A Covenental Partnership

 

Parashiot Behar-Bechukotai, 5770

R. Yaakov Bieler

 

                The basis for the custom to read the verses of rebuke in Parshiot Bechukotai (VaYikra 26:14-41) and Ki Tavo (Devarim 28:15-53) quickly and at a lower volume level[1] is not difficult to understand. Such dread is elicited by imagining these events coming true that the Tora reader as well as the congregation do not wish to dwell on such possibilities.[2] Furthermore, Halachic literature reflects concern that the individual in charge of distributing the honors during the prayer service and/or the Tora reader might have ulterior motives when it comes to picking the individual who is called up to the Tora for the readings of the rebukes.[3]

 

                The visceral discomfiture with the verses of Tochecha probably also accounts to some extent for comments on the part of Rabbinic literature as well as later commentaries that appear to downplay the extent of the Divine “Curses”:

 

Midrash Tanchuma, Parashat Re’eh (on Devarim 11:26)

“See today I have Placed before you a blessing and a curse”—I, Who Chose Goodness…In order for people not to say that when Moshe came to bless us,[4] he blessed us in a limited fashion, and when he came to curse us, he cursed us very extensively. How (would such an impression be arrived at)? The curses in VaYikra are (contained in) twenty nine verses, the blessings in eleven.

Said R. Shmuel: Whomever studies them carefully finds that the blessings are greater than the curses.

 

ספר חסידים (מרגליות) סימן תשסז

למה בתוכחה יותר תיבות ממה שבברכות לפי שאדם יותר יעשה בשביל שמתירא ממדת הדין שלא יבא עליו פורעניות ממה שמבטיחו לטובה, כשהמושל יאמר לאדם תעשה אותו דבר בשבילי ואני אעשה לך טובה כך וכך פעמים שלא יחוש כל כך אבל אם יאמר לו כך אם לא תעשה אותו דבר אני אעשה לך רעה ומגזם לו מיד יעשה כמו כן בכאן לכך יתירה התוכחה מן הברכה.


[1] Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, writing in “The Foundation Stone Blog”  (http://thefoundationstone.org/en/bible/parsha-portion-of-the-week/3214-the-shelah-hakodesh-the-tochacha.html   ) notes the following about this practice:

…It is the custom to read the tocheichah in a low voice so as not to cause distress or embarrassment to the congregation, but I have found no early basis for this custom. Rabbi Joseph Karo does not mention it in his Shulchan Aruch nor is a source cited by any of his commentators. The Magen Avraham, Pri Chadash and Be'er Heteiv cite such a custom (reading a portion of the Torah in a low voice) in the name of the Knesset Hagdolah but only in regard to the reading of the story of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32) and the reading of the section which begins "The people took to complaining bitterly...." (Numbers 11), not as to the reading of the tocheichah.

I did find one allusion to this custom in a relatively late source: Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried (19th century), who himself seemed to have been a Torah reader, wrote in his Kitzur Shulchan Aruch that "... the admonitions in Parashat Bechukotay and in Parashat Ki Tavo are also read in a low voice..." (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 78, 4). I am grateful to Professor D. Sperber for having pointed out to me, at the time this article was submitted for publication, that Rabbi Yosef Yozpa Shamash ("beadle") mentioned this custom in his book "Minhagim Dekehillat Kodesh Wormeiza." His notes written in the 17th century say: "He reads the admonitions (tocheichot) in a low voice..." (Volume 1, Jerusalem, 1988, p.102).

Possibly there is some early hint of this custom in the words of Rashi. The Talmud tells us that "Levi bar Buti once read the curses (arurei) haltingly (megamgem) before Rav Huna" (Megillah 31b). The reference here is to the admonitions beginning with the word "arur" (cursed be...) in Deuteronomy. Rashi there explains the word "haltingly" as "Swiftly, in a running fashion (Hebrew - b'merutzah) and with difficulty". There are indeed some communities which read the tocheichot without pause, but what did Rashi mean by the words "with difficulty"? Could this be a hint that the reading was done in a low voice as well?...

[2] R. Joseph Lookstein, Z”L, used to famously say that in his view, these Tora sections should be read that much more loudly and slowly in order to fully impress upon those present how important it was that they avoid those actions that might, Chas VeShalom, trigger Divine Wrath.  Despite his suggestion making good sense, the opposite custom has prevailed.

[3] See, e.g., Shulchan Aruch, Orech Chaim 53:19 RaMA and Mishna Berura #58; Ibid., 428:6 and Mishna Berura #17. Beiur Halacha on 428:6, d.h. BaPesukim SheLifnaihem, severely criticizes the custom in certain places to simply skip the public Tora readings for these Parashiot due to the refusal on the part of everyone in the community to accept these Aliyot due to the fear that it would be tempting fate to have such readings associated with them personally! 

[4] Moshe’s curses and blessings is a reference to the Tochecha in Devarim, in contradistinction to the Curses and Blessings of God, i.e., the verses in VaYikra. The Midrash appears to make the same assumption discussed by Abrabanel in his introduction to Devarim, when, by taking Devarim 1:1, 5 quite literally, (“These are the words that Moshe spoke to all of Israel…” “On the other side of the Jordan in the land of Moav, Moshe began to explicate this Tora saying…”) the commentator insists that Moshe’s words to the Jewish people found in this book (as opposed to the passages that describe actions undertaken by God and Moshe) are Moshe’s own and did not constitute a Divine Script that he merely followed. Consequently, the blessings and curses appearing in Ki Tavo as well as elsewhere in Devarim, were Moshe’s own formulations.