Difference between revisions of "Duration of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce/2"
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<li>Ramban and Abarbanel suggest to rearrange the order of the verse (לסרס המקרא) so that it reads, "And if you say in the seventh year, "what shall we eat [in the eighth year]".</li> | <li>Ramban and Abarbanel suggest to rearrange the order of the verse (לסרס המקרא) so that it reads, "And if you say in the seventh year, "what shall we eat [in the eighth year]".</li> | ||
<li>Abarbanel alternatively suggests to repunctuate the verse, putting a pause after the words, "מַה נֹּאכַל" rather than after "בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת".‎<fn>He points to the pausal mark of a <i>tipikha</i> under the phrase "מַה נֹּאכַל" as support for this reading.</fn> As such, the verse reads, "If you say, 'What shall we eat? [After all] in the seventh year we may not sow or harvest!?'"</li> | <li>Abarbanel alternatively suggests to repunctuate the verse, putting a pause after the words, "מַה נֹּאכַל" rather than after "בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת".‎<fn>He points to the pausal mark of a <i>tipikha</i> under the phrase "מַה נֹּאכַל" as support for this reading.</fn> As such, the verse reads, "If you say, 'What shall we eat? [After all] in the seventh year we may not sow or harvest!?'"</li> | ||
− | <li>R. | + | <li>R. Wessely, instead, suggests that the people are asking, "how will we eat [in peace] in the seventh year knowing that we won't be sowing or gathering [for the next year]?</li> |
</ul></point> | </ul></point> | ||
<point><b>"וּזְרַעְתֶּם אֵת הַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁמִינִת"</b> – This phrase is difficult for this position as it suggests that the people will be sowing in the eighth year, while these sources maintain that the eighth year is a Jubilee year when this is forbidden:<br/> | <point><b>"וּזְרַעְתֶּם אֵת הַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁמִינִת"</b> – This phrase is difficult for this position as it suggests that the people will be sowing in the eighth year, while these sources maintain that the eighth year is a Jubilee year when this is forbidden:<br/> | ||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
<li>This position might assert that the Jubilee year is not counted among the years of the Shemittah cycle, and thus, the eighth year of the verse refers to the year after Yovel.</li> | <li>This position might assert that the Jubilee year is not counted among the years of the Shemittah cycle, and thus, the eighth year of the verse refers to the year after Yovel.</li> | ||
− | <li>Abarbanel</li> | + | <li>Abarbanel, instead, suggests that the phrase is attached to the previous verse and means that due to the blessing, it will be as if you planted in the eighth year.</li> |
− | <li>R"Y Bekhor Shor, Ramban,<fn>Ramban is not explicit but this</fn> and R. Wessely | + | <li>R"Y Bekhor Shor, Ramban,<fn>Ramban is not explicit but this</fn> and R. Wessely claim that in reality the verses are addressing both the regular scenario and the more exceptional Yovel year.  The phrase "וּזְרַעְתֶּם אֵת הַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁמִינִת" goes back to a normal cycle in which sowing is permitted in the eighth year.<fn>R. Wessely explains that the doubling in the verse of "תֹּאכְלוּ יָשָׁן"/ "וַאֲכַלְתֶּם... יָשָׁן" can be understood if one explains that one phrase refers to a regular Shemittah cycle and the other to a Jubilee year.  Ramban appears to understand the whole verse to refer to the regular cycle, expalining the phrase "</fn></li> |
− | < | + | </ul></point> |
− | </ul | ||
− | |||
</opinion> | </opinion> | ||
<opinion>Every Shemittah | <opinion>Every Shemittah |
Version as of 10:58, 18 May 2016
Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce
Exegetical Approaches
Three Full Years
Hashem promises that the produce from the sixth year will feed the nation for three full years. This position subdivides regarding the situation spoken of in the verses:
Shemittah Followed by Yovel
The verses speak of a case in which Shemittah is followed by the Jubilee Year. Since there are then two consecutive years in which sowing is prohibited, Hashem promises that the food planted in the sixth year will sustain the people for three entire years.
- Ramban and Abarbanel suggest to rearrange the order of the verse (לסרס המקרא) so that it reads, "And if you say in the seventh year, "what shall we eat [in the eighth year]".
- Abarbanel alternatively suggests to repunctuate the verse, putting a pause after the words, "מַה נֹּאכַל" rather than after "בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת".4 As such, the verse reads, "If you say, 'What shall we eat? [After all] in the seventh year we may not sow or harvest!?'"
- R. Wessely, instead, suggests that the people are asking, "how will we eat [in peace] in the seventh year knowing that we won't be sowing or gathering [for the next year]?
- This position might assert that the Jubilee year is not counted among the years of the Shemittah cycle, and thus, the eighth year of the verse refers to the year after Yovel.
- Abarbanel, instead, suggests that the phrase is attached to the previous verse and means that due to the blessing, it will be as if you planted in the eighth year.
- R"Y Bekhor Shor, Ramban,5 and R. Wessely claim that in reality the verses are addressing both the regular scenario and the more exceptional Yovel year. The phrase "וּזְרַעְתֶּם אֵת הַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁמִינִת" goes back to a normal cycle in which sowing is permitted in the eighth year.6
Every Shemittah
The Shemittah year begins in Nissan, during the harvest season. As such, during every Shemittah cycle, no food is sown already in the second half of the sixth year, requiring the fifth year to make enough food to last for the entire sixth, seventh and eighth years.
Parts of Three Years
Hashem blesses the nation that the crops planted in the beginning of the sixth year will suffice to nourish them across parts of three years of the shemittah cycle: during the second half of the sixth year, the entire seventh year, and the first half of the eighth year.
Two Plus One
Hashem promises that the produce from the sixth year will provide food for two years and material to sow for the third year.