After four long weeks we are finally at the last of our double parshiot - Behar Bechukotai - this week. As with most double portions, you may miss an important detail as there is so much to process. As we open the second parsha, Bechukotai, we are welcomed with one of the most famous phrases in the entire Torah:
אִם־בְּחֻקֹּתַ֖י תֵּלֵ֑כוּ וְאֶת־מִצְוֺתַ֣י תִּשְׁמְר֔וּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָֽם׃
If you follow in my chukim and you guard my mitzvot and you do them… - Vayikra 26:3
The parsha provides a clear vision of what is to take place if we follow the ways of Hashem and what will happen if we falter in our commitments. The commentaries jump all over this pasuk analyzing the difference between a chuk and mitzvah, between the idea of following and guarding each of those sacred sentiments. While vital elements to be understood for sure there is something missing - the flip side.
וְאִם־בְּחֻקֹּתַ֣י תִּמְאָ֔סוּ וְאִ֥ם אֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַ֖י תִּגְעַ֣ל נַפְשְׁכֶ֑ם לְבִלְתִּ֤י עֲשׂוֹת֙ אֶת־כׇּל־מִצְוֺתַ֔י לְהַפְרְכֶ֖ם אֶת־בְּרִיתִֽי׃
If you make my chukim vile, and if you spurn my judgements, neglecting to do my mitzvot and, as such, dissolving our covenant - Vayikra 26:15
Rashi explains that when we tell our children not to do something they may listen and may not. When we provide them with a clear consequence to their choosing not to follow our direction they are more likely to follow. We didn’t get the message then and I worry that we are not allowing ourselves to hear the message even now.
As you look at the books of Shoftim, Shmuel and Melachim, it is fraught with scenes of Jewish betrayal, loss of direction, purpose and focus. Like every life, a nation’s story has its ups and downs. There will be moments that we will experience true autonomy and others when we will feel less than human. Whether it be a prophet or king, the warnings given to our people were meant not just to warn them from their own downfall. They were meant to remind us that we were forewarned by Hashem and Moshe hundreds of years earlier.
אַף־אֲנִ֞י אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־זֹּ֣את לָכֶ֗ם וְהִפְקַדְתִּ֨י עֲלֵיכֶ֤ם בֶּֽהָלָה֙ אֶת־הַשַּׁחֶ֣פֶת וְאֶת־הַקַּדַּ֔חַת מְכַלּ֥וֹת עֵינַ֖יִם וּמְדִיבֹ֣ת נָ֑פֶשׁ וּזְרַעְתֶּ֤ם לָרִיק֙ זַרְעֲכֶ֔ם וַאֲכָלֻ֖הוּ אֹיְבֵיכֶֽם׃ וְנָתַתִּ֤י פָנַי֙ בָּכֶ֔ם וְנִגַּפְתֶּ֖ם לִפְנֵ֣י אֹיְבֵיכֶ֑ם וְרָד֤וּ בָכֶם֙ שֹֽׂנְאֵיכֶ֔ם וְנַסְתֶּ֖ם וְאֵין־רֹדֵ֥ף אֶתְכֶֽם׃
If you indeed do this to me I will act in kind, I will wreak misery on you with fever and pain which causes the body to shiver and shrivel, you will plant with no chance of growth and you will be consumed by your enemies. I will turn my face from you as you are dominated by your enemies as they pursue after you - Vayikra 26: 16-17
I urged you to read the stories of Shoftim, the wayward direction that people took in the pursuit of personal gain. Look at the acts that led the first Jewish king, Shaul, to forget the direction of Shmuel and ultimately lead to his death and the difficulties for the Jewish people even during the days of David. We were warned. All we needed to do was to listen.
As we are just weeks away from Shavuot, the formal yearly act of acceptance of the Torah, of a way of life that Hashem has laid out for us, whose embodiment has been expressed by our Jewish heroes over the thousands of years before us, we are being called to follow and guard His ways. We are being reminded of the threat to our Jewish infrastructure, our values and ethics and our way of life if we do not heed the call.
Can you hear it?