End of story – B’chukkotai
With this sidra we come to the end of Vayyikra, the third book of the Torah.
Revelation at Sinai, painting by Zely Smekhov
The final words are a fitting peroration: “These are the mitzvot which the Lord commanded Moses to convey to the Children of Israel on Mount Sinai” (Lev. 27:34).
It’s not that the Children of Israel were on Mount Sinai, but Sinai was the source of the commandments.
In the Talmud (Shabbat 104a) this sentence is given a solemn implication. In case you thought that the panoply of commandments was unimportant and ephemeral, you should know that they are eternal, immortal and authoritative. Just as the Ten Commandments came from Sinai so did every other mitzvah.
It’s not your task to decide what is major and what is minor. It’s not up to you to choose what part of Judaism really matters. The laws of the Torah are one integrated body of principles.
