Torah Portions: B’Chukotai

This is our weekly Torah Portion reading and Haf-Torah portion reading.  We also include New Testament/Apostolic writings each week to show how the Torah and the writings of the Apostles go hand in hand.  Here is this weeks portion:

Leviticus 26:3-27:34; Jeremiah 16:19-17:14; Matt. 7:21-27; John 14:15-21; 15:10-12.  

Here is some commentary on the portion:Rebbi R' Yerucham Levotiz, offered a sum of money to anyone who could explain a contradiction:  The Gemara (kidudushin 31a) rules that one is forbidden to walk with an erect bearing because it is a sign of excessive pride. To walk in this manner is seen as pushing away the divine presence. How then, can this attitude be an illustration of a godly people?  One answer which would have merited this prize (according to R Schwab):  One who is filled with arrogance will straighten himself up and carry himself in a way that mirrors his own excessive pride. However, one can also pull oneself up to one's full height in order to express his total potential. This posture can serve as a positive metaphor for the fulfillment of one's potential. When in the desert, they were walking as a nation who would reach the spiritual level of Adam before his sin, the highest possible level that man can reach.  Regarding vayikra 26:13

 

Here are some questions to ponder on Leviticus 16:31: 

1. It says "I will not take delight in the pleasing aroma of your fire offerings" - but the temple is G-d, what are these "pleasing aromas" and "fire offerings" without a temple? 

 2. It says he will destroy the idols, and THEN remove his presence. Shouldn't the removal of idols allow for the divine presence to flourish? Why is it only after the idols are removed that the divine presence is removed?

 

We pray you have been blessed by this Torah Portion and that it has helped you grow in the Word. Shalom!!!