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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5759

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5759, Bechukosai

If you will not listen to Me and will not perform all of these commandments. (26:14)

Rashi explains that “not listening” to Hashem refers  to an individual  who studies Torah without ameilus, toil. One who does not labor in Torah, but rather takes a complacent, back-seat attitude, will eventually refrain from performing Hashem’s mitzvos.   Rashi adds that this is just the first step in a seven step chain-reaction of sin, in which  one regresses from a lack of intensity in Torah study to the point that he denies the very existence of Hashem.  This is a remarkable statement.  To think that a lack of intensity, a weakening of one’s resolve to toil in Torah study, leads …

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5759

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5759, Bechukosai

And you behave toward me with casualness. I will behave toward you with a fury of casualness. (26:27, 28)

As Jews,  we believe in Hashgacha Pratis, Divine Providence.  This means that Hashem observes, is aware of and controls everything  that occurs during our lives.  Everything is totally inclusive to the point that Chazal teach us that “one does not stub his finger in this world unless it has been predecreed from Above.”  To paraphrase Horav Baruch Sorotzkin, zl, there is no concept of coincidence in Jewish theology.  It is sinful for one to think or say “it just happened.”  Things do not “just happen.”  They are preordained by the Almighty.  This is the meaning of the pasuk.  If one…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5759

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5759, Bechukosai

They will stumble over one another. (26:37)

They will become so demoralized and fearful of the enemy that they will flee without seeing where they are going, stumbling over one another.  Chazal add a new twist to the interpretation of this pasuk.  They will stumble over each other’s sins.  Since all Jews are inherently responsible one for another, one Jew will be held liable for the transgression perpetrated by his fellow Jew.  We are all components of a large unit called Klal Yisrael.  We cannot ignore one another’s shortcomings. A visitor once came to the Volozhiner Yeshiva and noticed Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, zl, delivering a shiur.  As…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5758

Moshe Marcovich
In 5758, Bechukosai

And five of you will pursue one hundred and one hundred will pursue ten thousand. (25:8)

Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of mathematics understands that the ratio presented above is inconsistent.  If five Jews can pursue a hundred enemies, then the ratio of one to twenty should translate into a hundred Jews pursuing two thousand.  The pasuk, however, does not say that.  It writes that one hundred Jews will pursue one thousand of the enemy!  Rashi cites the Sifri that infers that when people work  as a group, when more people are united in serving the Almighty, the consequences of their actions are much more significant. A mitzvah, when performed by a large group, has…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5758

Moshe Marcovich
In 5758, Bechukosai

But if you will not listen to Me……and if you despise My laws (26:14,15)

Rashi explains the phrase, “and if you despise My laws,” as meaning, “if you despise the performance by others of My laws.”  In his commentary on Rashi, the Mizrachi gives further meaning to this statement when he says this refers to one who, although performing mitzvos himself, resents others who do the same.  This explanation is striking.  It is also a condemnation of  so many of us who do not tolerate the spiritual achievements of others, especially if we think they are plagurizing our own efforts.     For instance, one organization has succeeded in building up a following.  Suddenly,…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5758

Moshe Marcovich
In 5758, Bechukosai

And if you will not listen to Me….and I will set My face against you. And you shall be smitten before your enemies…..and I will bring a sword upon you executing the vengeance of the Covenant….and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. (29:14,17,25)

The main feature in Parashas Bechukosai is the Tochachah, admonition,  the curses to befall Klal Yisrael as a result of their transgressions.  The Torah speaks in a sharp tone as it describes in detail the terrible calamities to strike us for our iniquitous behavior.  Destruction, havoc, terrible illness and devastation are the main topics of these curses.  Did the Torah have to go into such detail?  Could the punishments not have been tempered,  expressed in milder language?  Such strong words could really frighten someone! Horav Moshe Swift, zl, feels that this specifically was the Torah’s intention.  Tell it like it…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5757

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5757, Bechukosai

If you will walk in My laws. (26:3)

Rashi cites Chazal who maintain that “halichah b’mitzvos,” walking in Hashem’s mitzvos, refers to intensive Torah study. One who diligently applies himself to studying Torah merits the blessings detailed in the parsha. Horav Chaim Shmulevitz, zl, cites Chazal in the Talmud Yoma 35b who suggest a possible scenario of the dialogue that ensues in the Heavenly Court on the Day of Judgment when each human being stands before Hashem. If a poor man is questioned regarding his lack of Torah study and he replies, “I was poor and too busy earning a living,” he is admonished for not following the…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5757

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5757, Bechukosai

And I shall set my face against you and you shall be smitten before your enemies. They that hate you shall rule over you. (26:17)

Toras Kohanim delineates between chut and tbua in that the soneih is an enemy from within, while the oyeiv is an external enemy. We will fall prey to the bitter hatred of our internal enemies, those who despise the Torah way of life, who blame our nation’s sorry state of affairs upon those faithful to the Torah, rather than upon those who have totally defected from the Torah way of life. The schism created by these misguided Jews grows to the point that our external enemies use it as an opportunity for increased antagonism. It is hard to accept the…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5757

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5757, Bechukosai

I will cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols. (26:30)

The Sifra employs a meaningful story to elucidate this pasuk. During the time of the destruction of the first Bais Hamikdash, when people were starving to death, Eliyahu Hanavi walked out on the streets of Yerushalayim, seeking out those Jews whose bodies had become swollen from hunger. When he came across a man who was dying of hunger, he questioned his family lineage. After the man responded with the name of his family, Eliyahu asked him about the size of his family. “We were a family of three thousand of which I am the sole survivor,” responded the man. “Do…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5757

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5757, Bechukosai

Any that passes beneath the staff, the tenth one shall be holy to Hashem. (27:32)

The animals born during the current year all pass through a corral which has a narrow opening. As they are counted, the tenth one is marked and set aside as a tithe for Hashem. While the halachah maintains that one should proclaim the tenth animal as Maaser l’Hashem, it does not change its Maaser status if the individual did not orally declare it as Maaser. Horav Moshe Feinstein, zl, underscores the fact that oral expression is essential, even though the animal nevertheless becomes holy. We infer from here that even if something is holy, it must be maintained in a…

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