After spelling out the rewards that come in the wake of “If you will walk in the ways of my statutes...” (Vayikra 26:3), the Torah begins the Tochacha itself with the words “And if you will not hearken unto Me...” (Vayikra 26:14). The Torah lists terrible curses that will befall Klal Yisroel if they do not keep the Torah’s commandments. And then the pasuk says, “Then the land will finally have its Sabbaticals.” (Vayikra 26:34).
It seems from this pasuk that the Tochacha occurs because the Jews did not observe shemittah. Since the land was not allowed to lie fallow for the entire year as intended, the Jews will be exiled from their country and the land will finally lie fallow for many years, as a compensation.
Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky asks a simple question: Who mentioned shemitta anywhere in this parsha? Shemitta is not specifically mentioned in Parshas Bechukosai – neither in any of the listed mitzvos that we are supposed to keep, nor in any of the listed aveiros that we should avoid transgressing. Suddenly, when commenting on the after-effect of the punishment (exile), the Torah comments “Then the land will have its shemitta.” This seems surprising. The Torah here in Parshas Bechukosai never said that they didn’t keep shemitta!
