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The Torah study is dedicatedto the full recovery of
Asher Ishaayahu Ben Rivka
But why was shemitah singled out for this purpose? Granted that the Torah wanted to make a point, we are still concerned with the particular selection, the specific mitzvah chosen to serve as the archetype. In the spirit of the Maharal’s dictum: "Devarim gedolim einam bemikreh," "great things do not happen by accident," we may reformulate Rashi’s famous question as simply "mah inyan shemitah," "what is special about shemitah"?
The experience of Sinai was first and foremost one of the commitment of na’aseh venishma, predicated on the people’s willingness to accept the yoke of the Heavenly Kingdom. According to the Ramban, this is the very meaning of the first of the Ten Commandments – kablu malchuti, "accept My kingship."
In other words, the level of Torah commitment is measured not merely in its observance, as meticulous as that may be, but also in the motivation behind that observance. One may choose to observe for many reasons which satisfy one’s own needs, desires, and comforts in life. But this is not kabalat ol malchut shamayim, accepting the yoke of the Heavenly Kingdom. Though it may be glatt kosher, it may also be nothing more than Reconstructionist Orthodoxy.
In an agricultural society subsisting from year to year on its annual produce, the laws of shemitah are certainly problematic. Far from a vacation from work, they are a test of allegiance to royal decree, to an imperial order of the greatest difficulty. It is this characteristic of shemitah that makes it the paradigmatic representation of all the manifold commandments promulgated at Sinai. It is the question of what the mitzvot really mean to a person.
In this spirit, one might formulate a question: Immigrants to Western countries often saw the abandonment of Shabbat as a condition for basic survival. Yet, there were those who stood firm and fully observed the Shabbat. It is to those few that we owe the renaissance of Orthodoxy in the Diaspora.
Is not the mitzvah of living in Israel and all its concomitant mitzvot, the contemporary equivalent of our forebears’ Shabbat? Is it perhaps our modern inyan shemitah as we stand before the eternity of Sinai?
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Israel and the Nations A Few Minutes & Many Innovative Ideas on Antisemitism & What to do About It
As we approach the High Holidays, this short lecture (18 minutes) deals with the unfortunate situation of how Israel and the Jewish People stand against antisemitism, analyzing its cause according to Rav Kook, and how to deal with the issue pragmatically & via our prayers.
Ha'azinu PURSUIT is PERFECTION
p. Ha'azinu, Shabbat Shuva
Rav Kook deals with the question of the seemingly hopeless nature of Tshuva. For G-d Himself knows that He created us with free will, which inevitably means we will sometimes make mistakes and choose wrong. This can easily be frustrating, freezing us into inaction and ye'ush (loss of hope). If one sins even once, does he chalila have no choice but suicide?! Moreover, our Godly conscience demands justice, righteousness and perfection, but we all know this is impossible, so what's the solution? Rav Kook's innovative thinking, strongly based on chazal (our sages), offers an inciteful and important aspect to this topic, especially this time of year!
Sukkot Bug-Free Sukkah: Essential Halachic and Practical Schach Guide
How to inspect, clean, and store bamboo mats and palm branches to protect your mitzvah and holiday meals.
