Parashat Bechukotai (If you follow my
rules)
Among the verses of this parasha we find the Tochecha, the rebuke
that G-d gives the people of Israel if they do not follow G-d’s commandments.
Chapter 26:36 says: “I will bring
despair into the hearts of those of you who survive in enemy territory. Just
the sound of a windblown leaf will cause them to run, and they will run scared
as if running from a sword!”
The
image of the sound of a driven leaf making a person scared is extremely
powerful.
Driven
leaves usually appear in the fall, and it reminds me of a nice poetic phrase:
“He fell in love with the flowers, but not with the roots, and when fall
arrived, he didn’t know what to do…”
Roots
are sometimes more important than beautiful flowers.
In memory of my beloved mother and teacher Miriam Rachel bat
Israel Itzchak Z"L
