When two parshiyos are read together, it implies that they share a common theme. Furthermore, this common theme should be expressed in the names of the parshiyos, being that the name of a thing alludes to its essential character. The parshiyos Behar and Bechukosai, however, seem to embody opposing themes.
Behar, “mountain,” refers to Mount Sinai. A mountain represents a person who possesses confidence, self-esteem, and who isn’t reticent about asserting themselves in their spiritual service. Bechukosai means “My statutes,” referring to the decrees of G-d which we “have no permission to think about,” but rather, must perform out of pure obedience. How do these two themes work together?
The Explanation:
True self-annihilation before G-d does not entail the loss of confidence and assertiveness. On the contrary, when a person loses their own, subjective sense of self, and identifies themselves as literal fragments of G-d, then they adopt the absoluteness and certainty of G-d Himself. Just as a servant of the king, by possessing no sense of self, is identified wholly with the king, so too the person who abandons themselves to G-d, gains the fearless confidence of G-d’s truth.
This is the form of self-annihilation alluded to in Bechukosai, which also means “engraved.” When words are engraved on a stone, the words are not a separate entity from the stone, they become part of the stone itself. In spiritual terms, this describes a relationship to G-d where the person’s obedience is not external or coerced; it is simply his nature to perform G-d’s will, because the person has so thoroughly rid themselves of their subjective selfhood and adopted G-d’s will as their own.
Thus, a person who has achieved this ideal of absorption within G-d, is also identified as “Behar,” the mountain. Because by fusing with the ultimate source of power, this person inherently embodies conviction and fortitude, not by the might of his own hand, but by virtue of reflecting the absolute truth of G-d.
This is also the meaning of the material rewards promised for observance in Bechukosai. The Torah is not suggesting that a person observe the mitzvos in order to receive this bounty. Rather, it is describing a natural process of one who has reached the level of devotion alluded to in this parshah: When a person performs the mitzvos out of a sense of total identification with G-d, then the reward also permeates his entire existence, reaching even the material sphere.
