Or HaChaim on Leviticus 26:4/אור החיים על ויקרא כ״ו:ד׳

1 ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם, "And I will provide your rains at their proper time." We must first understand why the verse commences with the letter ו seeing the verse is not preceded by another promise that this verse adds on to. If you accept my interpretation of the word תלכו itself being the promise in the last verse, there is no need to wonder about the letter ו at the beginning of this verse.

2The letter ו may also be justifiable in light of the plain meaning of this verse appearing to promise that there is a reward for observing the commandments in this life and that this reward is the beneficial rainfall. One might assume therefore that G'd has discharged His promise of rewarding us for מצוה-observance with economic prosperity. The letter ו indicates that prior to promising any benefit for our observance in this life the Torah had already promised reward in the hereafter in the previous verse. I have alluded to this in one of my commentaries on the words אם בחקתי תלכו. Alternatively, the key to the verse is the suffix כם in the word גשמיכם, "your rains." Normally, we would have considered that seeing the rain comes from heaven it is G'd's rain. The Torah had previously promised a reward in the hereafter, which is something no one in this world can experience. The Torah therefore wanted us to know that there is something over and beyond that in our world but that it emanates from the celestial spheres. In order that we should not look upon these rains as a reward for Torah observance G'd describes them as "your rains." It is something that is ours not as a result of our מצוה-observance but because the Torah scholars are the pillars of the world. Anyone who studies Torah is entitled to view them as something belonging to him. Perhaps it is this consideration which led Baba Kama 38 to conclude that since the Israelites can lay claim to the whole world based on this consideration, the properties of the Gentiles legally belong to them. [The Talmud there bases the ruling that the Jewish owner of an ox which gores an animal belonging to a Gentile does not have to pay compensation, on Chabakuk 3,6. Ed.]

3Another reason why the verse commences with the letter ו may be G'd telling us that although we receive the rain as a gift from Him, He does not consider it as belonging or having belonged to Him but as belonging to "you."

4The Torah is careful to use the word: "And I will give," to underline that it is the exclusive domain of G'd to provide rain both quantitatively and qualitatively. He alone can judge how much rain is needed by the earth in the land of Israel. This is the meaning of Vayikra Rabbah 28,3 that while man lies down to sleep G'd is busy gathering the clouds to provide rain.

5The word גשמיכם may be understood as a collective term for food or nourishment, both the kind which is required for the earth, and that which is required for the creatures inhabiting it. There is both spiritual and physical nourishment. The earth is recipient of nourishment in the form of rain or dew. I have explained all this in my commentary on פרשת בהר.