Parshi’ot BeHar/BiChukotai (On the Mountain/ In My Statutes)
By Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort
CARLSBAD, California — This week we read a double portion, BeHar and BiChukotai, which mean ‘On the Mountain’, and ‘In My Statutes,’ respectively. In the first portion we learn many of the particulars and strictures associated with the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee year.
The commentaries explain that the mountain referred to in the name is Mount Sinai, and that the portion is emphasizing the fact that all of the very specific details that would be enumerated came from Mount Sinai. Why the need to emphasize the source of the commandment specifically in this instance regarding this Mitzvah?
The premise behind this unique approach to agriculture is that every seven years the land must be left to lie fallow, treated like an ownerless property where anyone can come and take the fruit that is growing. The farmer may not sell his produce. He may not harvest the produce. There were seven sets of seven years and then the 50th, or Jubilee year was declared. When the Jubilee year, known in Hebrew as the Yovel year, occurred the farmer again was commanded to allow his field to lie fallow. Not only is the farmer forbidden the produce, the Jewish people are prohibited from buying the produce.
How was the farmer expected to make a living?
The Torah itself answers when it explains that G-d pledges that when one will scrupulously observe these Mitzvot He will command His blessing to be adequate to sustain the farmer from the produce grown in the sixth year to be sufficient for the sixth, seventh (Sabbatical) and even part of the eighth year (until the new crop comes in). A threefold blessing from one year’s produce!
What did the farmer do to merit such a tremendous reward? The answer is he had faith in the Almighty, and his profound faith informed his behavior to the extent that he allowed his most valuable possession – his land – to remain unworked for a long time. He literally put his life in G-d’s ‘Hands’.
Demonstrating faith to this degree is not easy for most of us. Yes, there are exceptional people who seem able to pull it off, but for most of us this represents a severe challenge.
To this very day many farmers in Israel carefully observe the laws as written. It is inspiring to see their faith! There is another element that is also inspiring and beautiful. Many thousands of people join together to help support the farmers. Those who financially participate in this way are literally serving as the Shluchim / emissaries of the Creator, as they have chosen to become the instrument through which G-d sends His blessings to those observing this precious commandment.
Why would G-d command such a thing?
This Mitzvah parallels the Mitzvah of Shabbat. Six days we are commanded to do work and then we are to rest on the seventh day. What do we do on the seventh day? We spend extra time in prayer, in study, with our families and counting our blessings. We meditate deeply into our relationship with G-d and with His world. Leaving behind the mundane pursuit of making a living frees us to focus on the true reason we are here and what our lives are about.
What this means is that every one of us has the opportunity of emulating, at least to a small degree, the farmer who allows his fields to lie fallow. It is our chance to demonstrate our powerful faith in our G-d, who then will reciprocate with blessings totally beyond proportion!
Wishing everyone an uplifting, joyous, and HEALTHY Shabbos!
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Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort is Director of Coastal Chabads and Chabad at La Costa. Rabbi Eilfort welcomes readers’ comments and questions and may be reached at RabbiE@ChabadatLaCosta.com.