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It’s our fruit and our land

Written by Dovid Manson

In this weeks parasha we read about shmita. If we look closely at the pesukim leading up to shmita the torah uses a language that it is our land. For example in posak beis its says “when you come to the land I will give to you” In posak gimmel it says “ for six years you may sow your field and for six years you may prune your vineyard and you may gather in its crop” i.e. its your land now that I given to you. we see the Torah is telling us in passuk beis, gimle, dald and hey, again and again that it is our fruits that were reaping. Why stress that it’s ours precisely when we are told we will have to leave it? In fact, the fact that we have to let it grow free is a proof that the land is not ours. Why tell us that is ours and then say by shmita that the produce shall be yours to eat?!
Perhaps the torah is telling us that the two are related. The fruits of the first 6 years are ours because we leave the fruit of the seventh year. It’s not because we have worked in the field that we get to have it, but because we didn’t work in it that it is ours. By not working in our field, we’ve fulfilled our part in the two way contract between us and Hashem.”

Many times we think we deserve certain things in life because we’ve worked for them, and earned them. We think we should have money because we work hard for a living, but rather it’s how we didn’t work on Shabbos. When we feel we could be making much more its not what we do its how we do it.

The more you keep Shabbos, Shabbos keeps you, and it’s a connection with Hashem. Just like it took Him six days and on the seventh He rested, so to we rise above nature and stop work on Shabbos to testify that he runs the world.

To take this one step further, we give tzdaka but how do we give it? Do we give it with a smile, do we show appreciation to our rebabim, when we eat do we thank Hashem and our parents for the food we have, we have to recognize all the good Hashem has given us. The seventh year was given to us to take note on the things we should do and improve on for the future and think, just like we can’t work in our business, we recognize and show appreciation towards all the good Hashem has given to us. Just like I can’t finish any work or any duty in the seventh year i can’t even try, because everything is in the hands of Hashem.

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