Leviticus 26:3-27:34 –
Jeremiah 16:19-17:14 –
Luke 18:31-43
This week's edition of The Set Table contains:
Questions and Commentary on Shabbat Bechuqotai
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
In Summary
Looking Ahead
Questions & Commentary on Parashat Bechuqotai
1. What is meant by "walk in my statutes" (Leviticus 26:3)? How
does this differ from keeping God's commandments or performing them? If our
study of Torah and Brit Chadasha is going to be pleasing to God, what must be
its result?
Rabbi Jason Sobel
Commenting upon the
opening words of this week's parasha,
Rashi writes:
If you follow [walk in] my statutes (Leviticus
26:2) What is the meaning of "If you follow my statutes"? It means that you
must toil in the study of Torah [for the word for "follow" here, telekhu, literally means "walk," which
is a strenuous activity].
Based upon Rashi's
comment we learn that we are obligated to exert serious effort in our study of
Torah and Brit Chadasha. Even more important then exercising our bodies, we
must work out our spirit through in-depth Torah study.
The importance of
setting a regular time for Torah study is not only essential for our spiritual
growth and well-being in this world but also affects our share in the World to
Come. In fact our Sages tell us that when we stand before God on the day of our
judgment, one question we will asked is "did you fix regular times for Torah
study" (b. Shabbat 31a). We are
reminded of this duty every morning when we recite the blessing over the Torah,
"Blessed are You O LORD our God, Ruler of the Universe, who commands us to
engross ourselves/engage in the words of Torah." Despite the fact that we
recite these words every morning and cognitively understand that we should
engross ourselves in Torah study, it is all too easy to come
up with excuses for not doing so. This is underscored by the following teaching
in b. Yoma 35b,
Our Rabbis taught: The poor, the rich, and the
wicked/immoral one will come before the [heavenly] court - They say to the
poor: Why have you not occupied yourself with the Torah? If he says: I was poor
and worried about my sustenance, they would say to him: Were you poorer than
Hillel [who learned Torah despite his poverty]? One day he found nothing to
earn and the guard at the House of Learning would not permit him to enter. He
climbed up and sat upon the window, to hear the words of the living God . . .
They say, that day was the eve of Sabbath in the winter solstice and snow fell
down upon him from heaven. When the dawn rose . . . They looked up and saw the
figure of a man in the window. They went up and found him covered by three
cubits of snow. They removed him, bathed and anointed him and placed him
opposite the fire and they said: This man [Hillel] deserves that the Sabbath be
profaned on his behalf. To the rich man they said: Why have you not occupied
yourself with the Torah? If he said: I was rich and occupied with my
possessions, they would say to him: Were you perchance richer than R. Eleazar?
It was reported about R. Eleazar b. Harsom that his father left him a thousand
cities on the continent and over one thousand boats on the sea. Every day he
would take a sack of flour on his shoulder and go from city to city . . . to
study the Torah. To the immoral person they would say: Why have you not occupied
yourself with the Torah? If he said: I was beautiful and upset by sensual
passion, they would say to him: Were you perchance more beautiful than Joseph?
It was told of Joseph the virtuous that the wife of Potiphar every day
endeavored to entice him with words . . . but he would not listen to her; not
to ‘lie with her' in this world, not ‘to be with her' in the world to come.
Thus [the example of] Hillel condemns the poor, [the example of] R. Eleazar b.
Harsom condemns the rich, and Joseph the virtuous condemns the immoral sensual
person.
Ultimately, none of our excuses will hold water when
we have to stand before God and give account for how we used our time. Not only
are we called to regularly study the Torah, but we must also study it with the
intent of living out what we learn. This is the meaning of the phrase "and
observe my commandments." Not only must we engage in regular Torah study, we
must do so with the intention that we will put into practice what we study.
But even the most sincere intentions are not enough.
As the old adage goes, "The highway to hell is paved with good intentions."
Rather we must make sure that we go one step further by regularly examining our
lives to be sure that we are being proactive in the performance of the mitzvot we have learned. This is the
meaning of the third clause of this verse, which reads "and performs
them." Toiling in Torah study for its
own sake is honorable but studying in order to fulfill it is a much greater.
One of the clearest biblical examples in the Tanakh of
a person who embodied the principals of diligent, in-depth Torah study for the
purpose of keeping it was Ezra.
Concerning him it is written, "for the gracious hand of his God was on
him. For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the
LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel" (Ezra 7:9-10). Ultimately
this type of Torah study transforms our life and our community and brings great
blessing in this world and in the World to Come.
2. What is the connection between this
week's parasha and last week's, and
what is the ultimate promise made by God to the Jewish people?
Joshua
Brumbach
Behar and Bechuqotai are the last two portions of
the book of Leviticus. On non-leap years, when various portions are doubled up,
the rabbis specifically chose these two portions to be read together. One does
not have to look too hard to be able to see the similarities between the two
portions.
Behar
begins with a special connection between Mt. Sinai and the land of Israel by
speaking of the holiness of shemita,
of letting the ground lay fallow for an entire year every seven years. This
connection is directly intertwined to the mitzva
of Shabbat. For six days we are to work, and on the seventh day we are to rest.
This idea follows that God created the world in which we inhabit for six days,
but on the seventh day God ceased from his creating, and brought completeness
and menucha - rest. The purpose of shemita is to teach us that the ultimate
force in the universe is God and not the law of nature. It also goes against
our own instincts of fear that if we do not plant and work during that year, we
will starve. Yet this is why, built even into the harvesting of the land, God
gives us opportunities to demonstrate faith. That is the reason for the
harvesting for six years, and stowing a small amount away every year in order
to have extra food for the year of shemita.
By doing so, we trust God will provide for us during these years so that we
will not go hungry in the seventh. This goes against everything in us to take a
Shabbat - especially for an entire year!
However, Parashat
Bechuqotai begins with God promising that if we follow his commandments,
then he will give us abundance in our harvests and blessings upon us. That He
will send us the rain we need, and will keep our enemies away. It is his
promise that if we will trust in him, and observe the mitzvot he just gave us in the previous parasha, then he will be faithful to meet our needs.
How often do we really trust God to meet our needs? Often
we worry and seem to keep one little areas hidden (or at least we think hidden
from God). Yet that is not what God wants of us. God wants us to trust him both
in following his mitzvot and
believing that he will bring blessings into our lives. Yeshua reiterates this
by reassuring us not to worry about these things - of what we will eat or
drink, or even about what we will wear (Matthew 6:25-34). For Yeshua promises
us that he knows everything we need better than we do. Therefore Yeshua affirms
the message of these parashiyot, to
continue to seek his Kingdom and his Righteousness (i.e., his mitzvot and will for our lives), and
everything else will be added to us as well.
Jen Rosner
Luke
18:31-43 - When Weakness is Strength and Surrender is
Triumph
This week's besora
portion includes two distinct but related sections. The first is Yeshua
describing to his disciples the events that are about to take place in
Jerusalem, and the second is the story of the blind beggar who receives his
sight. How are these two sections related?
As Yeshua foretells all that awaits him in
Jerusalem, he explains "everything that is written by the prophets about the
Son of Man will be fulfilled" (v. 31). He will be mocked, insulted, spit on,
flogged and finally killed. The disciples do not understand any of this. How
could the one who was to come and vanquish their enemies and reclaim the throne
of David undergo such torture and humiliation? How could he die? Their
confusion was appropriate.
Verse 35 transitions to the story of the blind
beggar sitting by the roadside. He hears Yeshua and the crowd passing by and he
cries out, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Those leading the crowd attempt to
silence the beggar, but he clamors all the more. Yeshua calls the man over to
him, asks what he is requesting, and promptly heals his sight. He declares that
the man's faith has brought about his healing, and the man praises God as a
result. What is the difference between the disciples, whose eyes are shut to
their leader's words, and the blind beggar whose eyes are opened on account of
his faith and persistence?
This week's haftara
portion may supply the answer. Jeremiah contrasts two kinds of people, those
who trust in men and those who trust in God. "Cursed is the one who trusts in
man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the
Lord . . . But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is
in him"(Jeremiah 17:5, 7).
Though the disciples had entrusted their entire
lives to Yeshua and left everything to follow him, they were still blinded by
their own definitions of strength and power. They had not yet realized that in
Yeshua's kingdom, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. They had
not realized that those who wished to save their lives would lose them. They
could not accept that the Messiah's suffering would bring about the redemption
of the world.
Suddenly our besora
passage makes sense, as does its context. Earlier in Luke 18 we read about the
persistent widow, the Pharisee and the tax collector, the little children, and
the rich ruler. The constant refrain of society's weakest is a plea for mercy,
while the strong cling to their strength. Through Yeshua we see that in the
Kingdom of God, weakness is strength and surrender is triumph. The many
reversals embedded in Yeshua's life are among the things that comprise his
great power and mystery.
Blessed is the one who trusts in this unseemly kingdom
of opposites. Blessed is the one who understands the unlikely strength of the
surrendered. It is on this note that our haftara
portion ends, and the blind beggar echoes Jeremiah's words: "Heal me, O Lord,
and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I
praise"(Jeremiah 17:14). It is not until we accept these great reversals and
renounce our self-assurance that we understand the words of Yeshua. In this
way, he is indeed the one through whom prophecy is fulfilled.
NEXT WEEK'S READINGS
- PARASHAT BEMIDBAR
Numbers 1:1-4:20
Hosea 2:1-22
John 11:11-45
UPCOMING YACHAD NETWORK EVENTS
7th Annual Young Messianic Jewish
Scholars Conference
Beverly
Hills, CA ● June 4-6, 2008
4th Annual Young Leaders Shabbaton
Beverly
Hills, CA ● June 6-7, 2008
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