AND THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES, SAYING, SPEAK TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL AND SAY TO THEM: WHEN A MAN EXPRESSES A VOW, [PLEDGING THE] VALUE OF LIVES TO THE LORD... AND IF [THE PERSON IS] SIXTY YEARS OLD OR OVER, IF IT IS A MALE, THE VALUE SHALL BE FIFTEEN SHEKELS, WHILE FOR A FEMALE, IT SHALL BE TEN SHEKELS.

(Vayikra 27: 1-2,7)

 

And if [the person is] sixty years old [or over] When people reach a venerable age, a woman's value becomes closer to that of a man. This is why a man decreases [in value] in his old age [to] below a third of his value [as an adult, namely, from 50 shekels to 15], while a woman [in her old age] decreases [to] only one third of her value [namely, from 30 shekels to 10]. As people say: "An old man in the house is a breach in the house, while an old woman in the house is a hidden treasure in the house and a good sign for the house."

(Rashi Vayikra 27:7, Judaica Press translation)

 

The Jewish Torat Kohanim, the Jewish codex of the laws of the priests, declares Temple endowments and vows of gifts as being not especially pious God-pleasing acts, and least of all does it ascribe to them the slightest value as atonement for leading a sinful life. Not in gaining riches or possessions, but in gaining souls and hearts, in gaining lives of individuals and the national life in the fulfillment of the ordinances, statutes, and laws does the Jewish priesthood of the Sanctuary see its task and mission. Its members point to "sanctification of morals and of the life of the senses" hukim [ordinances], to "justice, truth and right dealing in social life," mishpatim [statutes] and "clarity of thought and ennoblement of the heart," torot [doctrines], as the one "means of obtaining grace," as the one and only way which - between Him and the Israelites - joins men to God and God to men.

(Rabbi S.R. Hirsch on Vayikra 27:1, Levy translation)

 

 

If you follow My statutes

Benjamin Segal

Offered in the hope that we shall merit the realization of Seforno's words from the beginning of our parasha: "If your behavior follows the Lord's ways included in the practical part of His Torah and study the commandments in order to know their purposes and the manner of their performance - thus completing His intention that you exist in His image and likeness, and perform them - then you will achieve this perfection in the manner that you observe them, being as those who do the good of their own volition, and not as those commanded who observe out of fear... but you shall act out of love, wanting to do God's will, as they said [in Avot] "Make your will like His will."

Im behukotai teilekhu [If you follow My statutes] - there is no better or more successful summary of the Torah's attitude to the commandments of the Holy One blessed be He than these first three words of parashat Behukotai.

My statutes - In contrast to all the other ancient cultures and peoples, the Israelites understood that the statutes and commandments came directly from the Holy One blessed be He. Of course, the commandments were meant to be performed by humans, but they allowed the individual to direct his deeds and raise them up to the level of holiness - the same holiness that is characteristic of God Himself.

You follow - It would seem that the divine word is perfect and unchangeable. None-the-less, we choose the root of the third word of the opening phrase - telekhu ["walk"] - as the standard term used to refer to God's demands: halakhah. In contrast to things perfect and unchanging, halakhah is a dynamic term; its dynamism sustains it in the face of changing times. It is also the path which walks [holekh] daily, and it is also a path that develops daily. According to the accepted view, the Oral Torah was given together with the Written Torah, and observance of the commandments refers to both "Torahs" - which are actually one.

If - This is the most basic word. Here, at the end of Vayikra, a book which contains so many laws and statutes, we find an echo of the idea that these laws were given over to humans; the question If they will observe those laws remains open. There was room to assume that after the Exodus from Egypt and the revelation at Sinai (we must recall that according to tradition our parasha was also given at Sinai) there would be no reason to once again warn the people about what would happen to them if they failed to keep the commandments - nevertheless, our parasha takes pains to do so.

Such is the background to the tokheha [prophetic rebuke]: a divine law, including its future developments, which is given over to human beings. Those humans might observe the commandments, but since they enjoy freedom of will it is certainly possible that they will not observe them.

Now we approach the tokheha, the blessings and the curses, and try to understand them as motivating observance of the commandments.

 

How does the Torah encourage the people to the commandments?

At first we are confused. If observation of the commandments is a matter of choice then what kind of choice is this!? The blessings promised to result from their observance and the curses that will follow their violation constitute a kind of "holding the mountain over their heads like a basin" [a midrashic reference to the acceptance of the Torah under duress]!

In order to deal with this question, we must take note that there is no parallelism between the blessings and the curses. The differences between the two passages are so great that it is impossible to view them as opposites. They are of drastically different lengths - the blessings' passage is quite short in comparison with that of the curses. In addition, the terms used are not sets of antonyms and passages do not reflect each other's structure. It appears that here there are expressed two different approaches to encouraging performance of the commandments, and each must be discussed separately.

What is the nature of the blessings? The needs mentioned are the most human and basic - most of them belong to the material sphere, while only one is spiritual. Here we find promises assuring food and offspring, and in the spiritual sphere the basic promise of God's presence among us. The blessings are pulled in a supernatural direction: the rains will come in their times, the agricultural seasons overlap each other, people will eat to satiation - there is no fearsome thing, no evil beasts, no sword. A hundred of you shall chase ten-thousand.

Rashi noticed the passage's exaggerations and added yet further exaggerations to them from the midrash:

A) Rain in its season - when people don't usually go outside, e.g. on the Sabbath night.

B) And the tree of the field - these are the non-fruit-bearing trees, which in the future will bear fruit.

C) And I shall uphold My covenant with you - a new covenant, not like the old one that you violated, but rather a new covenant that shall not be broken, as it is said, and I shall make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Israel, etc. (Jeremiah 31).

D) And I shall walk in your midst - I shall stroll through the Garden of Eden as one of you, and you shall not be overwhelmed by me.

It is clear that Rashi, basing himself on the midrash, transports the description of the blessings to the days of the Messiah, when even the rain's timing will be perfect, all trees shall bear fruit, and we shall all live in a new age with a new covenant, back in the Garden of Eden.

No matter how we view the blessings - as messianic promises or as plain exaggerations that go beyond human experience - we wonder about their effectiveness as motivators for the performance of the commandments. Can one be expected to keep the commandments in order to gain such a fanciful reward - a reward that is dependent upon the good behavior of the entire community?

If not, can we suppose that that the blessings were not intended to motivate? It appears that they had some other purpose - the creation of a horizon (even if we do not believe that we will reach it today or tomorrow) that strengthens the individual and allows him to contend with the acceptance of the yoke of the commandments. The individual can read the blessings as a "horizon" while still understanding that the reward he will see in his own lifetime will be of a more limited nature - "The reward for [performance of] a commandment is a commandment." The blessings of the tokheha are communal (not individual) and they are not immediate.

 [It is worth emphasizing that we are not dealing here with the debate between commentators over the timing of the blessings - before or after death, i.e. in this world or the next. Here we are talking about communal blessings and they are not to be discussed in the framework of the individual's reward in world to come.]

The question of motivation also arises in connection with the curses. Even though the motivation is negative, the assumption is in any case that they are trying to encourage observance of the commandments. As mentioned above, the curses are unlike the blessings. The blessings are short (it should be noted that many exegetes thought that the blessings' curt formulation does not bespeak their lesser significance. On the contrary: "Empty brains said that the curses are more numerous than the blessings, but they did not speak the truth - it is just that the blessings were described in general terms while the curses were elaborated in detail" - Ibn Ezra.)

It is important to take note of the great detail in which the curses are described and the order that they follow. Every stage ends with an additional warning: And if, during these, you will not listen to Me, I will add..., And if, despite this, you still do not listen to Me... etc.

Let us try to understand the structure and general nature of the curses. In my own humble opinion the curses - as opposed to the blessings - reminded the audience at Mount Sinai and readers throughout the biblical period (and even later!) of phenomena with which they were very well acquainted.

That is what we learn from Scripture - from the famines of the patriarchal period and through the horrors of Lamentations, from the heart-rending accounts of suffering in Psalms and the descriptions of poverty in the Prophets (all of these being verified by the apocryphal literature and the testimony of other peoples regarding war and famine). In the harsh ancient world, everyone was acquainted with the curses. If the descriptions seem fantastic and other-worldly to us today that is merely because of the place and time in which we live - a period of (relative) peace. As soon as we think back to the middle of the previous century or if today we wander to the ends of the earth we will understand that these curses are based upon a cruel yet realistic world.

Since the curses are "true," we should recall that they finally lead to a "happy end" when the Holy One blessed be He declares: I will not despise them nor will I reject them to annihilate them... I will remember for them the covenant [made with] the ancestors. One might understand that the purpose of the curses is not to motivate (and it is hard to accept that God would want us to observe the commandments out of this kind of fear, as Seforno states in the passage quoted above), but rather to renew the promise in truly desperate times. The Torah tells us that when such things occur we must recall that things could be worse and that we are not facing a final decree. There is hope waiting at the end of each stage, and even in moments that seem hopeless we are to understand and believe that at the end of the day we shall return to God's blessing. Remarkably, therefore, despite the great dissimilarity between the ways the blessings and the curses are respectively presented it may be said that they function in the same manner; they emphasize the "view from above" and the long-term promises, allowing the individual to observe the way of the Lord in this world despite the difficulties, personal failures, stumbling, and external circumstances that give one a feeling that he has passed the point of no return.

In conclusion: the purpose of the tokheha - of both its blessings and curses - is opposite to what we first thought. It is not a list of rewards and punishments set forth to offer positive and negative motivations for observance of the commandments. Quite to the contrary; here we find an expression of the importance of long-term considerations, of the importance of understanding that life has various stages and that we must keep the horizon in view. Such far-sightedness (and not the promise of immediate reward) opens up the space and the freedom that allow us to contend with the decision to accept the yoke of the commandments. Such far-sightedness also affords one the opportunity to offer a positive response to the challenge of If you follow My statutes.

Incidentally to our theme - in contrast with Rashi who finds a messianic element in the blessings, there are those who interpret and you shall dwell securely in your land and I shall grant peace in the land - as referring exclusively to peace in your land, but not in foreign lands (after all, according to the plain meaning of Scripture we are guaranteed victory over our many enemies - who remain our enemies!)

According to this approach the blessings are also realized in stages, and in our pursuit of peace we must understand (and appreciate!) the greatness of the blessing if we "only" achieve security, domestic peace, and clear military superiority over our enemies from without.

May that stage also be achievable in our days - I pray that it will be soon achieved.

Rabbi Benjamin Segal is the president of Melitz Center for Jewish Zionist Education

 

 

For the land is Mine

Do not resent these laws [of Shemittah and Yovel] for it [the land] does not belong to you.

(Rashi, Vayikra 25:23).

 

It admonishes against permanent transfer of ownership [of land] in the Land of Israel, as it says: And the Land shall not be sold into perpetuity.

(RaMBaM, Sefer HaMitzvot Negative Commandment 227)

 

One reason for the commandment [not to effect changes in the designation of plots in the Levites' settlements and of their fields]: The towns of the Levites were set aside for the needs of all the tribes, because it was the tribe chosen for the service of God, and all their dealings were with wisdom, in that they were not bothered with agriculture as were the other tribes of Israel, and regarding them it is said : They shall teach Your laws to Jacob, and Your instructions to Israel. And because wisdom resided with them, all of Israel constantly had dealings with them. To this add the fact that their towns also serve as cities of refuge for the [inadvertent] murderer, and therefore the eyes of all Israel are upon their towns, for who can foretell what tomorrow will bring. Thus it was reasonable that that these refuges be located in towns where equality reigns; town which, being in the public eye, should be paragons of beauty and pleasantness; they are a source of pride for all Israel, and therefore the prohibition against effecting changes in them, for the Master of Wisdom established them, and perfected them, and set their boundaries, and He saw that thus it was good...

(Sefer HaHinukh, Negative Commandment 343)

 

For the Shemitah year also gives rise to solidarity and peace. This occurs because one does not sow seed and grow [crops] while the poor can eat [whatever grows by itself], for one is prohibited from acting as the land-owner and taking hold of the seventh year's grain. All of this doubtlessly causes peace, since all conflicts derive from the trait of "mine is mine," i.e., "it is all mine." All of this is less evident in the seventh year, because while action [i.e. agricultural production] involves inequality, all are equal in inaction, and that is really what peace is about.

(Keli Yakar Devarim 31:12)

 

Do Not Maltreat... That You May Live Upon The Land In Security - Dwelling in the Land is Dependent Upon the Existence of an Enlightened Society

Rebbi prepared a feast for his disciples. He served them both soft tongues and hard tongues. They began to select the soft tongues, rejecting the hard ones. He said to them: My sons, so should your tongues be soft one with the other. Thus Moses admonished Israel, Do not mistreat one another.

Do not mistreat - Scripture refers to verbal mistreatment. ... For example, one should not say to a baal teshuva, a penitent, "Remember your earlier behavior", and one should not say to a convert, "Remember your ancestors' behavior". If a convert comes to study Torah, one should not say to him "Shall a mouth which consumes carcasses and animals torn to pieces and abominations and crawling things come to learn Torah which emanated from the mouth of the Divine Presence?" If one is in agony, or he is burying his progeny, say not to him - as did Job's friends say to him - Is not your piety your confidence, your integrity your hope? Think now, what innocent man ever perished? If donkey drivers ask one to sell them grain, he shall not tell them "Go to so-and-so" - knowing that so-and-so has never sold grain. Rabbi Yehudah says: One should not haggle over price when he has no money, for this a matter known to the heart only, of which it is written Fear your God.

 (Yalkut Shimoni, Behar, 247: 661)

 

Do not maltreat one another - This is an admonishment against wrongdoing by means of words; one should not taunt his fellow, nor - for the sake of personal advantage - give another inappropriate counsel. And should you ask: Who can tell if one's intentions were not honorable? Therefore it says, Fear your God - He who knows all thoughts knows. Matters known to the heart only, known only to one who thinks about them in his heart, regarding him it says, Fear your God.

(Rashi, Vayikra 25:17)

 

 

 

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