1) (Vayikra 26:25) "And I will bring upon you a sword, avenging the vengeance of the covenant": What is "vengeance of the covenant"? Such as the blinding of the eyes of Tzidkiyahu king of Judah, (who broke his covenant with Nevuchadnezzar). "And you will be gathered together into your cities": because of the siege. "and I will send a plague in your midst": The pestilence will devour you from within, and informers will surround you from outside. "and you will be delivered into the hand of the foe": Halachah: It is not permitted to allow the dead to lie over in Jerusalem, and when they took him out to bury him they were seized by the foe. 2) (Vayikra 26:26) "When I break your staff of bread": to include all that comes with the bread. "ten women shall bake your bread in one oven: for lack of wood, "and they shall dole out your bread by weight": For the wheat will be rotten (and the loaf will crumble) and they will sit and weigh it at the oven. ("and you will eat and not be sated") R. Yossi b. Dormaskith says: As people say: (If he had) an issar and a perutah (coins), he would sit and "weigh" (in his mind) and say "I will buy a loaf. (Maybe) I will eat it (and be sated") — but he is not sated. "I will buy dates. Maybe I will eat them and be sated." But still, he eats them and is not sated, viz.: "and you will eat and not be sated." Variantly: "You will eat and not be sated": This is the famine of (intestinal) commotion (i.e., malfunction). 3) (Vayikra 26:29) "And you will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters will you eat": They say of Doeg ben Yosef, who died and left a young child to his mother, that each year she would measure him by hand-breadth and give his weight in gold to the Temple. When they surrounded the citadel of Jerusalem, she slaughtered him with her own hand and ate him. And it is over her that Jeremiah keens (Eichah 2:20) "Shall women eat their fruit, their fondled ones ("measured by hand-breadth" and dedicated to the Temple)? And the Holy Spirit answers her (Eichah 2:20) "Shall there be killed in the Temple of the L–rd, Cohein and prophet!" — Zechariah ben Yehoyada the Cohein. "And you will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters will you eat": What is the intent of this (seemingly redundant "will you eat")? This tells me only that fathers will eat the flesh of sons and daughters. Whence is it derived that sons will eat the flesh of fathers? From "will you eat." And thus is it written (Ezekiel 5:10) "Therefore, fathers will eat children in your midst, and children will eat their fathers." 4) (Vayikra 26:30) "And I will destroy your high places": as implied. "And I will cut down chamaneichem": These are the diviners and charmers in Israel. "and I will cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols": What do the carcasses have to do with the idols: They said: (At the destruction of Jerusalem) Eliyahu made the rounds of all those swollen with hunger. Finding one so smitten, he said to him: "My son, from which family are you"? The boy: "From such and such." Eliyahu: "How many were you?" The boy: "Three thousand." Eliyahu: "And how many are left of you?" The boy: "I." Eliyahu: "Would you like to say something that will keep you alive?" The boy: "Yes." Eliyahu: "Say, hear O Israel, the L–rd, our G d, the L–rd is One." Immediately he screamed and said: "Hush! Do not mention the name of the L–rd; my father never taught me thus!" — saying which, he took his idol, placed it on his heart, and embraced it and kissed it until his belly burst, and he and his idol fell to the ground. And of this it is written "and I will cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols." "and My soul shall abhor you": This is exile. Others say: This is the removal of the Shechinah. (Vayikra 26:31) "And I will lay waste your cities" ("areichem") "ir," "arei," "areichem" (all being implicit in the word "areichem") — to include large towns and provinces. "and I will make desolate your sanctuaries ("mikdesheichem"): "mikdash," "mikdeshei," "mikdesheichem" — to include synagogues and houses of study. "and I will not smell your sweet savors" (as stated). 5) (Vayikra 26:32) "and I will make desolate the land": These are propitious tidings — that Israel will now say: "Since we have been exiled from our land, now the foe will come and find solace therein." For it is written "and your foes who dwell upon it will be awe-struck by it" — even the foe that comes afterwards will find no solace therein. 6) (Vayikra 26:33) "And you will I scatter among the nations": These are bad tidings for Israel. For when all the inhabitants of a country are exiled into one place, they see each other and are (somewhat) consoled thereby. But it shall not be so with you. I am destined to scatter you among all of the nations, as one scatters barley with a winnowing fan, no (kernel) adhering to the other, as it is written (Jeremiah 15:7) "I will scatter them with a winnowing fan through the gates of the earth. I have bereaved, I have destroyed My people, for they have not turned back from their ways." 7) "and I will draw out the sword after you": The sword drawn out after you will not soon return (to its sheath), as spilled out water, which does not return to its vessel.
Sifra Bechukotai Chapter 6
Tap any verse to see what it echoes — and start a chain or echo from it.