Behar - 2022

Chevre, this week’s parsha in Israel is בְּהַר (Behar). The parsha starts this week with some mitzvot about the land. We learn about Shemitah (which we are going through now in Israel) where we don’t work the fields, Yovel (or Jubilee) where land is returned to the original owners, we learn about redeeming the land since it’s not sold in perpetuity and we learn about the Levite cities since the tribe of Levy do not have a land portion other than some cities. I thought that this line of learning is relevant this week given that the Tel Aviv AWS Summit is happening next week and since AWS is building a region in Israel. What is interesting is that when one buys a house in Israel, they get the use of the land for some long amount of time (I believe 50 years), but the land ownership remains with KKL. I can’t declare that this parsha is the source for this ownership laws, but it is interesting food for thought. I look forward to seeing everyone at the AWS Summit on Wed May 18th. As far as I know, you can still register. Shabbat Shalom.