Lev chapter 25:6

Hooray, Hooray —
We bring the Jubilee!
Hooray, Hooray —
The flag that makes you free!
And so we sang the anthem
From Atlanta to the Sea
As we were marching through Georgia!


Dear companions,

Yes, the US Army carrying Leviticus 25 as its battle cry, joined some Black revolutionaries in 1865 to end slavery. The cry was also to include a piece of land — 40 acres and a mule — to make the promise economically truthful. But in only a few districts of the South. If it had been — how different our America now!

Interesting question: Though B’Har is the most radically justice-pursuing in all of Torah, tzedek and mishpat — two different aspects of “Justice” — do not appear. The crucial concepts are religious & spiritual – dror, “release” and Shabbat, “pause to rest”. Why??

Also — note — B’Har begins with and B’Chukkotai ends with asserting “this comes from Sinai”, like the Ten Utterances.

Shabbat shalom,
Arthur

Photo by Taylor Flowe on Unsplash