Parashat Bechukkotai 5782

by Rabbi Margie Cella

Parashat Bechukkotai, which concludes the Book of Vayikra, Leviticus contains a series of blessings and curses; which ones we receive will depend on whether we are obedient to God’s commandments or not.

Most of chapter twenty-six (v. 14-39) comprises the section called the Tochecha (curses); the tone becomes more positive after that, reflecting the blessings that will be bestowed on those who are faithful to the commandments.

The same theme, emphasizing the justice of God’s judgment and trust in God’s redemptive power, dominates the haftarah, which contains several prophecies of Jeremiah written at various times, both before and after the destruction of the Temple.

The parashah warns against the punishment that God will mete out to those who are disobedient and worship idols (26:3); Jeremiah reacts virulently to the cultic behavior of the people that he has witnessed (17:2). Finding the people guilty of idol worship, God says that their punishment will be exile.

According to Jeremiah, those who trust in human beings are doomed, compared to a dried-out verdant tree (עץ-רענן) in the wilderness (17:2), while those who trust God will thrive like a tree of fresh (רענן) ever-present leaves planted by the water, that does not cease to give fruit (17:8). These contrasting images of trees reflect the parashah’s promise that the faithful will live safely in a fertile land that will yield its produce (Lev. 26:3-5).

Jeremiah declares that God examines the hearts of human beings and requites each accordingly (17:9-10); in Leviticus, God speaks of the punishment that will be meted out on those who have “uncircumcised hearts” (26:41).

In addition, the haftarah includes two verses that are familiar to us: verse seven, which begins, “baruch ha-gever…” is in birkat hamazon. And verse fourteen, Jeremiah’s plea for God’s healing forms part of the bracha of praying for the sick in the daily Amidah.

May we all be worthy of receiving God’s blessings and healing.