Rashi on TanakhLeviticus 26

You shall not make idols for yourselves. [This is] directed against one who is sold to a non-Jew, that he not say “since my master commits sexual crimes, I will do like him [will do the same], since my master worships idols, I will do like him, since my master profanes the Shabbos, I will do like him;” therefore these verses are stated. And these פָּרָשִׁיּוֹת are also said in order: At first he warned [him] regarding the seventh year, and if he coveted money and was suspected of [trading in] the seventh year, his end will be to sell his moveable property. And that is why [verse 14] was placed adjacent: “When you sell to your neighbor” — (what is written regarding this? “Or purchase from your neighbor” — something which is acquired from hand to hand) — if he does not repent, his end will be to sell his estate. [If] he [still] does not repent, in the end he sells his house; [if] he does not repent [at this point], in the end he will borrow at interest — all these last are worse than the first. [If] he has still not repented, in the end he sells himself; [if] he does not repent, not only will he sell himself to a Jew, but even to a non-Jew.

And a prostration stone, [an expression denoting] covering, as [in the verse] “I will cover [you] with My hand.” [This means] they cover the ground with a stone floor.

Upon which to prostrate oneself, even to Heaven, because [prostration involves] the spreading out of hands and feet, and the Torah forbade doing so outside the Temple.

I am Adonoy, faithful to give reward.

If you follow My statutes. Perhaps [this refers to] the fulfillment of the mitzvos? When [the verse] says: “and keep My commandments and you will fulfill them,” behold, the fulfillment of the mitzvos is mentioned. How do I interpret [the clause]: “If you follow My statutes”? That you should labor in [studying] Torah.

And keep My commandments. Labor in Torah in order to keep and fulfill, as it is said: “And you shall teach them and take care to fulfill them.”

In their proper time, at the time that it is not the habit of people to go out [of their houses], as for example on (Tuesday nights — in old [printings of] Rashi[’s commentary]) on Friday nights.

And the tree of the field. These are non-fruit-bearing trees, [but] they will in the future produce fruit.

Threshing will overtake the grape-harvest. The [amount of] threshing [to be done] will be so great, [that] you will be occupied with it until [time time of] the grape-harvest, and you will occupy yourselves with the grape-harvest until the time of seed [= planting].

You will eat your bread to satiation. Eating a little, [but that small amount] will be blessed in [the eater’s] innards.

I will grant peace. Perhaps you will say: Behold food and behold drink; but if there is no peace, there is nothing! The verse says after all this: “I will grant peace in the land.” From here [we learn] that peace is equal to all [other blessings], and [so too] it [= the verse] says: “He makes peace and creates all.”

No sword shall pass through your land. Not only will they not come to war [upon you], but [they will not] even pass through your land from province to province [in order to make war elsewhere].

Before you by the sword — each before his fellow-soldier’s sword.

Of you will pursue, of the weak among you, and not [even] the heroes among you.

Five. . .one hundred. . . one hundred of you. . .ten thousand. Is this thus the proportion? After all, it was only necessary to state: “a hundred of you will pursue two thousand”? Rather, [this comes to tell us] that there is no comparison between a few who perform the Torah[’s commandments] and the many who perform the Torah[’s commandments].

Your enemies will fall before you [by the sword]. They will fall before you — not in a natural way.

I will turn to you. I will turn [my attention] from all My affairs [in order] to pay your reward. A parable. To what may this be compared? To a king who hired workers, etc., as it is in Toras Kohanim.

Make you fruitful, with increasing population.

And multiply you, with an upright stature.

And establish My covenant with you — a new covenant, not like the first covenant [at Sinai] which you violated, but a new covenant which will not be violated, as it is said: “I will make a covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah a new covenant — not like the first covenant.”

You shall eat old [store] long kept, the crops will be preserved and of good [quality] to be aged, that the old [store] long kept of three years [ago] will be better to eat than that of last year!

And old [store] you will have to clear out because of the new — that the threshing floors will be full of new [crops], and the storehouses [will be] full of old [store long kept], and you will need to empty the storehouses, [taking the old crops] to another place, [in order] to place new [crops] within.

I will set My sanctuary, this is the Temple.

And My spirit will not loathe (reject) you, My spirit will not abhor you. Every expression of גְעִילָה is an expression of expelling a substance absorbed in something, similar [to]: “for there the shield of the mighty was repelled,” [meaning] that it did not accept the oiling for they would oil their leather shields with boiled fat, in order that an arrow’s or [spear’s-blow] would slip off, so as not to pierce the skin [of the shield].

I will walk among you, I will stroll with you in the Garden of Eden as one of you, and you will not be frightened of Me. Perhaps [this means that] you will not fear Me? The verse says: I will be a God for you.

I am Adonoy your God. I am worthy that you should believe in Me, that I can do all these [things], for behold, I have taken you out of the land of Egypt, and I performed great miracles for you.

Bars [of your yoke]. [This is] like a peg at the two ends of the yoke which impede the strap from slipping off the head of the ox, [which would cause] the knot to become untied. Similar to “Make straps and bars for yourself.” Cheville in Old French.

Standing upright, [with] upright stature.

And if you will not listen to Me to labor [in the study of] Torah, to know the expositions of the Sages. Perhaps [this refers to] the performance of the mitzvos? When [the verse] says: and you will not fulfill etc., behold, the performance of the mitzvos is mentioned, how then do I interpret “and if you will not listen to Me”? To labor [in the study of] Torah. And why does the verse say “to Me”? the word לִי [in this chapter of punishments] refers to [the sins of] one who acknowledges his Master and intentionally rebels against Him, and so regarding Nimrod, “He was a mighty hunter before Adonoy,” he acknowledged Him and intentionally rebelled against Him, and so regarding the people of Sedom, [“The people of Sedom were] wicked and sinful towards Adonoy, exceedingly,” they acknowledged their Master and intentionally rebelled against Him.

And you will not fulfill, since you will not learn, you will not fulfill — resulting in two sins.

If you despise My statutes, despise others who do perform [My statutes].

Your souls loathe My laws, you hate the Sages.

Not to fulfill — preventing others from fulfilling [the mitzvos].

All My commandments, he denies that I commanded them, and that is why it is said: “all My mitzvos,” and not “all the mitzvos.”

Thereby breaking My covenant, denying the Essential Principle. Behold, seven sins, the first causing the second, and so until the seventh. And these are: He did not learn, and did not perform [the mitzvos], despises others who do perform, hates the Sages, prevents others [from performing], denies the mitzvos, denies the Essential Principle.

I will impose on you, and I will command against you.

Swelling, a sickness which causes the flesh to swell, ampoules in Old French, similar to a swollen [person] whose swelling has subsided, and the appearance of his face is washed out.

Fever, a sickness which inflames the body, makes it hot and burning, as [in the verse]: “For My anger has kindled a fire.”

That consume the eyes and fill the soul with grief. The eyes peer out expectantly and pine to see that [the sick person] should improve and be healed, [but] in the end he is not healed, and his family’s souls are grief-stricken at his death. Any desire which is not fulfilled, or any hope that is deferred, is called “consumption of the eyes.”

You will plant [your seeds] in vain, you sow [but] it does not grow, and if it grows, your enemies will consume [your crops].

I will set My Face against you — My attention — I will turn from all My affairs to do you harm.

Your foes will rule over you. According to its plain sense, [the word rodu means] “they will rule over you.” The Aggodo of Toras Kohanim of this parashoh:

Then I will do the same with you. I speak only with anger. So too [the verse]: “I too will deal with them contrarily.”

I will impose upon you, that these blows will visit you one after another, while the first is still visited upon you, I will bring another, and join it to [the first].

Terror, A blow which frightens people, and what is that? This is a deathly plague.

Swelling. Some people, though they are ill and bedridden, their flesh is still whole, [and so] the verse says: “swelling” — that [the flesh] is swollen. Or at times it [= the flesh] is swollen, but the sick person is comfortable and not feverish, [and so] the verse says: “and fever” — teaching that he is feverish. Or at times he is feverish, but he himself feels that he will live. The verse says: “consume the eyes.” Or he himself does not feel that he will live, but others feel that he will live — the verse says: “fill the soul with grief.”

You will plant your seed in vain. He sows it and it does not grow; what then do your enemies come [to] eat? The verse says: Your enemies will consume it. How is this? He sows it the first year and it does not grow; [he sows it] the second year, and it grows, [but] the enemies come and find the crop [and take it] for the days of siege, [while] those within [the besieged city] die of starvation, since they did not gather the crop the year before. Another interpretation: “You will plant your seed in vain”: In reference to sons and daughters does the verse speak; that you labor for them and raise them, and sin (the enemy) comes and puts an end to them, as it is said: “Those that I have swaddled and brought up my enemy has consumed.”

I will set My face against you. As it is said regarding the good, “and I will turn to you,” so is it said regarding evil, “I will set My Face.” They [= the Sages] proposed a parable; [this may be compared] to a king who said to his servants: “I am turning from all my affairs, and am concerning myself only with you — for evil.”

You will be defeated before your enemies, The plague will kill you within [your cities], [while] your enemies will surround you without.

Your foes will rule over you. I do not set up enemies for you but from you and within you. For while the nations of the world stand against Israel, they seek only that which is in the open, as it is said: “And when Israel would sow, Midyon and Amolek and the Easterners would attack, etc., they camped against them, and destroyed the produce of the land.” But when I set up against you [enemies] from you and within you, they seek your [hidden] treasures, and so [the verse] says: “Who also eat the flesh of My people, and flay their skin from off them.”

And you will flee, because of panic.

When no one is pursuing you, because of lack of strength.

If after these, and if after these [have happened],

you [still] do not listen [to Me], then I will increase still other sufferings.

Sevenfold, as your sins, seven punishments for the seven sins mentioned above.

I will break the pride of your power, this [refers to] the Temple, and so too [the verse] says: “Behold, I will profane My Sanctuary, the pride of your strength.”

I will make your heavens like iron, and your land like copper. This is more severe than Moshe[’s curse], for there [the verse] says: “And your heavens which are over your head are copper, etc.” that the heavens will exude moisture just as copper exudes moisture, and the earth will not exude moisture just as iron does not exude moisture, and [therefore] it keeps its produce [from rotting], but here the heavens will not exude moisture just as iron does not exude moisture, and there will be drought in the world. [Moreover,] the land will exude moisture just as copper exudes moisture, and [thus] destroys its produce.

Your strength will be exhausted in vain. Behold, a person who does not labor, who does not plow, who does not sow, who does not weed, nor clears the thorns, nor hoes, but at harvest time a blight comes and strikes it, it does not matter [to him]. But a person who labors, and plows and sows and weeds and clears the thorns and hoes, and blight comes and strikes [the crop], behold the teeth of such a one are set on edge.

Your land will not yield its produce, even what you bring to it at the time of seeding.

And the tree[s] of the land. even from the very earth a curse will be upon them. Its fruit will not blossom at the time of blossoming.

Will not give forth. [This phrase] serves both above and below — for “tree” and for “produce.”

Will not give forth its produce, and when it does produce fruits, it casts them off; thus there are two curses [in this phrase] and there are here [therefore] seven curses [in all].

If you walk contrary to Me. Our Rabbis said [that the word keri means] “irregularly,” “by chance,” [something occurring] only occasionally — so [here]: if you will follow the mitzvos [only] occasionally. And Menachem explained [it as] an expression of “withholding,” and similarly [the verse]: “Withhold your foot [from your neighbor’s house,” and similarly, “a [person of] restrained spirit.” This [interpretation] is close to its Targumic [translation] of Onkelos, [which is] an expression of hardness, “for they harden their hearts, refraining from approaching Me.”

Sevenfold, as your sins, seven other punishments, in the number seven, as your sins [number seven].

I will send, an expression of inciting.

Will make you bereft of children. I [find mention only of] wild beasts which cause bereavement, whose nature is such [to attack humans,] however domesticated animals whose nature is not such, how do I know [that they will rob them of children]. The verse says: “The teeth of domesticated animals I will set upon them.” [Thus we have] two [punishments]. And how [do we know] that it will kill with its bite? The verse says: “With the poison of serpents of the dust.” Just as these [= the serpents] bite and kill, so too these [will] bite and kill. There were indeed years in Eretz Yisroel [in which] a donkey bit and killed, [and] a wild ass bit and killed.

Will make you bereft of children — these are minors.

Destroy your cattle, from without.

And reduce you[r population], within.

Make your roads into wasteland. [This refers to] major roads and secondary roads. Thus there are seven punishments: “teeth of domesticated animals,” “teeth of wild animals,” “the anger (= poison) of those who slither in the dust,” “and make bereft,” “cut off (= decimate),” “and reduce [population],” “and become desolate.”

You have not been disciplined to return to Me.

Avenging the covenant. There is “avenging” (nokom) which is not for the [violation of the] covenant, [such as those] as are usual with other “avengings,” [as for example] the blinding of Tzidkiyohu. Another interpretation:

Avenging the covenant — avenging My covenant which you have transgressed. Every [mention] in Tanach of bringing a sword [refers to] battle of enemy armies.

You will huddle [in your cities], from the outside into the midst of the cities because of the siege. I will send pestilence among you, [and] by means of pestilence, you will be given [into the hand of the enemy], [into the hands] of the enemies who besiege you. Since [it is not permitted] to allow a dead body to remain overnight in Jerusalem, when they take out the dead body to bury it, they are given into the hand of the enemy.

Staff of your bread, an expression of “support,” similar to “strong staff.”

When I break the staff of your bread, I will break for you every support of food. These are the “arrows of famine.”

Ten women will bake your bread in one oven, for lack of wood.

And they will return your bread by weight. For the crops will have been rotted, and the bread is [therefore] crumbly, breaking in the oven. They (the women) sit and weigh the pieces to divide them among themselves.

You will eat but you will not be satisfied. This is a curse of the bread within the stomach. Thus there are seven punishments: “sword,” “siege,” “pestilence,” “the breaking of the staff of bread,” “lack of wood,” “crumbly bread,” “curse in the stomach.” “And you will be given [into the hand of the enemy”] is not of that number, [for] it is [the same as] “the sword.”

High places, towers and castles.

sun images, a type of idolatrous worship which they set up on roofs, and because they set them up in the sun they are called “sun images.”

I will set your corpses. [People] were [once] swollen from starvation, and would take their idols from their bosoms, and would kiss them; each person’s belly would split open, and he would fall [dead] upon it [the idol].

My soul will loathe you. This [refers] to the departure of the Shechinoh.

I will turn your cities into ruins. Perhaps [this means they will be uninhabited] by man? When [the verse] says: “I will make the land desolate,” [the curse of cities empty of] mankind is mentioned. How [then] do I interpret “ruins” [in our verse]? [Empty of even] passersby.

And bring your Sanctuaries into desolation. Perhaps [this means that they will be empty] of sacrifices? When [the verse] says: “I shall no longer scent [accept favorably the fragrance of your offerings],” sacrifices are mentioned. How [then] do I interpret “and bring your sanctuaries into desolation”? [They will be empty of] bands of pilgrims — caravans of Israel[ites] who would sanctify themselves and gather together to come there. Thus there are seven punishments: eating the flesh of sons and daughters and the destruction of the high places — these make two, [since] the cutting down of sun images is not a punishment, but rather [this means that] by means of the destruction of the towers the sun images at the top of the roofs fall and are cut off, “and I will set your corpses,” etc., this makes three, the departure of the Shechinoh [makes] four, the destruction of cities, the desertion of the Sanctuary by bands of pilgrims, “and I shall no longer scent your offerings” — making seven [in all].

I will make the land [so] desolate. This is [actually] a kindly measure for Israel, for their enemies will not find any satisfaction in their land, for it will be desolate of its inhabitants.

I will scatter you among the nations. This is a harsh measure, for when the inhabitants of a province go into exile to one place, they see each other and are comforted, [but] Israel is scattered as by a winnowing fan, as when a person winnows barley with a fan, and no one of [the barley grains] clings to the next.

Unsheath. When [a soldier] unsheates [his] sword, the scabbard is emptied. And its midrashic [explanation]: A sword once drawn in your [pursuit] does not quickly return [to its scabbard], as a person who empties his water [from its container] — it does not quickly return [to the container].

Your land will be desolate, [and] you will not quickly return to its midst, and thus your cities will be in ruins — they will seem desolate [even] to you, for when a person is exiled from his house, from his vineyard and his city, [but] is destined to return, it is as though his house and vineyard are not in ruins. So it is taught in Toras Kohanim.

[The land] will then be appeased, it will appease the wrath of God, Who was angry regarding [the neglect of] sabbatical years.

Will be appeased — for the King — its sabbatical years.

(All the days that it lies desolate, a passive construction [= “being made desolate”], and the mem has a דָגֵּשׁ in place of the doubled [mem] [in the word] shemomoh.)

The rest it did not have on your Shabbosos. The seventy years of the Babylonian exile correspond to the seventy years of sabbatical years and jubilees [which were neglected], and [thus] were years during which Israel angered God in their land — four hundred and thirty years. Three hundred and ninety were the years of their sin, from [the time] they entered the land until the Ten Tribes went into exile. and the inhabitants of Yehudoh angered Him forty years from [the time] the Ten Tribes went into exile until the destruction of Yerusholayim — as it is said in [the Book of] Yechezkel: “Lie on your left side, etc. [When] you complete these, you will lie on your right side [again]” — forty days” — “you will bear the iniquity of the House of Judah.” This prophecy was said to Yechezkel in the fifth year of the exile of King Yehoyochin, and they lasted yet another six years until the exile of King Tzidkiyohu — which yields [the number] 46. And if you say Menasheh’s years were fifty-five, [I would answer] Menasheh repented for thirty-three years, and all the years of his wickedness were twenty-two, — as they (= the Rabbis) said in the Aggodoh of Chelek — and [those] of Amon: two, eleven for Yehoyokim, and similarly for Tzidkiyohu. Go calculate for 436 years the [number of] sabbatical years and jubilees contained in them, they [number] 16 [years] per century — 14 sabbatical years and 2 jubilees — resulting in 64 [years] for four centuries, [and] for 36 years [we have] five sabbatical years — [the total] is seventy minus one. [There is] yet another year, for [this 436-year period] ended with a sabbatical year, which completes the seventy. And on them (= the Israelites) was decreed [an exile] of seventy complete years, and so [the verse] says in Divrei Hayomim, “until the land had paid her sabbaths, etc. to fufill her seventy years.”

I will send timidity — panic and faint-heartedness. The mem of מרֶךְ is a formative letter which falls away, like the mem of מוֹעֵד and מוֹקֵשׁ .

And they will flee as though fleeing from a sword. As though the pursuers were killing them.

A blown leaf, which the wind pushes and it beats against another leaf, so that, in tapping it, it rustles. And so is its Targum: “the sound of a leaf beating.” (An expression of beating, “beaten by an east wind,” [the word שַׁקִיף] is an expression of mashkof, “lintel,” the place [against which] the door beats.) And so the Targum of חֲבּוּרָה, “a wound,” mashkofei, “[a spot which has been] beaten.”

They will stumble over one another, when they rush to flee [the enemy], they will stumble into one another, for they will be panic-stricken as they run.

As though before a sword. As though they are fleeing before killers — that their hearts will be in a panic, and at every moment they think that a person is pursuing them. And its midrashic explanation is: “They will stumble over one another” — one by the sin of the other, since all Israel is responsible for one another.

You will be lost among the nations. When you will be scattered you will be lost from one another.

[The land of your enemies] will consume you — [this refers to] those who will die in exile.

The iniquities of their ancestors which are [still] with them — when the sins of their ancestors are with them, when they hold onto the deeds of their ancestors.

Will they rot away. An expression of “melting,” similar to “they shall melt away.” And like it [is the verse]: “[Their eyes] shall melt away in their sockets,” “My wounds melt.”

And [I will] bring them, I Myself will bring them; this is a good measure for Israel, that they should not say: “Since we have been exiled among the nations, we will do as they do.” I will not allow them [to do this], but I will establish My prophets, and bring them beneath My shelter, as it is said: “And that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, [that you say, ’We will be as the nations, as the families of the lands, to serve wood and stone’]. As I live, [says 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.”

Or perhaps then [their uncircumcised heart] will be humbled. As: “If it was known that it was a goring ox” — if then they will be humbled. Another interpretation: “Perhaps then their hearts will be humbled, etc.”

And then their iniquities will be appeased. They will atone for their iniquities with their sufferings.

I will remember My covenant with Yaakov. In five places [the name Yaakov] is written “full,” and [the name of the prophet] Eliyohu [is spelled] “defectively” in five places. Yaakov took a letter from the name of Eliyohu [as a] pledge, that he [= Eliyohu] should come and announce the redemption of his children.

I will remember My covenant with Yaakov. Why are they [= the Patriarchs] listed in reverse order? So as to say: The youngest, Yaakov, [alone] is worthy of that; and if he is not worthy, behold, Yitzchok is with him, and if he is not worthy, behold, Avrohom is with him, and he is worthy. And why is “remembrance” not said [in connection] with Yitzchok? Because Yitzchok’s ashes are visible before Me, [as though] they are heaped up and lying on the altar.

Since what certainly caused [this] is that. [As] retribution and in retribution, in that “they despised My laws.”

All this notwithstanding, and even if I bring about this punishment for you which I have stated, [nevertheless,] even when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not despise them, [in order] to put an end to them, and to violate My covenant with them.

The covenant of their ancestors — of the tribes.

And the teachings, one in written form and one in oral form. [This] tells [us] that both of them were given to Moshe at Sinai.