Resources

Rabbi Doug Alpert on the promise of the jubilee year.

We live in a privileged society. The Torah teaches that God judges us on how we meet our societal responsibility to provide for the most vulnerable people within our society. While we enjoy the blessings [of our privilege], we fail to meet the responsibility.

We are returning from the mountain to the plains; from our highest ideals to the practicalities of daily living; from the most fundamental expression of holiness to where we are now.

...modern American politics have alienated the word dror from the Jewish concept of liberty.

In Parshat Behar, urban spaces were not considered a factor in the wellness and stability of society. Today, we must acknowledge our centuries of disenfranchisement and commit to fostering an urban landscape of equity and opportunity.

That’s how I found myself chanting and marching, yelling to children that they were not forgotten, that they were loved – while holding the hand of my youngest son, whom I love so much it hurts. Having a child is like letting your heart walk around outside of your body.

In this d'var Torah for Behar-Bechukotai, Rabbi Sally Priesand draws connections between the Liberty Bell and other symbols and ensuring liberty in civic life.

Commentary on Parshat Behar (Leviticus 25:1 – 26:2) In Leviticus 25, the Torah famously explains the practice of the sabbatical year (shmitah) and the jubilee year (yovel), in which those who work the land refrain from farming in order to let the land rest. It’s not hard to see a connection between the ancient practice...

Commentary on Parshat Behar/Bechukotai (Leviticus 25:1 – 27:34) One week from today, Monday May 14, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival will launch across this country. As I prepare for this momentous event, I’m struck by the alignment of Torah and sacred season. This Shabbat when we read of the yovel...

“The land vomits you out?!” one of my congregants in my weekly parshah class exclaimed. We were learning parshat Behar. I was trying to explain the conditions in which we are allowed by God to dwell in the land of Israel. In order to dwell in the land we must act with holiness, following God’s...