Glossary of Terms Used in the BeHukotai Weekly Torah Portion

Reward

A reward is what we all want. One cannot give others something they do not want. A “reward” is the object of our desires. It is moving toward our destination. We cannot be elsewhere because we are correcting the desire, so the move itself is the reward, as it is written, “The reward of a Mitzva (commandment)—Mitzva.”¹ The reward of a Mitzva is to know the Metzaveh (commander). To know means to connect, as it is written, “And Adam knew his wife again” (Genesis, 4:25).

Punishment

“Punishment” is the opposite of reward. It is what no one wants or likes. It is a degree where we understand that our progress is rewarded, and the opposite of that is punishment. Reward and punishment are not egoistic, where a person does something and receives the reward elsewhere.

Fear

“Fear” means being afraid of failing to correct. Everything happens due to our efforts and our request of the light that reforms to come and correct us. It is possible that we did not work sufficiently in order to draw it.