SUMMARY OF BEHAR :The Torah prohibits normal farming of the Land of Israel every seven years. This "Shabbos" for the land is called shemita. (5754 was a shemita year in Israel.) After every seventh shemita, the fiftieth year, yovel (Jubilee), is announced with the sounds of the shofar on Yom Kippur. This was also a year for the land to lie fallow. Hashem promises to provide a bumper crop prior to the shemita and yovel years to sustain the Jewish People. In the year of yovel, all land is returned to its original division from the time of Joshua, and all Jewish indentured servants are freed, even if they have not completed their six years of work. A Jewish indentured servant may not be given any demeaning, unnecessary or excessively difficult work, and may not be sold in the public market. The price of his labor must be calculated according to the amount of time remaining until he will automatically become free. The price of land is similarly calculated. Should anyone sell his ancestral land, he has the right to redeem it after two years. If a house in a walled city is sold, the right of redemption is limited to only the first year after the sale. The Levites' cities belong to them forever. The Jewish People are forbidden to take advantage of each other by lending or borrowing with interest. Family members should redeem any relative who was sold as an indentured servant as a result of impoverishment.

SUMMARY OF BECHUKOTAI: The Torah promises prosperity for the Jewish People if they follow Hashem's commandments. However, if they fail to live up to the responsibility of being the Chosen People, then chilling punishments will result. The Torah details the harsh historical process that will fall upon them when Divine protection is removed. These punishments, whose purpose is to bring the Jewish People to repent, will be in seven stages, each more severe than the last. Sefer Vayikra, the Book of Leviticus, concludes with a detailed description of Erachin - the process by which someone can make a vow to give to the Beis Hamikdash the equivalent monetary value of a person, an animal, or property. (From: Ohr Somayach web site)

this man violated the prohibition of lending with interest, he will not arise at techiat hameitim. Thus, he needs a grave for an unlimited period of time.Therefore, the chevra kadisha is just in requesting the seemingly large amount of money." (From: VeDibarta Bam by Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky)

"But despite all this, while they will be in the land of their enemies, I will not have been revolted by them nor will I have rejected them to obliterate them..." (26:44) It was the first night of Chanukah. The single light of the menorah gleamed with a strange radiance. Its light came from neither wax nor oil. For this was a very special menorah; a very special Chanukah. This menorah was an old wooden clog. This candle was made from boot polish. This was Chanukah in Bergen-Belsen. The Bluzhever Rebbe chanted the first two blessings in the customary festive tune, but the sound of his voice was dulled with pain. He was about to make the third blessing but then he stopped. He paused, and for what seemed like a long moment he looked around the room at each and every face. And then he made the blessing, his voice filled with strength: "Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, who has kept us alive, preserved us, and brought us to this time." "Amen," whispered the huddled throng. Later, one of the men came over to the Bluzhever Rebbe and said "May I ask the Rebbe a question?" "What is your question?" said the Rebbe. "How can you possibly make a blessing thanking G-d for bringing us to this time. Should we thank Him for bringing us to Bergen-Belsen? For bringing us to a time like this?" "You know" said the Bluzhever Rebbe "I had exactly the same thought. That's why I stopped in the middle. I was about to ask the Rabbi of Zaner and some of my other colleagues if I could really make that blessing. But then, I caught sight of all the faces looking so intently at that wooden clog filled with black camp shoe polish. I thought, here we are in the depths, in the blackest hole that this world can support. And here are some Yidden lighting Chanukah candles. In spite of all the evil that those murderers are doing, we are lighting candles. And I thought to myself: Master of the Universe! Who is like Your people Israel? Look how they stand, with death staring them in the face, and lovingly hang on to every word of the blessing: Who did miracles for our fathers, in those days at this season. "And I thought - if now is not the place to thank G-d for bringing us to this time - then I don't know when is. It is my holy duty to say that blessing now." (From: Ohr Somayach web site)

Rabbi Eliezer (ben) Chisma said: "The laws pertaining to the bird sacrifices and the calculation of the onset of the niddah state are essentials of Torah law; the calculation of the heavenly cycles and geometry are condiments to wisdom." (Avot 3:18) As the commentaries explain, calculations become necessary when a doubt arises with regard to these matters, and one must bring more bird-offerings or immerse oneself in the mikveh on more occasions than would be required had such doubt not arisen. Although these may appear of secondary importance THESE ARE ESSENTIALS OF TORAH LAW, and must be studied with the same dedication that is given to other matters of Torah law. Ignoring them diminishes one's comprehension of the Torah as a whole. Rabbi Eliezer was an expert in mathematics and physics; Rabbi Yehoshua stated that he could calculate the number of drops of water in the ocean. It is thus implied that he could appreciate how even the most minute particle contributes a dimension of perfection to the entity of which it is a part. Similarly, he understood how even the apparently insignificant aspects of Torah law are essential. (Sichos Shabbos Parshas Korach, 5741)