Parshas Behar
How Will We Survive?
וְכִ֣י תֹֽאמְר֔וּ מַה־נֹּאכַ֖ל בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁבִיעִ֑ת הֵ֚ן לֹ֣א נִזְרָ֔ע וְלֹ֥א נֶֽאֱסֹ֖ף אֶת־תְּבֽוּאָתֵֽנוּ:
וְצִוִּ֤יתִי אֶת־בִּרְכָתִי֙ לָכֶ֔ם בַּשָּׁנָ֖ה הַשִּׁשִּׁ֑ית וְעָשָׂת֙ אֶת־הַתְּבוּאָ֔ה לִשְׁל֖שׁ הַשָּׁנִֽים
And if you should say, "What will we eat in the seventh year? We will not sow, and we will not gather in our produce!" I will command My blessing for you in the sixth year, and it will yield produce for three years…(Vayikra 25:21-22)
R’ Elimelech in the Noam Elimelech[1] taught that the Torah could simply wrote the mitzvah without the pasuk that says, What will we eat in the seventh year… Why do we need this question as an introduction to this mitzvah?
The Bobover Ruv, zt”l, taught that the mitzvah of Maaser is a segulah for a comfortable livelihood. Fulfilling this mitzvah creates a dynamic in your life that enables you to access Hashem’s flow of brachos for your financial success and security. The pasuk says[2] עַשֵּׂ֣ר תְּעַשֵּׂ֔ר אֵ֖ת כָּל־תְּבוּאַ֣ת- You shall tithe all the seed crop… Chazal taught[3] that the repetitious “עַשֵּׂ֣ר תְּעַשֵּׂ֔ר” means that you will become עשיר-wealthy through the tithing. Further, the Midrash Tanchuma taught[4] that if you do not offer Maaser, you will lack everything in your life.
Our financial well-being, our livelihoods, are dependent on Maaser. However, in the seventh year, when everything is ownerless, it becomes impossible to offer Maaser. This is what the Torah is addressing. Without that mitzvah, the yidden will ask: What will we eat? How will we be able to support and provide for our families with the mitzvah of Maaser?!
This question does not simply introduce the mitzvah but defines the inevitable outcome; it describes the dynamic and dependency of our livelihoods on Maaser.
Hashem addresses this concern and says, I will command My blessing for you in the sixth year, and it will yield produce for three years…Since there will be an abundance of produce and cash flow in the sixth year, you will have to give even more Maaser resulting in a zchus that will last for three years.
TWO
וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר ה' אֶל־משֶׁ֔ה בְּהַ֥ר סִינַ֖י לֵאמֹֽר
דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָֽמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם כִּ֤י תָבֹ֨אוּ֙ אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֖י נֹתֵ֣ן לָכֶ֑ם וְשָֽׁבְתָ֣ה הָאָ֔רֶץ שַׁבָּ֖ת לַֽה':
“And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and you shall say to them: When you come to the land that I am giving you, the land shall rest a Sabbath to the Lord. (Vayikra 25:1-2)”
When you look at how the Torah introduces the mitzvos of Shmittah and Yovel in this week’s parsha, there are a few blaring questions. The Seforim Hakedoshim point out that this pasuk seems to imply that these mitzvos begin immediately when the yidden “come to the land”. But, we know that these mitzvos only become applicable after working the land for six years! What, then, does this pasuk mean, “When you come to the land that I am giving you, the land shall rest a Sabbath.”?
The Torah also lets us know that this mitzvah was given at Har Sinai. Why does the Torah single these mitzvos out? All the mitzvos were! Rashi asks this very question and explains that just like this mitzvah was taught at Har Sinai along with all its details and halachos, so too was the case with all the mitzvos. The Seforim HaKedoshim still ask why does the Torah use this particular mitzvah to teach this?
We always talk about emunah, faith. However, when it comes to Yiddishkeit and faith in Hashem, what are we really talking about?
The Rambam begins his 13 Principles of Faith with, “I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, creates and guides all creatures and that He alone made, makes and will make everything.”
That is the very first principle: emunah. And, the Rambam defines our emunah as believing that Hashem not only constantly creates (in present tense), but He guides all creatures; we have faith that everything is Hashgacha Pratis; every detail of our lives, of the world, of our efforts and outcomes is with Hashem’s guidance, support and sustenance.
Every morning, we say during davening: ובטובו מחדש בכל יום עשה בראשית - - He renews daily, perpetually, the work of creation. That is what we believe in. This is the cornerstone and foundation of what emunah must be for a yid.
Emunah is a challenge.
Hashem created a physical world through a process that conceals His existence. The laws of nature mask the reality that Hashem is constantly overseeing, guiding, and sustaining this world. The Hebrew word for “world” is עולם which is rooted in the word העלם, hidden. In this world, Hashem and His constant guidance is hidden by layers of natural order. In this framework we struggle, and we are tempted to see the world as haphazard, as governed by natural laws of science, by chance, and that everything we accomplish and have in our lives is of our own making. We can fail to see and believe in Hashgacha Pratis.
Our avodah is to fight through that confusion, to peel away those layers and find Hashem’s Hashgacha Pratis in all things and events in our lives. To strengthen our Emunah in that Hashgacha, and from that emunah¸ come to the realization and recognition of Hashem in all things. Through the prism of our emunah we can see Hashem’s presence in all things; in our daily lives, our successes, our failures, our careers, in everything.
While our daily lives can make uncovering this emunah challenging, Hashem provided us with a space, a time when we can step away from the concerns of this world. An opportunity to realize that the outcome of all our efforts is purely in Hashem’s hands. The Seforim HaKedoshim teach us that this is the entire purpose of Shabbos; a time to connect to Hashem with a sense of clarity, to recharge our emunah. We can return to the source of everything, to Hashem, and rejuvenate our emunah to carry us through yet another week. Shabbos places everything in perspective.
The Seforim HaKedoshim explain that Shmittah and Yovel serve the same purpose as Shabbos. For six years, the yidden would work the land. They would plow and plant, reap and harvest. They would provide for themselves and their families. Over time, the yidden could lose focus; they could start to feel that their parnasah was the result of their hard work and persistence and not Yad Hashem. Their emunah might begin to fade. Therefore, Hashem created a framework to ensure that the yidden would remain focused and fortify the clarity of their emunah.
They would rest from their work and place their complete faith in Hashem, that He would provide for them, their families, and the entire Jewish people while they refrained from working completely. Shmittah and Yovel are meant to help recharge the emunah in hashgacha pratis.
The Sefas Emes explains this concept in a slightly different light.
The Gerrer Rebbe explains that Shmittah and Yovel were a process of nullifying the laws of nature and connecting to a reality that functions above those laws and limitations, connecting to the essence of Hashem and the power of infinity and limitlessness.
When a person places his faith in this world, when he believes that this world, that his actions and their outcomes, are stand-alone entities, he is then bound by those laws. His perspective of the world negates hashgacha pratis and he fails to uncover Hashem’s existence in this world.
Shmittah and Yovel help the yid refocus (as does Shabbos ); to remain connected to Hashem with a clear emunah. When a yid connects to emunah and chooses to live a life where he recognizes that everything in this world is Hashem’s Will and hashgacha pratis, he connects to a reality that functions above the laws of nature.
When a yid takes a Sabbatical and places the well-being of himself and his family in Hashem’s hands during Shmittah and Yovel, he is demonstrating the ultimate realization of that emunah. He connects to the limitless reality of Hashem’s essence and therefore can be sustained miraculously during that year.
Emunah is the foundation of Avodas Hashem. It is at the very core of the yidden’s ability to lead a Torah-centric life. This commitment to be “believers” was essential at kabbalas HaTorah, the receiving of the Torah. When the yidden accepted the Torah they declared, “Naaseh V’Nishma,” – that they would do and then understand. This expressed a desire to serve Hashem with a simple, and clear emunah. The yidden committed to keeping the Torah and observe the mitzvos before they even had a chance to grasp them mentally and intellectually or even know what they were! They would commit to “doing ” fueled with a pure faith. After that, they will strive to “understand” the mitzvos and all their granular details.
That level of emunah must permeate every aspect of a yid’s avodas Hashem. Every mitzvah must be performed fueled by this emunah. This is why the Torah taught us that every mitzvah and all their details were given at Har Sinai through this mitzvah of Shmittah and Yovel: these mitzvos are the epitome of living a life of Nasseh V’Nishma. This is why these mitzvos are tied to Har Sinai.
However, this emunah did not begin during the years of rest.
The Torah says, “And you shall count for yourself seven sabbatical years, seven years seven times. And the days of these seven sabbatical years shall amount to forty nine years for you. (25:8)”
Why are the six years of working called “sabbatical”. They are not sabbaticals! In fact, they are the opposite! Those are the years of working.
The Sefas Emes explains that when you count something, you draw that end goal, that outcome into the actual counting. This is a very relatable concept. When someone is looking forward to a trip, for example, and they are counting the days until that trip, then each day they are living with a piece of the trip; that upcoming trip penetrates their days throughout the counting. The counting becomes infused with the outcome.
The concept of counting down to the years of Shmittah and Yovel transformed the other years, the years of working, into years of emunah. They infused those years with that outcome, that emunah, that perspective of even when a yid is working his fields for six years, he was living a life of emunah, transforming each of those years into “Sabbaticals” as well.
This is why the Torah tells us that this mitzvah would take place when “they come to the land.” As we asked above, they would not be able to fulfill this mitzvah for years! However, since they would begin counting towards that outcome, to the emunah of Shmittah and Yovel, then everyday of every year leading up to that was infused with that experience of emunah, accomplishing the purpose of those mitzvos on day one.
Breaking Our Connection
כִ֣י תֹֽאמְר֔וּ מַה־נֹּאכַ֖ל בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁבִיעִ֑ת הֵ֚ן לֹ֣א נִזְרָ֔ע וְלֹ֥א נֶֽאֱסֹ֖ף אֶת־תְּבֽוּאָתֵֽנוּ:
I will command My blessing for you in the sixth year, and it will yield produce for three years.
And if you should say, "What will we eat in the seventh year? We will not sow, and we will not gather in our produce! [Know then, that] I will command My blessing for you in the sixth year, and it will yield produce for three years. (25:20-21)
The Noam Elimelech quotes his brother, Reb Zusha, who asked why does the Torah use this question and answer format here? Why not simply say, “I will command My blessing for you in the sixth year?”
Reb Zusha explains, and the Reb Elimelech along with other Seform HaKedhsohim elaborate, that Hashem is constantly sustaining this world with a flow of brachos. That flow, that conduit to Hashem’s kindness, is ever present and available for the yidden to tap into. However, the access to that flow depends on our emunah. Faith is the key to ensure that the flow is abundant and present in our lives. The moment we doubt, we question Hashem’s hashgacha in the world, that flow becomes “clogged”; it diminishes. Hashem then needs to force His bracha into this world.
The Torah isn’t being superfluous in this pasuk by writing this sentence in a question-and-answer format. Rather, the Torah is teaching this principle. If the yidden would question Hashem’s hashgacha and ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year?” - if their emunah fades and doubts seep in, then Hashem needs to “command My blessing for you in the sixth year...” – He needs to force that sustenance into your life. Like anything forced, it will have limitations.
Clarity of emunah opens that conduit and allows blessings, sustenance and goodness to flow into our lives without Hashem forcing it and without bounds.
This idea might be further alluded to in the wording the Torah uses. The phrase, מה נאכל “what will we eat” is numerically equivalent to עולם which is rooted in the word העלם, hidden, as mentioned above. The fact that they asked this question demonstrates that they were tied to and imprisoned by a false belief in the “world” as a standalone existence. Once that happens, that flow of Hashem becomes concealed. They are living in a world limited by the laws of nature, and, therefore, everything in their lives will be constricted by that limited reality.
The word, eat, נאכל , is also numerically equivalent to 101. The Gemara teaches in Chagigah[5] that learning something 100 times cannot even compare to learning 101 times.
What are Chazal teaching us? If someone reviewed and studies the same page of Gemara 100 times, what can be gained by learning that same page just one more time?
The Baal HaTanya explains that at the time of the Gemara, it was common for someone to learn something 100 times. That was typical. It was routine. It was the natural order of things. However, learning one more time meant a person broke that routine, they reached beyond their natural order and, therefore, they connect to a supernatural flow, to a connectivity with the miraculous.
This question of מה נאכל can be read as “What is in the 101” – why is that extra one time important. This questions the very ability of a yid to reach beyond their ability, beyond the laws of nature and connect to the World of Miracles, to a flow that is beyond the restrictions of this world; to turn away from the natural world and seek Hashem.
The Hebrew word for 100 is מאה which has a “Aleph” in the middle. When someone confines themselves to the limitations of this world, Hashem is present, but He is in the middle, concealed on both sides by the presence of a מ and ה which spells: מה , the Hebrew word for “what”. When you place faith in the natural order of the world, Hashem becomes concealed, and you become surrounded by questions and doubt. You start to wonder “what is going on?” Your existence becomes a “forced” blessing and that flow of miraculous sustenance becomes clogged.
This concept it taught by Shmittah and Yovel because they are the antidote to this question; they are the mitzvos that help our emunah remain clear.
The Megalah Emukos alludes to emunah in this mitzvah by pointing out that the last letters of the words, “שש שנים תזרע" “ You will sow for six years” comprises the letters of שמע, which is our declaration and recognition that Hashem is the One and an ever-present reality in our lives. The Rebbe adds that the six years alludes to the six words in that critical declaration.
[1] Our Parsha and discuss below in Forced Existence
[2] Devarim 14:22
[3] Taani 9a
[4] Parshas Re’eh 18
[5] 9b
