Shemittah - Overview - III

The Mitzvoth of Shemittah relate to all areas of life, the physical as well as the spiritual. It is not a purely spiritual Mitzvah such as Tefillin or Shofar, rather it reaches all the way down into actual physical life. Agriculture, the economy, the release of debts and relinquishing fields. It comes to reveal the facets of holiness that are hidden within physical life. It is also a very spiritual Mitzvah, a Shabbath to Hashem, as it ties together the physical and spiritual by giving a glimpse of the future when the physical and spiritual will unite to reveal the holy light of God in all aspects of life.

Throughout the years each person works for his own sustenance. One person has a vineyard, another an olive orchard and a third has a grain field. Each person worries about his own family and household. He puts great effort into his produce and nurses it to its fullest potential and then sells it to make money. This economic system allows him to provide for his family's physical needs. In the Shemittah year he is then ordered to abandon his field for everyone's use. The Torah orders him to give up his field for the economic good of the public at large. Every other year if a person wants grapes he goes to the market and pays good money for grapes. In Shemittah he can just stroll into his neighbors vineyard and eat as many grapes as he wants. The owners of the land have no greater rights to the fruit than anyone else including the animals.

What about the economic needs of the farmer? What about his family? How will he survive a full year? What does the Torah really want with this difficult Mitzvah?

Shemittah - Overview - II

We have described the superficial view of life, however a glance at the internal view of life shows an unbreakable bond between all the individuals in the Jewish Nation. We are all one soul. The essence of all our lives emanate from one source and receives its liveliness from one spiritual root. When any one person performs a Mitzvah it strengthens the root soul of everyone. When one limb is ill it weakens the entire corpus. Similarly, if one person sins all souls feel it deeply because the source of all good, the light of the Schechinah, is diminished by the sin. Conversely, when a person performs a Mitzva, all of Jewry is blessed by an outpouring of light resulting from the good deed.

Externally we appear to be separate from one another. Internally, however, there is a strong bond of life which is the secret of our power and the source of our existence as one nation, one entity, one soul and one lot in life.

There are some Mitzvoth that can appear to be for the benefit of the individual alone, e.g. Tefillin, Tzitzis, Mezuzah, Matzo, Sukkah, Lulav. But it is the public Mitzvoth that reveal the truth of what lies within the Jewish Nation, These Mitzvoth manifest themselves in a public manner which relates to all facets of the Nation. They remove a person from his self-centered outlook into a life which is infinitely greater. They enable him to feel as part of a larger, broader entity, as part of Klal Yisroel.

These awaken feelings that are similar to those which arise at times of war. Those are times when we feel mutual love and connection, when a feeling of unity flows through the veins of the nation. People care about each other, there are feelings of brotherhood and shared goals are strengthened. The pulse of life of the Jewish Nation is alive and strong at these times and it is evident that we are one nation. During our regular everyday lives each person crawls into his own home and his own business, concerned with his own health and livelihood. At war time people feel that the main thing is the nation. This invests the people with great strength which are rooted in our essential unity.

The same is true of the years of Shemittah and Yovel. They are years of national life, of dedication to the nation and a feeling of connection to the entire family.

Shemittah - Overview - I

The Mitzvos of Shmittah (the Sabbatical year) and Yovel (Jubilee) encompass a broad range of concepts to the extent that they alter the very character of the life of the Jewish Nation. There is almost no area in the national life that is not influenced by the Year of Shemittah and the Year of Yovel. All of commerce, society, physical and spiritual life undergo numerous changes during these years which testifies to the great depth that is hidden with these Mitzvos. Prior to addressing them in detail, we will point out what is unique about these public Mitzvos.

The Jewish Nation is one entity, one powerful and holy Neshama that is revealed by every member of the Nation. The source of holiness of each Jew is the overarching Neshama of the Jewish Nation, the Holy Schechina. A person does not live as an individual and cannot sanctify himself without a relationship to the Jewish Nation, just as a capillary has no life unless it is attached to an artery. Since we are born into a world in which each individual feels his individuality, and feels that his life is not connected to everyone else, it is difficult to grasp this concept. We accept the yoke of Mitzvos with an attitude that it is our own personal pursuit, we express our Judaism through our own Mitzvah fulfillment, we stand alone before God, are responsible for our own life in this world and the World to Come, with no connection to the rest of the people.

It is not easy to feel the truth - that we are one nation, one entity and that all the Mitzvos done by each individual are incorporated within the Divine service of the entire Nation. Together they increase the light of the Schechina and the soul of each individual and the entire nation. When performing a specific Mitzvah, like Tzitzis or Tefillin it is difficult to feel a connection with another. "I am doing this Mitzvah and receiving a reward, and he is wearing Tefillin and getting his reward. There is no connection between my Tefillin and his Tefillin." Naturally, a person will make sure that he has the nicest possible Tefillin for himself, but won't concern himself that someone else should have the nicest Tefillin. All this results from not feeling a real connection between the performance of Mitzvos and one's spiritual life. It seems that everyone is climbing his own stairway to heaven, and will get his own eternal reward for his actions. Superficially, there is no connection between the spiritual efforts of my friend and my lot in life.