Parashat Behar-Bechukotai: Whose Free Will is This, Anyway?

Parashat Behar-Bechukotai: Whose Free Will is This, Anyway?

Many thanks to Herb Ross for leading Scrollers this Shabbat! I encourage you all to come into the sanctuary following Scrollers for our Shabbat Morning Service, featuring the Bar Mitzvah celebration of Bryce Connelly.

Here is Herb’s preview for Saturday session on Parashat Behar-Bechukotai (Leviticus 25:1-27:34). The corresponding Haftarah portion is found in Jeremiah 16:19-17:14.

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We arrive at the conclusion of Leviticus.

The final 2 parshiyot begin with a recitation in B’Har on the “Sabbath” of the land. The idea of rest, which begins in Genesis with God, is transmitted to the people in Exodus, and now to the land itself.
Does rest involve only the absence of work, or is it an active process?
Rules are set forth regarding the transfer of land among its inhabitants, as well as the the “transfer” of their labor on it. Distinctions are made between Israelites and “strangers”. Recent slaves own slaves.
B’Hukkotai sets forth a binary vision of the future: observance of the Code of the Covenant yields good fortune; transgression yields the opposite. A choice, explicit in Deuteronomy is implied here. Free will exists, however acquired- granted, stolen or blundered upon. Is it that simple? If free will exists, can the people not redeem themselves?
The land becomes the conduit by which atonement is made for the people- a concept surely unfamiliar to us. Thus we see set forth a tripartite universe in which God, Man and the Land are inextricably interwoven. Can any one element function without the other two?
See you Saturday.

CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM RODFE ZEDEK

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