The Blessing of God's Presence

Parshat Bechukotai 

 by Rabbi Avi Billet 

 The beginning of Parshat Bechukotai paints an image of the kind of blessing we hope to receive from God. There are three conditions for Israelites to fulfill before they can enjoy the blessing of God’s bounty: a. walk in God’s decrees, which means to labor in Torah, b. observe the commandments – to guard them in one’s heart, through remembering what we learn, and c. the actual fulfillment of mitzvos.

 The message is a very logical one. The Torah makes it clear here that when the Jewish people fulfill their end of the deal, life in the land will be incredibly blessed.

 The blessing we ask of from God is for rain, crops, and produce, in overabundance.

 We ask for peace, for no dangerous animals to threaten, and for the sword to not even pass through the land.

We pray that enemies will be easily chased away, and large numbers of them will be defeated by very small numbers of us.

We embrace the blessing of people being fertile and numerous in the land.

 We accept the blessing that the Mishkan will last in the land and not grow tired of us.

All of this culminates with the most amazing promise of, “I will make My presence felt among you. Thus I will be a God to you, and you will be a nation dedicated to Me.” (26:12)

 Some of the commentaries describe these last blessings as referring to the World to Come. Others say it is a reference to what will happen in the Land of Israel when all of the Jewish people are fulfilling their missive as Jews who observe and keep the Torah and try to do as many mitzvot as they can.

Ramban talks about God’s presence here as the introduction to the concept of the “Shechinah.” He explains that the complete presence of God will only be felt when the heavens and earth can be complete, in the way they are meant to be. He cautions that these blessings were never achieved in their entirety – not by the masses nor by an individual, because their merits never added up.

Ramban concludes his commentary on this verse with a Midrashic quote that was expanded upon by Rashi who describes the image of God “making His presence felt amongst you” as “God strolling with us in the Garden of Eden like one of us.”

Imagine such a vision. Imagine taking a stroll with God. What to say? What to do? Shoot the breeze? Ask the deepest philosophical questions? Or just bask in the glow of that moment and cherish it forever because what more do we really need?

This is the ultimate blessing.

 There are many ways for blessings to manifest themselves. They can be given from humans to humans. They can be given from God to humans. People can feel blessed – by God or by the good turns their lives take. 

We can also be blessed to acknowledge God at all times, to be the ones to give blessings to others (as well as receive from others) and we can aim to see the blessing that Avraham received fulfilled in us – when he was first told to branch out on his own and make his way to the land that God will show him that he should BE a blessing to all who encounter him.

What an amazing life we would be living if we could only merit to be a blessing to all we encounter. And who knows? Perhaps if we lived life in such a way, we could merit to not have to wait for the Garden of Eden experience for God to be so closely among us. Perhaps we can achieve the “completeness” Ramban referred to, and thereby merit all the blessings of Parshat Bechukotai.