Parshas Bechukosai is best known for its third aliyah, a collection of pesukim known as the Tochachah, the sharp rebuke Hashem has for the Bnei Yisrael if they do not keep the Torah and mitzvos. Sadly, there have been times in history where these pesukim have seemingly come true. I want to focus on a different, more positive part of the parshah. Actually, it’s in the first pasuk.
“אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֶת מִצְוֹתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם” “If you will go in My statutes and observe My commandments and perform them” (Vayikra 26:3). Rashi explains that I would assume that the first part of the pasuk, “אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ” refers to keeping the mitzvos, however, the second part of the pasuk says that explicitly so it can’t be that. Rather, the pasuk really refers to the persistent and serious study of Torah. Meaning that not only must you keep the mitzvos in order to receive the blessings mentioned from pesukim 3-13, you must also persist in the study of Torah, not only just for the sake of the mitzvos or even just for the sake of Torah knowledge, but purely for the sake of learning Hashem’s Torah over and over again.
The Ohr HaChaim says that it is for this reason that Torah study is referred to as a חק, a law. In Torah terms, a חק is a mitzvah which has no reason. Studying something over and over again after you already know it perfectly is not logical, yet Chazal tell us we must review everything we learn 101 times! He also explains why the Torah writes “בְּחֻקֹּתַי” “laws” in plural. This refers to the Written and Oral Torah, that we have this obligation of study for both of them. Learning Torah goes beyond the logical reasons to do mitzvos, it shows the pure love we have for this gift Hashem has given us.
The last point we learn from this pasuk is that a person must realize that his obligation to learn Torah does not end there. In fact this point is necessary in order for a person just to fulfill his obligation for the mitzvos! After a person studies a portion of the Torah for his own purposes, he has an obligation to share it with someone else. Chazal teach us “ללמוד על מנת ללמד”, you learn in order to teach. After you teach, it is then possible to keep and perform all the mitzvos in the Torah. This is why “laws” is written in plural, to teach us that both of these things, the learning and the teaching, are integral to the performance of the mitzvos.
May we all be zoche to learn Torah “lishma”, completely for the sake of learning. And may we be able to learn in order to teach and teach in order to perform and keep all the mitzvos completely and receive all the brachos which Hashem promises us.
Shabbat Shalom!
AIMeM
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