Chassidut on the Torah
The week of Parshas Behar-Bechukotai 5762 from Rabbi Shaul Leiter, Ascent-of-Safed
In a double
Torah reading, the two parshiyot are joined at the 4th aliya, when
verses are read from the end of the first parsha and beginning of the
second, without a pause in-between. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that
this is also how we may view them: taking a message from each parsha
individually, and from both of them combined.
First, Behar—“On
the mountain” (25:1)—teaches us to transcend the travails of the world.
Even though we are 'the least of the nations' (Deut. 7:7), the Torah
elevates us, so we should not allow the world to affect us. Bechukotai opens
with the verse, “If you will follow my laws” (26:3) and refers to all
Torah commandments. Yet why does the Torah use the specific word chukim
for laws, as opposed to the more general
word mitzvot? Chukim refers to commandments that do not
have apparent reasons, like keeping kosher, or not wearing wool and linen
together. Just as we observe these commandments only because G-d commanded
them, without comprehending their reason, so too we must observe all of
the commandments—even the ones that are apparently rational—solely because G-d
commanded them.
Now it would
appear that these two ideas are contradictory. Behar connotes a strong
sense of self, albeit in holiness, while Bechukotai connotes
self-negation. The lesson, however, is that we require both realities. We need
a strong self-image to engage the world. We must impose our reality on the
world, and not let the world impose its reality on us. Secondly, we cannot
deceive ourselves by believing that we have to understand each detail in
Judaism before living according to Torah. Rather we should fulfill the
commandments in a way of "do them first and then you will come to
understand." Through perseverance, we will eventually attain the level
where Behar is done in a way of Bechukotai, surmounting the world’s
challenges because G-d commanded it; and Bechukotai is performed in the way
of Behar, performing all of G-d’s commandments with vigor and confidence.
"If
you follow my laws....I will give you rain at their correct time" (26:3-4). Why does the
Torah emphasize these physical rewards; shouldn’t it focus on spiritual rewards
in the afterlife? Rebbe Michil of Zlotshuv is even more astounded. Why
does G-d promise us anything at all? Are we not supposed to serve the Almighty
without the expectation of receiving any reward (see Ethics of Our Fathers 1:3)?
If this is the case, it does not matter what is promised! Any promise only
confuses the situation. Isn’t it preferable not to mention any rewards at all,
and preclude the need for rabbinic warnings not to serve G‑d with the
intention of receiving a reward. Blessings will come on their own to those who
deserve them.
Rebbe Michil
answered that any person who serves G-d is most certainly blessed for his
efforts with all manner of physical and spiritual blessings (as all the
commandments are conduits for blessings). Nevertheless, this service has to be
done sincerely for G-d's sake, with great love, awe and modesty—without even a
trace of an ulterior motive, of 'serving the Master for the sake of receiving a
reward'. If someone is prompted by the thought of gain, he will not be
rewarded, because he is motiovated personal benefit. This is the meaning of the
words, "If you will follow My laws and keep My commandments." If you
serve G-d properly, as a result, there will be for you a sign, an indicator,
viz., the rains will fall at the proper time and the earth will bear fruit. You
will see that the blessings come as a result of executing the commandments properly, only for the sake of Heaven.
As young lady attending one of my classes astutely commented, ‘It is important
to know that G-d is listening’.
*
* *
Lag
Ba'Omer,
which we celebrated this past week, commemorates the cessation of the plague
that wiped out Rabbi Akiva's students, who were punished for their lack of
respect for their colleagues. Rebbe Shmuel Shmelke of Nicholsberg
explained how to love a person who has done you harm. All of us are one
integrated entity, because we are all small parts of the original soul of Adam,
the first man. We can be compared to parts of a body. Sometimes a person may
unintentionally hurt himself, by dropping something on his foot or by walking
into a pole. If we would then take a stick and vengefully hit the offending
part of the body, we would really be in pain. So it is with when someone else
harms you. It is only because of a lack of understanding of how we are all
connected. If we would pay him in kind, we are only doing ourselves more
damage. Rather, we should remind ourselves that we deserved what we got, and
the Almighty has many messengers. If this thought does not suffice, we should
try meditating on the other person's soul, literally ‘a portion of G-d from
Above,’ which has fallen so low, and we should have compassion for His holy
spark.
Shabbat Shalom Shaul