BS"D Parshath Behar By Yitzhak Kolakowski ------ "And the L-RD spoke to Moses in Mount Sinai, saying: 'Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the Land that I give you, then the Land shall keep a Sabbath unto the L-RD." (Leviticus 25:1-2) ------- My dear friends, Hashem loves us so much, that sometimes when we do His mitzvos, we forget about Him, G-d forbid. The mitzvos He gave us are so wonderful and enjoyable, sometimes we only do them because we enjoy them, and we forget the big picture. Which person who understands what Shabbos is doesn't enjoy it far above all the mundane days of the week. When we keep Shabbos, we are sure we would do so even if G-d didn't say so. This is a very dangerous way of thinking, because the entire purpose of the mitzvos is that we should attatch ourselves to Hashem by accepting the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and becoming His faithful servants. If we have any other reason for keeping mitzvos before doing G-d's will, it becomes almost idolatrous, G-d forbid, a form of self-worship. Rather we should realize that G-d could have made Tisha B'Av once a week and Shabbos once a year, but in His love He gave us this Torah, with Shabbos every week and Tisha B'Av once a year. But if Hashem made it differently, we would have to gladly accept this as our way of life. Thus, we must thank Hashem for how wonderful the Torah He gave us is! But more than being happy about how wonderful the Torah is, we have to be happy about the fact that we are doing Hashem's will, the PURPOSE of the entire universe. "Serve the L-RD with joy!" (Psalms 100:2) We say every Shabbos, "Yismach Mosheh b'matnath helko" - "Moses was joyous over the gift of his inheritance." What gave Moses such joy? Prior to the Exodus, the Midrash tells us, Moses gave Pharaoh the revolutionary advice to give the Hebrews a day off every week so that they should be more efficient workers. Pharaoh took this brilliant advice, and the day off happened to be Shabbos. Thus, even before the Torah was given on Sinai, the Israelites kept Shabbos. However, this Sabbath observance had little or no religious significance, but was rather a convenient day off. But when Hashem gave Moses the Torah, with Shabbos as part of His Divine Will, Moses was overjoyed that this was elevated to the level of a mitzvah to Hashem instead of just a nice day off. This is the joy of serving Hashem l'shem shamayim, for the sake of heaven, rather than just doing things because you enjoy them yourself. Along the same lines, farmers know that for crops to grow well, it is a good idea to leave the land fallow, growing nothing for a year, thus making the soil more nutritious and fertile. However, this is not the reason we are keeping Shmittah this year here in the Holy Land. Rather, the reason is because Hashem Himself wants us to, because He said so on Mount Sinai. From this type of service comes true joy, the joy of fulfilling the purpose of creation with the acceptance of the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven. A service that comes from the knowledge that only the Maker of Heaven and Earth could have made such promises as "I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and (the ground) shall bring forth produce for the three years." (Leviticus 25:21) Only G-d Himself could make such a promise, that every seven years there would be a year which would grow three years' worth of food, as long as we don't plant anything the year after. This promise must have come directly from G-d on Mount Sinai. This isn't just some good agricultural practice to keep the land fertile, but it is a way of keeping our souls fertile to grow the produce of faith and trust. It is "a sabbath unto the L- RD." All of this is because there is a G-d who loves us and wants what's best for us, and Who knows much better than we do what is best, and in His mercy told us what that is. Isn't that the greatest joy, to know that you are doing the greatest thing in the world, fulfilling the purpose of Creation, making a bond with the Infinite. May it soon be that we hear the proclaimation with the blast of the Great Shophar, on the day that every man will return to his possesion, and every man to his family. Then will we keep HIS Sabbaths and have awe of HIS Temple, because He is Hashem. Gut Shabbos. (Sources: Kedushath Levi - Parshath Behar; Hatham Sopher - Parshath Behar) (c) 2001, J.M. Kolakowski All rights reserved. Copying and distribution is permitted and encouraged.