Introduction to Parashat Hashavua
Yeshivat Har Etzion

Back to Sinai, Forward to Israel

By Rabbi Yaakov Beasley

Since this year is a leap year, we read the parashiyot of Behar and Bechukotai on separate Shabbatot.  However, if we carefully scrutinize both sections, we shall reveal how closely intertwined the two parashiyot are, so much that Chazal label these two parashiyot "the little Torah."  Just as Behar opens at 25:1 with: "And God spoke to Moshe at HAR SINAI...," Bechukotai ends at 27:34 (also the end of sefer Vayikra) with: "These are the mitzvot that God commanded Moshe to Benei Israel at HAR SINAI." Thus, the words "Behar Sinai" become a literary device[1], bracketing the content of these two parashiyot.  This literary device draws our attention to the portion of text that is set apart by its end-stops.

The need to open parashat Behar by informing us where it was conveyed: "God spoke to Moshe AT HAR SINAI, saying..." (Vayikra 25:1) provoked much discussion among the commentators.  Rashi's famous question, "What does Shemitta have to do with Har Sinai" has become a Hebrew catch phrase, used whenever any two topics are seemingly joined together at random.  Rashi derives from this verse that God communicated all of the commandments and their related details to Moshe at Har Sinai; the Ramban disagrees, and explains "at Har Sinai" to mean "before the erection of the Mishkan":

I believe that this follows in chronological order. The implication of Behar Sinai is that all this was indeed said to Moshe at Har Sinai during the forty days when he received the first set of tablets, and that he wrote the entire Sefer Ha-brit (book of the Covenant – Shemot 24:7) then … however, when they sinned with the Golden Calf, that covenant was abrogated as far as Hashem's perspective was concerned …

Hashem told Moshe about a new covenant, "Behold, I will seal a covenant (Shemot 34:10) … and He wanted to stiffen the terms of this new covenant here.  In the original Sefer Ha-Brit, we first find mention of the Shemitta year (Shemot 23:11), and here, in the second covenant, the Shemitta year is spelled out with all its details and penalties …

Now, after the Holy One Blessed be He forgave them … and the Mishkan was joyously completed, immediately, "And He called to Moshe, and God spoke to him from the Ohel Mo'ed (1:1) … teaching him about all the offerings and all the Torat Kohanim (laws relating to the priests and the sacrificial rites) …As soon as that was completed, Moshe told them, "I must tell you all about Shemitta and Yovel, and to consummate a new covenant with you on all the mitzvot."

So, they accepted the original covenant with all the original harsh penalties that are listed here, which is why it refers here to the laws, statutes, and instructions that Hashem set between Himself and Benei Yisrael at Har Sinai … (26:46)

The ramifications of the Ramban's approach are several.  Despite his stated hesitancy to interpret that the Torah does not follow a chronological order ("ein mukdam u'meuchar ba-Torah"), the heading "Behar Sinai" forces him to state that the details contained are the re-acceptance of the Brit alluded to in Shemot 34, albeit with clearer details provided for the commandments, and harsher consequences and penalties for failure.  If what the Torah relates here was actually communicated at an earlier date at Har Sinai, when does the Torah resume chronological order? The concluding verse of the blessings and curses provides the answer to this question: "These are the decrees, laws and observances which God concluded between Himself and Benei Yisrael at Har Sinai, by Moshe's hand" (26:46).

The obvious question arises: why depart from the chronological sequence, and suddenly introduce at the end of Sefer Vayikra commandments and a covenant which had been communicated to the Jewish people much earlier? Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra, who unlike the Ramban has no hesitancy in applying the rule "ein mukdam u'meuchar ba-Torah," provides an answer at the beginning of Parashat Behar (25:1):

"The Torah is not necessarily arranged chronologically. This section in fact precedes the parasha of Vayikra and all the sections that follow it, for it was said "Behar Sinai."  This is the Brit said on Sinai found in Parashat Mishpatim, the day the Jewish people accepted the Torah with "na'aseh ve-nishma."  The reason for its mention here is to connect the various conditions for dwelling in the land [of Israel]. Just as it was stated concerning the forbidden sexual unions that their non-observance would lead to the land spewing the people out, so too was it stated concerning the observance of the Shemitta, "while you are in your enemies' country, the land will enjoy its Shemittot, as long as it is desolate."

The Ibn Ezra suggests that the purpose of distorting the chronological order is to establish a connection with the section dealing with sexual immorality. Just as promiscuity will lead to being cast out of the land (see Vayikra 18:28, 20:22), exile is promised for failing to observe Shemitta and Yovel as well. 

Developing the Ibn Ezra's parallel further, we note that a comparison between the two parashiyot reveals how central Eretz Yisrael is to both the mitzva of Shemitta and the new Brit.  For the first time, the Torah explicitly guarantees security, prosperity, satisfaction and liberty if the covenant is fulfilled.  Tellingly, the Torah directly links each promise to the mitzva of Shemitta:

You will live securely upon the land. (25:18)

You will dwell securely in your land … (26:5)

The land shall yield its fruit … I will direct My blessing towards you … (25:19, 21)

I will grant our rains in their seasons, and the land shall yield its produce and the trees in the field their fruit.  Your threshing shall overtake your vintage, and your vintage shall overtake your next threshing … I will turn towards you, and make you fertile and multiply you, and I will maintain My Brit with you … (26:4-9)

You shall eat to satisfaction … (25:19)

You shall eat our bread to satisfaction … (26:5)

You shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants, and it shall be a Yovel for you … each of you shall return to his land and each to his family shall return … (25:10)

To be slaves no more.  I broke the bars of your yoke to make you walk with your heads held high … (26:13)

Still, why the sudden emphasis now on the land?  Developing the Ramban further, we note that we find ourselves at the completion of Benei Yisrael's encampment around Har Sinai.  The covenant has been sealed (resealed), the commandments given, and the Mishkan built.  Clearly, Benei Yisrael is ready to embark upon the final stage of their journey – traveling towards Eretz Yisrael.   Only now, on the threshold of entry into the land, will Benei Yisrael be able to fully appreciate how intrinsically linked their future settlement is to their observance of the commandments.  To Rashi's question above, 'what is the connection between Shemitta and Har Sinai?' we can confidently answer that the two locations, separated by desert geographically, serve as the dual underpinnings of the Brit, the covenant, between Hashem and His people.  Any attempt to establish one without the other will inevitably lead to the calamities described in our parasha; successfully combining them, however, will lead to the out-flowing of blessings described above.