B’Har - Bechukotai
Lev. 25:1 – 27:34
Précis:
B’Har begins with a description
of the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee (Yovel)
Year. In the 50th (Jubilee) Year, we are to “proclaim liberty
throughout the land” and property is restored to its ancestral owners. The
parasha continues with the prohibition against unlimited slavery, as well as
the rules for the treatment of those who are slaves.
Bechukotai,
the final parasha in Vayikra, begins
with a statement promising blessing if the People follow Adonai’s ways. The
blessings are discussed in detail. But, if the People disobey, terrible
punishments will be visited upon them, and these, too, are listed in agonizing
detail. The Book of Leviticus then concludes (as it opened) with regulations
regarding the upkeep of the Sanctuary, from voluntary tithes, land gifts,
firstborn redemption, and the tithes of flocks.
Lev.
26:36 “As for those of you who survive, I will cast a faintness into their
hearts in the land of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them
to flight. Fleeing as though from the sword, they shall fall, though none
pursues.”
In these pandemic days of Covid-19,
fear is a great danger we face – perhaps even greater than the virus itself. God promises we will fear even the “sound of a driven
leaf” if we fail to observe the mitzvot He has commanded. We will fear imaginary enemies where none exist. While I am not one
who believes that the Almighty visits plagues upon us for our misdeeds, I do
not doubt the thought implied here: fear is a cause of adversity, and its
outcome as well. If we “cast out faintness from our hearts," we can survive together. FDR’s statement that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
was never truer than today.
