This week’s double Torah portion, Behar-Bechukotai, begins: “And the Lord spoke to Moshe at Mount Sinai” (Leviticus 25:1). At the end of our reading, we conclude the Torah’s third book with: “These ...

This week we have a double Torah portion, Behar-Bechukotai. I will offer a few comments only the first of the two Torah portions, Behar. Behar means “on the mountain,” referring to Mt. Sinai. The most ...

Foundational to Jewish living is being attentive to the needy, as the Torah states, “If your brother is waxen poor, and his means fails with you: then you shall uphold him” (Leviticus 25:35). The ...

Parshat Behar/Bechukotei: Leviticus 25:1-27:34; Jeremiah 16:19-17:14. This Shabbat we again read a double parshah — Behar-Bechukotei — bringing us closer to the end of Leviticus. Often described as ...

Every Shabbos, Jews in synagogues of all denominations hear the cantor, rabbi or a layperson chant that week’s Torah portion from an open scroll. But Yiddish scholar Sheva Zucker says you don’t need ...

Every seventh year, the Torah tells us in Parshat Behar, is the Shemittah (sabbatical year). During this period of time, every seventh year, the land in Israel must remain fallow – working the ground ...

When I was younger and still figuring out what religion meant to me, I went to synagogue most Shabbats. I loved the rhythm of the service, the sense of belonging, the melodies that felt familiar and ...

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