Behalotechah - Overcoming Challenges


So it was, whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, Arise, O L-rd,  may Your enemies be scattered and may those who hate You flee from You.
וַיְהִי בִּנְסֹעַ הָאָרֹן וַיֹּאמֶר משֶׁה קוּמָה ה' וְיָפֻצוּ אֹיְבֶיךָ וְיָנֻסוּ מְשַׂנְאֶיךָ מִפָּנֶיךָ
Bamidbar 10:35
We have an interesting teaching in Mesechet Shabbat. There we learn an opinion that the Torah is actually composed of 7 books, where Bamidbar consists of 3 books. The first book is from the beginning of Bamidbar to the verse "So it was, whenever the ark set out,...", then the second book is just the verse "So it was, whenever the ark set out,..." and the third book is the rest of Bamidbar.
Our Rabbis taught: 'And it came to pass when the ark set forward that Moses said, [etc.]': for this section the Holy One, blessed be He, provided signs above and below,  to teach that this is not its place. Rabbi said: It is not on that account,1  but because it ranks as a separate Book. With whom does the following dictum of R. Samuel b. Nahmani in R. Jonathan's name agree: She [Wisdom] hath hewn out her seven pillars:  this refers to the seven Books of the Law? ( Since that section is a separate Book, the portions of Numbers preceding and following it are also separate Books; hence there are seven in all)
Shabbat 115B-116A

The Slonimer Rebbe asks in The Netivot Shalom, we know that the essential fabric of the books of the Torah are characterized by mitzvot, but this book composed entirely of the verse "So it was, whenever the ark set out,..." does not contain a single mitzvah, so how can it be declared a book in and unto itself?

Naso - Approaching With Happiness

Every week the Rabeinu Bechayai sums up the theme of the parshah in an introduction to his weekly commentary. He encapsulates the theme in a verse from Mishlei - the Book of Proverbs.
 It is a joy for a righteous man to do judgment, and a ruin for those who commit violence. 
שִׂמְחָה לַצַּדִּיק עֲשֹוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וּמְחִתָּה לְפֹעֲלֵי אָוֶן
Mishlei 21:15
The Theme: Do Mitzvot with Happiness
The Rabbeinu Bechayai explains that this verse comes to mean that we have an obligation to approach and undertake mitzvot with happiness and simcha. He explains that performing mitzvot out of happiness and joy is in itself a mitzvah.

Behukotai - Good Thoughts

If you follow My statutes and observe My commandments and perform them,  I will give your rains in their time, the Land will yield its produce, and the tree of the field will give forth its fruit.
 . אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֶת מִצְוֹתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם. וְנָתַתִּי גִשְׁמֵיכֶם בְּעִתָּם וְנָתְנָה הָאָרֶץ יְבוּלָהּ וְעֵץ הַשָּׂדֶה יִתֵּן פִּרְיוֹ
Vayikra 26:3-4
The Kedushat Levi asserts that the opening phrase is seemingly superfluous "If you follow My statutes" (אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ), that the parsha could have started with "If you observe My commandments...I will give your rains...". So what purpose does this phrase serve?