Bechuchosai

Akiva Lane, May 20, 2022

· In Bechuchosai we find the notorious Tochacha.

· Hashem says to the Jews, if you don’t follow My commandments, I will beat you up – or have your enemies beat you up.

· The question is – Why?

· What is our relationship with Hashem that requires us to be obedient, or else!?

· I’d like to suggest a reason.

· Hashem created the world with Bechirah – free will.

· People have the freedom to be as good or bad as they choose.

· Why Hashem did this is for a different discussion – but the bottom line is that He decided to give everyone free will.

· We can see this with Adam and Chava, who made the wrong choice.

· Hashem tries to talk Cayin into not killing Hevel, but to no avail.

· Before the Flood it says: “And Hashem saw that the evil of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of his heart was only evil all the time.

· And Hashem regretted that He had made man upon the earth, and He became grieved in His heart.”

· Then Hashem came up with a plan.

· He said to Himself, I won’t interfere with free will directly.

· But I will make a covenant with the Jewish people – starting with Avraham – and they will be my emissaries to teach people, by example, how to be good.

· They will be a Mamlechet Kohanim and a Holy people.

· As the Shema and the Tochacha says, if the Jewish people fulfill this mission, they will be rewarded with a holy and fruitful Eretz Yisroel.

· In other words, Hashem made a decision not to interfere with people’s free will - directly.

· But through the Jewish people, Hashem can interfere indirectly.

· In short, the Jewish people are Hashem’s ‘loophole’ regarding free will.

· The task of the Jewish people is to be examples to the world of how people should act.

· That is why Yuma 86a says that the worst sin of all is Chillul Hashem, because that undercuts the whole mission.

· To a great extent, Hashem’s plan worked.

· Directly and indirectly, the mission of the Jews has been successful into making the world a more moral place.

· But we should never forget, the carrot and stick is still in place.

· If – Chas ve Shalom – the Jews are not good role models, Hashem uses a stick to get us back on track.

· That’s the purpose of the Tochachah.