Parashat Behar-Bechukotai 5786

by Rabbi Margie Cella

This week we finish up the book of Vayikra with another double parashah. Just as the week follows a cycle of six workdays followed by a day of rest, so, too, does the land: six years of planting and harvesting are to be followed by a shmita year, when the land must be allowed to rest. Additionally, just as we count of a cycle of forty-nine days of the Omer, followed by the holy day of Shavuot, so, too, do we count off forty-nine years, followed by a holy jubilee year, when no planting or harvesting is permitted, slaves are set free, and ownership of property which has been sold reverts to the original owner.

This year reminds us that the land is not ours—it belongs to God. Twice in this section we are told not to wrong one another [Leviticus 25:14,17].  The second instance is followed by the statement, Ani Adonai Eloheichem, “I am Adonai, your God.” In Hebrew the second-person suffix on the last word is plural: we are all equal in God’s eyes.

Most commentators interpret this to mean that we must refrain from wronging one another verbally. We are not to say something that would annoy or anger another person. Rashi says that it also means we are not to give someone advice that would be more beneficial to ourselves than the other. Additionally, we must not be dishonest in our business dealings. Some interpret this last idea so strictly as to say that we should not mislead someone into thinking that we are going to purchase something when we have no intention of doing so.

We may not consider ourselves to be more important than anyone else. The other belongs to God as much as I do.

Oseh Shalom, Maker of Peace, may we all strive to refrain from wronging each other.