The Power of A Year

This week’s Parsha begins with perhaps one of the most famous questions that Rashi asks in Chumash: “Mah Inyan Shemittah Etzel Har Sinai?” The Torah says that Hashem spoke to Moshe “Behar Sinai” and gave him the Halachos of Shemittah. Rashi asks: why did the Torah tell us that Shemitah was given at Har Sinai specifically? How are the two related?

Rashi answers based on a Medrash that just as all the Halachos of Shemittah, it’s Klalim and Pratim, were given at Har Sinai, so to all Mitzvos were given in their totality—their own Pratim and Klalim—at Har Sinai. He further explains that Shemitah is different from many other Mitzvos because its Dinim are not expanded upon in Sefer Devarim. The Torah therefore tells us that just as all the Halachos of Shemita were told to us at Sinai—none were originated by Moshe in Arvos Moav—so to all the Mitzvos, even those that were repeated and expanded in Arvos Moav were given in their totality at Sinai. There is a question on this Rashi that appears in many Meforshim: why did the Torah choose the Mitzvah of Shemitah to teach us this fact? Assuming that there was indeed room for someone to make an error and think that Moshe Rabbeinu conceived of the the Pratei HaMitzvos that were given at Arvos Moav himself, and therefore the Torah needed to teach us that the Klalim and Pratim were all taught at Sinai, why was Shemitah the Mitzvah chosen to make this point? The Ramban points out that there are many Mitzvos which were not repeated or expanded at Arvos Moav. The Torah could have chosen any of those to make the same point. Why was Shemitah specifically chosen?

The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh explains that the keys words appear in the next Pasusk: “Ki Savou El HaAretz.” Because we received the gift of Eretz Yisroel in return for our Kabals HaTorah, the Torah chose to teach us that all Mitzvos come from Sinai—were taught to us at Kabalas HaTorah—with regard to a Mitzvah that is tied to Eretz Yisrael.

The answer of the Ohr HaChaim, however, leads to another question. Why was the Mitzvah of Shemitah, of all the Mitzvos HaTeluyos B’Aretz, chosen to convey this message? There are other Mitzvos that begin with the words “Ki Savuo El HaAretz.” Why is it specifically the Mitzvah of Shemitah that is chosen to remind us that the Bias HaAretz is in return for that which occurred at Har Sinai?

There is a line in the Seforno which may help us answer this question. The Seforno discusses why Moshe Rabbeinu placed the Mitzvah of Shemitah at this point in the Torah. He explains that chronologically the end of Sefer Vayikra falls out after Hakamas Hamishkan and because, until the Chet Hameraglim, the journey in the desert was meant to be very short and Moshe Rabbeinu felt that they were coming close to the time when they would enter Eretz Yisrael. Therefore he said the Halachos of Shemittah at this point, close to the time that they would be Nogeah. But the Seforno adds that he specifically chose Shemitah because our grip on Eretz Yisrael relies on this Mitzvah.

The Passuk later on, in Parshas Bichukosai tells us that if we do not follow in the Derech Hahsem there will come a time when we are forced to leave Eretz Yisroel. The Pasusk there says; “Az Tirtzeh HaAretz Es Shabsoseha: Then the land will enjoy its Shabbos.” Chazal tell us that we learn from this Passuk that we will lose Eretz Yisroel as a result of not keeping Shemitah properly. The land will crave the rest that it has not enjoyed, and will be able to enjoy this rest once we are expelled, B’Avonoseinu HaRabim.

Theese words of the Seforno may help us understand the Ohr Hacahim Hakadosh: Moshe wished to remind us that we are Zoche to Eretz Yisroel because of our Kabals HaTorah. He chose to do so with a Mitzvah that is so integral to our stay in the land, that our lack of observance is reason for Galus itself. The Mitzvah of Shemita therefore serves as a direct connection to Sinai—it is the paradigm of a Mitzvah on which our Achuzas HaAretz is predicated.

What is it though, about Shemitah, that makes it so central. One would imagine that a Mitzvah which is more constant, such as Terumos and Maisros or Matnos Aniyim, would be the one upon which our stay in Eretz Yisroel is predicated. Why did the Torah choose a Mitzvah which is really only applicable every seven years to serve as this connection, so to speak, between Sinai and Eretz Yisroel?

Perhaps a closer look at the purpose of Shemitah will help us understand this as well.

In his introduction to the Sefer Ba’Alei Hanefesh the Ravad explains the purpose of Mitzvos. He writes that the reason that Hashem gave us so many Mitzvos, which touch so many varied areas of our lives, in order to ensure that we always have our minds on Hashem. There is no aspect of our lives which is not governed by the Torah. The clothes we wear, the food we eat, how we build our homes, how we conduct business: every step we take is in some way affected by our Shemiras HaMitzvos. The Ravad explains that this ensures that there is no moment or action in which we are removed form Hashem; He occupies our every thought and our commitment to His Torah affects our every action.

R’ Yerucham Levovitz, in Musrei HaTorah, brings the words of the Ravad and applies them to Shemitah. Just as there is a connection to Hashem in every other aspect of our lives, there is a connection to Him in the way we work the land, and in the way that we rest. When we take a year off and do not work the land, because we were so commanded by the Torah this is itself a way to inject Hashem into our lives. When we watch our fields lying fallow, we have the opportunity to spend an entire year connected to Hashem every minute of every day. Our every day schedule is altered for one year; imagine a year in which you did not wake up every morning and go off to work or school, a year long vacation. Certainly this change in routine would be on your mind each day, as would the reason for the vacation. We can only therefore assume that one who keeps Shemitah receives a recharge of not only his Emunah, but his Deveykus to Hashem as well. This is a year in which every waking moment is spent in Avodas Hahsem, truly a “Shabbos LaHashem.”

This experience, a yearlong Mitzvah, inevitably will have a long-term affect. Our relationship with Hashem is rejuvenated and reaches new heights, which take us into the next six years. As such, the way that we relate to Hashem is very much affected by Shemitah. Without Shemitah we cannot maintain the Madreigah on which we must stay in order to stay in Eretz Yisrael. If we don’t stop every six years and have this yearlong reconnection, we will not be able to be Oved Hashem on the correct level and we will not be Zoche to stay in the land; we will be sent to Galus.

R’ Yerucham adds that this is something that we can be Zoche to, on some level every week. Each week we have Shabbos, which is a microcosm of Shemittah. For one day we put aside mundane pursuits and focus on our Ruchniyas. We change our routine and enjoy a day in which our every breath is Kadosh and every action Avodas Hashem. When we eat on Shabbos, its diffent than every other day. When we walk on Shabbos, and measure our steps, this too can be a form of Avodas Hashem.

Each week we have an opportunity to reconnect with Hashem, to spend a day alone with Him, so to speak. Just as a Shemitah year—if observed properly—can affect the next six years as well, a Shabbos spent the right way can make the following six days different as well.