Parshas Behar opens with Hashem teaching Moshe about the mitzvah of Shmittah. “שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים תִּזְרַע שָׂדֶךָ וְשֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים תִּזְמֹר כַּרְמֶךָ…וּבַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן יִהְיֶה לָאָרֶץ שַׁבָּת לַי־הֹוָ־ה שָׂדְךָ לֹא תִזְרָע וְכַרְמְךָ לֹא תִזְמֹר” “For six years you may sow your field and for six years you may prune your vineyard…But on the seventh year a complete rest there shall be for the land, a Shabbos for Hashem; your field you shall not sow and your vineyard you shall not prune” (Vayikra 25:3-4). The mitzvah is that every seventh year, you are not allowed to plant or do any work in your fields. Anything which grows in the fields, even if it grows on its own, is considered hefker (ownerless), and may be taken by anyone and also obtains a status of kedushah (holiness). This mitzvah is only applicable to Jews living in Eretz Yisrael, anyone in Chutz La’aretz may continue planting like any other year. An explanation is needed to understand the purpose this mitzvah in general, even more so when we see that the punishment for not keeping shmittah is the eventual exile of the Jewish People from Israel!
A common explanation for this mitzvah is to provide what we call nowadays Ley farming, where in order to replenish the minerals in the ground, the field is not sowed for a length of time, in our case, a year. However, the Kli Yakar asks that this explanation simply does not make sense. Based on this reasoning, why would the punishment for shmittah be exile, why not that the land would not regain its previous strength? Also, pasuk 4 described shmittah as a, “שַׁבָּת לַי־הֹוָ־ה”, a Shabbos for Hashem, this reason makes it a Shabbos for the land rather than a Shabbos for Hashem?
The Kli Yakar answers that the purpose of shmittah is to have us work on our אמונה וביטחון, trust and faith in Hashem. In general, farming is one of the hardest professions to believe that everything comes from Hashem. Can you imagine what it is to be a farmer? You work for months and months plowing and planting and fertilizing and watering and everything else that comes with planting and then it rains. When the crops grow, even though at the end of the day the rain is the final factor, how are you supposed to automatically thank Hashem for all of it? Think of all the hard work you had to do over the past few months! Someone who can recognize form the start that the end result is all from Hashem is truly a special person. Now imagine not being able to do any of that work for an entire year… This takes this test to a whole other level. How could you possibly survive without farming! Nothing will grow! The fields will be ruined by all the people coming to take the free food! Someone who can pass this test definitely has a high level of belief.
This level of belief transcends the realm of normalcy, therefore, for someone who keeps shmittah, Hashem also transcends this realm. First of all, the pasuk tells us to plant for six straight years. In farming, the same field is not planted for six straight years since it will completely drain the land of its minerals, yet Hashem tells us to plant non-stop for six years and to not worry about it. Furthermore, we learn from the pasuk that not only will the land not decrease over the six years, the land will become even stronger, growing enough grain in the six year to last for the six year, the shmittah year, and the year after shmittah until the new crops can grow!
The question that remains is why would this mitzvah only apply in Eretz Yisrael? If the whole point is to strengthen our belief in Hashem, why would it not be required of every Jew in the world? I believe the Kli Yakar answers this question while explaining the historical perspective of shmittah. Hashem told Moshe this mitzvah right before Bnei Yisrael were expected to enter the land. Since they were now re-entering the normal world after an amazing two years in the desert which included the giving of the Torah and other miraculous events, Hashem was afraid that they would slip into normal human behavior and believe in the power of man over the power of God. In order to avoid that, Hashem gave us the mitzvah of shmittah which proves Hashem is in control of the world and your livelihood. More than that, Chazal say that the land itself will enforce shmittah! Eretz Yisrael wants the zchus that Bnei Yisrael receive from keeping the mitzvah of shmittah to come through it. As it says in the pasuk in next week’s parshah, “אז תרצה הארץ את-שבתותיה” “Then the land will appease its shmittah years” (26:34), the reason the punishment for not keeping shmittah is galus (exile) is because the land needs its time off for shmittah because it needs the Jewish People to have bitachon in Hashem because the land itself wants us to reach that dargah (level)!
The answer now is obvious. The land outside of Eretz Yisrael is designed for Gentiles, so the land won’t get any zchus for their beliefs anyway. The same is true for Gentiles living in Israel, they do not have to keep shmittah because the mitzvah is not designed for them and because of that, the land will eventually throw them out as well to make room for people from whom the land can benefit.
Even though this year is not shmittah, it does not mean that we cannot find ways to work on our faith ourselves. This week we commemorate amazing miracles which were done for us in Eretz Yisrael, we see from the pasuk that if we want to keep this land we must work on our bitachon. For at the end of the day, the land does not care if it’s the farmer in the field, the lawyer in the office, or the rabbi in the Beis Hamedrash who is working to become better, as long as we are all headed in that direction.
Shabbat Shalom!
AIMeM
No comments:
Post a Comment