Scrollers Preview
B’chukotai
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
Parashat B’chukotai seals the book of Leviticus with blessings if we follow the commandments and curses if we don’t. This section of the Torah is called the “Tokhecha” or “Reproach” and is traditionally chanted in a quiet voice.
A key word in this section is that of “keri,” which is translated as “hostility.” God warns that if we are hostile to God and to the commandments, then God will be hostile to us, shutting up the skies from bringing rain, and bringing enemies to decimate us and exile us from the land. Apparently this word “keri” doesn’t appear anywhere else in the Bible.
The Etz Hayim commentary gives several possible interpretations of “keri”. One commentator, Hoffman, understands it as ‘“at cross purposes,’ doing the opposite of what God commands, in the way that adolescents will often do thte opposite of what they are told, to proclaim their autonomy. Rashi and Ibn Ezra relate it to the word for ‘chance,’ (mikreh), following God’s ways only when convenient. . . . Salanter relates it to “kor” (cold), so that it would mean ‘calculated, without passion.’ These curses will occur not only if the people Israel violate God’s laws but even if they obey them in a spirit that drains them of religious value. . . .”
This text seems to reflect a Deuteronomic theology. We see this theology of reward and punishment throughout the Book of Deuteronomy, and this kind of language pops up in other parts of Torah as well.
As we study tomorrow, we’ll explore whether this theology works for us today, and what it means to us to walk with God, or to be hostile to God. If we imagine that this text was written during the time of Josiah, just a century or so before the destruction of the Temple and the Babylonian exile, do we see it differently?
If there is time, I hope we’ll also read the Haftarah from Jeremiah, which probably comes from the same era as our Torah text (6th or 7th century B.C.E.) Here we have a similar prediction of blessing for those who follow God and curse for those who do not, but Jeremiah is expressing these themes in the form of prayer, such as the opening line, “O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in a day of trouble, to You nations shall come from the ends of the earth and say: Our fathers inherited utter deliusions, things that are futile and worthless” (Jer. 16:19) And the closing line, “Heal me, O Lord, and let me be healed; Save me, and let me be saved; For You are my glory.” (Jer. 17:14)
No comments:
Post a Comment