Last week, in Parshat Emor, we learned about lots of mitzvot, including Kiddush HaShem - a mitzvah that is so important, Jews throughout the ages have given up their lives to perform it! This week, we'll learn about special mitzvot for farmers - including a mitzvah to let the earth take a nap.
Give the Land a Break!
Shabbat, the seventh day of the week, is special. It's a day of rest - all work stops.
Did you know that there's another kind of Shabbat that comes once every seven years? It's called Shmitta, and it's a special year when Jews living in Israel are commanded to let their land rest! (The English word "sabbatical" is related to the word Shmitta, and refers to a break that is taken every seven years.)
For six years, farmers work in their fields. They till the soil, plant seeds, and water the plants. When the time is right, they harvest tall stalks of grain, or pick bushels of ripe vegetables and fruit. They gather in their produce, thankful that they have been blessed with fertile soil and the right amounts of rain and sun to help their crops grow.
Then, when Rosh HaShanah of the seventh year arrives, the Shmitta year begins. The farmers take a break and let the earth lie fallow. They don't pick up their hoes, their plows, or their sickles for a whole year. In fact, the only work he can do is to water the plants enough to keep them alive. Shmitta is the time for the earth to take a well-deserved nap!
The word Shmitta literally means "to let go" or "withdraw." In a Shmitta year, we leave the land alone, and put our faith in HaShem, trusting that He will provide for all of our needs. We show that we believe that it is HaShem who gives us food and takes care of us - not the land, not the sun, and not the rain.
But how can we be sure that we will not run out of food during the Shmitta year? HaShem promised that if the Jews keep all of the laws of Shmitta, the harvest from the year before Shmitta (that is, the sixth year) will last for three years - the sixth year, the seventh, and even part of the eighth (until it starts growing)! HaShem also promised that during the Shmitta year, people would feel satisfied on smaller amounts of food than usual, which would help the food last longer.
Come One, Come All!
What if a farmer notices that fruit has ripened on his trees during the Shmitta year? Does he have to leave the fruit on the tree?
No . . . each day, the farmer can pick enough fruit for his family to eat that day. But in a Shmitta year, the fruit doesn't belong to the farmer. It belongs to HaShem! And since HaShem commanded that all produce of the Shmitta year must be shared with all Jews, anyone who happens to pass by is welcome to take as much fruit he needs for that day. Storing fruit for later use is not permitted.
Fruit that grows during Shmitta is considered holy and has to be treated with special respect. Farmers are not allowed to sell it.
What About Shmitta Today?
The mitzvah of Shmitta is alive and well! Many Jewish farmers who live in Israel still let their land rest every seven years. Keeping this mitzvah involves great self-sacrifice, but also great reward.
It's hard for farmers in Israel to make a living during a Shmitta year. But fortunately, many people in Israel and around the world contribute money toward a special fund that is distributed to farmers during Shmitta. In this way, everyone has an opportunity to be part of this tremendous mitzvah!
A Clean Slate
There are other special laws for the Shmitta year, too. One of them is that if a Jew borrows money from another Jew, the debt is erased at the end of the Shmitta year. This mitzvah is valid for people in Israel or anywhere in the world.
The Big Yovel - the Jubilee
After seven cycles of seven years - seven Shmitta years - there's an extra-special year called the Yovel. The Yovel is the 50th year and it truly is a big event! You may be familiar with the word "Jubilee," which means a 50-year anniversary. This English word comes from the Hebrew word Yovel (the y becomes a j, and the v becomes a b).
In some ways a Yovel is like a Shmitta year. Farmers must keep all of the same mitzvot as they do in a Shmitta year. They don't work their fields, and any produce that grows during that year is holy. But since the Yovel year comes right after the 49th year - which is a Shmitta year - it means that the farmers have an extra challenge. They must let their land rest for two years in a row! It took amazing commitment and self-sacrifice to keep the mitzvot of the Yovel year.
But there's more. In a Yovel year on Yom Kippur, the air was filled with the sound of the shofar blasting. First the Beit Din blew the shofar. Then Jews everywhere sounded their shofars.
The shofar blasts announced, "Freedom! It's time for all Jewish servants to go free!" Every Jewish servant left his master's house as a free person. Whether the servant had worked for one day or almost six full years, it was time to say goodbye and go home! No one was allowed to treat a former servant disrespectfully - as soon as the shofar sounded, it was a new beginning, and everyone was equal.
The shofar blasts that ushered in the Yovel year remind us of another shofar blast that we pray for every day. In the Shmoneh Esray prayer, we say, "Blow a big shofar to announce our freedom!" With these words, we express our hope for the time when a shofar blast will announce another kind of freedom - our freedom from the difficulties of living in galut (exile). The shofar will announce that Moshiach has arrived and will rebuild the Beit HaMikdash. Sickness and war will no longer exist, and those who have passed away will be reunited with their families and friends. The world will enter an era of true and lasting peace!
Next week's parsha, Bechukotai, wraps up the Book of Vayikra. We'll hear about the rewards HaShem promises us for keeping the mitzvot (and about what will happen if we fail to keep them). And what parsha would be complete without a few more mitzvot to learn?
