Parashat Behar-Bechukotai (Revised May 8, 2026) This week's double parashah, Behar and Bechuotai, bring to a close the book of Vayikra, a book the all-consuming focus of which is, undoubtably, KEDUSHAH, holiness. The last chapter is concerned largely with the kind of vows people make in dedicating something to the service of Hashem in the Mikdash. There are many laws regulating this seemingly noble motivation and its accompanying action, but my attention was taken this time around by the following law: "If (the devoted thing) is an animal of the kind from which an offering is brought to Hashem, any one which is given to Hashem shall be kodesh . One shall not exchange it ( lo yachalifenu ) nor shall one substitute for it ( yamir oto ), good for bad or bad for good; now if one DOES substitute for it, it will be that it and its substitute will be kodesh ." Vayikra 27:10-11 This mitzvah turns out to be very curious, because one is lashed for its intentional violation...
This week's Pshat is dedicated to the memory of the eight young men murdered learning Torah last night at Yeshivat Merkaz Harav, two of whom were my son's classmates through eighth grade: Segev Avichayil and Avraham David Moses . Y'hi Zichram Baruch, Hashem Yikom Damam. The last cold snap has barely lifted, but outside, the almond trees have no time to wait. They are so suddenly filled with beautiful, fragrant white blossoms that it is hard to believe that little over a week ago, they weren't there. Even harder to believe that by the time Nisan comes and we can say Birkat HaIlanot, they will be long gone. What's their rush? Where are they going? Can't they wait for the other trees? The word for almond in Hebrew is shaked , which means "quick and diligent". Yeshivah Letzi'irim, popularly known as Yashlatz , is the high-school branch of Yeshivat Merkaz Harav, the yeshiva founded by Rav Kook almost eighty-five years ago. It's know as bein...