would certainly not have expected to be told at this point that G’d would exile people who had just confessed their guilt. In tackling this apparently incomprehensible development described here, Ibn Ezra says that in verse 41 G’d takes credit for having brought about this confession, saying that the reason He had treated them so harshly, exiling them to a foreign and inhospitable country, was designed to bring about their confession and repentance. [In other words, whenever G’d chastises, exacts retribution, the purpose is not revenge, but punishment is G’d’s instrument in eventually refining His people by means of their experiences. Ed.] In my own view, (still Nachmanides writing) the meaning of these verses is that after the people have confessed their guilt G’d would relate to them בקרי, with casualness, bringing them to the land, [the land of Israel] but that they would not conquer it as did Joshua, but it would still be populated by their enemies who would cause them much grief as we know from Nechemyah 4,5 and Ezra chapter 9 (Ezra’s prayer) [The second commonwealth was firmly established as Jewish both physically and spiritually only many years after Zerubavel’s return there with about 43000 of his fellow Jews. In his prayer, Ezra had described himself and his fellow Jews as slaves in their own land. Ed.]

ואז ירצו את עונם, “and then they shall atone for their iniquity.” This verse served the sages in Mechilta Bachodesh 10 as proof that afflictions suffered achieve atonement for the victim just as sacrifices offered achieve atonement; the word ירצו here and the same root used in connection with the sacrificial offerings, i.e. נרצה, is proof that the purpose and effect of such offerings is the same (Leviticus 1,4). Here the Torah speaks about afflictions suffered by the body, in Leviticus 1,4 the “physical affliction’s” equivalent is the financial expense involved in buying the animal which is killed.

I Myself will bring them. Explanation. Because it is written “I will bring them” instead of “I will lead them” as in the verse (Devarim 28:36), “Hashem will lead you and your king,” perforce, it is expounded that He will “bring them” under His wings while they are in the land of their enemies.

או אז יכנע לבבם הערל, “if then per chance their uncircumcised heart be humbled;” the Torah here refers to the desecration of the Sabbath by the people, (which is the seventh day of the week), or their failure to circumcise their sons on the eighth day after they had been born. [The numerical value of the letters in this words אז יכנע לבבם, in this verse would be equivalent to this interpretation.]

אף אני אלך עמכם בקרי, “also I will walk with you as if what befalls you was coincidental; even though by now the people had confessed that they had sinned, seeing that they had not taken the next step and done penitence, I cannot relent yet.”

או אז יכנע — The word או here has the same meaning as in (Exodus 21:36) או נודע כי שור נגח הוא (cf. Rashi on that verse and our Note thereon). The translation therefore is: “If then [their uncircumcised hearts] will be humbled”. Another explanation is that או means perhaps, — “perhaps then their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled”.

If then they will be humbled. Re’m writes: I do not understand Rashi’s intent here. Because according to this, the verse means that I Myself will bring them under the wings of the Divine Presence if their uncircumcised heart is humbled. But if their heart is not humbled I will not bring them under the wings of the Divine Presence. And this is the opposite of the Midrash that he cited, “Surely... with fury poured out, will I be king over you.” I will assert My kingship over you by force. But Rashi should have explained או אז (or then) according to its literal meaning: Either I will bring them under the wings of My Divine Presence by force, or then their hearts will humble of themselves and I will not need to bring them under the wings of My Divine Presence by force. So far are Re’m’s words. This [way of understanding Rashi] is difficult as Rashi in parshas Mishpatim explains, “Or it was not a תם, but rather it was known that it is a goring ox,” [and thus probably learns that expression similarly over here]. I think that this is the explanation of Rashi: [Rashi omits a few words at the beginning, and is actually learning או as meaning “or”]: “Or I will not have to rule over them by force, if then they humble their uncircumcised heart of themselves, and then confess their sins and their iniquities are atoned through suffering. If they do this, “I will [then] remember My covenant, etc.” The meaning of או אז יכנע will be as Rashi explained in או נודע כי שור נגח הוא above. This also explains the “other interpretation” of Rashi. Analyze this.

והבאתי אותם, "and I will bring them, etc." This is also part of what the people will say as part of their confession. The fact that the Torah demands that the people acknowledge that their exile was part of G'd's punishment in line with His warnings indicates that they had previously denied that their exile was connected to their wrongdoing. The people had argued that if G'd really wanted to use His retribution to result in the people's repentance, exile was a peculiar means to achieve this. They reasoned that exile was bound to result in assimilation, the very reverse of what G'd wanted to achieve by disciplining His people. Such considerations reinforced the people's thinking that what had befallen them was accidental and not part of G'd's design. This is why G'd wrote that they have to confess also their erroneous assessment of why they had experienced all the curses predicted in the Torah.

או אז יכנע לבבם הערל, “if perchance their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled;” then I will remember My covenant, etc;” I will continue to reciprocate then in their favour, as recognition of their penitence; as we know from Hoseah 14,4: ומודה ועוזב ירוחם, “[inaccurate quote, the prophet says there that when the people no longer treat their man made idols as deities, they will experience G-d’s mercy. Ed.]

ואז ירצו את עונם means, and they will atone for their iniquities by the punishments they will have suffered.

With their sufferings. Rashi is answering the question: What will appease their iniquities? He answers that appeasement refers to the suffering that will atone for their iniquities.

The words או אז mean that the exiled Israelites attribute their presence in other countries to be a result of natural migration or as an attempt by G'd to induce humility in them. G'd had known from experience that a sinner may humble himself such as Achav the king of Israel (Kings I 21, 27-29). Our sages in Berachot 7 have said that "better one severe chastisement which results in the sinner feeling humbled than 100 lashes of the whip (as these are effective only externally). Following such a humbling of oneself their guilt may become something they can acknowledge and come to terms with."

וזכרתי את בריתי יעקוב THEN I WILL REMEMBER MY COVENANT WITH JACOB — In five places in Scripture it (the name יעקב) is written plene (יעקוב) and the name אליהו is written defectively in five places, to intimate that Jacob — as it were — took one letter of his (Elijah’s) name as a pledge that at some future time he should come and proclaim the good tidings of his descendants’ redemption (cf. Midrash ‎חסירות ויתירות).

THEN WILL I REMEMBER MY COVENANT WITH JACOB. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that this [is a case where a word] draws along with itself another [similar] word, thus meaning: “Then will I remember My covenant, the covenant with Jacob.¹⁷²The reason for this explanation is that the word brithi (My covenant) is grammatically equivalent to saying habrith sheli (the covenant of Mine). Now since a noun that is preceded by the definite article cannot be in the construct state, it follows that there is a word implied here, which makes it: eth brithi ‘brith’ Ya’akov (My covenant, the covenant of Jacob). A similar explanation applies to the following two verses which Ramban mentions. Similarly: the prophecy of Oded the prophet;¹⁷³II Chronicles 15:8. Here too the meaning is: v’hanevuah ‘nevuath’ Oded hanavi’ (and the prophecy — a prophecy of Oded the prophet). your heads of your tribes.¹⁷⁴Deuteronomy 29:9. The meaning here too is: rasheichem ‘rashei’ shivteichem (your heads — heads of your tribes). And the Land I will remember. The meaning thereof is that I will remember the Land, and that it was paid its Sabbaths and lay forsaken without them, and I will remember that they have atoned for their iniquity.”
It is possible according to the way of Truth, [the mystic doctrines of the Cabala], that He is saying: “And I will remember Jacob and Isaac and Abraham, who are the men of the covenant,” for all attributes are so called when they are in the covenant; “v’ha’aretz (and the earth),¹⁷⁵See Ramban above, 25:2 (towards the end) about the meaning of the word ha’aretz. which is composed of them all, I will remember among them.” Our Rabbis have so alluded. Thus they said:¹⁷⁶Vayikra Rabbah 36:7. “And why does He mention the merit of ha’aretz with them? Said Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: This is like the case of a master who had three daughters, and one maidservant who raised them. Whenever the master asked about the welfare of his daughters, he would say: ‘Ask on my behalf about the welfare of she who raises them.’”

וזכרתי את בריתי, by allowing the second Temple to be built.

וזכרתי את בריתי יעקוב, "And I will remember My covenant, the one with Jacob, etc." The Torah announces here that whereas the confession of their guilt helps to reduce the severity of the afflictions to which G'd subjects the Jewish people, G'd has to invoke the merit of the patriarchs in order to restore them to their former status

וזכרתי, if their hearts will humble themselves.

A pledge, that he should come. I do not know why five places [were necessary], since one would be enough. Perhaps this was as if he swore by the five books of the Torah, just as [the word] Israel is written five times in one verse (Bamidbar 8:19) corresponding to the five books of the Torah; Re’m. It seems to me as follows: the Yalkut states that before the coming of Moshiach, Eliyohu will arrive first and reveal himself to individual righteous people, afterwards in a few towns and communities, and afterwards upon the mountains of Israel, etc. The Yalkut Yeshaya comments on the verse (Yeshayahu 52:7), “How pleasant are the feet of the bearer of good tidings on the mountains,” that three days before the arrival of Moshiach, Eliyohu will come and stand on the mountains of Israel ... and his voice will be heard from the one end of the world to the other ... On the second day he will stand on the mountains of Israel ... And on the third day ... Thus he will come to announce the good tidings five times. Israel will then make a great repentance as it says in the Yalkut at the end of Malachi in the name of R. Eliezer. Therefore, he has to give a pledge five times in order to [guarantee that he will] come and announce good tidings five times (R. Yaakov Taryosh). (Kitzur Mizrachi) Maharan writes in the name of Tzror Hamor, that he [specifically] took a vov so that he should come to redeem in the sixth millennium, soon in our days. Gur Aryeh gave another reason at length. (Divrei Dovid) He explains that he took a vov as his name would still be pronounced as Yaakov without change, whereas if he had taken another letter, the name Yaakov would be corrupted and no longer be pronounced as Yaakov.

I will [then] remember My covenant. It mentions the names of the forefathers here in reverse chronological order because in each generation the people of Israel rely on their forefathers’ merit. Therefore, it mentions them in reverse chronological order, in the style of “not only this, but even this” — not only in the merit of Yaakov who was the latest, and it is obvious that his merit has not yet been used up, but even “My covenant with Yitzchok” who preceded Yaakov, and for many years the people of Israel have already used his merit.

וזכרתי את בריתי יעקב, “I will remember My covenant with Yaakov;” seeing that none of Yaakov's children were disloyal to his teachings, the Torah did not use the word “אף,” “anger,” in connection with Yaakov, as during all his 147 years he had been loyal to G-d, and that is also why the Torah here mentions the word: “My covenant,” first. According to Ibn Ezra, not all the years that Avraham lived were lived after G-d had made a covenant with him. Yaakov also experienced prophetic insights at an earlier age than his father and grandfather.

‎ וזכרתי את בריתי יעקוב‎ THEN I WILL REMEMBER MY COVENANT WITH JACOB [AND ALSO MY COVENANT WITH ISAAC, AND ALSO MY COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM WILL I REMEMBER] — Why are they (the patriarchs) enumerated here in a reverse order (in contrast to e. g., Exodus 32:13, where it states: ‎'לאברהם ליצחק ולישראל וכו‎‎‎זכור ‏)? It is to say: Jacob the youngest among the patriarchs is worthy of this that, through his merits, his children should be redeemed; if he be not sufficiently worthy, behold, the merit of Isaac is with him; if that does not suffice, behold, then there is Abraham with him who is surely worthy enough! And why does Scripture not use the word “remember” in connection with Isaac’s name? Because this is unnecessary, for — says God, as it were — the ashes of Isaac (who according to My command to Abraham was to become a burnt offering) are ever visible before Me as though they were heaped up lying upon the altar (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 8 6-7).

And why is “remembrance” not said [in connection] with Yitzchok. (Divrei Dovid) [Rashi] seems [to be saying] that this question only arises now, since if not for his answer [as to why the patriarchs are listed in reverse order], I would think the verse means that only through combination, [i.e.,] that only the remembrance of all three together will cause [the redemption]. If so, one need not mention “remembrance” with Yitzchok, because [remembrance] is mentioned at the beginning and end of the [one] combination and it is not necessary [for it to be inserted] in the middle. But now that that the verse is making two statements, first that Yitzchok will combine with Yaakov, and then, if this combination is insufficient, He will also combine with Avrohom, therefore Rashi asks why no remembrance is said with Yitzchok pertaining to the first combination.

The verse also supplies an additional reason for G'd having driven the Jewish people into exile into the land of their enemies. The abuse the people would be subjected to there will become the catalyst that will make G'd remember the merit of the patriarchs. In addition, G'd will remember the sad state of the Holy Land while its people are absent. If G'd had not first exiled the Jews He would not have any reason to remember the land itself with special kindness. As it is, the sequence וזכרתי את בריתי….והארץ אזכר makes perfect sense.

And I will remember the land. There is a place to judge favorably and say: If the people of Israel sinned, did Eretz Yisrael ever sin? And yet the land was afflicted (Devarim 29:22): “Sulfur and salt all its land was burnt”.

והארץ אזכור, “and I will remember the land (fondly).” This statement annuls the two statements in verses 32 and 20 in which the bounty of the land was denied to the errant Jewish people.

את בריתי יעקוב, if the merit of Jacob suffices, all well and good; if not G'd will also invoke the merit of Isaac, etc.

יען וביען BECAUSE AND BECAUSE [THEY REJECTED MY ORDINANCES] — i. e. it is a retribution — and a retribution, too, that they have rejected My ordinances.

And the Land shall lie forsaken without them.¹⁷⁷Verse 43. This means that even after the remembring [of the covenant and the Land] it shall lie forsaken without them, hinting that even after the decree of Cyrus¹⁷⁸II Chronicles 36:22-23. [granting the Jews in Babylon permission to return and rebuild the Temple], the Land will still lie forsaken without them and her Sabbatical years, until nineteen years¹⁷⁹See Rashi to Ezra 1:1. after the Temple was rebuilt; and then they sanctified the city [of Jerusalem] with two thanks-offerings,¹⁸⁰Nehemiah 12:40. See also Shevuoth 14 a. and the sanctity of the Land was restored,¹⁸¹See Note 131 in Seder Behar. and they made the covenant,¹⁸²Nehemiah 10:1. and declared [among other conditions] and that we would forego the Seventh year and the exaction of every debt.¹⁸³Ibid., Verse 32. I.e., they undertook to keep the Sabbatical laws with respect to cessation of agricultural work and cancellation of debts. All events that happened to them [at the beginning of their return to the Land after the Babylonian exile] are alluded to in this section.

והארץ תעזב מהם, on account of the destruction that took place.

והארץ תעזב מהם…יען וביען, "And the land shall be forsaken without them..…because, even because, etc." The words יען וביען may be understood as expressing a sentiment similar to that of Jeremiah 9,12. The Talmudists (Baba Metzia 85) had grappled with the question why the land should have to be punished for the sins of the Israelites. Finally, G'd Himself explained the reason through the words of Jeremiah we have quoted. Once the people had failed to observe the Torah, the land itself was no longer interested in being occupied by the Jewish people. This reason becomes more plausible in view of the Torah's statement that during the years of Israel's exile the land had a chance to experience the many שמטה years Israel had ignored. We therefore have two good reasons why the punishment of exile was appropriate.

והארץ תעזב מהם, according to the number of years the sh’mittah legislation has been ignored so that their sin can be expiated. After that, the promise of verse 45 that G’d will remember the covenant with the patriarchs can be fulfilled.

והארץ תעזב מהם, “and the land will be bereft of them.” Nachmanides explains that even after Cyrus’s permission to return to the land of their fathers it took 19 years before the land was sufficiently firmly in the hands of the returning Israelites until the shmittah regulations could be observed again after the Temple had been completed etc. etc. Chapter 10 in Nechemyah describes some of the formalities in restoring sanctity to the land of Israel. In short, our verses are a preview of what happened to the Jewish people during the period of Ezra and Nechemyah, after the return to their homeland.

[As] retribution and in retribution. Because יען always means retribution. Rashi also adds the word אשר (that) since without it, the words “As retribution and in retribution” would not be connected with “They despised My laws.” It is as if the verse said, “As retribution that they despised My laws and in retribution that their soul loathed My statutes.”

ותרץ הארץ את שבתותיה, והם ירצו את עונם, “and the land will be paid her Sabbaths, and they shall be paid for their sins.” This is the retribution for 49 years of ignoring the yovel legislation during which also seven sh’mittah years were ignored. There will be reconciliation between the people and their G-d. They will be penitent, admitting that what they had been made to suffer was only because of their disloyalty to their G-d, and their totally negative attitude to His Torah. An alternate interpretation of this verse: “they will complete thee punishment for their sins”. A similar construction to this would be found in Samuel I 28,10: אם יקרך עון בדבר הזה, “if you would be punished for a sin on account of this matter.“ [King Shaul to the witch of Endor. Ed.]

יען וביען במשפטי מאסו ואת חקותי געלה נפשם, the first word יען refers to the mishpatim, the second to the chukkim.

יען וביען.”because and because;” according to Ibn Ezra the One “because” refers to the people having despised G’d’s social legislation, משפטי מאסו, whereas the second “because” refers to their having been revolted by G’d’s statutes, וחוקותי געלה נפשם.

The words יען וביען reflect these two reasons. The Torah repeats once more: 1) במשפטי מאסו, i.e. neglect of the Shemittah legislation; 2) ואת חקתי געלה נפשם, "and their soul abhorred My statutes;" they hated Torah study. It is clear from the end that if the Israelites had been guilty of only one of these categories of sins their punishment would have taken a different form altogether. If the people had only neglected to study the Torah but had observed the shemittah legislation at least they would not have experienced exile.

ואף גם זאת AND YET FOR ALL THIS — i. e., but also (אף) even though (גם) I shall execute on them this (זאת) punishment which I have mentioned when they shall be in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them to make an end of them and to make void My covenant which has thus far been with them (viz., the covenant 'כי אני ה‎‎ אלהיהם that I, the Lord, would be their God).

ואף גם זאת בהיותם, "And yet even when they are in the land of their enemies, etc." How can this verse which speaks of a favour G'd does to the exiled Jewish people be part of this sequence of dire predictions? Perhaps this is a reference to the earlier part where G'd explained that He was entitled to withdraw His providence from the people because they had accused Him of having done so. G'd goes on record that He does not withhold His supervision from the people and does not despise them [even though the people may not be aware of it. Ed.]

לא מאסתים לכלותם, “I did not despise them to the extent that I would wipe them out completely. I chastised them only sufficiently to discipline them by means of chastisements until they would humble their hearts.

ואף גם זאת בהיותם בארץ אויביהם, “and yet, in spite of their being in the land of their enemies, etc.;” what has been left for the surviving Israelites who have been deprived of all that had made their lives worth living?” G-d promises that the most precious of their possessions, the Torah, they had not been deprived of, and this will make them distinguished even when in exile and the nations look down upon them. This is what the famous liturgist had in mind when he composed the phrase: ואין שיור רק התורה הזאת, “there is nothing left except this Torah.” [zechor brit, recited as part of the selichot, near the end of the Ne’ilah prayer on the Day of Atonement.” Ed.

להפר בריתי, ”to violate My covenant.” The covenant which I swore to them.” Even though they, on their part have violated this covenant, I will not annul it seeing that I am G’d.

The verse may also supply another consideration why exile actually saved the Jewish people. We explained, based on Midrash Tehillim 69 that G'd vented His anger on the stones and the trees in order to spare as many of the human beings as possible. Had the Jews remained in the land of Israel they themselves would have experienced G'd's anger on their bodies, much as did the land itself. Moreover, the presence of a people who had formerly been so exalted with Jerusalem as their capital, now languishing in foreign lands, maltreated by pagan kings, would satisfy even the attribute of Justice so that it would not insist on their utter destruction. The words ואף גם זאת are therefore to be understood as the cause why G'd wanted the Israelites to experience exile among foreign and hostile nations.

להפר בריתי אתם, "to break My covenant with them." This is the covenant not to exchange the Jewish people for another nation, a covenant G'd kept for the people who experienced the Exodus. It is the deeper meaning of the words: "for I am the Lord their G'd." The sign of the covenant is that G'd does not adopt another nation in our place. G'd's promise at the time of מתן תורה that the Jewish people would be an עם סגולה וממלכת כהנים was equivalent to a covenant.

The verse may also refer to the second party to the covenant, the Torah, who would be orphaned if G'd destroyed the Jewish people seeing no one would observe it. G'd would therefore have broken His covenant both with the Jewish people and with the Torah.

ברית ראשנים THE COVENANT OF THE ANCESTORS — i. e. of the twelve Tribes (cf. Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 8 10).

AND I WILL FOR THEIR SAKES REMEMBER THE COVENANT OF THEIR ANCESTORS. This means that I will remember it for their sakes whether in the Land or outside the Land, both in the [first] exile alluded to here and likewise throughout all generations. This is the sense of the expression in the sight of the nations [And I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors … in the sight of the nations], for He will do [good] to them because of His Great Name, so that it be not profaned among the nations, but not for their sake, since they have not repented, and [thus] their iniquities have not been forgiven. And so did our Rabbis say:¹⁸⁴Torath Kohanim, Bechukothai 8:10. “I will not reject them¹⁸⁵Verse 44. in the days of Vespasian.¹⁸⁶The Roman emperor in whose days the Second Temple was destroyed. The destruction of the Temple is thus in no sense a rejection of Israel. The survival of Israel long after the downfall of the Romans who destroyed the Temple, as well as the growth of Torah throughout the generations, and Israel’s present return to the Land after an enforced absence of nearly 1900 years — these are sufficient proofs that He did not reject us in the days of Vespasian. Neither will I abhor them¹⁸⁵Verse 44. in the days of Greece.¹⁸⁷A reference to the wars that took place during the Hellenistic period, when the Syrian Greeks who attempted to suppress the practice of Judaism were defeated by the Jews under the leadership of the Hasmoneans, and the Jews also regained their political independence. [Neither will I abhor them] to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them¹⁸⁵Verse 44. in the days of Haman. For I am the Eternal their G-d¹⁸⁵Verse 44. in the days of Gog and Magog.”¹⁸⁸See Ezekiel Chapters 38-39. In the war of Gog and Magog G-d will finally overthrow the enemies of Israel who had assembled from all parts of the world against the Land of Israel. This victory will precede the reign of the Messiah.

וזכרתי להם, during the ingathering of the exiles. אשר הוצאתי...להיות להם לאלוקים, the principal reason I redeemed them from Egypt was to become their exclusive G’d, as we know from Exodus 19,6 ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, “you are to become for me a Kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” The corruption you have become guilty of since will be reversed in the days of the Messiah and the world to come.

וזכרתי להם כרית ראשונים, "And I will remember for their sakes the covenant with the ancestors, etc." Torat Kohanim asks: "whence do we know that G'd concluded a covenant with the tribes?" They quote our verse as the source. Perhaps we should understand this in the way Jeremiah quotes G'd as remembering the time after the crossing of the sea of reeds when the Israelites willingly followed G'd into the desert, etc. (compare Jeremiah 2,2). G'd goes on record here that He will remember such deeds by our forefathers to their descendants in due course. The word ראשונים refers to the first ever generation of the Jews as a people G'd concluded a covenant with.

ברית ראשונים, for whose sake I took them out of Egypt in the first place.

וזכרתי להם ברית ראשונים, “I will remember for them the covenant with the ancients.” Nachmanides sees in this a promise that G’d will remember the covenant with the ancients (the patriarchs) both when the Jewish people are in the Holy Land and when they will be in exile. He sees in the words לעיני הגוים, “in full view of the gentile nations,” an allusion to the enduring nature of G’d’s special relationship with the Jewish people. Ibn Ezra writes that the meaning of the words וזכרתי להם ברית ראשונים, refer to the covenant concluded at the revelation at Mount Sinai; [after all the era the Torah refers to here when speaking of the exile of the Jewish people is more than 1000 years in the future, so that people alive at that time will consider that covenant without problem as “the covenant concluded with the ancients.” Ed.] There are some scholars who understand the words ברית ראשונים, ”covenant with the ancients” as the covenant concluded with the patriarchs in which G’d promised redemption from Egypt after bondage and harsh treatment. According to this opinion this is why the Torah here has added “whom I took out of Egypt in full view of all the nations.”

וזכרתי להם ברית ראשונם, “I will remember in their favour the covenant with the earlier generations;” from this verse we learn that the covenant was concluded with the different tribes at the time when the people left Egypt. The curses, i.e. admonitions, we have just read are referred to as the brit, covenant, as spelled out in Deuteronomy 28,69: אלה דברי הברית מלבד הברית אשר כרת אתם בחורב, “these are the words of the covenant, apart from the covenant He made with them at Mount Chorev.”

'אני ה, “I have not changed; any deterioration in the Jewish people’s condition is completely the result of their own doing. I will eventually successfully complete My plan, something that I have had in mind since time immemorial, but I have never revealed My timetable.”

והתורת AND THE TORAHS… [WHICH GOD GAVE… IN MOUNT SINAI BY THE HAND OF MOSES] — (The plural is used because there are two Torahs:) one in writing and one by word of mouth (the Oral Law). This verse therefore tells us that all (both) of them were given by God to Moses on Sinai (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 8 10).

אלה החקים, all the commandments recorded already before the commencement of the portion of בחקתי, which began with the words אם בחקתי תלכו, are part of the “package” consisting of statues, social laws and moral/ethical laws the observance of which will be reflected by the Jewish nation either receiving blessings or, G’d forbid, curses. This is the covenant to which Moses referred in Deuteronomy 28,69 when he wrote: “apart from the covenant which He concluded with them at Chorev.”

בהר סיני ביד משה, just as the whole chapter commences with the subject of the sh’mittah legislation (25,1) so it concludes with linking the retribution as being the result of neglect of that important commandment. The subject matter of both the portion Behar and Bechukotai deals almost exclusively with the release of the land or the slaves, freeing slaves (Jewish ones, not bodily owned) and freeing land which had been sold only due to economic necessity. The importance the Torah attaches to these commandments is underlined by their being repeatedly mentioned as originating at Mount Sinai.

ביני ובין בני ישראל, G’d had vowed to bestow the blessings if the people merited them, and the people accepted the curses as being deserved in the event that they would not obey G’d’s instructions. However, the legislation which follows now, regarding the evaluations of people in terms of subjectively defined vows, in terms of the firstborn and in terms of their donating property to the temple treasury, etc., all of this was only legislated after the covenant had already been entered into, even though the words “at Mount Sinai” have been used by the Torah in describing this legislation. When the Torah repeats in chapter 27,34 “these are the commandments G’d commanded Moses to relate to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai,” it added these words to make clear that although these laws also originated at Mount Sinai, they were not part of the laws covered by the covenant, i.e. laws which if violated might bring on the terrible retribution described in chapter 26.