Questions & Commentary on Parashat Behar-Bechuqotai
1. According to our Sages, Leviticus 25:35 speaks of the highest form of tzedaqa (charity). What is it? What are the other seven? What are some practical ways we can fulfill the particular form of tzedaqa mentioned in this passage? How should we view the needy and why?
Rabbi Jason Sobel
Charity in Jewish vernacular is known as tzedaqa. This term comes from the Hebrew word tzedeq, which literally means "justice" or "righteousness." Though the Torah never directly uses the term tzedaqa in relation to charity, the connection is clearly implied. Therefore, an indispensable component of "righteous" living is being concerned about helping the needy. Ya'aqov, the brother of Yeshua, underscores this point when he writes,
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27
Thus if we desire to please and honor God, we must help take care of the poor like Yeshua and his first followers. In fact, the early Yeshua community was so committed to tzedaqa that many sold every thing they had and gave it to those in need. If we truly took care of the poor in our community in the same way, I believe we would see a powerful move of the Spirit of God among our people as in the book of Acts.
The Rambam, Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon, the 12th century physician and Torah scholar enumerates eight levels of charity from lowest to highest:
1. Giving begrudgingly without joy
2. Giving cheerfully, but less than one should or could give.
3. Giving only when a needy person directly asks for help.
4. Giving without being asked, but only directly to the person in need so that both know from where the help came.
5. Giving without knowing who has received the benefit. In this case only the recipient is aware the donor's identity.
6. Giving to a poor person secretly. The giver knows the beneficiary, but the poor person does not know the giver.
7. Giving in such a way that donor and recipient remain anonymous to one another.
8. Giving in order prevent a person from becoming poor.
Thus the highest form of tzedaqa, according to the Rambam and based upon Leviticus 25:35, is helping someone in need to become or remain self-sufficient. It is wrong for us to sit ideally by as person faces financial ruin. Rather, we must take immediate action to help prevent a person from reaching this low point. Rashi underscores the importance of this when he states,
Do not allow him to decline and fall altogether, so that it will be difficult to restore him to his original position, but strengthen him from the time of his weakness. To what may this be compared? To a burden on a donkey: while it is still on the donkey, one person may grab hold of it and hold up the load; but if the donkey falls to the ground, five men cannot raise it and its load up.
Once a person hits rock bottom, it is very difficult to raise them back up again. This why the Torah exhorts us to assist people before they fall. Some tangible ways we can fulfill this mitzva are by extending a loan, helping the individual find employment, teaching them a trade, or by helping them get established in business so as to make it unnecessary for them to become dependent on others. By so doing, we save people from financial ruin and preserve their dignity.
Another important lesson we learn from this passage is to identify and empathize with those in need. We must not treat them as worthless but view them as the Torah tells us, as a "brother," seeing them as family.
We must also realize whom we are really giving to when we help the poor as Proverbs states: "He that is gracious unto the poor lends unto the Lord" (Proverbs 19:17). Yeshua also powerfully communicated the same point in his teaching when he said:
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?" The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me."
Matthew 25:35-40
We should never forget that by giving to others, we are really giving back to God. Therefore, we must give tzedaqa proactively, cheerfully, and generously in order to bless others and to be blessed in this world and the World to Come. In so doing, we also become pleasing in the sight of God and our community.
2. What is the connection between these two parashiyot, and what is the ultimate promise made by God to the Jewish people?
Joshua Brumbach
Behar and Bechuqotai are the last two portions of the book of Leviticus. On non-leap years, when various portions are doubled up, the rabbis specifically chose these two portions to be read together. One does not have to look too hard to be able to see the similarities between the two portions.
Behar begins with a special connection between Mt. Sinai and the land of Israel by speaking of the holiness of shemita, of letting the ground lay fallow for an entire year every seven years. This connection is directly intertwined to the mitzva of Shabbat. For six days we are to work, and on the seventh day we are to rest. This idea follows that God created the world in which we inhabit for six days, but on the seventh day God ceased from his creating, and brought completeness and menucha - rest. The purpose of shemita is to teach us that the ultimate force in the universe is God and not the law of nature. It also goes against our own instincts of fear that if we do not plant and work during that year, we will starve. Yet this is why, built even into the harvesting of the land, God gives us opportunities to demonstrate faith. That is the reason for the harvesting for six years, and stowing a small amount away every year in order to have extra food for the year of shemita. By doing so, we trust God will provide for us during these years so that we will not go hungry in the seventh. This goes against everything in us to take a Shabbat - especially for an entire year!
However, Parashat Bechuqotai begins with God promising that if we follow his commandments, then he will give us abundance in our harvests and blessings upon us. That He will send us the rain we need, and will keep our enemies away. It is his promise that if we will trust in him, and observe the mitzvot he just gave us in the previous parasha, then he will be faithful to meet our needs.
How often do we really trust God to meet our needs? Often we worry and seem to keep one little areas hidden (or at least we think hidden from God). Yet that is not what God wants of us. God wants us to trust him both in following his mitzvoth and believing that he will bring blessings into our lives. Yeshua reiterates this by reassuring us not to worry about these things - of what we will eat or drink, or even about what we will wear (Matthew 6:25-34). For Yeshua promises us that he knows everything we need better than we do. Therefore Yeshua affirms the message of this week's
parashiyot, to continue to seek his Kingdom and his Righteousness (i.e., his
mitzvot and will for our lives), and everything else will be added to us as well.
Dr. Noel Rabinowitz
Mark 12:13-27 - Little "Caesars"
In this week's Besora reading, Mark reports that some Pharisees and Herodians came to Yeshua and engaged him in a discussion in order to trap him in a statement. Yeshua's opponents wanted to have him arrested by the Roman authorities and best way to do that was to prove that he was a threat to the Roman government. Quite confident that they had crafted an "escape proof" question, the Pharisees and Herodians came to Yeshua and asked, "Teacher, we know that you are truthful and deter to no one; for you are not partial to any; but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? (14).
Of course, Yeshua knew full well what these individuals were really up to. More importantly, he knew about the hypocrisy that lay behind their question. He responding, saying, "Why are you testing me?" He then instructed them to bring him a denarius.
What follows is perhaps one of the best known "stumper responses" of all time. Yeshua held up the coin and asked the delegation, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They responded, "Caesar's" (16). The narrative, however, does not record what the inscription on the coin said. Fortunately, our knowledge of history and archeology allows us to answer that question ourselves. We know from history that the Caesar on the coin was Tiberius Caesar who reigned as emperor from 14 - 37CE. The inscription on the coin would have read, "Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Augustus."
Yeshua has turned the discussion back on his questioners. In light of their response ("Caesar"), Yeshua says, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's" (17).
What's going on here and what's the point of the story in the first place? They key to understanding this incident lies in understanding the purpose of Mark's Gospel. Mark's main purpose is to show that Yeshua - not Caesar - is the true Son of God. Mark writes to a primarily Gentile readership, a readership which understands that the Emperor is a divine and savior, and Lord. In effect, Mark is making a counterclaim on imperial authority. Fine - give to Caesar, the so called son-of-god, the divine savior, the earthly things that belong to him. But give to God - and to the true Son of God, Yeshua the Messiah of Israel the things that belong to him.
During our time upon this earth, there will always be "little" Caesars who demand that we acknowledge their authority and power. May we never forget where our true loyalty rest. And more importantly, may we never forget that Yeshua alone is the Divine Savior King.
Parashat Behar-Bechuqotai
1. According to our Sages, Leviticus 25:35 speaks of the highest form of tzedaqa (charity). What is it? What are the other seven? What are some practical ways we can fulfill the particular form of tzedaqa mentioned in this passage? How should we view the needy and why?
2. What is the connection between these two parashiyot, and what is the ultimate promise made by God to the Jewish people?
NEXT WEEK'S READINGS
Numbers 1:1-4:20
Hosea 2:1-22
Mark 12:28-34
UPCOMING YACHAD NETWORK EVENTS
3rd Annual Young Leaders Shabbaton
Beverly Hills, CA ● June 8-9, 2007
6th Annual Young Messianic Jewish Scholars Conference
Beverly Hills, CA ● June 10-11, 2007
Learning 
