Behar-Bechukotai
Leviticus 25:1-27:34
Jeremiah 16:19-17:14
Our tradition struggles with the notion that, as humans, we are free to do almost anything, yet the choices we make serve to make us the people we are. One of the messages of Leviticus is to focus our attention on our human capacity and obligation to make choices — not just any, but choices that are for a blessing.
Each day in our dealings with people, with the created world, with God, we each are told: You may act in the world in such a way that increases blessings or increases curses.
Rabbi Nancy Weiner tells of a scene in John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden,” when the character, Adam, whispers the word “timshel.” A Hebrew word found in the story of Cain and Abel, timshel is the key to Steinbeck’s opus. Lee, the Chinese house servant in the book, introduces it. Lee explains that the verb form, timshel, has been translated into English in many ways and that each translation reflects a different religious understanding of what it means to be human.
Of the translations for timshel, Lee says, “There are millions in their sects and churches who feel the order ‘You shall’ and throw their weight into obedience. And there are millions more who feel predestination in ‘You shall not.’ Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be.
“But ‘You May!’ Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness … he can choose his course and fight it through and win … A cat has no choice, a bee must make honey. There’s no godliness there … I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed — because ‘You may.’ ”
The Book of Leviticus ends with this most profound message.
As Lee says in “East of Eden,” this message is not an invitation to our total negation, or our giving in to a desire to do everything we want — far from it. This is perhaps the most ennobling message we will ever hear. It speaks to the heart of what Judaism teaches about what it means to be human.
And since we never know what any single day, including today, will bring, we are always standing at a crossroads. At each moment of each day, we make decisions about how we, ourselves, will react to the circumstances we encounter as they are, not as we wish they would be.
Every day gives us opportunities to respond as menschen, as human beings, in large and small ways: by promoting freedom for ourselves and others; by taking care of the planet and all it sustains; by waiting patiently as someone fumbles to find the exact change at the grocery store; by saying thank you for work completed, for work well done, for assistance offered.
Parashat Behar tells us of the responsibilities that we will have when we enter the Land. The responsibilities are both to the inhabitants, rich and poor among us, and to the land.
Behar begins with God telling the people, “When you enter the land that I assign to you …” (Leviticus 25:2). The use of the present tense underscores that the giving is ongoing, the giving is now. The ability to respond to life and the world as gifts is always an option.
Bechukotai begins with a statement that is conditional: “If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments, I will grant your rains in their season …” (Leviticus 26:3-4). Ultimately, the choices we make have repercussions, resulting in blessings and curses.
If a pilot takes off from San Francisco headed for New York and goes off course by less than one degree for a portion of the flight, he will end up hundreds of miles off target. The small shift has a huge impact.
We usually think of the large changes we wish to choose for ourselves and the world, disregarding smaller ones. How-ever, it is often the less dramatic and less visible changes that we choose — in our attitudes, perspectives and interpersonal behaviors — that have long-term and broad repercussions. We can choose to make conscious choices each day, choices of meaning and blessing.
Rabbi Larry Raphael is the senior rabbi of Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco.