Friday, May 19, 2017

Message from Behar

When you come to the Land that I give to you, and the land shall rest a Shabbos to Hashem….’ (Parshas Behar).

The Torah relates the observance of Shemitah to the Jews’ arrival in the Land of Israel, ‘that I give to you’, explains the Alshich HaKadosh, to counteract the normal human feeling that someone’s property is their’s alone -- especially the land that they work.  The Torah emphasizes, therefore, that it is Hashem Who gives the Land. (The Stone Edition Chumash; p. 696).

We might feel that it is our land; but the Torah lets us know that the One Who is commanding us regarding the Shemitah is the One Who gives us the land -- and everything else -- in the first place.

A Gut Shabbos to all!

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