Dvar Torah: Behar Bechokotai

And so we finish another book. This time, we read almost all of privately. For some of us, we didn't hear a single verse of the book of Vayikra out loud. So what does the weekly Parsha mean if we're never present for it? How is it important to us if we're not coming to shule?

The mistake in this question is how we are approaching the Torah reading. We think of ourselves as learning the Parsha, reading about it, because we are going to hear it that week. We are preparing for the leining. But that's not what we're doing at all. We lein the parsha every week so that we will learn about it, so that it will be part of our lives. By reading the Torah each week, we guarantee that it is on our minds and that we don't forget its lessons.

So, as we look back on the book of Vayikra, and we reflect on the fact that we haven't heard it read out loud this year, let's ask ourselves, what have we learnt from it? How has it changed us> And as we approach the festival fo the giving of the Torah, Shavuot, how will we continue to make room for the Torah in our lives?