Parshat Behar: On My Terms
by Rabbi Lobel

The Children of Israel were given a Mitzvah of Shemittat Karkaot – a Sabbatical for the Land. For six years, the Jewish Nation would tend to their fields in the Land of Israel. On the seventh year, work would cease and the land would rest. The produce on the seventh year that grew from the seeds sewn in the sixth year was free to everyone and would only be gathered as needed.

“When you come to the land which I give to you… for six years plant your field… and gather its produce. (Leviticus 25:2-3)

The Kli Yakar makes a fascinating point. The Torah begins by emphatically stating that G-d gave us the land. We don’t possess the land because we purchased it, inherited it, or conquered it. We have the land only because G-d gave it to us. Then, immediately following the laws of Shemittah (the Sabbatical year), the Torah discusses what happens when a Jew becomes bankrupt. The message is clear – G-d gave us the land and whoever doesn’t uphold the Sabbatical runs the risk of becoming bankrupt. 

The Kli Yakar Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz; Prague; 1550 - 1619) asks why. Why did Hashem feel it was necessary, by the commandment of Shemittah, to remind us that everything we have comes from the hand of G-d and only from the hand of G-d?

Furthermore, Shemittah is a particularly enticing commandment to perform. As the Kli Yakar reminds us, farmland often needs to lie fallow on average twice every six years. Here, G-d is guaranteeing six successful years with enough produce to last through the seventh year. As the verse says “for six years plant your field… and gather its produce.” (See also Leviticus 25:21)

Why by Shemittah do we need to be reminded that everything comes from G-d? Because ,the Kli Yakar answers, when a person works and toils, his natural inclination is to take comfort in the belief that through his own efforts he will profit. Even though he knows, intellectually, that everything is from G-d’s hand, he takes comfort in relying upon his own efforts.

If he knows everything comes from G-d, why does he take comfort in his own labors? Because every person instinctively desires to be independent and able to shape his own destiny. It is in this very moment, when a person is working the land for his own sustenance, that Hashem reminds us to submit ourselves to His will.

Even by Shemittah where a person is guaranteed to profit through observance, G-d warns us against the natural desire to rely upon our own efforts.

The desire for self-reliance is so great, most people would prefer to earn less if they could do so by their own hands.

By the commandment of Shemittah, we discover the challenge of Torah observance isn’t a question of difficulty or sacrifice. It a question of living life of on our terms versus G-d’s terms.