32/33 Behar-Bechukotai: Day 1 (Sunday) | The Soil Sabbatical and Jubilee

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers remarks at City Winery Passover seder on March 30, 2026. Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office.

16 Iyar 5786 AM | 1 AVE.

Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us by Your Spirit and invited the nations to share in the richness of Your Word. We thank You for the people and state of Israel, including the Messiah, our First Fruits, through whom the harvest of life has begun.

Today is the twenty-ninth day of the Omer according to the minority Sadducean and Essene counts, which is 4 weeks and 1 day.

May the Spirit of Truth prepare my heart for the revelation of the 50th day.

6:26 AM EDT. 

Jonathan Writes:

The reading is Leviticus 25:1-25:18.

This is the link to the Daily Chumash with Rashi at Chabad.

The Daily Wisdom from the Lubavitcher Rebbe is titled "G-d Promises, G-d Fulfills." 

I found myself a little bit doubtful of the Rebbe's commentary today, for two reasons. 1) Does Hashem really want Israeli farmers to violate the physical laws of food production? Wouldn't it make more sense to fallow a seventh of Israel's cropland every year? 2) Aren't observant Jews less well off than secular Jews on average?

Rabbi Gabriel Cousens' commentary on this section of Behar in Torah as a Guide to Enlightenment is expansive, visionary and provocative. On one hand, Cousens sounds like a global vegan liberation theologian, and on the other hand, he sounds like a sovereignty-first nationalist. I appreciate and identify with both sides. 

Turning to the Jewish news front, I note Trump: Iran war could be renewed if mullahs 'misbehave' | JNS and Poll suggests most Jewish New Yorkers oppose Mamdani policies, connect rising Jew-hatred and normalized anti-Zionism | JNS.

The photograph of Muslim Mayor Mamdani smiling and holding a water glass at a City Winery Passover Seder raises an interesting point of tension for me. How would I feel if the participants were drinking cannabis beverages instead of wine? Either way, would it matter more to me than if they were eating animal products? Am I unconsciously applying an imaginal Essene cloister rule for an alcohol-free vegan retreat center (where the medical and religious use of cannabis is a gray area) to the heart of Jewish social life in New York City? Am I sympathizing more with Mayor Mamdani than I expected, and if so, why does that make me feel so uncomfortable? Sympathizing with Mamdani in some respects and wishing him well as Mayor does not mean I endorse his anti-Zionism or his platform as a whole, does it?

In his socialist ideology, is Mamdani closer to the spirit of Jubilee than say former Mayor Michael Bloomberg? I can see a case for both sides.

Shalom.