Behar Sinai – In Mount Sinai
Torah: Wayyiqra 25:1-26:2
Haftorah: Yirmeyahu 32:6:27
Suggested HaBerith HaChadashah Reading: Lk 4:16-2
Lev 25:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh on Mount Sinai, saying,
Lev 25:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall observe a Sabbath to יהוה.
Lev 25:3 ‘Six years you sow your field, and six years you prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruit,
Lev 25:4 but in the seventh year the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to יהוה. Do not sow your field and do not prune your vineyard.
Lev 25:5 ‘Do not reap what grows of its own of your harvest, and do not gather the grapes of your unpruned vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.
Lev 25:6 ‘And the Sabbath of the land shall be to you for food, for you and your servant, and for your female servant and your hired servant, and for the stranger who sojourns with you,
Lev 25:7 and for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land. All its crops are for food.
Lev 25:8 ‘And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years. And the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
Lev 25:9 ‘You shall then sound a ram’s horn to pass through on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement cause a ram’s horn to pass through all your land.
Lev 25:10 ‘And you shall set the fiftieth year apart, and proclaim release throughout all the land to all its inhabitants, it is a Jubilee for you. And each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you return to his clan.
Lev 25:11 ‘The fiftieth year is a Jubilee to you. Do not sow, nor reap what grows of its own, nor gather from its unpruned vine.
Lev 25:12 ‘It is a Jubilee, it is set-apart to you. Eat from the field its crops.
Lev 25:13 ‘In the Year of this Jubilee let each one of you return to his possession.
Lev 25:14 ‘And when you sell whatever to your neighbour or buy from the hand of your neighbour, do not exploit one another.
Lev 25:15 ‘According to the number of years after the Jubilee you buy from your neighbour, and according to the number of years of crops he sells to you.
Lev 25:16 ‘According to the greater number of years you increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you diminish its price, because he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops.
Lev 25:17 ‘And do not oppress one another, but you shall fear your Elohim. For I am יהוה your Elohim.
Lev 25:18 ‘And you shall do My laws and guard My right-rulings, and shall do them. And you shall dwell in the land in safety,
Lev 25:19 ‘and the land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat to satisfaction, and shall dwell there in safety.
Lev 25:20 ‘And since you might say, “What do we eat in the seventh year, since we do not sow nor gather in our crops?”
Lev 25:21 ‘Therefore I have commanded My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth the crop for three years.
Lev 25:22 ‘And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat of the old crop until the ninth year. Eat of the old until its crop comes in.
Lev 25:23 ‘And the land is not to be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine, for you are sojourners and settlers with Me.
Lev 25:24 ‘And provide for a redemption for the land, in all the land of your possession.
Lev 25:25 ‘When your brother becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and his redeemer, a close relative comes to redeem it, then he shall redeem what his brother sold.
Lev 25:26 ‘And when the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it,
Lev 25:27 then let him count the years since its sale, and return the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he shall return to his possession.
Lev 25:28 ‘And if his hand has not found enough to give back to him, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee. And it shall be released in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his possession.
Lev 25:29 ‘And when a man sells a house in a walled city, then his right of redemption shall be at the end of the year after it is sold. His right of redemption lasts a year.
Lev 25:30 ‘But if it is not redeemed within a complete year, then the house in the walled city shall be established beyond reclaim to the buyer of it, throughout his generations. It is not released in the Jubilee.
Lev 25:31 ‘The houses of villages, however, which have no wall around them are reckoned as the field of the country. A right of redemption belongs to it, and they are released in the Jubilee.
Lev 25:32 ‘As for the cities of the Lĕwites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Lĕwites have a right of redemption forever.
Lev 25:33 ‘And that which is redeemed from the Lĕwites, both the sale of a house and the city of his possession shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, because the houses in the cities of the Lĕwites are their possession in the midst of the children of Yisra’ĕl.
Lev 25:34 ‘But the field of the open land of their cities is not sold, for it is their everlasting possession.
Lev 25:35 ‘And when your brother becomes poor, and his hand has failed with you, then you shall sustain him, and he shall live with you, like a stranger or a sojourner.
Lev 25:36 ‘Take no interest from him, or profit, but you shall fear your Elohim, and your brother shall live with you.
Lev 25:37 ‘Do not lend him your silver on interest, and do not lend him your food for profit.
Lev 25:38 ‘I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, to give you the land of Kenaʽan, to be your Elohim.
Lev 25:39 ‘And when your brother who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, do not make him serve as a slave.
Lev 25:40 ‘But as a hired servant, as a settler he is with you, and serves you until the Year of Jubilee.
Lev 25:41 ‘And then he shall leave you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own clan, even return to the possession of his fathers.
Lev 25:42 ‘For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Mitsrayim, they are not sold as slaves.
Lev 25:43 ‘Do not rule over him with harshness, but you shall fear your Elohim.
Lev 25:44 ‘And your male and female slaves whom you have from the nations that are around you, from them you buy male and female slaves,
Lev 25:45 and also from the sons of the strangers sojourning among you, from them you buy, and from their clans who are with you, which they shall bring forth in your land, and they shall be your property.
Lev 25:46 ‘And you shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession, they are your slaves for all time. But over your brothers, the children of Yisra’ĕl, you do not rule with harshness, one over another.
Lev 25:47 ‘Now when a sojourner or a settler with you becomes rich, and your brother with him becomes poor, and sells himself to the settler or sojourner with you, or to a member of the sojourner’s clan,
Lev 25:48 after he has been sold, there is a right of redemption to him – one of his brothers does redeem him,
Lev 25:49 or his uncle or his uncle’s son does redeem him, or anyone who is a close relative to him in his clan does redeem him, or if he is able, then he shall redeem himself.
Lev 25:50 ‘And he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; as the days of a hired servant it is with him.
Lev 25:51 ‘If there are yet many years, according to them he repays the price of his redemption, from the silver of his purchase.
Lev 25:52 ‘And if few years are left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he repays him the price of his redemption.
Lev 25:53 ‘He is with him as a yearly hired servant, and he does not rule with harshness over him before your eyes.
Lev 25:54 ‘And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.
Lev 25:55 ‘Because the children of Yisra’ĕl are servants to Me, they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Mitsrayim. I am יהוה your Elohim.
Lev 26:1 ‘Do not make idols for yourselves, and do not set up a carved image or a pillar for yourselves, and do not place a stone image in your land, to bow down to it. For I am יהוה your Elohim.
Lev 26:2 ‘Guard My Sabbaths and reverence My set-apart place. I am יהוה.
Haftorah: Yirmeyahu 32:6:27
Jer 32:6 And Yirmeyahu said, “The word of יהוה came to me, saying,
Jer 32:7 ‘See, Ḥaname’ĕl son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.” ’
Jer 32:8 “So Ḥaname’ĕl my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of יהוה, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Binyamin, for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ And I knew that this was the word of יהוה.
Jer 32:9 “And I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Ḥaname’ĕl, my uncle’s son, and weighed out to him the silver, seventeen sheqels of silver.
Jer 32:10 “And I signed the deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the silver in the scales.
Jer 32:11 “Then I took the deed of purchase – that which was sealed according to the command and law, and that which was open –
Jer 32:12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah, son of Maḥsĕyah, in the presence of Ḥaname’ĕl my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Yehuḏim who sat in the court of the guard.
Jer 32:13 “And I commanded Baruḵ before their eyes, saying,
Jer 32:14 ‘Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Take these deeds, both this deed of purchase which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, so that they remain many days.”
Jer 32:15 ‘For thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” ’
Jer 32:16 “And after I had given the deed of purchase to Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah, I prayed to יהוה, saying,
Jer 32:17 ‘Ah, Master יהוה! See, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is no matter too hard for You,
Jer 32:18 who show kindness to thousands, and repay the crookedness of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them – the Great, the Mighty Ěl, יהוה of hosts is His Name,
Jer 32:19 great in counsel and mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.
Jer 32:20 ‘For You have set signs and wonders in the land of Mitsrayim, to this day, and in Yisra’ĕl and among other men. And You have made Yourself a Name, as it is this day.
Jer 32:21 ‘And You have brought Your people Yisra’ĕl out of the land of Mitsrayim with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great fearsome deeds.
Jer 32:22 ‘And You gave them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Jer 32:23 ‘And they came in and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice nor did they walk in Your Torah. They did not do all that You commanded them to do, so You brought all this evil upon them.
Jer 32:24 ‘See the siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it. And the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword and the scarcity of food and the pestilence. And what You have spoken has come about, and look, You see it!
Jer 32:25 ‘Yet You, O Master יהוה, have said to me, “Buy the field for silver, and take witnesses”! although the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ”
Jer 32:26 Then the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
Jer 32:27 “See, I am יהוה, the Elohim of all flesh. Is there any matter too hard for Me?”
Suggested HaBerith HaChadashah Reading: Lk 4:16-21
Luk 4:16 And He came to Natsareth, where He had been brought up. And according to His practice, He went into the congregation on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
Luk 4:17 And the scroll of the prophet Yeshayahu was handed to Him. And having unrolled the scroll, He found the place where it was written:
Luk 4:18 “The Spirit of יהוה is upon Me,1 because He has anointed Me to bring the Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away crushed ones with a release, Footnote: 1Isa. 61:1-3.
Luk 4:19 to proclaim the acceptable year of יהוה.”1 Footnote: 1Isa. 61:1-2.
Luk 4:20 And having rolled up the scroll, He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the congregation were fixed upon Him.
Luk 4:21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been filled in your hearing.”
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Behar Aliya Summary
General Overview: This week's reading, Behar, speaks about the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, laws regulating commerce and the redemption of slaves.
First Aliyah: G‑d commands Moses regarding the Sh'mitah (Sabbatical) and Jubilee years. Every seventh year is a Sabbatical year, when it is forbidden to work the land (in the Land of Israel). After seven sets of seven years a Jubilee year is proclaimed by a blast of the shofar (ram's horn) on that year's Yom Kippur. During Jubilee years all the laws of the Sabbatical year apply, and, in addition to the Sabbatical laws, all slaves are set free and all lands revert to their original owners.
Second Aliyah: We are commanded to conduct business ethically. Since, as aforementioned, all land reverts to their original owners during the Jubilee year, the amount of years remaining until the next Jubilee year must be taken into account whenever a real-estate sale is conducted, and the price set accordingly. The end of this section enjoins us not to verbally harass or intentionally mislead our fellows.
Third Aliyah: This section addresses an obvious concern: "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow our gather our grain?!" G‑d reassures us that He will bless the sixth year's harvest, and it will produce enough to provide for three years -- until the crop of the eighth year is ready to eat! The Torah then gives the rationale for the prohibition against selling land for perpetuity (instead, land can only be "leased" until the Jubilee year) -- "Because the Land belongs to Me; you are strangers and residents with Me."
Fourth Aliyah: A person who sells real-estate has the option of "redeeming" the land from the purchaser -- provided that two years have passed from the date of purchase. The total price for which the land was sold is divided by the amount of years from the time of purchase until the next Jubilee year (when the land would anyhow return to the owner) in order to determine the price per year, and the original owner refunds the buyer however much money he had paid for the remaining years. A relative of the seller may also redeem the land on behalf of his family member.
Fifth Aliyah: All the laws mentioned above apply to fields and homes in un-walled cities. Homes in walled cities, on the other hand, may be redeemed for their full value for up to one year after the sale. If not redeemed within the year, they become the permanent property of the buyer, and they are not released by the Jubilee. Another exception to these rules is the property allotted to the Levites. The homes and fields in the forty-eight Levite cities are always redeemable -- from the moment of purchase until the Jubilee year, when in any event they revert to their owners. We are then commanded to assist our brethren by coming to their aid before they become financially ruined and dependent on the help of others. We are also forbidden to charge interest on a loan to a fellow Jew.
Sixth Aliyah: We are commanded to treat Jewish slaves respectfully, never subjecting them to demeaning labor.
Seventh Aliyah: The Torah prescribes the redemption process for a Jew sold into slavery to a non-Jewish master. The same formula described above (Fourth Aliyah) is employed. Either the slave himself or one of his relatives refunds the master the amount of money that corresponds to the years remaining until the Jubilee -- when the slave will go free even if he had not been "redeemed." The section concludes with a brief mention of the prohibition against idolatry, and the requirement that we observe the Shabbat and revere the Holy Sanctuary.
