Parashat Behar is the only Torah portion whose name directly references Mount Sinai, emphasizing the divine commandment to let the land rest during the Sabbatical Year. The authors explore how this idea of rest is intimately tied to the concept of light and holiness.
A striking gematria reveals that the word “mountain” (behar) and “light” (ohr) share the same numerical value of 207, suggesting that mountains—especially Sinai—represent sites of divine illumination.
Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh’s identification of thirteen Torah synonyms for light parallels the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, drawing a link between divine compassion and spiritual illumination. Intriguingly, five of these synonyms end with “har” (mountain), reinforcing the imagery of spiritual ascent and radiance associated with Mount Sinai.
A further gematria insight shows the word Shabbat equals 702, the reverse of ohr, 207—implying that Shabbat is a vessel through which God’s infinite light (also numerically 207) is accessed. This linkage is visibly enacted through the lighting of Shabbat candles, symbolizing the merging of spiritual light and sacred time.
The portion’s verses indicate that just as people rest on Shabbat, so too must the Land of Israel. The Sabbatical Year is presented as a “Shabbat to God,” implying the land itself possesses a soul. This aligns with the Zohar’s statement that Shabbat is a “day of the soul” and with the deeper mystical view that the material world conceals divine energy and light.
The Giving of the Torah at Sinai is recast as a spiritual revelation where space (olam), time (shanah), and soul (nefesh) unite—embodied in the word ashan (smoke). Rashi’s comment on the people “seeing sounds” at Sinai illustrates this transcendence of ordinary perception. Moreover, the Torah being given on Shabbat unites all these concepts—Sinai, light, Shabbat, and holiness—into a single, radiant truth.
Ultimately, the holiness of the Land of Israel is not merely conceptual but deeply embedded in its physical reality. The produce of the land during the Sabbatical Year is imbued with sanctity, echoing the Torah’s broader message: the physical world, too, is a conduit of divine light. Shabbat in time and the Sabbatical Year in space both reveal the underlying unity of creation.