208 Torah Book & Portion, Book of Leviticus, Bechukotai (Leviticus 26:3-27:34), Source Book Keys, AMJV LEVITICUS | 26:6 peace — LEV1114 When God promises the Jewish people wealt... LEV1114 When God promises the Jewish people wealth, but also peace, as a reward for keeping the commandments, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer (1815-1872) comments that when most societies become wealthy, like most countries in the twenty-first century who have achieved great wealth in comparison to previous generations, nevertheless, there will always be some people who have more wealth than others. This will naturally lead to jealousy and greed to accumulate more, even from people who have "enough" to live a very good and comfortable life. Thus, God's promise to the Jewish people is that if they keep all of the commandments, God will create a wealthy society that will have peace as well, i.e., a life without jealousy and greed [Leviticus 29:3-6 with Ktav Sofer commentary]. King Solomon, who was vastly wealthy, understood that a good name is a far more important achievement in life than "goodwill," or great wealth (Ecclesiastes 7:1). This has been shown to be true for those in the Jewish and non-Jewish communities, like Bernie Madoff and others who have been caught swindling other people or the government, and have permanently lost their good names, their most valuable asset. Share Print Source KeyAMJVVerse26:6Keyword(s)peaceSource Page(s)336 Switch article LEVITICUS | 26:4 grant — LEV1113 See [[LEV261]] Leviticus 18:25 vomit AMEM... Previous Article LEVITICUS | 26:8 chase — LEV1115 Derech eretz can be defined as a type of ... Next Article