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B’HAR
“on the mountain”
14 MAY
2011
Leviticus 25:1-27:34
Jeremiah
32:6-27
Luke
4:16-21
We have
now come to the Parashah that is the next to the last Torah portion
before we begin reading from B’midbar, (Numbers). Wow almost reached the
end of one book and will begin another soon.
This
Torah portion begins with GOD speaking with Moshe on the mountain of
Sinai (thus it is called B’har, on the mountain). GOD
communicated the laws regarding the sabbatical year, Sh’mittah. Every
seventh year, all work on the land should cease, and its produce becomes
free for the taking for all, man and beast.
Seven
sabbatical cycles (49 years) are followed by a fiftieth year, the
jubilee year, on which work on the land ceases. All indentured servants
are set free, and all ancestral estates in Israel that have been sold
revert to their original owners. Behar also contains additional laws
governing the sale of lands and the prohibitions against fraud and
usury.
Every
Shabbat we are freed from the cares of the material world, and we pursue
the spiritual things. Our soul becomes free and truly then we do seek
the kingdom of GOD and not what the world gives.
As we
see. the overriding purpose of these laws of Sh’mittah (Sabbatical
year), was to remind His people that the land was GOD’s and Israel had
to trust GOD for everything. Just as the Sabbatical Year directs the
nation of Israel to spiritual pursuits, they also tell us that as
individuals we must have spiritual pursuits as well. In Luke 4: 16-21,
Yeshua used the Year of Jubilee to picture rest and freedom to all who
trust Him.
GOD, who
never breaks His word, tells us that the Year of Jubilee will bring
freedom not only for the land but freedom to all from sin and
rebellion. We are encouraged to repent and prepare as Shavuot will soon
be upon us. We are reminded how we received the word of GOD that has
set us free for all times.
In
Zechariah 3:8-10 AND John 15:1, The branch (David’s greater offspring,
Yeshua) will bring an end to iniquity from the land and all neighbors
will sit under His vine and under His fig tree.
Be
filled with faith and trust in GOD. These are intertwined. If we
believe that GOD created everything, we must believe that He rules over
everything, including our own lives. Do not fear, for GOD is with us
always.
Shavua
Tov
Rabbi Z
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