Eliza Salzberg
This week’s Torah portion is Behar-Bechukotai: Leviticus 25:1 — 27:34
This week’s parsha is Behar-Bechukotai. I’m going to focus on Bechukotai, which begins with blessings — peace in the land, stability and rain at the right time. But then it shifts into a long section describing consequences if the people don’t live up to their responsibilities. And it’s noticeably longer than the section about blessings.
When I first learned that, I wondered why the Torah would spend more time on the punishments than the rewards. Shouldn’t it focus more on the positive?
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it’s probably not being dramatic. It’s about responsibility. The Torah spends more time on the consequences because it wants to make sure we understand that what we do actually matters.
The blessings are short because they’re pretty simple. When people are nice and fair, things stay good. It’s not hard to explain. But the punishments are long because when things start to break, it’s like a chain reaction. It’s a mess and it’s hard to fix. I think the Torah gives the “bad” parts more space because it wants to show that our choices actually matter. It’s easy to be a good person when everything is fine, but the real test is how you act when things are falling apart.
One example that really stood out to me is a verse about people “stumbling over one another.” In Leviticus 26:37 it says, “With no one pursuing, they shall stumble over one another.” The Gemara explains that this actually means we stumble because of each other’s mistakes. It sounds kind of unfair at first — why should I get in trouble for something my friend did?
But the Gemara in Sanhedrin 27B says that if we have the power to protest or say “hey, that’s not right,” and we just stay quiet, then we are partially responsible. It’s like seeing someone get bullied or seeing a friend do something they shouldn’t; if you just stand there and watch, you’re letting it happen. This teaches us that being a good person isn’t just about doing the right thing yourself — it’s about having the bravery and courage to speak up for what’s right in your community. Even if it’s awkward or hard, we’re all in this together, and looking out for each other is what keeps us all on the right track.
This idea of “stumbling because of each other” in Rashi’s eyes explains more deeply what it means to be a community. Rashi says that when the Torah says we will run “as if before a sword,” it’s describing a feeling of being constantly anxious or jumpy, even when no one is actually chasing us. This happens because when a community stops caring or even looking out for one another, everyone starts to feel alone and unsupported. The Midrash teaches that “all Israelites are responsible for one another,” which means we aren’t just a group of individuals who happen to be living near each other; we are like dominoes — if one of us goes toppling, the rest of us will fall, too. If I see a friend heading in the wrong direction and I don’t say anything, I’m not just minding my own business, I’m letting my friend down, which could have an effect on our community. We are held responsible for each other because we have the power to keep each other feeling supported and included.
Speaking up is about making sure our community is a place where we can all walk tall and feel safe, instead of stumbling because we stopped caring about what happens to the person standing next to us. Belonging doesn’t just happen. We build it by showing up, listening and being respectful.
Eliza Salzberg is a seventh-grade student at Krieger Schechter Day School.
