As a Driven Leaf

Bechukotai
Leviticus 26:3 - 27:34

Précis: The parasha begins with a statement promising blessings if the People follow Adonai’s ways. The blessings are discussed in detail. But, if the People disobey, terrible punishments will be visited upon them, and these, too, are listed in agonizing detail (the "tochacha" or "Admonition"). The Book of Leviticus then concludes (as it opened) with regulations regarding the upkeep of the Sanctuary, from voluntary tithes, land gifts, firstborn redemption, and the tithes of flocks.

Leviticus 26:36 “As for those of you who survive, I will cast a faintness into their hearts in the land of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight. Fleeing as though from the sword, they shall fall, though none pursues.”

The phrase “as a driven leaf” is used as the title for a well-known book by Milton Steinberg which, in historical novel form, focuses on the life of Elisha ben Abuyah, a torah scholar who was part of the inner circle of rabbinic sages who composed the Mishna. He was declared a heretic and excommunicated when he lost his faith, having observed a child die in a fall from a tree while attempting to comply with the commandment to remove a mother bird from the nest when harvesting the eggs – a mitzvah which specifically promises long life. Following his excommunication, he was subsequently known as “Acher” – “the Other.”

The phrase “as a driven leaf” is found only twice in the Bible: here, and in the Book of Job (13:25). In both places, the phrase “driven leaf” (in Hebrew “aleh nidaf”) is a metaphor for disconnection (hence its use by Steinberg as the title for his novel, where the protagonist feels disconnected from what he had previously believed). In the verse here, the Israelites are warned that if they are disconnected from God, they will be crippled by anxiety so severe that they will run from the sound of a leaf blown by the wind. The suffering Job asks, "Why do you hide Your face . .? Will You harass a driven leaf?"

Being cut off from God in these terms also means that one is cut off from one’s community, is bereft of all moorings and is left without the comfort of others. The punishments of the Admonition are even more awful because they impact even the righteous individuals who observe God’s law. Although severe, the promise of this parasha, and this Book, is that if we strive for holiness, to imitate God’s attributes, the Covenant (the “brit”) will abide.