Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov. We have the privilege this morning of studying פרשת בהר Parshas Bahar together, which begins in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash page 696.בהר Bahar is normally or often linked with בחוקותי Bechukosai, but this week we read it alone. So we have the ability to concentrate directly on בהר Bahar. The overwhelming majority of the פרשה parsha of בהר Bahar deals with the laws of שמיטה shmita, which we'll take a look at together. And then gets into the second half, transitions into the question of how you deal with a poor, indigent person and our responsibility towards them. And hopefully we'll get to, we'll speak about the link or the connection between these two sections which don't necessarily seem like a logical or absolutely logical flow. So the פרשה parsha begins: וידבר ה' אל משה בהר סיני לאמר Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe b'Har Sinai l'eimor. דבר אל בני ישראל ואמרת אלהם Daber el Bnei Yisrael v'amarta aleihem. God spoke to Moshe at הר סיני Har Sinai, and he had a message. Tell them, כי תבאו אל הארץ אשר אני נותן לכם ki savo'u el ha'aretz asher ani nosein lachem, ושבתה הארץ שבת לה' v'shavta ha'aretz Shabbos l'Hashem. When you enter the land, you are to observe a שבת Shabbos for God. And the שבת Shabbos that we observe for God is not a typical שבת Shabbos of 24 or 25 hours. Of course, the פרשה parsha is dealing with the issue of שמיטה shmita, the sabbatical year. Now the פרשה parsha begins with a reference, a connection, between שמיטה shmita and הר סיני Har Sinai. And רש\"י Rashi asks the famous question, מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני Ma inyan shmita eitzel Har Sinai? והלא כל המצות נאמרו בסיני V'halo kol hamitzvos ne'emru b'Sinai. What in the world is the connection between שמיטה shmita and הר סיני Har Sinai? Why are we invoking הר סיני Har Sinai in order to launch into the laws of שמיטה shmita? All the Torah, 613 מצוות mitzvos were all given at הר סיני Har Sinai. So why don't we say when it comes to the שעטנז shatnez, כלאים kilayim, when it comes to some other מצוה mitzvah, שבת Shabbos, כשרות kashrus, שופר shofar, לולב lulav, why don't we introduce it בהר סיני B'Har Sinai? Why specifically שמיטה shmita? מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני Ma inyan shmita eitzel Har Sinai? אלא מה שמיטה נאמרו כללותיה ופרטותיה ודקדוקיה Eila ma shmita ne'emru klalosel v'pratoseha v'dikdukeha, just like שמיטה shmita, the details, the rules, the big picture, the minutia, they were all מסיני m'Sinai, it all comes from Sinai. אף כולן נאמרו כללותיהם ודקדוקיהם מסיני Af kulam ne'emru klaloseihem v'diktukeihem m'Sinai. So to all Torah and מצוות mitzvos, all the broad principles as well as the detailed minutia rules, they all come from הר סיני Har Sinai. So רש\"י Rashi asked the famous question, מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני Ma inyan shmita eitzel Har Sinai. I've shared before many times, Rabbi J.J. Schacter quotes a story, he was in Israel in a hotel, he turned on the TV, it was the show Kojak, and I forgot the name of the side character, asks him, \"What does it have to do with the price of tea in China?\" And the Hebrew subtitles on the bottom, \"What does it have to do with the price of tea in China?\" said, מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני Ma inyan shmita eitzel Har Sinai. Right, ממש mamash, what a country, that רש\"י Rashi is broadcast as subtitles, implicit in the translation of pop culture is a רש\"י Rashi. מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני Ma inyan shmita eitzel Har Sinai, what does it have to do with the price of tea in China? What does one thing have to do with the other? So the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh on our פרשה parsha is bothered, he said, \"How did רש\"י Rashi answer his question?\" I understand שמיטה shmita is the model of a מצוה mitzvah whose principles and details are given, and we extrapolate from there to all מצוות mitzvos that both the broad concepts and the details are all given at הר סיני Har Sinai, but that wasn't the question. The question was, why is שמיטה shmita chosen as the example where the broad principles and details were given and from there we say that's true for all מצוות mitzvos? Why was שמיטה shmita selected? And the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh gives one answer. I would like to humbly suggest to you on this fine morning another answer. There most certainly is a fundamental, intrinsic connection between שמיטה shmita and הר סיני Har Sinai. And I want to suggest to you the following. How many people here have been to the כותל Kotel? Good. Almost, if not every hand in the room went up. Don't answer this, but how many have been to הר סיני Har Sinai? The truth is, there's suggestions, there are ideas, we're not even sure exactly where הר סיני Har Sinai is. Josephus and other Jewish sources identify Mount Sinai with a location in Northwestern Arabia, east of the Red Sea. Others say it's in the Sinai Peninsula. But either way, the bottom line is, we're unsure exactly where הר סיני Har Sinai is, and we have no mandate or religious imperative to make a pilgrimage there. We don't go there. What happened there was a one-time event. It happens to be the most seminal event in human history. השם Hashem gave us his sacred Torah with its timeless teachings. It happened once thousands of years ago, and we haven't visited. We don't go back. We've never returned. The כותל Kotel, which is הר הבית Har Habayis, הר המוריה Har Hamoriah, those who go on top of the הר הבית Har Habayis, those who stand at the at the base of the mountain, but that mountain continues to play a central role. We face there when we דאווען daven. We wouldn't imagine visiting Israel without going to the כותל Kotel. We pour out our hearts, we feel a visceral, emotional connection there. And yet הר סיני Har Sinai, gone. So הר המוריה Har Hamoriah, whose significance goes back to אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, and then יצחק ויעקב Yitzchak v'Yaakov, it's the center of the Jewish universe. But when it comes to, when it comes to הר סיני Har Sinai, we don't even know where it is, let alone make an effort to go. Why the difference between the two? So הרב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik suggested that there's a fundamental difference between these mountains. One retained its sacred status permanently and the other was only temporary. Said the Rav, קדושה Kedusha, sanctity, is never a function of a geographical location. קדושה Kedusha is the result of human effort, human initiative, human input, human service, human endeavor, human commitment. קדושה Kedusha, holiness is the result of when we interact, when we form, we fashion, when we are involved. הר סיני Har Sinai was only sanctified with temporary temporal sanctity. Why? Because it was top-down. As long as השם Hashem came to הר סיני Har Sinai and visited the mountain with his divine presence in order to transmit to us his sacred Torah, there was holiness. But the moment ה' Hakadosh Baruch Hu withdrew his holiness, he moved on, he completed the task of giving the Torah, it lost its holiness. The holiness left. So we're not even sure where it is and it has no religious significance or value to us. הר המוריה Har Hamoriah, הר הבית Har Habayis on the other hand, was not sanctified because השם Hashem visited it, but rather it has an eternal sanctity and it remains a holy spot today. Why? הר סיני Har Sinai is submissiveness. It's passive compliance. It was a spectator event. It was entirely top-down. It was God in search of man. But הר הבית Har Habayis, הר המוריה Har Hamoriah, is exactly the opposite. It's our being proactive and engaged. It's being invested and taking initiative. It is not God in search of us. When we go to the כותל Kotel, when we go and went to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, it was man in search of God. So I want to suggest to you that for six years, השם Hashem instructs us, be active, manipulate, control, discover, innovate, make progress in his world, וכיבשוה v'kivshua. God says, here is my earth, you are the stewards of it. Go take it apart, understand it, build, innovate, create, master, and control it. The seventh year is שמיטה shmita. And the seventh year השם Hashem says, stop. Be submissive, be subservient, be docile. In the seventh year, be passive. In the seventh year, be at peace with nature and at peace with my earth. שמיטה Shmita is the הר סיני Har Sinai מצוה mitzvah par excellence, because both שמיטה shmita and הר סיני Har Sinai are about nullifying ourselves and relying entirely on השם Hashem. It's a קדושה kedusha that comes top-down. It's השם Hashem's presence and we are passive spectators. So on the one hand, שמיטה shmita is learned from הר סיני Har Sinai, I want to suggest because שמיטה shmita is exactly what הר סיני Har Sinai was about. הר סיני Har Sinai was about passive spectator receiving, accepting God's in search of us, receiving קדושה kedusha that comes from השם Hashem. What happens the other six years in between? It's not a coincidence the Torah says, שש שנים תזרע שדך sheish shanim tizra sadecha, ושש שנים תזמר כרמך v'sheish shanim tizmor karmecha. Six years, plant. Six years, care for your vineyard. ואספת את תבואתה v'asafta es t'vuasa and gather. And then ובשנה השביעית שבת שבתון יהיה u'bashana hashvi'is Shabbos Shabbason yihiyeh in the seventh year, then and only then is it שבת Shabbos. Let's say you say, you know, I like my sabbatical so much, I'm going to take it all seven years. I like a sabbatical so much, I'm going to go into permanent retirement immediately, without even working a day in my life. So the Torah tells us, and the מפרשים mefarshim are quick to point out, and this is so critically important for the Jewish people, work is not a concession. For the Jewish people, work, for Torah personalities, work is not something we do because נבך nebach we have no other choice. Work is a value. It's the way that we emulate ה' Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And the Torah tells us, when do you deserve that sabbatical? When for six years you worked hard. שש שנים תזרע שדך Sheish shanim tizra sadecha, ושש שנים תזמר כרמך v'sheish shanim tizmor karmecha, ואספת את תבואתה v'asafta es t'vuasa. Be in the field, break your back, bake in the sun, get the satisfaction and the pride of bringing in a harvest. It's a challenge in today's generation, the מגיע לי magia li, a sense of entitlement, nobody wants to work, nobody wants to make an effort, and nobody wants to feel the pride of being independent, of accomplishing and achieving, and being able to be on their own. Says the Torah, you want שבת שבתון Shabbos Shabbason, you want to merit a sabbatical, earn it, work for it, feel the pride that comes. So perhaps I'm suggesting to you that's what רש\"י Rashi means, מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני ma inyan shmita eitzel Har Sinai. Why was שמיטה shmita chosen as the archetype that just like its broad principles and its details all come from Sinai? Why שמיטה shmita? Why not learn this rule with some other מצוה mitzvah? שמיטה Shmita is the perfect. שמיטה Shmita is a הר סיני Har Sinai experience. But lest you think that our life should be entirely הר סיני Har Sinai, שמיטה shmita experiences, no, that's once every seven years. Six years we're at הר המוריה Har Hamoriah. Six years we're תזרע שדך tizra sadecha. We're working hard, we're planting, we're trying to understand the world. The seventh year, we're passive, but the six years, we're not complacent or apathetic or indifferent. We engage and we work hard, and we craft, and we accomplish, and we achieve, and we feel that pride. And perhaps that's what רש\"י Rashi is alluding to of the connection between שמיטה shmita and הר סיני Har Sinai. Now, moving along. Notice the Torah says, when does this מצוה mitzvah of שמיטה shmita apply to you? When? כי תבאו אל הארץ Ki savo'u el ha'aretz, when you enter the land, אשר אני נותן לכם asher ani nosein lachem, that I am, translate the word נותן nosein, it's in the present tense, it's in הווה hoveh, that I am giving you. So רב נחמן מברסלב Rav Nachman of Breslov, the Breslover points out, shouldn't it say אשר נתתי לכם asher nasati lachem? When you enter the land that I gave you. When did God give us the land? Even before we entered it. It was promised to אברהם Avraham and יצחק Yitzchak and יעקב Yaakov and we knew, we know from ששת ימי בראשית sheishes yemei b'reishis that ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, ירושלים Yerushalayim, הר הבית Har Habayis, that's קודש הקדשים kodesh hakodashim, it's the center of the entire universe. So the פסוק pasuk should say when you enter the land אשר נתתי asher nasati, the land that I gave you. Why does it say the land אשר אני נותן asher ani nosein, that I am giving you? So רב נחמן מברסלב Rav Nachman of Breslov says that a Jew in Israel, in our relationship with Israel, and please God, one day living in Israel, those who are meriting to live there now, and those of us who are not figuring out if, but when, should have the attitude not of נתתי nasati that God gave me, but every day אשר אני נותן לכם asher ani nosein lachem. It should be fresh. What a gift, what a ברכה bracha, what miracles, never stale, never taken for granted, never assumed, never with an attitude נתתי nasati that it's permanent. It could be taken away, we could lose it, and we have to therefore cherish it. We have a responsibility to steward the great gift of the modern miracle of Israel. And I love this insight of רב נחמן מברסלב Rav Nachman of Breslov. We're coming up on, bless you, we're between יום העצמאות Yom Ha'atzmaut, יום ירושלים Yom Yerushalayim, but אשר אני נותן לכם asher ani nosein lachem. Our attitude towards ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael has to be not, ah, there were miracles, I've gotten used to them. It's the place I go for סוכות Sukkos to visit my kid in Israel and to vacation. But אשר אני נותן לכם asher ani nosein lachem, every day that we stop and think, wow, after 2,000 years, you can walk the streets of Israel, of ירושלים Yerushalayim, עיר הקודש Ir Hakodesh, the gift and the safety and security, which as threatened as it is, is safer than it's ever been. And we are safer than we've ever been. אשר אני נותן לכם Asher ani nosein lachem. It's not נתתי nasati. It's not in the past. But the sense of a gift and the blessing and the miracle should be as fresh and new each and every day. In the words of רב נחמן Rav Nachman, should be as sweet each and every day that it's אשר אני נותן asher ani nosein, that he continues to, that he continues to give it to us. Good. הרב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik points out in the רב סולובייצ'יק חומש Rav Soloveitchik Chumash, in the רב סולובייצ'יק חומש Rav Soloveitchik Chumash, בהר סיני B'Har Sinai, actually before I share the הרב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik, I'll tell you another insight of רב אהרן מבעלז Rav Aaron of Belz. רב אהרן מבעלז Rav Aaron of Belz, so we shared מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני ma inyan shmita eitzel Har Sinai. I gave you one suggestion. I told you the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh asks on רש\"י Rashi, how did he answer his question? We offered one suggestion. There's the הר סיני Har Sinai paradigm and there's the הר המוריה Har Hamoriah paradigm. שמיטה Shmita parallels הר סיני Har Sinai. The six years of work parallel הר המוריה Har Hamoriah. A קדושה kedusha which is fleeting, top-down, versus a קדושה kedusha which is lasting and permanent, which comes from the bottom up. But רב אהרן מבעלז Rav Aaron of Belz shares a second insight into what is the connection, מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני ma inyan shmita eitzel Har Sinai. Again, the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim said, couldn't we have learned this when it comes to any מצוה mitzvah? Isn't it true about every מצוה mitzvah? So he explained that it says, ושבתה הארץ שבת v'shavta ha'aretz Shabbos, לה' l'Hashem. Why are you letting the land rest? So I might have thought, you know why? I'm an environmentalist. I love trees and I love the earth and I love the soil. And therefore, out of compassion, I want the earth to rejuvenate and to re-energize and to heal, and I love the earth and we have to protect it. So why am I observing שמיטה shmita? For the earth. Because the earth is an ends to itself. The earth is a source of our concern and care. Says the Torah, you know why you're observing שמיטה shmita, don't be confused. You can be an environmentalist, nothing wrong, be green, environmentally concerned and sensitive, and care about protecting and preserving our sacred earth. It's a trust God gave us. We read about back in ספר בראשית Sefer B'reishis. There's nothing wrong with that, I'm not minimizing nor certainly not mocking, but that's not why we observe שמיטה shmita. You want to know why we observe שמיטה shmita? Says רב אהרן מבעלז Rav Aaron of Belz, look what the Torah tells us, ושבתה הארץ שבת v'shavta ha'aretz Shabbos, why? לה' L'Hashem. The whole reason is ה' Hakadosh Baruch Hu told us. And that's מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני ma inyan shmita eitzel Har Sinai. Just like שמיטה shmita makes sense to you, and you say you could be an atheist environmentalist and also care about giving the earth a sabbatical, but no, that's not why, it's because לה' l'Hashem, we're doing it because God says jump, we say how high. That's מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני ma inyan shmita eitzel Har Sinai. So too with other מצוות mitzvos, that you might think, I understand exactly why, it makes sense to me. I can be an atheist and still want to keep her observe it. ה' Hakadosh Baruch Hu says no, לה' l'Hashem. The reason we do מצוות mitzvos is not because they make sense. It's not because they're compelling. That may make it easier, it makes it more pleasurable, it makes us more motivated, but it's not why. The why of why we do מצוות mitzvos is ה' Hakadosh Baruch Hu told us. He says jump, we say how high. ושבתה הארץ שבת לה' V'shavta ha'aretz Shabbos l'Hashem. Just like שמיטה shmita is לה' l'Hashem, so too every מצוה mitzvah that came from הר סיני Har Sinai is from השם Hashem. Back to הרב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik. So הרב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik says, בהר סיני B'Har Sinai, in פרשת אחרי מות Parshas Acharei Mos, the Torah describes a land filled with sanctity that cannot abide transgression. פרשת בהר Parshas Bahar expands on the theme and discussing the מצוות mitzvos of שמיטה shmita and יובל yovel. ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael is under God's direct providence. It is a land the Lord your God looks after, the eyes of your Lord are there from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, פסוק pasuk in דברים Devarim. When we express concern about the ability to observe שמיטה shmita, the Torah reminds us, ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael is not an ordinary land. It will respond to the needs of the Jewish people just as a caring individual responds to the needs of a loved one. ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael has a vibrant, vital personality that distinguishes it from all other lands. Said the Rav, ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael is unique, it's singular, just like the Torah is unique, and the Jewish people are unique, ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. This threefold, the trifecta, the tripod upon which our whole religion rests, תורת ישראל, עם ישראל, ארץ ישראל Toras Yisrael, Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael. What is the common theme for all three is their singularity, their uniqueness. They are a סגולה segula. We are an עם סגולה am segula, and ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael is a land that's סגולה segula. What does it mean to be a סגולה segula? It means unique, it means singular, it means special, different, distinguished, apart. ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael could only be in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. We once gave a whole שיעור shiur, you can find it online, on my website, but we gave a whole שיעור shiur about why, in fact, at the Zionist Congress, when Herzl proposed making Israel in Uganda, and the מזרחי Mizrachi was prepared to vote for it because they thought it's a step. Let there at least be Jewish sovereignty and a Jewish land, and ultimately it can be moved. But it was the secular who voted against it, kind of ironically, and the history of it's fascinating. But why could it never be in Uganda? Why can't we relocate to some other piece of land? In that שיעור shiur, I introduced it with an article from somebody on the internet, I have no idea who they are, and certainly they don't seem to bear any authority, who suggested that Israel should be in Germany. The reparations Germany should give to the Jews for what happened, sounds like a Rashida Tlaib proposal, but it should have been in Germany. It can't be anywhere else in the world but Israel, because Israel for us, ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, is not just Jewish sovereignty and a Jewish nationhood, Jewish peoplehood, it's not just a Jewish state, it's about the very soil, the earth, the land is categorically different than dirt, than soil, than earth anywhere else. It's the only place where we have מצוות התלויות בארץ mitzvos hatluyos ba'aretz. It's a land that's a סגולה segula, that if we go there, people who are struggling in fertility and struggling in this and struggling in that, there's a special auspiciousness to the land that's categorically different than anywhere else on earth. And says הרב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik, included in that categorical difference is a moral compass that the earth of Israel has that nowhere else has. And if morally those living in the land are corrupt, the earth will vomit us out. And that's what the Torah is telling us in this passage, it's continuing here with שמיטה shmita. And the Rav writes this again on the words ושבתה הארץ v'shavta ha'aretz, the land shall rest שבת Shabbos. The Torah speaks of a land defiled and of a land resting and of a land observing שמיטה shmita. The land of Israel possesses a distinct personality. It's likened to a human being who can be defiled or can be sanctified, can rest and can be appeased. Just as a Jew observes שבת Shabbos once a week, the land of Israel observes שבת Shabbos once every seven years. In this way, the land of Israel takes on human dimensions. So the earth, the land of Israel has a personality. It's not like anywhere else. And you can go visit the wonders of the world, and there are other sites on the globe that are magnificent to behold and to see. They are part of the artistic impact of השם Hashem. We say, אין צור כאלוקינו, אין צייר כאלוקינו ein tzur k'Elokeinu, ein tzayar k'Elokeinu. There's no artist like God. Go to Glacier National Park in Montana, go to the Swiss Alps, go to these locations in the world, go with rustic elegance, it's an excellent way to go, go to these places in the world, and you'll see the hand of השם Hashem, the greatest artist. But that land is just a land, it's like paint on a canvas, it's a sculpture. The only land that has personality, that lives and breathes, that can either be sanctified through the acts of the people who live on it, or can be defiled and spit out because of the corruption of the people who live on it, that's only the land of Israel. Only the land of Israel. And I think it's interesting that we're reading it this week, and I share this with no conclusion but submit it for your consideration, but there was some big debate in Israel this week in hosting Eurovision. For some, it's a קידוש ה' Kiddush Hashem, Israel has arrived, this great international European contest, and celebrities and stars who came, and wow, Israel, the Jewish people have broken through to the mainstream, isn't it amazing? And for others, the dress and the culture and the songs and the חילול שבת Chilul Shabbos and the activity, who needs it? Israel doesn't need it. It's a corruption of the land. And I have a certain, I lean in a certain direction on that question, but I'm not here certainly, let our brothers and sisters who live in Israel decide about it. I'm not here to weigh in, but simply when we talk about whether an Israel should host a Eurovision, it shouldn't be only from an emotional place of, we've broken through and it's amazing and it's so cool. It has to be from a religious, moral position of, would the land of Israel, the personality of the land of Israel be happy to host it? Would you host Eurovision in your שול shul, in the sanctuary of your שול shul? Would you want Eurovision with your children and grandchildren in the audience? So the land of Israel has a personality, has a consciousness, has a moral compass, and it becomes sanctified or it will purge and vomit out those who corrupt her. And it's fascinating that that happens specifically in these פרשיות parshiyos, and right now with פרשת בהר Parshas Bahar, where we see ושבתה הארץ v'shavta ha'aretz. It's not the Jewish people take a sabbatical on the land, the land has a sabbatical. The land is sanctified. The land has a personality according to Rabbi Soloveitchik. Okay, there's a lot more to talk about about שמיטה shmita. We're not going to get into it right now, but why do we observe שמיטה shmita? Is שמיטה shmita about the land? According to some מפרשים mefarshim, it's it's an expression of our stewardship, of our responsibility to the land. According to others, it is an exercise in אמונה emuna. We're going to get to that. Because the farmer has nothing to eat. And we have heroic farmers who observe שמיטה shmita today. Some rely on the היתר מכירה heter mechira, but others, and growing trend is to observe שמיטה shmita today. And in fact, there are efforts and organizations that raise money to support farmers to enable them to observe שמיטה shmita, because it's an unpaid sabbatical. It's not the luxury of a paid sabbatical, it is an unpaid sabbatical. How do you support your family during an unpaid sabbatical? So ה' Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, don't worry, you'll grow enough in the sixth year to have enough for the sixth, seventh, and eighth year if you observe שמיטה shmita properly. It's in our פרשה parsha. And it's in response to the people asking, but what will we eat? How will we maintain ourselves? So ה' Hakadosh Baruch Hu makes that promise, but when the farmer makes good on it, it is a exercise in אמונה emuna. The אברבנאל Abarbanel says שמיטה shmita is time management. שמיטה Shmita is a reminder of the incredible value of time, that time is fleeting and time disappears, and our responsibility to maximize and to manage our time. And so the farmer is consumed by the cycles of agriculture and of working his farm or her farm to maximize efficiency and to maximize profits, spends a seventh year remembering you can spend time differently, learning and growing and bettering ourselves and protecting ourselves, not only protecting our our fields. So there's a lot more to talk about about שמיטה shmita. But here the Torah tells us, we have to count שמיטה shmita, and when we count שמיטה shmita, we get to יובל yovel, the notion of observing יובל yovel. יובל Yovel is a very powerful message too. What happens in יובל yovel? Property is returned to the original owner. The property is returned to the original owner. What is the significance of the message of that? There's an exception, בתי ערי חומה batei arei choma, homes of a walled city, only within the first year can they be redeemed. If they're not redeemed within the end of the first year, then they do not return in יובל yovel, and you lose the right to get them back as opposed to other properties which after 50 years, in the 50th year, the יובל yovel, the Jubilee year, they go back. What's the message? The מפרשים mefarshim say a very, very beautiful message. מפרשים Mefarshim say, you know what the message is? We work hard, you think you accumulate and you amass things and real estate and property, it's all going back. At the end, that's not what you take with you. That's not what you keep. That's not what you have. What you have is what you did with it. What you had are the experiences and the relationships and the difference that you made and the contribution that you left. The things, so basically יובל yovel is a rehearsal for death. That in our lives, we go through the experience of not being able to keep and take something that we acquired, to inspire and motivate and remind us that in all of life, you can't keep and take that which you've amassed and accumulated. Enjoy the fine things. But at the end of 50 years, it's gone. At the end of 120 years, it's gone. You can't take with you anything you kept. Paradoxically, the only thing that you can take with you is what you gave away. I'm not doing another friends of BRS. Last time we spoke about this, פרשת תרומה, תצוה Parshas Truma, Tetzaveh, and we did a good appeal for friends of BRS. But you're, you're the full year of people, so you don't need that spiel. So, but you can't ironically, you can't take what you keep, you can only take what you give away, and יובל yovel is the reminder of that. Torah tells us the land shall not be sold permanently. That's the message. והארץ לא תמכר לצמיתות V'ha'aretz lo simacher l'tzmisus. The land shall not be sold permanently. The Torah introduces the principle of not selling in perpetuity in two different פסוקים pesukim. And the Rav says one is talking about the חפצא cheftza, one's talking about the גברא gavra. This is a separate הלכה halacha about ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael now. We're talking about you're in Israel, and the Torah here is telling us that in Israel, it's לצמיתות l'tzmisus. You can't sell it or give it to anyone away. It belongs to us, Israel. It has to be part of the Jewish people. We don't give it away. And why is that? כי גרים ותושבים אתם עמדי Ki geirim v'toshavim atem imadi. If you want to follow inside, I am on, פסוק כ\"ג pasuk kaf-gimel, פרק כ\"ה פסוק כ\"ג perek kaf-hey, pasuk kaf-gimel, page 700. והארץ לא תמכר לצמיתות כי לי הארץ V'ha'aretz lo simacher l'tzmisus ki li ha'aretz. The land is mine. Don't sell it. There's actually a whole הלכה halacha question in Israel today. Can you rent? Can you if you own an Airbnb, can you lease, can you rent, can you sell land in Israel to a non-Jew? It's a violation of this הלכה halacha that once God gave us the land and we take residence and ownership of it, השם Hashem says don't give it away. You're going to sell your great-grandmother's לייכטער leichter, her engagement ring, you're going to sell your grandfather's diary. ה' Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave this us, it's an expression of the special bond and connection, the love between us. It belongs to us. Don't sell it. Don't get rid of it. It has to be ours in perpetuity. It belongs to us all the time. And why is that? The Torah says, why? כי גרים ותושבים אתם עמדי Ki geirim v'toshavim atem imadi. Because you are גרים geirim and תושבים toshavim with me. What does that expression mean? What does that mean? כי גרים ותושבים אתם עמדי Ki geirim v'toshavim atem imadi. You are strangers and תושבים toshavim, residents or temporary residents together with me. And that's the reason you shouldn't sell the land in Israel. What does that mean? כי גרים ותושבים אתם עמדי Ki geirim v'toshavim? So I saw a beautiful explanation from the צדיק tzaddik, רב ברוך ממז'יבוז' Rav Baruch of Mezhibuz. רב ברוך ממז'יבוז' Rav Baruch of Mezhibuz says, what does it mean? When are you עמדי imadi? When you are גרים ותושבים geirim v'toshavim. When you realize that you're just a visitor to this world. It's not a permanent resident. If you maintain the attitude that I'm just passing through, I'm just a guest, I'm just a visitor. When we live with the mentality of כי גרים ותושבים ki geirim v'toshavim, says השם Hashem, then אתם עמדי atem imadi. Then you're with me. You see, if you're with השם Hashem, then we answer to a higher calling. Then we understand that there is a immortality, an afterlife, a world that we're really working towards. If you think this world is all that there is, if we seek pleasure in this world, and this world is all we care about and all we pursue, then we're not really with השם Hashem. To be אתם עמדי atem imadi, to be with השם Hashem, כי גרים ותושבים אתם עמדי ki geirim v'toshavim. Then we preserve and maintain this attitude of, of being strangers, of being strangers. Okay. Torah then goes on. This is the part I want to really study together, analyze a little more closely together, כי ימוך אחיך chi yamuch achicha. We're going to get immediately now into two cases of a person who becomes impoverished, becomes indigent, uh, becomes indigent. A person who struggles financially. The Torah tells us you can't be indifferent. You can't look the other way, you can't pretend you don't see. You have to stand up and you have to pledge to help. And the question is why? The question is why and the question is how? So the verse וכי ימוך אחיך v'chi yamuch achicha is that they have to sell their land. וכי ימוך אחיך ומכר מאחוזתו ובא גואלו הקרוב אליו וגאל את ממכר אחיו V'chi yamuch achicha u'machar me'achuzaso u'va go'alo ha'karov eilav v'ga'al es mimkar achiv, that there has to be the right to redeem it. Notice the language, כי ימוך אחיך ki yamuch achicha. Translate those words, כי ימוך אחיך ki yamuch achicha. How did they translate?So it doesn't just mean you become poor. You are poor. Doesn't mean you are poor. כי ימוך אחיך Ki yamuch achicha means you become destitute. And on these words Rabbi Soloveitchik says, the Torah emphasizes the calamity of becoming destitute as opposed to being destitute. It doesn't say if someone is poor, it says if someone becomes poor. Why? Because the great misfortune of becoming destitute is the experience of loss. There's a well-known axiom in life, addressed in the גמרא יומא Gemara Yoma, דף כט Daf Chaf Tes. The גמרא Gemara there says it's more difficult to relearn something forgotten than to learn something new. It's harder to rebuild than to build from scratch. If you build a new business, you have enthusiasm, excitement, zeal, vision, you're ready to go. But to rebuild after becoming bankrupt, a business that that becomes bankrupt is much harder. In a similar vein, the tragedy behind old age is the necessity to relearn how to perform old tasks and actions that were so facile when one was younger. We can attempt to build a substitute structure, we can never restore the majesty of the original. So part of the sensitivity and the empathy we have to have for the person going through loss is to realize that it's not that when a person is poor, but כי ימוך אחיך chi yamuch achicha. It's not simply the existence of being poor, it's the experience of becoming poor. It's losing what one had. It is descending, it's falling and needing to be supported that should motivate, inspire, or obligate us to have a reaction.And included in that is אל תיקח מאתו נשך ותרבית al tikach me'ito neshech v'sarbis. We have a prohibition, we're not allowed to lend with usury. We're not allowed to lend with interest. It's not just that we can't lend with outrageous interest rates, we can't lend with interest at all. Why can't you lend to a fellow Jew interest? Why can't you lend interest? So the Torah itself tells us why. The Torah says, we're now on page 702, וכי ימוך אחיך ומטה ידו עמך והחזקת בו גר ותושב וחי עמך v'chi yamuch achicha u'matah yado imach v'hechezakta bo ger v'toshav v'chai imach. אל תיקח מאתו נשך ותרבית Al tikach me'ito neshech v'sarbis. So again, your brother falls, you extend your hand to him and help him, support him. גר ותושב וחי עמך Ger v'toshav v'chai imach. Not only your brother, here a גר ger and תושב toshav also are eligible for your help and support. Don't charge interest, have awe of God, and let your brother live with you. כספך לא תתן לו בנשך ובמרבית לא תתן אכלך Kaspecha lo sitein lo v'neshech u'v'marbis lo sitein achlecha. אני השם אלקיכם Ani Hashem Elokeichem. Why shouldn't we do it? Because I am the Lord your God. Then we get into the concept of a Jewish slave and the פרשה parsha ends, not to make idols, לא תעשו לכם אלילם lo sa'asu lachem elilim, פסל ומצבה לא תקימו לכם pesel u'matzeiva lo sakimu lachem. You enter the land, don't abandon me, says God, and start worshipping other sources of power or influence, stick with me. So I want to go back and look at this section together. כי ימוך אחיך chi yamuch achicha, when your brother becomes poor. וכי ימוך אחיך ומטה ידו עמך V'chi yamuch achicha u'matah yado imach. He becomes poor. How does he become poor? עמך Imach, with you. Let's see what this means.So, yeah. פרק כה פסוק לה Perek Chaf Hey, Pasuk Lamed Hey. Chapter 25, verse 35. We are on page 702. Says רש״י Rashi, וכי ימוך אחיך ומטה ידו עמך v'chi yamuch achicha u'matah yado imach. So the person becomes poor and his means falter, מטה ידו matah yado. His his means falter, עמך imach. What does the word עמך imach mean? With you. What do you mean with you? I'm doing great. My stocks are up. I'm in mutual funds and bonds. I own real estate. I have high yielding, whatever, I'm great. What do you mean עמך imach? He's not, he's falling. I'm not falling with him. So what does the word עמך imach here mean? עמך Imach. So you look at the Artscroll, how does it translate the word עמך imach? How does it translate the word עמך imach? It's not a trick question, you're holding a חומש chumash in your hands. In your proximity. Clearly the Artscroll itself is struggling with how to translate that word. עמך Imach, with you, if it's not happening to you. So the Artscroll says what it means is it's in your proximity. It's in your proximity, that's where it's happening. עמך Imach. עמך Imach. The אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra translates the word עמך imach, שאתה חייב לנמצה עמך שאתה רואה she'ata chayav l'nimtza imach she'ata ro'eh. You're obligated to be with the person that you see. What does the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra mean? עמך Imach. More than just geographically, physically in your proximity, it means if you're aware of it, you become aware of it, you're not entitled to close and have a blind eye to it.Rabbi Dov Zev Weinberger, the author of the שמן הטוב Shemen Hatov, Rabbi Bernard Weinberger, עליו השלום alav hashalom, he passed away earlier this year. It's a great series. שמן הטוב Shemen Hatov, a brilliant, brilliant series. He has a magnificent insight on this pasuk, עמך imach. The Mishna in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos says, דע מה למעלה ממך da ma l'ma'ala mimcha, know what is above you. עין רואה ואוזן שומעת וכל מעשיך בספר נכתבים Ayin ro'ah v'ozen shoma'as v'chol ma'asecha b'sefer nichtavim, and all of your actions are being recorded. And this is the classic Mishna which we're supposed to be mindful of always. Wherever we are and whatever we're doing, know there are security cameras, and they have microphones, and everything we're doing is being recorded. And you look around and you say, I don't see a security camera here. The רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam has a camera on you. And some describe that the experience of when we go upstairs, they're defined, you know what hell is? Watching a videotape of the most uncomfortable moments of your life with Hashem. We have the capacity to edit. It's called תשובה teshuva. If you're concerned that some of those video are going to be shown in front of the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam and other people you care about, we have the edit button, we can edit our lives through the process of תשובה teshuva. But כל מעשיך בספר נכתבים kol ma'asecha b'sefer nichtavim. עין רואה Ayin ro'ah, there's an eye seeing, אוזן שומעת ozen shoma'as, there's an ear listening. And כל מעשיך בספר נכתבים kol ma'asecha b'sefer nichtavim, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is recording everything. That's the classic way of understanding that Mishna in Avos. But the חילק הבעל שם טוב heilige Baal Shem Tov, the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov has a different understanding of what this Mishna means. The בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov says the following: דע מה למעלה ממך Da ma l'ma'ala mimcha. Know what is above you. You know what is above you? There's a רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. And the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam has a master plan. And everything that's happening in your life, nothing is by coincidence and nothing is random or chance. It is all by design. And because it's by design, עין רואה ayin ro'ah. What you see, you were meant to see. And אוזן שומעת ozen shoma'as. What you hear, you were meant to hear. And כל מעשיך בספר נכתבים v'chol ma'asecha b'sefer nichtavim, how you react and how you respond to what you saw and what you heard, that will be recorded for posterity, that will define who you are. In other words, says the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov, nothing's a coincidence. So you happen to be somewhere where you overheard someone say something. You happened to be somewhere and you saw something. You're not entitled to close your eyes or close your ears and keep walking. You were meant to see that, and you were meant to hear that. And the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov said this and it's applied in many contexts. If you see something that disturbs you, if you see something that makes you happy, if you see an opportunity, whatever we see or experience or hear, that is by design. דע מה למעלה ממך Da ma l'ma'ala mimcha, know there's a השם Hashem above us and he orchestrated it, so that עין רואה ayin ro'ah, what we see we were meant to see and אוזן שומעת ozen shoma'as, what we hear we were meant to hear. And now the question, the burden's on us. כל מעשיך Kol ma'asecha, what are you going to do? Because בספר נכתבים b'sefer nichtavim. So says the שמן הטוב Shemen Hatov applying this insight of the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov, that's what it means ומטה ידו עמך u'matah yado imach. The person became destitute עמך imach, in your proximity. In your proximity. Why did הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu orchestrate things that you overheard or you saw or you became aware or you know about their pain or their need or their challenge or their struggle? You know why? והחזקת בו V'hechezakta bo. So you could strengthen him. וחי עמך V'chai imach. Just like מטה ידו עמך matah yado imach, וחי עמך v'chai imach. We have a responsibility to intervene and to help and to make a difference. We're not entitled to just look away. You see something, you got to say something. You got to do something. Not just when it comes to safety and security, but when it comes to helping people. You become aware of someone, you can't pretend you didn't see or you don't know. You have to, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu made you see because there's something you can do. You may not be able to write the big check, but you may have the connection, you may have access to the doctor, you may have the ability to support and to help. And that's what the word עמך imach in this context means. The word עמך imach means that it happened near you, not by accident. It happened near you by design because it's a call for you to respond and to make a difference. And והחזקת בו v'hechezakta bo. What difference can you make? Such an incredible insight. Says רש״י Rashi, why does it say והחזקת בו v'hechezakta bo? It's a funny word, החזקת chazakto, strengthen. אל תניחהו שירד ויפול, ויהיה קשה להקימו, אלא חזקהו משעת מותת היד. למה זה דומה? למשוי של החמור. עודהו על החמור, אחד תופס בו ומעמידו. נפל לארץ, חמשה אין מעמידים אותו. Al tanichehu sheyereid v'yipol, v'yiyeh kasheh l'hakimo, ela chazkeihu m'sha'as motas ha'yad. Lama zeh domeh? L'masui shel ha'chamor. Odeihu al ha'chamor, echad tofes bo u'ma'amido. Nafal la'aretz, chamisha ein ma'amidin oso. Says Rashi, you have something which is extraordinarily heavy, if it falls, it's very hard to lift. But if it's falling, it's hard, it's easier to set straight. It's much easier when something is tipping over to catch it and set it straight. Once it has fallen, it's much harder to lift up. And what's true for a physical burden or weight is true for people, says Rashi. A person is falling, it's easier to catch them and set them straight on their feet and on their way. If they've fallen, and now they're lying, it's much, much harder to lift them up. And that's why the Torah says, והחזקת v'hechezakta. Catch them before they fall all the way. Catch them on their way down. It'll be much easier, it'll be much easier to help. And then what's the responsibility? Just like מטה ידו עמך matah yado imach, the responsibility is וחי v'chai where? עמך Imach, with us. Says the רמב״ן Ramban on the pasuk, וחי אחיך עמך v'chai achicha imach, שיחיה עמך she'yichyeh imach, to live with you. וזו מצוות עשה להחיותו V'hi mitzvas asei l'hachayoso. This is a positive commandment to sustain him. שממנה נלמד פיקוח נפש במצוות עשה She'mimena nilmad pikuach nefesh b'mitzvas asei. This is the source of וחי v'chai that we have a Torah obligation of פיקוח נפש pikuach nefesh that supersedes all the other prohibitions of the Torah. ומכאן אמרו וחי אחיך עמך U'mikan amru v'chai achicha imach, and this is the source of the great מחלוקת machlokes Ben Petura and Rabbi Akiva. If you're walking in the desert, in 2015 there was a case like this, French tourists were found dead in the white sands of New Mexico desert. Their 10-year-old son was found alive. And why was he alive? Because their water supply they gave to him to live, and they died. For each sip they each took, they gave him two, and that was enough to keep him alive even though they died. That's the famous גמרא Gemara. Two people are walking in the desert and the one canister of water, and if you share it, you'll both die. If you keep it, you'll live, the other person will die. And Ben Petura says share it, and says Rabbi Akiva וחי v'chai but וחי עמך chai imach. You have to make sure other people live, but עמך imach, first you have to make sure you live. We spoke about this, the same Rabbi Akiva, ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha. Love yourself and then love your neighbor as yourself, but not as much as yourself that you give your life for them. That's the famous מחלוקת machlokes between Ben Petura and Rabbi Akiva, and here the רמב״ן Ramban, the רמב״ן Ramban mentions it. The Torah then says, אל תקח מאתו al tikach me'ito, because you have an obligation to sustain him, to support him, to love him, don't take, what? Don't take interest. Are you allowed to charge interest to a non-Jew? Yes. Yes. Why can you charge interest to a non-Jew? Is charging interest moral or immoral? Ethical or unethical? It's the way of the world. It's a business. Charging interest is perfectly ethical. Without getting into economics 101, but there's a time value of money. If I have my thousand dollars for the next year, it can earn money. If I lend you my thousand dollars, when you give me back a thousand dollars at the end of the year, you haven't made me whole, because my thousand dollars could have been my thousand dollars plus interest. When I give you, when I lend you money, there's a time value to money, so I deserve to be made whole. So if on the thousand dollars I could have made a hundred dollars, you should have to give me back eleven hundred dollars just to make me whole. There's a time value of money. There's a time value of money. When I went to Kellogg for a summer and their advanced executive program, and the whole part of the, it was not a Jewish program, I was the only Jew on the program, let alone member of the clergy, on background why I went on that program which was fantastic. They spent a couple days studying inventory and and and so on. For those executives it was fascinating, but I specifically remember we studied as a case study, Dell computers. If you go online and you order a Dell computer, let's say it costs a thousand dollars, you give them a thousand dollars right now. They then go order all the parts to assemble your computer, but they don't pay the parts companies for 90 days. So Dell computers makes a lot of money off of the computer they sold you, but you know what they make even more money from? Holding on to your thousand dollars for those 90 days before they have to pay their bill. There's a time value of money. You can make money off of having money. And if I lend you money, I can't make money off of my money. So it's not unethical to charge interest. In fact, to a certain degree, it's unethical not to pay interest. You've cost someone more money than they lent you. So lending with interest to a non-Jew is perfectly permissible, it's perfectly ethical. So why can't I lend with interest to a Jew? So look at the pasuk, because the pasuk itself tells me the answer. The pasuk says, אל תקח מאתו נשך ותרבית ויראת מאלקיך Al tikach me'ito neshech v'tarbis v'yareita mei'elokecha, why? Because וחי אחיך עמך v'chai achicha imach. He's your brother. See, if a stranger needs to borrow a hundred dollars and I say, 'You can borrow, but you got to pay me back at 5%,' I'm perfectly ethical. I've done nothing wrong. But if my brother needs a hundred bucks and I say, 'You can pay me back,' and I charge interest, I'm a jerk. I'm a real low life. We don't interact with our family the way we do with strangers. I'm not talking about a business opportunity, a business setting, so you set it up with a היתר עסקה heter iska to look like an investment. I'm talking about your brother can't keep the lights on. Your brother, your sister can't put food on their table. They say, can I borrow money? You say, sure, but you know there's a time value of money, so you have to pay me back with interest. That's your brother, it's your sister, it's your parent, it's your child. What is the matter with you? So the Torah says when it comes to non-Jews, when it comes to our extended family, and they are extended family, humanity, then you can lend with interest, there's nothing immoral. But if we're going to cultivate a sense of אחיך achicha, that the Jewish people are our brothers, we don't lend our brothers with interest. That is wrong. That is something which is wrong. By the way going back the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim says וכי ימוך אחיך v'chi yamuch achicha, it's a beautiful אור החיים Ohr HaChaim here, who says it's not just talking about financially. All the principles we learned, catch him before he falls, it's easier to make him upright than it is to pick him up all together. עמך Imach, it happened in your vicinity. All the lessons of the pasuk of the person who, as the Rav said, not just is destitute, but who becomes or falls to a position of being destitute, doesn't just apply to physical or financial, but applies to spiritual. Says the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim, פרשה זו תעורר אדם על רוח השם parsha zu ta'orer adam al ruach Hashem. כי ימוך אחיך הוא רוח החיים אשר נתן בסוכינו להחיותינו Ki yamuch achicha hu ruach ha'chaim asher natan b'socheinu l'hachyoseinu. אם רואה אדם כי לא האיר בתורה ובמצוות Im ro'eh adam ki lo he'ir b'Torah u'v'mitzvos, כי אין עניים מן התורה ומצוות ki ein aniyim min haTorah u'mitzvos. There's no one more indigent, there's no one more impoverished, there's no one more poor than somebody who has no Torah and no mitzvos in their life. We're living in a county of 120,000 poor people who live in mansions in gated country clubs but who are poor, who are poor because they're empty and they're hollow and in many cases they're searching and they're looking. And we have a responsibility והחזקת v'hechezakta and וחי אחיך עמך v'chai achicha imach. It happened עמך imach in our vicinity. We live in this county and you come across a person who's not observant, who doesn't know Torah and mitzvos, and they bagel you with an אוי oy or a קרעכץ krechtz or whatever they're doing to let you know they're Jewish, it happened עמך imach. When you're on line at Costco and someone makes some allusion to the fact that they're Jewish because they want you to know, that's the Baal Shem Tov. עמך, עין רואה, אוזן שומעת Imach, ayin ro'ah, ozen shoma'as. They said אוי וויי oy vey when they put their thing on the checkout because they want you to say, would you like to come for a Shabbos meal? Do you know that Rabbi Brody has a Friday night live program at our amazing synagogue? Have you heard of ל״ג בעומר Lag BaOmer? Are you a pyromaniac? You like bonfires? אוזן שומעת Ozen shoma'as, it happened עמך imach, says the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim, this notion of כי ימוך chi yamuch is not just financially, economically, but even more is true spiritually. There's nobody more poor, there's nobody more indigent or impoverished than a person absent Torah and mitzvos. And והחזקת v'hechezakta, the responsibility to lift them up and for them to live with us. Why? Because they're our brother. Because they're our brother and sister, says the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim, is true in the spiritual realm as much as it's true in the physical realm. Good. Let's keep going. Let's keep going.So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, now we're going to put it all together. First half of the parsha is all about שמיטה shmita. Second half of the parsha is all about the poor person. What does one thing have to do with another? So listen to another insight that's said in the name of the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov. Today's a בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov day. A בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov day. Our parsha says that at the end of the seventh year, that every seventh year rather, the the farmers asked by the Torah to leave the land fallow. Don't plant, don't harvest, forfeit your income for a year. And the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, back at the beginning of the parsha says, I alluded to it earlier, that שמיטה shmita is an exercise in אמונה emunah. Six years you work diligently. But what happens in those six years? You plant, and you you plow, you plant, you harvest, you nurtured, and you were the one who said, let's plant this exact species, and you're the one who had the insight how to lay out the farm, and you're the one who worked tirelessly and hard. And what will you be tempted to do? As you harvest and you count your money from selling your produce at the market, you'll say כוחי ועוצם ידי kochi v'otzem yadi. It's my hand, it's my genius, it's my hard work, it was my initiative. So at the end of six years, you're at your all-time low of arrogance and ego and taking credit and feeling independent. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, you know what happens? שמיטה Shmita comes along and it humbles you. And it says, take a year off, buddy, because it's never all about you. Go to the בית מדרש beis medrash and learn about אמונה emunah and בטחון bitachon and דביקות dveikus, spend time remembering that השם Hashem is the one who's responsible for our success. הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל Hu ha'nosein lecha koach la'asos chayil. השם Hashem is the one who gave you the the creativity and the vision. He gave you the strength for that back-breaking work. He gave you the rain and he protected you from the insects. And you spend the seventh year remembering so you're ready to go out for another six years of working, but not becoming vulnerable to feeling it was all up to you. Says the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov, what happens when the farmer comes off the year of שמיטה shmita? And that farmer after a year, a sabbatical with no income, runs into a poor person. What is the farmer likely to say? Says the בעל שם Baal Shem, the farmer's likely to turn to the poor person and say, give you צדקה tzedakah? Nobody gave me צדקה tzedakah in my sabbatical year. I learned to live with nothing for a year, learn to live with nothing. I spent a whole year with אמונה emunah and בטחון bitachon. I spent a whole year just trusting that השם Hashem would provide. So go trust השם Hashem will provide. Not the shul dues adjustment committee, and not the school scholarship committee, and not תום חב שבת Tomchei Shabbos. I'm not giving you my צדקה tzedakah because I lived off of אמונה emunah for a year, you live off of אמונה emunah for a year. Says the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov, that's why the Torah following the laws of שמיטה shmita and following the year of working on אמונה emunah, gives us the laws of how to relate to a poor person. And tells us that attitude that I live off of אמונה emunah for a year, that's for you. That's what you need to work on for you. But וכי ימוך אחיך v'chi yamuch achicha, but your brother or sister, don't lecture, don't preach on them about אמונה emunah. They need help, you help them. You help them. You know, it's been said there's a great expression, pray as though everything depends on God and work as though everything depends on you. Pray like it all depends on God when you're davening, it all is השם Hashem, I need you. You are 100% the reason. When you pray, it's all about God. And when you work, work so hard as if it all depended on you. So the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov would amend it, and he'd say, pray as if everything depends on God. When it comes to those around you, act as if everything depends on you. When it comes to your year and your life and your livelihood, אמונה emunah. It all depends on God. When it comes to the livelihood and the needs of the people around you, it all depends on you, not on God. You have a responsibility to step up and to make a difference.There's another insight that you can offer. My friend Rabbi Dr. Daniel Lerner in Baltimore shared this insight with me, and I love this insight. He took the Baal Shem Tov and he take it to the next step. And he said the following: What else does the farmer feel at the end of that year of living off of אמונה emunah? The farmer knows what it's like to be hungry. The farmer knows what it's like to worry how to pay its bills. The farmer knows what it's like to have to be anxious and have to rely on faith. That means that also positions the farmer to be even more sympathetic to the poor person. Because now the farmer says farmer says, I only went through this for one year. You poor person who has to go through it in some cases for a lifetime. I should not be less sensitive. I should not lecture and preach that you can do it, I can do it. אדרבה Adrabah, it's the exact opposite. Whatever we've been through in life, we went through to sensitize us to help other people. The Gemara in ברכות דף ה׳ Brachos daf hey says, אגרא דתעניתא צדקתא agra d'ta'anisa tzedkasa. The reward for fast day is comes from the צדקה tzedakah that you give on a fast day. The reward comes from the צדקה tzedakah? Shouldn't the reward come from fasting? By the way, based on this the משנה ברורה Mishnah Berurah says we have a מנהג minhag to give צדקה tzedakah on a fast day. How much צדקה tzedakah? The amount of the value of the meals that I skipped that day. So if normally I eat a breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and I get the medium coffee and the sausage and egg quiche on and then the coffee roll, starving. And I get that every day and that adds up to X, that's what I got to give to צדקה tzedakah. If normally I go to Starbucks, I'm not talking about the כשרות kashrus of Starbucks, but I spend $70 on my caramel latte swirl upside down grande backwards mocha choca whatever. So I spend that on myself every day and I skipped it because today is a fast day, says the משנה ברורה Mishnah Berurah, then whatever meals I skipped and that's the money I saved, that's exactly what I pledge to צדקה tzedakah. What's the connection between fasting and צדקה tzedakah? So that's what my buddy Rabbi Lerner suggested. What the Gemara means is at the end of a fast day, you now know what it's like to be hungry. Take that feeling of knowing what it's like to be hungry and motivate you to give צדקה tzedakah. Find someone who's hungry not just on a fast day and give them צדקה tzedakah the value of the meals that you skipped. וחי אחיך עמך V'chai achicha imach. Whatever you went through in life that was hard, וחי אחיך v'chai achicha. Use that experience of what you went through. You had infertility, help people going through infertility. You were poor, help someone who is poor. You struggled in marriage or whatever area in health, go find people going through what you went through and use your experiences to help that other person. עמך Imach. וחי אחיך Chai achicha, how do you help somebody? עמך Imach, when you use your experiences to help that person.
