My List
Your list is waiting
Add Torah lessons you want to reflect on, revisit, or binge later.
In this week's parsha, the Torah presents a stark choice: follow God and live, or abandon Him and die. Does this just reinforce God as a terrifying deity, or is there something more here?
It reminds us of one of the most catastrophic moments in the Torah: man’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The simplicity of life, the plentiful fruit, the chance to be close to God – all taken away, just like that. If only there were some way to get that back, to have a chance at that blissful existence and that closeness with God, once more.
Well, what if there was?
In Parshat Bechukotai, the Torah seems to deliberately drop hints that hearken back to the Garden. Clue after clue points us to a path to recreate that idyllic experience – and it all seems to rest upon keeping one specific commandment. That was a clue, by the way.
Through an analysis of language and a comparison to the Garden of Eden, Rabbi Fohrman shows us how "choosing life" will show us the way to cling to God. Watch this video and discover the path back to the Garden of Eden.