This parashah opens: “Hashem spoke to Moshe on Har Sinai, saying, ‘. . . When you come into the land that I give to you, the land shall observe a Sabbath rest for Hashem. For six years you shall sow your field . . .’”
Chazal (quoted by Rashi) ask: Why does the Torah mention that the laws of shemittah were given at Sinai? To teach that just as every detail of shemittah’s laws was given at Sinai, so every detail of the Torah was given at Sinai.
R’ Pinchas Menachem Alter z”l (1926-1996; Gerrer Rebbe) observed that Sinai is mentioned in connection with other mitzvot too. Why, then, is this lesson taught here of all places?
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 39a) asks: What is the reason for shemittah? It answers: “The Torah says, ‘Plant for six years and rest in the seventh year, so that you will know that the land is Mine’.”
It appears from here, says the Gerrer Rebbe, that planting during the six years also is a mitzvah, provided that it is done with the same faith in Hashem with which one rests in the seventh year. (This is why, says the Rebbe’s grandfather, the Sefat Emet, the consequence of not keeping the shemittah is exile. If we lack the faith in G-d to keep the shemittah, then we also will not plant with faith. In that case, we have no business being on the Land.) The whole world was created so that we can keep the Torah; when we observe the Torah, we testify that Hashem created the world. We bear the same testimony when we live a life which is imbued with the message of shemittah. This is why it is appropriate to compare the entire Torah to shemittah, as in the Rashi quoted above. (Pnei Menachem)
Among other Mitzvahs, this week’s Parsha discusses the Mitzvah of Tzadaka. The Gemarah in Bava Basra tells us that one who doesn’t give Tzadaka is equivalent to one who worships idols.
Why? What is the connection between Tzadaka and idol worship. A person who worships idols does so for only one reason - he thinks that the idol is a god and has the ability to help him - do things for him - control good and evil.
A person who refrains from giving Tzadaka is acting that way for the same reason. He believes that there is power in money to do things for him - it controls good and bad. In reality it is the exact opposite - it is giving Tzadaka, not accumulating wealth that protects a person. (Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman)
Do not harass one another, and you shall fear G-d. (25:17) From the fact that Hashem attaches His Name to the admonition regarding verbal harassment, Chazal derive that verbal harassment is a greater sin than monetary harassment. The Baalei Mussar explain that cheating an individual out of his money has a limit; we know the extent of the damage. Hurting someone with words has no limit. Hashem knows how deep and painful is the hurt caused by words. (Vignettes on the Parsha)
Reprinted from the Parashat Behar 5784 email of R’ Yedidye Hirtenfeld’s whY I Matter parsha sheet for the Young Israel of Midwood in Brooklyn, NY.
