Parsha B'chukotai is so often combined with Behar, from this past week. In part, it's because they are both quite short (as our rabbi said in shul this week, "Don't blink or you might miss it!"), but it
also makes sense because B'chukotai starts off explaining what happens if we follow or don't follow the rules God laid out. The first line of B'chukoti broadly states: "If you follow My laws and
faithfully observe My commandments..."
Of course, we can interpret this to mean all that God says, but later in the parsha there's a specific reference to a punishment that harkens back to the rules laid out in Behar.
"Then shall the land make up for its sabbath years throughout the time that it is desolate and you are in the land of your enemies; then shall the land rest and make up for its sabbath years. Throughout the time that it is desolate, it shall observe the rest that it did not observe in your sabbath years while you were dwelling upon it."
So, the punishment is a direct tie-in to the transgression of not allowing the fields the sabbath years. This is in contrast to the blessings related to the land, such as "You shall eat old grain long stored, and you shall have to clear out the old to make room for the new," which also reminds me of Behar because of the need to have excess from previous harvests to eat in the sabbath years. In reference to the blessings and curses in this parsha, I am going to make Sweet and Sour Tofu (sweet=blessings, sour = curses.)
The parsha also tells us the appropriate shekel value when someone "...explicitly vows to יהוה the equivalent for a human being." A male from 20 - 60 years old is 50 shekel, a woman of the same age is 30 shekels. Younger people are fewer skekels (between 10-20, it's 20 shekels for men and 10 for women.) And so on. I was a bit disturbed by this valuation and wondered what it meant to
vow the equivalent for a human being. Ibn Ezra's commentary helped by depicting the situation as the person saying "If God will do the following for me then I will redeem my life in accordance with its value." This is not too dissimilar from people feeling gratitude for success or return from an illness who decide to give tzedakah in honor of that gratitude.
There's still a little discomfort for me in the "deal making" as I don't believe that's how God works, but it's an interesting way to look at this section. To get our Shabbat dinner table talking about it too, I am going to make zucchini and squash coins, roasted with Hawaij spices to look like a nice golden/copper color. Roasting veggies is a favorite preparation style for me. Just put some olive oil and spices on the veggies, spread them out on a pan, and roast at 425. The amount of time depends on the veggie type and cut. For squash rounds, it's only 10-15 minutes.
Shabbat Shalom & B'Tayavon!
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