Reverse Order
Judaism is two pronged: Torah and Mitzvos. While Mitzvos liberate our bodies; Torah liberates our mind. BECHUKOSAI BECHUKOSAI
The Patriarchs
This week’s parsha contains one of the harshest rebukes ever given to the Jewish People, known as the “Tochacha.” However, after all the dire consequences listed for errant behavior, the Jewish people are promised that G-d will remember the covenant that He made with the Patriarchs, which will restore the Jewish people to their original state:
And I will remember My covenant with Jacob as well as My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham… The question has been raised, why are the Patriarchs mentioned here in reverse order, first Jacob, then Isaac and last Abraham? In virtually every other place, where their names are mentioned in the Torah, their names are BECHUKOSAI mentioned in chronological order. Why is it reversed here?
Jacob Weakest or Strongest of the Patriarchs
According to Rashi, the Torah wants to tell us that even Jacob, the junior of the Patriarchs, suffices and if he doesn’t suffice “he has Isaac with him and if that doesn’t suffice he has Abraham with him.”
The Midrash, it seems, takes the opposite approach that Jacob’s merit is the strongest, so much so that even the fact that Abraham himself was saved was only due to the merit of Jacob.
Rashi’s approach, on the surface, sounds more reasonable. Jacob was the last of the Patriarchs and it would seem that his greatness rested on the laurels of his predecessors, Abraham and Isaac. How can we understand the Midrashic approach that raises Jacob’s position to the top of the hierarchy of the Patriarchs? Moreover, according to the Midrash it was Jacob’s merit that saved Abraham? Why would Abraham need Jacob’s merit?
BECHUKOSAI
Internal Patriarchal System
Each one of us possesses characteristics and spiritual energy that we inherited from our Patriarchs. There is an Abraham, Isaac and Jacob within every Jew. In times of crisis, we look for these characteristics and draw upon their power to get us out of our predicament.
The Abraham component of our soul is the hidden love we have for G-d. There are times when we experience no feeling for G-d and Judaism, and then there are times when the passion for G-d is ignited. This is the love we inherited from Abraham at work.
Similarly, there are times when we need to feel the presence of G-d in our lives to help control our desires and behavior. At times, when we are inspired with a sense of awareness and reverence for G-d and His commandments, we can say that we’ve activated the trait of yirah or reverence that is embedded in our soul that we’ve inherited form Isaac.
The problem, however, with relying either on Abraham’s “bequest” to us of love and Isaac’s bequest of reverence, is that they are nor BECHUKOSAI reliable. We cannot count on their influence at all times. Just when we need a healthy dose of passion, we may discover how the Abraham component of our soul is stifled and cannot be activated.
Moreover, even when there is passion, frequently, the passion can be channeled into some other aspect of one’s life other than G-d and Judaism. In the same way that Abraham fathered Ishmael, who took Abraham’s ideals and diverted them into other areas, one can takes the Abraham-inspiration and squander it on some other ideal.
Indeed, in the sixties, we witnessed an entire generation who were turned-on and exhibited deep passion for all sorts of ideals, most of which we either unrelated to their Jewish roots or even those that were destructive and immoral.
Isaac’s inspiration, likewise, cannot be counted on in times of need. One cannot always predict how they will fare in times of crisis. When we need to be aware of a G-dly presence the most, we may find that our Isaac-soul-component is obstructed; it does not manifest itself.
BECHUKOSAI
Furthermore, even when it is activated, it may also be diverted in the wrong direction. Just as Isaac begot Esau, who strayed from Isaac’s loyalty to G-d, so too, we may actually utilize the traits of Isaac for the wrong things. Witness the zealotry of certain groups in our society today who have used religious fervor as a way of hurting others.
Jacob: A Balancing Act
In the writings of Kabbalah and Chassidus, Jacob personifies the trait of balance and synthesis. The Jacob characteristic within each and every one of us is the ability to harmonize the inspiration of both Abraham and Isaac. The Jacob trait is also the voice of stability and consistency because it balances the contradictory movements of Abraham-passion and Isaac-reverence and awe, so that they do not cancel each other or go to either damaging extreme.
We can now understand why the Midrash accords greater significance to Jacob. Without Jacob, Abraham’s influence would have been suppressed or squandered.
BECHUKOSAI
The Power of Torah
But how do we activate the Jacob component of our souls?
Kabbalah teaches us that the study of Torah also possesses this balancing and synthesizing feature personified by Jacob. By studying Torah—particularly, its spiritual teachings and especially the parts of Torah that deal with Redemption—we draw upon the stabilizing-harmonizing-Jacob effects of our souls and bring about the reversal of the curses of exile.
The above can shed some light on the question some have concerning our preparation for the Final Redemption, which includes Torah study and Mitzvah observance:
Which is more important? Is it the performance of the Mitzvos or the study of Torah?
While both are crucial and one cannot separate one from the other, there is a difference in the way these two areas of Jewish activity gets us to the Geulah.
BECHUKOSAI
Mitzvah Power
The cumulative effect of thousands of years of performing the Mitzvos have generated the Divine energy that has refined the world and paved the way for Moshiach. While Torah study generated more overt spirituality, the Mitzvos actually impacted the physical world with greater force, as explained in the classic work, the Tanya.
It is also clear that even one Mitzvah can tip the scales and bring immediate Redemption. Of all the Mitzvos, the Mitzvah of Tzedakah is most suited to break through the walls of Galus and bring Geulah, as our Sages stated: “Great is Tzedakah that it hastens the Redemption.”
However, even as we have transformed the world through these cumulative efforts, we still have a veil over our eyes and we cannot see the transformation. Our eyes are still tinted and tainted with a Galus perspective.
As we stand on the threshold of the new age of Moshiach, we now have to make the transition into a new world with new energy and see things in a new, Moshiach and Geulah BECHUKOSAI oriented light. In the words of the Rebbe: “We have to open our eyes.”
While the world is ready for Moshiach, our minds might still be wallowing in the stifling mindset of Galus. We are pulled in both directions. One part of us is still mired in exile while the other part wants to get out of it.
This is where the preeminent power of Torah comes to the rescue. It enables us to live in a state of Geulah even in these last moments of Galus.
Torah study, in general, and learning the parts of Torah that deal with the era of Geulah in particular, have the power to alter our Galus mindset so that we live the future now.
Thus, Jacob who personifies Torah, is the primary force that we rely on to bring Redemption, for Jacob-Torah is Redemption, not just a catalyst for Redemption.
To put the above in other terms, Mitzvah observance gets us closer to Geulah; Torah study is living Geulah now!
BECHUKOSAI
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Behar-Bechukosai by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
