“If you follow My statutes, etc.” Rashi explains that “you should toil in Torah, etc.” Even though Rashi arrived at this interpretation from the redundancy in the verses since keeping the commandments is already mentioned, nevertheless, the language itself also requires explanation. His [Rashi’s] intention is to divide this verse into three parts, corresponding to which and I will give is mentioned three times. In the first section it says, If you follow My statutes. This refers to toiling in Torah and establishing fixed times for Torah study as an unbreakable rule. For this reason, the language My statutes [bechukkotai] is used, as the intent is not about the statutory [arational] commandments since we do not find the language of “walking” or “following” used with them throughout the Torah. The Torah never says “walk in My statutes, which indicates that this ”walking“ refers to something that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not command directly, but rather something a person does of his own accord. Necessarily, this must be interpreted as something a person does naturally, as through habituation it becomes second nature. This can only apply to someone who establishes fixed times and rules for Torah study, accustoming himself to come to the house of study at a specific time until it becomes natural for his feet. This aligns with the Midrash (Rabbah 35:1) which says about If you follow My statutes: This is what is written I considered my ways and turned my feet to Your testimonies (Psalms 119:59). David said before the Holy One, blessed be He, ”Master of the Universe, each day I would plan to go to a certain place, but my feet would bring me to houses of study, etc.“ This happens only because he established fixed times for Torah study as an unbreakable rule, to the point that his feet would guarantee to take him to houses of study unconsciously, as they had become accustomed to it. Therefore, there was no need to command this to a person, because something done without conscious intention cannot be subject to a commandment — one cannot command the feet. Rather, it speaks of a situation where one has established fixed times for Torah study until, at that time, one’s feet go by themselves at the appointed time, which is called a ”statute“ [chok]. Regarding this it says, If you follow My statutes. Corresponding to this, it states, I will give your rains in their time. For the one who establishes fixed times for Torah study, this is his reward — that the rains will come in their proper time. As the Sages said (Taanit 7b), ”Rain is withheld only because of the sin of neglecting Torah study, as it is said Through laziness, the ceiling sags (Ecclesiastes 10:18).“

And perhaps for this reason it was said at the giving of the Torah. Even the heavens dripped before God, this is Sinai (Psalms 68:9) to teach that in the merit of studying Torah, which is from heaven, rain will descend from heaven, for “if there is no Torah, there is no flour” (Avot 3:21), and in the merit of “statute,” meaning setting fixed times for Torah study, the rains will come in their proper time. And what it says and you shall keep My commandments refers to the purpose that results from learning, for it leads to observing the negative and positive commandments. Regarding the negative commandments it says and you shall keep My commandments, because wherever it says “keep,” “lest,” or “do not,” it refers to a negative commandment (Eruvin 96a). And you shall do them refers to the positive commandments. And since it does not merely say “keep and do,” why does it need to write them? This teaches that the commandments require proper intention, which is what is meant by the word them.

And then He detailed the reward for each of these three. Corresponding to the study of Torah alluded to in if you walk in My statutes, He says I will give your rains in their time. He does not simply say rains because He does not want to designate the reward for Torah study now, as this matter is already known that rain falls in the merit of Torah, and they are already your rains. Except that now an additional thing is that those rains which are already your rains and designated for you, now I will give them in their time in the merit of if you walk in My statutes, as has been explained. And the land will give its yield. For if there is Torah, there is flour [sustenance]. And the meaning of its yield [yevulah] is not “what you bring [movil] to it” as Rashi explains on the verse and your land will not give its yield (Deuteronomy 11:17). For if so, what is the novelty? Rather, later [in Deuteronomy] Rashi interprets from the extra word et [which indicates inclusion], as every “et” comes to include, and it includes that even what you bring to it, it will not give. But here “et” is not stated, and if so, everything is included in its yield, meaning what it typically brings to your home. For if not, why is “et” not stated here as it is later? Rather, here it means what it typically brings, and later from the extra “et” we derive that even what you bring to it [is included]. And the vintage shall reach the sowing time. It does not say “for you” [regarding wine] because bread is a necessity that will be for you, but wine is a luxury, not for your pleasure but rather for the sake of fulfilling commandments. And you shall eat your bread to satisfaction. The letter “lamed” in l’sova [to satisfaction] indicates that one should not eat until completely full, but rather slightly less than full satiation, as doctors advise, so that one comes close to but does not reach complete fullness. And you shall dwell securely [literally, to security] in your land. The letter “lamed” in la’vetach [to security] indicates that satiation leads to security, as it is written He makes your borders peaceful; He satiates you with the finest wheat (Psalms 147:14). And our Sages said (Bava Metzia 59a), “When the measure of grain is exhausted from the jug, knocking [quarreling] comes.”

And then He promised a reward for “and you shall observe My commandments.” That is, the negative commandments [prohibitions], and He said I will give peace in the land in the way our Sages said (Devarim Rabbah 4:4): “Guard My lamp that is in your hand, and I will guard your lamp that is in My hand.” And the general meaning of “guarding” is to refrain from doing something harmful, and if you guard yourself from doing things that harm you, I too will guard your lamp from all harmful things, and may there be peace within your walls. And the sword shall not pass through your land, etc. Because all the observance of negative commandments is passive [refraining from action], so too the protection from the sword and wild beasts is passive. Therefore it says they shall fall before you by the sword. Meaning, even though you pursue them, there is no need to actively pursue them, but rather through inaction they will fall to the sword on their own. And regarding what is written five of you will pursue a hundred, etc., where the calculation does not seem proportionate, the commentators explained that initially, before fear enters the hearts [of the enemies], five will pursue a hundred, and after this, when the enemies see that five pursue a hundred, then great fear will enter the hearts of the enemies and their strength will weaken until a hundred of you will pursue 10,000. And after that, great fear will increase upon them and your enemies will fall before you by themselves, even without any pursuit at all.

And from, “And I will place My dwelling in your midst” He begins to promise the reward for fulfilling the positive commandments that are performed with actual hands, therefore I will place My dwelling, meaning the Holy Temple, as Rashi explains, because about it is said, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established (Exodus 15:17), for the Holy One, Blessed be He, Himself established it with actual hands, as Rashi explained in Parshat Beshalach (15:17). And My soul will not reject you. This is an expression of displacement, as Rashi explains: Do not think that when I rest My Divine Presence in the Holy Temple, you will be pushed away and displaced from there because the bed is too short to stretch out on (Isaiah 28:20). Regardless, I will confine My Divine Presence among you in such a way that we will dwell together in one dwelling, even though the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him (1 Kings 8:27), and you will not be displaced from there. And some say I will place My dwelling in your midst literally, and do not think that when your soul, which I have placed within you, sees the Divine Presence, it will reject you and desire to cleave to the Divine Presence. Therefore, He says, My soul will not reject you, and soon it will be explained in another way.

And I will establish My covenant with you. And you shall eat old [produce] very old [produce]. They needed a covenant concerning the produce of the sabbatical and jubilee years, that it should not rot, as Rashi explains regarding the covenant with Noah (Genesis 6:18). Therefore it says, And you shall eat old produce, very old produce, from previous years.

And by way of allusion, it said, Even though it may happen at some point in time that I will make a new covenant with you, nevertheless the old covenant will not be broken, but will become secondary while the new covenant will be primary. And you shall clear out the old because of the new as it is written And they will no longer say, “As the Lord lives, who brought up [the children of Israel] from the land of Egypt.” But rather, “As the Lord lives, who brought up and who brought in [the seed of the house of Israel] from all the lands” (Jeremiah 23:7-8). And our Sages of blessed memory said (Berakhot 12b): Not that the Exodus from Egypt will be completely uprooted, but it will become secondary, and the ingathering of the exiles will be primary. For the miracles of Egypt will be secondary to the great miracles that the Lord will perform in the future when He will make a new covenant with Israel. With this, the meaning of the verse is resolved, as its words seemed to contradict each other when it says you shall eat the old, very old, and afterward it says and you shall clear out the old because of the new. For and the old implies that before it becomes old, very old you shall clear it out.

And because it mentioned an allusion about the redemption and about the exchange, it went back and mentioned an allusion that Israel would not be consumed in the length of the exile, saying, I will place My dwelling among you, and My soul shall not reject you (Leviticus 26:11). For mishkani [My dwelling] refers to the Tabernacle of Testimony, which is called “mishkan” because it was taken as a pledge [nimashken] for the sins of Israel. And it is common practice in the world that whoever has to give a pledge for their debt, the creditor does not collect lives [as payment]. Similarly, God gave Israel the Tabernacle in order to take it as a pledge if they sin, and His wrath would be spent on wood and stones. And by having a place to collect His debt from physical property, My soul shall not reject you. This means I will not need to “rob those who rob them of life” (based on Proverbs 22:23). And what is said in the curses, My soul will reject you (Leviticus 26:30) — this means that if even after the destruction you do not take moral instruction, for it first says I will break the pride of your strength (Leviticus 26:19), which Rashi explains as referring to the Temple, and afterwards it is written And if with this you will not listen to Me, etc. (Leviticus 26:27). Regarding this it says that after your pride and strength is already destroyed, and I no longer have a place to collect My debt except from your souls, therefore it says My soul will reject you. And what is written, I will not despise them nor reject them to destroy them completely (Leviticus 26:44) specifically means the rejection of complete destruction will not happen to them, but ordinary rejection of souls will occur if even after the destruction they are not disciplined.

And I will walk among you. Rashi explained: “I will stroll with you in the Garden of Eden, etc.” His intention is to remove from our holy Torah any challenger or disputer who says, “I have a place to lodge [an objection] and say that since the primary reward for the soul is not mentioned in the Torah, then surely these commandments do not have the power to bequeath to those who perform them the spiritual reward in the world to come. The purpose of performing them is only to receive reward in this world, which is held in contempt.” Many complete and great [scholars] have already been aroused by this question, and seven opinions have come to resolve this doubt, which Abarbanel mentioned in his compilation and elaborated on them. I have come to be as brief as possible and to arrange them here in order to close the mouths of those who speak arrogantly against our holy Torah.

The first opinion, which is the opinion of Maimonides, is that all these promises are not the main reward, and all the bad and good things mentioned here in this portion are matters concerning only the removal of obstacles. Meaning, if you observe My commandments, I will remove from you all obstacles such as wars, illnesses, famine, and sorrow, so that you will be able to serve God without any impediment. However, the main reward of the World to Come is not mentioned here, so that one would serve his Creator for its own sake, and not because of that reward or out of fear of punishment, as explained in the Book of Knowledge (Laws of Repentance 9:1).

The second opinion is the view of Ibn Ezra, in Parashat Ha’azinu (32:39), and this is his language: “And according to my opinion, the Torah was given to everyone and not to one person alone, and the matters of the World to Come cannot be understood by one in a thousand because it is profound.” His view is that since it is difficult to conceptualize that reward [of the World to Come] because the physical cannot grasp the spiritual, therefore the Torah concealed this profound matter from the masses due to their limited understanding.

The third opinion, which is the opinion of Rabbeinu Bachya the Elder, mentioned by Ibn Ezra in Parashat Ha’azinu and he leaned towards his words, and also Ramban leaned towards this opinion, is that all the promises in the Torah are above nature. For it is not natural that rain would fall when people observe the commandments and that rain would be withheld from the earth when they do not fulfill the will of the Blessed One. However, the ascent of the soul to its source is a natural phenomenon for the soul and is not miraculous. And since we find in the Torah the punishment of karet [spiritual excision] for the sinning soul, that it is cut off from its source, from this we can learn that if it does not sin, it will return to its dwelling place, to the place where its tent was originally. And it seems that regarding this it is said: Hope in the Lord and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it (Psalms 37:34). This means that in the same karet [excision] that is promised in the Torah for the wicked, you will see that there is spiritual reward that God will exalt you to inherit the land of life, for the soul will ascend to its source, which we learn from the fact that the Torah needs to specify that the souls of the wicked are cut off from there.

The fourth opinion is: In those days, the entire world denied the divine providence of the blessed God, and they claimed that everything that happens in the world happens out of necessity and not by will. The Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to affirm the cornerstone of providence through these promises, which their own eyes could see — that whoever does the will of his Creator is supervised for good with all these providential blessings. And if He had promised them spiritual reward, they would still remain in this denial, for one who wishes to lie will distance his witnesses. The essence of this opinion is that of Rabbeinu Nissim in the section of Genesis, and its root is in the book of the Kuzari (First Essay 104-106) when the Kuzari said to the Rabbi: “I see that the promises of others are fatter and richer than your promises.” The Rabbi replied to him: “But they are all after death, and there is nothing of them in life, nor anything that the senses can testify to.” The Kuzari said: “And I have not seen one of those who believe in those promises eager to acquire it quickly, but if it were in his power to delay it a thousand years, and that he would remain in the memory of the living and in the burden of this world and its many sorrows, he would choose this.” And this is truly a decisive answer, to say that the Torah promised the thing which a person greatly desires.

The fifth opinion is that before receiving the Torah, they were worshiping stars and constellations and were performing special worship rituals to them in order to draw blessings for their crops and to bring rains in their proper times and other physical successes. And when the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah and denied them those rituals, He needed to promise them that through observing the Torah they would also merit those promises, and that through the worship of stars and constellations they would lack all these things. But regarding the life of the World to Come, He did not need to promise them, because even through those [idolatrous] rituals they were not assured of it. And this is the opinion of Rav Saadia in his Book of Beliefs; and also in the Guide for the Perplexed, Part 3.

The sixth opinion is: Since it is said And I will walk among you and I will place My dwelling in your midst, which refers to the connection of the Divine Presence to Israel even in this world where the soul is entangled with material substance, how much more so will it be attached to the Divine Presence after separating from the material body. Indeed, all that the false religions promise after death, the Torah promises to us even in the life of this world, and the prophecy found among us proves this. This opinion can also be found in the Rabbi’s response to the king of Khazar at the end of the first section of his book, and Rabbenu Nissim upheld this opinion in his Derash HaChadash.

The seventh opinion is that all the promises mentioned in the Torah are for the nation as a whole, because the world is judged according to its majority, and the promises of rain, produce, peace, and similar matters will be for all of Israel as one. However, the spiritual reward for the World to Come is not for the nation as a whole, but each person individually is judged there according to his deeds. And these are alluded to in the commandments of honoring father and mother and sending away the mother bird [before taking eggs from a nest] for each person from Israel. This opinion is found in the Sefer HaIkarim and in Ramban’s commentary on Parshat Ekev (11:13) on the verse with all your heart — see there. Through these seven approaches those who speak arrogantly against our holy Torah are made to flee, besides what we have seen with our own eyes how great was God’s love for our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And if their success in this world were the end of their success, then what advantage did Abraham have over the wicked Nimrod? For the latter ruled over the entire world, while Abraham was wandering all his days, moving from tent to tent, from nation to nation. Similarly with Isaac and Jacob, we do not know what true reward they received, because if this reward promised to their descendants is the end of their reward, what benefit is there to [them]? For after their death, their descendants will inherit the land while they themselves left the world empty of all their labor. And even for the Israelites who inherit the land, what advantage do they have, even in times of prosperity, over all the kings of the earth who succeeded and ruled in the world like them, and some even more than them? This can only be because the abundant good hidden away for the righteous is the portion and inheritance of the forefathers and all their descendants like them, for there is one Torah for all of them.

Seven for your sins. There is reason to consider that three times it says for your sins, and one time it inserts in the middle seven like your sins. There are also changes in language in these four places, and certainly these were not casual variations. It appears that initially it says seven for your sins corresponding to the seven sins that Rashi enumerated, and it says that the punishments will not be directly measure for measure, because each type adheres more to its own kind than to a different kind. Therefore, God in His mercy did not want the punishment to be of the same type as the sin, so that the punishment would not adhere to them strongly when similar types meet. However, afterward it says, If you walk with Me by chance. And you say that it is surely a coincidence for you and not that the hand of God did this, because you see that the punishments are not of the same type as the sin, I will add to you a punishment seven like your sins. This is precisely measure for measure, so that you will believe that it is not the snake that kills, but the sin that kills (Berakhot 33a). And if by these you are not disciplined, such that you brazen your faces to say in any case that it is a coincidence for you, and it will not help that I have seen to direct the punishments towards your sins, then I too will walk with you by chance. Because until now I have not left you to chance occurrences, and I chastised you Myself as a man disciplines his son, but since God does these things twice, three times with a man (Job 33:29) and it does not help, from now on I will abandon you to chance, and then the punishments will necessarily be seven for your sins. Not like your sins, because chance does not operate with providence to direct punishments corresponding to sins, and the number seven is also not providential, rather if all seven planets that operate by chance will affect you adversely, therefore they will be seven in number. And what is said, I will also strike you, this is not an actual direct blow, but rather this blow from Me is that I will abandon you to the chances of time, and they will affect you with evils without mercy, for there is no mercy in chance. But nevertheless, the matter is still in doubt, for perhaps chance will bring them good and it is not a certainty. Therefore it says, And if with this you will not listen to Me. And you will say in any case that it is a coincidence for you, I will walk with you with the fury of chance. It adds with the fury because I know how to time it when the celestial arrangement is in fierce, poured-out anger, and at that time I will make it rule over you, and then it will certainly affect you with evils without doubt.

“I will make your skies like iron and your land like copper.” And Moses said the opposite of this, your skies like copper and your land like iron (Deuteronomy 28:23). This is because most commentators agree that this entire rebuke relates to the destruction of the First Temple, while the rebuke in Parashat Ki Tavo relates to the destruction of the Second Temple. It is known that iron is harder than copper, and in the First Temple period, their main sin was against Heaven through worshipping stars and constellations, as it is said, Since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah 44:18). Therefore, the heavens were harsher to them than the earth, as it is said, The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him (Job 20:27). For they also corrupted their ways on earth. But in the Second Temple period, they did not worship idols, and their main evil was on earth through baseless hatred and quarreling among themselves, and the land was corrupted as in the generation of the Flood. Therefore, the earth was harsher to them than the heavens.

And the sound of a driven leaf shall pursue them. This is what is written: And they shall stumble one upon another, for this speaks of the division of hearts that is more common among Israel than among all other nations, as it is said: And I will scatter [literally, winnow] you among the nations. Like a winnower where no one [piece] clings to another, so too Israel — even when they are in the land of their enemies, they are separated from one another, even though it is the way of exiles to comfort each other. But Israel is not like this, for they are scattered and separated even in exile, and each one pushes his fellow with force and seeks to remove him from his position, to overthrow and fall upon him, as in the curse of Ahijah the Shilonite, as it is said: And the Lord shall strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water (First Kings 14:15). For every reed is pushed and shaken by the wind blowing through it, and in addition to the push of the wind, each reed pushes its fellow. Thus, each reed is pushed twice: once by the wind, and a second time by its neighboring reed that pushes against it, and so on from one to another until they all stumble and fall. So too, every person of Israel is pushed by the wind, that is, by the kingdoms, as in Daniel’s prophecy that compared all four kingdoms to wind — not the wind of God — as it is said: And behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea (Daniel 7:2). And perhaps this great sea alludes to the Red Sea [Yam Suf, literally Reed Sea], which has reeds and rushes, and his intention refers to Israel like the parable of the reeds: In addition to the pushing of the nations against Israel, each one pushes his fellow into his pitfalls. Therefore, here he compares them to a driven leaf, for the leaf is very weak and is blown by the wind that blows through it, and nevertheless, each leaf pushes its fellow and strikes it. So too, every person of Israel in exile is like a leaf driven by the aforementioned wind, and nevertheless, he pursues his fellow to strike him with the whip of his tongue, either in front of the nations or with evil speech in the Jewish quarter, which is the sound of a leaf. Therefore, it immediately says: And they shall stumble one upon another.

He further alludes with the “driven leaf,” to the abundance of mundane conversations spoken without truth throughout all the city streets. Just as it says And its leaf shall not wither (Psalms 1:3), which our Sages interpreted (Sukkah 21b) as referring to the mundane conversations of Torah scholars, etc., so too every person from Israel is pushed and pursued by the sound of a leaf, meaning the mundane conversations of evil speech that make their voices heard outside, a voice of affliction. The voice is the voice of deceit from a heart against those who lie down and are awake (Sanhedrin 29b), for the bearers of [evil] speech have made all of Israel hear that no one is innocent, as each one rejoices in their fellow’s misfortune, and it is like honey in their mouth, sweet if they find a place to speak negatively about their fellow. And how many are humiliated as this cup passes over them with no one saying “Stop.” And in our generation, this trait alone is sufficient [reason] for the prolonging of our exile.

And they will confess their sin, etc. The reason it says after the confession, I too will behave toward them with casualness, is because it states, in their treachery that they committed against Me. The letter bet [meaning “in”] in in their treachery [bema’alam] suggests that they continue to be treacherous, for it should have said, “They shall confess their sin and their treachery.” Rather, even though they confess and admit that this sin caused their troubles, nevertheless they continue to be treacherous, their impurity still within them. This is like the custom in our generation, where everyone admits that certain well-known sins cause all the hardships, yet they still do not repent from them, making their confession like one who immerses in a ritual bath while holding a reptile [which keeps them impure]. Some say that they will not attribute [their suffering] to their sin alone, as they might say that their sins are not sufficient to bring all these plagues upon them, and they will attribute it also to the sin of their fathers. Therefore it says, I too will behave toward them with casualness, and then they will accept [the punishment for] their sin and attribute it to their own sin. But this interpretation is contradicted by what Daniel said: Because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, etc. (Daniel 9:16).

“And I will remember My covenant with Jacob, etc.” The reason why the forefathers are mentioned in reverse order is because in every generation, Israel uses up the merit of the forefathers. Therefore, He mentions them in reverse order, in a “not only this, but also that” manner. For example, someone who has three purses of money, with 100 gold coins in each, and begins to spend from the first purse at the beginning of the month of Nisan, from the second in the month of Iyar, and from the third in Sivan — it is obvious that there will always be more money in the later purse than in the earlier one, from which he has already spent for many days. Therefore, He says: “Not only the merit of Jacob,” who came later — it is obvious that his merit hasn’t been fully consumed because it is recent — “but also My covenant with Isaac,” who preceded Jacob, and for many days Israel has been using up his merit, as his descendants immediately and promptly began to use up his merit. You might have thought that it had already been consumed, so Scripture teaches us and also My covenant with Isaac. And not only Isaac, but even the covenant with Abraham, which is very old and ancient — you might have thought that it had already been consumed, so Scripture informs us and also My covenant with Abraham, because his merit is preserved for every generation.

“And I will remember the land.” For the land has grounds to complain and say, “If Israel sinned, what did the land do wrong that the afflictions of the land are brimstone and salt, a burning of all its land (Deuteronomy 29:22), and it is written there (29:23), And all the nations will say, ”Why has the Lord done this to this land?“” Meaning, what was the land’s sin and wrongdoing? And so our Sages of blessed memory said (Nedarim 81a) that when asked why the land was destroyed, neither the prophets nor the ministering angels could explain, etc., as will be explained later in Parshat Nitzavim, with God’s help. Therefore it says, And I will remember the land.

For the land shall be forsaken of them and it shall appease its sabbaths. Because initially it [the land] was demanding justice for its humiliation and the nullification of its sabbatical years, and after judgment was executed upon the sinners, then the land will be forsaken of them and will no longer complain about the nullification of its sabbaths, and it shall appease means it will be appeased in the matter.