Parshat Behar opens with Shemita — six years of working the land, followed by a full year of rest. It echoes Shabbat: six days of work, one day of rest. Both reflect the rhythm of creation: Hashem created in six days and rested on the seventh. But this isn’t just about rest — it’s about trust.

Shabbat and Shemita ask us to step back when logic says to push forward. Resting on the busiest day. Leaving the land untouched for a year. These aren’t smart business moves — they’re spiritual declarations: “I’m not in control. Hashem is.”

That kind of trust rewires us. It turns mitzvot from routine into relationship. When we make space for Hashem to provide, we invite Him into our lives.

Parshat Bechukotai continues the message. In the tochecha, the rebuke, Hashem lays out both sides of that relationship: “If you walk with Me… I will walk among you.”

But if we walk with Hashem b’keri — indifferently, without heart — He responds in kind. Coldness for coldness. Distance for distance.

Chazal teach that the 70-year exile between the two Batei Mikdash came from neglecting Shemita for 490 years — one year of exile for every Shemita cycle ignored. The land got its rest — but in the most heartbreaking way: without us on it.

Exile isn’t just punishment — it’s the natural result of a broken relationship. When mitzvot become habit. When davening becomes mumbling. When Torah turns into information, not inspiration. When the motions are there, but the neshama isn’t.

Geula flips that script. It begins when we choose relationship over routine. When we keep Shabbat and Shemita not out of habit, but out of love. When we say: “Hashem, I’m doing this for You — because You matter to me.”

Want Geula? Then walk with Hashem. Don’t just keep mitzvot — connect through them.
Learn like Hashem is speaking directly to you — because He is.
Daven like He’s not just listening, but responding in ways you may not yet see.
Do chesed like you’re fulfilling His personal request.
Take care of your body like it’s a gift from Him — because it is.

Hashem desires a relationship with us. He’s not asking for perfection — only presence.
And when we show Him that this relationship isn’t just important, but our very purpose, He responds in kind:

“I will turn toward you… I will place My Mishkan (Beit Hamikdash — Rashi) in your midst… I will walk among you…” (Vayikra 26:9–12)

That is Geula.
Hashem is waiting. He always has been.
When we take even one sincere step back — toward Him — He responds in kind:
He turns toward us.
He places His Mishkan among us.
He walks with us.
And He rebuilds His Beit Hamikdash — speedily in our days.