Parshas Behar: Understanding Shemitta

You shall perform My decrees, and observe My ordinances and perform them; and you shall dwell securely on the land. –Leviticus 25:18

AND YOU SHALL DWELL SECURELY ON THE LAND: For through the sin of not observing shemitta, Israel goes into exile. –Rashi ibid

This year is the Sabbatical year known as shemitta. Hundreds of Israeli farmers have swelled the ranks of kollel men for this year while allowing their fields to lie fallow. The fruit and vegetable stores in the observant neighborhoods in Israel have sought out new suppliers, and all over Israel, the signs of shemitta observance is evident. For some reason the Torah has established that a lack of observance of the shemitta year results in exile from the Land of Israel. What is so important about shemitta that our very existence in the Land of Israel depends on its observance?

Many commentators explain the uniqueness of shemitta, however Rabbi Yakov Chai Zerihen, a former Chief Rabbi of Tiberias, truly brings home the message of shemitta. He explains how shemitta is the greatest testimony possible to Divine providence in this world. G-d promises the shemitta observer that during the sixth years of planting, the field will yield enough produce for the next two years as well. That means that despite the natural draining of nutrients from this field after six years of planting; it is precisely in the weakest year of the planting cycle when the field will yield the most, due to a Divine blessing. This is an open miracle.

Similarly, the story of the Jewish nation’s survival is a miracle by all accounts. No natural explanation can even begin to explain the mystery of the Jews. Even more confounding is the miracle of a Jewish homeland. It therefore follows that there is an indubitable connection between shemitta and the Jewish existence in the Land of Israel, as both of them are a clear result of open miracles.

So how does the repercussion of exile appear in the picture? When the Jewish People disobey the command of shemitta, the very existence of Divine Providence is being called into question. By denying the existence of G-d’s miracle of shemitta,they are asking G-d for the natural course of the world to take over. The natural course of the world is that the Jewish people should be in exile. The Jewish People are not being punished; they are simply jumping into the pit that they dug for themselves.

Since the Jewish exile from the Land of Israel nearly two thousand years ago, our nemeses have sought to prevent our return by all means possible. The constant taunt against us now is what right did we have to displace thousands of inhabitants. The truth is that the commentary Rashi already explains that our only right to displace the inhabants of Israel is due to the Land of Israel belonging to G-d. G-d decides who gets to live in Israel. Somebody who does not observe shemitta does not recognize that the land belongs to G-d. Such a person has no right to the Land of Israel.

May we all merit to return from the long and bitter exile we have been subjected to, and may we merit to experience the rebuilding of Jerusalem speedily in our times. Amen.