Sometimes one Hebrew word is a treasure trove of meaning.  Let us look at a word that is a key part of our prayers, but has its root in this week's portion.  The word is goel - usually translated "redeemer."  God is Goel Yisrael - the redeemer of Israel.  God will rescue and save God's people.  Tradition teaches that between the prayer Goel Yisrael and the silent Amida, one is not allowed to talk or interrupt.  There should be no interruption between redemption and prayer.  (For those familiar with our Shabbat services, that is why I always announce the page number before we get to the words Goel Yisrael.  And that is why the cantor trails off his voice, so that the congregation does not even have to say amen.)
       Not only is God a Goel - redeemer.  God will send a redeemer: mavee goel levenai venaihem - "will send a redeemer to His people's children."  Of course, this phrase refers to the Messiah.  The Reform prayerbook has changed the wording of this prayer - mavee geula levenai venaihem - "will bring redemption to His children's children."  The belief in a personal Messiah has been replaced with a generic belief in future redemption.  The Orthodox go to the opposite extreme.  There is a belief that any moment a redeemer will arrive.  I have actually received a wedding invitation saying the wedding will take place in Jerusalem, unless the Messiah does not come: then it will take place in Florida.  That is faith.
       Where does the word goel come from? Originally the word did not refer to God nor to the Messiah.  Originally it referred to a family member, in particular a brother, who would take responsibility for his brother.  At one time, in a world of blood feuds and revenge, the brother was called goel hadam - the redeemer of blood. Fortunately the Torah set up cities of refuge to remove the possibility of such blood feuds.  Such family blood feuds still go on in many communities; think of the Hatfields versus the McCoy's or the Godfather movies.   Blood feuds long ago fell out of the life of the Israelites.
       Goel has taken on a different meaning which is important today.  Brothers (or sisters or any other family members) are responsible for each other.  This week's portion speaks of someone who must sell his family holdings because of poverty.  His brother has an obligation to buy back the property to keep it in the family.  This portion also speaks about a person who sells themselves into indentured servitude because of debt.  (Such indentured servitude is illegal in the United States, but was both legal and common in much of the world.)  A family member has an obligation to redeem from servitude his or her family member.
       At the center of this week's portion is an idea that people need to hear - siblings have obligations to siblings.  We are born into a web of mutual responsibilities.  When our brother or sister gets into trouble, our job is to be the redeemer.  Originally in the Torah God is not the redeemer - our own family has that obligation.  Long ago Cain asked the rhetorical question, "Am I my brother's keeper?"  The answer to Cain is "yes, we are our brothers' and our sisters' keepers." 
       When I meet with bar and bat mitzvah families, I always discuss with the young people which mitzvoth they are obligated to take on.  I speak of ritual commandments and ethical commandments.  The first ethical commandment I mention is "Honor your father and mother."  And the best way to always keep the commandment of honoring parents is to take care of our siblings.  I can still remember my dad showing me a picture of a boy carrying a younger boy on his back, with the words "He ain't heavy, he's my brother."
       Redemption is a central theme in our prayerbook.  God is a Redeemer; the Messiah will come as a redeemer.  Nonetheless, this week's portion speaks about the original redeemer - our own brothers and sisters.  By rescuing our siblings we honor our parents, and by honoring our parent we honor God.