We have finished. The two portions read this Shabbat in the Torah — "Behar" and "Bechukotai" — are the last ones in the Book of Vayikra (Leviticus).
So what have we covered together in this book? Ten portions, with 859 verses. We dealt with the construction of the Mishkan — the spiritual center of the nation in the desert — and with the laws of sacrifices. It also deals with agriculture and the labor market, with slander and gossip, with death and birth, with Shabbatot and holidays, with relationships and education, and so much more.
Some of it is relevant and urgent ("Love your neighbor as yourself" — the heart of the Book of Vayikra), and some of it seems distant, to the point where it is hard to grasp. We encountered again and again a word that is sometimes quite challenging to explain in the year 2026 — holiness. The Book of Leviticus presents a world in which there is holy and there is impure, there is good and evil, there is forbidden and permitted. A book of boundaries, a book of laws and action.
This is not an easy book. The Jewish-American author Herman Wouk, who won the Pulitzer Prize, once wrote that if the Bible were turned into a pleasure read with a plot, Vayikra would be left out.
True — it is far more captivating to read the Book of Bereshit (Genesis), with the stories of the Patriarchs, or the Book of Shemot (Exodus), about the Exodus from Egypt. The Book of Vayikra is challenging. That is precisely why it is a testament to faithfulness, connection and commitment.
This Shabbat morning, all around the world, it will be completed in order to continue on to the Book of Bamidbar (Numbers). It is customary to declare at the conclusion of each book three words of strength: *”Chazak, chazak, venetchazek”* — "Be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened."
Amen. Shabbat Shalom.
