Eikev 11:17 · unit 5

Parashas Eikev · Passuk 11:17

The Complete Passuk

וְחָרָ֨ה אַף־יְהֹוָ֜ה בָּכֶ֗ם וְעָצַ֤ר אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ וְלֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֣ה מָטָ֔ר וְהָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה לֹ֥א תִתֵּ֖ן אֶת־יְבוּלָ֑הּ וַאֲבַדְתֶּ֣ם מְהֵרָ֗ה מֵעַל֙ הָאָ֣רֶץ הַטֹּבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה נֹתֵ֥ן לָכֶֽם׃

For GOD’s anger will flare up against you, shutting up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce; and you will soon perish from the good land that GOD is assigning to you.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Taanit. (שם שם — same source as the previous unit).

TT lemma: ועצר את השמים (unit 5 of 9).

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
ועצר את השמים. אמר רב חסדא, גשמים שירדו על מקצת מדינה ועל מקצת מדינה לא ירדו אין בהם משום ועצר

English: Rav Chisda said: Rains that fell on part of a province and not on another part do not count under “He will shut up the heavens.”

On the daf / in context: Torah Temimah places this derasha on Devarim 11:17. The Core Text is the words of Chazal (as transmitted in the source named above).

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli sugya) — not a formal named middah of the 13

The Gemara uses this passuk in a sugya (proof, illustration, or dispute). Named as one of R' Yishmael’s 13 or R' Eliezer’s 32 only when that move is explicit.

What Is Learned

A local patch of rain does not undo a broader holding-back of the heavens.