Behar

Texts that Call for Faith
By Rabbi Judith Edelstein

This year, as in many, these two Torah portions are combined into one reading in order to accommodate the idiosyncrasies of the lunar calendar. Behar iterates the laws of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, to occur every seventh and fiftieth year respectively. At these times the fields and vineyards of the Israelites are to remain untouched, except for gathering produce from past years, which could be shared with others and eaten, but could not be sold for profit. All land is to be returned to its previous owner; this requires adjustments in payments as the Jubilee year approaches. One is prohibited from charging interest on a loan to an indigent Israelite. Hebrew slaves are to be treated with respect and can be redeemed by a relative. Finally, Hebrew slaves can go free, although gentile slaves are to remain captive, and possessions are to be passed Read More >

By Rabbi Ariann Weitzman

“It should not be believed that all the beings exist for the sake of the existence of humanity. On the contrary, all the other beings too have been intended for their own sakes, and not for the sake of something else” (Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed, 3:13).

This week’s double portion elaborates on the laws of the sabbatical and Jubilee years, detailing the extreme punishment Israel will suffer if the sabbatical years are not strictly kept. The parashah opens with the reminder that these laws were given on Sinai, orienting the reader to the centrality and importance of what is to follow. Indeed, these laws must be central to the Torah’s concern, as the texts reminds us we will be removed from our land as a result of failing to abide by them, as it is written in Leviticus 26:43, “The land will be bereft of [the Israelites] and it Read More >

By Neal Spevack

In the beginning of this week’s double parsha, Behar-Behukotai, the Jubilee year, Shenat HaYovel, is described. The Hebrew word yovel (from which “Jubilee” derives) means “ram’s horn,” since a ram’s horn was sounded near the year’s inception (Leviticus 25:9).

Scripture states: “You shall count off seven weeks of years seven times seven years-so that the period of seven weeks of years gives you a total of forty-nine years.” (Leviticus 25:8) What economic message did the Torah want to relate?

It was a curious and unique market mechanism aimed at preventing the consolidation of land in any single group’s possession. In an agrarian society, the possession of land represented wealth and power not unlike today. The first priority was to maintain the land’s value. By counting every seven years and hence the shemitah, the Sabbatical year, the land was mandated to be left fallow and the Read More >