Taamei Hamitzvah
In Sefer Hachinuch (mitzvah 84), the rationale given for the mitzvah of Shmittah is, “so that man will remember that when the Land gives forth its produce every year, it is not due to its natural potential or properties. There is a Master over the Land and over those who possess it, and when He chooses, he can command us to relinquish our hold on the land and its produce.”
The Torah commands us to refrain from working on the land during the year of Shmittah, not only to enable us to rest our souls from our unceasing quest for a livelihood but also to demonstrate that this land responds to the nature its Master has implanted in it. As the Kli Yakar explains, The Land is commanded to serve the nation of Yisrael faithfully for six years, in order to instill within the people perfect faith and trust in Hashem. For this reason, Hashem arranged the order of their existence in a manner totally beyond the course of nature. He told the people, ‘Sow your fields for six consecutive years, and I promise that the Land will not become depleted over the course of those years. On the contrary, the Land will lose none of it fertility over those years. In fact, on the sixth year a double miracle will occur and the Land will provide triple its produce.’ One who fulfills the mitzvah of Shmittah demonstrates that Hashem controls what takes place even during the six years when Jews work the land. Despite their efforts, success or failure are totally in Hashem’s Hands.
A Seminar for Good Middos
Another aspect of Shmittah is that it leads man to shed himself of all pretenses of grandeur and aristocracy. During this year even the wealthiest man owns none of the land’s produce. Everyone shares equally the bounty that Hashem serves, as if everyone is a guest at Hashem’s table. In connection to this, the Sefer Hachinuch tells us that anyone who trains himself to relinquish possession of his crops and orchards for an entire year once every seven years is not likely to be tainted with miserliness.
Rambam
The Rambam in his Moreh Nevuchim (3:39) says that all the various aspects of Shmittah, whether they pertain to the land or to loans, are geared to demonstrate kindness and mercy on all people. That is why the Torah emphasizes, “the destitute of your nation will eat [its produce]” despite the fact that everyone eats it equally. Shmittah teaches man that it is all right to give and to give up, that generosity will bring no harm to those who practice it. On the contrary, all that man gives up for the sake of the mitzvah of Shmittah brings him even greater bounty, both physical and spiritual.
Kli Yakar
Besides that, his unstinting trust in Hashem’s support will be enhanced immeasurably. Harav Shlomo Efrayim writes in the Kli Yakar: Just as the nation of Yisrael in the wilderness had no natural means of support and had to depend daily on the overt miracle of the mann, in the same way we are commanded to lay aside our sources of sustenance for an entire year, relying only on Hashem’s grace to provide us with our sustenance throughout that period. Thus, keeping the mitzvah of Shmittah is like reliving the experience of living in the wilderness and eating mann from Heaven for an entire year!
Nesivos Shalom
The Slonimer Rebbe, zt”l, writes in his Nesivos Shalom that the mitzvah of Shmittah trains us to have a level of emunah far above that which we can achieve through our everyday life. Under ordinary circumstances, we must trust implicitly in Hashem, but we must do what we can to provide ourselves with a livelihood. During the year of Shmittah, however, the Torah forces our entire nation to take no action whatsoever to grow our food. We have to develop a new level of faith in Hashem, trusting that He will provide for us even when we do nothing for ourselves and when there does not seem to be any means by which we might find our sustenance. The Rebbe calls this level of trust “faith that pervades one’s inner organs.”
Meshech Chochmah
Harav Meir Simchah of Dvinsk writes in Meshech Chochmah that, besides all these rationales, the real reasons for the mitzvah of Shmittah are beyond the grasp of human intellect. In the end we fulfill this mitzvah because it is, as the Torah says, “a Shabbos for Hashem.”
Abrabanel
Harav Don Yitzchak Abrabanel (Nachalas Avos 5:11) draws a parallel between the Shabbos that we observe every week and the Shmittah that we observe once in seven years. In fulfilling both of these mitzvos we testify to our belief that Hashem created the universe ex nihilo and controls it in every aspect of its existence. Through the mitzvah of Shmittah, however, not only do we testify to this; the Land itself testifies to it as well.
Seforno
During the six other years, it is likely that the Jew is heavily involved in pursuing his livelihood and raising the crops that he and his fellow Jews depend on for sustenance. That leaves him limited time for intense Torah study, starving him spiritually. The year of Shmittah enables him to devote an entire year to replenishing his soul with the sweet waters of the Torah. Rabbeinu Ovadyah Seforno writes (Vayikra 25:2): Throughout this year he will be released from toiling on the land and free to serve Him — this is the meaning of the words, “a Shabbos for Hashem.”
Sefer Akeidas Yitzchak
Rabbeinu Yitzchak Arama expresses it poignantly: “By ceasing to toil in the seventh year, man comes to realize that he was not placed on this earth in order to work as a farmer. Man is here for a far higher purpose, to perfect his spiritual self, and his engaging in mundane activities to provide his basic needs should be only for the sake of survival.” These two concepts — perfecting one’s faith and trust in Hashem to provide one’s needs, and realizing that one’s purpose in this world is to attain spiritual perfection — go hand in hand. The Sifsei Kohen on the Torah cites the passuk in Tehillim (119:97), “How I love Your Torah; it is my conversation all the day.” He points out that it does not say “all day” or “every day,” but “all the day.” This is a reference to Shabbos, and it implies that during the six weekdays we discuss mundane affairs as well, but on Shabbos all our conversation must be about Torah.
Likewise, he adds, the Torah tells us to make the seventh year a “Shabbos for Hashem,” meaning that the year of Shmittah, unlike the six years preceding it, should be devoted completely to serving Hashem as if the entire year were Shabbos.
SPARKS of SHMITTAH
After Bnei Yisrael experienced the miraculous and uplifting Shmittah year, they were utterly convinced that the Land was not governed by the laws of nature; that Hashem gives them their sustenance at His will. They had no desire and did not intend to return to the old routine of farming and growing food with the toil of their own hands. Therefore, the Torah found it necessary to command them specifically: “You shall sow on the eighth year” – because the true will of Hashem is that we use the world in its natural fashion, thereby sanctifying it and ourselves through our physical existence.
Sifsei Tzaddik, Parashas Behar
The question is so famous that it has become an adage used to express wonderment at the juxtaposition of any two seemingly unrelated topics: “Mah Inyan Shmittah Eitzel Har Sinai?”
Sefer Hachinuch
The Sefer Hachinuch (mitzvah 84) adds that we rest on Shabbos to show that it is only Hashem Who gives us our livelihood, and we cease our agricultural activities during the seventh year to show that it is not our efforts that bring the produce from the earth, for that is entirely in the Hands of Hashem.
