Round up

In Parshat Bechukotai, we read about the promises that G‑d gives us if we keep the Torah and carry out the Mitzvot:

• rain will come when we need it to make the crops grow
• there will be enough food and everybody will eat until they are satisfied
• we will have peace and security in the land
• no wild beasts or armies will pass through the land
• we will be successful in our battles and victorious over armies much larger than ours
• for G‑d will be with us.

But, then the Torah tells us that if the people don’t keep the commandments, and forget about their agreement with G‑d, then many unfortunate things will happen. But even if G‑d is angry at the Jews and must punish them, he will never forget or abandon them.

1. Hebrew slave was redeemed or freed on the Jubilee whilst the alien slave remained the property of his/her owner.
2. Is not the blessing or curse/threat the tactic that all bullies use? How/why is it any different here?

Notes

Taken from R’ Simon Jacobson’s The Kabbalah of Curses

This week’s Biblical Torah portion enumerates forty-nine (!) curses that will befall those that transgress the law (Leviticus 26:14-43).

For the record, this is the first of three places in the Torah where we read what is known as the “tochacha” (the admonition or rebuke), which describes the harsh consequences of forsaking the Divine commandments. The second and third are in the beginning and the end of the book of Deuteronomy (Devorim and Ki Tovo respectively).

—

The Tzemach Tzedek in his gloss on Likkutei Torah of his grandfather, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, equates this concept with the above related Talmudic story with the blessings “disguised” as curses: These blessings originate in the unconscious level of experience.

For this reason the blessings need to be concealed not in neutral terms but in “cursed” language: Only then are they truly concealed. The formula works like this: The more sublime and intimate the experience, the more concealed it is. Therefore, the most sublime blessings of all are couched in the most dreadful terms…

…In practical terms that each of us can relate to, we too must recognise that in our lives we receive two types of blessings, corresponding to our two forms of experience: Conscious and unconscious.

There are blessings that are apparent and revealed for all to see. But then there are blessings that are camouflaged, sometimes in “garments” that don’t appear to the naked eye to be blessed.

But the naked eye is just that: Naked. It sees very little and understands even less.

These deeper blessings can take on the shape of formidable challenges in our lives. They can take on the shape of “special children” or perhaps a loss that at the moment seems irreplaceable.

Lest it be misunderstood, by all means we always ask for revealed blessings, and we deserve to see with our naked eyes the gifts of life. Yet, when we are faced with a seemingly insurmountable difficulty, never underestimate the possibility of it containing profound blessings, and your ability to reveal them.

Yes, after all is said and done, we were given the power to reveal the “unrevealable.” G-d created and gave us the resources, but He concealed them in this world of ours. Everything valuable in the world lies hidden. From precious stones to oil, from hidden potential to genius talents. We have the ability – and responsibility – to excavate these resources and bring them to the surface.

Question Why would reading the curses quietly make it less impactful to the congregants? This would only be applicable for an illiterate audience, surely?

My Laws & Statutes

Miracles of blessing and curse.

The long list of blessing (vs. 26:3-13) and longer list of curses (vs. 26:14-40) could be misunderstood as an indication that there are many more curses than blessings. Actually, the blessings are given in general terms, and are therefore brief; the curses, however, are given in great detail, because they are intended to awe the people into obedience to G!d’s Will. (Ibn Ezra v. 13)

The commentaries follow two major approaches regarding why the Torah only lists material blessings, such as prosperity and military victory, rather than describe the spiritual rewards that await those who serve G!d.

v26:3] If you follow My statutes

Only G-d has issued decrees based on the Ten Commandments. Kings and Governments with emergency powers, issue decrees and edicts as well.

n26:5: Business דַּיִשׁ—Threshing. The verse stresses that constant activity is part of the blessing. When people are busy, the feel fulfilled and their health is better, as the verse says, you will eat your bread to satiety, and they have neither the time nor inclination to go abroad, as the verse says, you will dwell securely in your land. But when people are idle, they seek amusement and stimulation. They travel and lose the discipline of home, routine and community. This increases the dangers of sin and has ill effects on physical well-being.—[Haamek Davar]

n26:6] וְנָֽתַתִּי שָׁלוֹם—And I will grant peace. You might say, “Here is food, and here is drink, but if there is no peace, there is nothing!” Scripture, therefore, states, after all this [blessing], “I will grant peace in the Land.” From here, [we learn] that peace is equal to everything else. And so, [this is illustrated in our morning prayers,] when we say: “[Blessed are You, O Lord…] Who… makes peace and creates everything” [a paraphrase of the verse] (Isaiah 45:7). - [see Ber. 11b; Torath Kohanim 26:7].

v26:10] Old [produce]

Remember, this is a commandment.

Def יָשָׁ֖ן To be slack, languid, sleep, to grow old, stale, inveterate when you need to clear it out.

v26:11-13] G-d will be with us

n26:11] וְלֹֽא־תִגְעַל נַפְשִׁי—My Spirit will not be disgusted with you. Every [expression of] גְּעִילָה is an expression of the purging of something that had been absorbed by something else.

n26:14-15 - 7 sins:

1. Do not listen to Me
2. Do not perform all these commandments
3. Despise my statutes - one who despises others who perform the commandments [Torath Kohanim 26:18].
4. Reject my ordinances - one who hates the Sages [Torath Kohanim 26:18].
5. Do not perform - one who prevents others from fulfilling the commandments [Torath Kohanim 26:18].
6. Any of My commandments - one who denies that I [G-d] commanded them [Torath Kohanim 26:18].
7. Break my covenant - denies the main tenet [of Judaism, namely, that God is the Omnipotent Creator of all existence] (Torath Kohanim 26:18).

This verse has enumerated seven sins, the first leading to the second, and so on, until the seventh, and the process of degeneration is as follows:

1. [First, a person] does not learn [the Torah]; then
2. he [subsequently] does not fulfil [the commandments]; then
3. he then despises others who do [fulfil them]; then
4. he hates the Sages, then
5. he prevents others from fulfilling [the commandments], then
6. he denies the [authenticity of the] commandments and 7 [finally]
7. he denies the very omnipotence of God.

n26:16 - 7 punishments

1. shock
2. consumption
3. fever
4. diseases that cause hopeless longing and
5. depression
6. sow your seed in vain
7. enemies will eat it

n26:24 - "If your refuse to see G-d, He withdraws His Prescence (הסתר פנים—Hiddeness of the Countenance) making it harder to recognise the Truth.

n26:30 - Not Divinely ordained (Ibn Ezra).

n26:42 - יעקוב—Missing vav.

n26:44 - Exile: Would not be same thing happen in present day Israel?

Chapter 27

v27:29]

N: Does this refer back to v27:2, where a person has been vowed to the Lord? And under what circumstances would he be redeemed?

N: Holy shekel: Perhaps the Holy shekel is referring to the standard that the a shekel is weighed by. It is the “standard” weight.

In depth

If you walk in My statutes (Leviticus 26:3)

there is an aspect of Torah that is “inked” on our soul: we understand it, our emotions are roused by it; it becomes our “lifestyle” or even our “personality”; but it remains something additional to ourselves. But there is a dimension of Torah that is chok, engraved in our being. There is a dimension of Torah which expresses a bond with G‑d that is of the very essence of the Jewish soul.

(Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi)

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch heard this, and objected: “No, the identity of the Jew cannot be compared to erasable ink on parchment. Every Jew is indeed a letter in G‑d’s Torah, but a letter carved in stone. At times, the dust and dirt may accumulate and distort—or even completely conceal—the letter’s true form; but underneath it all, the letter remains whole. We need only sweep away the surface grime, and the letter, in all its perfection and beauty, will come to light.”

I will give peace in the land (26:6)

There may be food, there may be drink, but if there is no peace, there is nothing.
(Rashi)

But if you will not hearken to Me . . . (26:14)

In the words of Shaloh: “The supernal worlds respond to the actions of the lower world, and from there the blessing spreads to those who caused it. To one who understands this truth, it is not a miracle, but the nature of the avodah (man’s life’s work to serve G‑d).” In other words, punishment for wrongdoing is no more G‑d’s “revenge” than falling to the ground is divine retribution for jumping out the window. Just as the Creator established certain laws of cause and effect that define the natural behavior of the physical universe, so too did He establish a spiritual-moral “nature,” by which doing good results in a good and fulfilling life, and doing evil results in negative and strifeful experiences.

If you will not hearken to Me, and walk casually with Me, I too will act casually with you . . . (26:28)

All sins derive from the sin of insignificance: when a person ceases to be sensitive to the paramount importance which G‑d attaches to his life and deeds. “I don’t really matter” is not humility—it is the ultimate arrogance. It really means: “I can do what I want.”

The most terrible of punishments is for G‑d to indulge the sinner this vanity. For G‑d to say: “All right, have it your way; what happens to you is of no significance”—for G‑d to act toward him as if He really does not care what happens to him.

(The Chassidic Masters)

I shall make desolate the land; and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it (26:32)

This is actually a blessing for Israel—that their enemies will derive no satisfaction from the land, for it shall remain desolate as long as the people of Israel are exiled from it.

And you I shall scatter amongst the nations (26:33)

G‑d did a kindness to the people of Israel, that He scattered them amongst the nations. For if they were concentrated in one place, the heathens would make war on them; but since they are dispersed, they cannot be destroyed.
(Talmud, Pesachim 87b; Midrash Lekach Tov)

He shall not exchange it nor substitute another for it (27:33)

Every person was born to a mission in life that is distinctly, uniquely and exclusively their own. No one—not even the greatest of souls—can take his or her place. No person who ever lived or who ever will live can fulfill that particular aspect of G‑d’s purpose in creation in his stead.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

This point is illustrated by a story told by the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn:

A wealthy businessman and his coachman arrived in a city one Friday afternoon. After the rich man was settled at the best hotel in town, the coachman went off to his humble lodgings.

Both washed and dressed for Shabbat, and then set out for the synagogue for the evening prayers. On his way to shul, the businessman came across a wagon which had swerved off the road and was stuck in a ditch. Rushing to help a fellow in need, he climbed down into the ditch and began pushing and pulling at the wagon together with its hapless driver. But for all his good intentions, the businessman was hopelessly out of his depth. After struggling for an hour in the knee-deep mud, he succeeded only in ruining his best suit of Shabbat clothes and getting the wagon even more hopelessly embedded in the mud. Finally, he dragged his bruised and aching body to the synagogue, arriving a scant minute before the start of Shabbat.

Meanwhile, the coachman arrived early to the synagogue and sat down to recite a few chapters of Psalms. At the synagogue he found a group of wandering paupers, and being blessed with a most generous nature, invited them all to share his meal. When the synagogue sexton approached the paupers to arrange meal placements at the town’s householders, as is customary in Jewish communities, he received the same reply from them all: “Thank you, but I have already been invited for the Shabbat meal.”

Unfortunately, however, the coachman’s means were unequal to his generous heart, and his dozen guests left his table with but a shadow of a meal in their hungry stomachs.

Thus the coachman, with his twenty years of experience in extracting wagons from mudholes, took it upon himself to feed a small army, while the wealthy businessman, whose Shabbat meal leftovers could easily have fed every hungry man within a ten-mile radius, floundered about in a ditch.

“Every soul,” said Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak in conclusion, “is entrusted with a mission unique to her alone, and is granted the specific aptitudes, talents and resources necessary to excel in her ordained role. One most take care not to become one of those ‘lost souls’ who wander through life trying their hand at every field of endeavour except for what is truly and inherently their own.”