If there is one theme that we can point to that is found in both of our parshiyos, Behar and Bechukosai, it would be the one that we have mentioned in the past (Zichron Avinoam 5767, 5776) and must reiterate today: Eretz Yisrael is a Land of Torah.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu gifted us a land filled with material blessings, yet, at the same time, that land flowing with milk and honey is also a land that was meant for one thing: a place where the Torah would be fulfilled.
And thus, inherent in the land’s soil is that holy condition—anything that goes against that ultimate goal is anathema to Eretz Yisrael; and the land itself cannot bear it. As the Torah states so clearly in Parashas Achrei-Mos: וְלֹא תָקִיא הָאָרֶץ אֶתְכֶם בְטַמַאֲכֶם אֹתָהּ כַאֲשֶר קָאָה אֶת הַגּוֹי אֲשֶר לִפְנֵיכֶם, And the land shall not spit you out when you defile her, just as it spit out the nation that was before you... (Vayikra 18:28).
The blessings of Eretz Yisrael are brought out through Torah, and when there is lack of fulfillment, chas v’shalom, then it is vice versa.
Parashas Behar begins with the holy mitzvah of Shemittah; when announcing it, the Torah states explicitly that this mitzvah was commanded at Har Sinai. Rashi is bothered famously by what connection Har Sinai has to the mitzvah of Shemittah?! (A question that has become the symbol of trying to understand the connection between any two seemingly random subjects in Torah: מה עניין שמיטה לעיניין הר סיני, how is the inyan of Shemittah related to the inyan of Har Sinai?) And, of course, aside from Rashi’s explanation, there has been much ink spilled upon this great question....
My esteemed chavrusa, Rav Yehuda Tzvi Kurzrock shlita, shared a beautiful idea: Shemittah is the mitzvah of Eretz Yisrael. Not only is it fulfilled exclusively in the Holy Land, but inherently it defines the essence of the land itself, as it brings out so powerfully the perspective of Hashem being the sole Master of the world.
Considering such, perhaps the Torah is alluding here to the fact that the Torah given to us at Har Sinai is tied together inextricably to this very Land. Shemittah is not just something that is fulfilled in Eretz Yisrael, it is one with Hashem’s holy soil.
In a similar vein, the second of our parshiyos, Parashas Bechukosai, also lays down this theme right at the beginning. For the Torah states, ever so clearly, that if one walks in the ways of Hashem and His Torah, then and only then will all the blessings of Eretz Yisrael be showered upon our people. And as Rashi famously adds, it is really not just fulfilling the mitzvos alone that brings all the blessings of our land to us; it is the toil in Hashem’s Torah that everything is also hinged upon, as the toil of Torah is the source of all good.
This will help us understand a fascinating Gemara (Megillah 3a). The Gemara teaches us that when the sefarim of the Nevi’im were translated, the land of Eretz Yisrael shook four hundred parsa’os! And the obvious question is: why? What is so wrong with having a translation that caused Eretz Yisroel to shake?
Tosafos Rid explains beautifully: It is because Eretz Yisrael’s blessings and really its sustenance come from Klal Yisrael’s toil in Torah. A translation of Torah meant that perhaps there would some lacking in the toil of Torah itself, and that is something the holy soil could not bear, causing it to shake and tremble!
This teaches us so clearly, as we have said above: Eretz Yisrael is tied to Torah.
Thus, when we hear that there are thousands upon thousands of Yidden sitting and learning Hashem’s Torah day and night in our holy land, it should make our hearts swell with true pride and happiness, as we know good and well that all the blessings of our Land has is completely dependent upon that Torah learning and fulfillment; may it spread among all of our brethren in Eretz Yisrael and across the globe, speedily in our day.
B’Siyata DiShmaya.
