Bechukotai

5 Facts About Parshat Bechukotai that You (Maybe) Didn’t Know

Published on Wednesday May 22th, 2019

Discover and learn every week, "5 Facts" written on the weekly Parshah that you can share at your Shabbos table.

וְנָתַתִּ֥י גִשְׁמֵיכֶ֖ם בְּעִתָּ֑ם וְנָתְנָ֤ה הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ יְבוּלָ֔הּ וְעֵ֥ץ הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה יִתֵּ֥ן פִּרְיֽוֹ׃ (26:4)

I will grant your rains in their season, so that the earth shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit.

1. How will nature change in the World to Come?

We learn from here if we keep Hashem’s commandments, He will return nature to its originally intended state and the way it was before Adam sinned. For example, the earth will produce crops the same day that it is sowed, trees will produce fruits the same day they’re planted. Even fields and trees planted for shade will give fruits. (Sifra, Korban Aaron, Mizrachi, Siftei Chachamim)

וְנָתַתִּ֤י שָׁלוֹם֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ וּשְׁכַבְתֶּ֖ם וְאֵ֣ין מַחֲרִ֑יד וְהִשְׁבַּתִּ֞י חַיָּ֤ה רָעָה֙ מִן־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְחֶ֖רֶב לֹא־תַעֲבֹ֥ר בְּאַרְצְכֶֽם׃ (26:6)

I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down with nothing to be afraid of; I will give the land respite from vicious beasts, and no sword shall cross your land.

2. How many boys named Aaron lived at the time of the “Desert Generation”?

We are told that there were 80,000 young children named Aaron who attended Aaron’s funeral. This is because Aaron would be always busy himself with making peace between husbands and wives, and in doing so, he was responsible for more children coming into the world. In gratitude, parents would name their child Aaron. (Shevet Mussar 37)

וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֥ם יָשָׁ֖ן נוֹשָׁ֑ן וְיָשָׁ֕ן מִפְּנֵ֥י חָדָ֖שׁ תּוֹצִֽיאוּ׃ (26:10)

You shall eat old and very old, and you shall have to clear out the old to make room for the new.

3. What dishes will be served at the Great Feast in the future?

You shall eat old and very old: This redundancy teaches us that at the Great Feast in the future, there are two things that will be served that date back to Creation: The Leviathan fish and wine made from the first grapes. (Meam Loez)

וְזָכַרְתִּ֖י אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֣י יַעֲק֑וֹב וְאַף֩ אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֨י יִצְחָ֜ק וְאַ֨ף אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֧י אַבְרָהָ֛ם אֶזְכֹּ֖ר וְהָאָ֥רֶץ אֶזְכֹּֽר׃ (26:42)

Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob; I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land.

4. Why is the name “Yaakov” missing the letter “vav”?

This is one of only 5 places in the Torah that the name Yaakov is spelled with the letter vav. This corresponds to the 5 times that Eliyahu’s name is spelled with the letter vav. Yaakov, in fact, “took” these letters as a “pledge” from Eliyahu that he announce the coming of the Mashiach. (Rashi)

אֵ֠לֶּה הַֽחֻקִּ֣ים וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֮ וְהַתּוֹרֹת֒ אֲשֶׁר֙ נָתַ֣ן יְהוָ֔ה בֵּינ֕וֹ וּבֵ֖ין בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל בְּהַ֥ר סִינַ֖י בְּיַד־מֹשֶֽׁה׃ (26:46)

These are the laws, rules, and instructions that the LORD established, through Moses on Mount Sinai, between Himself and the Israelite people.

5. “Torot” plural? Is there more than one Torah?

Indeed. Two parts but of the same Torah given by Hashem to the Bnei Yisrael. The word Torot, spelled in the plural here, is one of the sources that both the Written and Oral law were given together at Mt. Sinai. (Rashi, Sifra)