Difference between revisions of "Duration of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce/2"
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<mekorot><multilink><a href="SifraVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Sifra Vayikra #1</a><a href="SifraVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">25:20-22</a><a href="Sifra Vayikra" data-aht="parshan">About the Sifra Vayikra</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RashiVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Rashi</a><a href="RashiVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:20-22</a><a href="R. Shelomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RalbagVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Ralbag #2</a><a href="RalbagVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:20-22</a><a href="R. Levi b. Gershom (Ralbag, Gersonides)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Levi b. Gershom</a></multilink>,<fn>Ralbag also brings the opinion that the verses might refer to a case in which Yovel follows Shemittah.</fn> <multilink><a href="ShadalVayikra25-21-22" data-aht="source">Shadal</a><a href="ShadalVayikra25-21-22" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:21-22</a><a href="R. Shemuel David Luzzatto (Shadal)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="HoilMosheVayikra25-21" data-aht="source">Hoil Moshe</a><a href="HoilMosheVayikra25-21" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:21</a><a href="R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi (Hoil Moshe)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RDavidZviHoffmannVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">R. David Zvi Hoffmann</a><a href="RDavidZviHoffmannVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:20-22</a><a href="R. David Zvi Hoffmann" data-aht="parshan">About R. David Zvi Hoffmann</a></multilink></mekorot> | <mekorot><multilink><a href="SifraVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Sifra Vayikra #1</a><a href="SifraVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">25:20-22</a><a href="Sifra Vayikra" data-aht="parshan">About the Sifra Vayikra</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RashiVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Rashi</a><a href="RashiVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:20-22</a><a href="R. Shelomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RalbagVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Ralbag #2</a><a href="RalbagVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:20-22</a><a href="R. Levi b. Gershom (Ralbag, Gersonides)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Levi b. Gershom</a></multilink>,<fn>Ralbag also brings the opinion that the verses might refer to a case in which Yovel follows Shemittah.</fn> <multilink><a href="ShadalVayikra25-21-22" data-aht="source">Shadal</a><a href="ShadalVayikra25-21-22" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:21-22</a><a href="R. Shemuel David Luzzatto (Shadal)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="HoilMosheVayikra25-21" data-aht="source">Hoil Moshe</a><a href="HoilMosheVayikra25-21" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:21</a><a href="R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi (Hoil Moshe)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RDavidZviHoffmannVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">R. David Zvi Hoffmann</a><a href="RDavidZviHoffmannVayikra25-20-22" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:20-22</a><a href="R. David Zvi Hoffmann" data-aht="parshan">About R. David Zvi Hoffmann</a></multilink></mekorot> | ||
<point><b>"וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים"</b> – These sources understand that the phrase "שְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" to refer to three years of the shemittah cycle (hence the definitive "hay").  Even though the produce will only feed the people for 24 months, these are spread across three years.<fn>Crops planted in the first half of the sixth year are eaten in the second half of the sixth year, the entire seventh year, and the first half of the eighth  year.</fn></point> | <point><b>"וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים"</b> – These sources understand that the phrase "שְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" to refer to three years of the shemittah cycle (hence the definitive "hay").  Even though the produce will only feed the people for 24 months, these are spread across three years.<fn>Crops planted in the first half of the sixth year are eaten in the second half of the sixth year, the entire seventh year, and the first half of the eighth  year.</fn></point> | ||
− | <point><b>עַד הַשָּׁנָה הַתְּשִׁיעִת</b> – This verse is difficult for this position | + | <point><b>עַד הַשָּׁנָה הַתְּשִׁיעִת</b> – This verse is difficult for this position which claims that already in the second half of the eighth year the nation can eat from the new harvest:<fn>See Abarbanel who raises this question.</fn>  <br/> |
<ul> | <ul> | ||
<li>Rashi explains that even though some crops can be eaten earlier, until Sukkot of the ninth years, there is produce that is still on the threshing floor and has not yet been brought into the house.</li> | <li>Rashi explains that even though some crops can be eaten earlier, until Sukkot of the ninth years, there is produce that is still on the threshing floor and has not yet been brought into the house.</li> | ||
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<point><b>"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת"</b></point> | <point><b>"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת"</b></point> | ||
<point><b>Most common case</b></point> | <point><b>Most common case</b></point> | ||
− | <point><b>Context</b></point> | + | <point><b>Context</b> – Abarbanel questions why, according to this approach, these verses do not come after a discussion of Shemittah.</point> |
</category> | </category> | ||
<category>Two Plus One | <category>Two Plus One |
Version as of 03:14, 19 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 harvested in either the seventh or eighth years, requiring the fifth year to make enough food to last for the entire sixth, seventh and eighth years.
- He points out that Sukkot is referred to as coming "בְּצֵאת הַשָּׁנָה",8 suggesting that Tishrei (and not NIssan) marks the change from one year to the next. The Karaites might respond that the verse refers to the end of an agricultural year, but not a ritual one.
- Ibn Ezra further notes that the shofar blast that marks the Jubilee year is blown after Yom Kippur, suggesting that the year begins in Tishrei.
- Finally, he points to the order of the nation's words "הֵן לֹא נִזְרָע וְלֹא נֶאֱסֹף" to prove that in the Sabbatical year planting precedes sowing, in contrast to the claims of the Karaites.
Since there are two years in which there is no harvesting, food must last for three years. Moreover, the language of "שְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" with a definite article makes sense since the verse refers not just to 36 months but to three full years of the Shemittah cycle.
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.
- Rashi explains that even though some crops can be eaten earlier, until Sukkot of the ninth years, there is produce that is still on the threshing floor and has not yet been brought into the house.
- Ralbag, in contrast, claims that this part of the verse refers to a year in which Yovel follows Shemittah, in which case the old grains must sustain the nation through the ninth year.15
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.