Bechukotai / בחקותי

Especially this week, less industrious Jews in Israel have some luck. We only need to study one parsha, Behukotai, while our brethen in the Diaspora need also study Behar. Jews abroad will be listening to almost 3 complete chapters on Chumash this Shabbat, while we get only two.

How could such a situation arise? I had the opportunity to listen to a shiur on this topic by the incomparable Rabbi Joel Roth, and I'd like to take take a few minutes to pass some of this knowledge along, albeit in an abbreviated form, as well as add a few thoughts of my own.

I have spoken briefly before about doubled Torah portions, why sometimes we need to read two parshiot in a week in order to read the entire Five Books of Moses in a given calendar year. I said that the number of parshiot, 54, is more than the number of Shabbats in a non leap year - 51 or 52.

We also need to consider the fact that we don't read the normal weekly portion on holidays, or Hol HaMoed, the intermediate days of the holiday, meaning that we "miss out" on additional weekly readings, further pressuring us to double up and be more efficient. As you can see, the question is not IF we need to double up readings, it's more a question of when.

Furthermore, holidays are celebrated differently here in Israel then they are elsewhere. As we know, diaspora Jews get two seders on the first two nights, and celebrate for a total of 8 days, while in Israel we get a mere 7 day of matzah festival. This is a main reason why the Torah readings get un-coordinated - what if Shabbat falls on the 8th day of Pesach in the diaspora? Jews there need to read the special "Hol HaMoed" reading, while in Israel it's a normal Shabbat so we read as usual.

Of course, the situation is not static from year to year, and changes depending on how the holidays fall. I won't even get into the subject of a leap year, in which case everything is thrown off.

Clearly, determining the yearly cycle of Torah readings is not for the faint of heart!

So how do we know which parshiot to double, and when? Luckily, our tradition has been looking at this question for many centuries, and gives us guidance.

Our sages were concerned that the weekly portions containing curses, namely Behukotai and Ki Tavo, might fall on the holidays of Rosh HaShana and Shavuot. In the words of the Tosefot (Masechet Magilla, 31 page 2):

"אנו קורין במדבר סיני קודם עצרת כדי שלא להסמיך בקללות שבבחוקותי"

"We read Parshat BaHar before Shavuot, in order to not associate it with the curses of Buhokotai,

This makes sense - we may be less excited about receiving the Torah if we hear about the possible downsides!

The Rambam also adds two other rules. First, we must read ואתחנן after Tisha Ba'av, giving us Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Consolation, after reliving some of the worst events in our people's history. His other rule is wonderfully practical - צו needs to read before Passover, because it contains the laws for cleaning one's house of Hametz. You gotta' love the Rambam - always the pragmatist.

Once we have this framework, our task becomes simpler - we just have to line up the parshiot it their correct places, like a 54-piece holy jigsaw puzzle. The big questions is which parshiot to double.

Rabbi Roth proposes two criteria: We first double parshiot that have similar content, like Acharei Mot - Kedushim (rules of priestly conduct in the temple), Tazria/Metzora (skin infections), etc. His second rule, which he says is up for argument, but I am apt to take his word for it - is that we wait until the last possible minute to double up, if no other similar content can be found. This explains a pairing like Matot -Masai, because they ensure that we will read the curses in their correct place, two weeks before Rosh HaShana.

Because we wait until the last possible minute to double up, there can be up to 18 weeks where the Diaspora and Israel are reading different parshiot - a nightmare for Bar-Mitzvah students who could practice their portion for a year, come to Israel, and realize they are a week behind!

I'm not sure about the deeper theological meanings for all of this, but it is really amazing to think of all the work that goes into something which seems on the outset to be so simple.

We end the book of Leviticus with a reminder to walk בחוקותי - in the way of God - which also sounds simple. Just follow the directions right?

This week's parsha pivots on one verse. We have been reading about all the blessings we will receive for the correct behavior, but then we get to Chapter 26 Verse 14:

וְאִם לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ לִי וְלֹא תַעֲשׂוּ אֵת כָּל הַמִּצְוֹת הָאֵלֶּה:

"But if you do not listen to Me and do not perform all these commandments…"

We all know where this is going - and it's not pretty. However, I think the above verse provides us with a great introduction in what God really wants from us, and just like the Torah reading calendar, it's not as simple as it looks.

I break the above verse into two criteria for receiving God's blessing - לשמוע to hear, and לעשות, to do,

As we finish up the Book of Leviticus, one of the main lessons seems to be attention to detail - when doing holy work the priests were expected to be incredibly exacting in their actions, clothing, even thoughts. Our tradition in general puts a premium on precision, reading the correct portion, saying the correct blessing, etc. We have over 613 specific actions we are commanded to take - this clearly takes care of the לעשות - "doing" part.

But what about the other part, לשמוע , hearing God? To Rashi, this means Torah study - to "hear" the sages. However, no offense to Rashi, or Torah study, but I think to hear God is more than this. We also need to use our God-given judgement, our conscience, to do the right thing in any given moment - we can't find the answer to all of life's problems in books.

Call it what you want - right brain / left brain, physical / spiritual, Hasidism vs. Litvakism, it's all different ways to describe the above dichotomy.

To truly walk in the way of God, we must use all of our resources and human potential, not just follows law, no matter how learned we may be, and not just use our moral sense, no matter how highly developed it may be.

I wish all of you here today the blessing of renewal, of finding something new and holy to get excited about, and the opportunity to learn from others about how to develop parts of us that need it.