Parshat Behar Bechukosai 5781
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in the beginning of the first of this week’s parshiyot (Chapter 25, Pasuk 2), V’Shavsah Ha’Aretz, Shabbos L’Hashem; Shemittah is called a Shabbos to Hashem. How is Shemittah similar to Shabbos? We understand that Shemittah is the seventh year, while Shabbos is the seventh day of the week. And the Gemara in Moed Katan 4A learns that there are no prohibitions of Shemittah before and after it, just as Shabbos doesn’t have prohibitions before and after. (Tosfos explains that adding on to Shabbos beforehand is a very small amount, and isn’t considered to be a prohibition before Shabbos). But what is the deeper connection between Shabbos and Shemittah?
The Sfas Emes teaches that on Shabbos, we return to our source, to Hashem. The whole week we are involved in the physical world. On Shabbos, we leave it all behind, and reconnect with Hashem. As the pasuk says (Shemos, Chapter 16, Pasuk 29), Shevu Ish Tachtav, Al Yetzei Ish Mimkomo Bayom Ha’Shvi’i. Each person should sit in his place and not leave. The Sfas Emes learns that the word Shevu in the words Shevu Ish Tachtav means to return. On Shabbos, we return to our source.
This ability to return to our source is something we achieve from the Torah. The pasuk says in sefer Tehillim (Chapter 19, Pasuk 8), Toras Hashem Temimah, Meshivas Nafesh. The words Meshivas Nafesh indicate that Torah has the power to revive the soul and return the soul its essence. Torah is the Shabbos of the soul, once again, understanding the word Shabbos as a return.
The pasuk in sefer Yeshayahu states (Chapter 45, Pasuk 18), Lo Tohu Bera’ah, Lasheves Yetzarah. The world was not created for there to be chaos, but rather it was created to be settled. The Sfas Emes learns the word Lasheves, to be settled, to really mean L’Shabbos, for Shabbos, or as we explained, to return to Hashem on Shabbos. The world was not created to be a chaotic, confusing place but rather it was created for us to return our source and to return to our Creator.
The Gemara in Sanhedrin 97A teaches that there were two thousand years of chaos, of Tohu, until the Torah. This is teaching a similar point to the pasuk in Yeshayahu. The chaos of Tohu led to the giving of the Torah, it led to Meshivas Nafesh; the ability of the soul to return to its essence through Torah and Shabbos. Lasheves Yatzarah.
Just as Shabbos is the return of the soul, Shemittah is the return of the land, of Eretz Yisrael. Rashi in the first pasuk of our parsha famously asks the question, Mah Inyan Shemittah Eitzel Har Sinai? What is the connection between the mitzvah of Shemittah and Har Sinai, that the Torah needs to tell us specifically that Shemittah was given at Har Sinai? Now we know the answer; we can appreciate the connection between Shemittah and Har Sinai. The Torah is Meshivas Nafesh and gives us the ability of return the land to its source. During Shemittah the land lies fallow; it rests from the chaos of the previous six years. Shemittah is Shabbos L’Hashem.
The upshot is that Torah, Shabbos, and Shemittah are a triangle of maintaining focus in a potentially confusing and chaotic world. The Torah connects us to Hashem and enables us to return to Him on Shabbos and Shemittah. And the ultimate return takes place at the completion of the cycle of seven years of Shemittah with Yovel. At Yovel, all slaves return and property returns to its original owner. The Sfas Emes brings from the Chidushei HaRim that Yovel is above time and contains within it parts of all the previous years. As such, there is a new beginning and when we start again with everyone and everything starting over. And we do this on a smaller scale with Eretz Yisrael every seventh year, and with ourselves every week on Shabbos. Let’s use this Shabbos and all Shabbosim as an opportunity to return home and be one with ourselves, with Hashem, and with our family.
Good Shabbos
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