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Parashat Behar-Bechukotai

Behar and Bechukotai are read together in most years. Together they cover Leviticus 25:1 to 27:34, 135 verses.

Updated September 24, 2026

בְּהַר־בְּחֻקֹּתַי

Book
Leviticus
Reading
25:1 to 27:34
Verses
135
Position
32 of 54

Opening verse

וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה בְּהַר סִינַי לֵאמֹר׃

And the LORD spoke unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying:

Leviticus 25:1

Read the full text from the start of the portion: Leviticus 25 in Hebrew and English.

Summary

Behar (Leviticus 25:1 to 26:2)

On Mount Sinai God gives the land its own Shabbat. Every seventh year the fields lie fallow and whatever grows belongs to everyone. After seven such cycles comes the fiftieth year, the Yovel, announced by a shofar on Yom Kippur: land sold during the previous decades returns to its original family, and Hebrew servants go free. Because of this, land in Israel is never sold permanently; the price reflects the harvests until the next Yovel. The portion adds the duty to support a relative who falls into poverty, forbids lending at interest, and insists that an Israelite who sells himself into service be treated as a hired worker, not a slave.

Bechukotai (Leviticus 26:3 to 27:34)

Leviticus closes with the terms of the covenant. If the people walk in God's laws, the rains will come in season, the land will yield its harvest, they will live in peace and God will dwell among them. If they reject the covenant, a long passage of curses follows: disease, famine, defeat, desolation, exile, and the land finally enjoying the Sabbaths it was denied. Yet even in the land of their enemies God will not reject them, and the covenant with the patriarchs will be remembered. A final chapter sets the values for vows of persons, animals, houses and fields dedicated to the sanctuary, and the laws of tithes.

Key moments

  • The Sabbatical year (25:1 to 25:7)
  • "Proclaim liberty throughout the land" (25:8 to 25:17)
  • No interest on loans to the poor (25:35 to 25:38)
  • The blessings for keeping the covenant (26:3 to 26:13)
  • The rebuke, and the promise not to reject the people (26:14 to 26:46)
  • Vows and valuations (27:1 to 27:34)

When is Behar-Bechukotai read?

Upcoming Shabbat readings in the Diaspora calendar:

  • Saturday, May 20, 2028
  • Saturday, May 12, 2029