Cole Rubin - Dvar Torah

My Torah portion is called Bʼhar Behuckoti The Bʼhar portion deals with the land of Israel taking a sabbatical every 7th year. This is like the Shabbat and gives the land a time to rest. During this shvitah the land is not allowed to be worked. When it is the jubilee, which is the 7th sabbatical, every 49 years. Your get you land back Debts are released Slaves went free And it is like a correction in the world. This is something like what we are dealing with today during lockdown where we are not allowed to work, the world and environment are correcting and I see similarities between my Maftir and what is going on in the world. Another aspect of my portion is dealing with the Jews not being allowed to worship idols, or carving an image. Today the way we deal with our cell phones and technology could be considered Idol worship. The Behuckoti portion deals with vows and promises. People spend lifetimes building up their name and reputations which could be destroyed in 1 moment when a promise is broken. QIt also deals with all the issues and repercussions of not obeying God's laws. In todayʼs world, one needs to understand how we live by our vows and obey laws compared to 3500 years ago. For me I believe if you do good, good will come to you. As a Jew and celebrating my Bar Mitzvah during this very different time of our lives I still feel privileged and proud to be able to do my bar mitzvah even if itʼs online. Times change and I think itʼs amazing that we can celebrate our heritage like this. Another aspect of being a Jew is charity as we are very limited during lockdown, I have chosen to make sandwiches (which is for ladles of love) for the needy. The Mitzvah Iʼm choosing to do during my barmi week allows me as the adult Iʼm becoming to give back! Shabbat Shalom everybody!