Parshiot Behar – Bechukotai
SAN DIEGO — Nechemta, a message of comfort, hope and peace often heard at the close of a Rabbi’s sermon, is something we urgently need to hear now in this time of colossal pandemic. As this third book of the Torah, the middle book, comes to an end, we are given nechemta, with a hopeful view of future generations. The parasha tells us, “If you follow My statutes and observe My commandments and perform them, I will give you rains in their time, the Land will yield its produce, and the tree of the field will give forth its fruit. Your threshing will last until the vintage…and I will grant peace in the Land…You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you…” (Leviticus, 26:3-7). A lovely thought, a tranquil image, comforting indeed.
But we are also given tochahah, a collection of terrifying curses warning that we will face massacre and downfall if we disobey Hashem’s commandments. This list is so chilling that we traditionally chant them quietly and quickly during the Torah reading. Much seems to depend on our maintaining faith in, and being in an active relationship with, Hashem.
That is what we see in Jeremiah, in the Haftarah we read. He was a man who saw destruction, despair and annihilation, and yet kept his faith, “Heal me, O Lord, and let me be healed; save me, and let me be saved; for You are my glory” is the way the Haftarah ends. Through it all, he stood in faith. Can we during this pandemic?
In the midst of the emotional and life-upending strain of COVID-19 many wonder “How can I maintain my belief and trust in Hashem?” Jeremiah offers us nechemta, consolation, hope, that with faith, surviving, indeed thriving, is possible.
In Chapter three of Shaar Bitachon, the Chovot Lavavot teaches us that one way to increase our faith and belief in Hashem is to actively and purposefully think about, review, the kindness He has shown to us individually and personally. “Gratitude is medicine,” it has been said, but it is also fuel for faith and trust.
I once asked a very young boy with autism who was quite downtrodden, if he could recall anything going well for him. “Nothing went right today,” he answered. I asked if the elevator he and his mother used to get to the floor of my office worked safely, “Sure,” he grunted. Then I asked if when his mom came to a red light while driving to my office, did the car safely stop, and he replied, “Sure it did.” Then I asked if when he got home from school his mom made his favorite snack, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He said, “Of course she did, that’s her job!” After many sessions he began to see and feel grateful for the many small and large positives in his life.
Hashem is always looking out for us, even now, in times of this continuing pandemic. It may not be obvious, we may not discern His hand in our lives, we may take His assistance for granted like the young man in the story, and it’s easy to overlook His continuous kindnesses in our lives. By deliberately envisaging, meditating, on Hashem’s past and current acts of benevolence, we will grow our reliance, equanimity and faith.
In Pirkei Avot 4:5 we read “Rabbi Ishmael the son of Rabbi Yossi would say: “One who learns Torah in order to teach is given the opportunity to learn and teach. One who learns in order to do, is given the opportunity to learn, teach, observe, and do.”
To feel love without demonstrating love is empty. Feeling grateful is one thing. Demonstrating gratitude is another. Emptiness will lead to tochaha.
To experience the fullness of nechemta we must be a committed, active, “doing” partner in relationship with Hashem. When we are in that place, the world is filled with comfort, even in the midst of sorrow.
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Michael Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly d’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family worship. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com