Shabbat Shalom Weekly

Torah Portion:  BEHAR – BECHUKOTAI

Jubilee:  Returning to Our True Selves
by Rabbi Avraham Kovel

Imagine a day where all your bad financial decisions disappear: you get your land back, your debt is forgiven, and even if you sold yourself into indentured servitude out of desperation, you walk away free. Sounds amazing, right?

This isn’t just fantasy—it’s the Torah’s economic reset button. In the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, the Torah introduces two major mitzvot of the land of Israel — the Shemittah year and the Jubilee (Yovel) year.

Every seventh year, the laws of Shemittah mandate that we let the land rest and open our fields to the poor. Then, every 50th year, we celebrate the Yovel (Jubilee) year where we not only stop working the land, but also grant complete freedom to all servants and return all land to its original (ancestral) owners. Essentially, we wipe the slate clean and give everyone the chance to start fresh. But there’s something deeper here than economics—the timing of this reset reveals its profound spiritual purpose.

Economic Reset, Spiritual Return

The Torah describes the Jubilee year with a curious detail: “Then you shall sound the horn loud, in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).”¹ The great Maharal of Prague, 16th century Torah giant and cornerstone of Jewish thought, spots something puzzling in this verse: why explicitly mention that the tenth day of the seventh month is Yom Kippur when any Jewish reader would already know this? And more fundamentally, why proclaim the Yovel on Yom Kippur at all, when the year begins on Rosh Hashanah?

The Maharal offers a cryptic answer: Yom Kippur and Yovel are essentially the same. The same? How could this be? Yom Kippur is a solemn day of fasting and prayer, while Yovel is an economic reset when debts vanish, servants walk free, and ancestral lands return to their original owners. On the surface, one addresses the spirit while the other rearranges material reality. These mitzvot seem to have nothing to do with one another!

To understand his answer, we must go back to the fundamental goal of Yom Kippur. On the Day of Atonement, we fast and abstain from physical pleasures not primarily to provoke repentance. Instead, these practices serve a higher purpose: they strip away our material distractions, allowing our spiritual essence to express itself more purely. As we detach from what we are not, we become more fully what we are.

This process is called “Teshuva”, poorly translated as “repentance,” but literally meaning “To return.” Teshuva is the return to our true selves.

So too with the Yovel year. As we accumulate possessions, land, and power, we risk identifying with what we own rather than who we are. During Yovel, we actively relinquish external wealth, break free from debt, and return property to its original owners.

Just as Yom Kippur strips away physical distractions to reveal our spiritual essence, Yovel removes material accumulations that obscure our true identity. Through this collective letting go, we reconnect to our source, our purpose, our God.

The Maharal captures this perfectly: “The Yovel is the return of everything to its original state, just as it was initially. Similarly, on Yom Kippur everything returns to its original state; God forgives [us], and we return to who we were initially.”

Practicing a Personal Yovel

Though we no longer observe Yovel today, its timeless message speaks directly to our materialistic era: You are not your possessions. You are not your wealth. Your essence transcends all material things.

Take a moment now to experience this truth through a brief meditation. Find a comfortable position, take a few deep breaths, and follow along:

1. Beyond Possessions

Picture your possessions—your home, car, devices, clothes, and everything you own. See them clearly in your mind. Now imagine them gradually fading, becoming transparent. As they fade, notice that your sense of self remains completely intact. Say to yourself: “I have these things, but I am not these things. My identity exists independently of what I own.”

2. Beyond Body

Bring awareness to your physical body—this vessel that carries you through life. Feel its sensations: heaviness, lightness, warmth, coolness. Now gently recognize that while you experience these sensations, you are the awareness that notices them. “I have this body, but I am not only this body. I am the consciousness that experiences it.”

3. Beyond Emotions

Notice what emotions are present right now—perhaps calm, curiosity, or something else. Observe these feelings without judgment. See how they arise, shift, and eventually pass, while something in you remains constant. “I feel these emotions, but I am not these emotions. I am the awareness that witnesses them.”

4. Beyond Mind

Watch your thoughts as they appear—ideas, memories, judgments, plans. Notice how they change, like clouds across the sky. Yet the sky itself—your awareness—remains unchanged. “I have these thoughts, but I am not these thoughts. I am the spacious awareness in which all thoughts arise.”

Touching True Self

In this moment of quiet awareness, rest in the simple knowing of your own existence. Beyond possessions, beyond body, beyond emotions, beyond thoughts—there is still something here, experiencing this moment. This is a glimpse of your true self—the Divine Spark that connects you to your Creator.

This practice mirrors both Yom Kippur and Yovel—the stripping away of external layers to reveal our true nature. Just as we pray five times on Yom Kippur, these five stages help us transcend our limited identities and touch something eternal.

For a more guided experience, Rabbi Peretz Segal offers comprehensive meditations in his series, with episode 10 covering all five stages:  Leviticus 25:9

Of Love and Pain
by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Parshat Bechukotai contains a series of blessings and curses. Surprisingly, only 11 verses are dedicated to blessings (Leviticus 26:3-13), while a full 36 verses are dedicated to curses (Leviticus 26:14-46). The contrast is striking. Why are there so many more curses than blessings? It almost seems as though someone is out to get us!

Furthermore, King David writes in Psalms, “Your staff and Your rod have comforted me” (Psalms 23:4). It seems strange that he would use this imagery to depict comfort, since staffs and rods are instruments of pain. If King David wanted to use soothing symbolism, why didn’t he write something like, “Pillows and cushions have comforted me”?

The Chafetz Chaim cites the Talmud (Brachot 5a), in which Rava explains that God smites His desired ones with pains and difficulties, as the verse says, “The one whom God desires is smitten with illness” (Isaiah 53:10). We also find a support to this idea in the verses, “God chastises the one He loves, like a parent who desires the child” (Proverbs 3:12) and “Fortunate is the one whom God afflicts with pains and suffering” (Psalms 94:10).

A MOTHER’S CARE

Based on these verses, we can understand why King David used staffs and rods as examples of comfort. Staffs and rods are instruments of pain – and this is precisely the idea that King David found so comforting! The pain itself is a sign that God loves us. But how? Let us explore this idea with a concrete example.

Imagine you’re walking down the street, and a few yards ahead of you, a group of children is playing ball. At a certain point, the ball is kicked into the gutter, and a 5-year-old boy runs out to retrieve it. He is so focused on the ball that he doesn’t look for oncoming traffic, and he dashes into the street directly in front of a car. The driver notices the boy at the last second, slams on the brakes, and the car comes to a screeching halt — missing the boy by an inch.

Your reaction to this scene, as a pedestrian, would most likely be to hold your breath in horror, and then, when you see that the boy is unharmed, to continue on your way, perhaps shaking your head about the impulsiveness of children.

If the boy’s mother were witnessing the scene, on the other hand, she would react differently. Initially, she will also hold her breath in horror — but when she sees that her son is unharmed, she will run over to him, drag him off the street, and spank him soundly, all the while yelling that he should never, ever do that again!

What’s the difference between you and the boy’s mother? You don’t care about the boy as much as his mother does. She loves him so much that she will temporarily inflict pain on him in order to teach him a lesson.

Let us quickly explore five additional points that support the idea that pain indicates God’s love for us:

1. The Ramchal (Mesillat Yesharim 1) states that challenges and difficulties remind us of the transience of this world. When, due to our pain, we realize that life is really about the next world, we can realign our values and live in accordance with what is lasting and true.
2. Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch explains that pain strengthens our moral fiber and molds us. Going through difficult experiences helps us to be sensitive to others’ pain and helps us to appreciate good in our lives. Pain is therefore a gift from the One who loves us (“no pain, no gain”), and crises and problems can be seen as opportunities for growth.
3. Our pain can cause us to cry out to God, thus affording us the opportunity to develop a relationship with our Creator. This is not the same as prayer by rote; this is a much deeper level. Calling out from the depths of our heart and initiating a conversation with God in our own language is a powerful way to build a relationship with Him.
4. Maimonides (Hilchot Ta’aniyot 1:3) teaches that tragedies strike in order for us to repent and return to God.
5. Pain cleanses us from any mistakes we may have made in the past.

Curses and Blessings

Of course, despite all the benefits of pain, we must never ask for challenges in this area. But when troubles come on their own, ironically, our very suffering should bring us happiness and joy. The tractate of the Talmud devoted to the laws of mourning is called “Tractate of Happiness” (found at the end of Tractate Avodah Zara). On a simple level, we can understand this as meaning that a mourner is not permitted to attend festivities and celebrations. On a deeper level, however, the title indicates that mourning is actually a happy occasion.

This explains why Parshat Bechukotai contains more curses than blessings. The curses themselves are a sign that God loves us and wants us to receive all the benefits that come from the difficulties. As the Midrash (Devarim Raba 1:4) points out, Bilam ultimately blesses the Jewish people, while Moses ultimately curses the nation. Why would our arch-enemy give us a blessing and our devoted leader give us a curse?

Bilam doesn’t want us to benefit from all the positive opportunities that come with pain. He simply wants to compliment us, to reassure us that everything is okay, so that we will not have the chance to grow beyond our current level. Moses, on the other hand, who loves us and really cares, doesn’t let us off the hook. He chastises us harshly in order to make sure we become the best that we can be.

God loves us even more than Moses. Because of this, the curses in Parshat Bechukotai are even harsher than the curses that Moses gives in the Book of Deuteronomy (see Rashi on Leviticus 26:19 in contrast to Deut. 28:23). We see this in the most tragic month on the Jewish calendar, as well, the month in which both Temples were destroyed and numerous other national tragedies occurred. This month is called “Av,” which is the Hebrew word for “father.” The calamities of Av teach us that our Creator loves us deeply. If God didn’t care about us, He wouldn’t bother to send us the opportunities of pain.

We can each choose whether or not to implement these ideas in our own lives in order to help us cope, change our attitudes, and better manage our own challenges. We must remember, however, never to lecture other people when they are going through a period of suffering. When others are in pain, our job is simply to be there for them, cry with them, feel their pain, and do whatever we can to provide comfort.

May we all be blessed with the strength to face challenges and difficulties with a healthy frame of mind, so that we clarify the purpose of life, stretch ourselves to the maximum, and become as close as possible to God, Who is loving us every moment.

Treat Everyone With Respect
by Nesanel Yoel Safran

From This Week’s Torah Portion

When it comes to treating people with kindness and respect, there are no exceptions to the rule. In this week’s Torah portion we learn that even a rich, important landowner must treat his lowliest servant with care and respect (Lev. 25:39-43). The Torah way is never to look down on or mistreat anyone.

In our story, some kids find out something new about who deserves respect.

The sidewalks were full of kids holding their collars tight and their umbrellas tighter as they trudged, slogged and scrambled their way to school beneath the spring downpour.

In the midst of all the soggy chaos, gliding gracefully along was Heather, otherwise known as the ‘class Queen.’

The girl certainly deserved the title, too. Not only was she the coolest, most put-together, and good-looking kid in the class by far, but she was also a straight ‘A’ student.

Vicky and Jan, who counted themselves lucky enough to be Heather’s best friends (or at least they wanted to be) strutted on either side of her like a pair of bookends, proud of the privilege of walking close to her.

They were wearing the same top-designer raincoat as Heather was (after all, they’d run out and bought them right after she did) and tried to carry their high-end umbrellas with the same casual flair as her, though for some reason it didn’t look quite the same.

As the threesome turned the corner, they encountered a strange sight. A kid was wildly swinging her inside-out, collapsed umbrella in the wind, obviously trying – without success – to straighten it out. Her hair was a wet, flying mop and her book bag had somehow opened up and was fast spilling its contents into the puddle at her feet.

It took only a moment to realize who this unfortunate creature was – none other than Lizzy, better known to her classmates as Frizzy Lizzy, the class loser.

Vicky and Jan saw this as a perfect chance to have a little ‘fun’ and at the same time impress Heather at how cool and clever they were.

“Lizzy dear, I believe the rain is falling down, not up” Vicky snickered as they strode past, “I think you’d be a lot drier if you kept your umbrella over your head.”

“Yes, that is of course, unless you are trying to give your hair a perm treatment — but then again it’s certainly frizzy enough as it is, isn’t it?” Jan added with a sharp laugh.

As they walked on and left Lizzy to her troubles, the two girls were anxious to see how much Heather must have enjoyed their clever putdowns of their lowly classmate.

“She’s some loser, isn’t she Heather?” Jan chuckled, turning toward her — but the girl wasn’t there. “Hey Vicky, where’s Heather?” she asked, stopping in her tracks.

“Maybe we didn’t notice and she rushed ahead of us,” Vicky responded tensely. But the pair quickly realized that wasn’t, so as they heard the familiar smiling voice of the class Queen behind them…

“There you go, Liz, that’s everything. All the stuff is back in your bag.”

Jan and Vicky couldn’t believe their eyes. Heather was standing at Lizzy’s side, zippering her bag for her. But their amazement only grew as the girl went on…

“But I think your umbrella’s pretty totaled. Hey, you know what? I have an idea — there’s plenty of room under mine. Let’s share!”

As the unlikely pair — the class Queen and the now broadly-smiling class loser — began walking hand in hand, Vicky and Jan looked at each other with one thought on both their minds. While they had trying to think of ways to put the poor kid down — Heather had been finding ways to treat her with respect and care!

As they reunited, Vicky and Jan took their original place at Heather’s (and Lizzy’s) side. But this time they hung back a little, because they knew they had a long way to go — and a lot to learn about how to treat people — before they could ever really consider themselves close to the ‘Queen.’

Discussion Questions

Ages 3-5

Q. How did Vicky and Jan feel when they first saw Lizzy struggling with her umbrella?
A. They felt that since she wasn’t a popular kid it was okay to make fun of her.

Q. How did they feel after seeing how Heather treated Lizzy?
A. They felt sorry about how they acted and knew that had to treat everyone — even Liz — nicely.

Ages 6-9

Q. What life-lesson do you think Vicky and Jan learned that day?
A. They had felt that it was all right to make fun of and put down unpopular, ‘loser’ type people. But when they saw how Heather, the most popular kid in the class, treated her, they realized that we should treat everyone — even people who seem lowly — with kindness and respect.

Q. Why do you think Heather — the class queen — was able to be kind to Lizzy, whereas her friends weren’t?
A. A person who is genuinely great — like Heather — feels confident and good enough about herself that she doesn’t need to put others down to put herself up. The other two girls, who didn’t really have Heather’s good qualities but merely wanted to pretend act as if they did, felt a need to boost their own self-image by knocking someone else. The sign of a great person is a kind and respectful person.

Ages 10 and Up

Q. What attitude do you think could help a person treat others — especially those who seem to be ‘less’ than he is – with respect?
A. There are two aspects to reality. The first and more superficial is the reality we see — in which some of us are smarter, richer, better-looking, etc. than others. However, there is a coexistent deeper, spiritual reality in which each human being, each creature is equally valued and valuable as a creation of God. By focusing on this deeper reality, we will find it easier to relate to everyone and everything with deep respect.

Q. Our sages teach that ‘one who acquires a servant — acquires a master.’ How do you understand this statement?
A. They are teaching us that one shouldn’t erroneously think that he has the right to mistreat someone under him (such as his servant). In fact, if a servant’s master has only one pillow he must give it to his servant rather than himself! The Torah way is to treat all – regardless of their social station – with unconditional respect.

 

Quote of the Week

“Once you have distanced yourself from anger, the quality of humility will enter your heart” — Nachmonides