A Thought on Parshios Behar - Bechukosai
"...v'lo ariach b'reiach nichochachem..."
"...and I will not savor the fragrance of your offerings..." (26:31)
In the section known as the Tochecha where HaShem foretells the consequences of our violating the rules and structure of Torah, our verse admonishes us with the grim image of G-d overlooking the offerings of His people.
The Chezkuni understands this entire dismal section as one of mida k'neged mida which is the lex talionis of the Torah whereby a human act has a consequence, be it reinforcing, or punitive. Hence, he writes, whereas the Divine vision for the Nation of Israel was an ideal of "v'his'halachti b'sochechem" - "and I shall walk in your midst" (26:31), our straying and erring will ultimately lead to "...and I will not savor the fragrance of your offerings."
In thinking about the Chezkuni's explanation, it seems hard to see the symmetry between these two images. In what way is the loss of "HaShem walking among us" reflected by "not savoring the fragrant offerings"?
I would offer that our fragrant offerings are, for most of history, our prayers. We even say in Anim Zemiros "u'tefilasi tikon ktores" - "may my prayer be accepted like the incense service." HaShem, we hope, accepts our prayers in the manner in which we wish. When we plead for something, we hope that His answer is in the affirmative, and when we beg for salvation, we hope that He intervenes. This is captured by the image of "accepting our fragrant offerings." In turn, however, if HaShem does not seem to attend to our prayers, we feel as if He has not savored our offerings.
This is reflected in the image of the earlier verse. What does it mean that we sense HaShem "walking in our midst"? How do we know that? How can we tell if, metaphorically, He is in our presence, or we in His?
We sense that HaShem "walks" among us precisely when He heeds our tefilla - when our prayers are answered in the manner that we wish, then this feels as if we grasp HaShem as a reality, rather than as a concept.
So, the Chezkuni means that the reality is that HaShem is "there" (and "here") so that He is walking in our midst. We access that reality through turning to Him for all that we seek, both in times of good will (ais ratzon) and in times of distress (ais tzara r'l). However, a consequence of our straying from Torah's straight path is that we will not sense His Presence. That sense fades when we see that He no longer responds to our prayer. Thus, the symmetrical opposite of walking among us is ceasing to savor the prayers which we offer.
I offer my prayers to HaShem who responded with a refuah for my son Yosef Ezra who should continue to recover speedily and fully.
"...and I will not savor the fragrance of your offerings..." (26:31)
In the section known as the Tochecha where HaShem foretells the consequences of our violating the rules and structure of Torah, our verse admonishes us with the grim image of G-d overlooking the offerings of His people.
The Chezkuni understands this entire dismal section as one of mida k'neged mida which is the lex talionis of the Torah whereby a human act has a consequence, be it reinforcing, or punitive. Hence, he writes, whereas the Divine vision for the Nation of Israel was an ideal of "v'his'halachti b'sochechem" - "and I shall walk in your midst" (26:31), our straying and erring will ultimately lead to "...and I will not savor the fragrance of your offerings."
In thinking about the Chezkuni's explanation, it seems hard to see the symmetry between these two images. In what way is the loss of "HaShem walking among us" reflected by "not savoring the fragrant offerings"?
I would offer that our fragrant offerings are, for most of history, our prayers. We even say in Anim Zemiros "u'tefilasi tikon ktores" - "may my prayer be accepted like the incense service." HaShem, we hope, accepts our prayers in the manner in which we wish. When we plead for something, we hope that His answer is in the affirmative, and when we beg for salvation, we hope that He intervenes. This is captured by the image of "accepting our fragrant offerings." In turn, however, if HaShem does not seem to attend to our prayers, we feel as if He has not savored our offerings.
This is reflected in the image of the earlier verse. What does it mean that we sense HaShem "walking in our midst"? How do we know that? How can we tell if, metaphorically, He is in our presence, or we in His?
We sense that HaShem "walks" among us precisely when He heeds our tefilla - when our prayers are answered in the manner that we wish, then this feels as if we grasp HaShem as a reality, rather than as a concept.
So, the Chezkuni means that the reality is that HaShem is "there" (and "here") so that He is walking in our midst. We access that reality through turning to Him for all that we seek, both in times of good will (ais ratzon) and in times of distress (ais tzara r'l). However, a consequence of our straying from Torah's straight path is that we will not sense His Presence. That sense fades when we see that He no longer responds to our prayer. Thus, the symmetrical opposite of walking among us is ceasing to savor the prayers which we offer.
I offer my prayers to HaShem who responded with a refuah for my son Yosef Ezra who should continue to recover speedily and fully.
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 3:42 PM
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