Shabbos Parashas Bechukotai - 5778

Shabbos Parashas Bechukotai - 5778

Rabbi Hal Miller

(In Israel, this week is Bechukotai. In the Diaspora, catching up, it is the double

portion, Behar-Bechukotai.)

You will eat very old grain and remove the old to make way for the new. [Vayikra 26:10]

In isolation, this verse sounds like either a curse that you will eat rotten food,, or an

authorization to throw away perfectly good food. But it comes in the section of blessings,

so it can't be a curse, and further, the Torah would never tell us to waste resources. What

does it mean?

Rashi tells us that in fact most things in life improve with age. The Gemora in Bava

Basra [90-91] tells us that in particular, wheat, wine, and oil improve with time, and

makes the case that people do as well, as to wisdom although not as to physical

strength. Our verse, then, does belong with blessings rather than curses, as it

specifies one of those items that age well. How about the concern over waste?

Rav Hirsch expands on this. Not only will the food items improve with age, but as the

nation returns to the land and the numbers increase, there will always be ample food

for all. Sforno indicates that the abundance is more than the average farmer needs for

himself and for his sales, so that he has enough left to generously supply the Kohanim,

the Leviim, the poor, the widow, and the orphan.

But the Shem MiShmuel asks our question directly, and answers it quite differently.

"This blessing seems merely wasteful. Everyone would like to have enough food for all

of their needs, but what value is there in having so much produce that one has to dispose

of it? Why should G-d bless Israel with excess? We take excess very seriously. Food

should be guarded, not wasted." He then goes into detail about the rabbinic tradition that

during the days of the Temples, "there was no simcha without meat". He explains that this

was only with regard to the sacrifices themselves, tied to the holidays. Now that we do not

have the Temple and sacrifices, any meat we would eat lacks the kedusha, and thus does

not qualify as it cannot provide us the joy. Therefore, today we use wine instead. Chazal

state in Eiruvin [65a], "When wine goes in, secrets come out." Thus, wine can be used to

release the inner joy we feel on the festivals. He goes on to say that many things,

including humans, become weaker with age, but not so wine, which improves. So too

the abundance of what God supplies us as fruit of the land improves. Not only does it

improve in physical nutrition, but it provides stronger spiritual nutrition, enabling us to

more thoroughly study the Torah and perform all the commandments with joy. In sum,

he sees the abundance not as excess and waste, but as spiritual abundance, strength

for us to be able to follow the Torah.

The Torah does not curse us in this verse, nor does it tell us to waste. Rather this is

a blessing to ensure we observe all the Torah laws, including tithing, caring for those

in the community who need help, and observing the festivals with joy.