The Rebbe recognized that the ultimate objective for this world was not for it to cease being a natural world. Nature is G-d’s creation and our task is to instill sanctity into nature; not to shun or override it. The Rebbe would frequently cite the words of the medieval sage known as the Ran (Rabeinu Nissim) that G-d does not perform miracles needlessly.
There’s a story about a tzaddik who once stayed as the guest of a sincere and straightforward simple Jewish farmer. In the middle of the night, the farmer was awakened by the sound of uncontrollable sobbing coming from his guest’s room. He entered the tzaddik’s room and asked him in amazement, “Why are you crying? Are you dissatisfied with the room? Do you lack anything? A more comfortable mattress? Another pillow?”
Rebbi Shimon is concerned with character or quality – is the wild beast dangerous? Is the chametz consumable? Are the Roman advancements to civilization no more than their own narcissistic, hedonistic achievements? * Hmm… To be consistent, what should Rebbi Yehuda have said about the Romans? Shouldn’t he have castigated them?
This parsha is known for the tochecha, the harsh words of rebuke G-d delivered to the Jewish people, in which the most exacting punishments associated with Galus-exile are threatened.
“I will remember My covenant with Yaakov, and My covenant with Yitzchak too. I will also remember My covenant with Avraham, and I will remember the Land.”
Two sections of the Torah are extremely difficult to read with their harsh rebukes of the Jewish people. The first such passage is in this week’s parsha, B’Chukosai.
“If you will go in the way of My statutes and guard My commandments and you will observe them; then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield her produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.”
When a Jew cries out “Daloi galus! (Enough with exile!)” and “Moshiach now!” – were he simply to want it sincerely it would be fulfilled at once, without any delay (and there is no need to wait even the short duration described in the verse, “His word runs swiftly”), being that the redemption is already here in the world and a Jew must simply reveal it! * The lesson of the mahn.
Many Chassidic masters have attempted to interpret the “curses” as blessings. These ingenious and “creative” interpretations were not just exercises in mental gymnastics, but, rather, a sincere attempt to reveal the existence of powerful positive energy that we know lies beneath the surface. And when we discover that hidden dimension and reveal it, it helps to actualize the positive energy itself. With this introduction we will attempt to discover, in this week’s parsha, the hidden positive meaning behind what is, arguably, the most horrific curse…
May 30, 2019