2014-2015 CYCLE
P189 Double Portion Parash 32 & 33
Parash 32 Synopsis
–
On the mountain of Sinai, God communicates to Moses the laws of the
sabbatical year. Every seventh year, all work on the land should
cease, and its produce becomes free for the taking for all, man and beast.
Seven sabbatical cycles are followed by a fiftieth year -- the jubilee
year, on which work on the land ceases, all indentured servants are set free,
and all ancestral estates in the Holy Land that have been sold revert to
their original owners.
Behar also contains additional laws governing the sale of lands, and the
prohibitions against fraud and usury.
Parash 33 Synopsis
– God promises that if the people of Israel will keep His commandments, they
will enjoy material prosperity and dwell secure in their homeland. But He also
delivers a harsh“ rebuke,” warning of the exile, persecution and other evils
that will befall them if they abandon their covenant with Him.
Nevertheless, “Even when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast
them away; nor will I ever abhor them, to destroy them and to break My covenant
with them; for I am the Lord their God.” The Parasha concludes with the rules on
how to calculate the value of different types of pledges made to God, and
the mitzvah of tithing produce and livestock. |