בס”ד

Parshat Bechukotai – Blessings

This week’s Torah reading has a long list of 48 curses. However, G-d is the source of blessings: Why would He curse? When a person digs deep into them, you find hidden blessings. Based on Likkutei Sichot, vol. 1, p. 283

Parashat Bechukotai: When Curses Are Really Hidden Blessings

One of this week’s Torah readings, Bechukotai, contains a long and difficult section describing 48 “curses” that would befall the Jewish people if they stray from their covenant after entering the Land of Israel. At first glance, the passage is deeply troubling. It appears to describe suffering, exile, and destruction—events that, historically, were tragically fulfilled with the destruction of the First Temple.

This raises a fundamental question: what does it even mean to say that G-d “curses” people?

If G-d is the source of all blessing, how can we speak of curses coming from Him at all? One might respond that life operates on a system of reward and punishment: when people act rightly, they are rewarded; when they act wrongly, they are punished. But even this framework feels incomplete. It still leaves us with the troubling idea of divine “curses,” which seems incompatible with the nature of a benevolent, infinite G-d.

Hidden Blessings Within What Looks Like Curses

A deeper perspective offered in Jewish thought suggests that what appear to be curses are, in truth, concealed blessings. The challenge is that these blessings are so profound and elevated that when they descend into the physical world, they are perceived as suffering or loss.

The Story of Rabbi Shimon and His Son

This idea is beautifully illustrated in a story from the Talmud involving Rabbi Shimon and his son, Rabbi Elazar. Rabbi Shimon sent his son to two sages to receive blessings. Instead of offering conventional blessings, the sages gave him a series of seemingly troubling statements:

Hearing this, Rabbi Elazar returned to his father frightened, interpreting the words as curses. But Rabbi Shimon explained that each statement was, in fact, a profound blessing.

Rabbi Shimon’s Interpretation of the “Curses”

Rabbi Shimon revealed a completely different layer of meaning:

What sounded like devastation was actually a description of life, continuity, and blessing.

Challenges as Hidden Opportunities

The deeper message is that challenges and hardships in life are not meaningless punishments. Rather, they are opportunities that draw out a person’s hidden potential. Without growth, stagnation is not neutrality—it is decline. Since G-d is infinite, human beings are always capable of moving closer to Him. If we are not growing, we are, in a sense, moving away from that potential closeness.

Seeing the Deeper Reality

From this perspective, even the “curses” in Bechukotai can be understood as forces that push a person—and a nation—toward transformation, growth, and deeper alignment with their purpose.

Rabbi Shimon, who is traditionally associated with the mystical dimension of Torah, is uniquely portrayed as someone who can perceive the spiritual reality hidden within the physical world. What appears painful on the surface is revealed, in its deeper root, to be an expression of divine kindness.

Conclusion: From Hidden to Revealed Good

Jewish mystical thought teaches that reality is not always what it seems. What we perceive as suffering may, in fact, be a hidden form of blessing. The ultimate hope is that in the time of redemption, this hiddenness will be removed, and we will clearly perceive how everything—even hardship—is rooted in divine goodness..

Talk from Rabbi Tuvia Serber


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