Netvort Behar 5775:  Heart to Heart

By Rabbi Joshua (respectfully known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

The Ba’al HaTurim notes that there is a connection between the end of Parshas Emor and the beginning of Parshas Behar.  Parshas Emor ends with the incident of the man who cursed God and was executed for doing so, and Parshas Behar begins with mentioning that God spoke to Moshe at Mt. Sinai. There, the nation was commanded not to take the Lord’s name in vain. Rav Moshe Yehuda Jakobovits, in his Zichron Moshe, cites this Ba’al HaTurim, and further suggests that the focus in regard to Parshas Behar is more specifically on the laws of shemitah and yovel, which, the Torah says, were given at Mt. Sinai. These laws relate mostly to matters between man and his fellow man, such as the release of slaves, the cancelling of debts, and the return of the land to its original owner. The laws regarding cursing God, of course, relate to area between man and God. Both categories of mitzvos were given at Mt. Sinai, and, the two are integrally connected with each other, as we elaborated on in our message to Parshas Emor. In a wider context, then, says, Rabbi Jakobovits, this is the connection between the end of Emor and the beginning of Behar.

Further on in Parshas Behar, the Torah presents some of the laws pertaining to the eved Ivri, the Hebrew slave. One of these laws is the prohibition against subjugating the slave with 'hard work'. The Torah says, “Do not subjugate him through hard labor – you shall fear your God” (Vayikra 25:43). What constitutes hard labor? Rashi explains that it is work done not for a need, but only in order to torment him, or, as Rambam says, just in order to keep him busy. For example, one should not tell him to heat up a cup for him, when he doesn’t need it. Since only the master himself knows if he really needs the cup, the Torah says to fear God, Who knows everything, and therefore discerns the master’s intentions. Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, in his Sichos Mussar, points out that the slave himself does not know if the master really needs the cup warmed up, so that it is not a matter of offending the slave that is at issue, but, rather, the attitude of the master to the slave. By telling the slave to do something that is not needed, he is expressing a lack of respect, and a diminution in his perception of the slave’s dignity, and it is in regard to this that the Torah says, “and you shall fear your God.” Rav Shmuelevitz says that we see from this prohibition that our regard for the Hebrew slave must be deeply felt in our heart, and only God can discern to what extent we fulfill that requirement. 

This requirement to have feelings for the dignity of our slave in our heart extends to all Jews as well, as we see in a further verse, “with your brethren – the Children of Israel – a man with his brother, you shall not subjugate him through hard labor” (Vayikra 25:46). Rabbeinu Yonah, in his Sha’arei Teshuvah, applies this prohibition to all Jews. Rav Shmuelevitz says that these inner feelings for a fellow Jew are what the rabbis refer to when they say that when the nation accepted the Torah at Mt. Sinai, they were as one man with one heart. A proper acceptance of the Torah, he says, requires an inner feeling for the worthiness and dignity of our fellow Jews, which, in turn, is connected with our fear of God, thus further linking the end of Parshas Emor to the beginning of Parshas Behar.