Behukotai

Rabbi Yeshayahu Hadari

The central position occupied by Eretz Israel in the chastisement in the Book of Leviticus may be learned from the very emphasis of the word "land." This term resounds in our ears no less than nine times in this Torah portion, not to mention the four additional times it appears in the declined form "your land."

"So that the earth shall yield its produce" (Leviticus 26:4), "I will grant piece in the land (v. 6), "I will give the land respite from vicious beasts" (ibid.), constitutes a threefold emphasis of the promise of good, with the consequent "you shall dwell securely in your land" (v. 5), "and no sword shall cross your land" (v. 6); while the vision of Divine punishment: "nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit" (v. 20), "I will make the land desolate" (v. 32), "the land shall be forsaken" (v. 43), "then shall the land enjoy" (v. 34), "then shall the land rest" (ibid.) is stressed fivefold; and the twofold parallel: "your land shall not yield its produce" (v. 20), "your land shall become a desolation" (v. 33), culminating in the unique wording of exceptional force: "and I will remember the land" (v. 42).

The standing of Eretz Israel in the covenantal tradition assumes a unique, additional dimension when we consider the special standing of the two last portions in Leviticus which constitute a discrete unit, in terms of the location where they were stated.

All the commandments, including those listed in the portion of Yitro, were given to Moses at Sinai. Until the construction of the Tabernacle, Moses heard the word of the Lord at Mount Sinai, and he included these statements in the book of the covenant that he read to the people when he descended from the mount. Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra comments on the portion of Behukotai: "'These are the laws, rules, and directions' (v. 46) - these are the ones written in the portions of 'Jethro heard,' 'These are the rules,' and the portion of 'on Mount Sinai' ... alluding to the covenant at Mount Sinai, because Moses did not further ascend the mount after the making of the Tabernacle and the divine glory came to rest in the Tent of Meeting."

Accordingly, the entire Book of Leviticus was delivered to Moses in the Tent of Meeting, with the exception of the two portions of Behar and Behukotai, which had been stated previously, on the mount. The subjects of this portion are those included in the covenant that was made at Sinai, as Seforno explains: "All the commandments that were stated prior to the beginning of the portion of 'If you follow My laws' [Behukotai] are the laws, rules, and directions for which the covenant was made with blessings and curses, and this is the covenant to which the statement refers: 'in addition to the covenant which He had made with them at Horeb' (Deuteronomy 28:69)."

The chastisement in this portion concludes the utterance of the Lord to Moses at Mount Sinai. Torah Kohanim (the main body of the Book of Leviticus), the laws of the sacrifices, and the Book of Numbers were received by Moses in the Tent of Meeting, as he listened to the voice that spoke to him above the cover, from between the two cherubim.

This chronological order is indicated by Scripture, in the teachings of the Tannaim in the Tannaitic midrashim, and in the commentaries of the Rishonim (early authorities). This order, however, raises a serious question: between the conclusion of the section of the Sinai covenant and the beginning of what was said in the Tent of Meeting, another subject was delivered: that of endowment valuations and consecrated property. The Divine Presence takes its leave of Moses at Sinai with the command regarding "When a man explicitly vows" (Leviticus 27:1) and the laws of sanctified property. What was the final conclusion of the wondrous revelation of "And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water" (Exodus 34:28)? - the laws of sanctified property.

The answer to this problem may be found in the exposition of the Tanhuma on the verse "When a man explicitly vows": "This is the meaning of what is written, 'For who in the skies can equal the Lord' (Psalms 89:7) - the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Whoever acts in accordance with My deeds will be like Me.... When the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to create man, the ministering angels said, 'What is man that You have been mindful of him' (Psalms 8:5), what do You seek from this man? The Holy One, blessed be He, replied to them, That he observe My laws, rules, and directions. They said to Him, We observe Your Torah.... When the Holy One, blessed be He, told Israel to make for Him a Tabernacle and altar of burnt offering ... the Holy One, blessed be He, commenced by saying to the ministering angels 'For who in the skies can equal [ya'arokh] the Lord' - just as Israel fulfill [orkhin] for me, for you said to Me, 'What is man that You have been mindful of him,' they set before Me sacrifices, they set before Me tables ... but is there among you any valuation to souls, as it is said, 'When a man explicitly vows to the Lord the equivalent of a human being'?"

There are matters in which man even exceeds the ministering angels. The latter are sanctified with the highest form of holiness; nonetheless, their sanctity is static, passive. They are incapable of offering sacrifices, to sanctify, or to make vows. Man, in contrast, has been blessed with an inherent gift: the ability to sanctify and to be sanctified. The plan of the Holy One, blessed be He, was to form creatures with the ability to generate sanctity, following the example of the Most High, "For who in the skies can equal the Lord" - whoever does so, who offers sacrifices, sets tables, and evaluates individuals imitates the Lord. This element, of resemblance to God, constitutes the last act in the marvelous revelation to the premier prophet at Mount Sinai, and serves as the transition to the sanctity of the site of the Tent of Meeting. After the revealing of this secret, humans are permitted to follow the pattern of the heavenly Sanctuary, so that the Divine Presence will rest within Israel. After the people was brought within the covenantal tradition in the Torah section of the stern chastisement and it accepted the laws, rules, and directions, it hears the most subtle note of "to the Lord the equivalent for a human being" (Leviticus 27:2), and then the curtain descends upon the Divine revelation at Mount Sinai. This remains hidden and mysterious, as in the words of Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah, at the end of the Laws of Embezzlement of Sacred Objects (8:8): "If wood, stones, earth, and ashes became sanctified by words alone as soon as the name of the Master of the Universe was invoked upon them, and anyone who treated them as a nonsacred thing committed embezzlement and requires atonement even if he acted unwittingly, how much more should man be on guard not to rebel against a commandment decreed for us by the Holy One, blessed be He, only because he does not comprehend its reason."

In conclusion: Eretz Israel occupies a central position in the covenant of Mount Sinai, and it anticipates all the upheavals of its fate until its return to its owners: "and I will remember the land." Although the external aspect of Eretz Israel consists of trees and stones, since "the name of the Master of the Universe was invoked upon them," then we proclaim immediately following this portion "Hazak, hazak, ve-nithazek [be strong, be strong, and we will be strengthened!]" - "and I will remember the land," and then read in the Haftarah: "O Throne of Glory exalted from old, our sacred shrine" (Jeremiah 17:12).