Devar/5768/Behar
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< Devar | 5768
עברית
English
Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the produce thereof. But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto the LORD; thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. (Lev 25:3,4)
We are currently in the middle of a shemittah year, in which it is forbidden to work the Land. As it is written, this year is a shabbat for the Land of Israel, just as the shabbat of Creation is shabbat for the Jewish people. And we are commanded not to sell any of the produce of the Land during this year, and to treat its fruits and vegetables with holiness.
If the farmers in the Land don't sell their crops, and don't work the Land this year, how will they earn a living? Isn't it from selling the fruits and vegetables they earn their living?
Indeed, this is a good question -- and the Torah ask it for us and even gives an answer: then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth produce for the three years (Lev 25:21). That is to say, if we guard the mitsvah, He may He be blessed, will bless our labor and our Land, and we will not lack food. Cease working the land on the seventh year, and God may He be blessed, will provide you sustenance with honor.
For several generations now, our rabbis have made a new halachic initiative: "heter mechira" (permission to sell), in order to make the farmers' lives easier. In this initiative, the Land is sold to a Gentile for the duration of the shemittah year in order to set aside the commandment of shemittah from it. After the year, the Land returns to its Jewish owner, and in the meantime -- as it were -- the produce of the Land belongs to a Gentile and not a Jew, and therefore its holiness has been set aside.
But this sale is forbidden: We don't sell houses and fields to them, in the Land of Israel… And why did they treat fields more severely? Because there are two (problems) -- setting aside the mitsvah of tithes, and giving them a foothold in the land. (Laws of Idol Worship 10:4). Not only that, but the sale would not be effective to set aside the holiness of the Land: A Gentile who purchased land in the Land of Israel -- did not set aside the mitsvot applying to it, rather it maintains its holiness (Laws of Tithes 1:14); however, in Syria he does set aside its holiness. (It should be pointed out that its holiness is set aside while the Gentile owns the land).
Regarding the Sabbath of Creation, it is written, One who does not labor on Sabbath-eve, from what will he eat on the Sabbath? (Bavli Avodah Zarah 3a). And this is true sevenfold regarding the Sabbath of the Land, regarding the shemittah year. Preparation for the sabbath year must be started already from the first year of the cycle -- and then, when we get to the shemittah year, there will be no need to lean upon a wobbly ladder like heter mechirah.
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