Mishpatim
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week's parsha the mitzvah of the Shalosh Regalim, the obligation to go up to the Beis Hamikdash in Yerushalayim on the festivals. The Torah in our parsha refers to the chagim according to the agricultural names. Pesach which is referred to by its Torah name of Chag HaMatzos (Chapter 23, Pasuk 15), is mentioned as taking place during Chodesh Ha'Aviv, the month of spring. And in the next pasuk, we read of Chag HaKatzir, Shavuos, and Chag Ha'Asif, Succos. What is the Torah trying to teach us by giving the names of the festivals which relate to the seasons and the agricultural activity during the particular season?
The mention of the festivals comes in a section which includes first the mitzvah of Shemittah, and afterwards a repetition of the mitzvah of Shabbos. Rashi teaches that the reason Shabbos is brought here is that perhaps one might think that he is exempt from the mitzvah of Shabbos during the Shemittah year. After all, they both emphasize the uniqueness of the seventh day or seventh year as a time of rest. Therefore, the Torah needs to repeat the mitzvah of Shabbos to emphasize its application and relevance during the Shemittah year as well.
Rashi makes a similar comment by the festivals as well (Chapter 23, Pasuk 17). The reason the Torah repeats the mitzvah of the three festivals here is to emphasize the fact that the mitzvah of Aliyah L'Regel applies during the Shemittah year as well. This statement, however, is difficult. If the reason one would think he is exempt from the mitzvah of the festivals is because there is a cessation of work like on Shabbos, the Torah already established that Shabbos applies during Shemittah. The Maharal answers this question by teaching that since the prohibition of work on the festivals is not as severe as that of Shabbos there is more reason to think that the festivals would be suspended during Shemittah. Therefore, the Torah needs to teach that even the festivals take place as normal during the Shemittah year.
The Meshech Chachmah gives a different explanation for the words of Chazal brought by Rashi. The Torah emphasizes in our parsha the agricultural activities of the seasons during the time of the chagim in order to emphasize the meaning of the mitzvah of Aliyah L'Regel. Precisely during the time of year when we are focused on the change of seasons from the winter to the spring, or the harvest of the grains, or the bringing in of the fruits from the field, we need to stop and take a trip to Yerushalayim. We need to pause and acknowledge the fact that our bounty comes from Hashem and is not a taken for granted reality of the natural world. This is why we come to the Beis Hamikdash and bask in the Shechinah and bring sacrifices during the Shalosh Regalim.
During the Shemittah year, however, the entire year is spent recognizing that everything comes from Hashem and we refrain from our normal activities in working the land. Nor do we act as owners of our land. Therefore I would think there is no need to go to Yerushalayim on the festivals during Shemittah and acknowledge Hashem as the real owner of our land and provider of our bounty. This is why Rashi teaches regarding the festivals that they are not suspended during the Shemittah year as well.
One might ask, though, if the whole point of the Shalosh Regalim is to acknowledge Hashem as the source of our bounty, why isn't there a suspension of the mitzvah during Shemittah. Why don't we conclude the same way we originally thought?
The Meshech Chachmah teaches that there is another point to the mitzvah of going up to Yerushalayim on the festivals. It is true that Aliyah L'Regel affirms our connection and dependence on Gd. But it does something else as well. It reestablishes our connection to each other. It brings together the different parts of Clal Yisrael which make up the entity called Am Yisrael. And this in turn reaffirms our connection as a nation to Hashem. We learn this from the pasuk in parshat Ki Sisa (Chapter 34, Pasuk23) which refers to Hashem in the context of the mitzvah of Aliyah L'Regel as Elokei Yisrael, the Gd of Israel. We are like the different limbs of a body which, though we might be separated temporarily when we move on to our own homes and jobs, we reattach and join together in establishing ourselves as the nation which gives Hashem the appellation of Elokei Yisrael.
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