Bahar

This week we have a double parsha- Behar- Bechukotai, which means we read two sections of the Torah in one week.  Behar discusses how the land of  Israel- the soil- belongs to G-d, not to man. Just as we are to rest on the Sabbath, the land is to rest during the seventh year. The parsha tells us that G-d will care for the land and through the land care for us.

The haftarah is a beautiful story about the prophet Jeremiah. It takes place in the year 587 during the siege of Jerusalem at the hands of the Baylonians. Jeremiah is asked if he will redeem – buy- a relative’s parcel of land rather than let it fall from the family’s ownership. This is while Jerusalem is being destroyed. Jeremiah buys the land to show everyone that he has faith that HaSehm will redeem Eretz Yisrael to the children of Israel in the future. He weighs out and pays 15 shekels of silver and writes out a contract- all in front of witnesses.