posts so far for parshat Behar

2012

1. Behar sources.

2. How much silver did Yirmeyahu weigh out, and why? Was it 17 or 7 X + 10 Y? And either way, was it coinage or weight?


3. The uprooted peshat in אַל תּוֹנוּ אִישׁ אֶת אָחִיו -- If Rashi maintains that peshat is referring to land, then how could Chazal darshen and restrict onaah to movable objects? Ramban answers and I also suggest something.


4. YUTorah on parashat Behar / Bechukosai

2011


1. Behar sources -- even further improved.


2. Is it Rashi who says the krei should really have been לה?  Explaining one of Rashi's comments, and considering whether Rashi really said it.


3. The dagesh in leimor, etcetera, in Behar -- Expanding upon Minchas Shai on parashat Behar.


2010

1. Behar sources -- revamped. More than 100 meforshim on the parasha and haftora.
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2. Death and Life are in the power of the tongue -- presenting an interesting Midrash Rabba on Behar, which points all over the place to explain a pasuk in Mishlei.
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3. If a man does not have a redeemer: Analyzing why Rashi is inconsistent in explaining this phrase, between parashat Behar and parashat Naso. And what peshat of not having a redeemer might be.

2009

1. Behar sources -- links by aliyah and perek to an online Mikraos Gedolos, and links to many meforshim on the parshah and haftarah.
2. Ger veToshav, Vechai Imach -- how Onkelos, and the trup, might take the first two as verbs, rather than nouns.
3. vechi timkeru -- what nusach in Onkelos, selling or buying? And the meaning of the Aramaic; and how I disagree with Shadal about the popular nusach.

2008

1. The connection between shemitta and har Sinai
2. Yovel, from cool idolaters shouting "Yo, Baal!" Seriously.
3. Land reverting to the father after the son redeems it. Rashi citing Torat Kohanim, but about selling a field, something which should be obvious in any case. Meshech Chochma correcting the text to refer to being makdish the field. But as my suggestion, if we follow the girsa in Rashi, how that derasha might work, and why it might be necessary.
4. The land which I give you, not the land which I sell you. Also from Meshech Chochmah. So as not to take sides in a Tannaitic dispute (!), such that Hashem gives it to us בעין יפה. Along this theme, perhaps shemitta in order to recognize the land as a gift.
5. Rabbenu Bachya, Sefirot, and Elilim -- would the Sefirot be considered Elilim? Why not? A surprising answer.
6. Bemidbar Sinai: Why mention it, and how is it different from Behar Sinai? As the beginning of a sefer (Bamidbar); for the sake of dating the instruction; and related ideas.

2007

1. Mah Inyan Shemittah Eitzel Har Sinai?

2004

• BeHar-BeChukotai, Shavuot, and Shevuot
• Shamor VeZachor BeDibbur Echad, as well as a number of other apparently conflicting statements which were said BeDibbur Echad, in Yerushalmi Nedarim 9b and Bavli Shevuot 20b. A false vs. unnecessary oath, Shabbat rest vs. Shabbat sacrifices, a the prohibition of a brother's wife vs. levirate marriage, daughters inheriting vs. keeping ancestral land within the tribe, shaatnez vs. tzitzit, Shamor vs. Zachor.
  
  "God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this: that strength belongeth unto God;"
  "Is not My word like as fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?"
  
  In other words, do not see contradictions so much as elaborations, or focus in certain sections on particular elements of mitzvot, and by looking at different sections with different focuses, you can reconstruct the full, complex idea.
  
  Acharei Mot: A ban on private altars - all must be brought to tent of meeting, vs. in Devarim: when far away, can eat meat as non-sacrificial offering.
  
  Behar: At Yovel, all returns to natural state, and so slaves go free.
  Mishpatim: And he serves forever.
  That is, until Yovel.
  
  In other words, he is a perpetual servant. There happens to be another law, in another location, of the Doron, where debts are forgiven and property and people revert to their original state, which happens to overlap somewhat with this law and impact it. We do not have to focus on every possible detail when we fist discuss the law, particularly when it is a different law which sometimes colors the current one.

to be continued...