Bechukotai
Leviticus 26:3 - 27:34
Précis: The parasha begins with a statement promising blessings 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 "tochacha" or "Admonition"). 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.
Leviticus 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.”
The phrase “as a driven leaf” is used as the title for a well-known book by Milton Steinberg which, in historical novel form, focuses on the life of Elisha ben Abuyah, a torah scholar who was part of the inner circle of rabbinic sages who composed the Mishna. He was declared a heretic and excommunicated when he lost his faith, having observed a child die in a fall from a tree while attempting to comply with the commandment to remove a mother bird from the nest when harvesting the eggs – a mitzvah which specifically promises long life. Following his excommunication, he was subsequently known as “Acher” – “the Other.”
The phrase “as a driven leaf” is found only twice in the Bible: here, and in the Book of Job (13:25). In both places, the phrase “driven leaf” (in Hebrew “aleh nidaf”) is a metaphor for disconnection (hence its use by Steinberg as the title for his novel, where the protagonist feels disconnected from what he had previously believed). In the verse here, the Israelites are warned that if they are disconnected from God, they will be crippled by anxiety so severe that they will run from the sound of a leaf blown by the wind. The suffering Job asks, "Why do you hide Your face . .? Will You harass a driven leaf?"
Being cut off from God in these terms also means that one is cut off from one’s community, is bereft of all moorings and is left without the comfort of others. The punishments of the Admonition are even more awful because they impact even the righteous individuals who observe God’s law. Although severe, the promise of this parasha, and this Book, is that if we strive for holiness, to imitate God’s attributes, the Covenant (the “brit”) will abide.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Haves and Have-Nots, Then and Now
B'Har
Leviticus 25:1 - 26:2
Précis: The parasha 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 the original owners. The parasha continues with the prohibition against unlimited slavery, as well as the rules for the treatment of those who are slaves.
Leviticus 25:10 “And you will hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof; it will be a jubilee to you, and you will return every man to his possession, and you will return every man to his family.”
The word “liberty” (in Hebrew “d’ror”) may more properly be understood as “release.” According to Baruch A. Levine, in Leviticus JPS Torah Commentary (Jewish Publication Society, 1989, p. 171) the term literally means ‘to move about freely,’ and in application refers to the freedom granted to those bound by servitude. This makes sense in the context of the Jubilee, where all are “released” from the burdens of crushing, unpayable debt.
It is interesting that the Biblical system of Jubilee and release is being read now, when debate is omnipresent in the United States about what to do with our nation’s debt. Our text is an important instruction: liberty and freedom require that a society lives in economic balance. The jubilee system is designed to keep Jews from being permanent debt slaves. So every 50 years, the land (the principle wealth of Israelite society) reverts to its original owners, and those who have been dispossessed are entitled to return their ancestral land.
But the jubilee system was also designed to keep individuals from accumulating too much wealth! This was a system in which there was a balance maintained between the extremes of poverty and wealth.
Today, of course, we don’t officially have “debt slaves.” But we do have enormous and growing disparities between the “haves” and the “have nots” with a steady erosion of the middle class. While many modern commentators doubt whether or not a Jubilee Year was ever actually observed, few can doubt that the moral lesson of this concept is critically important today. As a society, we must live within our means, and simultaneously recognize that extreme disparities between the “haves” and the "have nots” is inimical to a just and prosperous society.
Leviticus 25:1 - 26:2
Précis: The parasha 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 the original owners. The parasha continues with the prohibition against unlimited slavery, as well as the rules for the treatment of those who are slaves.
Leviticus 25:10 “And you will hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof; it will be a jubilee to you, and you will return every man to his possession, and you will return every man to his family.”
The word “liberty” (in Hebrew “d’ror”) may more properly be understood as “release.” According to Baruch A. Levine, in Leviticus JPS Torah Commentary (Jewish Publication Society, 1989, p. 171) the term literally means ‘to move about freely,’ and in application refers to the freedom granted to those bound by servitude. This makes sense in the context of the Jubilee, where all are “released” from the burdens of crushing, unpayable debt.
It is interesting that the Biblical system of Jubilee and release is being read now, when debate is omnipresent in the United States about what to do with our nation’s debt. Our text is an important instruction: liberty and freedom require that a society lives in economic balance. The jubilee system is designed to keep Jews from being permanent debt slaves. So every 50 years, the land (the principle wealth of Israelite society) reverts to its original owners, and those who have been dispossessed are entitled to return their ancestral land.
But the jubilee system was also designed to keep individuals from accumulating too much wealth! This was a system in which there was a balance maintained between the extremes of poverty and wealth.
Today, of course, we don’t officially have “debt slaves.” But we do have enormous and growing disparities between the “haves” and the “have nots” with a steady erosion of the middle class. While many modern commentators doubt whether or not a Jubilee Year was ever actually observed, few can doubt that the moral lesson of this concept is critically important today. As a society, we must live within our means, and simultaneously recognize that extreme disparities between the “haves” and the "have nots” is inimical to a just and prosperous society.
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