Parshas Behar for Kids

פרשת בהר

Shemittah and Yovel: a year when the land rests, and a fiftieth year when the shofar sounds, servants go free and fields return to their families. A parsha about who the land really belongs to.

In a Torah Tale book, your own child is the hero of this story - drawn from their photo, on every page, in their own name. Written under rabbinical guidance with strict tznius, printed and shipped to your door in English, Hebrew or Yiddish.

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What happens in Parshas Behar

Parshas Behar begins at Har Sinai with the mitzvah of Shemittah. Rashi asks what Shemittah has to do with Har Sinai, and answers that just as Shemittah was taught with all its details at Sinai, so was every mitzvah. Once in Eretz Yisrael, every seventh year the fields rest: no plowing, no planting, and whatever grows by itself is free for everyone, even the animals. Hashem promises that the sixth year will bring enough for three years. After seven Shemittah cycles comes Yovel, the fiftieth year. On Yom Kippur the shofar sounds, servants go free and every family returns to its own field, because, as Hashem says, the land is Mine.

The parsha also forbids cheating in business and hurting someone with words. Rashi explains that this includes reminding a person of mistakes he has already fixed. And when a brother is starting to struggle, we must hold him up before he falls, like catching a load before it slips off a donkey.

Lessons and middos for children

  • Trust in Hashem

    Farmers left their fields for a whole year and trusted Hashem to provide. We can trust Hashem when we share or give tzedakah.

  • Gentle words

    Words can hurt as much as cheating. We never tease someone about something they already said sorry for.

  • Helping early

    The Torah wants us to help before someone falls. Noticing a friend who is having a hard day and helping right away is a big mitzvah.

Questions for the Shabbos table

  1. How do you think the farmers felt during the Shemittah year, not planting anything?
  2. What do you think Hashem meant when He said the land is Mine?
  3. Why is it unkind to remind someone of a mistake they already fixed?
  4. If you saw a friend starting to have a hard time, what could you do before things got worse?

How your child steps into the story

Your child walks through a quiet field in Eretz Yisrael in a Shemittah year, sharing the fruit that grows by itself with neighbors, and hears the great shofar of Yovel as families return home. The story ends with your child holding up a friend in need, looking ahead to the brachos of Parshas Bechukosai.