by Rabbi Josh Pernick
Posted on May 10, 2023
From the very beginning, the Torah directs us to sanctify time. The first day in the Torah concludes “וַיְהִי־עֶרֶב וַיְהִי־בֹקֶר יוֹם אֶחָד—there was evening, there was morning, one day” (Gen 1:5). We are commanded in the first mitzvah given to our people as a nation “הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים” (Ex.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 10, 2023
Republished from May 2014 In the blessings to be bestowed on the people if they follow God’s commandments and observe God’s laws—the rains will come in their appointed season, the land will bring forth its fruit, there will be peace in the land, and the people will be fruitful and multiply—it finishes with a bizarre verse “I will place my Tabernacle (mishkani) in your midst, and My soul will not abhor you” (Vayikra 26:11).…
by Eliezer Weinbach
Posted on May 26, 2022
What is the connection between the blessings of Bechukotai and the curses of the tochacha that follow it? Let’s look closely at the blessings. The cause and effect are clear – “Im bechukotai telechu – if you follow my decrees,” then “venatati gishmeichem beitam – I will provide rains in their time” (Lev.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 7, 2021
What happens when Torah directives are in conflict with one another, particularly within the same mitzvah? The mitzvah of the shmitta year serves as a prime example of this conflict. When shmitta appears at the beginning of our parsha, it is referred to as a Shabbat.…
by Rabbi Avi Weiss
Posted on May 21, 2016
Parshat Bechukotai clearly states that good people are rewarded while evil people are punished. In the words of the Torah: “If you keep my commandments…then I will give your rains in their season…but if you will not listen to Me…I will bring terror over you” (Leviticus Chapter 26).…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 13, 2015
We finish our reading of Vayikra with the “blessings and the curses”: the rewards for keeping the laws and commandments and the punishments for breaking them. This section, coming as it does at the end of Vayikra, is clearly intended as a coda to what preceded it.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 2, 2013
This week, with the reading of Behar-Bichukotai, we end the book of Vayikra. The book of Vayikra is often thought of as devoted entirely to sacrifices or, a little more broadly, to the world of the kohanim – sacrifices and tumah vi’tahara, purity and impurity – and has thus also been called Torat Kohanim, the Torah of the Priests.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 18, 2012
Yom Yerushalayim and Shavuot are celebrated a week apart. These celebrations mark two tremendous gifts that have been bestowed upon us: the gift of a unified Jerusalem as part of the State of Israel and under Jewish control, that we received only 45 years ago, and the gift of the Torah, that we received over 3000 years ago.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 8, 1998
In parshat Bechukotai, God tells the Israelites that if they obey His commandments they will be blessed with all kinds of material blessings: rain in the right time, bountiful crops, children, health, and peace. If, however, they disobey Him and reject His commandments all types of tragedy will befall them: disease, famine, death in battle, and, finally, exile from the land.…
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