Weekly Parsha

It is with great joy and happiness that we may announce the birth of a baby girl  to Bianca Welikson & Jeff Harrington. Mazal Tov to the parents, grandparents and to aunts & uncles and the entire Welikson & Harrington mishpachat. 

What an amazing gift a new life is.  In the Jewish tradition, a new baby is not just a blessing, but also a new expression of G-d's grace on earth. 

Behar-Bechukosai

Leviticus 25:1 -27:34

Behar or B'har (בְּהַר‎ — Hebrew for "on the mount," the fifth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah)

Behar begins with the laws of Shemitah, the Sabbatical year, where the Jewish people are commanded not to plant their fields or tend to them in the seventh year. Every 50th year is the Yovel, the Jubilee year, where agricultural activity is also proscribed.

These two commandments fall into one of the seven categories of evidence that G-d gave the Torah. If the idea is to give the land a rest, then do not plant one-seventh of the land each year. To command an agrarian society to completely stop cultivating every 7th year one has to be either G-d or a meshugenah (crazy).

Also included in this portion: redeeming land which was sold, to strengthen your fellow Jew when his economic eans are faltering, not to lend to your fellow Jew with interest, the laws of indentured smervants. The portion ends with the admonition to not make idols, to observe the Shabbat and to revere the Sanctuary.

Bechukotai or B'hukkothai (בְּחֻקֹּתַי‎ bəḥuqqōṯay — Hebrew for "by my decrees," the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) 

Bechukotai, the second portion for this week begins with the multitude of blessings you will receive for keeping the commandments of the Torah. (Truly worth reading!) It also contains the Tochachah, words of admonition, "If you will not listen to Me and will not perform all of these commandments..." There are seven series of seven punishments each.

Understand that G-d does not punish for punishment's sake; He wants to get our attention so that we will introspect, recognize our errors and correct our ways. G-d does not wish to destroy us or annul His covenant with us. He wants us to know that there are consequences for our every action; He also wants to get our attention so that we do not stray so far away that we assimilate and disappear as a nation. I highly recommend reading Lev. 26:14 - 45 and Deut. 28.

* * *

"And you shall blow the shofar on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement shall you sound the shofar throughout all your land. And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you, and you shall return every man to his possession, and you shall return every man to his family" (Leviticus 25:9,10).

What lesson for life can we learn from this verse?

We learn a lesson regarding coping with suffering from the commandment to blow the shofar in the fiftieth year, the yovel (Jubilee year). The reason for this is that on the yovel the servants were set free. When a master had a servant for a long period of time, it was difficult for him to lose the helping hand.

The shofar was blown for the master to realize that he was not the only one to free his servant. Rather, the same was happening to everyone else who had servants. The knowledge that others are also suffering in the same way makes it much easier to accept hardships.

There are many difficulties in life that people subjectively make worse for themselves because they feel that they are the only ones who are suffering. The more you realize that each person has his own life-problems, the easier you will find it to cope in a positive way with your own. While not everyone will have the same problems as you do, everyone does have hardships and tests. Gain greater awareness of the suffering of other people and you will be able to put your own suffering in a perspective that will decrease the pain.

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948) that states in Article 4: “no one should be held in slavery or servitude, slavery in all of its forms should be eliminated.”

Nowadays, slavery no longer exists. But human beings are inclined to be slaves to their own desires. I want a house in that neighborhood, I want a car of that brand, I want it, I need it ...

Don't waste time. It is the stuff that life is made of.

If logic tells you that life is meaningless and not worthwhile, don't give up on life -- give up on logic.

Logic will take you from point A to point B. Faith and Trust will take you everywhere. 

Amazingly, a person can have Emunah and not bitachon. He can know that Hashem runs the world, but not necessarily trust in Him. Emunah is a state of understanding; bitachon is a state of trust. Emunah means knowing that HASHEM is involved in every activity on the planet; bitachon means trusting in HASHEM in every situation.

Do you trust in G-d?

Can G-d trust in you?

Shabbat Shalom!

Online Learning

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College of New York where he teaches classes on Talmud, Chassidism, Jewish History, Contemporary Jewish Law and Jewish Music. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern usefulness and meaning in ancient wisdom texts, providing spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming for communities around the world.

Click here to contact us

Partners

Join Our Campaign

The wise man seizes the opportunity to do mitzvot" (King Solomon). The lazy person says -- someday I'll do it.