Print This Post Print This Post

The Rebuke

Written by Anonymous

“I will remember My covenant with Yaakov and also My covenant with Yitzchak, and also My covenant with Avraham will I remember; and I will remember the land” (VaYikra 26:42).

The Shlah (Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, 16th – 17th century) notes that this verse is seemingly out of context. We are still in the middle of reading about the misfortune that will befall the nation for their abandonment of Judaism, and here the Torah includes a comforting thought that God will remember our great ancestors?

He answers that really this is all part of the rebuke! The recollection of the patriarchs actually serves as the basis of a stiffer sentence for their unworthy descendants. If a person is born into a refined, law abiding family, lives in an area where people obey the law and went to a good school, then if he misbehaves his crime is much worse because that is not how he was educated. God recalls that our holy patriarchs trained us so well and yet we proceeded to forsake their teachings. God also mentions the area in which we grew up, the land of Israel, the place most conducive to spiritual pursuits.

Leave a Comment