Shalom: The Purpose of The Entire Torah

Parashat Bechukotai 5776, 2016:
Shalom: The Purpose of the Entire Torah

Rabbi David Etengoff
Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-inlaw, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat
Menachem, Chaim Mordechai Hakohen ben Natan Yitzchak, Yehonatan Binyamin ben
Mordechai Meir Halevi, Avraham Yechezkel ben Yaakov Halevy, HaRav Yosef Shemuel ben
HaRav Reuven Aharon, David ben Elazar Yehoshua, the refuah shlaimah of Devorah bat Chana,
and Yitzhak Akiva ben Malka, and the safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the
world.
Our parasha presents shalom (peace) as one of the greatest rewards that we will receive
when we live lives dedicated to Hashems holy Torah: And I will grant peace in the
Land, and you will lie down with no one to frighten [you] and no army will pass
through your land. (Sefer Vayikra 26:6, this and all Bible and Rashi translations, The
Judaica Press Complete Tanach) Significantly, this statement is preceded by these
pasukim (verses):
If you follow My statutes and observe My commandments and perform them, I will give
your rains in their time, the Land will yield its produce, and the tree of the field will give
forth its fruit. Your threshing will last until the vintage, and the vintage will last until the
sowing; you will eat your food to satiety, and you will live in security in your land. (26:35)
In a very real sense, this passage serves as a preamble to our pasuk, with its focus upon
the promise of a robust physical existence in our Promised Land. As such, it emphasizes
ample rain, bountiful produce, abundant fruit, vast quantities of grain, great amounts of
wine and food to satiety. At the same time, however, the phrase, and you will live in
security in your land, seems to be almost an afterthought. Therefore, the Torah utilizes
our pasuk, And I will grant peace in the Land, and you will lie down with no one to
frighten [you] and no army will pass through your land, to underscore the importance
of peace in our land. Rashi (1040-1105), basing himself on both the Talmud and Midrash,
expands upon this idea in the following fashion:
And I will grant peace: You might say, Here is food, and here is drink, but if there is
no peace, there is nothing! Scripture, therefore, states, after all this [blessing], I will
grant peace in the Land. From here, [we learn] that peace is equal to everything else.
And so, [too, this is illustrated in our morning prayers,] when we say: [Blessed are You,
O L-rd] Who makes peace and creates everything [a paraphrase of the verse] (Sefer
Yeshiyahu 45:7).
In a word, Rashi is teaching us that all the bounty of the world is as naught without
shalom, since it is equal to everything else. Little wonder, then, that the word, shalom
is found over a dozen times in the Five Books of the Torah, and many hundreds of times
in the words of our Sages.
One of the clearest sources within Rabbinic literature that speaks of the ultimate import
of shalom is found in the Rambams (Maimonides, 1135-1204) Mishneh Torah:
If [a person has the opportunity to fulfill only one of two mitzvot,] lighting a lamp for
one's home [i.e., Sabbath candles] or lighting a Chanukah lamp - or, alternatively, lighting
a lamp for ones home or reciting kiddush [over wine] - the lamp for ones home receives
priority, since it generates peace within the home (shalom bayto).
Herein, given its overarching significance, shalom bayit trumps both the lighting of the
Chanukah candles and the recitation of Kiddush that ideally should be said over a glass of
wine. Maimonides straightforward halachic presentation, however, does not complete his
discussion of shalom. Instead, and quite uncharacteristically, he poetically praises the
singular significance of peace:
[Peace is of primary importance, as reflected by the mitzvah requiring] G-ds name to be
blotted out to create peace between a husband and his wife [in the Sotah rite]. Peace is
great, for the entire Torah was given to bring about peace within the world, as [Sefer
Mishle 3:17] states: Its ways [i.e. the Torahs] are pleasant ways and all its paths are
peace. (Sefer Zemanim, Hilchot Megillah vChanukah, 4:14, translation, Rabbi Eliyahu
Touger, underlining my own)
Long ago, Iyov declared, He [G-d] makes peace in His heights. (Sefer Iyov 25:2) At
some point and time, our Sages added to Iyovs statement until we have the present-day
closing words of many recitations of the Kaddish: [May] He Who makes peace in His
heights, may He, in His compassion, make peace upon us, and upon all the Jewish
people. (Translation, The Artscroll Siddur, with my emendations) Today, in the shadow
of the Holocaust, and in the midst of an explosion of nearly universal vitriolic antiSemitic diatribe, we long for Hashems compassion and mercy, and the fulfillment of this
prayer, and our pasuk, And I will grant peace in the Land, and you will lie down with no
one to frighten [you] and no army will pass through your land. May this time come
soon and in our days. Vchane yihi ratzon.
Shabbat Shalom,
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org

They may also be found on YUTorah.org using the search criteria of Etengoff and the
parashas name.
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happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to
have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected].
*** My audio shiurim for Women on Tefilah: Haskafah and Analysis, may be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchiks English language audio shiurim (MP3
format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

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Parashat Bechukotai 5776, 2016:

Shalom: The Purpose of the Entire Torah

Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org

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