22 Iyyar 5780
May 16, 2020

Parashat Behar
“On the mountain”

Parashat Bechukotai
“In my statutes”

Here are the Torah, Haftarah and suggested Brit Chadasha (New Testament) readings for this week. Listen to the current Portion readings from the Tree of Life Version here.

Behar

• Leviticus 25:1-26:2 
• Jeremiah 32:6-27 
• Luke 4:16-21

Bechukotai

• Leviticus 26:3-27:34
• Jeremiah 16:19-17:14
• Matthew 22:1-14

The seven aliyot readings from the Torah for the combined portions Behar and Bechukotai begin at these verses:

1. Leviticus 25:1
2. Leviticus 25:19
3. Leviticus 25:29
4. Leviticus 25:39
5. Leviticus 26:10
6. Leviticus 27:1
7. Leviticus 27:16

Maftir: Leviticus 27:32

In Behar and Bechukotai

The Key People include Moshe (Moses) and the children of  Yisra-el (Israel).

The Scene is the tabernacle, in the wilderness of Sinai.

The Main Events in Behar include instructions upon entering the land, take Shabbat, leave fields fallow the seventh year, and observe Jubilee the fiftieth year by returning all property to original owners; special guidelines for a relative or the poor person himself to redeem what was sold; houses in walled cities redeemable only the first year; houses redeemable by Levites at any time; no usury; no harsh treatment for hired servants; Israelites selling themselves to strangers redeemable or set free at Jubilee; children of Yisra’el as God’s own servants; no idols; and commands to keep Shabbat and revere the sanctuary.

The Main Events in Bechukotai include God’s promises of blessing for those who walk in His statutes and judgment for those wo do not obey Him; warnings of being scattered among the nations, but also remembering the covenant if iniquity is confessed; valuations placed on people, animals, homes, and property to be consecrated to the LORD; “These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moshe for the Children of Yisra’el on Mt. Sinai” (27:34).

You are to keep My Shabbatot and have reverence for My Sanctuary. I am Adonai. “If you walk in My statutes, keep My mitzvot and carry them out, then I will give you rains in their season, the land will yield its crops, and the trees of the field will yield their fruit. Your threshing will last until grape gathering, the grape gathering will last until the sowing time, you will eat your bread to the full, and live securely in your land.
(Leviticus 26:2-5 TLV)

The Haftarah

Adonai, You are the hope of Israel! All who forsake You will be ashamed. Those who depart from You will be written in the dirt, for they have forsaken Adonai, the fountain of living waters. Heal me, Adonai, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved. For You are my praise.
(Jeremiah 17:13-14 TLV)

The Brit Chadasha

When the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Ruach Adonai is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of Adonai’s favor.”
(Luke 4:17-19 TLV)

Torah Portion readings and the associated Haftarah readings generally follow the Stone Edition Chumash and/or the Complete Jewish Bible. Verse numbering generally follows the Hebrew tradition, and where modern Christian traditions differ those verse numbers are shown in parentheses (). Haftarah readings generally follow the Ashkenazi tradition. Where the Sephardic tradition differs, the Haftarah portions are designated as (A) and (S). Suggested New Testament readings are taken from the Walk! series of Messianic Devotion Commentaries by Dr. Jeffrey Enoch Feinberg. The Key People, The Scenes, and The Main Events are taken from the Walk! series of Messianic Devotion Commentaries by Dr. Jeffrey Enoch Feinberg. Scripture taken from the Tree of Life Version (TLV) © 2015 by the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society. Used by permission of the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.