 MAY 14 • 2020 | 29

W

hat kind of world 
will exist “at the end 
of the days,
” the peri-
od of the Messiah and human 
redemption? 
The opening of the 
Torah portion harkens the 
messianic dream, the goal 
of human history. God 
promises the Israelites 
that if they maintain His 
laws and commandments, 
their physical needs will 
be taken care of. “I will 
cause evil beasts to cease 
(v’
hishbati) from the land; 
neither shall the sword go 
through your land.
”
How are we to 
understand “cause to 
cease”? Rabbi Yehuda 
defines v’
hishbati as God causing 
these “evil beasts” to disappear 
from the world, that God will 
destroy them. However, Rabbi 
Shimon interprets the word to 
mean that God will cause their 
evil nature to be destroyed.
How does Judaism deal with 
the problem of evil in the world? 
Is it an objective force which 
must be destroyed, or can even 
evil be uplifted and redeemed if 
we perceive the positive essence 
of every aspect of creation 
and utilize it for good? Rabbi 
Shimon truly believes that the 
task of the individual is to sanc-
tify everything; he maintains vir-
tually everything can be brought 
within the domain of the sacred. 
On the other hand, Rabbi 
Yehuda is not so optimistic 
and recognizes evil. Hence he 
emphasizes the biblical com-
mand “and you shall burn out 
the evil from their midst.
”
The period between Passover 
and Shavuot is the count of 
days between the physical 
and incomplete redemption 

of the broken matzah and our 
advancement to the spiritual, 
all-embracing redemption of 
the Torah we received at Sinai. 
The cĥametz (leavening) is the 
symbol of raw emotions 
and physical instincts; 
it “ceases to exist” by 
destruction on Passover.
On Shavuot, however, 
it will be sanctified. What 
was evil seven weeks ago 
has now been redeemed. 
If anything, Shavuot is 
a manifestation of the 
redemption of evil, of our 
vision of the possibility of 
dedicating every aspect of 
our existence to God.
Rabbi Yehuda insists 
on a time when all that is 
evil will be obliterated from the 
Earth; Rabbi Shimon maintains 
the fundamental nature of the 
world will not change, wild ani-
mals will still roam the forests, 
but their force and vigor will be 
utilized positively.
Rabbi Yehuda sees the millen-
nium as devoid of Amalek, the 
nation bent on the destruction 
of Israel; our Bible commands 
us to “destroy the memory of 
Amalek.
” Perhaps Rabbi Shimon 
would see the millennium as 
being devoid of the memory of 
the ancient Amalek, for Amalek 
at that time will repent and con-
vert to Judaism.
Does our Talmud not record 
that the grandchildren of 
Haman (the Amalekite) taught 
Torah in Bnei Brak? I pray for 
the vision of Rabbi Shimon and 
for the sanctification of every 
aspect of our lives and our 
nature. 

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is chancellor of Ohr 

Torah Stone and chief rabbi of Efrat, 

Israel.

Parshat 

Behar/

Bechukotai: 

Leviticus 

25:1-27:34; 

Jeremiah 

16:19-17:14.

Rabbi Shlomo 
Riskin

Spirit
torah portion

A Brave New World?
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