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God’s ‘Rebuke’ in This Week’s Torah Portion
A Torah scroll. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
A major part of the double Torah portion we read this week (which ends the Book of Vayikra) is what is called the Tochecha, which translates as “the rebuke.”
Here are some selections from Chapter 26.
If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments, I will grant your rains in their season, so that the earth shall yield its produce …you shall eat your fill of bread … I will grant peace in the land … You shall give chase to your enemies … I will be ever present in your midst. I will be your God, and you shall be My people.
But if you disobey Me and remain hostile to Me, I will send misery and diseases … and discipline you sevenfold for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons and your daughters … I will lay your cities in ruin and make your sanctuaries desolate, I will make the land desolate, so that your enemies will settle in it … And I will scatter you among the nations, and Your land shall become a desolation and your cities a ruin.
In some synagogues, the custom is to read it very quickly in a soft tone — as if to tiptoe through the painful stuff, as quickly as possible.
On the one hand, it seems so out of touch with the way we think today. Life rarely works out so simply — and we are often not rewarded or penalized in the name of true justice. And yet, it is surprising how accurate it has been in describing the rise and the fall of the Jewish people.
One way of looking at this is to say that thanks to archaeology and the large amount of information that we have accumulated over the years about the culture, language, and literature of Mesopotamia, we can see how this sort of blessing and curse — promise and threat — was universal.
Whenever monarchs came to power, they would open their reign with a demand for loyalty. In exchange, they would promise protection, wealth, health, happiness, safe borders, and all good things that the monarch was committed to providing. At the same time, they would warn the people that if they betrayed the monarch, they would suffer from invasion, death, slavery, sickness, and oppression. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. But it was a way of keeping the people in line.
This part of the Torah is another example of how external culture and attitudes provide a background to the Torah. Everybody at that time would have expected promises from rulers, while as we now know, politicians often do not keep them.
But there’s another way of looking at this — perhaps more psychologically. Perhaps we should read these Biblical formal declarations as words of promise and rebuke intertwined. Designed to give us a feeling that there is some power we can feel that cares about us — who wants to help us, but also wants to prevent us from going off track and making the wrong decisions. And it’s this push and pull that we needed in ancient times — and today.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
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Putin Speaks to Trump, Condemns Israel’s Strikes on Iran, Kremlin Says
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian meet in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to US President Donald Trump for 50 minutes on Saturday, condemning the Israeli military operation against Iran and expressing concern about the risks of escalation, the Kremlin said.
“Vladimir Putin condemned Israel’s military operation against Iran and expressed serious concern about a possible escalation of the conflict, which would have unpredictable consequences for the entire situation in the Middle East,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Trump, for his part, described events in the Middle East as “very alarming,” according to Ushakov. But the two leaders said they do not rule out a return to the negotiating track on Iran’s nuclear program, Ushakov said.
On Ukraine, Putin told the US leader that Russia was ready to continue negotiations with the Ukrainians after June 22, according to state news agency RIA.
Trump reiterated his interest in a speedy resolution to the conflict, the Kremlin aide said.
Putin also congratulated Trump on his 79th birthday.
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Sunday’s US-Iran Nuclear Talks Cancelled, Oman Says
FILE PHOTO: Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi attends a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia July 11, 2023. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
The latest round of US-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Muscat will not take place, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on X on Saturday. Oman has been mediating the talks.
Albusaidi’s statement came a day after Israel launched a sweeping air offensive against Iran, killing commanders and scientists and bombing nuclear sites in a stated bid to stop it building an atomic weapon.
A senior official of US President Donald Trump’s administration, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Sunday’s talks had been cancelled.
Washington, however, remained committed to the negotiations and hoped “the Iranians will come to the table soon,” the official said.
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Iran Says Talks with US ‘Meaningless’ After Israel Attack, But Yet to Decide on Attending
USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, Sept. 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Iran said the dialogue with the US over Tehran’s nuclear program is “meaningless” after Israel’s biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy, but said it is yet to decide on whether to attend planned talks on Sunday.
“The other side (the US) acted in a way that makes dialogue meaningless. You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iran’s territory,” state media on Saturday quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.
“It is still unclear what decision we will make on Sunday in this regard,” Baghaei was quoted as saying.
He said Israel “succeeded in influencing” the diplomatic process and the Israeli attack would not have happened without Washington’s permission, accusing Washington of supporting the attack.
Iran earlier accused the US of being complicit in Israel’s attacks, but Washington denied the allegation and told Tehran at the United Nations Security Council that it would be “wise” to negotiate over its nuclear program.
The sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks was set to be held on Sunday in Muscat, but it was unclear whether it would go ahead after the Israeli strikes.
Iran denies that its uranium enrichment program is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons.
US President Donald Trump told Reuters that he and his team had known the Israeli attacks were coming but they still saw room for an accord.
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