Parasha Behar (בהר) — Vayikra 25:1 – 26:2. Read on Shabbat, May 22, 2027.
Summary of Parasha Behar
G-d speaks to Moshe at Mount Sinai concerning the land. When the children of Israel enter the land, the land shall observe a Shabbat for G-d: for six years they shall sow the fields and prune the vineyards, but in the seventh year, the shemitah, the land shall rest. What it produces on its own shall serve as food for all, for the owner as for his servant, for the stranger and even for the animals. G-d promises His blessing to those who might fear going without. After seven cycles of seven years, the fiftieth year is proclaimed the Jubilee year, the yovel, by the sounding of the shofar on Yom Kippur: liberty is proclaimed throughout the land, and each person returns to his property. The land cannot be sold permanently, for “the land is Mine; you are but strangers and residents with Me.” The Torah sets out the redemption of land sold out of poverty, the status of houses in walled cities, and that of the cities of the Levites. It requires us to support a brother who falls into poverty, not to lend to him at interest, and, if he must sell himself, not to treat him as a slave but as a hired worker, until the Jubilee. Finally, it provides for his redemption if he is sold to a stranger. The parasha concludes with the prohibition of idols and a reminder of Shabbat and of reverence for the Sanctuary.
The Themes
- The rest of the land
- The Jubilee year
- Supporting a brother who has become poor
Rav Raphaël Benizri’s Lectures on Behar
There are no lectures by the Rav on this parasha yet. Find all the available lectures on the Weekly Parasha page.
A Question for the Shabbat Table
The land itself must rest: what does the idea that nothing fully belongs to us teach us?
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Summary by the Pensées Juives editorial team. The Rav’s teachings are to be found in his lectures, linked above.