Duration of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce/2
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Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce
Exegetical Approaches
Overview
Commentators differ in their understanding of the "three year" blessing promised by Hashem in anticipation of the Sabbatical year. Several sources maintain that Hashem is indeed promising that the harvest will provide sufficient food for three entire years. One opinion in the Sifra explains that this is necessary because the verses are speaking of the exceptional scenario of the seventh Shemittah cycle in which the Sabbatical year is followed by the Jubilee year and sowing is prohibited for two years in a row. A Karaite opinion, in contrast, asserts that even in a regular Sabbatical year, a full three year blessing is required. It claims that the Sabbatical year begins in Nisan with the reaping season, which results in two consecutive years without a harvest.
Others reinterpret the phrase "לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" and claim that, in reality, Hashem is promising only two years' worth of food. Rashi explains that the produce will nourish the people during parts of three different years of the Shemittah cycle, i.e. the second half of the sixth year, the entire seventh year, and the first half of the eighth year. Alternatively, Rashbam posits that the sixth year's harvest will provide food for the sixth and seventh years, as well as the seeds needed to sow the land in the eighth year.
Three Full Years
Hashem is promising a blessing 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:
Only Shemittah Followed by Yovel
The verses are speaking exclusively about the unique case of the seventh Sabbatical Year which is immediately followed by the Jubilee Year. Since in this scenario there are two consecutive years in which sowing is prohibited, Hashem is reassuring the people that the harvest of the sixth year will sustain them for three full years.
Sources:Sifra Vayikra #2, Ibn Ezra, R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, Ramban, Abarbanel, R. N"H Wessely in the Biur
Context – This reading is supported by the location of these verses in the midst of the discussion of laws related to the Jubilee year, rather than (as might have been anticipated) after the laws of Shemittah.
"וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" – This position understands the phrase "לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" to simply mean a period of thirty-six months. In the sixth year, enough produce will be harvested to nourish the people for three full years.1
"עַד הַשָּׁנָה הַתְּשִׁיעִת עַד בּוֹא תְּבוּאָתָהּ תֹּאכְלוּ יָשָׁן" – According to this position, the verse means (as per its straightforward reading) that the old grain will be eaten through (עד ועד בכלל) the ninth year, until the harvest ("בּוֹא תְּבוּאָתָהּ") of the ninth year.2
Exceptional case – R. Hoffmann challenges this position, claiming that it is odd that the Torah would be concerned only with the unique case of Shemittah followed by a Jubilee Year rather than the worries brought by every regular Shemittah year. Abarbanel, however, claims that there is no need to discuss the regular scenario since it is commonplace for there to be a crop failure which necessitates one year's harvest to last for two years. Thus, it is specifically the most severe scenario that the verses must address with a special blessing.
"וּזְרַעְתֶּם אֵת הַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁמִינִת" – This phrase poses a formidable hurdle for this position, as it suggests that the people will sow in the eighth year, which for these sources would be the Jubilee year when this is forbidden:
- R"Y Bekhor Shor and R. Wessely3 claim that, in reality, the verses are addressing both the regular scenario and the more exceptional Yovel year. Accordingly, the phrase "וּזְרַעְתֶּם אֵת הַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁמִינִת" switches to speak of a normal cycle in which sowing is permitted in the eighth year.4 However, the obvious difficulty with this reading is that the verses betray no hint of any such abrupt switch in subject.
- 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.
- Alternatively, 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.
"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" – It is unclear why the nation should be questioning "מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת", as the crop harvested at the end of the preceding sixth year should suffice for the following seventh year, as it similarly does in any other year.5 The concern should rather be only that in the eighth and ninth years food will be scarce. Thus, commentators offer several possible re-interpretations of the verse:
- Ramban and Abarbanel suggest to rearrange the order of the verse (מקרא מסורס) so that it reads: "And if you say in the seventh year: 'What shall we eat [in subsequent years]'."
- Abarbanel alternatively proposes to repunctuate the verse, placing a pause after the words, "מַה נֹּאכַל" rather than after "בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת".6 As such, the verse reads: "If you say: 'What shall we eat [in subsequent years]? [After all] in the seventh year we may not sow or harvest!?'"7
- R. Wessely, instead, posits that the people are asking: "How will we eat [with peace of mind] in the seventh year knowing that we will not be sowing or gathering [in the seventh year for subsequent years]?
All Shemittah Years
Although Rabbinic law rules that the Sabbatical years begin in Tishrei, this is not explicit in the Torah, and some Karaites maintain that the agricultural years begin in Nisan, during the harvest season. Accordingly, any crops planted in their sixth year cannot be harvested in the seventh year, and there is no harvest in the eight year as no crops can be planted in the seventh year. Thus, every Shemittah cycle results in two years without a harvest, and the harvest of the sixth year must sustain the nation for three full years.
New Year – According to these Karaites, there is only one New Year for all Torah laws,9 and it begins in Nisan, as stated in the verse "הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם לְחׇדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה". In fact, it is difficult to find any evidence in Torah for the notion that the first of Tishrei is a Rosh HaShanah.10 As such, according to some Karaites, both Shemittah and Yovel begin in Nisan. Ibn Ezra rejects this approach from several verses:
- He points out that Sukkot is referred to as arriving "בְּצֵאת הַשָּׁנָה",11 suggesting that Tishrei (and not Nisan) marks the change from one year to the next. The Karaites, however, 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 on Yom HaKippurim, suggesting that the year begins in Tishrei.
- Finally, Ibn Ezra 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.
"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" – Asking about scarcity of food in the seventh year is logical according to this approach. Already from the beginning of the seventh year, the people have nothing to eat, since in Nisan at the onset of the seventh year they are unable to harvest the food planted in the sixth year.12 It is even possible that the nation would not plant crops in the sixth year, in the knowledge that it would be prohibited to reap them in the seventh year.13
"לֹא נֶאֱסֹף אֶת תְּבוּאָתֵנוּ" – This Karaite approach points to the word "תְּבוּאָתֵנוּ" (referring to planted rather than wild grains) as support that the Shemittah year begins at harvest time. Only according to this position can the people speak of not being able to gather from the planted crops of previous season. According to everyone else, no one had sown in the first half of the year, so the verse should have instead used the term "ספיח," which refers to that which grows on its own in the wild.14
"וְצִוִּיתִי אֶת בִּרְכָתִי לָכֶם בַּשָּׁנָה הַשִּׁשִּׁית" – According to this position, although it is food planted in the fifth year which will sustain the nation, Hashem refers to this as a blessing of the sixth year since it is at the beginning of the sixth year that this produce was harvested.
"וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" – This phrase fits well for this approach. 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 thirty-six months but to three full years of the Shemittah cycle.
"וּזְרַעְתֶּם אֵת הַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁמִינִת" – This verse presents no problem for this position, as crops are planted in the second half of the eighth year.
"עַד הַשָּׁנָה הַתְּשִׁיעִת עַד בּוֹא תְּבוּאָתָהּ תֹּאכְלוּ יָשָׁן" – According to this position, this verse means that the old grain will be eaten until (עד ולא עד בכלל) the ninth year, at which point the grains planted in the eighth year can be harvested ("עַד בּוֹא תְּבוּאָתָהּ" means until the harvest at the beginning of the ninth year of the grains sown in the eighth year.)
Economic difficulties – According to this approach, in every Shemittah cycle, the command imposes a huge economic burden on the people, as there are two full years with nothing to reap. Cases in which Yovel follows Shemittah would be almost unbearably difficult, with three consecutive harvest-free years. Arguably, this would be an almost impossible commandment to fulfill.
Context – This approach does not explain why these verses interrupt a series of laws that relate to the Jubilee year rather than being placed amidst the discussion of the Shemittah year.
Parts of Three Years
Hashem is reassuring the nation that the crops planted in the beginning of the sixth year will suffice to nourish them for a two year period, or one more year than usual. This twenty-four month period extends across parts of three different years of the Shemittah cycle and thus overlaps with the second half of the sixth year, the entire seventh year, and the first half of the eighth year.
"וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" – These sources understand the phrase "שְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" to refer to parts of three years of the Shemittah cycle, though not three full years. Even though the produce will feed the people for only twenty-four months, these are spread across three years.17 This option is viable specifically because of the definite article; had the verse said merely "שלש שנים" (without the ה'), this interpretation would be more difficult.18
"עַד הַשָּׁנָה הַתְּשִׁיעִת עַד בּוֹא תְּבוּאָתָהּ תֹּאכְלוּ יָשָׁן" – This verse is difficult for these sources since they claim that the nation can eat from the new harvest already in the second half of the eighth year, while this verse implies that they will first do so only in the ninth year.19 There are a few possible approaches:
- Rashi explains that even though some crops can be eaten earlier, there is some produce that is not yet been brought into the house until Sukkot of the ninth year.20 According to him, "עַד בּוֹא תְּבוּאָתָהּ" refers not to the harvest (קציר) of the eighth year but to its gathering (אסיף) into the home.
- Netziv, instead, suggests that the verse is simply saying that even though it is unnecessary, the harvest will be abundant enough to last until the ninth year.21
- 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.22 In contrast to Rashi and Netziv, he understands "עַד בּוֹא תְּבוּאָתָהּ" to refer to the crops of the ninth year and not the eighth. Abarbanel questions this splitting of the verses, writing, "איך יפרשהו לשעורין חלק לשמטה וחלק ביובל?"
Context – Abarbanel questions why, according to this approach, the verses do not follow the discussion of Shemittah but rather interrupt the unit relating to Yovel.
Most common case – According to this approach, the Torah decided to focus on the most common scenario, a regular Sabbatical year, rather than the more exceptional case of the Jubilee year. Even though the latter might be more worrisome, it only occurs once every 50 years.
"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" – This position might say that the people are questioning not what they will eat the entire year, but what they will eat in the second half of the seventh year, by which point they would normally be harvesting the food grown the season before.
"וּזְרַעְתֶּם אֵת הַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁמִינִת" – This verse does not present any problems for this position as it maintains that the people do begin to sow in the eighth year.23
Two Plus One
Hashem is promising that the produce from the sixth year will provide food for two full years as well as the seeds needed to sow the land for the third year.
"וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" – These sources read "לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" to refer to three full years. Even though the crops need to suffice for only two years to feed the nation, they must also be used for planting in the third year. As such, with both of these being taken together, they must provide for three years.
"וּזְרַעְתֶּם אֵת הַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁמִינִת" – This statement comes to highlight the extent of the blessing, that there will be not only enough to eat but also sufficient grains be able to plant them in the eighth year.
"וַאֲכַלְתֶּם מִן הַתְּבוּאָה יָשָׁן" – This position would likely reread the word "וַאֲכַלְתֶּם" in this verse to mean "and you shall subsist" from the old grain (since by harvest time they no longer need to eat of it.) Alternatively, it could understand the verse to mean that you shall eat from [what grows from the seeds] of the old grain.
"עַד הַשָּׁנָה הַתְּשִׁיעִת עַד בּוֹא תְּבוּאָתָהּ תֹּאכְלוּ יָשָׁן" – These sources understand this to mean until (not through) the ninth year and that the verse is saying that first in the ninth year will the people plant from new grains.
Context – The context of Yovel is difficult for this position.
Common case – This position would say that the Torah preferred to focus on the regular scenario that occurs every Sabbatical year, rather than the unique case of a Jubilee year which rarely affected an individual.
"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" – This position could explain like Ramban above that the words of the verse should be reordered to read, "And if you say in the seventh year, "what shall we eat [in the eighth year]".
