Parashat Behar

Behar 5768/2008

The Jewish people have been receiving all the laws and ethics for Jewish life as they stand at the base of Har Sinai (Mt Sinai), learning that obedience to the law is the minimum requirement and that in order truly to be a 'Holy nation', we will have to do even more.

The list of injunctions, prohibitions, requirements and recommendations is nearly complete - the journey to the Promised Land is about to begin. G'd reaches the climax of his extended transmission of Jewish law. The final set of laws is about the Land.

Last week, we were instructed to count the Omer. The instruction is in the plural. All of us need to do it - as a community - in order to observe Shavuot at the same time. On the one hand, this emphasises individual responsibility, as we must all take responsibility for the entire nation; on the other, if the community counts for us, we will be 'covered'. This week we are told to count the Sabbatical years for the Land. In this case, the commandment is in the singular. While some commentators have said that to count seven years and fifty years is too difficult for the ordinary person and thus the instruction is actually to the Beit Din  rather than to individuals, there is another way of reading the text.

When it comes to the Land of Israel, each and every one of us is responsible. In the singular, we are commanded to care for the welfare of the Land. The commandment is given at Sinai, outside the Land, precisely because the responsibility is not only for those who are there. It is for us, too. Although the laws only apply while the Jewish people are there, they extend to those of our people in Diaspora. Once our people are restored to our Land, those inside and those outside become responsible. Australian Jews proudly accept that aspect of the Covenant at Sinai.