Parshiot Behar–Bechukotai
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.
SAN DIEGO — Nechemta, a message of comfort, hope and peace often heard at the close of a Rabbi’s sermon, is something we can always benefit from hearing, but particularly over this past year…and in the wake of the tragic loss of life at Mt. Meron.
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…”
Yes, we are also given tochahah, a collection of terrifying curses warning that we will face defeat, pain, suffering, and the devastation of illness 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. “I in turn will do this to you: I will wreak misery upon you—consumption and fever, which cause the eyes to pine and the body to languish; you shall sow your seed to no purpose, for your enemies shall eat it.” The misery, terror, anxiety, panic, shock of beh-hala brings true fright and confusion. Perhaps this is an early example of “fight-flight” that we hear so much about today. We run or freeze in the face of extreme anxiety.
Comes Shabbat, a time we rest and relax with our family and friends, we can take the opportunity to pause and savor with gratitude the good in our lives, as a way of dealing with the adversities that have befallen us in the previous week(s). In Chapter three of Shaar Bitachon, the Chovot Lavavot teaches us that one way to increase our calm, our faith and our belief in Hashem is to think actively and purposefully about the kindness He has shown to us individually and communally. “Gratitude is medicine,” and adds fuel to our faith and trust. In today’s world of beh-hala, with effort, mindful focus and attention, slowing down our pace, we can begin turning toward the blessings that are indeed in our lives.
Hashem is portrayed as punishing us, cursing us, if we disobey Him. We can come to see Hashem as hard, mean and angry. To some, He may appear to be simply waiting for us to flounder, make a mistake and disobey Him. How can we be expected to continue to have faith in Hashem when He allows such devastation to occur in our lives? I believe that Hashem is not condemnatory, he’s restorative. He wants to put us back on the right path so we can become who we were created to be.
As we master our fears with faith, determination, and truth, as we understand and replace the erroneous stories that we tell ourselves, we can feel empowered and free. Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed, “Do the thing you fear, and the death of that fear is certain.” Holding on to our Etz Hayim Hi, our tree of life, our source of truth, offers protection, comfort, and profound meaning. After all, “its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace.”
Hashem is always looking out for us. It may not be obvious, we may not discern His hand in our lives, we may take His assistance for granted and it’s easy to overlook His continuous kindness in our lives. By deliberately envisaging, meditating, on Hashem’s past and current acts of benevolence, we will grow in our resilience, 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 and strife will lead to tochaha. We can learn from Jeremiah’s words of hope and consolation to maintain our faith, even during the most adverse conditions in life.
Jeremiah, the prophet who struggled to find meaning in the destruction of the Temple and whose words we hear in the Haftorah this week, expressed his deep faith in Hashem being in the “living water that sustains us all.” Says Jeremiah, “He shall be like a tree planted by waters, sending forth its roots by a stream. It does not sense the coming of heat, its leaves are ever fresh; it has not care in a year of drought, it does not cease to yield fruit.”
To experience the fullness of nechemta we would wisely be a committed, active, “doing” partner in relationship with Hashem. When we are in that place, living lives of value, the world is filled with comfort, even amid sorrow. Expressing gratitude, savoring the true joys in life, cultivating optimism, nurturing relationships, these are behaviors of happy people, these are their choices. Those who live with sorrow and unhappiness, often forget that they have choices and allow their behaviors to fall, betraying their relationship with Hashem, alienating themselves from His watchful, comforting hand.
When this week’s Torah reading is completed, we chant, “Chazak, chazak, v’nithazek.” Be Strong. Be Strong. And let us be strengthened by one another.
Shabbat Shalom
*
Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly D’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family are members. They are also active members of Congregation Adat Yeshurun. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com