Every person, no matter where they are holding financially, has his worries and concerns about parnassah. It’s something we all struggle with, each on our own level. The mitzvah of shemita targets those worries, teaching us Who is in charge of our sustenance and training us to rely solely on Hashem.
The pasuk says 25:20, if one will ask, “What will I eat on the 7th year if I am not allowed to plant”? Says the pasuk that Hashem gives the land a special blessing that the crop will produce for three years. Many meforshim ask why couldn’t the Torah simply state that if you keep shemita, then your crop will be blessed to produce threefold? Why did the Torah present it as a question, that “if you ask what will you eat on the seventh year...”?
The Sforno distinguishes between the baal bitachon, one who trusts in Hashem, who does not question, “What will we eat in the seventh year?” and one who’s on a lower level and does question. The one who does not question will, indeed, have less produce; however, its nutritional value will far exceed that of a regular year. He will have less, but he will require less. His less will be more. His seventh year will be covered by the produce of the sixth year, but in a manner unperceived by the unknowing spectator who will observe a regular yield that year. The believer whose bitachon is not as strong will ask the question and will receive a Heavenly response in the way of a greater yield in the sixth year. His crops will be plentiful – enough to last him through the following year. Nonetheless, these crops will be of normal quality, unenhanced by “Heavenly intervention”.
The Noam Elimelech says from his brother Rav Zusha that Hashem created the world with “pipelines” through which His blessing descends into the world. Constantly, at all times, He is sending us our sustenance, providing us with what we need. However, Rav Zusha explained, a deficiency in our bitachon, our trust in Hashem, interferes with this system. When we start worrying, when we are afraid that maybe we won’t have what we need, it is as though we puncture holes in the pipes that bring us blessing, such that the blessing “leaks” from the pipes and thus cannot reach us.
When the people ask, “What will I eat?” they damage the pipelines, so-to-speak. Hashem, in His infinite mercy, announces, “v’tzivisi es birchasi” - that He will repair the damage so that His brocha can descend despite our deficient faith. If we hadn’t asked this question, if our faith had been firm and we hadn’t entertained any doubts about our financial security during and after shemita, the pipelines would have continued functioning normally, and so there would have been no need for a special brocha. It is only because of our deficient faith, our unnecessary anxiety, that this blessing is necessary.
The sefer V’tziva Hakohen, the grandson of the Semichos Chachomim, brings a midrash 89:3 and questions, how can the midrash say that Yosef depicts someone with bitachon, if he went and asked the sar hamashkim to remember him by Pharoah? We learn that two extra years of prison were added on to Yosef’s stay because of this lack of bitachon, so how can we say that Yosef was an example of a ba’al bitachon? He answers that there are two levels of bitachon. The first level is when a person sees that there is no natural way for him to be helped, and so he trusts in Hashem to help him. This is not the highest level of trust because he has no other alternative. The second level is where there is a natural way for you to be helped, but still you only place your trust in Hashem. This is the highest level of bitachon.
Says the V’tziva Hakohen, now we understand why Yosef asked the sar hamashkim to remember him by Pharoah. Yosef Hatzadik understood that there is no natural way for him to be let out of prison, so of course he had to rely fully on Hashem. But Yosef wished to fulfill bitachon in the highest form, so when the opportunity arose, he asked the sar hamashkim to remember him to Pharoah. Now there was a “natural” means to be let free, and so now Yosef had the opportunity to fulfill the highest level of bitachon. He relied fully on Hashem despite having a way al pi teva to be saved. That’s why Yosef is the example of a ba’al bitachon.
If so, why was he punished by having two years added to his prison stay? That’s because Hashem is medakdek with a tzadik k’chut hasaara, Hashem is extra strict when dealing with a Tzadik, and in people’s eyes it looked like Yosef wasn’t a ba’al bitachon. So, for the maras ayin of a chillul Hashem, Yosef had to be in prison for another two years.
The purpose of shemita was to implant the mida of bitachon in every yid. A person should always rely solely on Hashem for his sustenance, whether it’s during the six years of working the field or during the shemita year of rest. If a person relies on Hashem only during shemita, that’s not such a high madreiga, for he has no alternative. But if a person trusts only in Hashem during all six years of harvest, when he does have a natural means of sustenance, then he is a true ba’al bitachon and will receive an abundance of blessing.
That is peshat in the pasuk, “When one will ask, what will I eat on the 7th year, I can’t work the field...” meaning there is nothing for me to do al pi teva that I will have food. That is not the highest level of bitachon, since there is no natural means of support in the seventh year and there is nothing to rely on but Hashem. This yid is upset because he wants to fulfill the highest level of bitachon, where there would have to be some natural means of support for him to ignore and rely solely on Hashem. Therefore, Hashem promises him that in the sixth year his crop will produce enough for three years. Now he has a natural means of support, so he can fulfill the highest level of bitachon. He can ignore the fact that his silos are bursting with food and instead he puts his complete unwavering trust in Hashem alone. This is the highest level of bitachon, and with this zechus, Hashem will provide for him in abundance.
According to this explanation, by asking “What will I eat in the seventh year”, this Tzadik is requesting the highest level of bitachon, and that’s why he merited to a big reward of “v’tzivisi es birchasi”.
We may not be privileged to keep the mitzvah of shemita, but the message of the mitzvah rings true for all of us. Our parnassah comes from Hashem alone and we mustn’t be fooled by the different pipes. We must see through the façade of our businesses, our investments and our salaries. We must realize that only Hashem has a say in our finanaces and that He alone controls our sustenance. Then, as we come to fully rely on Hashem, we will merit the brocha of “v’tzivisi es birchasi”.
