לקוטי שיחות חלק ב׳ - כי תבוא ב

Likkutei Sichos Vol. 2 – Ki Savo 2 – The Role of the Sefer Torah in Jewish Life

2. Before Rosh Hashanah, as well as before Shavuos, we read the Tochachah (rebuke). Before Shavuos, we read Parshas Bechukosai, and before Rosh Hashanah, we read Parshas Ki Savo. However, after these sections, we read another parsha: before Shavuos, Parshas Bamidbar, and sometimes also Parshas Naso; and before Rosh Hashanah, Parshas Nitzavim, and sometimes also Parshas Vayelech, in order to create a separation between the rebuke and the festival. The reason for this is that the rebuke is not, G‑d forbid, a matter of punishments, but rather a matter of purifying and refining the vessel. Therefore, we read it before Shavuos and Rosh Hashanah, because just as in the physical realm, before placing something very precious and important into a vessel, one must first wash the vessel, "to finish with the curses" — as the Talmud puts it. Similarly, in the spiritual realm, before the revelations of the Giving of the Torah and the revelations of Rosh Hashanah, when each Rosh Hashanah draws down a new extension that has never existed before — meaning that even during the time when the Beis Hamikdash stood, such an extension did not exist — in order to receive this extension, there must first be the purification of the vessel.

This means that despite the fact that, for a short while at least, these are afflictions, and especially for a prince, and moreover an only son (since all Jews are the only children of the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He), even if it is just a small thing that is not as it should be, he cannot bear it (and therefore we interrupt with another parsha, as mentioned above). Nevertheless, it is worthwhile for our Father, the Merciful Father, and even for the Father of Mercies, that for a brief moment things should not be as they should be, because of the precious thing that He will give.

3. The difference between the rebuke in Parshas Bechukosai, which is read before Shavuos, and the rebuke in Parshas Ki Savo, which is read before Rosh Hashanah, is that in the rebuke of Parshas Bechukosai, there are forty-nine curses, while in Parshas Ki Savo, there are twice as many.