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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Behar
Rashi asks why it is this Mitzva of leaving the
land untouched every 7th year said to have been
given on Har Sinai. He offers a cryptic answer:
Just as this Mitzva was said on Har Sinai, so all
the Mitzvot also emanate from there (as opposed
to being man-made). Huh? I still don’t see why
Shmita represents all the other Mitzvot. Why not
kashrut, Shabbat, love the convert? Why is Shmita special?
The usual answer: Shmita requires a lot of Emuna,
faith. After all, doing without one’s field in an
agricultural society & counting on Hashem to
provide for up to three years requires a whole
lot of faith. And so, by extension, performing
any Mitzva is, essentially, an act of faith.
A variation on this theme goes to the core of
Shmita’s significance. Shmita is illogical; it
is anti-social & goes against the norms of
economic activity. How can people just walk away
from their livelihood for a whole year? How can
they stop producing foodstuffs that the nation
needs? Can you imagine if the Torah asked us to
cease all hi-tech activity for 12 months? Or
ordered the police, hospitals or sanitation
workers to walk off the job for a year? When you
factor in many agronomists’ opinion that letting
the land go fallow every 7 years does nothing to
enrich its nutrients, it seems even more absurd!
So I suggest there are 2 objectives at work here:
First, treat the land (of Israel) as a living
thing! Respect it, nurture it, appreciate it.
Just as we have our Shabbat, it has & deserves
its own as well. The lesson, by extension, is
that all the Torah is Torat Chayim, a living Torah.
Moreover, accept the fact that if humans had
created the Torah, they never would have invented
Shmita! Only Hashem could command such an extreme
& seemingly absurd directive. But that is
precisely the point: Do not follow the Torah
because it makes perfect sense to you (like, for
example, the 7 Noachide mitzvot); follow it
purely because it is G-d’s will. Though it may
rub against our intellectual sensibilities &
require us to do things that confound us, that is
how every one of the Mitzvot must be approached &
why Shmita is the Mitzva par excellence.
The sublimation of our mortal wisdom to that of
G-d, our steadfast belief even in the face of
disbelief, is perhaps what causes Hashem, in
turn, to also do things that are beyond belief -
such as keeping the Jewish People alive forever &
allowing us to return & to reclaim our ancient
homeland. It's illogical, absurd, against every
norm of history, & it certainly confounds our enemies.
But guess what? It works! We are here - & we are staying here!
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
