Torah Portion - May 22, 2008
Parashat Bechukotai, Leviticus 26:3-27:34
In the ancient Jewish world, bread was indeed the staff of life. In the very beginning, Adam is warned that By the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat …(Genesis 3:19). Later “bread” became synonomous with food in general. So much so, in fact, that according to our Sages, a meal is only a meal if it includes bread. Anything else is just a snack. Only after a meal that includes bread are we required to recite the long version of the blessing after the meal. This is based pm a mitzvah taught in later in the Torah: When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to your God for the good land which You have been given. ( Deuteronomy 8:10)
The message in this week’s Torah portion flips this mistvah on its head, presenting a dire warning of what might happen if we do not follow this spritual path. Most of Bechukotai consists of a stark warning of the blessings that come form fulfilling God's will, and the punishments we will experience if we do not do this: You shall eat from stored grain, of which you will have so much that you will have clear out the old to make room for the new. (Leviticus 26:10) is the reward. The punishment, on the other hand: … and though you eat, you shall not be satisfied. (Leviticus 26:26)
How is it possible to eat and not be satisfied? This is actually a dreadful curse indeed, and one that is endemic in our 21st century materiliastic culture. Many people buy so much stuff that we have more self-storage companies per capita in this country than any other in the developed world. We keep accumulating all kind of things, we refuse to “clear away the old when we get the new,” and yet we are not satisfied.
Although we no longer believe in the simplistic type of reward and punishment presented in this Torah portion, we can understand these blessings and curses as the sort we bring upon ourselves. Never mind “sweating the small stuff;” are we grateful for the good small stuff that graces our lives every day? A meal well cooked and served with a smile? Finding a photo of a relative, long deceased, whose presence still feels your heart with delight?
Are we able to be present for the day’s small blessings? Do we take a moment to eat our lunch, feel satsified, and express gratitude? Or do we sit in a long drive through line and then down a burger while driving and cursing the traffic?
The message of Bechukotai is, ultimately, that if we take the time to appreciate what we do have, simple sustenance can become delicious gratification. There are no external rewards and punishments, only consequences---some of which are of our own making. When you eat our your fill,and delight in the satisifcation it gives us, we count our blessings. This is true for food, and for the other blessings in our lives.