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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 the LORD. Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield. But in the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest, a sabbath of the LORD: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard (Vayikra, 25:2-4).
Rabbi Aharon Rokeach (d. 1957) was the fourth Belzer Rebbe. He and his wife had five children and four sons. Tragically none survived the Shoah. The Rebbe himself did escape the Shoah. After a harrowing journey he settled in Israel where he remarried. He had no more biological children and he devoted his entire life to his chasidim and to the Jewish people. The Rebbe never spoke about anyone who was murdered in the Shoah. He maintained that anyone murdered by the Nazis was holy beyond our comprehension and therefore we could not even utter their name. The Rebbe lived a very spartan existence and said that after the Shoah we must devote all our energy to building Jewish institutions to keep our traditions alive. His life was entirely focused on the spiritual and the study of Torah.
One day the Rebbe turned to his gabbai and asked him to find the best gardener around and to hire him to make the Rebbe’s garden the most beautiful garden in the entire land of Israel. The gabbai was shocked beyond words. Such a request from the Rebbe was highly unusual. The Rebbe never showed an interest in the material matters of the world and now from out of nowhere he was trying to make a beautiful garden. The gabbai wondered what this was about, but since the Rebbe insisted, he set out to complete his task. Sure enough, an amazing gardener was located and the Rebbe paid top dollar to engage the gardener’s services. Before too long, the Rebbe’s garden was beautiful and much admired. That year, as Rosh Hashanah drew near, the Rebbe asked his gabbai to tell the gardener that the eve of Rosh Hashanah would be the last day the gardener would work in the garden. The Rebbe said that instead he could pay the gardener to do other tasks in the coming year that do not relate to working the land. The coming year was the Shemitah year and the Rebbe’s reasoning now became clear. The Rebbe had wanted to properly observe the mitzvah of Shemitah–of not working the land of Israel—and in order to fulfill that mitzvah the Rebbe wanted to own land that had been previously harvested which would now lie unworked.
Although many religious Zionists rely upon solid halachik rulings to minimize the practical consequences of observing Shemitah nowadays, the chareidi community fully embraces Shemitah’s strictures and inconveniences and often wear it as a badge of honor to demonstrate complete and total commitment to Hashem.
A story is told about the Shemitah year in 1959. Although the challenge looked particularly great that year, many in the chareidi community were deeply committed to the idea of not working the land in order to observe Shemitah. The chareidim created a fund to support farmers who were not working their crops during the Shemitah and thus were potentially facing huge losses of income. They created a fund to purchase produce from lands in which there would be no concerns of Shemitah violations. That year they were able to find all the produce they needed except for onions. Onions are a staple of a Mediterranean diet, but alas, no onions. Suddenly a strange thing happened. An entire ship filled with onions arrived in the port of Haifa. There was no crew or owner to be found—just onions. No one knew what to do. After the matter was investigated it was discovered that the onions had belonged to a ship from a country that Israel was at war with. The captain and crew had had to abandon the ship and the ship had drifted to the port. Miraculously an entire ship of onions arrived for a community in need of onions. For that community it reinforced the message that Hashem will provide for those who have faith (Vekarat Leshabbat Oneg, volume 1, 188).
Erchin!
Background: This week we read a double parsha of Behar-Bechukotai. The end of Bechukotai teaches the laws of erchin, which are a set of specific laws pertaining to the monetary evaluation of people or property dedicated to God. In other words, they are the guidelines to follow if someone wanted to consecrate the value of their property to God. Interestingly, the Torah also gives us the guidelines for someone who wants to consecrate the value of a person to God! The Ibn Ezra explains that a person may want to pledge the value of another person to God if that person is in a desperate situation and wants to show Hashem that they’re willing to do anything to fix it - even pledging the value of another person. (Remember - value, not the person themselves!) Here’s a chart demonstrating the values of people:
Questions:
Why do you think the Torah divides a person’s age in this way? How would you describe each of these stages of life?
What are some possible explanations for the differences in the value of males and females? It’s ok to answer this based on what society looked like during ancient times.
Which category has the least difference between the value of males and females? Which has the biggest difference? Why do you think that could be?
BONUS QUESTION: The gemara in Erchin explains the small difference in values between males and females in the 60+ category with the following saying “An old man in the house is a snare in the house, while an old woman in the house is a hidden treasure in the house and a good sign for the house.” Call up your grandfather and ask him what he thinks the gemara meant with this. Then call up your grandmother and ask her what she thinks the gemara meant. If you survive the phone call, email your answer to MaharatRuth@ostns.org!
In Parshas Behar, we learn about Shemita, the seven-year cycle in which we work the field for six years and keep the crops as our own, and in the seventh year we let the land grow naturally without cultivation and anyone who wants can pick from its yield. Of course, rest does not only mean the absence of cultivation, but rather opportunity for rejuvenation. Personally, I go Lifnim Mishuras Hadin, beyond the letter of the law, and abstain from cutting the grass or working in the yard throughout the seven year cycle. What can I say, I'm a holy person.
I am so glad to share that this week, we'll have our third installment of our ongoing series, Not My Job to Explain My Job to Three Year Olds. Reuven Walder will come teach the kids about respect for the land and the value of letting the land rest. We'll collect the kids around the shul garden Reuven has graciously developed. May this be a Shabbos of restful rejuvenation!
Yoni Friedman.
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