Parshat Bechukosai 5778
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in the first pasuk in this week's parsha, Im Bechukosai Taleichu, V'es Mitzvosai Tishmoru V'Asisem Osam. Rashi asks what does the Torah mean when it says Im Bechukosai Taleichu. It can't be a reference to keeping the mitzvos because the next words are V'es Mitzvosai Tishmoru which is referring to keeping mitzvos. Rather, explains Rashi, it is a reference to working hard in studying Torah, She'Tihyu Ameilim B'Torah.
Why is working hard in Torah, She'Tihyu Ameilim B'Torah, taught with the words, Im Bechukosai Taleichu? What is the connection between learning Torah and the word Chok?
We read in parshat Beshalach after Bnei Yisrael complained about the bitter waters at Marah (Chapter 15, Pasuk 25), Sham Sam Lo Chok U'Mishpat V'Sham Nisahu. Gd gave Bnei Yisrael a Chok and a Mishpat, and there He tested them. Rashi quotes the Mechilta that the Chok Hashem taught them was the mitzvah of Shabbos, and the Mishpat He taught them was the command to honor one's father and mother. It is very clear why the mitzvah of Kibbud Av V'Eim is the paradigm of a Mishpat, a mitzvah whose logic is clearly understandable. Even the nations of the world perform this mitzvah, and the Gemara in Kiddushin 31A teaches of a gentile, Doma ben Nesina, who goes to great lengths to perform the mitzvah of honoring one's parents.
But why is the Chok which Hashem taught them the mitzvah of Shabbos? If a Chok is a mitzvah whose reason is difficult to comprehend, then why is Shabbos the example?
When Bnei Yisrael came to Marah and they complained that the water was bitter, the Torah teaches that they had been wandering in the desert searching for water. The pasuk says (Chapter 25, Pasuk 22), Vayeilchu Sheloshes Yamim Bamidbar V'Lo Matzu Mayim, they walked three days in the desert and they couldn’t find water. Chazal darshen in Baba Kama 82A that they went three days in the desert without Torah since water means Torah, and they became tired and overwhelmed from not having Torah for three days.
The Zohar Hakadosh asks, but they hadn't yet received the Torah at this juncture! What does it mean that they became weak from the absence of Torah? And Rabbi Eliezer answers, they didn't have Torah essentially means they didn't have a connection to Gd. Water means Torah, and Torah is a reference to Gd.
Rav Tzadok HaKohen in the Pri Tzadik elaborates and explains that during Keriyas Yam Suf, Bnei Yisrael had this amazing experience of prophesy. Chazal teach, Ra'asah Shifchah al HaYam Mah Shelo Ra'ah Yechezkel Ben Buzi. A simple maidservant had a level of prophecy while watching the splitting of the Red Sea greater than the prophet Yechezkel. And then it was all over. Life resumed as it was before and they had no way to maintain this experience with them. This is what it means they went three days without water; they didn't have the Divine connection they had experienced at Keriyas Yam Suf and they felt weakened by it.
This is why Moshe Rabbeinu taught them Shabbos. The word Chok is not meant to be understood as a law whose reasoning is hard to comprehend; rather it means a fundamental and essential statute which Hashem Himself fulfilled and is the basis of creation. This is how the Medrash Rabbah on our parsha understands the words Im Bechukosai Teileichu. The Medrash teaches that Hashem is saying they are My statutes; statutes that I Myself kept. And Rav Tzadok learns that it refers to Shabbos since Hashem created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day. Additionally the Medrash learns that it is Hashem's statutes since it was the basis of creation, chukim shebahem chakakti Shamayim V'Aretz, the statutes through which Hashem "engraved" and created the world.
When Bnei Yisrael complained at Marah and felt disconnected from Hashem, Moshe Rabbeinu taught them Shabbos as a way to feel connected to Hashem. It's His mitzvah and it was through such fundamental mitzvos that He created the world. And in our parsha, the end of Behar speaks of Shabbos and the beginning of Bechukosai, my statutes, is also a reference to Shabbos. Keep Shabbos and you will receive the bounty promised below.
Rashi learns, as we mentioned above, that Im Bechukosai Taleichu is referring to working hard in Torah. When one works hard in learning Torah Shebe'alpeh it becomes engraved on his heart, hence Im Bechukosai Taleichu. And when one works hard in learning, he fulfills the concept of Taleichu he is able to move forward. One may not stand still for fear of the yetzer hara, but when one is working hard in Torah he moves forward and avoids the yetzer hara, as the Gemara in Kiddushin teaches, barasi yetzer hara, barasi Torah tavlin. Torah is the antidote for the affliction of the yetzer hara. And Shabbos is also a special time for learning Torah, as the Yerushalmi in Shabbos says, Lo Nitnu Shabasos elah La'asok B'Divrei Torah.
The goal of a Jew is to always stay connected to Hashem and this is the essential command of Im Bechukosai Taleichu. Rashi teaches that this is ultimately accomplished through working hard in Torah and engraving the words of Torah in his heart. Rav Tzadok adds that this also accomplished through keeping Shabbos. By keeping Shabbos and going in the ways of Hashem who kept Shabbos first, we feel more connected to the Divine and are able to experience the growth inherent in the words , Im Bechukosai Taleichu.
Good Shabbos
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