Bechukosai
אם בחקתי תלכו ואת מצותי תשמרו ועשיתם אותם וגו' ונתנה הארץ יבולה ועץ השדה יתן פריו והשיג לכם דיש את בציר ובציר ישיג את זרע וגו' ונתתי שלום בארץ וגו' וחרב לא תעבר בארצכם ורדפתם את איביכם ונפלו לפניכם לחרב וגו' ופניתי אליכם והפרתי אתכם וגו' (כו: ג-ט).
If you will go in My statutes and safeguard My commandments and perform them… the land will give forth its yield and the trees of the field will give forth their produce. And the threshing season will last until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will last until the sowing season… and I shall place peace in the land… and a sword shall not pass through your land. And you shall pursue your enemies and they shall fall before you by the sword… and I shall turn toward you and make you fruitful…
There are many questions to ask about this passage; at this time, let us focus on four of them. 1) What is the meaning of “going” in Hashem’s statutes? 2) To echo R. Shimon’s famous protestation*, what sort of blessing is a promise for unending involvement with care for the crops – what time is left for spiritual pursuits?! 3) As the Alshich asks, if no “sword shall pass through the land,” who, then, are the enemies that “shall fall before you?” (He suggests that the word לפניכם in this context means not “in front of you,” rather “before you,” i.e., before they enter your land.) 4) Why לחרב and not בחרב?
To resolve these observations, let us offer three explanations for the phrase ונתתי שלום בארץ. One is that there will be peace amongst Jews. As a result, they will triumph over their enemies. As the Midrash Eichah** relates, someone presented a shattered mortar to a tailor, requesting that he mend it. He responded with a fistful of sand, offering that if the petitioner could spin thread from it, he would use it to mend the mortar. As the Yefeh Anaf explains, the broken mortar is a metaphor for the dysfunctional state of the exiled Jewish People; the threads spun of sand – for the bonds of unity. It is only through unity that Israel has hope for its national rejuvenation. Similarly, as the Yerushalmi*** teaches, the generation of Achav, despite its wickedness, was successful in battle thanks to the harmony that prevailed in it.
Thus, through the internal peace, ונפלו אויביכם לפניכם בחרב, your enemies will fall “in your stead,” in the sense that a wicked person can be substituted for punishment in lieu of a meritorious one. בחרב, that is, enmity is itself a sword to drive through another. The enemies will fall due to the lack of such enmity amongst Israel.
A second explanation is along the lines of my earlier rendition of עזב תעזב****. Through your abandonment of ill will against your fellow (עזב), he will respond in kind (תעזב). The same can be said about ואהבת לרעך כמוך – ואהבת לרעך, if your love your fellow, creating a circuit of love between yourselves, כמוך – he too will channel such love towards you. Here as well: ונתתי שלום בארץ, if you take the first step and generate affection for your enemy, ונפלו אויביכם לפניכם לחרב, he will drop his contentiousness towards you, switching from a חר"ב into a חב"ר, a friend. Thus, the preferred use of ל-חרב, to allude to this conversion.
The third explanation stems from a talmudic statement that so long as there is rebuke in the world, there is blessing in the world and evil departs from it*****. In order to understand the meaning of this, let us bring in another verse, טוב וישר ה' על כן יורה חטאים בדרך, Hashem is good and upright, therefore He guides sinners on the way******. As the Arizal taught, Hashem’s two modes of interaction with the world, Mercy and Judgement, are symbolized, respectively, by a direct line and a reflected one. When Hashem’s relationship with Israel is positive, the flow of blessing that He provides them is delivered in a direct and generous fashion – hence a straight line. Yet when that relationship is strained, Hashem turns away from His people, so to speak, dispatching the flow in an indirect, backhanded manner – like a reflection of sorts.
Being that Hashem, in His infinite love for the Jewish People, desires to provide them with His complete beneficence, He encourages them to return to Him when they have sinned. Repentance turns the wayward Israel back towards Him, allowing Him to follow suit and turn towards them, completing the spiritual circuit that allows the uninhibited flow of Divine blessing. This is the meaning of the above: טוב וישר ה', since Hashem is magnanimous (טוב) and desires to provide a direct flow (ישר), על כן יורה חטאים בדרך, he directs them on the path of Teshuvah so as to position them for it.
This, then, may be a reading of our opening verses. אם בחקתי תלכו, If you move to position yourselves correctly, facing Hashem, through repentance, ופניתי אליכם, I will respond in kind and face you, and, consequently, והפריתי אתכם, I will make you fruitful through the direct flow.
This is the meaning of the aforementioned extolment of rebuke. By rebuking sinners one can move them to repentance and set in motion the above process, allowing blessing to flow through the world. As the verse says, ונתתי שלום בארץ. שלום is a name of Hashem’s. Whether it is absent or present in the world hinges on the current relationship between Him and the Jewish People. Therefore, by undergoing the above, one brings His Name into the world.
_________________________________________________* Berachos 35b** 1:8
*** Pe’ah 1:1. **** Shemos 23:5. ***** Tamid 28a.
****** Tehillim 25:8.