Below is a collection of Parashat Behar resources created by The Lookstein Center staff or contributed to the site by Jewish educators.

This is a growing collection. Check back soon or write to us at content@lookstein.org if you didn’t find what you’re looking for. 

Return to Sefer Vayikra Resources
Parasha Points
  • Shemitah (the sabbatical year) is every seventh year; Yovel (the Jubilee year) is every fiftieth year.
  • We are required to support the poor and help them escape the cycle of poverty.
Major Mitzvot
  • On both Shemitah and Yovel, we are not to work the fields, and the produce is free for the taking. On Yovel, even long-term Hebrew slaves are freed, and all agricultural real estate reverts to its original owners.
  • There is a mitzvah to help restore a poor person to his property if he sold it as a result of financial hardship. There are additional mitzvot to support people who have fallen upon hard times.
  • There is a mitzvah to redeem someone who sold themselves into servitude because of financial distress.
  • Land in walled-in cities does not revert to its owners on Yovel.
Educational Themes
  • The land belongs to God; we are its caretakers.
  • The Land of Israel is special.
  • The relationship between the People of Israel and the Land of Israel is unique.
  • Taking care of the poor and ending terminal poverty is a prominent concern of God.
Notable Quotes
  • A famous line quoted in non-Jewish circles as well – 
    וקראתם דרור בארץ לכל יושביה
  • The requirement to help the financially stressed –
     והחזקת בו גר ותושב וחי עמך
  • In the Yovel, everyone returns to their ancestral land –
    בשנת היובל הזאת תשובו איש אל אחוזתו

DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Question #1: In Parashat Behar, we have a source for the mitzvah of tzedakah. It is interesting to note that a poor person is described as  ”your brother” and the mitzvah is to help him be able to live with you. Maimonides describes 10 different ways of giving tzedakah, and the best is to help someone be able to “stand on their own feet” and not need tzedakah. What are some ways to give tzedakah in your community? What do you think is a good way of giving tzedakah?

Look inside the text (Vayikra 25:35),

 וְכִי יָמוּךְ אָחִיךָ וּמָטָה יָדוֹ עִמָּךְ וְהֶחֱזַקְתָּ בּוֹ גֵּר וְתוֹשָׁב וָחַי עִמָּךְ – If your brother is in trouble, reach out to help him, and if he comes to stay by you even though he is not a citizen, let him live by your side.

Question #2: Parashat Behar teaches the laws of Shmitah. In the seventh year, the land is given Shabbat – a rest! The farmer is not supposed to work his land and anything that grows is free for anyone to use. Why should the last get a rest in the seventh year – its not like a person who works hard and needs Shabbat to rest. Doesn’t the land belong to the farmer to do with it whatever he wants? The rabbis explain that one of the important lessons of Shmitah is respect for the land and also the fact that the land belongs to God and the farmer uses the land and should recognize that the land (and everything) is a blessing from God.

Look inside the text (Vayikra 25:2-4),

דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂראֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלהֶם כִּי תָבֹאוּ אל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם וְשָׁבְתָה הָאָרֶץ שַׁבָּת לַה’׃ – Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a Shabbat to God.

שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים תִּזְרַע שָׂדֶךָ וְשֵׁשׁ שָׁנִ֖ים תִּזְמֹר כַּרְמֶךָ וְאָסַפְתָּ אֶת תְּבוּאָתָהּ׃ -Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield.

וּבַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן יִהְיֶה לָאָרֶץ שַׁבָּת לַה’ שָֽׂדְךָ לֹא תִזְרָע וְכַרְמְךָ לֹא תִזְמֹר׃ – But in the seventh year the land shall have a Shabbat of complete rest, a Shabbat of God: you should not sow your field or prune your vineyard.

Question #3: There is a distinction between real estate deals in cities and those in farm countries. If someone sells a house in a city they have one year to “redeem” it back, and if they do not then the sale is permanent. By contrast, in farm country, they have until the Yovel (Jubilee) year to redeem it, and if they are unsuccessful then it reverts back to the original owner automatically. In what ways are the connections between the people and the land different for farm people and city people? How does living in a city affect us differently?

Question #4: The Torah establishes standard “valuation” for people, depending on gender and age. When everyone is treated the same does that increase or decrease our individual sense of value? Does that increase or decrease our motivation to contribute to society and move forward? What are the benefits and drawbacks of competition?