Class 002 – Inyan Shemitah
1. The Concept of Shemitah
This week, we began learning in the Parsha about the idea of Shemitah—the sabbatical year. Shemitah is the seventh year, during which we do not perform any work in the field or on our property. From a worldly perspective, this seems like an unreasonable way to live. We know that every year, every day, we need to provide for ourselves and our families. We have to work. Yet, the Torah tells us to take an entire year off: v'shavsa ha'aretz—the land shall rest. There is no work.
If you do not plant or sow, it would seem, according to the laws of nature, that there will be no produce. If there is no produce, what will we eat? We need grain to make food, to bake bread, to sustain ourselves. But the Eibeshter—Hashem—says, in the words of the Torah, “If you will ask, ‘What will we eat?’” Hashem promises, “I will provide for you for three years.”
2. Trust in Hashem Beyond Nature
This is a very powerful message. Who is the one who sustains us? Even during the other six years when we do work, it is also Hashem who provides. Hashem set up the world so that, most of the time, we live according to the natural order. We are required to work, to engage with the world as it functions. But Hashem Himself tells us: once in seven years, I want you to forget about nature. I want you to realize that your sustenance does not come from nature, but from HaKadosh Baruch Hu—the Holy One, blessed be He.
Even though we are required to work, once in a while we must stop and reflect. That is the idea of Shemitah, of shvi'is—the seventh year. In a certain sense, this is also the idea of Shabbos every week, but Shemitah is an entire year of not working. It is a time to stop and reflect that everything comes from HaKadosh Baruch Hu. All the work we do is simply Hashem’s way of giving us His blessing, but ultimately, it is all Hashem’s blessing.
3. The Relationship Between Preparation and Blessing
The Rebbe points out two interesting ideas. On one hand, how can you celebrate Shabbos or Shemitah if you do not first have the six days or six years of preparation? If you have the produce from the six years that preceded, then Hashem gives you the blessing. If you do not do that, you do not have the blessing. In other words, Shabbos can only be celebrated if it comes after the six days of the week that precede it. Mi shetarach b’Erev Shabbos, yochel b’Shabbos—one who prepares before Shabbos will eat on Shabbos. Shabbos is the culmination of the days of the week.
But Shabbos is also the inspiration for the rest of the week. You start off with Shabbos and realize that even while you are doing everything else during the six days, the energy and blessing for those days comes from Shabbos. The blessing comes from Hashem through the Shabbos. Similarly, the Shemitah year is the one that blesses the rest of the years.
4. Shemitah as a Central Mitzvah
When we internalize this idea, even while we are working and engaging in the natural order, we remember our connection with Hashem. We remember that everything follows from Shabbos. We have both: the weekday as preparation for Shabbos, and Shabbos as inspiration for the rest of the week. The Rebbe explains that this is why Shemitah is such a central mitzvah—because it carries such an important message for all of our avodah—service of Hashem—and all of our mitzvos.
This is also why, at the beginning of the Parsha, it says Behar Sinai—on Mount Sinai. The Torah singles out this mitzvah to teach us about all the teachings of Sinai. Shemitah has a profound message that helps us in all of our service and mitzvos.
5. Shemitah, Matan Torah, and Blessing
This separation of Shemitah to Behar Sinai, to Matan Torah—the giving of the Torah—is significant. As we approach Matan Torah, it is said that all the Jewish people were healed of all their ailments. If anyone has something bothering them, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually, the Eibeshter sends us the blessing so that when the time of Matan Torah arrives, we are able to receive the Torah with joy, with true happiness, and with pnimiyus—internalization.
May we merit to receive the Torah with the ultimate joy, to internalize it, and to experience the joy of the world’s renewal, receiving the Torah from the mouth of Mashiach, speedily in our days. Amen.