Beth HaDerech; Messianic Jewish Congregation, Toronto, Canada

God Connects us to the Land

Weekly Sidra: Behar (On the Mount) Torah Portion: Leviticus / Vayikra 25:1-26:2 Haftorah: Yermiyahu / Jeremiah 32:6 - 27 Jeremiah said: The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you and say, "Buy my land in Anathoth, for you are next in succession to redeem it by purchase." 8 And just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the prison compound and said to me, "Please buy my land in Anathoth, in the territory of Benjamin; for the right of succession is yours, and you have the duty of redemption. Buy it." Then I knew that it was indeed the word of the Lord. (Yeremiyahu 32:6-8) This week’s Torah portion deals with our relationship to the land God has given us.  There are two important concepts here. First we have the Shemita year.  This is where we work the land for six years and then allow it to lie dormant during the seventh (Shemita) year.  “Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield. 4 But in the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath of complete rest, a Sabbath of the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap the after growth of your harvest or gather...