Wednesday, May 1, 2013

BeHar – BeChukosai: Shepherd the Faith

The double parsha BeHar – BeChukosai begins with the mitzvahs of shmita (שמיטה) and yoval (יובל). These mitzvahs are also mentioned near the end of the lengthy rebuke in parshas BeChukosai. The mitzvah of shmita includes "Shabbos for the land [a] Shabbos for Hashem (ושבתה הארץ שבת לה')". The salient aspects are that every seventh year the land is not to be worked in any way and, during that time anything that grows by itself, anywhere, can be eaten by anybody for free. In addition people are encouraged to do so. This specifically includes lands that are ordinarily owned by a given person.

The jubilee year(יובל)  includes the laws of shmita, and in addition all ancestral plots are restored to their original owners. The simple understanding of the Chumash is that Yoval occurs every fiftieth year immediately after the seventh Sabbatical year. In other words for two consecutive years the land is not worked and considered as ownerless.

The Chumash asks the obvious question, what will we eat if we have not planted or harvested? The reply is the G-d will command his blessing on the land and it will yield its crops sufficient to last until the ninth year. The implication is that crops harvested in the sixth year will provide plentiful food for two years of shmita and yoval. In addition the shmitas will be exceedingly joyous years and yoval will be a once in a lifetime ecstasy.

In connection with these mitzvahs the Chumash gives the assurance that if Hashem's ways are followed and His laws are kept that the nation will dwell in the land securely in prosperity and peace. This is in contrast to the tenor of BeChukosai which is a litany of horrors caused by coolness to the law. Interestingly the harangue briefly mentions the Sabbatical year saying that after the land is a desolation and the nation of Israel has be exiled to their enemies the land will then enjoy its Shabboses.

The Kli Yakar discusses why the Chumash specifically states that the laws of shmita and yoval were given on Mount Sinai. He cites the verse that children of Israel were not to shepherd there flocks on it and explains that Mount Sinai had much vegetation on it. Therefore, the laws concerning agriculture bring back the national memory of the G-d's revelation there.

He continues that the reason for the cessation of agricultural work for a year or two strengthened people's faith. This is because that one would not expect that the nation could survive for a year or two without sowing or harvesting even more so for it to be a celebration. However after it has been done successfully a number of times belief in G-d and His Torah becomes very great. In addition the freeing of slaves and the return of a man to his ancestral land also invoke memories of freedom from Egypt.

The commentaries also bring the verse, "An empty man will gain understanding, and a wild donkey will a man be born", (Iyov - Job - Chapter 11:12). This suggests that the horrors in BeChutosai are man's natural state. However, if the nation has the faith to keep shmita and yoval the supernatural will give them a paradise in its stead. The word יובל means a ram's horn and the shofar is sounded on Yom Kippur to herald the start of the Jubilee year. It, too, recalls the sound of the shofar during the revelation on Mount Sinai. יובל also means a stream, suggesting that this mitzvah is a flowing and overpowering stream of faith.



To view on YouTube click:               http://youtu.be/GEOWxCUEKnk
A discussion of how cessation of agricultural labor in the Sabbatical and Jubilee years creates faith that replaces disasters with joy

To download Audio click:             https://www.box.com/s/09ya1nnb5675bkmmjf41

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