32 Behar | Connecting Leviticus to Genesis - the Big Picture, Part 1

Rabbi Jonathan Kligler

As we reach the concluding chapters of Leviticus, we study the commandment of Shmita - that we must allow the land have a Sabbath every seventh year. Once again exploring the insights of Ellen Davis' "Scripture, Culture and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible" we discover the deep structure of the Biblical narrative. We begin to understand how our ancestors saw themselves as a part of the earth, not separate from it, but assigned by the Creator special responsibilities so that we might live in sustainable harmony with all of creation.