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Parasha Overview: Behar – Bechukotai (Videos)

This is a double parsha, made up of parshas Behar and Bechukotai. The seven aliyot of this week’s reading are indicated by special aliyah markings within those two parshas in the Chumash. Parshiyot Behar and Bechukotai are power-packed doubleheaders, this one emphasizing the connection between the Jew and Eretz Yisrael. The lunisolar Hebrew calendar contains up to 55 weeks, the exact number varying between 50 in common years and 54 or 55 in leap years. In leap years, parshah Bechukotai is read separately. In common years, parshah Bechukotai is combined with the previous parshah, Behar, to help achieve the needed number of weekly readings. Behar: The thirty-second reading from the Torah and second-to-last reading from the book of Leviticus is called Behar (בהר), which means “On the Mountain.” The name comes from the first words of the first verse of the reading, which could be literally translated to [...]