Parshas Behar-Behukosai: Thoughts on the first Rashi

“And God spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai, saying: Speak to Bnei Yisrael and say to them, when you come to the land which I give you, the land shall be at rest – a Shabbos for God.”

~ VaYikra, 25:1-2.

On Mount Sinai. What has the matter of the Sabbatical year to do with Mount Sinai? Were not all the commandments stated at Sinai? Rather, this comes to teach that just as shemittah (the Sabbatical years), its general rules, details, and specifications were said at Sinai, so too all the mitzvos including their general rules and specifics.

~ Rashi, on VaYikra, 25:1

Rabbi Avrohom Davis explains, in his footnotes on this Rashi, that it refers to a dispute in the Gemara (Chagigah 6a). Rabbi Yishmoel asserts that only general rules were given at Sinai and the details were presented in the Tent of Meeting. Rabbi Akiva asserts that both the general rules and the specifics were given at Sinai, repeated in the Tent of Meeting, and reiterated on the Plains of Moab. Rashi’s comment shows that he agrees with Rabbi Akiva.

This Talmudic dispute raises a pressing, related question for us: How much detail should a leader present to his/her followers when advancing new policies or actions? There's one school of thought that states that it’s more realistic to let people first absorb new concepts as broad ideas and then follow up with details later, as needed. A contrary approach, however, states that providing new concepts and sufficient (but not overwhelming) detail will help dispel anxiety and uncertainty, allowing for more expeditious actions by the people implementing the new policies.

To be sure, whichever view someone adopts will reflect the nature of the audience, the era, and the policies to be implemented. But it also will reflect heavily on the character of the leader who is weighing both options. And in our parsha at least, the ultimate leader – God – decided clearly that when it came to the mitzvah of letting the land rest for Sabbatical years, the Jewish people needed both principles and details upfront.

Parshat Behar/Behukotai – Cheating won’t help

A large part of this week’s Torah portion concerns itself with the laws of the Shemitah and Yovel years – the seventh year and the fiftieth year in the agricultural cycle in the land of Israel, when Jews are forbidden from planting and harvesting in their own fields. In the fiftieth year ancestral lands that a family was forced to sell to provide for themselves revert back to the owners and all Jewish slaves are set free (Leviticus, chapter 25). Amidst these laws there is one verse that touches on an entirely different topic: “If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy anything from your neighbor, do not cheat one another” (25:14). Why is this verse placed here, of all places??

Earlier this week Rabbi Yehoshua Lewis, the director of the Rutgers Jewish Experience, cited a commentary by Rabbi Yissochar Frand to explain to me why this verse is situated within the chapter about Shemitah and Yovel. He said that both the laws of Shemitah and Yovel, and the injunction against cheating, share a common underlying principle – that, while we are urged to work to support ourselves, in the end it is God who provides our sustenance and He allots exactly what we need in life. If we can truly incorporate this principle into our daily outlook, we will more easily accept any losses we may incur and we will not be tempted to cheat to improve our circumstances.

* This week’s Dvar Torah is dedicated to the memory of Elisheva Gila bat Shemuel, my sister in law Alice Storfer Nackman, z’l, who passed away on Lag B’Omer.