B'har/B'chukotai

Leviticus 25:1-26:2 / 26:3-27:34

Raising The King's Sons

By Rabbi David Levy, Director of Admissions for the Rabbinical School and the H.L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music for JTSA

ויקרא רבה (וילנא) פרשה לו
ולמה הוא מזכיר זכות אבות ומזכיר זכות הארץ עמהם אמר ר"ל משל למלך שהיה לו שלשה בנים ושפחה אחת משלו מגדלתן כל זמן שהיה המלך שואל שלום בניו היה אומר שאלו לי בשלום המגדלת כך כל זמן שהקב"ה מזכיר אבות מזכיר הארץ עמהם הה"ד וזכרתי את בריתי יעקב וגו' והארץ אזכור  Leviticus Rabbah Chapter 36

And why did God make mention of the merits of our ancestors and the merit of the land alongside them? Reish Lakish shared a parable, (he said) [i]t is like a king that had three sons, and one of his handmaidens raised them. Every time that the king asked after the welfare of his sons he would say also ask about the welfare of she who is raising them. So too, each time God remembers our ancestors, he recalls the land alongside them. That is why it is written "And I will remember my covenant with Jacob . . . and I will recall the earth." (Leviticus 26:42)

In Parashat Behukkotai, God spells out a list of blessings that will come if the Israelites will follow God's rules. This is followed by a harrowing list of curses that will ensue if the Israelites fail in this task. Finally, at the end of chapter 26, God foretells that even after the curses, when the Israelites repent, He will remember the covenants He made with our ancestors, and will remember the land. We might assume that the land is mentioned here because it is a part of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

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