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Vol 3.43 - Bechukotai Spanish French Audio Video |
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Synopsis 1: The Sidra of Bechukotai begins with the words, “If you walk in My statutes,” and the Sicha is in effect a profound commentary—almost a meditation—on this single phrase. It explores two central themes: The nature of Torah learning, and the relationship between faith and understanding. 1. “My Statutes” Our Sidra begins with the phrase, “If you walk in My statutes,”1 and the Sifra comments, “One might think that this denotes the fulfillment of the commandments; but when the Torah goes on to state, ‘and you shall keep My commandments and do them’ it is plain that in this passage the fulfillment of the commandments is mentioned. How then must I explain ‘If you walk in My statutes?’ (It means) that you should labor in the study of the Torah.” If “you walk in My statutes” referred to the commandments, we could understand why only statutes (chukim) were mentioned, without referring to the other kinds of command, testimonies (edut) and judgments (mishpatim). The reason would then be that these other commands, which have a rational explanation, should be performed with the same unconditional acceptance as statutes, which are beyond our understanding.2 But since we must understand the phrase as referring to the study of the Torah, why is the word “statutes” used at all? The study of Torah is, for the most part, an act of intellect and understanding. The labor involved is not merely to learn, by rote, the details of the law, but also to understand their reasons, as explained in the Written and Oral Torah. But, although statutes are beyond our understanding—as Rashi says,3 “It is an enactment from before Me; you have no right to speculate about it”—they form only a small part of Torah, the majority of which is susceptible to explanation. The Written Torah itself is small in comparison with the vast mass of oral tradition. And with the Written Torah, understanding is not crucial, so that a man must make the blessing of studying or being called to the reading of the Torah even if he does not understand what is being read. Whereas the Oral Torah does require comprehension if one is to make a blessing over it.4 The quantitative difference between the Written and Oral Torah is further emphasized by the fact that the Written Torah consists of a specified number of words and verses. There can be no additions. But the Oral Torah is open-ended. A finite quantity has already been revealed. But new discoveries are always possible—“whatever a worthy pupil will come in the future to discover.”5 To it, there are no limits. Similarly, within the Written Torah itself, the “statutes”—laws for which no reason has been communicated to us—form a minority of the commandments. So the question becomes more forcible: Why in the context of the study of the Torah, are only statutes mentioned? Why cite a minority instance to cover the whole of the Torah? And why, in an activity of understanding, cite precisely those cases which cannot be understood? 2. Learning and Engraving In Likkutei Torah, the Alter Rebbe explains that the word “statute” (chok) is related to the word “engrave” or “carve out” (chakikah). Thus the phrase in question uses the word “statute” to suggest that study must be an act of “carving out,” engraving the words of Torah on the soul. What is special about engraving as a means of writing? Firstly, the words are not added, as something extraneous, to the material on which they are written. Rather, they become an integral part of the material itself. Secondly, and more importantly, the letters have no substance of their own. Their whole existence is in virtue of the material out of which they are carved. So, when we are told by our verse that our learning should be “engraved” in us, we are not simply being taught that a Jew must become united with the Torah (unlike the superficial learning exemplified by Doeg, of which the Rabbis comment6 that it “was only from the surface outward”). For unity can sometimes come about by the joining of two separate things (as ordinary writing brings together ink and paper). And this, in learning, is not enough. Instead it must be “engraved,” meaning that the person learning should have no substance, his ego should have no voice whatsoever. His whole being must be the Torah. The great example is Moses, the first recipient of the Torah. So complete was his selflessness that he could say, “I will give grass in your field.”7 “The Divine Presence spoke through his throat.”8 He was a void filled by G‑d. The same is true of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, who said: “I have seen superior men and they are but few. If there be a thousand, I and my son are among them. If there be a hundred, I and my son are among them. If only two, they are I and my son. If only one, it is I.”9 These are words of self-praise; and self-praise is not the way of the righteous. He could say them only because he was so selfless, so filled with G‑d, that it was as if he were speaking about someone else. 3. The Explanations Related All explanations in the Torah have an inner unity.10 And the interpretation of “statutes” as “engraving” complements, rather than conflicts with, its literal sense, as laws which are beyond our understanding. To learn Torah as if it were composed entirely of statutes is to study in a state of unconditional commitment. This does not rule out the pursuit of understanding. Indeed, the point is to understand. But only if this is accompanied by commitment. Not “I will do when I understand”; nor “I will understand because I enjoy the search for knowledge”; but “I will do, and because I am commanded, I will try to understand.” This is true “labor,” meaning an effort undertaken beyond the promptings of pleasure. When learning is of this order, then it becomes “engraved.” The person learning, and the Torah which is learned, become literally one thing. 4. “Going” This explains one part of the phrase “If you walk in My statutes.” But what of the word “walk?” “Walking” or “going”(halicha) suggests a number of levels, and a progression from one level to the next. For example, in the emotional life, one “goes” or ascends from the lower to the higher form of love. But surely in absolute commitment, there are no levels. It seems like a state, rather than a process. The Alter Rebbe writes that “going” relates not to a man’s task but to his reward. If one’s service is, in both senses, “in My statutes,” then the reward is “you shall go”—always higher. And true “going” is without limits. 5. Faith and Understanding However, the simple reading of the verse takes the whole phrase “if you walk in My statutes” as man’s task, and understands the reward as beginning in the next verse, “Then I will give your rains in their seasons.” It is written in Likkutei Torah11 that the principal element in faith lies in those levels of G‑dliness which are beyond the scope of comprehension. What can be, must be understood. Faith begins where understanding ends. This is the distinctive quality of Jewish faith. It is a faith beyond, not because of, understanding. Now, intellect has its levels: “Days shall speak, and the multitude of years shall teach wisdom.”12 And as one comprehends more, so one raises the threshold of faith. Yesterday’s faith becomes today’s understanding. This is why “statutes,” too, have their levels. What was incomprehensible yesterday—a statute—is understood today and ceases to be a statute. So, for example, G‑d said to Moses, “I will reveal to you the reason behind the Red Heifer.”13 The Red Heifer is for us a statute. For Moses it was not, from that point onwards. It was not that Moses lacked the notion of “statute,” but that for him the threshold of incomprehensibility lay higher than for us. This is the meaning of “If you walk in My statutes.” By “laboring” in the Torah, by straining to the limit, one daily raises one’s understanding, and thus one raises the stage at which a law is a “statute.” This is the “going”: The progression to an ever-higher faith through ever-higher understanding. And the reward is then, “I will give your rains in their season …and make you go upright” which is the unlimited “going, from strength to strength” of the future revelation, and which leads, in turn, to what lies beyond the “going”—“to the day which is wholly Shabbat and rest for life everlasting.’’14 (https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/110546/jewish/Torah-Studies-Bechukotai.htm) FOOTNOTES 8. Cf. Zohar, Part III, 232a; Ibid., 7a; 265a; Shemot Rabbah, 3:15; Vayikra Rabbah, 2:3; Mechilta, Shemot 18:19. Synopsis 2: 1. In this week’s Torah portion Hashem (G-d) commands us to take care of our brethren in need and loan them interest free money . Hashem finishes off this commandment by saying, “I am Hashem, your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt…” . The Rebbe says: 1. In this week’s Torah portion Hashem (G-d) commands us to take care of our brethren in need and loan them interest free money . Hashem finishes off this commandment by saying, “I am Hashem, your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt…” . Our Sages learn from this verse that, “Anyone who accepts the yoke of the commandment regarding not taking or giving interest, accepts the yoke of Heaven; and anyone who throws off the yoke of this commandment, throws off the yoke of Heaven. This is because anyone who complies with the Mitzvah (commandment) of “Ribbis” (not taking or giving interest) also admits to the fundamental principal of our exodus from Egypt; and anyone who denies the Mitzvah of Ribbis also denies our exodus from Egypt” . In other words, there is something unique about the Mitzvah of Ribbis which has a special connection to accepting the yoke of Heaven and our exodus from Egypt more than any other Mitzvah. We must try to understand this. When a person accepts the yoke of Heaven and therefore fulfills the Mitzvos (commandments) which are incumbent upon him, Hashem “teams up” with him. This means two things: Firstly, Hashem fulfills these same Mitzvos before He commands us to do them, and secondly, He fulfills these Mitzvos again after we perform them . Our Sages point out that this concept is clearly seen from the wording of the blessings which we say before performing a Mitzvah. The blessing always begins, “Blessed are you Hashem, our G-d, Master of the universe, Who has made us holy with His commandments…(and then we specify which Mitzvah we are about to perform)”; they are “His” commandments because He performs them as well . 3. The Rebbe now questions this: It is quite obvious that the fact that our Mitzvos cause Hashem to perform the Mitzvos as well is not because the level of our Mitzvos are somehow related to the level of Hashem’s Mitzvos, because the Creator and the created have no association between one another. It is solely because Hashem decided to reciprocate when we do a Mitzvah that our Mitzvos cause Him to fulfill the Mitzvos as well. Bearing this in mind, we must wonder why Hashem desires that our Mitzvos cause Him to fulfill the Mitzvos after we are already done? Regarding Hashem’s observance of the Mitzvos before we perform them, this is readily understood because He wants to give us the strength to be able to fulfill the Mitzvos afterwards. However, we must try to understand why Hashem wants our Mitzvos to also cause Him to fulfill it afterwards. 4. The Rebbe now answers this question by discussing and explaining the idea of Avodah (service to Hashem): Why is it that we have to work for everything? Seemingly, since Hashem created this world “to do kindness to His creations” , and “it is the nature of what’s good to perform goodness” , He should just give us everything as a gift without any of our own labor!? The explanation for this is that real goodness is only when the receiver first worked for his reward. When someone receives a gift that he did not work for at all it is called “bread of shame” . Therefore, for the very reason that Hashem created this world “to do kindness to His creations” , and “it is the nature of what’s good to perform goodness”- He does not want us to receive “bread of shame” and He wants us to feel good about ourselves when we receive our sustenance. Therefore Hashem set up the world in a way that we must first work before we receive. According to this we can understand why Hashem wants our Mitzvos to cause Him to fulfill the Mitzvos after we are done: If someone works and gets paid, however the work that he does is useless for his boss, this is still “bread of shame” and the worker does not feel good about himself. Therefore, Hashem desires that our Mitzvos cause Him to fulfill the Mitzvos as well, so that we feel valuable and successful. Additionally, when we feel good about ourselves we fulfill the Mitzvos with enthusiasm and eagerness, and this gives us the strength to continue serving Hashem in the face of any test that may come our way. 5. The Rebbe now answers our original question as to how the Mitzvah of Ribbis is especially connected to accepting the yoke of heaven and our exodus from Egypt: All Divine energy which is brought down into this world is a result of our work. In other words, every Mitzvah that we perform brings down a specific energy into this world. Furthermore, as we said earlier, every Mitzvah we do down here causes Hashem to “perform” the Mitzvah as well in the higher realms. Bearing this in mind, we can understand that just as every individual Mitzvah has a specific effect on the higher realms, so too, there must be a Mitzvah which causes the general effect of Hashem desiring to be affected by our Mitzvos. This “general” Mitzvah is Ribbis : The transgression of Ribbis is that you are gaining profit now because of money which you once loaned to someone in the past. Guarding oneself from Ribbis means that you will only allow yourself to gain from something which you have in your possession now. Hashem treats us like we treat our peers. Therefore, if we transgress on the Mitzvah of Ribbis and take interest from our friends now even though we are not doing anything now to deserve it, Hashem will respond and not take part now in our performance of Mitzvos; Hashem will only participate earlier by performing the Mitzvos before He commands us to do them (which gives us the strength to perform them), however He will not reciprocate now and perform them again after we have performed them. However when we fulfill the Mitzvah of Ribbis and only profit from something we deserve now, Hashem reciprocates and also performs the Mitzvos which we are doing now. Through this we can also understand how the Mitzvah of Ribbis is especially connected to accepting the yoke of heaven (performance of Mitzvos) and our exodus from Egypt: The Mitzvah of Ribbis is a general theme which causes Hashem to be a partner in our performance of the Mitzvos and acceptance of the yoke of Heaven. Moreover, when we are connected to Hashem because He becomes a partner with us, we are plugged in to an unlimited energy supply and we have the strength to leave our own individual “Egypt”. 6. The Rebbe now finishes off with the lesson for us: Our Sages tell us that, “The righteous ones (Tzadikim) are compared to their Creator” . Therefore, just like Hashem gives us strength at the onset of our service and at the end of it, so too, His righteous ones, and specifically His leaders (Nesi’im) of Israel, give us special strength; they give us the specific mission of our generation and the strength to fulfill it, and then continue to surge us with the power to accomplish it. This is also a lesson that every Jew can implement in his own life: When you help out another Jew, and specifically in the area of Yiddishkeit (Judaism), you should never stop lending him your helping hand. Translated and adapted by Shalom Goldberg. Take from Likutei Sichos volume three. Translation: |
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Links: http://www.torah4blind.org/hebrew/lse-55-56-5775.pdf |
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