Home Is Where the Heart Is

By Rabbi Joshua (valuably known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

At the end of parshas Bechukosai, after the section of tochecha, or admonition, which describes the punishment that would be meted out to the nation for failing to observe God’s laws, we find the section of Arachin, or valuations. This section presents the procedure to be followed when one vows to give the monetary valuation, as delineated by the Torah, of an individual, or of oneself. We have mentioned in the past, the comment of Rav Yitzchok Kara, in his Toldos Yitzchok, that this mitzvoh is placed after the tochecha to reassure the people that despite the terrible punishment they may experience, they still have intrinsic value. I would like to suggest a different explanation now, based on Rav Ya’akov Kaminetsky’s approach to the tochecha, as presented in his Emes LeYa’akov.

Rav Ya’akov points out that in the beginning of parshas Bechukosai, we are told that if we walk in God’s statutes and observe his commandments we will receive abundant blessings. Rashi explains that walking in God’s statutes refers to toiling in Torah. The Torah further tells us that if we don’t walk in God’s statutes, we will receive the punishments mentioned in the tochecha. This poses a difficulty, says Rav Ya’akov, because in the tochecha itself, we are told that the punishments come because of a lack of observance of Shemittah. How can we reconcile these two seemingly disparate causes?

Rav Ya’akov answers that the Torah describes shemittah as Shabbos LeHashem, a Sabbath for the Lord. The meaning behind this is that we are to spend the time that we gain in shemittah by not having to work the land, immersed in Torah study. Failure to do so constitutes an incomplete observance of the entire mitzvoh of shemittah. We may add that Rav Kook explained the function of shemittah as bringing the nation back to its goal of being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Over the course of six years, constant involvement in working the land may cause some neglect of this orientation. The shemittah year brings us back to our goal, and should influence our attitude during the coming six years as well. Without constant immersion in Torah study during shemittah, this function will not be realized.

Based on this understanding of the tochecha, we can further understand the placement of the mitzvah of Arachin after its conclusion. Rabbi Moshe Eiseman, in a recent essay (see his work Seek Me Out) explains the mitzvoh of Arachin based on an idea of the Chazon Ish, who says that an erech, the value set by the Torah for each class of person, constitutes the dignity and very existence of the person. What this means, says Rabbi Eisenman, is that when a person, for example, makes a vow to give his value to the Beis HaMikdash, he is saying that his true place is in the Beis HaMikdash. No matter what his station in life actually is, his life is oriented toward the presence of God that abides there. The divine presence that abides in the Beis HaMikdash, says the Ramban, is a continuation, on a more hidden level, of the revelation of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. The mitzvoh of Arachin, then, teaches us that, no matter where a person actually dwells in his lifetime, with the proper orientation, he can be, as Rabbi Eisenman says, a “Beis HaMikdash Jew.” The proper fulfillment of the mitzvoh of shemittah, as we learn from the tochecha, involves reorienting ourselves toward the goal of being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation during the entire shemittah cycle, including the six years when we work the land. The mitzvah of Arachin, then, is a filling postscript to the tochecha.