לזכות רפואה שלימה אחינו כל בית ישראל הנתונים בצרה ובשביה
This week’s Parshah, Parshat Behar, begins with the command for the Mitzvah of Shemittah, the obligation to let the land rest every seventh year-the Torah states [Vayikra 25’ 1’-2’]:
Hashem spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai:
Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a sabbath of Hashem.
Rashi, commenting on the fact that the Torah stresses that this Mitzvah was given at Mt. Sinai, clarifies that this commandment in fact serves as the paradigm for all other Mitzvot-just like Shemittah was given at Sinai, so too were the other 612. Left somewhat unexplained, however, is why this Mitzvah was selected to be the model that would illuminate the Sinaitic origins of the Mitzvot.
The Torah commentator, the Alshich Hakadosh, bothered by this very issue, offers, that Shemittah astoundingly serves as the rebuttal to the claims of the Jew-haters and fools that sneer at our right to the land of Israel, and claim that the land of Israel was stolen by the Jews [unfortunately, this retort has become commonplace, and even those who were once thought to have been friends of the Jews have parroted this false idea]. Rashi, on the opening verse of the Torah, states [Bereishit 1’ 1’]:
“...For should the peoples of the world say to Israel, “You are robbers, because you took by force the lands of the seven nations of Canaan”, Israel may reply to them, “All the earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it to whom He pleased…”
As mentioned in prior weeks, certainly the very fact that Rashi had the premonition to state the above would seem to be at the very least a shade of prophecy, and should serve as an inspiration for our Nation during these trying times. The Alshich however, takes this idea step further-in order for us to proclaim that Hashem, as the Creator and omniscient power in control of all existence, has in fact given us this land, we must perform a Mitzvah that demonstrates G-d’s ownership of the Earth! Merely claiming that G-d gave us the land, as described in the Torah, may not suffice for the most dedicated scoffers—however, by letting the land lay fallow every Shemittah year, we, in fact, through our actions, are broadcasting our belief in Hashem’s creation and total ownership of all that exists, and that only He could declare which land belongs to who.
Thus, we should not be ashamed to claim our eternal connection to the Holy Land; it is ours by Divine right, and nothing anti-Jewish personalities say can change that, no matter their popularity or charismatic conspiratorial tales. Our clinging to the Mitzvah of Shemittah serves to reinforce and proclaim our love for the land of Israel.
Perhaps, on a deeper level, we can add, that the word Sinai alludes to the hatred that the nations of the world felt upon the Jews accepting the Torah, and becoming the chosen people—destined to have an eternal heritage in the land of Israel. For as stated in the Talmud [tractate Shabbat 88], Sinai and Sinaah [the Hebrew word for hatred], are nearly identical. It may be for this reason, that the Torah chooses the Mitzvah of Shemittah to describe as being given at Har Sinai—for the Mitzvah that most broadly broadcasts our unyielding claim to the land of Israel is the Mitzvah of Shemittah, as the Alshich explained; it is this Mitzvah that makes known to the world that G-d controls the the world, and He has decided that Am Yisrael should dwell, alone amongst in the Nations, in the Holy Land.
Dedicated in memory of all those who have perished and sacrificed for Am Yisrael.
Have a Great Shabbas.