Thursday, June 2, 2016

Bechukotai Text Message

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