B’har-B’chukotai
Lag BaOmer is behind us, and Yom Yerushalayim is coming up next Friday, so we’ll talk about that in next week’s column. Let’s get into our double sedra, B’har–B’chukotai, which we’ll call BB.
But before we do that, a little vocabulary trivia. I realized that I use the word column often in this column, so I decided to check the internet and ChatGPT about the silent n at the end of the word. The English word comes from the Latin columna, where the n is sounded. Then the final vowel dropped off but the n stayed and became silent. If your family and friends like trivia, ask them to name other English words that end with a silent n. The reasons are similar – the original word was shortened with the n becoming silent. Examples: autumn (autumnus), hymn (from the Greek hymnos), and solemn (solemnis).
Sorry, I couldn’t resist sharing that with you.
B’har and B’chukotai are each small sedras – B’har has only 57 p’sukim; there are only four sedras shorter than it. B’chukotai is longer, but at only 78 p’sukim, it is found way down the list of sedras, ranking 46th or 47th, depending on what measure you use – lines in a Sefer Torah, p’sukim, words, or letters. When combined, there are still 11 sedras with more p’sukim than BB.
Here are the seven pairs of sedras that are sometimes combined and sometimes read separately, with the number of p’sukim and, in parentheses, the number of single sedras with more p’sukim than the pair.
Vayakhel–P’kudei (VP) 214 (0); Tazri’a–M’tzora (TM) 157 (3); Acharei–K’doshim (AK) 144 (9); B’har–B’chukotai (BB) 135 (11); Chukat–Balak (CB) 191 (0), Matot–Mas’ei (MM) 242 (0); and Nitzavim–Vayeilech (NV) 70 (47).
Mitzvah-wise, B’har has 24 and B’chukotai has 12. Following upon K’doshim with 51 mitzvot and Emor with 63, 24 and 12 doesn’t sound like a large number of mitzvot. Yet because of the uneven distribution of the mitzvot in the Torah, B’har’s 24 puts it in 8th place, and even B’chukotai’s 12 gives it a rank of 15th (tied with Va’etchanan).
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B’har and B’chukotai are combined in regular 12-month, one-Adar years (that’s 12 out of every 19-year cycle) and read separately in 13-month, two-Adar years (7 times during each 19-year cycle). That’s the situation outside of Israel. However, in a regular year, when Pesach is Shabbat-to-Shabbat in Chutz LaAretz – which happens in the most common of the 14 year-types in the calendar – in Israel our Pesach ends on Friday, and the next day, which is Acharon Shel Pesach abroad, is a regular Shabbat. Thus, we resume Parshat HaShavua a week before the Jews in Chutz LaAretz. We remain out of sync regarding which sedra is read until we split BB and read B’har by itself while the rest of the world is reading Emor, and we read B’chukotai while the rest of the world is reading BB. If that sounds confusing, try rereading the paragraph, and do it slowly.
Why wait for BB to split to get back into sync? Splitting Tazri’a and M’tzora would accomplish the same thing earlier, so why not do that instead? Good question – I have no idea.
Anyway, the result of the above is that outside of Israel, B’har and B’chukotai are more often combined than read separately. In Israel, it’s the opposite – these sedras are read separately more often than they are combined.
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The most common pasuk in the Torah is “Vaydabeir HaShem el Moshe leimor” – And G-d spoke to Moshe, saying. It occurs 69 times in the Books of Sh’mot, Vayikra, and Bamidbar. Last week’s Torah reading of Parshat Emor had that pasuk 11 times – by far the most of any sedra. Which leads us perfectly to the opening pasuk of this week’s B’har: “Vaydabeir HaShem el Moshe b’Har Sinai leimor” – And G-d spoke to Moshe at Har Sinai, saying.
Rashi asks the famous question – “Ma inyan Sh’mita eitzel Har Sinai?” So famous is this question that it is used in Hebrew slang to mean “What has one thing got to do with the other?” (I wonder if secular Israelis who use this expression know that Rashi said it almost a thousand years ago.)
The American-English version is: What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? British-English: What does that have to do with the price of fish? French: What does that have to do with sauerkraut? Polish: What does gingerbread have to do with a windmill? Here’s a fun, creative one – Russian: “What does that have to do with it?”
But I digress.
Rashi’s question is based on the fact that all mitzvot were taught by G-d to Moshe at Har Sinai, so why mention that specifically with the mitzvot of Sh’mita? His answer is that just as the presentation of Sh’mita includes its details, so too, all mitzvot were given at Sinai with their details and not just as “chapter headings” as we might think.
A follow-up question is why is this lesson taught specifically choosing Sh’mita as the example? Let’s leave that as a question, for now.
I would like to take a different look at the question about the connection between Sh’mita and Har Sinai. Har Sinai represents Torah in its entirety. Sh’mita represents Eretz Yisrael. So the question “Ma inyan…” is like asking what Eretz Yisrael has to do with Torah. Which should be a ridiculous question in light of the fact that G-d presented us with a package deal from the beginning – “I’ll take you out of Egypt, I will make a mutual relationship with you (at Sinai), and I will bring you to the Land.”
What actually happened way back when was that we were taken out of Egypt and stood at Sinai weeks later – following the miracles at the Sea, a battle with Amalek, and a number of miracles in response to our thirst and hunger. Then, we were supposed to be led to Eretz Yisrael just a few days afterward.
But we messed up. The Sin of the Spies cost us a 40-year delay. And that created an unfortunate mindset that Torah and the Land were not as connected as they were meant to be. In the thousands of years that have passed since then, we have been on the Land, off the Land, on the Land, back off the Land, and now – slowly but surely – we are coming back to the place we were supposed to be from the beginning.
What does the Land of Israel have to do with Har Sinai? Indeed, it has everything to do with it. Many Jews today know that connection well. And sadly, many don’t. From both sides. People who understand what our homeland means to the Jewish People, but don’t see the connection to the Torah. And people who scrupulously keep the mitzvot of the Torah (almost all of them) but don’t see and feel the connection to the Land.
There is a pasuk in B’har that sounds similar to the final pasuk of the Sh’ma, but this pasuk adds a crucial phrase, which, in essence, answers the question (by my way of looking at it) of Ma inyan Sh’mita… Vayikra 25:38 reads: “Ani Hashem Elokeichem… I am HaShem, your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be a G-d to you.”
May we see continued progress of Jews towards a Torah way of life and towards the intended location for that very same Torah way of life.
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Word association – answer quickly: Shabbat Shabbaton.
Did you say or think Yom Kippur? I would guess most people would make that association. However…
The phrase Shabbat Shabbaton occurs six times in the Torah. The first two – in Ki Tisa and Vayakhel – use that description for Shabbat (Shabbos, if you prefer; the seventh day of the week). In Acharei and again in the second of two times in Emor, the Torah is definitely referring to Yom Kippur. Regarding the first occurrence in Emor, there is a dispute as to whether it refers to Shabbat or to Yom Kippur. If Friday night Kiddush would be the determining factor, then that Shabbat Shabbaton would be talking about our weekly Shabbat. In Kiddush, we call Shabbat “Rishon hu l’mikra’ei kodesh, the first of the days called holy. But Kiddush can’t resolve the debate. There are textual and conceptual arguments that point to Yom Kippur. Let’s call it a draw and give two and a half points each for Shabbat and Yom Kippur.
That brings us to Parshat B’har and the sixth time we find the words Shabbat Shabbaton. And in B’har this phrase is referring to the Sh’mita year. Final totals: Shabbat, two and a half points; Yom Kippur, two and a half points; Sh’mita year, one point.
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Now let’s look at the mitzvot of BB in more detail. B’har begins with four prohibitions that apply to Sh’mita. The mitzvat asei, positive mitzvah of observing Sh’mita, has already been counted back in Parshat Mishpatim.
These are followed by 13 mitzvot dealing with, or in the context of, Yovel, the Jubilee Year – the year following seven seven-year Sh’mita cycles.
Here’s the thing. Yovel doesn’t exist unless the majority of the Jews in the world live in Israel (we’re getting close to that, but not yet), we are governed by a Sanhedrin, and a few other factors. However, there are a few mitzvot related to Yovel that do exist today. Perhaps most significant among them is the prohibition of cheating in business. That’s no small potato (as the expression goes). Its context is selling land to someone who is not aware of when the next Yovel is and charging more than the number of years until Yovel warrants. Since land reverts to its original owners in Yovel, a sale of land is calculated based upon the number of years the buyer will keep it.
The Oral Torah defines this prohibition as ona’a, which includes taking advantage of a clueless buyer. For example, selling a high-quality copy of a famous painting as an original, selling silver plate as pure silver, selling a used object as new, overcharging, and so on. This is all part of Torah Law, not merely a Rabbinic extension of the Torah Law. It is the explanation of the Torah Law as stated in the Written Word. And it applies to the buyer as well as the seller. Either party who takes monetary advantage of the other violates the prohibition of ona’a.
Another Yovel-related mitzvah that applies for all times is the prohibition of selling any part of Eretz Yisrael “forever.” This prohibition teams up with another to prohibit selling land to a non-Jew.
Sh’mita, on the other hand, is considered applicable today. Most say this is by Rabbinic decree (because Yovel doesn’t apply and it is linked to Sh’mita requirements); some say that Sh’mita continues in our time as a Torah set of mitzvot.
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There are other mitzvah-topics I’d love to present, but space is running out, so I’ll just present one more topic from the end of the sedra, the end of the whole Book of Vayikra. Before that, I should mention the Tochacha, the harsh words of rebuke and reproach, found in B’chukotai, and differently, in Ki Tavo. In B’chukotai, we find the dire consequences and punishments for ignoring the laws of Sh’mita. At the beginning of B’har, as mentioned earlier, we have those laws set out. That should be sufficient for us to comply with them. G-d says don’t work the land in the seventh year – we shouldn’t. G-d commands, and we, His People, obey – not just out of fear, but with feelings of genuine love of G-d and His Torah and mitzvot.
Unfortunately, that is usually not enough. What follows at the beginning of B’chukotai is a description of the benefits and rewards for keeping G-d’s mitzvot. That should be enough, if the mitzvot themselves are not sufficient motivation for us to follow the Torah. So then comes the devastating Tochacha. And that includes the promise of exile, so that the Land will finally get its rest.
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The Torah requires the tithing of domesticated farm animals. First, the newborn calves, lambs, and kids (goats) are to be gathered (calves separately; lambs and kids can be combined). The mitzvah is to allow the animals born in the same year to pass through a narrow opening, counted by the owner, with every tenth one being declared kodesh (holy) and marked to avoid the sacred animals getting mixed up with the rest of the flocks. Animals designated as holy belong to the owner, but he must bring them to the Beit HaMikdash and offer them as a korban (Maaseir B’heima). The korban is to be eaten with family and friends in Yerushalayim, with all participants being in a state of tahara (ritual purity).
Let’s leave the description at that – except for this one detail: The mitzvah of Maaseir B’heima applies, not just at the time of the Mikdash, but even today. That might sound strange, but it is applicable at all times. But we don’t currently have a Mizbei’ach on which to offer them. Problem.
And this is how the Shulchan Aruch handles the problem: It commands us by Rabbinic legislation not to do the mitzvah. How sad that the book that guides us to proper fulfillment of mitzvot has to tell us, “This mitzvah exists today, but do not do it.” That means that a person who breeds cows, for example, and has 27 newborns this year, two of which would become Maaseir B’heima when gathered and counted out the proper way, simply should not be subjected to that process. Unlike produce from the ground that has to be tithed in order to permit the remaining produce to be eaten, with animals, if you don’t do the process of Maaseir, then all the animals are perfectly acceptable to raise, sell, eat, etc.
Further, if in the time of the Beit HaMikdash, one simply does not do Maaseir B’heima, even though he is held accountable for not doing a mitzvah, there is no problem with all the animals. This is a mitzvah that doesn’t have a downside when not observed. It is almost like a mitzvah that is available to a person to do or not to do, exercising one’s free will. Of course, the mitzvah should be done. That goes without saying (except that I said it).
Tizku l’mitzvot and Shabbat Shalom.