Parshas Behar
1. At the beginning of the sidrah it says: "וידבר ה' אל משה בהר סיני גו' ושבתה הארץ שבת לה'" ("And G‑d spoke to Moshe at Mount Sinai… and the land shall rest a Sabbath unto G‑d"). On this Rashi comments, citing Toras Kohanim: "מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני והלא כל המצות נאמרו מסיני, אלא מה שמיטה נאמרו כללותיה ודקדוקיה מסיני אף כולן נאמרו כללותיהן ודקדוקיהן מסיני" ("What does Shemitah have to do with Mount Sinai? Were not all the mitzvos stated at Sinai? Rather, just as with Shemitah, its general principles and its fine details were stated at Sinai, so too with all of them, their general principles and their fine details were stated at Sinai").
We need to understand: why is the lesson of "at Mount Sinai" taught specifically with the mitzvah of Shemitah? The lesson could just as well have been placed with some other mitzvah (one whose particulars are enumerated), and from that mitzvah we would have learned regarding all the mitzvos that all their fine details were stated at Sinai.
The simple answer is that the mitzvah of Shemitah already appears in general terms in Parshas Mishpatim (after the Giving of the Torah) — "והשביעית תשמטנה ונטשתה" ("But in the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow") — and in Parshas Behar it is repeated in detail. This, however, is still not sufficient, for there are other mitzvos as well that appear in Parshas Mishpatim.
And the question is even stronger: a mitzvah from which we learn about all the mitzvos ought to have been a general, all-embracing mitzvah. Why, then, was the mitzvah of Shemitah chosen, which seemingly is a particular mitzvah with a great many limitations? It applies only at a time when the Yovel is in force; and even according to the opinions that it applies in our time as well, according to most of the poskim this is only by Rabbinic decree1. That is a limitation in time. It also has a limitation in place: it applies only in Eretz Yisrael and not outside the Land2.
We must therefore say that the mitzvah of Shemitah is, in a certain sense, a general mitzvah, as will be explained further on.
2. Further on in the pasuk it says: "שש שנים תזרע שדך ושש שנים תזמור כרמך גו'" ("Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard…"). On the face of it, why does this need to be said? Since this is not a command but merely something permitted, what reason would there be to think that it is forbidden, so that it should be necessary to say "Six years…"?
We must say that "Six years you shall sow your field…" is also included in the mitzvah of Shemitah. The mitzvah is not only "ובשנה השביעית שבת שבתון" ("But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of rest"); "Six years you shall sow…" is also a part of the mitzvah.
This is in two ways:
a) It is a preparation for the mitzvah of Shemitah. In order to be able to carry out "In the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of rest," this comes about through the preparation of "Six years you shall sow…."
b) It is the purpose of the mitzvah of Shemitah. The ultimate intent of the rest in the seventh year is so that afterward there should be "Six years you shall sow…."
3. The matter of Shemitah in its plain sense is that in the seventh year there must be a rest for the land: "שדך לא תזרע וכרמך לא תזמור וגו'" ("You shall not sow your field, nor prune your vineyard…"). In the seventh year there must be a rest from all the matters of working the land, from which one makes bread and the like, "שעליו יחיה האדם" (by which man lives).
"וכי תאמרו מה נאכל" ("And if you shall say: What shall we eat?") — to this the Torah answers: "וצויתי את ברכתי גו' ועשת את התבואה לשלש השנים" ("I will command My blessing… and it shall yield produce for three years").
The content of the mitzvah of Shemitah is this: a Jew is asked that once in seven years he should take leave of all earthly matters, of his worldly needs; he should have nothing to do with working the land, which is bound up with the bread by which man lives, and he should rely entirely on the Almighty, that He will give him his livelihood in a manner above nature.
This is not the order for all times. Most of the time — in terms of quantity — a Jew must be occupied with the affairs of the world, for the sake of the avodah of birurim (refining the world). This is the very reason the world was brought into being through the Divine Name Elokim, which is numerically equal to "הטבע" (nature): so that man should occupy himself, according to the Torah, with the matters of nature, and thereby refine and purify the matters of nature.
At certain times, however, a Jew is asked to step out of the world. Although the world must indeed be refined, at certain times there must be the movement of placing oneself above the world.
4. These two matters depend on one another.
In order that there be the movement of placing oneself above the world — "ושבתה הארץ שבת לה'" ("the land shall rest a Sabbath unto G‑d"), the Name Havayah, which signifies "He was, He is and He will be" as one, which is above the Name Elokim that is numerically equal to "nature" — this comes about through one's dealings with worldly matters being conducted according to the Torah.
This is the first way: "Six years you shall sow your field…" — which means that in his field he observes all matters according to the Shulchan Aruch, such as the laws of kilayim and so forth — is a preparation for "But in the seventh year."
The second way: in order that the refinement of worldly matters be possible, this comes about specifically through the fact that at times he places himself in his avodah entirely above the world. Then, even when he comes into the world, not only is he not dragged down into it; on the contrary, he makes the world itself into a vessel for G‑dliness.
As it is stated in Kuntres Etz HaChaim3, in order to hold fast to yichuda tata'ah (the "lower unity") as one should, there must be the feeling, at least in a general way, of yichuda ila'ah (the "higher unity").
This is the second way: "You shall sow your field…" is the purpose. But the refinement of the world cannot come about otherwise than if there is also the movement of divesting oneself of the world.
5. We find the same pattern in the relationship between Shabbos and the six weekdays.
During the six days of the week there is the avodah of birurim: "ששת ימים תעבוד" ("Six days you shall labor")4. On Shabbos, however, borer (selecting) is forbidden. That is why it says regarding Shabbos, "ויכל אלקים" ("And Elokim completed") — the concealments of the Name Elokim come to an end, and the Name Havayah, which is above nature, shines5.
And these two matters, Shabbos and the weekdays, as explained, depend on one another.
6. In truth, Shemitah has an advantage over Shabbos. On Shabbos weekday activities are forbidden, so that a person then stands above the world and has no connection with it. During Shemitah, however, he may engage in other weekday activities; he is in the world, and nevertheless "the land shall rest a Sabbath unto G‑d" — not a matter of the avodah of birurim, which is associated with the Name Elokim, but "a Sabbath unto Havayah," which is above the world, even though he is in the world.
Within the world itself he draws down the Name Havayah, which is utterly above the world. And this is in the spirit of the interpretation based on the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov: "ושבתה הארץ" ("the land shall rest") — rest and nullification within the earth6; one brings rest into earthly matters themselves.
7. With this we will also understand Rashi's comment on the pasuk "שבת לה'" ("a Sabbath unto G‑d"): "לשם ה' כשם שנאמר בשבת בראשית" ("For the sake of G‑d, just as it is said regarding the Shabbos of Creation"). On the face of it, what does Rashi accomplish here?
According to what was said above, however, it is understood. Since during Shemitah one may engage in weekday activities and is involved with the world, one might have thought that the prohibition of plowing and sowing during Shemitah is not a matter of Havayah, which is above the world, but a matter of the avodah of birurim — in the manner of the mitzvos of "Six years you shall sow…," whose content is refinement within the world itself, not above the world.
Rashi therefore cautions and says that this is a matter of "For the sake of G‑d, just as it is said regarding the Shabbos of Creation." It is a matter of the resting of the land, from which bread comes forth, the mainstay of man's life; it is a divesting of oneself from the world, just as on the Shabbos of Creation. And the fact that one may engage in other weekday activities is a further advantage: into the weekday activities themselves one brings the light of Havayah, which is utterly above the worlds7.
8. In light of this we will also understand why the mitzvah of Shemitah is a general mitzvah: this is the content of all the mitzvos, only in the mitzvah of Shemitah it is revealed.
The Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya8 that occupation with Torah, mitzvos and prayer is a matter of actual mesirus nefesh, "כמו בצאתה מן הגוף כו' שאינה מהרהרת בצרכי הגוף אלא מחשבתה מיוחדת ומלובשת באותיות התורה והתפלה" ("as when it departs from the body… when it does not think of the needs of the body, but its thought is united with and clothed in the letters of Torah and prayer"). That is, at the time of occupation with Torah, mitzvos and prayer, one must feel just as if he were already after the departure of the soul from the body: "אליך ה' נפשי אשא" ("Unto You, G‑d, I lift up my soul").
On the other hand, he is asked to fulfill every mitzvah properly, with its limitations of time and place and with all the fine details that are in every mitzvah — and these are limitations of the world.
This means that the essence of the mitzvos is this: one must take the movement of mesirus nefesh, divested of the body and of physicality, and with that very movement fulfill the mitzvah in all its particulars and fine details — the drawing down of the infinite (boundlessness) into the finite (boundedness).
In ordinary mitzvos, however, this is hidden; it is felt only in the manner in which the mitzvos are fulfilled. With Shemitah, though, it is revealed, and it is felt in the mitzvah itself.
9. From where does one get the strength for this? From Mount Sinai.
Our Sages relate9 that at the time of the Giving of the Torah all the mountains gathered together, and each mountain argued that the Torah should be given upon it. Mount Tavor argued that it possessed a special quality, being the highest mountain. Mount Carmel argued that it had helped at the Splitting of the Sea. The Almighty answered them: "למה תרצדון" ("Why do you contend?") — why do you seek to go to judgment (תרצדון from the expression "תרצו דין," "you wish to go to judgment"); "הרים גבנונים" ("you peaked mountains") — by being great in your own eyes you are blemished (גבנונים from the expression "גבן או דק," "a hunchback or a dwarf"); "ההר חמד אלקים לשבתו" ("the mountain G‑d desired for His dwelling") — this is Mount Sinai, "דמכיך מכל טוריא" ("which is lower than all the mountains").
Seemingly this is not understood, whichever way one looks at it: if the virtue lies in lowliness, the Torah should have been given in a valley, or at least on level ground, and not on a mountain; and if the virtue lies in loftiness, the Torah should have been given on mountains higher than Sinai?
The point, however, is that the intent of the Giving of the Torah is to unite the two opposites: that there be physicality, and that out of physicality itself one make G‑dliness. This is alluded to in Mount Sinai, "lower than all the mountains" — lowliness and loftiness together.
And from this matter of "at Mount Sinai" the Jewish people were given the strength for the mitzvah of Shemitah, which is the general principle of all the mitzvos: to make G‑dliness out of physicality itself and to carry out the intent of "דירה לו יתברך בתחתונים" (a dwelling place for Him, may He be blessed, in the lower realms).
10. With this we will also understand why the expression "מסיני" ("from Sinai") appears everywhere: "משה קבל תורה מסיני" ("Moshe received the Torah from Sinai"), "הלכה למשה מסיני" ("a law given to Moshe at Sinai"), "כל מה שתלמיד ותיק עתיד לחדש נאמר למשה מסיני" ("everything that a seasoned student will in the future innovate was told to Moshe at Sinai"), and so on. On the face of it, what bearing does Sinai have? The main thing is that the Almighty said it, and He, may He be blessed, is everywhere — "לית אתר פנוי מיניה" ("there is no place devoid of Him"). Why the emphasis specifically on "from Sinai"?
According to what was said above, however, it will be understood. The purpose of the Torah is to join two opposites, "mountain" and "lowly" — to make of the lower realms a dwelling place for Him, may He be blessed.
This is the innovation of the Giving of the Torah, not only with regard to the fact that the Avos fulfilled the entire Torah before it was given — which was a matter of "אינו מצווה ועושה" (one who is not commanded yet performs) — but also with regard to the seven Noahide mitzvos, and even with regard to the mitzvos that were commanded at Marah. As it says in Midrash Rabbah10, before the Giving of the Torah there was a decree that heaven and earth should have no connection — "השמים שמים לה' והארץ נתן לבני אדם" ("The heavens are the heavens of G‑d, but the earth He gave to the children of man") — and at the Giving of the Torah He annulled the decree. Since the entire matter of the Giving of the Torah is the joining of heaven and earth, the Giving of the Torah therefore took place at Mount Sinai — the joining of two opposites.
That is why it is constantly emphasized that the Torah was given from Sinai. When someone argues, "How can I join two opposites?", he will be told: from Sinai you have the strength for this. If even into an inanimate object, the lowest of all categories of creation, the Almighty placed the matter of uniting opposites, then all the more so a human being, a "speaker," the highest of all categories, certainly has the strength to unite two opposites and to carry out the intent of a dwelling place for Him, may He be blessed, in the lower realms — that the lower realms themselves should be a dwelling place for Him, may He be blessed.
11. The union of opposites in Mount Sinai in its plain sense is in the matter of self-assertion and self-nullification (bittul). Since in the Torah every matter is precise, besides the general allusion — the union of above and below — there is also alluded to in this the matter of uniting the opposites of self-assertion and bittul, as it must be in a person who learns Torah and fulfills mitzvos.
And in this there are several directives:
12. a) For receiving the Torah two conditions are required:
(i) Firmness and loftiness — not being ashamed before the scoffers. "לא להתבייש מפני בני אדם המלעיגים" ("Not to be ashamed before people who mock") is the very beginning of the entire Shulchan Aruch: not to be affected by anyone in the world, and to possess the proper strength to learn Torah and fulfill mitzvos. (ii) Bittul and humility, for concerning pride it says: "אין אני והוא יכולים לדור" ("I and he cannot dwell together")11. The vessel for Torah and mitzvos is specifically bittul: "ונפשי כעפר לכל תהיה" ("Let my soul be as dust to all") — and then comes "פתח לבי בתורתך ובמצותיך כו'" ("Open my heart to Your Torah, and [let my soul pursue] Your mitzvos…").
And these two matters, firmness and loftiness, and bittul and humility, do not contradict one another. For the firmness he possesses does not stem from his yeshus (sense of self), that is, from his own existence. He knows his standing and condition well — that everyone is better than he, "lower than all the mountains" — and nevertheless he has firmness in Torah and mitzvos, because he is going to do the will of the Almighty. He is so devoted and immersed in fulfilling the will of the Almighty that he gains from this the greatest firmness, and all obstacles and hindrances fall away.
He stands in utter bittul, and nevertheless he stands in loftiness and firmness to receive the Torah and to fulfill it with mesirus nefesh.
13. b) More deeply: from the fact that the other mountains came to argue before the Almighty that the Torah should be given upon them because they are high mountains, it is understood that the quality of being a "mountain" is a virtue.
If "mountain" meant nothing more than ordinary arrogance, there would have been no reason in the first place for the mountains to think that this should be a reason to give the Torah upon them. On the contrary, "לא תמצא בגסי הרוח" ("[the Torah] is not found among the haughty of spirit")12. We must therefore say that this is a loftiness that is a virtue.
Thus it is also explained in Chassidus that the matter of a mountain is the refinement and elevation of the inanimate — the "vegetative within the inanimate"13. And nevertheless, precisely then one must stand in utter bittul and lowliness.
The same holds true in spiritual matters. Since "אין עני אלא בדעת ואין עשיר אלא בדעת" ("One is poor only in knowledge, and one is rich only in knowledge")14, the bittul of "Let my soul be as dust to all," which is demanded as a preparation for "Open my heart to Your Torah, and [let my soul pursue] Your mitzvos…," is demanded even of one who is rich in knowledge: knowing that he is truly rich, he should at that very moment be, in truth, "as dust to all."
As is known, the interpretation of "והאיש משה ענו מאד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה" ("Now the man Moshe was very humble, more than any man on the face of the earth")15 is this: although Moshe Rabbeinu knew his virtues, that the Torah was given through him, he nevertheless considered himself lesser than "any man on the face of the earth," even than the generation of the "heels of Moshiach," because he held that his virtues stemmed from what the Almighty had given him, and had such virtues been given to another Jew, that other would have accomplished more than he.
Because of Moshe's bittul — that in his own eyes he was not in a state of self-elevation, even on account of the virtues he possessed — he was a vessel for the Torah, and the Torah was given through him.
14. In light of this we will also understand the precise wording "משה קבל תורה מסיני" ("Moshe received the Torah from Sinai"). For on the face of it, what difference does it make who received the Torah? The main thing is that the Torah comes from the Almighty.
But according to what was said earlier, it is understood. The directive of "Moshe received" is like the emphasis that the Torah comes "from Sinai." Every Jew who approaches the Torah must reveal within himself16 the qualities of Moshe, in both respects:
a) Firmness and bittul together, as it says of Moshe, "ויהי בישורון מלך" ("And he was king in Yeshurun")17, and together with this — "very humble, more than any man." b) Humility — even while knowing one's own virtues.
15. This is also why, in the weeks between Pesach and Shavuos — after "בהוציאך את העם ממצרים" ("When you bring the people out of Egypt") and before "תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה" ("you shall serve G‑d upon this mountain") — we learn Pirkei Avos as a preparation for the Giving of the Torah. (For tractate Avos speaks about good character traits and derech eretz, and "דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה" ("derech eretz preceded the Torah")18.) And the beginning of tractate Avos is "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai." That is, the beginning of the preparation for receiving the Torah is that every Jew should stand in the qualities of Moshe and Sinai, and this is the first preparation for receiving the Torah with joy and with inwardness.
(Compiled from the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Behar 5718, and Shabbos Mevarchim Chodesh Iyar 5716.)
16. In light of this we will also understand what Rav Yosef said19: "לא תיתני ענוה דאיכא אנא" ("Do not teach [that] humility [has ceased], for there is I"). On the face of it, is not the very fact that he considers himself humble the opposite of humility?
Some explain that Rav Yosef, in his own opinion, did not deserve any honor, and when he saw that people nevertheless gave him honor, he said, "Do not teach [that] humility [has ceased], for there is I" — that is, I do not deserve any honor (in my opinion), and nevertheless people give me great honor; this is surely proof of the humility of the people of the generation.
Rashi, however, cautions that this is not the plain meaning, and these are his words: "דאיכא אנא — שאני ענוותן" ("'For there is I' — for I am humble"). From this it is understood that Rav Yosef's knowing that he is humble is no contradiction to the trait of humility.
This is in keeping with what was explained above: the true meaning of humility is that a person can know his virtues, including the virtue of being humble, and nevertheless be in complete bittul, because it is settled within him that all his virtues, including the virtue of humility, are not his own, but are what the Almighty has given him, and so on — and, as explained above, in both respects.
It can also be said that this is a reason why Rav Yosef is called by the name "Sinai": Rav Yosef's bittul was of the order of Sinai — although he possessed the virtue of a mountain, he was nevertheless in a state of bittul.
17. With this we will also understand what the Gemara says20: "אמר רב יוסף לעולם ילמד אדם מדעת קונו שהרי הקב"ה הניח כל הרים וגבעות והשרה שכינתו על הר סיני" ("Rav Yosef said: A person should always learn from the mind of his Creator, for the Holy One, blessed be He, passed over all the mountains and hills and caused His Shechinah to rest upon Mount Sinai").
On the face of it this is difficult: a) This is not merely good advice but an obligation and a safeguard against an outright prohibition. b) Why bring a proof from "the mind of his Creator…" when there is an explicit pasuk21: "תועבת ה' כל גבה לב" ("Everyone who is haughty of heart is an abomination to G‑d")?
According to what was said above, it will be understood simply. Here we are not speaking of self-elevation and yeshus of kelipah; that one need not learn from Mount Sinai. Here we are speaking of a self-elevation of holiness, and nevertheless, when it comes to the Giving of the Torah, we are told that the vessel for the Torah is specifically bittul.
(From a sicha of Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar, 5718.)
18. In the matter of Mount Sinai there is yet another directive: a Jew must fulfill a mitzvah not for ulterior motives — not for the sake of physical reward, as it says, "אם בחקתי תלכו ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם וגו'" ("If you walk in My statutes… I will give your rains in their season…"); not for the sake of spiritual reward, of Gan Eden and the like; not even for the sake of refining the soul, on account of the special properties that every mitzvah has to purify the soul — but one must fulfill mitzvos because such is the Supreme Will. As the expression goes: "אילו נצטוינו לחטוב עצים" ("Had we been commanded to chop wood") — that even if we were told to chop wood, a matter in which there is no receiving of reward and no special properties, we would also fulfill it with vitality.
To fulfill a mitzvah for the sake of its special properties and the receiving of reward is — truth be told — the way of a chitzon, an "external" person. A chitzon is not devoted to the matter itself; while doing one thing, he is thinking at that very moment about something else. A penimi, an "inward" person, is (as in the maamar22 of the Rebbe Rashab, of blessed memory) one who, when doing something, is entirely in that thing, neither thinking about nor leaving room at that moment for anything else.
And this is the directive of the Torah's being given specifically on Mount Sinai. As was said earlier, the other mountains possessed true virtues; but since the Torah demands inwardness, their coming before the Almighty to display their virtues and to argue that on account of them the Torah should be given upon them was not only no reason to give the Torah upon them — on the contrary, it was a reason for the opposite, for the Torah is given only in a place where no side matters intrude: Torah for the sake of Torah alone.
That is why the Torah was given specifically on Mount Sinai. Although Mount Sinai, too, possessed the virtue of a mountain — the elevation of the inanimate — nevertheless, since that virtue was not apparent in it ("lower"), and no side matters were felt in it, it was a vessel for the Torah.
19. With this we will also understand what is said in the Midrash23, that Mount Carmel came from Aspamia, Mount Tavor from Beis Eilim, and Mount Sinai from Mount Moriah. From this it is understood that the virtue of Mount Sinai is bound up with the matter of Mount Moriah.
The virtue of Mount Moriah is the Akeidah of Yitzchak: mesirus nefesh for the sake of fulfilling the will of the Almighty, without any side considerations. From the standpoint of calculation and reason there is room for inquiry and debate about this, for the matter of the Akeidah he heard from the mouth of a prophet, Avraham Avinu, whereas "שופך דם האדם גו' ואך את דמכם לנפשותיכם גו'" ("Whoever sheds the blood of man… and surely your blood of your lives [I will require]…")24 was a command received from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, which even the descendants of Noach were commanded. But knowing that such was the will of the Almighty, he did not enter into any calculations. He was entirely devoted to the Supreme Will, with inwardness and with mesirus nefesh. And this is a vessel for Torah.
(From a sicha of the second day of Shavuos, 5715.)
Notes
1) Yerushalmi, chapter HaSholei'ach, cited in Rashi and Tosfos, Gittin 36a. Rambam, Hilchos Shemitah V'Yovel 10:9 (according to the interpretation of the Beis Yosef, Yoreh De'ah, beginning of siman 331 — and see Kesef Mishneh, ibid. 9:2). Tur, Yoreh De'ah, siman 331. Chinuch, mitzvah 84.
2) Kiddushin 36b. Rambam, Hilchos Shemitah V'Yovel 4:25. Tur, ibid. Chinuch, ibid.
3) Chapter 7 ff.
4) See above, p. 189, note 8.
5) See above, p. 270.
6) See Toldos Yaakov Yosef, beginning of Parshas Behar.
7) See also above, p. 108.
8) Chapter 41.
9) Midrash Tehillim 68:17 (Buber edition). See also Megillah 29a.
10) Shemos Rabbah 12:3.
11) Sotah 5a.
12) Eruvin 55a.
13) See also Sefer HaMaamarim 5704, p. 214.
14) Nedarim 41a.
15) Bamidbar 12:3.
16) See Tanya, chapter 42, and the beginning of chapter 44.
17) See Likkutei Torah, Devarim 45a.
18) Vayikra Rabbah 9:3; ibid. 35:6 (with a variation in wording).
19) Sotah 49b.
20) Sotah 5a.
21) Mishlei 16:5.
22) Toras Shalom, sicha of 19 Kislev 5664.
23) Midrash Tehillim, ibid.
24) Bava Kamma 91b.
Key Lesson
Shemitah reveals what is hidden in every mitzvah: the mesirus nefesh of rising above the world, carried out precisely within the world's limits and details — and the strength for this comes from Sinai, the lowly mountain that unites loftiness with bittul. A Jew should stand firm and unashamed in Torah and mitzvos while knowing that all his virtues are G‑d's gift, and should fulfill the mitzvos with inwardness, simply because this is the Supreme Will.