33: Bechukotai
Welcome to TLDR Torah: a synopsis of the weekly parsha based on Robert Alter’s translation, plus a question to spur your Shabbat dinner (or any!) conversation.
Parsha Bechukotai (Leviticus 26:3-27:34)
TLDR:
This week we get the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The parsha is one big if, then clause followed by an unconditional commitment.
if (the people follow God’s commandments) {
there will be lots of rain, food, peace, and God’s presence }
else {
Lots of misery. Fever. Domination by enemies. Deserted roads. Pestilence. Eating flesh of your sons and daughters. Ruined cities. }
And the grimness continues. We get a few sentences about the good, and the rest is about the very bad.
Even people who escape their enemies will stumble with no one pursuing them and will rot with their guilt.
Alas! God promises not to put an end to the people because he’ll remember the covenant he made with them (at Sinai, and with the patriarchs).
There’s no mention of when or how God will remember them. We only know that in their misery, the people will be atoning for their actions.
The remaining section of the parsha (and Leviticus) deals with appendix-like topics, such as voluntary sacrifices, jubilee year obligations, and tax obligations.
Question:
This pasha raises the troubling “Why do bad things happen to good people(s)?” question. For generations growing up under the shadow of the Holocaust, the conditional statement seems to grossly imply that people must have done something wrong to cause what became of them. It’s not even a question of deservedness, but of causality (separate question to consider: are the “bad” clauses more strongly deterrence or retribution focused?).
Acknowledging that, my question is about hope. Despite all the suffering God promises, he still commits to never fully extinguishing the flicker of light. The people are brought to their knees, but never gone. Their survival is inevitable. How does knowing the eventual outcome change your actions today?
For those still with me, here’s a wonkier question about progress. I don’t think this parsha presents a view that there is a cycle of good and bad. If the people follow the commandments, it’s all good! And per above, there certainly isn’t a notion of death and rebirth. But what’s your view about structural goodness? Saying “Follow my commandments” is like saying “Eat your greens.” The Torah levels up and provides institutions and guidelines to assist with fulfilling the commandments, e.g. through ritual, priests, judges, etc. (the same way you might work with a gym coach). Say we somehow successfully implement all of the institutional practices the Torah prescribes. Would that shape human nature in such a way to guarantee indefinite goodness? What might cause a decline in goodness, and what does that imply about the institutional practices prescribed by the Torah?