Leviticus - Cycle One - 2603-2734 - BeChuko-Thai

BeChuko-Thai, in a fascinating way, catapults us towards divine consciousness. We can be horrified by this portion if we choose. Or, we can let ourselves fly towards that which we fear most; the unknown. Soon, we can begin to see the lines as the frame. Having found the frame, we can begin to see Leviticus as one photograph, the vibrant colors of our hearts there for us to discern.

First, let’s talk about the lines. What we have is good boy bad boy narrative. If we are good we get rain at the right time, our fill of food, victory (your enemies will fall before your sword), peace, fertility and abundance, in that order. There’s expansion here, from within our bellies to our nations, to our souls, openings on many levels.

Unfortunately, if we are bad the openings get shut down. First, there’s a block on an emotional level, anxiety, depression, hopelessness. Then famine. We will get skies like iron and land like brass, destruction caused by war. Moving outward, there will be vengeance, enemy occupation, wild beasts, the killing of our children and greed so we can not satiate ourselves. We will be dragged so far from our center that we will lose all integrity. We will eat the flesh of our sons and daughters. God will break our altars and destroy our idols.

Then, we receive a cycle of healing. To enable this, however, the punishments first must cycle back towards our emotions. Indifference and insecurity will cause the land to grow fallow. The land will take a turn and prosper. Therefore, while we are in exile, God will remember the covenant with the original ancestors. He will not destroy us.

If you look closely, the rewards balance the punishments. All rewards are punishments in reverse. One creates expansion, the other contraction. There’s emotional contentment/anxiety, fertility/starvation, peace/ war, victory/defeat, integrity/shame, all moving within the realm of human consciousness with the same vibrations. Even if the outcomes are flipped, they create the same scenarios.

There are two big differences. First, a sevenfold increase will create a continuum of punishments, but not of rewards. Second, while the punishments reconnect at the layer of emotions, the starting place, the rewards do not reconnect. They continue expanding outward. So, evil heals itself and light moves to an even finer light, closer and closer to God. What’s important is that expansion (reward) only happens in rhythm, tone and relation to self regeneration and the healing cycle of evil (punishment). One grounds the other, gives it substance, enables it to exist, and thereby enables all transformation.

But, if the goal of Torah is divine consciousness (and it is) we’re not going to get there by simply clinging to transformation. We need darkness and the sevenfold punishments as much as the seven sefirot, the jubilee We also need to get down to business. In the end, it’s all equal; the evil, the good and the seeming banality of the practical. In fact, everything that is taboo is holy of holies to God. There’s an interdependency from decree to decree, portion to portion, moment to moment, layer to layer. It’s where the white space hits the frame, where we find the photo of Leviticus, the final print, so much detail, our hearts exposed. May we always be able to let go of fear. May we always be able to know the beauty of Leviticus as it awakens us to God’s love, to the priests in ourselves.

*-- Chava Lion