The topic of the important
place accorded to the Land, which we examined in Parashat B’har with its varied
ramifications, continues in Parashat B’chu’kotai ("In My Statutes"),
as seen in 26:3-13. Keeping YHVH's
statutes is destined to be reflected in the natural conditions of the Land of Yisrael
In 26:5 we read, “…and your
threshing shall reach [or overtake] the vintage, and the vintage shall reach
[or overtake] the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to satisfaction,
and live in your land securely.” This is
especially pertinent in light Parashat B’har’s sh’mita-year promise: “Then I
will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth
produce enough for three years” (Lev. 25:21 italics added). In a prophecy pertaining to a latter day, the
Prophet Amos also echoes this “overtaking”: "The plowman shall overtake
the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who draws along seed" (9:13).
Moreover, we are also reminded of 25:22 (in the previous Parasha: “and [you]
shall eat of the old crop… until the coming in of its crop; you shall eat of
the old") by 26:10, "And you shall eat very old provision, and clear
away the old because of the new."
In other words, not only will there be a long and lasting overabundance
which will remain fresh and usable for the entire time period, but even before
it is fully consumed there will be a fresh crop!
Having examined in Parashat
B’har one of the words for "interest" - “marbit” (whose root is
r.v/b.a), we will now take a look at another word that shares the same root
- “r’vava” (which we also encountered in
Parashat Cha’yey Sarah in Gen. 24:60). In 26:8 we read, "…and hundred of
you shall pursue ten thousand (“r’vava”)…" (emphasis added).
These promises are sealed
with the familiar: "I am YHVH your Elohim, who has brought you out of the
land of the Egyptians, from being their slaves.” It then continues: “And I will
break the bars of your yoke, and I will make you walk upright" (26:13).
"Walking upright" is “ko'memi'yoot,” of the root k.o.m (kof, vav,
mem), meaning to “rise or get up."
In Parashot Va'ye'tze (Gen. 28:10-32:2) and Vayishlach (Gen. 32:3- Ch.
36) we noticed the significance of Ya'acov's "rising up," as well as
that of the special "place" - ma'kom (of the same root) - where he
experienced some of his ‘rising.’ Here the sons of this Patriarch are promised
"an upright walk," providing they do so in Elohim's chosen paths.
Additionally, in 26:37 we encounter the word “t’kuma,” translated "power
to stand" (“you shall have no power to stand before your enemies”), with
its more modern usage being "resurrection" and "recovery."
But if Yisrael chooses to
“..despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not
perform all My commandments, but break [invalidate] My covenant” (26:15 italics
added), a long list of punitive measures follow. “Abhor” here is “tig’al” (root
g.a.l gimmel, ayin, lamed), making its first appearance in the Word in 26:11.
Some may recognize the similarity of this verb to ga’al – redeem (gimmel, alef,
lamed), a minor change in spelling and sound (ayin versus alef), and yet a
world of difference! Making void the
covenant signifies removing one’s self from under the protective umbrella of
redemption, which can no longer be exercised.
Further in verse 18 we read: “if you do not obey Me, then I will punish
you seven times more for your sins.” The chastisement of “seven times over” is
also mentioned in verses 21, 24 and 28.
As part of YHVH’s covenant with His people, provision for national
atonement for sin was made available by the high priest sprinkling seven times
the blood of a goat on the mercy seat on the Day of Atonement (ref. Lev.
16:14). Hence, their nullifying of the
covenant would result in a similarly seven-fold outcome.
Thus YHVH will not
"make them walk uprightly" (as we saw above), but instead will
inflict upon them a series of blows. Moreover, He will also "walk
contrary" to them (ref. 26:24).The expression "walking contrary"
is used nowhere else except in this chapter, where it appears… seven times! The
word used for "contrary" – keri -
probably stems of the root k.r.h (kof, resh, hey), meaning "to
happen." Rashi comments on this: “Our rabbis said: ‘This word signifies
irregularly, by chance, something that happens only occasionally. Thus
[meaning], 'if you will follow the commandments irregularly…’ Menahem explains
it as an expression for refraining… ‘refrain (hoker) your foot from your
neighbor's house’ (Prov. 25:17), or of a refraining (va'yikar) spirit…."1.
“Keri,” therefore, may refer to an avoidance of performing YHVH’s Word, along
with a casual and a nonchalant attitude which was also condemned by Yeshua in
Revelation 3:15,16, where we read: "I wish you were cold or hot… So then,
because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot I will spew you out of my
mouth" (italics added), leading us to the curse of eventually being spewed
out of the Land (26:32 – 39, and
also Lev. 20:22). The “contrary walking” incurs a “seven-fold chastisement.”
The list of curses
(26:14-46) is somewhat parallel to the list of the blessings, albeit much
longer. It is divided up into several progressive categories: diseases, defeat,
drought, carnivorous animals, and a combination of wars, plagues and famines,
which will cause parents to consume their own children's flesh. Finally, after the destruction of the idols
and pagan images, there will be a dispersion of the People of Yisrael among the
Gentile nations. Under these conditions, and once the Land has been emptied of
its inhabitants, its Shabbats will be repaid (as the Israelites did not keep
the Sabbatical years that we read about in the last Parasha). These Shabbats
will "appease" the land, with the word used here being “tirtzeh” (of
the root “ratzon” - “will or acceptance”). Thus, the land "will be
appeased" (v. 34, 35) and “accept” its inhabitants. Accordingly, the "year of
acceptance" (Is. 61:2) is “sh'nat ratzon.”
The same word for “acceptance” appeared in Parashat Emor, where we read
in 23:11 about the Omer: "And he [the priest] shall wave the sheaf before
YHVH, to be accepted [lirtzon'chem] for you…" (italics added). As we saw above, negligence to observe the
Shmita on the seventh year, is what
makes the figure ”seven” stand out, relative to sin and the penalties
subsequently incurred. The usage of seven here reminds us of some of the
commands which the Israelites will be transgressing, commands that are related
to the figure seven, such as the seventh day of the week, the seventh year of
rest, and the seven years multiplied by seven leading to the Jubilee, the 50th
year of release of all debts and property.
The last part of Parashat
B’chu’kotai deals with laws concerning vows of dedications to YHVH (27:2-29),
while the final verses pertain to tithes. Verse 2 introduces the subject of the
vows by not merely stating “if a man/person takes a vow…” (literal
translation), but adds curiously the verb “yaflee”, rooted in “pele” - y.p/f.a
(yod, pey/fey, alef), which means “wonder, wonderful,” such as in “Wonderful
Counselor”). This verb qualifies these vows as being very special and in
reality beyond a person’s natural ability to be performed (perfectly). Perhaps
this is why the next words in the verse attach the “evaluation (of the souls)”
to YHVH, that is, as those who belong to Him and whose true value can only be
determined by Him. “If a man dedicates/concentrates his house as holy to YHVH…”
(v. 14), lets us know that dedicating or consecrating (“yakdish”) is a “set
apart/holy” act, since this verb shares its root with the adjective “holy” –
“kadosh.”
As mentioned, verses 32-33
deal with tithes: “And all the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, all that
passes under the rod, a tenth shall be holy to YHVH. He shall not search whether it is good or
bad; neither shall he change it…” (italics added). Y’chezkel (Ezekiel) 20:37-38
echoes the terms we encounter here, applying them to YHVH’s sheep and to the
land of their inheritance: “And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I
will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
And I will purge out from among you the rebels and those who sin against
Me. I will bring them out from the land where they reside, and they shall not
enter into the land
of Israel
The final verse, which is
similar to the opening verse of Parashat B’har (referring to Mount Sinai) seals
off the Parasha, and indeed the book of Vayikra (Leviticus) with the
words: "These are the statutes
which YHVH made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by the
hand of Moses" (v. 34 italics added).
[1] New Studies in Vayikra,
Nechama Leibowitz, trans. Aryeh Newman. Eliner
Library, Department for Torah Education
and Culture in the Diaspora. Hemed
Books Inc., Brooklyn , N.Y.
Some of the word meanings
were gleaned from:
The New Brown, Driver,
Briggs, Gesenius Lexicon, Francis Brown, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody , Mass.
Theological Wordbook of the
Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Moody Press, Chicago, 1980.
