׳׳אם בחוקתי תלכו ואת מצותי תשמרו ועשיתם אתם. ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם ונתנה הארץ יבולה ועץ השדה יתן פריו׳׳
ויקרא כו,ג-ד
“If My decrees you shall follow and My commandments you shall keep and perform them, then I will send down the rains in their proper time and the land shall give forth its produce and the tree of the field shall bear its fruit.” Vayikra 26:3-4

This is it. This is the cure. It is not a new discovery. It is something that we have had at our disposal all along. Rashi explains that the words ׳׳אם בחוקתי תלכו׳׳ are referring to our responsibility to toil in Torah learning, for the purpose of performing and maintaining the mitzvos ׳׳ואת מצותי תשמרו׳׳ – . Hashem is telling us that if we toil in His Torah and keep His mitzvos, He will shower us with blessing. The first blessing mentioned in the Parsha that we are to receive as a result of our efforts, is the blessing of rainfall. The Ramban explains that the reason why the blessing of rain is the primary blessing in the Parsha is because rain, when it falls in its proper time, clears the air and causes the springs and rivers to flow which in turn causes bodily healing and promotes healthy living. The rain as well causes the fruit to grow aplenty, as the pasuk ends off, ׳׳ונתנה הארץ יבולה ועץ השדה יתן פריו׳׳.

The Ramban says that the blessing of rain in its proper time prevents illness – “With this rain people will not get sick and there shall be no barren woman in our midst. We shall live out our days as our bodies will be big and strong which shall allow for our endurance.” The ברכה of rain, says the Ramban, is the biggest blessing of them all.

How do we merit this special bracha, which is the source of tremendous healing? Rashi has already given us the key – ׳׳אם בחוקתי תלכו׳׳ . If we are עמל בתורה – if we toil in Torah as if our lives literally depend on it – (which, by the way, they do) then Hashem will grant us the rain in its proper time to wash away our illness and invigorate us with the power to begin anew.

This is our positive encouragement to throw ourselves into Torah. But we must as well be aware of the תוכחה ; the Admonition, which makes up the bulk of the Parsha. Rashi says that the punishments described in the תוכחה are the result of our lack of toil in Torah. The גר׳׳א explains, that because Hashem so badly wants for us to learn his Torah, He has therefore made the alternative so horrible and unthinkable. We don’t want to have to endure the terrors of the תוכחה. We have a promise from Hashem that if we toil in the Torah day and night we shall receive the ברכות of ׳׳ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם׳׳ and be healed. The decision is ours to make.

Moshe Rothenberg / MMHK