Hamaayan/The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Parashat Mishpatim Volume VIII/Number 18 (353) 24 Shevat 5754/February 5, 1994 Each week of this year, we have tried to find some connection between the week's parasha and the shemittah. In this week's parasha, we find the actual commandment to observe the seventh year as shemittah. Accordingly, this entire issue of Hamaayan is devoted to that subject. The following verses are the basis for all of the "divrei Torah" (words of Torah) which appear on the inside pages of this issue: "Do not pressure a stranger, as you know the stranger's soul, for you were strangers in Egypt. And six years you shall sow your land and gather its produce. And [in] the seventh, you shall release it and leave it, and the poor of your nation will eat, and their leftovers the animals of the field will eat; so you shall do with your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey shall rest, and the son of your maidservant and the stranger will be refreshed. From everything about which I have warned you shall take care, and the names of other gods you shall not mention, on your lips they shall not be heard." (Sh'mot 23:9- 13) ************************************ [Note: The "divrei Torah" on this page relate to the verses on the front page.] What is the connection between the prohibition of persecuting a stranger and the mitzvah of shemittah? R' Yehoshua Leib Diskin explains this in light of the halachah (Hil. Yovel u'Shemittah 4:30) that guards should be placed along Israel's borders during the shemittah in order to prevent non-Jews from entering Eretz Yisrael to share in the produce of the land. A "stranger," i.e. a "ger toshav" -- a non-Jew who has accepted the seven Noahide laws and who subjugates himself to the Jewish government -- is permitted to take of the shemittah produce. (Maharil Diskin Al haTorah) ************************************ "Six years you shall sow" -- even if one owns nothing but the ruins in his courtyard, says the Da'at Zekenim, he is obligated to plant there in order to separate "terumot" and "ma'asrot" (tithes) from the produce. We know that there is a mitzvah to separate tithes if one has produce, says R' Chaim Elazari, but why is there a commandment to plant? This is part of the mitzvah of settling Eretz Yisrael. Included in this commandment are the obligations to ensure that the land produces adequately, that the cities are built up, and all other actions that promote the habitation of the land. (Nitivei Chaim) ************************************ The mitzvah of shemittah shows the importance which the Torah attaches to private property, writes R' Yosef Shaul Nathanson. How so? The Torah commands that, once every seven years, Eretz Yisrael become a socialist state. The clear implication of this is that at other times, the laws of private property are in effect, and must be strictly enforced. (Divrei Shaul) ************************************ Chazal say that the first exile from Eretz Yisrael (at the hands of the Babylonians) occurred because the shemittah was not observed. Yet the Gemara (Yoma 9b) clearly states that it occurred because of the three cardinal sins: idolatry, adultery, and murder. How can these statements be reconciled? R' Moshe Shick ("Maharam Shick") explains that shemittah, like Shabbat, was given to us to be devoted to Torah study. If shemittah is not observed, as any other time when Torah study is lessened, the inevitable results are adultery, murder, and idolatry. (Maharam Shick Al Pirkei Avot 2:2) ************************************ [Note: The "divrei Torah" on this page relate to the verses on the front page.]] What is the connection between the mitzvah of shemittah and the prohibition (in the next verse) of uttering the names of idolatries? R' Meir Simcha haKohen explains that--at least according to the halachic opinion that land owned by a non-Jew is exempt from the obligations of shemittah--a person could effectively profit from the shemittah. How? He could own a field in partnership with a non-Jew, with the understanding that the Jew would take 100% of the profits of the sixth year, and the gentile would take 100% of the profits of the seventh (shemittah) year. Don't do this, the Torah says. Aside from the issue of shemittah, when one enters into a partnership with a non-Jew, he risks ending-up in a secular court where he may be forced to take an oath in the name of his partner's or the judge's god. (Meshech Chochmah) ************************************ The verses before the mitzvah of shemittah relate generally to justice. Chazal say that famine befalls the world when justice is not practiced. Conversely, says R' Moshe Alshich, if justice is practiced, the fields will produce bumper crops. In fact, the fields will be so fruitful that "Six years you shall sow." Do not worry about wearing out the land; it will be strong enough to be planted continuously. Even in the seventh year, the purpose of resting is not for the land's benefit. "You shall release it and leave it" -- the mitzvah is an obligation upon you, not a benefit for the land. Similarly, the purpose of Shabbat is not to rest per se, but to be refreshed in a spiritual sense. The literal meaning of the word "v'yinafesh" (translated here as "refreshed") is "to obtain a 'nefesh' - soul." This is an allusion to the so-called "extra" soul which a person, even the son of a maidservant, obtains on Shabbat. (Torat Moshe) ************************************ R' Avraham Yitzchak haKohen Kook writes: The fundamental sin which brings about exile is that which destroys the Divine character of the nation in general and the foundation of the national holiness, [the sin] which prevents each person's pure and holy aspirations from being realized and which dims the Divine light which would shine on the nation as a whole, [the sin] which hinders the equilibrium and calm which are needed for communal life to exist. Chazal say that exile occurs because of adultery, idolatry, and disregard for the shemittah (Shabbat 33a). The good which is within the nation, like the good which is within the soul by virtue of its being "in the image of G-d," needs a break from the tumult of life which hinders the holiest and most idealistic thoughts from developing. The nation whose recognition of G-d is pure and clear and which is prepared by its nature to rise upward, [nevertheless] needs fixed times of rest [which are] "A Shabbat for Hashem" (vaYikra 25:2). (Ma'amarei haRe'iyah p.282) ************************************ The "Chazon Ish" wrote in the summer of 1937: I was introduced by R' Chaim Ozer, shlita, to write, to remove from us the shame of the leniencies which come out every shemittah year that allows those who are weak in their faith to shed their "emunah" (belief). These people think that the mitzvot of the Torah [specifically, shemittah] are impossible to keep, and they question the eternity of Torah, may Hashem save us. We are no worse off than our ancestors [the Chashmonaim] who had to build a menorah for the Temple out of wood, yet even they renewed the covenant of the shemittah...Let the shemittah be a time devoted to building [the infrastructure of] the land. (Igrot Chazon Ish III, No. 83) ************************************ The learning schedule for this Shabbat is: Orlah 2:1-2 Kitzur 166:1-5 Kiddushin 63 Yerushalmi -- Shabbat 35 ************************************ The hard copy distribution of this weeks Hamaayan is sponsored by: Elaine and Jerry Taragin on the yahrzeits of Mrs. Shirley Taragin and Mr. Irving Rivkin The White Oak Synagogue -- Congregation Shaarei Tzedek celebrating its first anniversary ************************************ DONATIONS TO HAMAAYAN ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE