Torah Portion of the Week

Building Character through the Themes of the Weekly Torah Portion

Torah

Leviticus 26:3–27:34

Next Reading:

May 29, 2027

22 Iyar, 5787

Haftarah

Jeremiah 16:19–17:14

אִם־ בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֶת־מִצְוֺתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם׃

Im–b’chu-ko-tai te-le-khu v’et–mitz-vo-tai tish-m’ru va-a-si-tem o-tam;

If you walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them;

Leviticus 26:3

Bechukotai means “in My decrees” and in this portion, God sets forth the rewards that come with keeping His commandments, as well as the punishments that will befall the people if they violate the commandments. The rewards include peace in the Land, abundant rain, and plentiful crops, while the long list of punishments include fever, sickness, starvation, and, ultimately, exile. But even in exile, God would not completely forsake His people.

Freedom to Choose

God gave His people the freedom to choose how they would respond to His laws. If they chose to follow them, they would have abundance; if they chose to break them, they would have anguish. Essentially, what can be derived from this portion is that there is a cause and effect in life. Nothing happens on accident or by chance; everything is for a reason and a purpose. And so, the choices you make are significant and powerful.

What kind of decisions are in front of you today? Does it have to do with your attitude, or how you spend your time? Are you currently facing some sort of test, challenge, or painful experience? How you respond is a choice you make. God wants you to make the right decisions, and He is there to encourage you and help you.

Remember that what happens in your life is not random, neither is it trivial in God’s eyes. It has a purpose, it has the ability to make you stronger, it has the potential to cause you to grow in wisdom, love, and compassion. You could even say that each specific challenge is custom-built for you, because you have been given the tools you need to learn and grow from them.

Think back on a challenging time in your life. How did you respond to it, and how did it help to mold you into who you are today? Did you struggle with sickness or physical pain? Now, you probably have more compassion when you see someone in a wheelchair, when you hear the sirens of an ambulance, or when you hear of someone who is going through a similar struggle. Did you lose your job or go into debt? Maybe now you are more apt to buy a stranger a cup of coffee, or pay for someone else’s groceries. Did you struggle with an attitude problem like anger or fear? Maybe you learned to channel that anger into motivation, or that fear into trust in God. You did these things because of a choice, a response, to what was going on.

Whatever you are facing in life has the ability to transform you. You can make the choice to use life’s circumstances to build you into a better person and live a life of purpose—no matter what you face, big or small.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed;

(JPS 1917, Deut. 30:19)

Think: Liberation

Choices matter. Every choice comes with a consequence and an impact. Right now, maybe you are thinking of a choice you made that you regret. Maybe you are feeling the discomfort that came as a result of that choice. Knowing the great effect of your choices can be overwhelming, but can also be liberating. How so? Think about it this way: If you could say that your choices have enough power to make bad things happen, then how much more can your choices have the power to make good things happen!

Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek—Be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened!

A Glance of Hebrew | Bechukotai STBM Messer

Pronunciation Guide for Transliterated Hebrew Words

a

[a] as in arm

ai

[ai] as in Thailand

e

[e] as in red

ei

[ei] as in eight

i

[i] as in ski

o

[o] as in score

oi

[oi] as in oil

u

[u] as in rule

ui

[ui] as in gluing

ch/kh

[ch] as in the Scottish loch

g

[g] as in good (not as in giant)

tz

[ts] as in hats

‘

short “eh” or “uh” sound

The Hebrew Scriptures in this text have been derived from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (WLC), and the English translation is based off of the JPS 1917 Tanakh.