(4 – 5 Minute Read)
Leviticus 25:1-27:34
In the combined Torah parshiot, or portions, of Behar and Bechukkotai, the Holy One, Blessed Be He, first outlines the process of the sabbatical and jubilee years. G-d also details the rules for the temporary sale of land, houses, fields, and other real estate, emphasizing that all land holdings should revert back to the original ancestral houses during the jubilee year marked with the blowing of the shofar, or ram’s horn. The Eternal One further describes positive results and negative consequences respectively for obeying or disobeying His commandments in the Torah. The double Torah portion as well as the book of Vayikra, or Leviticus, closes with instructions elaborating on voluntary contributions, including vows of persons, land, harvest products, and property.
One of the concepts emphasized in Behar-Bechukkotai is the link that the Jewish people have to the land of Israel as well as the Almighty’s ultimate ownership of the land.
“You shall observe My laws and faithfully keep My rules, that you may live upon the land [of Israel] in security… But the land must not be sold beyond reclaim, for the land [of Israel] is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me.” Vayikra / Leviticus 25:18, 23
The Torah outlines a special dynamic between G-d and the Jewish people regarding the land of Israel. The Most High retains ownership of the land, but He has essentially “leased” the land of Israel to the Jewish people. It is the responsibility of the Jewish people to care for the land and exist in the land according to all of the mitzvot, or commandments, of the Torah. If we follow the instructions of the Torah, the Almighty has promised to bless the Jewish people with success and long life in the land. However, if we disobey these Torah instructions, G-d has indicated that there will be negative consequences, including exile and expulsion from the land of Israel.
The portions of Behar-Bechukkotai present a unique paradigm in regards to the Jewish people. The Jewish people are permanently linked to the land of Israel, and our conduct determines our ability to remain in this land, as well as our quality of life in the land. In chapter 26 and the beginning of Bechukkotai, the Eternal One details the positive benefits of Torah observance while emphasizing the negative consequences of disobedience. Most of these results, both positive and negative, relate directly or indirectly to the Jewish connection to the land of Israel.
The text of Bechukkotai defines in great detail exactly what tragedies would befall the Jewish people for forsaking the Holy One, Blessed Be He, as well as His Torah. And not by coincidence, the Torah description is eerily accurate as it relates to what has befallen the Jewish people to the point of being prophetic. Every single aspect of Vayikra / Leviticus 26 occurred in Jewish history, and much of it within the narrative of the Tanakh (Bible) itself. And relating to the previous Torah portion of Behar, the Almighty indicated that the sabbatical and jubilee years would be of paramount importance if and when the Jewish people were exiled from the land of Israel.
“But if… you disobey Me and remain hostile to Me… I will make the land [of Israel] desolate… And I will scatter you among the nations… Your land shall become a desolation and your cities a ruin. Then shall the land make up for its sabbath years throughout the time that it is desolate and you are in the land of your enemies; then shall the land rest and make up for its sabbath years. Throughout the time that it is desolate, it shall observe the rest that it did not observe in your sabbath years while you were dwelling upon it.” Vayikra / Leviticus 26:27, 32-35
Correspondingly, the nevi’im, or Biblical prophets, noted that the Most High decreed that the original Babylonian exile would last approximately seventy years in accordance with the lack of observance of sabbatical and jubilee years.
“Therefore thus says the L-RD of hosts: Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says the L-RD, and I will send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, … And this whole land shall be a desolation, and a waste; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.” Yermiyahu / Jeremiah 25:8-11
“And the L-RD, the G-d of their fathers, sent to them [the Jewish people of the kingdom of Judah] by His messengers, sending betimes and often; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling-place [the Beit HaMikdash, or Temple]; but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the L-RD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Therefore He brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans [Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon]… to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had been paid her sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath [i.e. the sabbatical and jubilee years], to fulfil seventy years.” Devarei HaYamim Bet / II Chronicles 36:15-17, 21
On the plus side, there is a silver lining to these harsh consequences and dire tragedies that have repeatedly befallen the Jewish people. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, additionally promised that no matter how intense the negative consequences were for the rejection of the Torah by the Jewish people, He would never annul His covenant with His people. Rather, even in exile the Most High would remember His covenant with the Jewish people, and He would remember the land of Israel that is linked to the Jewish people (Vayikra / Leviticus 26:39-45). If the Jewish people return to the Almighty and His Torah, then G-d has promised to remember His covenant with us and with the land of Israel.
While we have witnessed great calamities inflicted upon the Jewish people, especially relating to a rejection of the Torah, we have also seen the positive results of the Most High remembering His covenant, His people, and His land. These benefits were also outlined in Bechukkotai. In addition to the perpetual promise that the Jewish people would always be linked to the land of Israel, and that the Almighty would grant us the ability to return at a later time even after exile, G-d also promised prosperity and military victory within the land of Israel. For instance, the Almighty assured us that if we “follow and faithfully observe” His rules, then “five shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred shall pursue ten thousand.” (e.g. Lev. 26:7-8) In the modern State of Israel, we have been blessed with extraordinary military victories ranging from the decisive victories of the War for Independence of 1948, the Six Day War of 1967, and the Yom Kippur War of 1973, to even the near-miraculous success of the Iron Dome anti-missile system protecting Israeli citizens from Hamas rockets. Similarly, in just over seven decades, a small country the size of New Jersey and surrounded by enemies has succeeded in economic growth and unprecedented industry development, especially in such sectors as technology and medicine.
May the Holy One, Blessed Be He, continue to grant His merciful blessings to the Jewish people living inside the land of Israel and beyond. And may those of us who are not presently living in Israel always remember our unbreakable link to the land.
