Behar bechukosai

The laws of shemittah which, by observing, demonstrate that everything is given to us by Hashem form the opening to our parsha. Since the Torah stresses that the shemittah laws were given on Har Sinai, Rashi asks that all the mitzvos were given on Sinai, so why does the Torah stress that the shemittah laws were given on Sinai?

The Kli Chemda answers that we're taught that the Torah could only have been given to the generation that partook in the manna, for only one who lives with the realization that man's survival depends solely on Hashem, can grow in Torah. Every seven years, as the lands lay fallow, untilled, unsown, untended, we relearn the lesson of the manna. We once again see that man's effort is not the true source of his sustenance, giving us that exalted level of faith we had at Sinai.

The Torah tells us that, if one keeps the shemittah, then וצויתי את ברכתי לכם , I will ordain my blessing for you. The Gemara tells us that Hashem's attribute of mercy is greater than His attribute of justice. We know that once Hashem unleashes the forces of destruction, they don't differentiate between the deserving and the undeserving. So, too, one could reason that Hashem's blessing should be given to all. However, says the Oznayim L’Torah, our posuk teaches us that the blessings for the observance of shemittah are specifically directed for the ones that keep shemittah, to demonstrate clearly that the success of this season is not happenstance. It's Hashem’s acknowledgement of the self-sacrifice of his courageous children.

At the end of shemittah of 1952, the farmers of Komemius, a religious kibbutz, had a problem. The only kernels available to them that hadn't grown on shemittah were some worm infested kernels that a nearby kibbutz had left over from the sixth year. Agriculture experts warned against using those kernels and the neighboring farmers ridiculed them for even thinking about using them. They turned to their Rav for advice who said, “if these are the only halachacally good kernels, then plant them and trust Hashem to make it work. Committed to this course, they had another question, which they asked the Chazon Ish. Would they would be allowed to plow on Chol Hamoed Sukkos to take full advantage of the rainy season? The Chazon Ish answered, “who says you will be too late for the rainy season? Maybe if you plant on Chol Hamoed, you will plant too early and cause a loss? The farmers listened and did not plow on Chol Hamoed. Unbelievably, the rains, that year, did not start until close to Chanukah. All the neighboring kibbutzim who had made fun of them and planted early, lost their crop while the farmers of Komemius had a unusually large crop of wheat. The blessing of Hashem is directed to those who live with the courage to have faith in Him.

The next parsha we read this week opens, אם בחקתי תלכו . Rashi explains these words to mean if you toil in Torah. The Chafetz Chaim says that it's here that the Torah is guaranteeing us reward for the toil in Torah and showing us the greatness of Torah. There is nothing else for which one gets reward for the toil alone, even if he doesn't accomplish anything. If a Craftsman works very hard but doesn't finish the product, he doesn't get paid. However, learning Torah is different. Even if in the end one doesn’t understand what he learned, he still gets rewarded for all the time he put in.

We see a great contrast between shemittah and Torah. In learning Torah, we understand that it's the work, the toil, that one puts in that counts. One gets rewarded for the work. Conversely, by shemittah, we learned that we need to take a year off and not do any work, showing that it's not the work that counts. Which is it? Does the work we put in count or not? The Torah is teaching us a fundamental rule in Judaism. When it comes to spiritual pursuits, we must make the effort and it's our effort that counts. However, by material pursuits, it's not our effort that brings the results; we must do our part, but it's Hashem who decides what we are going to keep. Our monies are decided already on Rosh Hashana. Let's double our efforts where we can accomplish and leave the rest to Hashem!