We open up the סדרה with the פרשה of the שמיטה year and the promises of plenty given to one who observes it.
In פסוק כ'-כ''א, the פסוק reads, “And when you shall ask, ‘what will we eat in the 7th year...’ And the land will produce crop of 3 years.” The concerned farmer is asking what he will be sustained on, to which he is guaranteed by the תורה, that he will have no reason to fear.
The thing is, at what point is he voicing these fears? If it’s by the7th year, surely, he must have seen the abundance already. So why would he be scared?
And another problem is, why is the ברכה only given if they ask “מה נאכל”? If they don’t ask this, they won’t get ברכה!?
Two Levels of ברכה
The ספורנו and מלבי''ם amongst others explain that the real ברכה and the best one is that ה' will make a small amount be as satisfying as a large amount. Meaning, a person would become full from a fraction of what usually fills him. This is a tremendous נס! ה' would change the very nature of the food!
However, this special ברכה would only go to those who are deserving of it.
But if one asks “what will we eat in the 7th year...?” then he is no longer deserving of the special blessing in the natural abilities of his produce. But since he is keeping the הלכות, he will get blessing; in the quantity of his crop, which is by far a lesser ברכה, since it requires more time, effort and manpower to harvest and store the extra abundance.
So, the ברכה of “the land will produce crop of 3 years” is the ‘second class’ blessing.
“If” not “When”
The problem we encounter with this understanding is as follows; the פסוקים are describing a circumstance we do not want. It isn’t the ideal scenario. The ideal farmer wouldn’t ask the question at all.
Being that the case, why does the פסוק read “And when you will ask”? It should have said “ואם תאמרו” “and if you will ask”! Since the indication of וכי תאמרו is that it will happen! Why should this question be asked?
A Questioning Nature
The גמרא in שבת דף לא. tells us an incredible story that showcases the middos that הלל the great Tanna had.
Two fellows had a wager of 400 Zuz if one would be able to get הלל upset.
He knocked at הלל’s door on Friday afternoon whilst הלל was preparing for שבת. In the midst of it all, he answered the door.
“Why do the Babylonians have oval heads?” was his first question.
הלל replied very patiently “My son, that is an excellent question! The answer is because the midwives in Babylonia are inexperienced.”
And the man went away, only to return a bit later to ask a similar question; “Why do the תרומודיין have small eyes?”
To which הלל replied, “My son, that is indeed a very good question. The reason for this phenomenon is because these people live in very sandy areas.”
The story carries on as he tried a few more times to annoy הלל. Needless to say, he lost the bet.
Now, this is a beautiful story. But we have a problem; why in the world dis הלל say that the questions were excellent queries? He obviously didn’t just lie for no reason! So why did he consider these random biological questions to be so good?
The answer is, because these questions aren’t just random biological questions; but they are questions on how הקב''ה created his world. They are showing interest in the creations of The Master of the universe! [It just so happens that the correct time to ask these questions is not half an hour before שבת and to the גדול הדור.]
The Question We have to ask
Getting back to our סדרה, we can now explain our פסוק; The question of “What will I eat?” is a question analysing nature. It implies “I know that by nature I should in theory go hungry, since I’m not growing anything. Yet I know that ה' will look after me, and He is not limited to nature.”
If a person just goes into שמיטה without thinking, without contemplating his predicament that he should be in, if he goes in with total ignorance of what should happen without ה'’s promise, he has missed the boat! The point of the נס is to alert him to the omnipresence of ה', and His complete control of nature! To see it, he needs to be aware that something is happening contrary to nature!
So, indeed, the question is a “when you will ask” question!
What’s the Problem?
But, if this is such a vital question, then why did the ספורנו and מלבי''ם condemn this individual to a 2nd class reward? He should get 1st Prize!? He is doing a brilliant job? No? Why, then, doesn’t he get the better level of ברכה?
Attitudes
Casting our minds all the way back to פסח, in the הגדה we talk about four types of children and the methods of telling them about יציאת מצרים.
The מפרשים ask, what exactly is the difference between the רשע and חכם? Their questions sound very similar; “What are these laws that you are observing?” they both use the pronoun “you”, אתכם and לכם!
So, what’s the difference between them?
When the פסוק describes the question of the חכם in פרשת ואתחנן it says “כי ישאלך בנך וכו'” “and when your son shall ask”. In contrast, by the פסוק describing the question of the רשע in פרשת בא the פסוק says “כי יאמרו אליכם בניכם” “and when your son will say to you”.
The difference is in the way they ask. The חכם is asking for information. He genuinely wants to understand. Whereas the רשע is complaining, and excusing himself from the proceedings under the pretext that he doesn’t understand it.
Similarly, there are two kinds of farmers. One looks around and makes an observation, “The rules of nature dictate that I should go hungry if I don’t sow my field. How will ה' enable me to eat next year?”.
The other farmer cries in fear “What will I eat?! I can’t sow, I can’t harvest! How will I survive! I can’t do it!”. It is a cry of complaint, and therefore for him, he gets a lower level of ברכה.
What is our message?
ה' is constantly sending us signs. Every day is another opportunity to observe the world and look for יד ה' in it. Let’s take the message from the farmers and open our eyes to see the wonders of ה', and בזכות that, הקב''ה will send the ultimate נס; משיח צדקינו במהרה בימינו!
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