Parashat Behar - Behukotay

IF YOU FOLLOW MY LAWS AND FAITHFULLY OBSERVE MY COMMANDMENTS... I WILL GRANT PEACE IN THE LAND, AND YOU SHALL LIE DOWN UNTROUBLED BY ANYONE; I WILL GIVE THE LAND RESPITE FROM VICIOUS BEASTS, AND NO SWORD SHALL CROSS YOUR LAND... I WILL ESTABLISH MY ABODE IN YOUR MIDST, AND I WILL NOT SPURN YOU. AND I WILL WALK IN YOUR MIDST; I WILL BE YOUR GOD, AND YOU SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

 (Vayikra 26: 3, 6, 11-12)

 

And I will walk in your midst

 

I will walk with you in the Garden of Eden as one of you, and you will not be terrified of Me. Could it be that you will not fear Me? The verse comes to address this question: I will be your God.

(Rashi on Vayikra 26:12).

 

On the one hand: I will establish my abode in your midst - words which indicate something static and constant. On the other hand: And I will walk in your midst - an expression possessing dynamism. Regarding this, Rabbi Ovadyah Seforno, the Renaissance exegete, had interesting things to say - ideas that remain pertinent for our times, and which are worth attending to.

Seforno points out that the Torah uses the complicated conjugation vehithalakhti [and I will walk], rather than the simpler vehalakhti. He explains:

One who is mithalekh [similar to vehithalakhti] walks here and there, not to any single place; therefore he said vehithalakhti in your midst - the emanation of His Glory would not fall upon any one single place, as it was with the Tabernacle and the Temple, as He said, the heaven is My throne and the earth My footstool... Yet to such will I look: to the poor and brokenhearted, who is concerned with My word (Yeshayahu 66: 1, 2).

That, then, is the meaning of the term lehithalekh? - that there is no particular place which is holy. The Torah is not territorial. This must be said against the fetishism of the land which assumes that the Torah serves the land, when the opposite is true: the land was intended for the fulfillment of the Torah.

(Y. Leibowitz: Sheva Shanim Shel Sihot al Parashat Ha-Shavua, pg. 598)

 

 

For the Children of Israel are My Servants - Not the Servants of Servants

Ronen Ahituv

 

In the modern world, it is customary to think of slavery as a primitive and offensive phenomenon. Enslavement itself is seen as a desecration of human dignity, since humans are born to be free. The Exodus story is also understood in this light as involving a struggle against slavery and as a model for the anti-slavery movement.

This approach stands behind the great social struggles for the abolition of slavery in the 19^th century, and behind today's ruling liberal ideology. Slavery is seen as an archaic phenomenon, and the image of the slave is of a miserable and helpless person deserving of protection and liberation. In our world, we often condemn certain social situations as "slavery" in order to invite pressure to free the "slaves."

Consideration of Scripture and Talmudic literature reveals that slavery was not so badly thought of in the past. Not all slaves were oppressed: some of them received fair treatment, and many of them loved their masters - for example, the enlightened master of Devarim 15: 16, whose slave loves you and your house-hold and is happy with you. Many slaves saw their slavery as a value and as purpose for life; they served their masters "not in order to receive a reward" (see Avot 1:3). We know stories of slaves who owned property, some of whom even owned their own slaves, such as Tzivah, a slave in Saul's household (II Samuel, 9). The custom of reclining at the Seder is called "the manner of freemen" - so called because it is impossible to observe the custom without the assistance of slaves.

When slavery is viewed as a normal and legitimate arrangement it may also serve as a model for the relationship between humans and God. It is a title of honor for the greatest of saints to be called "God's slave" (see Devarim 27), and the Jewish People as a whole is seen as a slave to God. This slavery prevents Jews from being slaves to one another, as is said in our parasha (Vayikra 25: 39-44):

If your kinsman under you continues in straits and must give himself over to you, do not subject him to the treatment of a slave. He shall remain with you as a hired or bound laborer; he shall serve you only until the jubilee year. Then he and his children with him shall be free of your authority; he shall go back to his family and return to his ancestral holding. For they are My servants, whom I freed from the land of Egypt; they may not give themselves over into servitude. You shall not rule over him ruthlessly; you shall fear your God. Such male and female slaves as you have - it is from the nations round about you that you may acquire male and female slaves.

It is not that slavery is prohibited in principle, but rather that God's slaves are enslaved to Him, and, therefore, they are not available to serve people. This is not a matter of a humanistic value, but rather of a religious value. As a result, classical Jewish texts do not call for the freeing of all slaves. Instead, they represent the Jewish People - and the Jewish People alone - as a nation of free men and woman. This freedom does not entail the rejection of all authority; rather it replaces the yoke of human authority with that of divine authority.

In the introduction to the Ten Commandments (Shemot 20: 2), the nation's servitude to God functions as the grounds for God's demand of obedience, faithfulness, and observance of His commandments. So too in our parasha (25: 55, 26:2):

For it is to Me that the Israelites are servants: they are My servants, whom I freed from the land of Egypt, I the Lord your God. You shall not make idols for yourselves, or set up for yourselves carved images or pillars, or place figured stones in your land to worship upon, for I the Lord am your God. You shall keep My Sabbaths and venerate My sanctuary, I am the Lord your God.

The Sages based a daring midrash upon this conception of the relationship between the people and their God:

It has already been said that I am the Lord your God who took you out from the land of Egypt (Vayikra 19: 36). What does the later repetition of the phrase I am the Lord your God (25: 55) come to teach us?

It prevents Israel from saying: "Did not God command us so that we would be able to perform [the commandments] and receive a reward? We will not perform [the commandments], and we shall do without our reward!"

Israel spoke in this way to Ezekiel, where it is said that men of the elders of Israel came forth to me and sat before me (Ezekiel 20:1). They [the elders] said to him: "Ezekiel, a slave who has been sold by his master, does he not leave his [master's] domain? He said, "Yes." They said to him: Since God has sold us to the nations of the world, we have left his domain!

He said to them: But when a master sells his slave with the intention of getting him back, does he leave his domain? (Sifrei Bamidbar 115)

Here, the Sages view exile as something that undermines the service of God: We have been sold off to the nations of the world, and just as the exodus from Egypt bound us and enslaved us to God, exile frees us from His yoke. Ezekiel's answer is predicated upon the promise of redemption and the return from exile. Our exile was merely temporary, leaving our servitude to God untouched, even in the Diaspora.

Today, there are those who would turn these ideas on their heads: They view exile as the source of God's service, and connect national liberation with casting-off the yoke off the commandments. To these Ezekiel said, And what you have in mind shall never come to pass (20:32). Israel's freedom in its own land is not of ultimate value, but rather a condition for full observance of the commandments.

Our everyday lives are not fully free lives. Each of us stands in a web of responsibilities to our families, work, and values. These responsibilities are not always pleasant or easy, but we could not imagine asking to be completely relieved of them.

The approach which recognizes servitude, which regulates it within a system of rights and obligations, prevents both cruel exploitation on the one hand, and illusions of nihilistic abandonment of responsibility on the other.

Dr. Ronen Ahituv lives in Mitzpeh Netofah and is a member of the Midrasha in Oranim.

 

 

Do Not Worship Stones

Do not place figured stones in your land (Vayikra 26:1) - This refers to all other "lands," but in the Sanctuary one is permitted to prostrate oneself one the stones (of the floor), for it says in your land - in your land you may not prostrate yourself on stones, but you may prostrate yourselves on the floor-stones of the Sanctuary. That is why all of Israel customarily lay down mats or straw in Synagogues whose floors are made of stone - to separate their faces from the stones. An if one does not find anything to separate himself from the stones, he goes elsewhere to prostrate himself, or bends over to the side so that he does not touch the stone with his face.

(RaMBaM, Hilkhot Avoda Zara 6:7)

 

Shemittah as an Egalitarian Experience that Promotes Peace

The land shall observe a Sabbath of the Lord (25:2): That the land be idle from any human work in he seventh year... but in the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath of complete rest (25:4)... that is why the Torah commanded this commandment, that all forms of mortal government and mastery in connection with working the land be annulled, so that a person will find in his own heart that the real principle of mastery and government rests only with God.

(Rabbeinu Behayeiy, Vayikra 25: 2)

 

Every seventh year you shall practice remission of debts (Devarim 15:1): The break from planting and cultivation, and the granting of free access to food for poor people, create communal feelings and peace in the Shemittah year. Then no one is allowed to possess the grain of the seventh year as its owner, and this [lack of ownership] is no doubt the source of peace, since all contentiousness results from the principle of "mine is mine and yours is yours." However, this [principle] is not so [operative] in the seventh year. For [while in it] people remain unequal on matters of positive actions, they do become equal in matters of refraining from action, and this is truly connected with peace...

(Klei Yakar Devarim 31: 12)

 

Is Redemption Automatic or Conditional?

Rabbi Eliezer says: If Israel repents, they will be redeemed, and if not, they will not be redeemed.

Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: If they do not repent, they will not be redeemed!? Rather, God places a king over them whose decrees are harsher than those of Haman - then Israel will repent and return to its better self.

(Sanhedrin 97b)

 

When the Torah tells us of the great promise and I shall remember the covenant (Vayikra 26:42), and that God will not forget the covenant even when we are in the lands of our enemies - it does not promise us redemption, because we have no right to it. In order for the covenant, which exists only potentially, to become actual, it is necessary for the other party to the covenant to act. We are that other party.

This must be stated against the idolatrous belief that we have been promised unconditional redemption - a notion which is common even among the public which views itself as faithful to God and His Torah. The midrash states explicitly: "Three things were given conditionally- the Land of Israel, the Temple, and the Kingdom of David." The Torah, (and the priesthood of Aaron's family) were given unconditionally.

(Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz: He'arot le'Parashiyot Ha'Shavua pp. 84-5)

 

Restoration of the Temple and the Well-Being of Jerusalem Depend Upon the Love and Pursuit of Peace.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: God told Israel, "You caused My house to be destroyed and my children to be exiled. Pray for its peace, and I will forgive you." What is the meaning of pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Tehillim 122:6)? And [what is the meaning of that which] he says, and seek the welfare of the city (Jeremiah 29:7), and [of what] he says, may there be peace within your ramparts (Tehillim 122:7), and [of what he] says, for the sake of my kin and friends [I will pray for your peace] (122:8)? [The explanation of these verses is that they say to] one who loves peace, and pursues peace, and greets others with "peace," and answers them with "peace" - God makes provisions for you in this life and in the next - but the lowly shall inherit the land, and delight in abundant peace (Tehillim 37:11)

(Derekh Eretz Zuta 15)

 

...and in the next world, when God returns the exiles to Jerusalem, he will return them in peace, for it is said Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, may those who love you be at peace (Tehillim 122:6). And so it says, I will extend to her peace like a river (Yeshayahu 66:12).

(Tanhuma 96:6)

 

...peace is not only a matter of moral inclination - the work of peace is a constant cultural task, exalted and mighty, a task to which we must always apply all of the nation's most fertile forces. We must take to heart: What will be the conclusion of all the multiplying divisions, the parties, federations, factions, unions and lists, streams and forums, if we do not find ourselves one great peak on which to raise the flag of the nation as a whole, and deal unceasingly with all of the better elements of the public promotion of national unity, calming of disagreements and joining together of hopes? When we recognize and believe that Israel's salvation will come with the beginning of the revealed End, when we will actualize what God has given us strength to do: to posses the land, to redeem it, work it, and build it, to conquer it with both cultural and practical conquests, we must increasingly know that the spirit of God upon Elijah, to reconcile parents with children and children with their parents (Malachi 3:24), to make peace in the world, to calm disagreement (see Massekhet Eduyot), must also be revealed in the workings of our own souls, in the activity of the entire nation, by way of its best strength - the Torah scholars who increase peace in the world.

(From Rabbi A. I. Kook ztz'l's letter to Mizrahi's delegates

to the Zionist Congress, Iggrot HaRAYaH #571)

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy Shabbat Shalom, please consider contributing towards its publication and distribution.

• Hebrew edition distributed in Israel $1000
• English edition distributed via email $ 100

Issues may be dedicated in honor of an event, person, simcha, etc. Requests must be made 3-4 weeks in advance to appear in the Hebrew, 10 days in advance to appear in the English email.

Tax exempt contributions to Oz VeShalom may be made through the New Israel Fund or PEF.

Contributions should be marked as donor-advised to OzVeShalom/Netivot Shalom, Shabbat Shalom project.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NEW ISRAEL FUND IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING DONATIONS UNDER $50. FOR DONATIONS BETWEEN $50 AND $999 THEY ARE CHARGING A $50 SERVICE CHARGE. DONATIONS ABOVE $1000 ARE CHARGED A 5% FEE.

New Israel Fund, POB 91588, Washington, DC 20090-1588, USA

New Israel Fund of Great Britain, 26 Enford Street, London W1H 2DD, Great Britain

PEF will also channel donations and provide a tax-exemptions. Donations should be sent to P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Inc., 317 Madison Ave., Suite 607, New York, New York 10017 USA

 

About us:

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of a civil society in Israel. It is committed to promoting the ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and justice, concepts which have always been central to Jewish tradition and law.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom shares a deep attachment to the land of Israel and it no less views peace as a central religious value. It believes that Jews have both the religious and the national obligation to support the pursuit of peace. It maintains that Jewish law clearly requires us to create a fair and just society, and that co-existence between Jews and Arabs is not an option but an imperative.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom's programs include both educational and protest activities. Seminars, lectures, workshops, conferences and weekend programs are held for students, educators and families, as well as joint seminars for Jews, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians. Protest activities focus on issues of human rights, co-existence between Jews and Arabs, and responses to issues of particular religious relevance.

9,000 copies of a 4 page peace oriented commentary on the weekly Torah reading are written and published by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom and they are distributed to over 350 synagogues in Israel and are sent overseas via email. Our web site is www.netivot-shalom.org.il

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom's educational forums draw people of different backgrounds, secular and religious, who are keen to deepen their Jewish knowledge and to hear an alternative religious standpoint on the subjects of peace and social issues.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom fills an ideological vacuum in Israel's society. Committed both to Jewish tradition and observance, and to the furthering of peace and coexistence, the movement is in a unique position to engage in dialogue with the secular left and the religious right, with Israeli Arabs and with Palestinians.