Shmita: In the Land

Israel always experiences holidays a little differently. All of the prayers for rain in the prayerbook are specifically with regard to Israel, not even applicable outside of the land. The holidays follow the cycle of the harvests and the weather, as they occur in the land of Israel. So too should it be that the processes with which we use our lands and appreciate them should only be applicable to Israel.

This week's parsha, parshat beHar, discusses the laws of shmita, only experienced here in Israel:
ובשנה השביעת שבת שבתון יהיה לארץ שבת לה' שדך לא תזרע וכרמך לא תזמור
In the seventh year there shall be a Shabbat Shabbaton, an ultimate Shabbat, a Shabbat for God; your fields you will not plant and your vineyards do not prune. Vayikra 25:5
Shmita, the seventh year of a seven year cycle, where one may not plant his fields or actively make the land work. Seems logical: just as we get a weekly Shabbat, the seventh day of the week to rest and rejuvenate, so too does the land need time to recuperate and air out. Yet what is this idea exactly and how should we relate to it?

How does shmita apply to Jews outside of Israel? Simply speaking, it doesn't. Only the people living in the land of Israel must be concerned with the laws of shmita and how they follow them. The parsha says: כי תבואו אל-הארץ, when you come into the land (Vayikra 25:2), meaning the law about to be laid out for us is only applicable to the land in which the people are about to enter. That land is Israel. This is the land we as Jews are meant to have and meant to be in. It therefore follows that only within the land specified above should those specific mitzvoth be followed. Heter Mechira (Leniency of Sale) allows that one can sell his land to a non-Jew and continue working it. That solves the problem of the land, but not the problem or whether the shmita year even needs to be observed. The Rabbis debate whether it is biblically binding or rabbinically binding (as it should only be applicable if we celebrate a Jubilee year). Rav Ovadia Yosef, z"l the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel dealt extensively with the debate over how to do shmita, and decided that when a majority of Jews live in what is considered biblical Israel, we perform Shmita.

One thought is that there is another way to do shmita, especially as we are not an agricultural society or we do not believe in the binding nature of the Torah. We can be sure to give tzedakah to those who deal with food, making sure that we help provide for those who do not have it (it is the idea of hefger, openness, that we must leave our fields for those who need, which comes from the Mishna). Many of us live our lives without thinking of food, where it comes from or how much we have. Yet there are so many without it, who cannot do so. That same idea applies during Shmita, where we must constantly be aware. Our awareness should be awakened, whether we pay more attention to what we buy or we give more to that specific cause. Or, we decide to take up a cause of agricultural protection.

The number seven: Seven comes up many times: in the days of creation, in the days of the week. In the counting of the omer (seven seven's) and in Nidah. Of course there are the seven days an impure man must remain outside of the camp before he is pure again. Not to mention pharaoh's dreams about the seven years of great crop and seven years of famine. And many more. So, here we also see the number seven. What is the significance? There is an idea of seven being a number of fullness, of completion. We get wholeness and fulfillment.

Multifield system: One way to still perform shmita is by using a multifield rotation system, which means that farmers let a portion of their field lay fallow every year, meaning that each year a part of the land gets a rest yet a farmer does not lose money or work.

How to get around shmita in Israel: Many people feel that the shmita year is a difficult concept to handle logically or rationally speaking. They understand that it is commanded in the Torah, yet they also feel that all the Jewish farmers will go out of business were they not to sell their produce in that particular year. Many Jews find a way around it: plant your produced on a raised bed, so it is not actually being grown in the land, nullifying the problem. Also, the idea is that only biblical Israel is considered in this regulation, meaning food produced in the Negev is acceptable for use.

Whatever one choses to do, the shmita year can be meaningful, and is not something to be written off, whether in Israel or in the states. Rather, it is a way to become more aware and help yourself connect more to either God, your food, the land, or a combination therein.

Shabbat Shalom!