The earth is the Lord’s – B’har
The land laws play an important role in this week’s reading (Lev. 25). They raise the vital question of who owns the world. The 24th Psalm tells us quite clearly, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof”.
How then can we spend so much time and money buying property if the earth is not owned by human beings?
What we buy when we purchase property is not a section of the earth but the right to use it… and how we gain that right depends on whether we acknowledge God.
The Hebrew word for “to possess” is kanah. The same verb means “to create”. At the beginning of the Amidah we call God koneh hakkol, the Creator of everything. He is the creator, the owner, the ultimate authority. Our involvement is as a utiliser who has permission to use the owner’s property.
