Daily Chumash

This section addresses an obvious concern: "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow our gather our grain?!" G‑d reassures us that He will bless the sixth year's harvest, and it will produce enough to provide for three years — until the crop of the eighth year is ready to eat! The Torah then gives the rationale for the prohibition against selling land for perpetuity (instead, land can only be "leased" until the Jubilee year) — "Because the Land belongs to Me; you are strangers and residents with Me."

We are commanded to conduct business ethically. Since, as aforementioned, all land reverts to their original owners during the Jubilee year, the amount of years remaining until the next Jubilee year must be taken into account whenever a real-estate sale is conducted, and the price set accordingly. The end of this section enjoins us not to verbally harass or intentionally mislead our fellows.

G‑d commands Moses regarding the Sh'mitah (Sabbatical) and Jubilee years. Every seventh year is a Sabbatical year, when it is forbidden to work the land (in the Land of Israel). After seven sets of seven years a Jubilee year is proclaimed by a blast of the shofar (ram's horn) on that year's Yom Kippur. During Jubilee years all the laws of the Sabbatical year apply, and, in addition to the Sabbatical laws, all slaves are set free and all lands revert to their original owners.

The autumn holiday of Sukkot is now introduced. During this seven-day holiday we are commanded to sit in outdoor booths, take the Four Species (citron, palm branch, myrtles, and willows), and rejoice before G‑d. The final holiday is Shemini Atzeret, a one-day holiday which immediately follows Sukkot.

The High Holidays are discussed. We are commanded to hear the shofar (ram's horn) on Rosh Hashanah, and to "afflict" ourselves on Yom Kippur.

Blemished animals are disqualified for sacrificial use. This aliyah also forbids the castration of animals, sacrificing animals before they are eight days old, and slaughtering a mother animal and her child on the same day. The aliyah concludes with the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem, sanctifying G‑d's Name by giving one's life rather than transgressing certain cardinal sins.

This section discusses bodily blemishes and ritual impurities which disqualify a Kohen from performing the Temple priestly duties. The aliyah then lays down the rules regarding who in the Kohen's household may eat terumah, the tithe from produce given to the Kohanim.

The aliyah discusses the Kohen's obligation to maintain a high level of ritual purity, and the women he may marry. An ordinary Kohen is prohibited to come in contact with a human corpse — except to attend the funerals of his next of kin — and may not marry a divorcee as well as some other women. The High Priest is not permitted to attend even family funerals, and is required to marry a virgin.

The Torah sets the punishments for individuals who curse their parents and those who engage in prohibited sexual relations.

We are introduced to the laws of "orlah," the prohibition against eating the fruit of a new sapling for the first three years, and the obligation to sanctify the fruit of the fourth year. We are enjoined not to engage in witchcraft or prostitution, or tattoo our bodies. Men are instructed not to destroy the hair at the edges of their scalp or the corners of their beards. We are commanded to observe the Shabbat; respect G‑d's sanctuary, Torah scholars and the elderly.