Shabbat Commentary - Be-Chukkotai

If there were a theme song to accompany this week's Torah Portion, Be-Chukkotai, it would be the classic Commencement processional, "Pomp and Circumstance." We are in the midst of graduation season for everyone from pre-schoolers moving up to kindergarten to adult scholars receiving advanced degrees. Where there are graduation ceremonies, there are sure to be honored dignitaries giving commencement addresses.

As the metaphorical "honored dignitary" in Be-Chukkotai, God, through Moses, gives a "commencement speech" to the "graduates," the children of Israel. The children of Israel (and we who are their spiritual descendants) are graduating from being a frightened, distrustful pack of runaway slave families to a nation in progress. The evolving Jewish nation is bound to God by the Covenant; shaped by God's commandments in God's image; and strengthened by the shared experience of surviving and thriving in the wilderness while behaving according to God's laws.

As the assembled community is about to move on in its journey to the land which God has promised, God powerfully enumerates the Blessings which will come from following the commandments which God has taught in Sefer (the Book of) Va-Yikra. These Blessings include bountiful crops, peace, security, victory over enemies, and God's protective presence.
"...and I shall put my Tabernacle among you and my soul will not scorn you, and I shall walk among you, and I shall be God to you, and you will be a people to me." (Leviticus 26:11-12)*

After reminding the children of Israel that God freed them from slavery in Egypt, God warns of fearful "curses" which will befall them if they fail to follow all of God's commandments. If one set of curses fails to make the children of Israel "listen" to God, then even more horrendous curses will follow.
However, in conclusion, God promises that if the children of Israel recognize their wrongdoing and repent, God will continue the Covenant with them.

One can almost see the "graduates" take a deep breath after experiencing the intensity of God's message - and then burst into applause and give the Speaker a standing ovation!
In the graduating community of the children of Israel, great leaders, earnest followers, and even those apt to be led astray stand tall, proud to be God's people, ready to apply God's teachings as they continue their journey toward nationhood.

We, too, inspired by God's words, continue our journey as we conclude this year's study of Sefer Va-Yikra and commence our reading of Sefer Be-Midbar.
Chazak! Chazak! V'Nitchazeik!
From strength to strength...
Shabbat Shalom Rest and Renew

*From: Commentary on the Torah by Richard Elliott Friedman