Bechukotai

In common years (for example, 2025 and 2026), Parashat Bechukotai is combined with the previous parashah, Behar, to help achieve the needed number of weekly readings.

[7] But in the section known as Tocheichah or the Admonitions, if the Israelites do not observe God's commandments, God will wreak upon Israel misery, consumption, fever, stolen harvests, defeat by enemies, poor harvests, attacks of wild beasts, pestilence, famine, desolation, and timidity.

[19] In the fifth reading, if one consecrates to God land of one's ancestral holding, the priest is to assess it in accordance with its seed requirement.

[28] Every tenth head of livestock is to be holy to God, and the owner is not to choose among good or bad when counting off the tithe.

[30] The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these Biblical sources:[31] Leviticus 26:9 addresses God's role in the creation of children.

In Leviticus 26:14–15, God warned of consequences “if you reject My laws and spurn My rules.” Similarly, in Amos 2:4, the 8th century BCE prophet Amos condemned people of Judah, “because they have spurned the Teaching of the Lord and have not observed His laws.” The Admonitions of Leviticus 26:14–38 are paralleled in Deuteronomy 28:15–68.

The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these early nonrabbinic sources:[34] Reading Leviticus 27:1–8, Philo taught that in the case of those who vowed not merely property but their own selves, the law affixed a price to their vows, not having regard to the vower's beauty, importance, or anything of the kind, but treating each individual alike (separating men from women, and infants from the fully grown).

(2) Those who have made a vow should not be exposed to the treatment of slaves, who were valued according to the condition and beauty of their bodies.

[37] The Sifra asked whether the words "If you walk in My statutes" in Leviticus 26:3 might refer to observing religious duties.

[38] The Mishnah taught that they read the blessings and curses of Leviticus 26:3–45 and Deuteronomy 28:1–68 on public fast days.

The Gemara explained this distinction by noting that the curses in Leviticus are stated in the plural, and Moses pronounced them from the mouth God, and as such, they are more severe.

[41] The Mishnah taught that when (in the words of Leviticus 26:6) "the sword [went] through [the] land," they would sound an alarm in all places, because it was a spreading evil.

[42] The Tanna Devei Eliyahu taught that if you live by the commandment prohibiting murder (in Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17), then (in the words of Leviticus 26:6) "the sword shall not go through your land."

Rabbi Eleazar the son of Rabbi Judah read the word "behalah" ("terror") in Leviticus 26:16 as "be-challah" ("on account of challah") to interpret Leviticus 26:16 to teach that as punishment for the neglect of the challah tithe, God fails to bless what is stored, a curse is sent on prices, and people sow seed but others eat the harvest.

And the Baraita interpreted Leviticus 26:30–35 to teach that as punishment for idolatry and failure to observe the Sabbatical (Shmita) and Jubilee (Yovel) years, the Jews are exiled and others come to dwell in their land.

[48] Similarly, elsewhere, the Gemara read the words of Leviticus 26:37, "And they shall stumble one upon another," to mean that for all transgressions of the Torah, the whole world is punished.

The Gemara cited a Baraita that interpreted the words "the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them" in Leviticus 26:39 to teach that God punishes children only when they follow their parents' sins.

The Gemara answered that the vicarious responsibility of which Leviticus 26:37 speaks is limited to those who have the power to restrain their fellow from evil but do not do so.

A Midrash catalogued the wide range of additional capabilities of the heart reported in the Hebrew Bible.

[50] The heart speaks,[51] sees,[51] hears,[52] walks,[53] falls,[54] stands,[55] rejoices,[56] cries,[57] is comforted,[58] is troubled,[59] becomes hardened,[60] grows faint,[61] grieves,[62] fears,[63] can be broken,[64] becomes proud,[65] rebels,[66] invents,[67] cavils,[68] overflows,[69] devises,[70] desires,[71] goes astray,[72] lusts,[73] is refreshed,[74] can be stolen,[75] is enticed,[76] errs,[77] trembles,[78] is awakened,[79] loves,[80] hates,[81] envies,[82] is searched,[83] is rent,[84] meditates,[85] is like a fire,[86] is like a stone,[87] turns in repentance,[88] becomes hot,[89] dies,[90] melts,[91] takes in words,[92] is susceptible to fear,[93] gives thanks,[94] covets,[95] becomes hard,[96] makes merry,[97] acts deceitfully,[98] speaks from out of itself,[99] loves bribes,[100] writes words,[101] plans,[102] receives commandments,[103] acts with pride,[104] makes arrangements,[105] and aggrandizes itself.

[108] A Midrash interpreted the words, "And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them," in Leviticus 26:44 to teach that the Shekhinah accompanied Israel into exile.

[110] Tractate Arakhin in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of dedicatory vows in Leviticus 27:1–33.

[119] Citing Leviticus 27:8, the Gemara explained that the Merciful One made the obligation dependent upon the means of the one who vowed.

[121] Tractate Temurah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of substituting one sacrifice for another in Leviticus 27:1–33.

[122] Tractates Terumot, Ma'aserot, and Ma'aser Sheni in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Jerusalem Talmud interpreted the laws of tithes in Leviticus 27:30–33, Numbers 18:21–24, and Deuteronomy 14:22–29 and 26:12–14.

[123] The Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer taught that Jacob designated Levi as a tithe, holy to God, within the meaning of Leviticus 27:32.

Thus, Leviticus 27:9 sets forth the rule that if any such change took place, both the "original sacrifice and the exchange thereof should be holy."

The owner would therefore not take the necessary trouble in the interest of the Sanctuary and would not expose the property sufficiently to the valuer, and its true value would not be fixed.

[129] The parashah is discussed in these modern sources: Mary Douglas noted that while chapter 25 deals with person-to-person obligations, the release of slaves, their return to their homes, redemption of property, remission of secular debts, chapter 27 deals with the same topics from the point of view of debts to God.

This table translates units of weight used in the Bible:[132] Robert A. Oden taught the idea that spoils of holy war were devoted to God (חֵרֶם‎, cherem) evident in Leviticus 27:28–29, Numbers 18:14, and Deuteronomy 7:26 was revelatory of (1) as "to the victor belong the spoils,"[133] then since God owned the spoils, then God must have been the victor and not any human being, and (2) the sacred and religiously obligatory nature of holy war, as participants gained no booty as a motivation for participation.