Parashat Bechukotai
19 Iyar 5765
Shabbat Shalom!
Parashat Bechukotai has
often been called the portion of the “blessings” and the “curses.”
I have spoken about it in these terms as well.
Indeed, the first 10 verses contain the wonderful promises that our God
has in store for us if we keep His commandments and walk in His way.
The nearly 30 verses that follow depict the horrible, despicable events
that would befall us if we don’t. But
at the end of Chapter 26, we are left with hope.
Let’s look a little closer
at what I believe God is doing here:
First of all, we hear: “If
you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments…”
And what are these
commandments? We have to go back to
the beginning of Ch. 26, which is the last short paragraph of the
preceding Parasha, Behar, in which God tells us
1)
to not make or bow to idols or
graven images
2)
to hallow Shabbatot
3)
to keep the sanctuary sacred
4)
I am the Lord your God.
Only two verses! That’s
all! Not difficult commandments at
all!! And if we adhere to them,
according to the second 10 verses of this week’s Parasha (the continuation of
Next follow a litany of
horrific consequences we will face if we choose not to obey God’s
commandments. In essence, all the
blessings alluded to in the verses 3-13 are reversed:
our labors will be for naught, our children will be eaten by wild
animals, we will have no peace, our enemies will take over our lands, we will be
scattered to dwell among our enemies, who will destroy us.
And, God will not be walking with us, rather against us.
This section contains graphic descriptions of unimaginable horrors; I
have a hard time with it every time I read it.
However, our God is so, so
merciful, for beginning in the 2nd half of verse 41 and continuing
until the end of the chapter, He says that if we become humble and if we repent,
then He will not destroy us “utterly” but remember the covenants He made
with each of our forefathers, including the land promised to His people.
He will also remember the promise He made when He led our people out of
Over the centuries we must
have strayed from these simple rules because history has shown that our people
suffered so much of the devastation and destruction alluded to in this Parasha,
maybe not word for word, but certainly as horrible: exiles, the Inquisition,
pogroms, the Holocaust, to name a few.
But, God is merciful,
because, just as He said, a remnant of our people remained and reclaimed the
I don’t know of Jews who
make or bow down to idols or graven stone images.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
Maybe that commandment is close to becoming a “done deal.”
Hallowing Shabbat and keeping God’s sanctuary holy still need some
work. We have made strides, even
here in our little Kona community. I
believe that we will continue to strive to honor these commandments more and
more fully because God’s promise that He will walk with us, that He will be
our God, and we will be His people forever is just too great of an opportunity
to let slip away.
Shabbat Shalom