From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 3:45 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Behar-Bechukosai, 5766




                                                              
                                                    The Last Resort
                      
                      By Rabbi Joshua (atypically known as The Hoffa) Hoffman


  Parshas Bechukosai includes the section of tochecha, or rebuke, warning the nation of what will befall it if it does not follow the Torah properly. However, even though the nation will suffer exile as a result of its failings, God assures them that He will still remember them : "I will remember My covenant with Ya'akov and also my covenant with Yitzchok and also My covenant with Avrohom will I remember, and I will remember the land" (Vayikra 26:42). Rashi, noting the reverse order of the Patriarchs given in this verse, explains that even the merit of Ya'akov, the youngest of the three, is alone sufficient to redeem the people from exile. However, if it does not suffice, then the merit of Yitzchok should suffice, and if that does not suffice, then the merit of Abraham should suffice. Rabbi Ya'akov of Lissa pointed out that this comment of Rashi seems to place Ya'akov at the bottom of the rung among our forefathers. However, other, midrashic sources tell us that Ya'akov was the bechir ha-avos, the choicest of the forefathers, since all of his children were devoted to God, unlike Yitzchok and Avrohom, both of whom had a child who did not follow in God's ways. I believe that an answer to this question can be found by taking note of the end of this verse, as expounded upon by the Sifra.


  As we have seen, our verse ends with the words "and I will remember the land." The Sifra comments that this teaches us that a covenant was made with the land. My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveichik, zt"l, explained that the covenant with the land  referred to in the Sifra is not the same covenant that was made with our forefathers in respect to the land, because that covenant is stated explicitly in the Torah, in various places beginning with the covenant between the pieces made with Avrohom, and does not require a special form of derivation. Rather it is a separate covenant made, with the Jewish people, in respect to the land. This covenant requires that the Jewish people devote their energies and resources to Eretz Yisroel, approaching their relationship with the land with great enthusiasm. In return, God assures them that they will, ultimately, possess and rule over the land. This relationship mirrors the relationship that the nation must have with God and His Torah, as well. The Midrash Rabbah to Shir Hashirim, commenting on the verse there (2:5) - "samchuni ba'ashishos" - support me with the leaning stump - that two fires (eish) are implied in the word 'ashishos' - the fire of the burning bush, when God first appeared to Moshe, and the fire of Moriah, where the Torah was given to the Jewish people. When God appeared to Moshe at the burning bush, He reiterated the covenant he had made with the forefathers, to give the land to their descendants. At Moriah, God gave the Torah to the nation, and made a covenant with them there, as well. Both covenants were made with fire, indicating a need for an inner fire to burn within the people in complying with these covenants.

  Expanding on the need for enthusiasm in respect to both Torah and Eretz Yisroel, Rav Aharon zt"l noted that both are referred to by the Torah as morasha, a heritage, rather than yerusha, an inheritance. The difference between these terms is that an inheritance comes to a child in a passive way, while a heritage can only be given over actively. In order to assure that the next generation will be devoted to the Torah and to Eretz Yisroel, both must be approached with a great deal of enthusiasm and self- sacrifice. Although Rav Aharon did not say this, perhaps the reason that it is these two items that require this kind of enthusiasm is because, as the midrash tells us, and as the Ramban elaborates on in his Torah commentary to parshas Eikev, Eretz Yisroel is the primary location for the fulfillment of the mitzvos of the Torah, because that is the seat of the divine presence in this world. Understanding this need for enthusiasm and self-sacrifice in regard to Torah, Eretz Yisroel, and our relationship with God, we can now understand the reverse order of the patriarchs that is followed in our verse.


  Although Ya'akov was, indeed, the choicest of the forefathers in that all of his children followed in God's ways, still, in terms of enthusiasm in serving God, it can be argued that Ya'akov was the weakest of the three. Indeed, the midrash on parshas Vayigash tells us that he was punished for complaining to Pharaoh that his life had been very difficult (see Netvort to parshas Vayigash, 5765, available at Torahheights.com, for a lengthy discussion of this conversation of Yaakov's with Pharaoh and its implications). Yitzchok, on the other hand, is noted by the midrash  for his sense of self-sacrifice, willingly offering his life up to God at the akeidah. As Rashi to our verse mentions, citing the midrash, God continually sees the ashes of Yitzchok on the altar, considering his willingness to sacrifice himself as if he had been burned there. Avrohom, however, had an even greater sense of self-sacrifice, since he was willing to give up his son, who embodied his entire life's work and his hopes for the future, to God. In fact, as Rav Chaim of Volozhin says, in his commentary to Pirkei Avos, Ruach Chaim, Avrohom, more than the other forefathers, is referred to in Pirkei Avos as Avrohom Avinu, or Avrohom our father, because he was the one who implanted the capacity for self-sacrifice within the Jewish nation. In the context of the covenant made with the land, which requires an approach of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice, then, the order recorded in the Torah is, in fact appropriate. The order presented is, in fact, one of ascending order in terms of the different levels of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice in serving God that were exhibited by the different patriarchs.



  Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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