This week, we read Behar and Bechukotai, the last two portions in the book of Vayikra. The second portion Bechukotai rests its fame on the תוכחה - the Tochacha. (No English word adequately captures the meaning of Tochacha, but its…
Last Friday, I had a visitor. There was a knock on the door about 11:30AM, and when I answered the door, I saw a tall, thin, older gentlemen of Israeli Chassidic persuasion, with a kindly face, and a slightly haggard…
In Parshat Bechukotai, Hashem promises the Jewish people a list of eleven blessings comprising every possible benefit in the world: The rains will fall in their proper times The land will give its produce and the trees will yield their…
Cognitive dissonance hung heavy in the humid air. The people of Maranello, Italy were unsettled. A fire-engine red Ferrari had been driving through town all morning causing quite a racket. Usually, the snarling growl of a Ferrari didn’t bother the people…
This Shabbat, we will read two portions, Behar and Bechukotai. In Parshat Bechukotai (Leviticus 26:3-13), Hashem promises the Jewish people that if they keep His commandments, they will receive many blessings and experience no hardships. The rains will fall in…
Rabbi Leiby Burnham| Thursday Lunch and Learn
I could hear the screams from the other side of the door. A good friend of mine had just undergone back surgery a few days earlier, and I was trying to do the right thing by visiting him, but the…
Bechukotai תשפ"ב When the Jewish people committed the sin of the golden calf, Hashem said to Moshe (Exodus 32:9,10): (ט) וַיֹּאמֶר יְדֹוָד אֶל משֶׁה רָאִיתִי אֶת הָעָם הַזֶּה וְהִנֵּה עַם קְשֵׁה עֹרֶף הוּא: (י) וְעַתָּה הַנִּיחָה לִּי וְיִחַר אַפִּי בָהֶם וַאֲכַלֵּם…