פָּרָשַׁת בְּחֻקֹּתַי

Parshat Bechukotai closes Sefer Vayikra with the blessings and warnings of the covenant, and the laws of what is given to Hashem. If Bnei Yisrael (the children of Yisrael) walk in Hashem's chukim (statutes, laws that have no rational explanation other than Hashem commanded us to keep - such as parah adumah) and keep His mitzvot, He promises rain in its season, plentiful harvests, peace in the land, victory over their enemies — five chasing a hundred — and His Mishkan (dwelling) among them: "I will be your G-d, and you will be My people."

Then the tochacha (the rebuke), which is leined quietly and quickly. If they reject Hashem's laws and break the covenant, punishment comes in growing stages — disease and defeat, drought, wild animals, siege and famine — until their cities are ruined, their sanctuaries desolate, and they are scattered among the nations, while the land at last rests the Shemitah years it was denied. Yet the rebuke ends in hope: when they confess their sins, Hashem will remember His covenant with Yaakov, Yitzchak and Avraham, and He will remember the land; even in exile He will not reject them or break His covenant with them.

The last perek teaches erachin (vows of valuation): one who vows the worth of a person to Hashem gives a fixed amount by age, for a male and for a female. Consecrated animals, houses and fields are valued by the kohen (priest) and redeemed with an added fifth; an animal given as an offering cannot be exchanged. A firstborn animal is already Hashem's, and every tenth animal of the herd and flock is holy. The sefer ends: "These are the mitzvot that Hashem commanded Moshe for Bnei Yisrael at Har Sinai." In most years Behar and Bechukotai are read together as a double parsha. Chazak, chazak, venitchazek.