Six years shall you plant your land, and six years shall you prune your vineyard... (Vayikra 25:3)
The Parsha begins with the mitzva of Shmita, the requirement to leave the land of Israel fallow every seventh year. The cycle began from the time the Jews conquered the land, so everyone followed the same cycle regardless of when they acquired their own personal property.
This is part of the test. If everyone were following their own timeline, there would at least be other people farming so food would be available to purchase. If no one is allowed to farm, however, there could be concern and hesitation that it’s not possible to keep this mitzva.
However, this mitzva is not only once in seven years. In actuality, it is a constant mitzva. The Torah tells us that for six years we work the land, and in the seventh we stop. During those six years, however, how do we view the land? If we consider it “ours,” we are missing the point of Shmita. Shmita reminds us that everything belongs to Hashem, and He gives it to us to use.
During the six years we’re working the land, we are to be thinking and thanking. We are to be cognizant and appreciative of the fact that Hashem gives us the opportunity to grow food, to earn a livelihood, and to serve Him by working honestly.
The mitzva of Shmita is more all-encompassing than just refraining from working one year out of seven, just as Shabbos is more all-encompassing than refraining from work on it. Shabbos is a testament that Hashem created the world and watches over it, and Shmita is similar. We acknowledge that we are here as recipients of His beneficence and therefore every single day or every single year is a fulfillment of Hashem’s will.
People make a mistake. They think the Torah is a list of things you can’t do. But it’s not. What it really is, is the instruction manual to live a good and pleasant life in this world, while earning eternal merit and reward in the next. If we look at this correctly, we will do when we should do, and not do when we should not do, and regardless of which it is, we will be doing what Hashem wants of us, and what will bring us the more joy in the long run. (And probably the short run too.)
