For the week of May 31, 2024

This Torah portion, which concludes the book of Leviticus, is so named for the first important word, which means “statutes” (and comes from the root, “chok.” You have to gargle when you pronounce the “ch.” So the opening words remind us that if we follow God’s instructions, we shall receive the rains in due season and the land will be verdant and produce abundant crops. But if we don’t follow the laws, God warns that “I will lay your cities in ruins…I will make the land desolate, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled by it.” (Leviticus 26:31)

Mark Twain, writing in 1867, remarked that the land is ‘heartbroken.’ He visited the holy land and said it was covered in sackcloth and ashes. Centuries earlier, Rabbi Yehuda (who lived in the 3rd century), remarked that “since the Temple has been destroyed, the land of Israel is broken down….like a man who is sick and cannot stand.”  The early rabbis writing in the Sifra(the commentary on Leviticus) saw these words as an intimation of good news. They believed our enemies would not like the land, and thus it waited for the Jewish people to return, who rightfully belonged on the land of Israel.” (remember that the Romans had forced almost all the Jewish population into exile, after the first century) Among the signs of the impending redemption of the land, the Sages point to the time when the trees in the land of Israel will bear fruit once again. If we think about part of the miracle of modern Israel, it manifests itself in the cultivation of barren soil, the incredible irrigation systems developed by the Israelis, and the planting of numerous forests throughout the country.

  Join us for Torah study this Shabbat morning at 9:30 a.m.