Parashat Behar - Bechukotai
Good Afternoon everyone,
Dan has made aliya till Monday so I am going to make my Parsha debut today!
This weeks parsha is a double portion Behar (not the carpet makers) and Bechukotai and are very much based the responsibilities that God sets down for when we enter the land. The responsibilities to the inhabitants and the land itself. One of the main points is the idea of having a sabbatical year "a Sabbath of complete rest, a Sabbath of the lord", where God sets down many laws to the people. Indeed this idea of the sabbatical is fairly revolutionary, as the parsha is basically saying that there is a period to allow the economy to correct the imbalances in that lifecycle and redistribute land at the end of the cycle, which is not that easy to implement! The parsha understands that people fall into debt, but rather than hang them out to dry, every 50 years all debt will be cancelled and land will be re-distributed to its original owners.
The redistribution of wealth is not a new concept, but is one that in a capitalist world will not work. In 2005 there was a huge campaign "Make poverty history" that called for the cancellation of debt for third world countries, but fell on deaf ears during the G8 summit.
The parsha's second important point that I will pick up on is the idea of slavery. There is no hiding the parsha mentions slavery and that "it is from the nations around you that you may acquire male and female slaves" going on to say they will be come your property and you can keep them as a possession for your children after you. It goes on further to say that as your your Israelite kinsman, "no one shall rule ruthlessly over the other." In short you can have a anybody as a slave, but not your fellow man.
Slavery, unfortunately, is still at large today. It is not depicted how we imagine the pyramids being made, but exploitation is happening all over the world, but we choose not to pay attention. There are millions of people in the world making the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the cars we drive for money that we earn in seconds rather that the people that have to work days.
So here is the practical bit, for me Judaism is about taking meaning from our religion and channelling that into good in the world. Everyone can make a difference so please do not just say "oh well what can I do" cause I am about to list several ways you can make a difference.
Slavery - http://www.ethicalconsumer.org to see how you can be an ethical consumer http://www.traidcraftshop.co.uk/ to buy fair trade goods
http://www.livingethically.co.uk to buy ethically made goods
Poverty - http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/
http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/yourvoice
This week I am also including some information on how you can make a difference to the Genocide taking place in Darfur (http://www.habodror.org.uk/news/darfur3.htm). Darfur is in the west of Sudan and for the last four years a government backed genocide has been taking plave causing the deaths of up to 400,000 people. More than 2 million people have been displaced and live in displaced-persons camps in Sudad or in refugee camps in Chad and more that 3.5 million people are reliant on internation aid for survival. We need to act now, i have attached two ways you can make a difference. One is an event in London calling for action in Darfur. The event is at Hampstead theatre on Sunday May 20th at 8pm. For more information call 0207 722 9301 or go to www.jewishcommunitycentre.org.uk. The second is a letter writing campaign that Habonim Dror have been very active with, which is supported by all the organisations on the ZYC.
Shabbat shalom one and all
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