A Thought On Parshas BeHar
A Thought On Parshas Behar
"...v'shavsa ha'aretz Shabbos la'HaShem..."
"...the land must rest a year of rest for HaShem's sake..." (25:2)
Our parsha introduces the concept of a sabbatical year, when the fields are left fallow and the land is at rest. It is referred to as the sabbatical year because it follows six years when the fields are worked and is in that way comparable to Shabbos, which is the seventh day of rest which follows six days when we labor and work.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel takes us down two levels further into both the remez, the mystical symbolism of this shmita year being "Shabbos", and then to sod, the spiritual foundation which can be seen in this concept.
The remez and sod of shmitta-as-Shabbos is that by letting the land rest, we are making a global proclamation that HaShem rested on the seventh day and that the land must commemorate this. How is it commemorated?
How many "days of rest" are there in a year? In a year of 52 weeks, we have 52 Shabbasos. There is the Shabbas Shabbason day of Yom Kippur, and one rest day of Rosh HaShannah. That equals 54 days of rest. The first and last days of Sukkos are days of rest, as are the first and last days of Pesach. There is one day of Shavuos. That equals 59 days of rest per year.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel quotes Rabbeinu Meir ben Yehuda who calculated that when we multiply 59 by each of the six years of labor, they add up to 354. There are 354 days of rest in the six year cycle. However, in that the land is being cultivated during those years, even though the Jewish people rest as they observe each weekly Shabbos, the land itself is not resting, as it continues to labor with producing crops.
In a lunar year, which is the time frame observed during the sabbatical year, there are 354 days. It turns out, then, that for each "Shabbos" day which the land "labored" during the six year cycle, there is a corresponding day of rest during the year of Shmitta-Shabbos. This is the deeper meaning of referring to those years as "Shabbos la'HaShem." The land itself proclaims that HaShem rested on the seventh day, by giving up its work in a manner which corresponds to the labor of the fields which had taken place during each of the holy days of the prior six year cycle.
Wishing you a good and restful Shabbos. D Fox
"...v'shavsa ha'aretz Shabbos la'HaShem..."
"...the land must rest a year of rest for HaShem's sake..." (25:2)
Our parsha introduces the concept of a sabbatical year, when the fields are left fallow and the land is at rest. It is referred to as the sabbatical year because it follows six years when the fields are worked and is in that way comparable to Shabbos, which is the seventh day of rest which follows six days when we labor and work.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel takes us down two levels further into both the remez, the mystical symbolism of this shmita year being "Shabbos", and then to sod, the spiritual foundation which can be seen in this concept.
The remez and sod of shmitta-as-Shabbos is that by letting the land rest, we are making a global proclamation that HaShem rested on the seventh day and that the land must commemorate this. How is it commemorated?
How many "days of rest" are there in a year? In a year of 52 weeks, we have 52 Shabbasos. There is the Shabbas Shabbason day of Yom Kippur, and one rest day of Rosh HaShannah. That equals 54 days of rest. The first and last days of Sukkos are days of rest, as are the first and last days of Pesach. There is one day of Shavuos. That equals 59 days of rest per year.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel quotes Rabbeinu Meir ben Yehuda who calculated that when we multiply 59 by each of the six years of labor, they add up to 354. There are 354 days of rest in the six year cycle. However, in that the land is being cultivated during those years, even though the Jewish people rest as they observe each weekly Shabbos, the land itself is not resting, as it continues to labor with producing crops.
In a lunar year, which is the time frame observed during the sabbatical year, there are 354 days. It turns out, then, that for each "Shabbos" day which the land "labored" during the six year cycle, there is a corresponding day of rest during the year of Shmitta-Shabbos. This is the deeper meaning of referring to those years as "Shabbos la'HaShem." The land itself proclaims that HaShem rested on the seventh day, by giving up its work in a manner which corresponds to the labor of the fields which had taken place during each of the holy days of the prior six year cycle.
Wishing you a good and restful Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 4:50 PM
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