Our parsha Bechukotai asks a fundamental question that must be asked by all Jews regardless of the epoch, location or denomination:

We are confronted with the ramifications for not upholding the Torah, many of them are very severe and terrifying – the reason for such terror is not because they are words on a page, but because they are promises already fulfilled – the pages of history are stained with the blood of our people.

It is a reality that every Jew knows: when the forces of evil arise, it is often the Jew that is vilified and pursued even in 2024 – the campuses around the world where Jews are learning and growing into the leaders of the future are places of peril and discrimination.

The question before each of us is: Where does the line of our personal liberty and the beginning of our national responsibility end – in every age the particulars of this fundamental question change, we are confronted with new questions but the same age old dilemma.

At times we are foolishly tempted to suggest that our new conditions merit that we are no longer bound by Halacha and Torah, we create new movements to justify this position – the Torah promises that no matter how far we stray as a people, our ultimate end is return to God: throughout our history observance has ebbed and flowed in waves of inspiration.

Our Torah says: “But despite all this, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will not despise them nor will I reject them to annihilate them, thereby breaking My covenant that is with them, for I am the Lord their God”.

Today a mass inspiration of our people is occurring around the world: in both Israel and in the diaspora, young people are flocking back to Hashem and His Torah – As a Rabbi it is my job to try and inspire Torah Observance and help people to open the books for themselves and learn – the Torah promises and warns us that our national identity is bound up with the keeping and study of the Torah – we know that the “stocks” of Torah and Mitzvot are serious investments in both this world and the next: we attempt to inspire people to invest in them so that they can benefit and avoid the troubles mentioned in the Torah.

Jewish Sources describe this world as an “Olam HaSheker” a world of lies – it can be hard to discern the correct investment and to place our energy into the right things. The Torah’s timeless answer is that our focus should be on Spirituality, to build ourselves in terms of character, Torah, Mitzvot and acts of kindness – the other things in life such as wealth, fame, and renown are fleeting but our achievements in terms of Spirituality are forever in two worlds and for our descendants after us.

Make the right investment!

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Refael Cohen