Every seven years in Israel is called the Shemittah year, the Sabbatical year. All Jewish-owned land in Israel may not be sown, planted, or harvested, for the entire year. Although a person in an agriculturally dependent society could hardly be blamed for fearing the loss of income for an entire year, the Torah promises that the sixth year would produce an abundance of food to carry everyone through the eighth year.
After every seven Shemittah years, the fiftieth year is called the Jubilee year. The laws of Shemittah would be applicable then, too, and the Torah promises that the forty-eighth year would produce enough for both the Shemittah and Jubilee years.
During the Jubilee year, a person was also obligated to free all his Hebrew slaves, and to return real estate that was purchased since the last Jubilee year to its original owner, although the Torah does make certain exceptions.
One of the reasons for the mitzvah of Shemittah was to allow the people an opportunity to pursue spiritual goals, and not become totally lost in the material pursuits of the world. During the year of Shemittah a person would be able to spend more time in Torah study and prayer.
Another reason for the Shemittah was to teach the people that one’s income comes from G-d and is not merely the fruits of one’s own labor. Although the nature of the world is such that man must expend efforts in order to enjoy the benefits, it is important to remember that one’s success and failure are not tied exclusively to the amount of efforts that he expend. Although generally the Torah requires man to put forth the proper efforts, here the Torah requires the Jew to abstain totally from effort and putting his trust completely in G-d.
Trust in G-d is also the source of other prohibitions in the portion. One must not charge interest to a fellow Jew. It is also forbidden to pay interest to a fellow Jew. A person might think that if he lends his money to others without charging interest he will lose many opportunities for investments and other financial gain. The Torah also warns not to take unfair advantage of others in business by overcharging them. A person’s income is a gift from G-d and one must not be greedy to gain more than what he is supposed to have. G-d can provide enough for everyone without a person having to resort to deceptive and unfair business practices.
“If you will ask: What will we eat in the seventh year if we will not plant... and I will ordain My blessing for you...” (Lev. 25:21)
This year, 5768, is a Shemittah year in Israel. Keren Hashvi’is is an organization that encourages Israeli farmers to observe the laws of Shemittah. During the winter, Rabbi Shmuel Bloom of the organization visited a banana plantation in a kibbutz in Northern Israel that was observing Shemittah for the first time. The day before he arrived, an uncommon winter frost had swept the area. The banana crops in all the surrounding area were blackened and ruined. This kibbutz had not tended to any of the banana trees since the beginning of the year, yet none of the plants were affected by the frost. The secular farmer was so amazed he began to cry to Rabbi Bloom that he could not imagine how anyone could not see G-d’s involvement.
Did You Know...
The Talmud rules that one must take measures to save his own life before saving other lives. If, however, a person is faced with a choice of saving one of two other people, he may not merely save one because he is a friend or the like, as both lives are equally important. The question is often raised in triage whether to put a patient on life support if it would only help temporarily, or to pass him in favor of a patient with greater chances of survival. Many authorities rule that the patient with the better chance takes precedence. However, this only applies if there is certainty that the life support will be used for such a person. Otherwise there is an obligation to save human life even temporarily, and the machine must be used to save that person too.
