Behar

This year is a shemitah year–a year of sabbatical for the land of Israel, during which the ground
lies fallow, debts are forgiven, and the Torah legislates economic and agricultural measures to
recalibrate a more equitable society.1 Its source is found in the opening to this week’s portion,
Behar.

‫ֵאמ ֹר׃ ּדַ ֞ ֵּבר אֶ ל־ּב ְֵנ֤י י ִׂשְ ָראֵ ל֙ ו ְָאמַ ְר ָ ּ֣ת אֲ לֵהֶ֔ ם ִ ּ֤כי תָ בֹ֙אּו֙ אֶ ל־הָ אָ֔ ֶרץ אֲ ֶ ׁ֥שר אֲ ִנ֖י‬ ֽ ‫ְהר סִ ַינ֖י ל‬ ֥ ַ ‫וַי ְדַ ֵ ּ֤בר ה֙ ' אֶ ל־מ ֹׁשֶ֔ ה ּב‬
‫ם ּתִ ז ַ ְ֣רע ׂשָ ֔ ֶדָך ו ֵ ְׁ֥שׁש ׁשָ ִנ֖ים ּתִ ז ְ֣מ ֹר ּכ ְַר ֶ ֑מָך ו ְָאסַ פְ ָ ּ֖ת‬
֙ ‫ְתה הָ אָ֔ ֶרץ ׁשַ ָ ּ֖בת לַה'׃ ֵ ׁ֤שׁש ׁשָ נִי‬ ֣ ָ ‫נ ֵ ֹ֣תן ל ֶ ָ֑כם ו ְׁשָ ב‬
‫בּוָאתּֽה׃ ּובַּׁשָ ָנ֣ה הַ ּׁשְ בִיעִ֗ ת ׁשַ ַ ּ֤בת ׁשַ ּבָתֹו ֙ן י ִהְ ֶי֣ה לָאָ֔ ֶרץ ׁשַ ָ ּ֖בת לַה' ָׂשֽדְ ָ֙ך ֹ֣לא תִ ז ָ ְ֔רע וְכ ְַרמְ ָך֖ ֹ֥לא תִ ז ְֽמ ֹר׃‬ ָ ְ‫אֶ ת־ּת‬
‫ֽיר ָ֙ך ֹ֣לא תִ קְ ֔צֹור ו ְאֶ ת־עִ ּנ ֵ ְ֥בי נְז ֶ ִ֖ירָך ֹ֣לא תִ ב ְ֑צ ֹר ׁשְ נַ ֥ת ׁשַ ּב ָ֖תֹון י ִהְ ֶי֥ה ל ָָא ֶֽרץ׃ ְ֠והָ י ְ֠תָ ה ׁשַ ַּ֨בת הָ ָ ֤א ֶרץ‬ ְ ‫ֵ ֣את סְ ִ ֤פיחַ קְ ִצ‬
ְ ‫ְתֹוׁשבְָך֔ הַ ּג ִ ָ֖רים עִ ָּמְֽך׃ ו ְ ֨ ִלבְהֶ מְ ּתְ ָך֔ ו ְַלֽחַ ָּ֖יה אֲ ֶ ׁ֣שר ּב‬
‫ְַאר ֶ ֑צָך‬ ֣ ָ ‫ֽיר ָ֙ך ּול‬ ְ ‫ם ל ְׇא ְכ ֔ ָלה לְָך֖ ּולְעַ בְּדְ ָך֣ וְלַאֲ מָ ֶ ֑תָך וְלִׂשְ ִכ‬ ֙ ‫ָל ֶכ‬
)‫א–ז‬:‫בּוָאתּה לֶאֱ כֹֽל׃ {ס} (ויקרא כה‬ ָ֖ ְ‫ּתִ הְ ֶי֥ה ׇכל־ּת‬

YHVH spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: Speak to the Israelite people and say to them:
When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a sabbath of YHVH.
Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather
in the yield. But in the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest, a
sabbath of YHVH: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap
the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untrimmed vines; it shall be
a year of complete rest for the land. But you may eat whatever the land during its
sabbath will produce—you, your male and female slaves, the hired and bound laborers
who live with you, and your cattle and the beasts in your land may eat all its yield. (Lev.
25: 1-7)

1
For resources on Shemitah 2021-2022, see https://shmitaproject.org.

1 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah — Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022

After six years of toil, the earth is offered a release in the seventh. It is not to be cultivated or
farmed. Undisturbed, it is to yield what it yields without human intervention. In an agricultural
society reliant on the land for sustenance, one could imagine the anxiety that such a rule might
stir. The Torah accounts for this:

‫בּוָאתֽנּו׃ וְצ ִִּו֤יתִ י אֶ ת־ּב ְִרכָתִ ֙י ָל ֶ֔כם ּבַּׁשָ ָנ֖ה‬

ֵ ְ‫ִיעת ֚הֵ ן ֹ֣לא נִז ָ ְ֔רע ו ְֹ֥לא נֶאֱ ֖ס ֹף אֶ ת־ּת‬ ֑ ִ ‫ֹאכל ּבַּׁשָ ָנ֣ה הַ ּׁשְ ב‬
֖ ַ ‫ו ִ ְ֣כי ת ֹאמְ ר֔ ּו מַ ה־ּנ‬
‫בּואה י ָ ָׁ֑שן ַ ֣עד ׀‬
֣ ָ ְ‫ְּתם מִ ן־הַ ּת‬ ֖ ֶ ‫ת אֶ ת־הַ ּתְ בּואָ֔ ה לִׁשְ ֹ֖לׁש הַ ּׁשָ נִ ֽים׃ ּוז ְַרעְ ּתֶ֗ ם ֚אֵ ת הַ ּׁשָ ָנ֣ה הַ ּׁשְ מִ י ִ֔נת ו ַאֲ ַכל‬ ֙ ָ‫הַ ּׁשִ ִ ּׁ֑שית ו ְעָ ׂש‬
)‫ כ–כב‬:‫הַ ּׁשָ ָנ֣ה הַ ּתְ ׁשִ יעִ֗ ת עַ ד־ּבֹו ֙א ּתְ ֣בּוָאתָ֔ ּה ּת ֹאכ ְ֖לּו י ָָׁשֽן׃ (ויקרא כה‬

And should you ask, “What are we to eat in the seventh year, if we may neither sow nor
gather in our crops?” I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it shall
yield a crop sufficient for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will still be
eating old grain of that crop; you will be eating the old until the ninth year, until its crops
come in. (Lev. 25:20-22)

In other words, should you fear for your bellies, rest assured that enough crops will be produced
in the sixth year to cover you for year 7 (the shemitah year) and year 8 (the first year of the new
cycle, during which one must plant anew), and into year 9 (as you await your first new harvest).

The Sefat Emet comments on this:

‫ בס' נועם אלימלך בשם אחיו ז"ל כי ע"י השאלה יצטרך המקום‬.'‫בפסוק וכי תאמרו מה נאכל כו‬
‫ מאן דיהיב חיי יהיב‬.‫ וביאור הדברים דמה קושיא היא זו מה נאכל‬.‫לצוות את הברכה כו' ע"ש‬
‫ והתירוץ‬.‫ אך כי אם יהי' קיום בנ"י ע"פ נס ואין כל הדורות ראוין לנסים לכן יאמרו מה נאכל‬.‫מזונא‬
)‫ תרל"ז‬,‫ בהר‬,‫שיהי' בדרך ברכה וברכה היא קצת בטבע… (שפת אמת‬

On the verse, “And should you ask, ‘What are we to eat [in the seventh year, if we may
neither sow nor gather in our crops]” (Lev. 25:20) [on account of shemitah], the Noam
Elimelech,2 in the name of his brother,3 wrote that on account of the question [What are
we to eat?], the Holy One was required to command the blessing. [Hence God’s
response, “I will ordain my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it shall yield a crop
sufficient for three years” (Lev. 25:21).] The meaning of this is: What kind of question is
“What are we to eat?” The One who gives life will surely give food! It must be that the
ancient Israelites were sustained by miracles, but not every generation will be worthy of
2
Reb Elimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk (1717-1787).
3
Reb Zushya of Anipoli (1718–1800), author of Menorat Zahav. Both brothers were students of the Maggid of
Mezerich.

2 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah — Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022

 such. It is they [the unworthy ones] who will [more justifiably] ask “What are we to eat?”
And they will be answered in a way of blessing (b’derech bracha) and blessing is
somewhat by way of nature… (Sefat Emet, Behar 1877)

The Noam Elimelech, in the name of his brother Reb Zushya, is not very sympathetic to the
people’s food concerns.

!‫מאן דיהיב חיי יהיב מזונא‬

The One who gives life will surely give food!

Shouldn’t the Israelites have faith that God will provide? The original source (not cited by the
Sefat Emet) is even more sharp.

‫וכי תאמרו כו' שהתורה מלמדת לאדם דרכי השם שיהיה שלם בבטחונו על אלהיו ולא יאמר כלל‬
‫"מה יאכל" כי כאשר חלילה יפול מן הבטחון לחשוב "מה יאכל" הוא עושה פגם חלילה בהשפע‬
)‫ פרשת בהר‬,‫ (נעם אלימלך‬.‫ואטרחו כלפי שמיא לצוות מחדש‬

“Should you ask [‘what are we to eat?’”] (Lev. 25: 20). The Torah is teaching a person the
ways of God so that we might be whole in our faith in God and not say “What are we to
eat?” When a person, God forbid, falls from faith to think “What are we to eat,” s/he
creates a disturbance in the Divine flow (shefa) and necessitates the heavens to ordain
anew. (Noam Elimelech, Behar)

For the Noam Elimelech and his brother, the fear of food scarcity is indicative of deficient faith.
“Mah nochal”(“What are we to eat?) is an offense against God the Provider. As we’ll see soon in
the book of Bamidbar, this is an offense that the Jews of the desert would perfect.

The Sefat Emet interprets this claim a bit more softly.

'‫ והתירוץ שיהי‬.‫אך כי אם יהי' קיום בנ"י ע"פ נס ואין כל הדורות ראוין לנסים לכן יאמרו מה נאכל‬
.‫בדרך ברכה וברכה היא קצת בטבע‬

It must be that the ancient Israelites were sustained by miracles, but not every
generation will be worthy of such. It is they [the unworthy ones] who will [more
justifiably] ask “What are we to eat?” And they will be answered in a way of blessing
(b’derech bracha) and blessing is somewhat by way of nature (ktzat ba’tevah).

3 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah — Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022

It is indeed the less pious among us who might worry after our meals, hoping for miraculous
excess during a period of seeming insufficiency. But should they/we ask after them, we will not
be punished. We will be heard. And we will be answered “in a way of blessing” that is
“somewhat by way of nature”-- that is, not entirely miraculously. Those who don’t deserve
miracles won't get them. They will “only” be granted a natural response. They will “only” get the
blessing of a surplus harvest.

For the Sefat Emet, the impiety on display here is not about insufficient faith–fear that God
won’t send the food–but about misconstrued faith, a fundamental misunderstanding about how
God works in the world. He continues,

‫אך באמת צריכין בנ"י לידע כי הנסים והטבעים הכל אחד ובאמת אין נס גדול ונפלא כמו הטבע‬
‫ ואז כשזו האמונה מתברר לבנ"י אין עסק להיות ניזון ע"פ‬.‫שהוא הגדול שבנפלאות המושגים לנו‬
)‫ תרל"ז‬,‫ בהר‬,‫ (שפת אמת‬.…‫ רק וכי תאמרו כו' אז וצויתי כו' כנ"ל‬.‫נס‬

In truth, the Jewish people should know that miracle and nature are all one. There is
truly no greater, more wondrous miracle than nature itself, which is the most gorgeous
thing known to us. When this understanding is clear to the Jewish people, they have no
concern to be fed by way of miracles. Thus, only for those who ask “What shall we eat”
(Lev. 25:20) then “[God] will ordain [God’s] blessing.” (Lev. 25:21)...(Sefat Emet, Behar
1877)

The natural order of the world, says the Sefat Emet, is a miracle. That the sun rises and sets;
that trees blossom and lay dormant; that waters flow; that babies grow, that plants sprout, etc:
These most "natural" events, when fully appreciated, are anything but humdrum. They are
teeming with life, beauty, mystery and are occasions for awe and profound wonder. To quote
the much-quoted William Blake:

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour. (“Auguries of Innocence”)

It is our failure when we cannot behold the Divine in a bloom, and no less so in the loaf of
bread. We need not seek miracles when we can see them before our eyes.

4 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah — Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022

The equivalence of the natural with the supernatural is admittedly a difficult perspective to
maintain. We become inured over time, unable to behold the wonders we encounter day after
day. Over-exposure leaves us desensitized, hungry for ever more intense, more
out-of-the-ordinary experiences. We wonder “ma nochal?” What will feed our souls? What will
fill us up?

Sometimes a shake-up in routine can remind us of the wondrous divinity that surrounds us and
animates our world. One year out of seven (and one day out of seven), we are called to pay
attention, to adjust our focus so that we might see again, might reawaken to our reality with the
capacity for wonder of our beginner’s mind.

***

The first Rashi on this week’s portion notes the location where the shemitah laws were given–

ֽ ‫ְהר סִ ַינ֖י ל‬
)‫א‬:‫ֵאמ ֹר׃ (ויקרא כה‬ ֥ ַ ‫וַי ְדַ ֵ ּ֤בר ה֙ ' אֶ ל־מ ֹׁשֶ֔ ה ּב‬

YHVH spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: (Lev. 25:1)

–and asks:

?‫ מָ ה עִ נְי ַן ׁשְ מִ ּטָ ה אֵ צֶל הַ ר סִ ינַי? ו ַהֲ ֹלא כָל הַ ּמִ צְֹות נֶאֶ מְ רּו מִ ּסִ ינַי‬.‫בהר סיני‬

What has the matter of the Sabbatical year to do with Mount Sinai [that Scripture felt
compelled to expressly state where it was commanded]? Were not all commandments
given on Sinai?

One might pose this question slightly differently: What about shemitah makes it essentially
“Sinai-itic”? What about these laws is foundational?

Perhaps shemitah imparts this core teaching about the relationship between nature (tevah) and
miracle (nes). Giving the land a rest every seven years, desisting from intervening in its course, is
perhaps an exercise in quiet observation and deep appreciation. We watch the universe unfold,
and what we discover are the ways in which that natural world is itself so very enchanted, so
very mysterious. We might see that

.‫אין נס גדול ונפלא כמו הטבע שהוא הגדול שבנפלאות המושגים לנו‬

5 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah — Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022

 There is truly no greater, more wondrous miracle than nature itself, which is the most
gorgeous thing known to us.

That awareness might be place us “etzel Har Sinai,” right near Mount Sinai.

Bifnim - For Reflection

1. The Sefat Emet writes, “miracle and nature are all one. There is truly no greater, more
wondrous miracle than nature itself.” Consider your understanding of the concept of a
miracle. How does the Sefat Emet compare with your understanding? Is it the same or
different? If so, in what way(s)? How might his understanding cause you to re-think what
you categorize as a miracle?
2. In your own experience, what do you notice about your own conditioning when you
encounter a situation like the Israelites heading into the seventh year–that is, a moment
of great uncertainty and surrender of control? How do you tend to react? What, if any,
practices have you found that help you respond to the anxiety such a situation might
provoke in a mindful way? What practices have you found that inhibit that capacity?
3. Are there people in your life who you consider models of the kind of mindful, spiritual
response to uncertainty that we’ve explored in this teaching? If so, who are they? What
makes them exemplary to you?

Ba’Avodah/In Practice

This week in the Omer is the week of Hod, associated with splendor as well as hoda’ah,
gratitude. In connection with our teaching, the invitation this week is to engage in a gratitude
practice.

This week, make an intention to express gratitude once a day (at least–you might choose to
increase that number!). You might consider printing out a verse or phrase, such as

‫ְעֹולם חַ סְ ּדֽ ֹו׃‬

֣ ָ ‫ִּכי־טֹוב ִּכ ֖ י ל‬
֑ ‫הֹודּו לַה׳‬
֣
Thank YHVH who is goodness,
whose Hesed/abundant love is unlimited

6 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah — Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022

Or find another verse or phrase of gratitude that speaks to you. Print it out and put it
somewhere you will notice it regularly–in the kitchen, on your bathroom mirror, by your bed.

As you go about your day, notice in particular when moments arise where the uncertainty or
surrender of control provokes in you a sensation of anxiety. When you notice that feeling
arising, see if you can breathe and pause. In that space, see if you can find something for which
to express gratitude. Give yourself permission to be real: Not every moment of anxiety or
uncertainty is necessarily an appropriate moment for gratitude. But perhaps, in this moment,
there is something.

If there is, see if you can articulate that gratitude: “Thank you, Divine One/Creator/Life Force,
for ____.” Try to be specific. What does the thing you’re noticing evoke in you? What is good
about it? Why are you grateful for it?

After you have spoken your gratitude, linger for a moment. Notice any sensations–in your chest,
your gut, around your eyes and jaw, or anywhere else in your body you might carry anxiety. Has
anything changed? Do you feel differently? If so, that’s one more thing for which you might
express gratitude: The capacity to give thanks at all.

7 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah — Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022