Parshas Behar-Bechukosai 5759 Not Too Disgusting
               By Rabbi Joshua (increasingly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
 
  In the midst of the Torah's description, in parshas Bechukosai, of the divine rewards promised if the people fulfill the laws of the Torah is the verse, " I will place my sanctuary among  you,and my spirit will not be disgusted with you.' (Vayikra, 24,12).The juxtaposition of the two parts of this verse is very difficult to understand, as pointed out by the Ramban.If God promises to dwell among the nation,he obviously is not disgusted with them! What, then, does the second half of the verse add to the first half? A consideration of the verse within the context of the nature of the reward described in our parsha will clarify it's meaning.
 
   Many commentators have been troubled by the manner in which divine reward is presented in the Torah. The rewards seem to be of a material, this-wordly nature and no apparent mention is made of a spiritual reward.Moreover, it is pointed out, the Talmud records the opinion of Rabbi Ya'akov that there is no reward, in this world, for the fulfillment of the mitzvos, so that the entire section in the Torah describing such rewards is problematic.Many answers are given to these questions by the commentators.One of the best known is that of the Rambam.He writes that the Torah is telling us that if we, as a nation, fulfill the mitzvos of the Torah, God will provide us with the means necessary to make it easier for us to continue observing them in the future.This is the meaning of the statement in the Chapters of the Fathers (chapter 4,2), that the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah, namely, that the ultimate reward for mitzvah fulfillment comes in the next world.What is provided in this world is not the real reward, but the ability to continue doing mitzvos. Some comentators go further and explain the mishnah to mean that the reward of the mitzvah is the mitzvah itself. The connection with God that is created by the fulfillment of the mitzvah is the greatest possible reward a person could receive. 
 
   By understanding the reward for the commandments presented by the Torah as being a means of strengthening our connection with God, we can better undertand the verse we are examining.When God says that He will dwell among us, He is telling us the purpose behind all the other rewards mentioned previously-the strengthening of our connection with Him.By following His Torah, we will generate a very close relationship with Him.Rabbi David Feinstein has explained that the closer a relationship becomes, the more one is open to scrutiny and the more likely it becomes that one's faults will be revealed. This is especially true in a marital relationship.After marriage, each spouse gets to know all the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of the other, and this can often lead to strife. If the relationship is srtrong enough, however, all these features will serve to endear the two to each other.Our relationship with God, too, is likened to a marital relationship.God is telling us that if we follow His Torah, He will strengthen His relationship with us by dwelling in our midst, and, despite the fact that He will thereby scrutinize all of our actions more closely, He will not become disgusted with us.On the contrary, by providing us with the means to continue our mitzvah observance more easily, He will draw even closer.