Dear TBZ Community:
This week we read Parshat Bechukotai. This Torah portion addresses blessings for obeying the law and curses for disobeying it. Simplified, the parasha suggests that if you do good, you will be blessed; if you do not do good, you won’t be blessed, you will be cursed.
The parasha begins with these words from Leviticus 26:3:
אִם־בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֶת־מִצְותַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם
If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments
And continues, several verses later (Leviticus 26:14), with:
וְאִם־לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ לִי וְלֹא תַעֲשׂוּ אֵתכּל־הַמִּצְות הָאֵלֶּה
But if you do not obey Me and do not observe all these commandments
The list that follows this verse is known as the תוכחות (tochechot, which means “rebuke”). The concept of שכר ועונש (sachar va onesh, “reward and punishment”) which is suggested in these verses, comes to mean our actions have consequences, and we get what we get for what we do. But we know that the world doesn’t work that way. So what do we do with this teaching, with this idea?
As parents, we try to teach our children that they have responsibilities and that there are consequences to their actions. If they fail to put away a toy, the toy may get stepped on and break. If they choose to avoid their homework, they may struggle during a test. This notion of actions having consequences is a very simple but powerful one, that reminds us to be responsible for our actions. We are responsible for what we do; taking responsibility means knowing that if we don’t do the right thing, things could become both literally and figuratively messy.
This parasha is telling us that the notion of reward and punishment works as a collective. This, I think, rings true in so many ways. If you look at the list of consequences in the parasha – environmental consequences, lack of food, wars, and so many more atrocities – they very much describe the world we live in.
What is so powerful, and also painful, about this parasha is that the list of tochechot is not an inevitable reality. It’s a strong warning intended to awaken us to change our ways. It is actually not called klalot (curses) or onashim (punishments), but tochechot (rebukes). This list is meant to remind us of the power of our own deeds.
There is a tradition to read the tochechot in a lower voice and a bit faster than normal. Perhaps because we are afraid of them and we do not want them to become true. But it seems to me that we are well past the time where being quiet about consequences makes sense.
We find in the Talmud a teaching that mirrors this idea (Talmud Bavli 5a):
אמר רבא ואיתימא רב חסדא
אם רואה אדם שיסורין באין עליו
יפשפש במעשיו
Rava, and some say Rav Ḥisda, said:
If a person sees that suffering has befallen them,
they should examine their actions.
This text is generally understood as claiming that suffering comes about as punishment for one’s transgressions. I read this text differently. Although יפשפש במעשים (yefashfesh be-ma’asim) means to examine your actions so that you understand why whatever has happened has happened, I suggest that instead of reading it in the past tense – asking us to check what we had done wrong in the past to bring about this suffering – we should read it in the future tense – lefashfesh be-ma’asim, to check our actions now and going forward. What do I need to change from now on? How does this experience shape my future decisions about how I live my life? How do my own experiences of life, of suffering, of fear, or of loss inform my experience of hurt actually help me shape my priorities from this point onwards, how do they shape my values and my journey?
One of the verses (Leviticus 26:12) in the list of rewards reads:
וְהִתְהַלַּכְתִּי בְּתוֹכְכֶם וְהָיִיתִי לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים וְאַתֶּם תִּהְיוּ־לִי לְעָם
I will be ever present in your midst: I will be your God, and you shall be My people.
The aspiration is to live a life where God walks with us and that we walk with God. As we continue to witness so much destruction and pain, loss of life, war and suffering, perhaps the invitation of these teachings is to believe that change is possible. We can’t change the past, but can we believe and not give up in a future that is brighter and filled with blessing?
I continue to pray that we may have the audacity to build, to believe, to love, to forgive, to create, and to imagine a better world for all human beings and to live in ways that bring blessings to each of us.
May this Shabbat bring blessings and consolation to all of you and your loved ones. May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity. May all those who are ill find healing.
And may the hostages soon be returned to their families and friends; may the Israeli and Palestinian peace workers in the land continue their sacred work and not be deterred or turn away from the vision of peace and dignity for all.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rav Claudia
P.S: If you want to deepen your learning, last year Rabbi Ebn Leader taught a class about this parasha and the notion of rebuke at the TBZ Community Retreat. You can find his source sheet here.