The
admonishments far outweigh the curses, encompassing twice as many verses. God tells us (between each admonishment
above) that he will give us chances; he will not instantly spurn us, but will
first bring misery upon us as a warning.
If we do not repent, he will further oppress us; and the more obstinate
we become the more he will punish us until our land is desolate. As we read of this foreboding warning, it is
eerily reminiscent of Pharaoh who was given ten chances (arguably only five) to
release the Jews from captivity and each time he refused, he was smitten with a
harsher plague until finally, reluctantly, he let us go (only to change his
mind again). So too, only after “I [God]
have been hostile to them [the Jewish people] and have removed them into the
land of their enemies, then at last shall their obdurate heart humble itself,
and they shall atone for their iniquity” (Vayikra 26:41). I am not sure the reason for this connection,
but I do find it interesting…. Now, moving on to a commentary on the same verses:
The
Ibn Ezra comments that these blesses and curses are placed at this point in the
Torah to enforce the fact that when we inhabit the land in the Book of Numbers
(Bamidbar), which we begin to read next week, we must still remember the
Covenant we entered into with God. That
Covenant is the reason why we are able to inhabit the land flowing with milk
and honey; when we forsake the Covenant “the land shall become desolate and
your cities a ruin” (26:33). The
Covenant is the basis of our lives as Jews, and our lives are only as strong as
our commitment to it. And this Covenant
is both strengthened and displayed through the performance of the mitzvoth. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch states that “none,
not even the smallest of your activities – your deed, your word, even your
thought – is without effect; they bring blessing or curse immediately, for
every duty fulfilled gives you a greater capacity to fulfill new duties, each
sin committed makes you more familiar with sin, less capable of doing good and
more capable of committing further sin” (Horeb,
Chapter 22). Judaism believes (as do
many modern psychologists) that our actions can shape our beliefs; repetitive performance
of mitzvoth can strengthen our connection to and belief in them, just as a continuously
forced smile or a mumbled compliment can transform us into a kinder
person. And these same actions are the
ones that display our commitment to Judaism.
Rabbi
Heschel (who I find agrees with Rabbi Hirsch) believes: “Man is not for the
sake of good deeds (mitzvoth); the good deeds are for the sake of man. The goal (of deeds) is not that a ceremony be
performed; the goal is that man be transformed; to worship the Holy in
order to be holy” (God in Search of Man:
A Philosophy of Judaism). Yet
despite Heschel’s assertion, Maimonides (who also seems to agree with Heschel)
remarks: “You should believe that just as God wishes man to be erect in
stature, broad chested, and to have fingers, so too He wishes him to move or be
at rest of his own accord and to perform actions voluntarily. He does not force him to perform them nor
prevent him from performing them” (Commentary
on the Mishna, Eight Chapters, pg. 1168).
And this is the reason for God’s warning against straying from the
commandments. We are given the choice to
perform them, and they have indeed been given to us for our sake…but we must nonetheless struggle to realize this and
struggle even further to live up to their lofty standards. It is not always easy or apparent to us how
they are a benefit to us but, as Hirsch alludes to, performance of the mitzvot
are instructive in helping us understand them.
Rabbi
Berkovits says in the introduction to his philosophical/halachic work, Not in Heaven, that “Halacha is the
bridge over which the Torah moves from the written word into the living
deed.” The mitzvoth bridge the gap
between heaven and earth, trying to connect our physical reality to its higher
purpose. This is one thing God teaches
by placing the tocheicha at the point
in the Torah: our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov were promised
their ancestors would inherit the land of Israel and flourish; despite how
often or long the Jewish people may forsake God, He reminds us that He will
remember his promise. He tells us: “I
will remember My covenant with Ya’akov; I will remember also My covenant with
Yitchak; and also My covenant with Avraham; and I will remember the land” (v.
26:42) and “I will not reject them [the future generations] or spurn them so as
to destroy them, annulling my covenant with them: for I the Lord am their God.
I will remember in their favor the covenant with the ancients, whom I freed
from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God; I, the
Lord” (v. 26:44-45). God will remember our covenant when we too
remember the covenant to follow in His paths, to tranform our thoughts to
deeds, and to form the halachic bridge that
increases our capacity for good.
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