Insulation
Torah, among all of its other qualities, is also the best insulation from all the negative forces in the world. BECHUKOSAI BECHUKOSAI
Double Trouble!
There are two times during the year that we read a parsha that contains numerous threats and curses, known as the Tochecha. Once, in this week’s parsha of Bechukosai, before the Festival of Shavuos, and the second time in parshas Ki Savo, before the Holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
Granted that there is a need to hear harsh words of rebuke from a loving G-d, in the spirit of what is now referred to as “tough love,” but why twice and why just before these two holidays?
Concerning the reading of the curses before Rosh Hashanah, the Talmud explains that it is to express the sentiment that the year should end with all of its curses. But what about Shavuos, the anniversary of the giving of the Torah? Here too the Talmud answers that BECHUKOSAI indeed Shavuos is also a Rosh Hashanah, it is the day when the trees are judged.
On a more mystical level one can offer the following analysis of the two readings of the curses and the specific meaning of the reading before Shavuos.
Destroying Negative Energy
There are two ways of getting rid of the negative energies that we have generated through our behavior, which is really what the curses are all about. One way is to turn a new leaf, start a new life and forget about the past. The second approach is to find a method of insulation that will protect us from the negative influences.
Rosh Hashanah as the beginning of a new year, allows us to put the negativity of the past year behind us. It is like when a person begins a new job, with a new employer, in a new community whereby one’s past misdeed’s and imperfection does not count. As long as we try our best with the new job, we have nothing to worry about our “baggage” that we left behind.
BECHUKOSAI
In the middle of the year, we cannot do that. We are still in the same job, with all of the conditions remaining more or less intact. How then do we extricate ourselves from the quagmire of negativity that we often find ourselves mired in? Do we have to wait for Rosh Hashanah?
And the answer to this question is provided by this week’s Parsha that precedes the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Torah is identified with blessing. As our Sages of the Jerusalem Talmud explain that the reason the Torah begins with the letter Beis, rather than the letter Aleph, is because Beis is the initial of Beracha which means blessing. The very last Mishnah, the compilation of the Oral Torah, also deals with the notion of blessing. Before his wedding, a groom gets called up to the Torah, because it will bless his marriage.
Thus, by entering into the realm of Torah, by enveloping ourselves with the aura of Sinai, the ultimate source of blessing, we become impervious to all the negativity that might have been generated, since the beginning of the year.
BECHUKOSAI
Two Functions of Messianic Age
The curses that are discussed in this week’s Parsha represent the suffering that we have endured throughout our duration in exile. The Redemption that we have been praying for all these years is what will bring an end to these curses.
From the above analysis we can say that there are two functions of the Messianic Age. The first is to bring an end to the curses of exile by introducing a new and unprecedented measure of Divine light. In the new Age, all the curses of the past will disappear.
But, in addition there is also another effect of Moshiach. Moshiach, who will usher in this age, is the ultimate teacher of Torah. By exponentially increasing the knowledge of Torah, Moshiach will enable us to become enveloped in the ultimate source of blessing, the blessing of Torah that will shield us from all that which is negative and introduce us to all that which is positive.
BECHUKOSAI
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Behar-Bechukosai by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
