Making our lives a little bit better

B’har - Bechukotai

Lev. 25:1 – 27:34

Précis: B’Har begins with a description of the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee (Yovel) Year. In the 50^th (Jubilee) Year, we are to “proclaim liberty throughout the land” and property is restored to its ancestral owners. The parasha continues with the prohibition against unlimited slavery, as well as the rules for the treatment of those who are slaves. We complete our reading of the Book of Leviticus with Bechukotai. It 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 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.

Lev. 26: 3-16 “If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments, I will grant you rains in their season ... you shall eat your fill of bread.... But if you do not obey Me and do not observe all these commandments ... I will wreak misery upon you ....”

The Hebrew word chok ("law”) we find in the first words of this parasha is not a simple word to translate. As pointed out by Rabbi Juan Mejia (Torah Sparks, 1/14/16) the 9^th century commentator the Saadya Gaon suggested thatchukim (the plural) refer to those commandments we follow even when there does not seem to be a rational basis for them. Some might suggest kashrut or shatnes (which prohibits the mixing of materials in clothing) as examples. Mejia cites Rabbi Ephraim of Luntschitz (Poland, 16th C.), who suggests that the phrase “follow my laws” should be read literally: walk in My way. Then, the “first step” is to “train our legs” to walk in God’s ways. This, in turn leads to repetition of good habits, and routines. They become, as it were, “second nature.”

Repetition of proper action is both physical and mental: muscle memory and neural pathways are created.  "Doing well” leads to the habit of “doing well.”  Some may view observance of these chukot as rote repetition, and lack the spontaneity or authenticity we moderns strive for. But as a committed gym rat, I’ve learned that repetition – done the same way, with proper form, time and time again until it becomes ingrained – does lead to demonstrable success.

The final parasha of Leviticus offers a glimpse of the hoped-for finale outcome of “walking in God’s ways” through harvests, security, and rain in its proper season. The Rabbis of the Talmud, who lived precarious lives, focused on the metaphysical world to come.   Medieval commentators attempted to explain how to walk in God’s way by developing explicit and detailed Halachic systems. Followers of Kabbalah sought a mystical way to understand what is asked of us, and Hasidim attempted to explain Jewish Law through devotion and joy.

Today, what is the eschatological future look like to us? How can we “walk in God’s way” to reach the endgame?  With the hundreds of mitzvot we have read in the last several weeks, how do we avoid losing the forest for the trees, and how do we find meaning in those mitzvot which we follow?