Torah This Week
Welcome to Torah This Week, where you will find thoughts and reflections by CLAL faculty and associates on the Torah portion of the week.
BEHAR-BECHUKOTAI
BEHAR
(Leviticus 25:1 - 26:2)
"When you sell property to your neighbor or buy property from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another"
(Lev. 25:14)
The Hebrew for wronging is ona'ah, which in other contexts seems to mean the exploitation of a weaker party by a stronger. The rabbis apply this verse to a common "wronging" in business, deceptive overcharge. The limit of overcharge deemed legitimate is one-sixth the market value. For example, if a jeweler deliberately raised the price of an object with a clear market value so the overcharge was over one-sixth the market designated price, then the sale can be invalidated. Ona'ah protects the seller as well. If a mistake occurred, and the seller sold an object for more than one-sixth below the designated market price, then he has the right, within a certain time limit, to void the sale and recover the object.
If you announce up front that you are overcharging, then it's not ona'ah. Ona'ah only applies to an overcharge when the buyer or the seller, unaware of the market price, is unknowingly duped. When disclosed, any price is fair. However, if the commodity in question is a basic life necessity, then even if the overcharge is disclosed it is deemed ona'ah and is recoverable.
Ona'ah teaches that business ought not prey upon the naiveté of a buyer. The less the buyer knows about the product and its fair value, the greater the danger the seller will violate ona'ah. On a larger scale, ona'ah might require a public policy of full disclosure of the market prices of basic commodities. At the very least, it affirms that consumer awareness and equal access to market information are central to the fairness of the marketplace.
(Steve Greenberg)
BECHUKOTAI
(Leviticus 26:3 - 27:34)
In this parsha, God details the rewards for observing the commandments and the punishments for rejecting them. If Israel is faithful to the covenant, God will grant the people rich harvests and peace in their land. If Israel disregards the covenant, the people will experience famine and disease, and will be overwhelmed by their enemies.
These passages are both understandable and disturbing. When two parties make an agreement, they may outline the incentives for honoring the contract and the penalties for breaching it. Israel and God have made a covenant. Why shouldn't there be incentive clauses or penalties? On the other hand, the covenant is not a business agreement; it marks the entrance into a deeply committed relationship. Is there any need for incentives, let alone threats? Furthermore, the covenant binds God as well as Israel. If incentives and penalties are appropriate, why are there none directed at God?
The covenant is clearly a reciprocal arrangement, with its core being not particular commandments but relationship. "I will be ever present in your midst; I will be your God" (Lev. 26:12). The preservation of this relationship is the true incentive for upholding the covenant. The gravest consequence of disobedience would be the severing of the bonds between God and Israel.
God appears to be in control of the covenant. God initiates the covenant and spells out reward and punishment. But God needs Israel as much as Israel needs God. If Israel derives its identity from its relationship with God, so too is God known in relationship to Israel. Furthermore, however Israel behaves, God promises, "I will not repudiate them or spurn them...annulling My covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God" (26:44). God cannot reject the covenant. The incentive clauses are directed at Israel because only Israel has the power to break the covenant.
(Dvora Weisberg)
To join the conversation at CLAL Torah Talk, click here.
To access a CLAL commentary on this week's Haftorah, click here.
To access the Torah This Week Archive, click here.
To access the Haftorah This Week Archive, click here.
To receive the CLAL Torah Talk column by email on a regular basis, complete the box below:
