This week's parsha - Bechukotai - is known for its blessings and what appear to be the opposite of blessings. The blessings are promised by G-d for devotion to the teachings of the Torah and the opposite effects for breaching its dictates.

Immediately following these blessings and "curses" the Torah continues with the laws of erachin-evaluations. These laws allow for one to pledge to the Holy Temple fund, by offering to give one's own "value," or the value of another. The Torah then proceeds to give fixed values for people based on gender and age.

Since everything in the Torah is precise, commentators wonder why the Torah juxtaposed the blessings and "curses" with the laws of evaluations.

One explanation is that after hearing all the dire predictions for failure to adhere to the commandments, and especially after we have tragically witnessed the suffering and pain associated with exile, it could lead one to assume that they have no value. One could erroneously conclude that G-d is unhappy with who we are and regards us as absolutely worthless beings, devoid of all value.

To dispel this negative reaction to the section dealing with the blessings and the curses, the Torah continues with the laws of evaluations, which underscore that even, nay especially, with regard to the Holy Temple, G-d assigns value to everyone.

It is interesting that there is a paradoxical aspect of the laws of evaluations. On the one hand the evaluations are identical for all people of a particular gender and age, and yet, on the other hand, there are differences based on gender and age.

This raises the obvious question: If the Torah wanted us to think that we all have intrinsic value it should have given all genders and ages the same value. Why the paradoxical emphasis on equal value for all within one gender and age, while differentiating between genders and age? And what lesson can we draw from this paradox?

When we listen to diverse spiritual guides we often hear two diametrically opposing views about the status of a person who sins.

On one side we have the fire and brimstone preacher that chastises, castigates and threatens all sorts of punishment and suffering for failure to remain faithful to G-d's laws. This approach was quite common in the days before the Ba'al She Tov, the founder of the Chassidic movement.

On the other side, we have the soothing mentor who assures us that we are all basically good people and that G-d loves us unconditionally.

The Torah, in its presentation of the laws of evaluations in the context of blessings and "curses" provides a third and more nuanced and complete picture of how G-d views us.

Certainly, the latter position that G-d loves us unconditionally is true. It is because we all possess a Divine spark that is our true essence. We are all descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who have bequeathed to all of their children the qualities of love, reverence and compassion.

However, we also possess an entire super-imposed personality structure comprised of intellect and emotions that generates a host of opinions and feelings that may or may not be in consonance with our essential G-dly identity. The existence of this other layer of our personalities yields both positive and negative effects.

On the positive side, the added on personality is what gives us our individual identities and the means to differentiate ourselves from others, so that each of us can impact the word in a unique way.

On the negative side, the added on personalities that we possess can also conceal our inner identity and actually lead us astray. Furthermore, the emphasis on our individualism can spin out of control and lead to fragmentation and discord.

This is why the laws of evaluations posses a paradoxical nature. It is intended to teach us that though on one level no matter how far we stray, G-d never truly abandons us because of who we are in essence. It proclaims to us that we have intrinsic value.

Yet, by setting up the system of evaluations wherein there are differences in our value based on external factors such as gender and age, the Torah wants us to be mindful of the way the external personality is also an important aspect of who we are and how we relate to G-d and how G-d relates to us.

The section dealing with the blessings and "curses" concludes with G-d's promise to remember His covenant with our forebears. This implies that the exile will end and G-d will return us to our land and restore His relationship with us and usher in the Age of Redemption.

The fact that the laws of evaluations are connected to the Messianic promise suggests a connection between them.

One connection is that Moshiach, the Jewish leader the Torah tells us who will usher in this age, is a person who applies the lesson of evaluation to himself and to the way he relates to others.

Moshiach, first and foremost, must be a person who constantly evaluates himself to see that all of his actions are consistent with the teachings of the Torah; that his external personality is a refection of his inner essence.

Moshiach, then becomes a great leader who simultaneously sees the good in everyone even as he makes demands that our external personalities should not conflict with our inner good.