Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

154
Bechukotai
Suffering for Thought
Rav Benjy Kwalwasser
P arshat Bechukotai delineates for us two paths that lie before us, the path of
remarkable and plentiful blessings and the alternate route, one filled with horrific and
unrelenting curses. God emphasizes the point that He has empowered us to decide
which way the course of history flows, as the determinant depends solely on our
actions. If we choose to ignore God’s ways, the tragic course will perforce be carried
out (God forbid). However, interestingly enough, God promises at the conclusion
of such an ordeal to remember us and bring redemption. If both paths lead to the
same conclusion, that of liberation and glory, then what incentive exists to choose
good over bad? The obvious difference is the amount of suffering to be endured until
complete ge’ula (redemption) arrives. Are we to have a glorious end of galut (exile) or
a heart wrenching and bitter one? That is the focal point of our parsha. We choose our
own destiny.
Two fundamental questions must be addressed in relation to such a topic, neither of
which will be resolved in this brief discussion. First and foremost, which life are we
experiencing today? Are we suffering or living life blissfully? One talmid theorized
that perhaps we are currently in a transition stage from option B, the path of suffering,
to option A, the path of blessings. “We cannot expect to suddenly end suffering and
lunge instantly into an alternate fate; overall, we are heading in the right direction,” he
posited. This approach is rather questionable. I am certain that during other lulls in
oppression afforded to the Jews throughout history, our ancestors may have arrived