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| Sun, 22 Dec 2024 02:36:31 -0600 — |
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D'var: Parashat Behar 5784
Commentary by Michael Goldstein Friday, May 24, 2024 |
| Leviticus 25:1 — 26:2 |
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The title of this week’s parashah is Behar. It is translated as "On the Mountain."
Read as a chronicle, it has two main subject lines: the "Sabbath of the Land" and laws regarding debts, servitude, and property. The Sabbath of the Land, called shmita, is when the land lies fallow for a full year once every seven years as an acknowledgment that God created it and still owns it. It continues to this day in much of Israel and is understood both as a sacred discipline and as good land management, allowing the earth to rest and be reinvigorated. Behar anticipated that the shmita would be a source of anxiety for the Israelites. How would they ensure that they and their livestock had enough to eat in the seventh year? The plan God has Moses present comes with an assurance: Every sixth year, there will be a miracle of sorts through divine intervention. Moses says God promises there will be an exorbitant harvest sufficient for three years.
Leviticus 25: 20 - 22:
And if you should say, "What will we eat in the seventh year? We will not sow, and we will not gather in our produce!" God will command His blessing for you in the sixth year, and it will yield produce for three years. And you will sow in the eighth year, while still eating from the old crops until the ninth year; until the arrival of its crop, you will eat the old one. Such a divine promise was surely comforting, but in practice, the Israelites applied the adage "trust but verify." They did plenty of advance planning of their own to be sure they had enough to sustain them in the seventh year. In Israel, archeologists have unearthed remains of ancient materials — sacks, storage jars, storage pits —showing how busy they were in their preparations. They were drying fruits, pickling fish and vegetables, drying grains and legumes, making grapes into wine, and storing honey and oil. Every 50 years -- seven cycles of seven years -- there is a "Jubilee" year, called yovel, in which slaves go free, certain debts are canceled, and land returns to its original titleholders... God notwithstanding. Then Behar spells out laws regarding debts and property... We are commanded to help others avoid debt-servitude and the loss of their property. One Jew may not charge another Jew interest and oppressive financial practices are prohibited. The portion ends with a general reminder to keep God’s laws, especially regarding the Sabbath and the prohibition of idolatry. Those who know me know that I look for deeper messages in the Torah… messages that are more universal --more wide-reaching -- that we can carry forward in our lives. I thought long and hard about what might be the message for us in this parashah and I think it can be found in how Behar is translated… on the mountain. We Jews believe we have the right to be proud of our heritage. After all, Judaism is considered to be the world's oldest monotheistic religion, dating back almost 4,000 years, as well as being the foundation for Christianity and Islam. As a people, Jews have always been known to prize education and industriousness. That 22 percent of Nobel Prizes awarded between 1901 and 2023 were won by Jews or people with at least one Jewish parent is persuasive testimony to that. And, at the same time, it isn’t easy to keep every one of the 613 commandments. So, we are proud, but I believe the message of Behar is that we must never be haughty and that’s why Mount Sinai was chosen for the Israelites to receive all those commandments. Yes, it is a mountain, so the commandments are coming from on high. But, even though a mountain is representative of majesty, brilliance, and so many more over-the-top descriptive nouns, we should remember that it is a mid-sized mountain, even for the Sinai Peninsula. In fact, it is completely surrounded by taller mountains. As a comparison, Mount Sinai is just under 7,500 feet high and Mount Everest is just over 29,000 feet. The message its height offers to us is that we should be proud of our heritage, yet not arrogant. We should walk confidently, but we should be humble. Remember the Book of Micah… You have been told, O mortal, what is good and what God requires of you: Only to do justice, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God. Michael Goldstein |
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