Parshas Bechukosai

Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire

June 4th, 2016
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In this week's Parsha, Bechukosai, we rea aout the rewars an

unishents for those who oey an isoey ahhe res ecti e y
One of the erses introucing the section aout unishent an
isee states that i V e { he V i V e [{jectV e V
e{ e V { V VV { V e i { { H e VeV V V [ Ve an if you
es ise y statutes an reect y orinances, not erforing any of
y coanents, therey reaking y co enant Vayikra 26 15)
Descriing this erse, the hforno exaines the causes of this
es ising an hatre e quotes a Geara hanherin 63) as
saying that the Jews are erfect y cognizant of the fact that io
worshi is inane an worth ess, an on y raye to foreign gos
ecause of a esire to erit these es to erfor iora acts in
u ic The hforno a ies this conce t to the esire to reect a
coanents an i ine o igations an as that this is the sae
urge that raws eo e to assii ate

Is the urge to reect the ora authority of ahhe rea y so strong

that one wou go to the extent of risking a of the unishents
iterate in the assages in the cha ter, to incur ong-ter estruction
in exchange for short-ter gain? We can oser e fro the
stateents of the hforno an Geara that the answer wou a ear
to e yes uan nature sees to e such that an ini iua is
re are to ignore a consequence in orer to faci itate icentious
actions an then to sugarcoat it with rationa izations in the for
of ieo ogy, not the other way aroun The i act of e ery thought
that we ha e at any oint in our i es ay coe ack to erit itse f to
e use as a too to rationa ize transgression

We a seek, e en suconscious y, to ustify our sins y fining soe

reason or ogic to erit it e en when we are fu y aware of the
recriinations an fa sehoo thereof Therefore, when we ecie
on choices that are c ear y roscrie y the Torah, we aanon our
own s iritua fu fi ent for iniquity The ery act of engaging in sinfu
acti ities ens itse f to a syste of fa se e iefs that on y ser e to
ee en the attachent to the transgression, which eas to the
ustification itse f, a ueting cyc e er etuate y each action an
thought of the ini iua If we e ie e that an iea or e ief that we
ha e e e o e is soun, ut is contrary to the truths of Torah, then
we ust e aware that in rea ity, this reection is ase on our own
esires to sin If we are conscious of this fact, we can reuff the u of
fa se ieo ogy