🐝 Parsha Bee

🐝 Parsha Bee: Parshas Behar — Q & A

Pesukim: 57 • Siman: חטיל • Haftorah: Yermiyahu 32:6–22

🟢 Round 1 (Easy) — Basics & Big Ideas

1. Q: What is the first major mitzvah/theme introduced in Parshas Behar?
   A: Shemitah—resting the land every seventh year.
2. Q: How many years may the land be worked before Shemitah?
   A: Six years.
3. Q: What must be done to the land in the seventh year?
   A: The land must rest—no sowing/planting.
4. Q: During Shemitah, how is produce treated?
   A: Like hefker—ownerless; available to all.
5. Q: Who may eat Shemitah produce (as stated in the summary)?
   A: You, your slaves, residents with you, and even animals—everyone may access it.
6. Q: What is the second major mitzvah/theme introduced in the Parsha?
   A: Yovel (the Jubilee year).
7. Q: How many total years are counted toward Yovel?
   A: 49 years (7 sets of 7).
8. Q: On which day is the Shofar blown to announce Yovel?
   A: Yom Kippur.
9. Q: What year number is Yovel?
   A: The 50th year.
10. Q: What happens to ancestral lands in Yovel?
    A: They return to their original owners.
11. Q: What happens to Jewish slaves in Yovel?
    A: They go free and return home.
12. Q: May one sow or harvest normally in Yovel?
    A: No—one may not sow or harvest normally; produce is treated like Shemitah.
13. Q: What is the Parsha’s Haftorah reading (as listed here)?
    A: Yermiyahu 32:6–22.
14. Q: How many pesukim are in Parshas Behar?
    A: 57.
15. Q: What is the siman (mnemonic) given for Behar?
    A: חטיל.

🟡 Round 2 (Medium) — Details in the Aliyos

1. Q: What is ona’ah in business?
   A: Overcharging or underpaying in a sale without the other person’s knowledge.
2. Q: How is land pricing determined in Eretz Yisrael according to the Parsha’s system?
   A: By how many years remain until Yovel—it’s like leasing years, not selling permanently.
3. Q: What is the Torah’s warning regarding speech between Jews mentioned here?
   A: Do not offend or verbally harass another Jew.
4. Q: What question do people naturally ask about Shemitah, and what promise does Hashem give?
   A: “What will we eat in the 7th year?” Hashem promises a blessing in the 6th year to produce enough.
5. Q: Until when can the 7th-year produce last, according to the promise described?
   A: You may still eat from earlier produce until the new crop arrives later (described as continuing into the 9th-year crop arrival).
6. Q: May an ancestral field be sold forever?
   A: No—an ancestral field is not sold eternally; it belongs to Hashem and is redeemable.
7. Q: If someone becomes poor and sells ancestral land, what should relatives do?
   A: A relative should redeem (buy back) the land.
8. Q: If the original owner later redeems his own land, how is the payment calculated?
   A: He pays according to the years remaining in the “lease” until Yovel.
9. Q: If the land is not redeemed, what happens at Yovel?
   A: It returns to the original owner in Yovel.
10. Q: What is unique about a house in a walled city regarding redemption?
    A: It can be redeemed only within the first year after sale.
11. Q: If a walled-city house is not redeemed within a year, what happens?
    A: It becomes the buyer’s forever, even after Yovel.
12. Q: What is the rule for redeeming a house in an unwalled city?
    A: It may be redeemed until Yovel, and if not redeemed, it returns at Yovel.
13. Q: What special redemption right do Levite houses have?
    A: Levites may redeem them at any time, and if not redeemed, they return by Yovel.
14. Q: May Levite open fields be sold?
    A: No—Levite fields may never be sold; it is an eternal heritage.
15. Q: What mitzvah is taught regarding helping a poor “brother”?
    A: Support him so he can live with you (charity/assistance).
16. Q: What is the Torah’s rule about ribis here?
    A: Do not lend money with interest; fear Hashem and let your brother live with you.

🔵 Round 3 (Advanced) — Slavery, Redemption Math, and Structure

1. Q: How must a Jewish slave (Eved Ivri) be treated (as summarized)?
   A: Not with slave labor—rather like a hired laborer/resident until Yovel.
2. Q: When does the Jewish slave return to his family?
   A: At Yovel, he returns to family and ancestral heritage.
3. Q: What reason is given for treating Jewish slaves with dignity?
   A: “The Jewish people are My slaves whom I took out of Egypt.”
4. Q: What does the Parsha say about selling Jewish people like regular slaves?
   A: Do not sell them like a slave and do not work them hard.
5. Q: What does the Parsha permit regarding slaves from surrounding nations?
   A: You may buy them and they can become an ancestral heritage serving forever.
6. Q: If a Jew is sold to a gentile, what is the mitzvah?
   A: He must be redeemed—ideally by relatives; if able, he redeems himself.
7. Q: Name relatives listed who can redeem him.
   A: An uncle, cousin, or other family relative.
8. Q: How is the redemption price calculated for a Jew sold to a gentile?
   A: Based on years remaining until Yovel—like hiring for years, not selling the person permanently.
9. Q: What is forbidden regarding the gentile’s treatment of the Jewish slave?
   A: Do not allow the gentile to make him do laborious activity.
10. Q: If he is not redeemed earlier, when does he go free?
    A: At Yovel.
11. Q: What three core Yovel results appear repeatedly in the Parsha’s summary?
    A: Shofar on Yom Kippur, freedom for slaves, and land returning to owners.
12. Q: Which mitzvah topic appears immediately after the business/ona’ah section in this summary?
    A: The prohibition of verbal offense (ona’as devarim).
13. Q: What does the Parsha command regarding Shabbos and Mikdash (as listed at the end)?
    A: Guard Shabbosos and revere the Mikdash.

Bonus: Lightning Round (Quick-Fire)

1. Q: Shemitah is the 7th year—True or False?
   A: True.
2. Q: A walled-city home can be redeemed forever—True or False?
   A: False—only within the first year.
3. Q: Yovel is proclaimed on Yom Kippur with the Shofar—True or False?
   A: True.