A prophecy of purchase and promise, redemption and resolve.
Although this week we read the haftarah of Bechukotai, drawn from Yirmiyahu chapter 16, I could not let the haftarah of Parshat Behar – one of the most poignant and hopeful prophecies in Sefer Yirmiyahu – pass by unnoticed. Nestled within the shadows of national calamity, the haftarah of Behar (Yirmiyahu 32:6–27) offers a powerful vision of redemption, rooted in faith and bound to the eternal bond between Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.
Set during the final, devastating days of the First Temple period, this prophecy unfolds while Jerusalem is under siege by the Babylonians. Yirmiyahu himself is imprisoned by King Tzidkiyahu for foretelling the city’s fall and the exile to come. It is in this bleak setting that Hashem instructs the prophet to perform a striking act of hope: to purchase a field in his hometown of Anatot from his cousin Chanamel, and to preserve the deed as a legal and lasting record.
This act appears startling. Why invest in land that is about to be overrun by enemy forces? Why purchase property that may soon be rendered worthless?
The answer lies in the deep symbolism of the moment—and its connection to Parshat Behar. The parsha includes the mitzvah of redeeming the land of a kinsman who was forced to sell due to poverty: “If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his closest relative shall come and redeem what his brother sold” (Vayikra 25:25). Though it occupies only a single verse in the parsha, this mitzvah encapsulates a profound message about familial responsibility, national continuity, and unwavering trust in the future.
Why did Chazal choose to spotlight this brief verse through such a rich and dramatic haftarah? Because Yirmiyahu’s purchase is not merely a financial transaction—it is a public act of faith. Even as the city burns and exile nears, the prophet affirms that the bond between Am Yisrael and its land is not severed. The land may be desolate, but the covenant lives on.
Yirmiyahu faithfully records the details of the sale in both an “open” and a “sealed” scroll, storing them in an earthenware jar to endure through generations. When he questions Hashem about the purpose of this act—given the imminent destruction—Hashem responds with gentle strength: “I am Hashem… Is anything too wondrous for Me?” (Yirmiyahu 32:27). Just as Hashem once assured Sarah Imeinu that life could blossom from her barren womb, so too does He promises Yirmiyahu that this devastated land will yet see rebirth.
The message is timeless. Parshat Behar teaches that the Land of Israel belongs ultimately to Hashem. Our claim to it is sacred, not secular. The yovel laws restore ancestral lands, affirming the eternal connection between each family and their inheritance, and between the nation and its God-given home.
In our own time, this prophecy breathes with renewed vitality. We live in an era of miracles: barren hills transformed into thriving cities, ancient vineyards replanted, and a people long exiled returned to their soil. Even amid ongoing threats and painful losses, we dare to hope, to build, to buy, and to believe—because we know the promise is real.
“Fields and vineyards will yet be bought in this land.” Not only as a prophecy of the past, but as the unfolding reality of today. May we continue to witness the miraculous rebirth of our nation, and may the land and its people flourish in faith, peace and redemption.
Rabbanit Shani Taragin is educational director of Mizrachi, Mizrachi-Lapidot and Matan Eshkolot Programs for Educators, and the Rosh Women’s Beit Midrash for Yeshiva University in Israel. She is a member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau (mizrachi.org/speakers).
