Parsha Points To Ponder

1)Why does the Torah specifically mention that YOU WILL GATHER ITS CROPS after teaching that we should work the fields for the first six years of the shmita cycle? (25:3)

2)Why does the Torah have to teach that not only are we are allowed to eat the crops which grow on their own during shmita but our slaves and maidservants can eat them as well? (25:6) Why would we have thought otherwise?

3)Why was a shofar sounded on Yom Kippur of the jubilee year to signal that all slaves were to be freed? (see 25:9) Slaves being freed did not relate to repentance in any way so what role did the shofar play?

Answer 1) The Kli Yakar explains that farmers used to work their fields for 2 years and then rest it every third year. Otherwise, the field would lose its strength and not continue producing healthy crops. The laws of shmita required that a person continuously work the field for six years without letting it rest and G-D assures us that YOU WILL GATHER ITS CROPS despite the fact that the field is not given its rest. Thus, this is an additional component to the faith in G-D which shmita observance demanded.

Answer 2) The Ohr HaChayim answers that we might have thought that the holiness of these crops during this special year would impact who could eat them. Perhaps only kohanim or leviim could eat them. Perhaps only people with higher status could. So, the Torah goes out of its way to specify that every member of the Jewish household could eat those holy crops.
Answer 3)The Sefer Hachinuch teaches that freeing slaves was a very difficult thing to do. Doing so led to significant financial loss for the owners. The sound of shofars blowing throughout the land made it easier for owners as they came to realize that everyone around them was losing their assets and suffering as well.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 5:26 pm and is filed under Weekly Question. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.