* TORAH WEEKLY * Highlights of the Weekly Torah Portion and Haftorah. Plus Pirkei Avos - The Ethics of Our Fathers. Parshas Behar For the week ending 13 Iyar 5755 12 & 13 May 1995 =========================================================================== Ohr Somayach has a NEW Internet Address: ohr@jer1.co.il =========================================================================== Summary The Torah commands the cessation of farming the Land of Israel every seven years. This "Shabbos" for the land is called Shmita. (5754 was a Shmita year in Israel.) After every seventh Shmita, the fiftieth year, Yovel (Jubilee), is announced by with the sounds of the shofar on Yom Kippur; this was also a year for the land to lie fallow. Hashem promises to provide a bumper crop prior to the Shmita and Yovel years to sustain the Jewish people. In the year of Yovel, all land is returned to its original division from the time of Joshua, and all Jewish indentured servants are freed, even if they have not completed their six years of work. A Jewish indentured servant may not be given any demeaning, unnecessary or excessively difficult work, and may not be sold in the public market. The price of his labor must be calculated according to the amount of time remaining until he will automatically become free. The price of land is similarly calculated. Should anyone sell his ancestral land, he has the right to redeem it after two years. If a house in a walled city is sold, the right of redemption is limited to only the first year after the sale. The Levites' cities belong to them forever. The Jewish People are forbidden to take advantage of each other by lending or borrowing with interest. Family members should redeem any relative who was sold as an indentured servant as a result of impoverishment. =========================================================================== Commentaries "...on Mount Sinai..." (25:1). An imaginary conversation -- "Let's invent this religion in which we tell people that every seven years they have to put down their tools, neither plant nor harvest, and that they will miraculously receive a bumper crop in the sixth year, which will keep them going for that year, the next year and the year after that, when of course there will be nothing to harvest as nothing will have been grown in the seventh year..." "Are you crazy?! How can you predict the future?! Your religion is going to fall flat on its face in its first seventh year when everyone starts starving when there's no bumper crop and nothing to eat!" This week's parsha connects the events at Mount Sinai specifically with the mitzvah of Shmita to tell us that just as Shmita provides a proof of the Torah's veracity, so too the rest of the Torah is authentic in both its specifics and its generalities. (Based on Rashi and the Chasam Sofer) "...on Mount Sinai..." (25:1). The entire lesson of Shmita is that "nature" is an illusion. Hashem runs the world and just as He makes sure that no loss results by not working one day of the week on Shabbos, so He also ensures that nothing will be lost by ceasing from working the land for a whole year. This is to teach us not to become enslaved to "nature," that this world is no more that a corridor to the real world of spirituality. But Man cannot totally disassociate himself from the framework of the world in which he exists; the Torah clearly commands him to sow and harvest for six years, just as he must labor during the six days of the working week. But through counting the days of the working week in relation to Shabbos, and the six years of farming in relation to the year of Shmita, we can connect and infuse even the mundane and the routine with the holy and the special. (Sfas Emes) "...on Mount Sinai..." (25:1). The nature of the miracle of Shmita varied according to the level of bitachon (trust in Hashem) of the Jewish People. When the level of bitachon was high, the amount of food that was harvested in the sixth year was no different from any other year, but it was able to nourish for three years instead of one. But if the level of trust was low, then the fields yielded three times the amount of a normal year. The first way was through a hidden miracle, the second through an open miracle. Why did the lower level of trust invoke the seemingly greater open miracle? An open miracle is always second-best in Hashem's plan. Man is the creature who is designed specifically to have freedom of choice. Open miracles are so compelling that they limit Man's freedom of choice. Nevertheless, Hashem responds even to a lower level of trust in Him, and provides the pyrotechnics of an open miracle if that is what is needed to make the people feel secure. Rav Chaim of Volozhin once asked the Vilna Gaon what the Talmud means when it says that one of Hashem's attributes is to be satisfied with His lot. He replied that Hashem's lot is the Jewish People -- He would like us to be on a higher level, but nevertheless He is content with us at whatever level He finds us. (Based on Rabbi Zev Leff) =========================================================================== Haftorah: Yirmiyah 32:6-27 "Great of counsel and mighty of deed, Whose eyes are cognizant of all the ways of humankind, to give each man according to his ways and the fruit of his deeds" (32:19). When someone is judged deserving of the death penalty in the Heavenly courts, Hashem throws into the balance the tremendous grief that his innocent parents, his wife and children will suffer if the sentence is executed. Therefore Hashem does not punish anyone until He also calculates whether this will cause undeserved punishment to one of his family members. That is the meaning of this verse: "Great of counsel and mighty of deed..." Only you, Hashem, are capable of calculating the precise extent of a person's due, that he should only be called upon to bear "according to his ways and the fruit of his deeds." (Rabbi Mahar"a Yitzchaki) =========================================================================== Pirkei Avos: Perek 4 Learning from Everyone "Who is considered a wise man? He who learns from everyone." Ben Zoma (Avos 4:1) Along with the education which you receive from the wisdom of others is the lesson you gain from any encounter with another person. Should you see a positive trait in him you will be inspired to emulate him. Seeing something unbecoming in him will cause you to abhor this negative trait and move you to be careful in avoiding it. You can also learn much from the compliments of your friends and the criticism of your enemies. If you are praised for a quality which you really lack you will strive to develop it in order to be worthy of such admiration. Listen carefully to the criticism of your enemies and you will learn a great deal about the shortcomings you need to improve. Tiferes Yisrael =========================================================================== ** Spend This Coming Summer Break In Israel For As Little As $599 ** ** (including airfare from New York) ** =========================================================================== JLE Israel Summer Seminar '95 7 weeks of study and touring, optional Ulpan, and structured encounters with Israeli Dignitaries Departure June 14th Optional free week August 8th through August 14th For Jewish men between the ages of 19 & 30 with demonstrated academic achievement and a sincere motivation to explore their roots Minimum scholarship price: $599 Covers round trip ticket, room, board, tuition and tours For information: o send E-Mail to Rabbi Zalman Corlin: RZCorlin@aol.com o In the U.S. call toll-free 800-431-2272 / 212-213-3100 o Outside of N. 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