Shabbat Parashat Behar Bechukotai 5785

Parashat Hashavua: About Optimism in Times of Crisis

We will share ideas from the haftara that we will be missing this year because of the double parasha. The haftara of Behar deals with the commandment to Yirmiyahu to acquire fields in Eretz Yisrael even though the destruction of the Land was about to occur. The perek (Yirmiyahu 32), which begins a few p’sukim before the haftara, introduces the timing as the tenth year of Tzidkiyahu, which makes it a year before the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash and the end of Tzidkiyahu’s reign. Yirmiyahu tells with certainty that the king will be caught and taken into exile in Bavel (ibid. 3-5).

Yirmiyahu underwent years of suffering and danger. Hashem did not allow him to form a family (ibid. 16:2). His neighbors tried to hurt him in different ways (ibid. 18:18, 20). He was suspected of sins, and King Yehoyakim threw him into jail. Only divine intervention saved Yirmiyahu (ibid. 36:26). Similarly, Tzidkiyahu allowed his officers to throw him into a pit, where he sank into mud (38:6), and he survived only through the intervention of a righteous officer.

Despite all of these hardships, Yirmiyahu taught his nation that there was what to be optimistic about in the long term. Members of the eternal nation should know that Hashem will not abandon His nation (see Tehillim 94:14). So, the prophet of destruction was also a prophet of liberation.

As Behar’s haftara indicates (Yirmiyahu 32: 9-15), even at a time of famine, on the eve of destruction, Yirmiyahu bought a field. The text describes the process in detail – the writing of a document, its signing, the paying of money, the preservation of the document. It then spells out that buying land in Eretz Yisrael would become prevalent because the nation would return from the upcoming exile.

Our generations have seen Eretz Yisrael transformed from a land primarily desolate from the time of the destruction of the second Beit Hamikdash, into the base for the marvelous ingathering of exiles. Hashem had us shake off the ashes of Aushwitz and form a flourishing state. Our generation has proven its dedication to the cause of rebuilding our ancestral home. Almost all have stepped forward to help on behalf of the nation and its Land, not losing hope despite the horrible blow we took on Simchat Torah 5784 and all of the brave soldiers who fell, the many who were injured, and the hostages, many of whom have still not returned home. We continue on with dedication despite the hatred of Jews that has spread throughout the world. We must follow the path of Yirmiyahu, unified with one heart, progressing step by step with belief in Hashem and confidence, strengthening and entrenching our beloved state. We are on the path to the building of a society that will do “charity and justice,” as we can learn from Avraham Avinu (Bereishit 18:19), and “justice and charity,” as we can learn from King David (Shmuel II, 8:15).   

Top of page

Print this page

Send to friend