On The Haftora Of Parshas Behar: Seeing Through The Facade

Dear friends, 

I am sorry that I wasn't able to get this out before Shabbos. I tried, but Hashem had other plans. There is a beautiful lesson to be learned from it. I hope that you enjoy it. 

Yitzi 

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The Haftora for parshas Behar is from the book of Yirmiyahu. It tells of how Yirmiyahu was instructed by Hashem to purchase the field in Anasos, that belonged to his cousin Chanamel, who was struggling to keep it. Yirmiyahu was being held captive in a royal compound of Tzidkiyahu, because of his constant prophecies of the destruction of Yerushalayim, which Tzidkiyahu thought was demoralizing the Jewish people. It was there that he was approached by Chanamel, and he bought the property. 

Hashem instructed Yirmiyahu further, to have the bill of sale put into an earthenware vessel for long term storage, which he had Baruch ben Neriah do. 

This was all happening at the end of the first Temple era, and Yirmiyahu knew that the Babylonian exile was about to begin. So it was a bad time to be purchasing real estate in Israel. However the fact that Hashem said to put the bill of sale into long term storage, was reassuring, because it meant that the exile would be coming to an end and they would be returning to Israel. And as Hashem said, "They will once again purchase houses, fields, and vineyards in this land." 

Then Yirmiyahu offered a prayer of praise to Hashem. 

Why was Yirmiyahu in a position to buy the field? Because being the cousin, he was the rightful redeemer of the field. 

The connection to our parsha, is that Behar speaks about Shmita and yovel, the Sabbatical and jubilee years, when the fields in Israel are to lay fallow, and it also tells us the punishments for not keeping Shmita and yovel. As Rashi tells us, that first he sells his belongings, then his property, then his home and then borrowing with interest. If he still does not repent, he will eventually have to sell himself to his fellow Jew as a servant. If he has still not repented, not enough that he had to be sold to his fellow Jew, but he will be forced to sell himself to a non-Jew. All of these cases are discussed in our parsha, and it is the order of best case scenario to worst. Our Haftora tells us about one such case, when Chanamel was forced to sell his field. This is the only case of those Rashi mentions that is found in the prophets, so it represents all of them. 

The setting of the Haftora also connects to our parsha. It is at the beginning of the Babylonian exile, which lasted 70 years and was a consequence of the 70 years of Shmita that the Jewish people didn't keep properly. 

The land of Israel is Hashem's and He gave it to us, but He still remains a partner in the land. Therefore we can't sell it permanently and we can't use it in any way we want. We have to follow the rules He laid out for us, and then we have Hashem's blessing as His partner. We always retain ownership of the land, even when in exile. However if we want to dwell on the land and receive the blessings that come with partnership with Hashem, we have to follow the rules. 

How do we know that Hashem is our partner in the land? Because when it comes to returning the land in the jubilee year, to the one whose inheritance it is, Hashem says, "You should not sell the land permanently, for the whole land is Mine... And you are a dweller with Me." 

One of the laws of land ownership, is that when a field is in jeopardy, it is incumbent upon one of the relatives to redeem the field, thereby the field will stay in the family. And that is what is happening in our Haftora. 

It would make sense for the Haftora to end here. What does Yirmiyahu's prayer have to do with our parsha? 

In Yirmiyahu's prayer he says, "Behold You made the heavens and the earth with your great strength (co-ach)." 

In Kabbalah and Chassidic thought it is explained, that the world is being created constantly by Hashem, and if he stops creating the world for one moment, it would cease to exist, like it never existed. In other words, there is a constant flow of energy from Hashem to make the world exist. As we say in our daily prayers, "In His goodness He renews the act of Genesis (creation) every day constantly." 

There are three words that are used for this flow of energy from Hashem, ohr, shefa and co-ach. 

Ohr, is light, light is a flow of energy that is always connected to its source. For example, the sun, its light is constant, the sun and its rays are one, the moment something gets between the sun and the earth, the rays stop and you have shade. Ohr is the direct energy from Hashem. 

Shefa is abundant flow. For example, a stream, even if someone blocks the flow of water upstream, it does not affect the water downstream, that water will keep on flowing until it reaches its destination, and is forced to stop. 

Co-ach is strength, it is power that stops moments after the energy is disconnected from its source. For example, if a person throws a rock up into the air, it will continue to go up for a short while, until gravity prevails on it and it comes down. 

So these words are loaded with meaning, and they are not used arbitrarily. Truthfully, there is only one kind of energy that comes from Hashem, symbolized by ohr, it is directly from its source, Hashem, because there is only Hashem, and He created the world from nothing into something, and He recreates the world from within Himself constantly. So when another term is employed, we have to ask: Why? Why when it comes to creating the heavens and the earth does Yirmiyahu use the term co-ach? 

Because the way the world seems to us, is that Hashem created the heavens and the earth, and it continues on its own, but we know better. It is our job to recognize Hashem's constant hand in creation, although it is blocked from our vision. It is the truth and we have to open our eyes and see that it is Hashem Who is really doing everything. 

The rest of Yirmiyahu's prayer to Hashem, is about the miracles that Hashem did for the Jewish people, that He advises us, knows what is in our hearts and that He could do anything. 

Even the greatest of miracles can be explained away scientifically as a rare occurrence of nature, but we must go beyond that and realize that it is the hand of Hashem, and that nature itself is the greatest miracle of all. 

The same is with our good ideas. We can choose to see them as our ideas or we can see them for what they are, a gift from Hashem. 

And this is what Shmita and yovel are all about. Why wouldn't a person keep Shmita or yovel? Because his relationship with Hashem is not as strong as it should be, and because of that, he lacks trust in Hashem. He thinks that his sustenance comes from his effort, and he fails to realize that it is all from Hashem, he fails to realize that Hashem is his partner, and the blessing of Hashem comes with this partnership. So he sows his field, and with that he jeopardizes his partnership with Hashem and all the blessing that comes with it. 

On the other hand, when he strengthens his relationship with Hashem, he realizes that it's all from Him, and the stronger the relationship, the stronger the trust in Hashem, the stronger the partnership and the greater the blessing. Even though Hashem is not visible to us, we see through the facade of the world, and recognize that it is all from Him. 

Perhaps this is the essence of our parsha and Haftora, that we should see through the veil of nature and recognize that it is all Hashem. 

Lag BaOmer often falls in the week of parshas Behar, in light of all that has been said, perhaps there is a connection between Lag BaOmer and the Haftora. 

On Lag BaOmer we celebrate the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who made the secrets of the Torah accessible to all of us though the Zohar. It's these teachings that teaches us about Hashem, it opens our eyes and unveils the facade of the world, and we begin to see how it's all Hashem. 

In the past these teachings were only open to a select few, but now through the teachings of Chassidus many of these teachings have been made accessible to all, in a user friendly way. They fill you with a sense of purpose, a closeness to Hashem and a deep love for him. 

If we could recognize the truth of the world, that it's all Hashem, He becomes our partner, and we receive His blessings. And just as in the time of Yirmiyahu, it was a sign that the exile would come to an end, so too, if we make an effort to get closer to Hashem, we will surely merit the coming of Moshiach, and we will all return to the Holy Land and celebrate Shmita and yovel. May it happen soon. The time has come.