Just before the Torah switches from blessing to rebuke in our second portion, Behukotai, God reminds the people that they were removed and liberated from Egyptian servitude in order to walk upright, and without restraint (Levit. 13:13). The word for “upright” קוֹמְמִיּוּת is unusual and ambiguous. As Rashi comments, it means “standing straight,” which is…
Category: Behar-Behukotai
Theology as Meteorology: Behar-Behukotai 5778
Imagine if your weather app displayed not images of sun and clouds, but icons of good and evil, like this: ☺ ☹. Each city might have a virtue index—with the weather forecast tracking not the jet stream but morality, indicated by a friendly or fierce face. City X has been charitable, so they can expect light rains…
Walking Together with God: Behukotai 5774
[Written and originally posted for the JTS Torah Commentary] I saw a strange thing on my walk to minyan the other morning. At a quiet side street with no cross-traffic in sight, a woman stood still, waiting for the walk sign. All around her people bustled by, peeking quickly to make sure no truck was…
Creating a Just Society in Israel: Behar 5774
The confluence of Yom Ha’Atzmaut with Parashat Behar reminds us that the Torah is designed not for individual spiritual expression, but for collective fulfillment. Our short portion emphasizes communal responsibility. Its distinctive mitzvot of the sabbatical and jubilee years both require individuals to relinquish their private holdings, whether on real estate or over other people, so…
Adaptive Optics: Behar-Behukotai 5773/2013
The other night I read a magazine article on the construction of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), an international collaboration to construct the greatest earth-based observatory up in the Andes Mountains in Chile. The technology involved in manufacturing the massive set of primary mirrors, with an effective diameter of 24.5 meters (80 feet), is remarkable,…
Rabbi Danny Nevins 