My take on "My very Being shall not loathe you" (Vayikra 26:3), which seems so incongruous in a series of blessings, is that it is introduced as a kind of foreshadowing of the curses that follow this section. Kind of like a dissonant musical chord that puts the hearer on notice of disturbing sounds to come. BTW, I appreciate your serious use of Wessely's perush -- he deserves to be paid more attention.
The whole idea of a conditional halachic bond is brought to light in this week’s Parshah and makes me ponder.
We aren’t supposed to disobey God, but we are unconditionally accepted. It’s possible to obey a Monarch and despise him, but that’s not the kind of covenant we have with God. True closeness cannot be conditional but also cannot be intentionally broken and retained.
My take on "My very Being shall not loathe you" (Vayikra 26:3), which seems so incongruous in a series of blessings, is that it is introduced as a kind of foreshadowing of the curses that follow this section. Kind of like a dissonant musical chord that puts the hearer on notice of disturbing sounds to come. BTW, I appreciate your serious use of Wessely's perush -- he deserves to be paid more attention.
That's an aesthetically beautiful explanation! And yeah, Wessely is FANTASTIC! I only just started getting into his commentary.
The whole idea of a conditional halachic bond is brought to light in this week’s Parshah and makes me ponder.
We aren’t supposed to disobey God, but we are unconditionally accepted. It’s possible to obey a Monarch and despise him, but that’s not the kind of covenant we have with God. True closeness cannot be conditional but also cannot be intentionally broken and retained.
That’s what I get from it.