What Can a Bird and a Seed Teach Us About Shemitah?
May 24, 2024 By Yael Hammerman | Commentary | Behar
In Parashat Behar, God tells the Israelites that when they enter the land that God will give them, “the Land shall observe a Sabbath of the Adonai”—veshavta ha’aretz Shabbat l’Adonai (Lev. 25:2). This becomes known as the shemitah year. For six years, you can work to your heart’s content—you can sow, prune, and gather, but in the seventh year, the land shall have a full, complete rest: shabbat shabbaton yihiyeh la’aretz (Lev. 25:4)!
Read MoreGrowing Into Torah
May 12, 2023 By Megan GoldMarche | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai
For this week’s parashiyot, Behar-Behukkotai, I might ask: What is something that you took or borrowed from someone that you know it is time to return, perhaps because it is the right thing to do or because it will make you feel lighter? This can be a physical thing like a book or shirt, or something intangible like the hope or support you received from someone. If you are hosting shabbat dinner this week I encourage you to try it out, with a brief explanation of the ideas of Jubilee and returning land to its original owners that appears in this week’s parashah.
Read MoreThe Limitations of Ownership
May 20, 2022 By Yedida Eisenstat | Commentary | Behar
Rashi, the well-known medieval northern French biblical commentator, begins his commentary on this week’s parashah with a famous question, loosely paraphrased as follows: In what way does the matter of shemittah[the sabbatical year] have anything to do with Mount Sinai? In other words, the laws of Leviticus 25—beginning with the agricultural restrictions of the seventh year, the regulations regarding the jubilee year, limitations on sale of land and slaves—are wholly dependent on Israel living in Israel. So why, Rashi asks, were these laws commanded so long before they would become relevant? Of what relevance are the laws of shemittah to the Israelites at Sinai?
Read MoreWhy Do Jews Still Adhere to the Torah’s Covenant?
May 7, 2021 By Jeremy Tabick | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai
Why do we, as Jews, have fealty to the Torah? Why do many of us feel bound by the Torah’s laws?
Read MoreThe Nature of Peace
May 15, 2020 By Walter Herzberg | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai
The description of peace and prosperity in this week’s Torah portion seems particularly fitting for our current situation.
Read MoreLeveling the Field
May 24, 2019 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Behar
Growing up in Philadelphia, I often went with classmates to Independence Hall, where I swelled with pride to see that the Liberty Bell bore engraved words from the Torah:
Read More“Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof.” (Lev. 25:10)
The Theology of Meteorology
May 11, 2018 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai
Imagine if your weather app displayed not images of sun and clouds, but icons of good and evil, like this: ☺ ☹. Each city might have a virtue index—with the weather forecast tracking not the jet stream but morality, indicated by a friendly or fierce face. City X has been charitable, so they can expect light rains followed by sunny skies, but City Y has seen an uptick in violent crime, so it is in for a drought or hurricane. Such a system sounds absurd, and yet it is basically what the Torah presents as a theology of weather.
Read MoreThe Limitations of Ownership
May 19, 2017 By Yedida Eisenstat | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai
Rashi, the well-known medieval northern French biblical commentator, begins his commentary on this week’s parashah with a famous question, loosely paraphrased as follows: In what way does the matter of shemittah [the sabbatical year] have anything to do with Mount Sinai? In other words, the laws of Leviticus 25—beginning with the agricultural restrictions of the seventh year, the regulations regarding the jubilee year, limitations on sale of land and slaves—are wholly dependent on Israel living in Israel. So why, Rashi asks, were these laws commanded so long before they would become relevant? Of what relevance are the laws of shemittah to the Israelites at Sinai?
Read More