Behukotai 2022

Hafetz Hayyim

This parashah contains the tokhekhah—the ‘rebuke’—which spells out very graphically the punishment which will result from not obeying the Torah laws. There are communities where the tokhekhah is read in so low a voice that many people cannot hear the words. Some people even leave the synagogue rather than hearing the dire warning in these verses. To what can one compare such behavior? To a man who was warned not to walk through a certain path, because it was filled with thorns and dangerous obstacles. The man, though, did not heed the warnings, and decided to walk along this path. He did take one precaution, though—he blindfolded himself so that he would not see the various dangers. Of course, by blindfolding himself, he simply made the trip that much more dangerous.

By the same token, there are those who believe that if they do not hear the tokhekhah, nothing bad will happen to them. They do not realize that it is meant to arouse people to perform the commandments, and if one does not listen to it being read, he simple compounds the dangers to himself.

Sforno on Lev. 26:3

The Hebrew expression describing the fact that one abides by them (the commandments) is called halichah, "walking" . . . It means that they cannot just be performed by rote, but must be performed consciously as such. . . . The thrust of our verse then is as follows: "If you will conduct yourselves in accordance with the practical part of My Torah, that is, the performance of commandments requiring deeds, and you will study these laws in order to understand their purpose and in order to give meaning to your performance of these laws, you will accomplish that you will deserve the description of being a creature that reflects 'God's image.' " -

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Read in its entirety, this passage is more like Holocaust literature than anything else. The repeated phrases – “If after all this . . . If despite this . . . If despite everything” – come like hammer-blows of fate. It is a passage shattering in its impact, all the more so since so much of it came true at various times in Jewish history. Yet the curses end with the most profound promise of ultimate consolation. Despite everything God will not break His covenant with the Jewish people. Collectively they will be eternal. They may suffer, but they will never be destroyed. They will undergo exile but eventually they will return.

One of the most profound contribution Torah made to the civilization of the West is this: that the destiny of nations lies not in the externalities of wealth or power, fate or circumstance, but in moral responsibility: the responsibility for creating and sustaining a society that honours the image of God within each of its citizens, rich and poor, powerful or powerless alike.

The politics of responsibility is not easy. The curses of Vayikra 26 are the very reverse of comforting. Yet the profound consolations with which they end are not accidental, nor are they wishful thinking. They are testimony to the power of the human spirit when summoned to the highest vocation. A nation that sees itself as responsible for the evils that befall it, is also a nation that has an inextinguishable power of recovery and return.

Rabbi Elyse Goldstein

The blessings we get poured upon us in this parashah are the blessings of walking in a path that started with study but ended with action. Our loves and our commitments must be manifested outwardly. It is not enough to say "I love you." We need to show it, too. It is not enough to say "I feel Jewish." Those feelings need to be demonstrated in deeds.

The Book of Leviticus begins by calling us into relationship. It ends with the warning that once we are in that relationship, we must be active participants. A fabulous parting message from a book that most people think is only about animal sacrifices, priests, and skin diseases.