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EXTRA · Bechukosai 26:18 · and if with these you do not hearken

Parashas Bechukosai · Passuk context

The Complete Passuk

וְאִ֨ם־עַד־אֵ֔לֶּה לֹ֥א תִשְׁמְע֖וּ לִ֑י וְיָסַפְתִּי֙ לְיַסְּרָ֣ה אֶתְכֶ֔ם שֶׁ֖בַע עַל־חַטֹּאתֵיכֶֽם׃

And if, for all that, you do not obey Me, I will go on to discipline you sevenfold for your sins.

Chabad.org

Source Citation

Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5:7 — “ad eileh”: R. Eliezer (testimony first) and R. Yehoshua (still more plagues remain).

Sefaria

Chazal

“וְאִם עַד אֵלֶּה” — רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: אֵין הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מֵבִיא פֻּרְעָנוּת עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד שֶׁמֵּעִיד בָּהֶם תְּחִלָּה. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר: שֶׁלֹּא יֹאמְרוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל כָּלוּ הַמַּכּוֹת וְאֵין לוֹ עוֹד לְהָבִיא — לָכָךְ נֶאֱמַר “עַד אֵלֶּה” — עוֹד יֵשׁ לִי מֵאֵלֶּה וּכְאֵלֶּה.

English: “And if with these” — R. Eliezer: the Holy One does not bring calamity upon Israel until He first testifies against them. R. Yehoshua: so that Israel not say “the plagues have ended and He has no more to bring”; therefore it is written “ad eileh” — I still have others of these and like these.

Type of Learning

Double derasha on “ad eileh” — warning before blow; reservoir of further discipline.

What Is Learned

Even within the cascade of the tochacha, the text insists on process: testimony precedes punishment, and the store of discipline is not exhausted by what has already been named.