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 parashah, Ekev, presents with many wonderful passages, teachings, insights, and a few commandments as well. It sets the stage for the next three parashiyot which, together, contain an astounding 170 of all the Torah's 613 mitzvot. The first we encounter in parashat Ekev is the commandment to bench . After describing the marvelous qualities of the Land to which Hashem is bringing B'nei Yisrael - a goodly land, a land lacking in nothing - Moshe says, "V'achalta v'sava'ta uverachta et Hashem E-lokecha al ha'aretz hatovah asher natan lach" - You will eat and you will be satisfied and you will bless/thank the Eternal, your G-d, for the good land which He has given you. The trouble with this passage is that it hardly seems to be phrased as a commandment. Rather, it is Moshe's prophetic vision of a people, eating to satiation and exprssing the natural feeling of gratitude that comes in the wake of such abundance and satiation. For, if...