Taamei Hamitzvos - Shemitah
By Rabbi Shmuel Kraines
We are commanded to relinquish control over our fields every seventh year, the Shemitah year. This includes ceasing almost all agricultural work and opening the fields to the poor, wild animals, and anyone who wishes to eat from them. The Torah calls this year “Shabbos for the Land.”
Sefer HaChinuch explains that resting on the seventh year symbolizes Hashem’s resting on the seventh day of Creation, and that it strengthens our belief that Hashem is the Creator. By relinquishing our control over the produce, we remember that Hashem owns everything and brings forth the produce at His will, and that all beings stand equal before Him. This idea is evident within the word “Shemitah,” which means “release” or “relinquishment."
The Mitzvah to rest in the seventh year also alludes to the seventh millennium of the world, the World to Come (Ibn Ezra). It is a regular reminder about the true purpose of our existence. Just as we rest on Shabbos and are free to engage in spiritual pursuits such as Torah study, which inspires them during the coming week, farmers are free to spend the year of Shemitah in spiritual pursuits like one long Shabbos, which inspires them during the coming six years. So too, it is appropriate for us to think about Shemitah every year, especially when reading about it in the Torah as we do this week.
Sefer HaChinuch adds that Hashem instructs us to open our properties to the poor while receiving nothing in return so that we will develop the trait of generosity. Furthermore, giving away the entire annual yield increases one’s trust in Hashem.
Shemitah also cancels loans at its conclusion, and the Torah prohibits us from lending money to a person out of concern that he will not repay by the end of Shemitah. Sefer HaChinuch explains here, similarly, that relinquishing debts and being willing to lend despite the risk of this occurring trains us in the traits of generosity and trust in Hashem.
The applications of all the above Mitzvos are limited these days, as most of us do not own fields in Eretz Yisrael and it is customary to “sidestep” the cancellation of loans through a Prozbul document. Nevertheless, the all-important Mitzvos of Shemitah themselves remind us that Hashem is the Creator and Master of this world, that He placed us here temporarily to prepare for the eternal world, and that He expects us to be as generous with our less fortunate brethren as He is with us.
