Bechukotai
Heavenly and Hellish Consciousness
Adapted from Rabbi Shefa Gold
Parashat Bechukotai seems to offer the Israelites a loving promise and a
frightening threat. If you follow all of God's commandments, you will have
economic abundance, political security, and awareness of the divine
presence. If you don't follow the
commandments, God will turn away, leaving you anxious, frightened, starving,
and decimated by enemy attack.
Only after you are truly humbled by your suffering will God's presence
return.
These two possible outcomes
can be understood as two different states of consciousness. Each of these states offers a different
way of experiencing life's gifts and challenges.
In the first,
"heavenly" state of consciousness, we notice the miraculous change of
the seasons, really taste the fruit of each moment, and are grateful for life's
abundance. We are not ruled by
fear, and so whatever enemy or obstacle we encounter does not feel overwhelming
to us. We sense spaciousness and
possibility.
In the second,
"hellish" state of consciousness, it seems that God and everyone are
against us. We are obsessed with
what we lack and with what's wrong.
We are ruled by fear, and every challenge we face feels impossible. Life itself feels like enemy territory,
and even the "sound of a driven leaf" will frighten us and send us
running.
The blessing of Bechukotai comes as we begin to recognize these two states in
our own experience. When we seem
lost, we can learn to remember the grace that is offered to us, and find a path
that leads us home.
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