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Last Updated on October 25, 2021
Weekly Torah Portion – Parashat Hashavua Bechukotai
By: Rabbi Nissim Mordechai Makor
Parashat Hashavua Bechukotai in a nutshell: Bechukotai, describes the rewards given for observing G‑d‘s commandments and punishments that will befall us if we disregard them. The Torah then discusses different types of gifts given to the Temple and the animal tithe.
In this parasha we find that in verse 6 the Torah tells us … “and I will put peace on the earth, you will lie down and there will be no one to scare them, I will make the fierce beasts of the earth to cease and the sword will not pass through your land “…,
Here it refers to mental peace for man, peace in nature and social peace, since it says that there will be no wars.
After naming a long list of blessings, abundance of food, rain, and prosperity, Hashem tells us that He will bring peace to the earth.
Rashi explains that this means that even though we receive material blessings of all kinds, nothing has a real meaning if we do not have peace from Hashem.
Peace is equivalent to everything we can receive, in the first blessing before the Shema Israel, He says. .. “G-d that makes peace and creates everything” … It is here that an equivalence is formed between the creation of everything and peace.
In the daily Amidah at the end, the last thing we ask is Shalom. It tells us that if at the end of the whole process we do not have Shalom, it will be very difficult to enjoy all the other things.
The Kaddish in its long versions end with a verse in Hebrew, which was added, the Kaddish is written in Aramaic but at some historical point the need was felt to add this verse written in Hebrew … “He who makes peace on high, put peace on us and on all the people of Israel, shall we say, love” … the Kaddish, one of the most emblematic messages was incomplete without this mention of the peace they put in the end.
In verse 7 and 8 it says … “they will persecute their enemies and they will fall in front of you, 5 of you will persecute 100 of them, and 100 of you will persecute 10,000 of them”. As we found our existence threatened by our enemies, may we be comforted by these verses.
Rashi says , you can not find a mathematically reasonable proportion to what the torah is saying, because if 5 pursue 100, 100 should persecute 2,000, Rashi explains, that is, because it is not the same when few fulfill torah, that when many they fulfill torah, this is a law scientifically called synergy, this means that when more people are involved in a system, the potential of these people is not only the sum of their parts but there is an extra potential added.
Maybe it is a way of teaching us because Judaism is experience to the fullest in a community, because the top of our spiritual levels is directly connected with sharing everything I have and I learn with what I have by my side, and it is at that moment when it enters our lives that “extra”, that empowers us and positions us in the best place we can be … very close to Hashem and accept His Torah .
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