Tag: Bechukotai

This well known Yiddish expression, which means that the Torah is the best merchandise, sums up our historical love of the Torah. The nations of the world spent their free time at circuses and amphitheatres whilst the Jews learned the heilige Torah. Our neshomos absorbed faith in Hashem and a moral code unequalled by any philosophy then or now. We sharpened our brains on the intricacies of the Talmudic discussions and were inspired by beautiful examples of elevated behaviour by our Tanaim and Amoraim.

We have been enthalled by stories like those of Reb Yehoshua ben Chananya (Eiruvin 53b) who said that he has never been bested except for when he was put in his place by … a young girl and young boy. The case of the young girl was when he was walking across a path over a private field. The young girl said “Isn’t this a private field?”

(which you may not cross because of possible damage to the crops). He answered, “ Isn’t this a used path?” (a path used by the public already which may be used by a stranger). The young girl responded swiftly. “Yes, it’s been used by robbers like you!”

In the other case he was walking along a road and came to a junction where a boy was sitting. “Which way is to the city?” he asked the boy. The boy answered that this way is short and long and the other way is long and short. Reb Yehoshua ben Chananya followed the route which was short and long. He soon reached the outskirts of the city but found his way blocked by vegetable gardens and orchards, so he had to the retrace his steps. When he reached the junction he complained to the boy, “You told me that this way was short!” The boy replied, “Didn’t I tell you that it was long?” Reb Yehoshua ben Chananya kissed the boy on his head and said how blessed the Jewish people that they are so wise from the oldest to the youngest.

This loving relationship between the Jewish People and the Torah is the context of the widely observed custom to stay up on the night of Shevuos, learning the Torah. Every year, on this night, Botei Medrash from London to Los Angeles, Manchester to Melbourne and Tel Aviv to Toronto are full of men and boys staying up learning sometimes with the encouragement of cheese cake, ice cream and cholent! The world is absorbed by narishkeiten and we are learning the heilige Torah!

What does a Jew do with his spare time? Learns the Torah. What does a Jew do after he is retired? Learns the Torah. What does a bas Yisroel want from her husband? That he should learn the Torah. What does a Jewish child strive to be able to do when he is older? To learn the Torah. The Torah is like a magnet which every Jew is drawn towards. Rashi (Shabbos 150a) says that Jews are always thinking about words of Torah. A person without the Torah is like flotsam on the stormy seas. He is rudderless, anchorless and totally adrift. He floats towards nothingness. He is drawn after his heart and eyes and risks sinking to the murky depths, physical and technological. His only hope is to find a way back to the Torah.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav (Brochos 54b): Four people need to thank Hashem —Those who travel overseas; those who journey through the wilderness; one who was ill and recovered; one who was dangerously imprisoned and escaped. What do they say? Rav Yehuda says: Boruch…hagomel l’chayovim tovos shegemolani kol tov. “Blessed be the One who does good even to the undeserving, who did me all this goodness.” Abaya says that he must say this brocho in front of ten men, as it says, “ They exalted Him in an assembly of people.” (Tehillim 107:32). Mar Zutra said that two of the ten should be talmidei chachomim as it says, “And they praised Him in front of the wise ones.” (ibid)

Why do people who have had these particular experiences need to thank Hashem? Why in front of ten people and why do two of the ten need to be talmidei chachomim? We all know that after travelling overseas, we “bentch gomel” on the next day that the Torah is read. The listeners respond; Mishegemolcho kol tuv, hu yegemolcho kol tuv sela. “The One who did you this goodness, He should continue to do you only good, for ever.” It is a beautiful mini-ceremony. We bless Hashem, the people bless us and afterwards usually people to give us a friendly sholom aleichem. But we just asked several questions on why the Gemoro limits the occasions when we say the brocho and why in this way. True the Shulchan Aruch (219:3) says that the requirement to have two Talmidei Chachomim is only lechatchila and the custom is not to be particular but nevertheless we should try to understand why Mar Zutra in the Gemoro mentioned it.

The Maharsha gives a beautiful explanation. He says that we are not just thanking Hashem for the miracle of surviving these four different experiences. He explains that there are four situations which prevent a person from studying the Torah as much as he would like and being able to be involved in mitxvos and maasim tovim. The situations are poverty, wealth, illness and enemies. A poor person is searching for a parnoso to put bread on the table for himself and his family. He may have to travel distances to earn some money here and there. How much time will he have left to learn? He is like the holchei midbar those who journey through the wilderness searching for something to eat or drink. A wealthy person, strangely enough, is also hindered by his situation from advancing his avodas Hashem. Firstly, having a substantial income is very likely to reduce the quality of his tefilos. To the magid who urges people to daven sincerely for the blessing of parnoso, the wealthy man might smilingly produce his latest bank statement. Furthermore, says the Maharsha, the wealthy man might well have investments overseas which require him to travel to check them. He might have property in Europe, a business in China and a banana plantation in Ecuador. By the time he visits all these places, how much time has he left to learn? He is symbolised by the yordei hayom – those who travel overseas and cannot learn the Torah properly, as we learn in Eiruvin (55a) “The Torah is not over the sea.” (Devarim 30:13 ). Reb Yochonon said this means that the Torah will not be found with the merchants (who are constantly travelling overseas).

If a person is ill (chas vesholom) of course it is difficult to learn. He may be weak or in pain. He may be busy going to appointments with the doctor or in hospital. In hospital it is certainly difficult to learn. Lastly, a person with enemies who might plan to imprison him or who have already imprisoned him in the past, is fully occupied with avoiding them. He is too worried at the prospect of being captured, to learn or do other mitzvos with a calm mind.

If a person has been in any of these four situations but is now free, he has to thank Hashem and bentch gomel. “Hashem in His great kindness has taken me out of poverty, danger and so on, even though I am undeserving”. However the emphasis is not, according to the Maharsha, on survival, that he has been the beneficiary of a miracle but rather that he can now learn, daven and do other mitzvos properly. He has time to learn. He has the peace of mind to daven. He can concentrate on all aspects of avodas Hashem without the worries and disturbances which he had before. That is why he says the brocho in front of ten people, two of whom are talmidei chachomim. Yes, he has survived b’chasdei Hashem and this he announces in front “an assembly of people’ as it says: Nodeh lecho unesaper tehilosecho – “I will thank You and speak of Your praises.” But there have to be two talmidei chachomim to indicate that the main thing he is thanking Hashem for is that he now available to put all his efforts into learning and avodas Hashem.

In Parshas Bechukosai we see how Hashem rewards those who study the Torah diligently. “Im bechukosai teleichu” on which Rashi comments, “If you will study diligently…You will merit that the rains will fall at the right time, you will have ample crops” etc. The late Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky _zt”l understood this as a continuation of Parshas Behar with its central theme of shmitta. During the shemitta year, the farmer is forbidden to work and has time to learn Torah. “If you study diligently, during this shemitta year when you have the opportunity, you will be rewarded that in the other six years you will have rain in the right time and your crops will be very plentiful.” Wherever we live and in whatever year, the same promise applies. If we learn diligently whenever we have the opportunity we will be blessed with ample parnoso. We may follow the beautiful custom of some who instead of rushing to work, have a morning chevrusa or go to a morning shiur. And lo and behold, the same customers come in later; somehow our income goes up rather than down as logic might have suggested. After all, Toira is der beste Schoira!

“If you follow My laws and keep My mitzvos and do them, I shall give you rain in its season, the land will give its produce and the tree will give its fruit…” (Vayikra 26:3). That’s certainly good news. Hashem, the Creator of the Universe has given us the key to success. In fact there are 613 keys to success. It seems a tall order, but with determination we can do the necessary and we will receive all the blessings mentioned here and many more besides; a veritable paradise on Earth. But then, apparently, the bad news. “If you don’t listen to Me and don’t do all these mitzvos … I will cause you to panic, make you ill in various ways, you will sow your seeds for nothing and your enemies will eat the fruit. You will be struck down before your enemies. You will flee but no-one will be pursuing you. And it gets worse. “If you still won’t listen to me but consider it all chance, I will increase your punishment. I will make your heavens like iron and your land like copper…I will send the wildlife of the field against you which will kill your children, exterminate your cattle and your roads will become desolate.” The pesukim continue in this vein warning us of more and more punishments if we remain obstinate and treat everything as chance. There is a bright point when posuk 32 says that the land will remain desolate even though we will have been exiled which the Ramban understands as a promise that throughout our long exile, other nations will never populated the land. It will remain empty ready for us to return as the British politician Lord Shaftsbury said in 1853 that “Eretz Yisroel is a land without a people waiting for a people without a land.”  However, most of the parsha seems to be doom and gloom. But is it?

The Rambam (Hilchos Taanis 1:1-3) writes, “When a tzoro happens to a community, we should know that it is because of our wrong deeds. We should do teshuva and this will remove the tzoro. But if we say that the tzoro is a chance happening or natural and is nothing to do with our behavior, this is cruel, because this attitude will cause us to continue our wrong ways and the tzoros will just increase. This is what it says in the Torah, “If you consider what has happened as ‘chance’ I will increase my anger.” (ibid). This should change our understanding of our parsha. It is true that we are being warned about possible punishments but at the same time the pesukim tell us how to avoid those punishments. Don’t treat what happens as chance or natural. Consider possible reasons for a tzoro, do teshuva and the tzoro will go away. This doesn’t seem like bad news. It’s good news, giving us an escape from the tzoro we are suffering from..

In England, at the moment, there is a crisis in that OFSTED is insisting that our schools teach our children about “alternative life styles” and their belief that the world just happens to be; no-one created it. Our Rabbonim and askonim are doing their hishtadlus to convince OFSTED and the Government not to interfere in our system of education. But are we supposed to stand by passively, or is there something we can do? The answer is that there is plenty we can do. Tzoros don’t just happen, as the Rambam said. We have to think what might possibly be the cause of this gezeira.  OFSTED are Hashem’s messengers to awaken us to do teshuva. But what might we be guilty of? Do we have any clues?

It is well known that the Baal Shem Tov once saw some chillul Shabbos which distressed him greatly. He wondered why he should have been punished in this way. He came to the conclusion that it was because someone had once not shown respect to a Talmid Chochom in his presence and he had not objected vociferously enough. Since a Talmid Chochom is sometimes compared to Shabbos, concluded the Baal Shem Tov, this must be the reason for his being punished by seeing chillul Shabbos. A person has to look for a midda keneged midda, an aveira which is in some way connected to the punishment, albeit on a much higher level, as a clue what he must do teshuva from.

Since the first problem with OFSTED, is matters to do with kedusha, it seems logical to consider that Hashem is trying to encourage us to rectify matters of kedusha; particularly since we know that “wherever there is immorality, androlomusia comes and smites the good and the bad.” (Yerushalmi Sota 1:5). Our generation has more challenges in this regard than previous generations, even more than a few years ago. Perhaps twenty or thirty years ago there were fewer women in the workplace. And those who were, were always Mrs So and So. Today, women are in every possible position. Women are lawyers, accountants, bank managers, business representatives etc where they interrelate with their customers. And, almost without exception, they introduce themselves by their first name and expect to be told our first name. Sue and Moshe has a different ring than Mrs Jones and Mr Cohen.  And listen how often she repeats your name. Welcome to the world of modern business techniques to weaken our defences and make us more likely to buy their product. By the end of the first conversation we feel like old friends. This is already a big nisoyon for Moshe who has been brought up in b’kedusha vetahara. Pesachim 113a says that Hashem makes a special announcement about three people every day. One of them is a bachelor who lives in a city and does not sin. He faces great nisoyonos and if he is successful, Hashem rewards him greatly. Today, we all face such nisoyonos and in order to be successful we have to be prepared to respond to Sue’s warm introduction by saying, at a polite distance, “Good morning. I am Mr Cohen.” And the reward the Gemoro talked about will be ours. This is one example in the area of kedusha where we all need chizuk, which Hashem, through OFSTED, is possibly trying to communicate to us.

The other area that OFSTED is trying force on us, is teaching our children that, according to science, we know that the world came about by itself. This is not true. Even Richard Dawkins said, “How did the whole process start? We do not know.”(Climbing Mt Impossible p.282). So why do they want us to teach lies? Perhaps we are being reminded to ask ourselves whether our honesty always impeccable. Are we always careful that every document we sign is authentic? Do we always admit to our spouse when we have made a mistake? And davening in a way that indicates that we are having a heartful talk with Hashem, whilst our minds are thinking about our business, our holidays or local politics, is also a form of falsehood.

No, the tochacho is not all doom and gloom. It is Hashem’s way of encouraging us to do what is right. Yissurim start with taking the wrong coin out of our pocket and increase gradually until the nightmare scenario written in the pesukim. But He hopes it won’t come to that. He gives us reminders of one sort or another and we are supposed to understand the message and rectify our mistakes. Then we will be able to receive all the blessings mentioned in the previous section. The parsha is not good news and bad news but good news and good news!