Rabbi Yechiel Perr commented on Bechukosai - ShortVort.com:
“And those of you who survive, will be eroded for their sin in the lands of your enemies; and also for the sin of their fathers which they carry with them, will they be eroded” [Vayikra 26:39].
It is safe to say that no other subject has absorbed the attention of Klal Yisroel as has the golus. How long will it last? What are its exact causes? How can they be overcome?
Over our history every possible strategy has been pursued in overcoming the golus. Attempts were made to overcome the golus by scattering Jews to every possible country. Also, by gathering Jews back to our land. Also, by spreading Torah. Also, by spreading Kabbalah. Also, by spreading Chasidus. Also, by assimilation. Also, by shmad, r.l. Also, by getting Yidden to stop machelokes; and to stop lashon horah. And “just keep one Shabbos and we’ll all be free” the song tells us. And yet nevertheless – the golus persists
In Parashas Bechukosai, the Torah makes a seemingly ridiclous statement, one that only Gd alone, standing above time, could make: (26:32)
"I shall make the land desolate and your enemies who dwell there will be desolate on it. "
In all human history, when armies conquer territory of others, they develop the land and proudly add it to their possessions. For two thousand years, many invaders (crusaders, Turks, Arabs) sought to take over our land and prosper there, but always failed. Eretz Yisrael remained a basically desolate land until the 20th century, when the Jewish people, returning to Eretz Yisael b'ezras HaShem, turned into a land of milk and honey, fulfilling the promise of this verse.
Blessings are great, but curses, well no one wants to hear those. This weeks Parsha sets out the blessings that will occur when we do the Will of our Creator, and Chas Ve Shalom the curses that will occur if we don’t.
One of the curses although bad, could seem worse. Venastem V'einRodef - and you shall flee when no one will pursue you (26:17). We will feel as if the enemy is chasing after us and we will flee out of fear, whilst in actual fact they wont even be chasing us. This is a curse but wouldn’t it be worse were they to really be chasing after us? Surely it’s not so bad if at the end of the day there is no enemy really behind us?
The Rambam was the doctor of the Sultan of Egypt.
He held a great position in the country and many of the other Sultans advisers were jealous. Eventually they came to the Sultan asking him to get rid of the Rambam, and place a better Arab Doctor in his stead.
The Sultan called the Rambam and the Arab Doctor and proposed a test to them. Each one was known to be a great physician and had knowledge in medicines and cures. He told them that he would give each one, a week to nurture up a poison that would be able to kill the other. Each one would also have at their disposal any medicines they wished. Whoever would die, would be the loser and the one who lived through the experience would stay on as the Sultans doctor.
Each of you shall not cause grief to his fellow, and you shall fear your G-d; for I am Hashem, your G-d" (Leviticus 25:17).
Chazzal, noticed an apparent redundancy in the Possuk above. It would have been sufficient to have said, "Each of you shall not cause grief to his fellow [because] I am Hashem, your G-d." Why was the additional phrase of "you shall fear your G-d" necessary?
Our Chachomim answer this question by explaining that it is possible to use your supposed fear of Hashem to your own advantage and to the detriment of others. A person can put on a shroud of kindness and religiosity with the specific intent of deceiving others. This idea is illustrated by the following story.
There once was a fundraiser who came knocking on the door of a wealthy business man. Unwilling to part with his hard-earned money, the stingy
"I (G-d) will remember My covenant with Jacob and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham.(26:42)
A question can be asked as follows: Why is the order of the forefathers in reverse order,it should start with Abraham and end with Jacob? There is something about this reverse order which is very significant? I would like to propose an original answer, Bezrat Hashem.
It states in Pirkei Avos 1:2, the following :" Shimon Haztadik used to say, The world stands on 3 things-On the Torah, on serving G-d (prayer), and on acts of loving kindness." (END of Quote) These very 3 things represent the the forefathers:
Torah------------Jacob
Prayer----------Isaac
Kindness......Abraham
Rashi famously writes that the words in the pasuk im bechukosai telechu (26:3) refer to toiling in the study of Torah (ameilus baTorah). A central feature of learning Torah is exerting oneself in studying it. Interestingly, the Ba’al HaTurim here cites the Midrash which comments that the gematria of im bechukosai telechu is the same gematria as the words ameilim divrei torah (the intense study of Torah).
The prohibition of temurah is mentioned at the very end of sedra (27:33), whereby one who donates a korban to the Mikdash is not allowed to swap it with a different animal they have in their possession. The Rambam (hilchos Temurah 4:13) writes that the natural urge of a person is to try and get away with replacing their consecrated animal for a cheaper one to save money. Thus, the Torah banned any korban-switching. The Rambam continues that this mitzvah - as well as most mitzvos - is to ‘force the yetzer (hara) and fix up his character.’ In other words, mitzvos are not dry acts; they are Divine means of working on our internal characters and developing a refined personality whilst fostering your innate connection to HaShem.
Immediately after the curses (should we fail to observe the mitzvos) in our sedra we have the portion which deals with the values of people should they donate the monetary value which they are worth to the Mikdash (erechin). What is the connection between these two topics? One explanation is that after hearing all the curses one might feel down - one could feel that they do not have much value in this world if we can stoop to such a low level to deserve such punishments. Thus, the concept of erechin is mentioned right away to tell us that we do have a value - we are important and we have great potential should we make the effort to try and utilise it.
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