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Beit Midrash
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- Shmitta
But of all the outlandish features of Jewish life, I think the most extreme one is the Mitzva of Shmita, the subject of this week’s Sedra. Asking an agricultural society to suspend its primary source of income for 12 months - & our agreeing to do so – simply boggles the mind. What is the purpose of this law? And how can we possibly survive without our fields for an entire year?
While some sources (e.g. Moreh N’Vuchim – Guide for the Perplexed) suggest that letting the land go fallow enhances its fertility, nowhere does the Torah say that. And modern science tends to dispute the claim; agronomists contend that letting the land rest seems to have no "therapeutic" value. For if this was the case, then why not let 1/7th of the land go un-cultivated each year, leaving 6/7ths still available for farming?
Rather I suggest that the rationale behind Shmita, as the Torah explicitly says, is to create for us a "Shabbat Shabbaton" every 7 years. Like the contemporary Sabbatical, this results in a complete change in our routine, a break from the norm, a chance to recharge the batteries & then make a new start, refreshed & reinvigorated.
This is the same lesson that we might derive from our holidays throughout the year. On Pesach, our entire way of eating – humanity’s most common act of behavior - is radically changed; our whole house is turned over. And on Sukkot, we physically leave our homes to take up residence in the Sukka. On Shavuot, we forego the other most basic mode of human behavior – sleep – in order to study Torah deep into the night.
Not to mention Shabbat, when our whole schedule of activity changes for a full 25 hours every single week.
Via all these examples – the holy days & Shmita – one crucial lesson emerges: We can change our lives. If we can alter what we eat, where we live, when we sleep or stay awake, how we make our livelihood, then we can change anything! Though we may have become careless & complacent in the (6)days & (6) years prior, we can re-order our lives to better conform to Divine ideals.
It’s totally up to us; as we reap (or not), so shall we sow.
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
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D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
