Duration of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce/2

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 #225:20-22About the Sifra Vayikra, Ibn EzraVayikra 25:20-22About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorVayikra 25:20-22About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RambanVayikra 25:20About R. Moshe b. Nachman, AbarbanelVayikra 25About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, R. N"H Wessely in the BiurVayikra 25About the Biur (Netivot HaShalom)

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.

Sources:Karaite opinion cited by Ibn EzraVayikra 25:20-22About R. Avraham ibn Ezra⁸

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 EzraVayikra 25:9About R. Avraham 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.  It could perhaps suggest that the Torah first writes each set of laws, and only after the summation to the laws of Yovel in verses 18-19, does it return to address the nation's concerns.  As the summary sentences conclude, "וִישַׁבְתֶּם עַל הָאָרֶץ לָבֶטַח", they provide a nice segue into a discussion of why the nation should feel secure.

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.

Sources:Sifra Vayikra #125:20-22About the Sifra Vayikra, RashiVayikra 25:20-22About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki,¹⁵ Ralbag #2Vayikra 25:20-22About R. Levi b. Gershom,¹⁶ R. David Zvi HoffmannVayikra 25:20-22About R. David Zvi Hoffmann

"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.
• NetzivVayikra 25:20-22About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, 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 apart 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.  See the position above for a possible approach.

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 fifty 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 sow in the eighth year.²³

Two Plus One

Hashem is promising that the produce from the sixth year will provide not only food for two full years but also the seeds needed to sow the land for the third year.

Sources:RashbamVayikra 25:20-22About R. Shemuel b. Meir,²⁴ HaKetav VeHaKabbalahVayikra 25:21About R. Yaakov Mecklenburg

"וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" – These sources read  "לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים" as referring to three full years.  Even though the crops need to suffice to feed the nation for only two years, they must also be used for planting in the third year.  As such, with both of these being taken together, the crop must provide (directly and indirectly) for three full years.

"וּזְרַעְתֶּם אֵת הַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁמִינִת" – This phrase comes to highlight the extent of the blessing, that there will be enough, not only to eat in the sixth and seventh,²⁵ but also to plant in the eighth year.²⁶

"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 will 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 phrase to mean "until the ninth year" (not "through the ninth year"), and that the verse is saying that in the ninth year the people will plant from new grains.

Context – The context of Yovel is difficult for this position, but as above, it might respond that the verses first deal with the legal aspects of both Shemittah and Yovel and only afterwards returns to address the people's concerns.

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 was much rarer.

"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]".

¹ This position could maintain that the three years (or thirty-six months) of produce referred to in the verse stretch over four Shemittah cycle years, and include the second half of the sixth year, the entire seventh and eighth years, and the first half of the ninth year.  Most of these sources, however, imply that the three years refer to the entire seventh, eighth and ninth years.  R. Wessely explains that even though the harvest season begins earlier, the food of the sixth year is first brought into the house during Sukkot of the seventh year, and thus, first eaten then.  The advantage of this reading is that it explains the use of the definite article in the phrase "לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים".  Food is provided not just for three years or or thirty-six months, but for the complete three years of the Shemittah cycle.

² Corresponding to the two options in the note above as to the meaning of "לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים", the phrase "עַד בּוֹא תְּבוּאָתָהּ" can similarly be interpreted in two slightly different ways.  One option is that the old produce is eaten into the ninth year, but only until the middle of the year when the new crop is reaped (and not until the end of the year).  The second variation (see R. Wessely) is that the old produce is eaten until the very end of the ninth year, since the new grain will be gathered indoors only in Sukkot of the tenth year.  These variations would differ as to whether "בּוֹא" refers to the arrival of the new crop in the fields (in the spring and summer) or its later entry into the storage facilities (in the autumn).

³ This is also how R. Wessely understands Ramban, though this is not explicit in Ramban.

⁴ R. Wessely additionally notes that the seeming redundancy in verse 22, which first states "וַאֲכַלְתֶּם... יָשָׁן" and then repeats itself "תֹּאכְלוּ יָשָׁן", can be understood if one explains that the first phrase refers to a regular Shemittah cycle ("וּזְרַעְתֶּם אֵת הַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁמִינִת וַאֲכַלְתֶּם מִן הַתְּבוּאָה יָשָׁן") and the second to a Jubilee year ("עַד הַשָּׁנָה הַתְּשִׁיעִת עַד בּוֹא תְּבוּאָתָהּ תֹּאכְלוּ יָשָׁן").

⁵ See, however, R. Meir Wolf, in HaMeamerVayikra 25:20About R. Meir Wolf, who suggests that the verse is referring to crops which generally cannot be stored from one year to the next.  It should be noted, though, that while R. Wolf's approach could be adopted by the other approaches discussed below, it is not a viable solution for this position which assumes that there is also a Jubilee year in which there is no planting, as the verse should have then read:  "וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת ובשנה השמינית".

⁶ He points to the pausal mark of a tipecha (טפחא) under the phrase "מַה נֹּאכַל" as a support for this reading.

⁷ According to this interpretation, though, the verse really should have read:  "וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת ובשנה השמינית".

⁸ Unfortunately, it is unclear to which Karaites Ibn Ezra refers.  It should be noted that many of the classical Karaite commentators do not take this position, but rather adopt the Rabbinic position that Tishrei serves as the beginning of the Shemittah year.

⁹ See Mishna Rosh HaShanahRosh HaShanah 1:1 which, in emphasizing that there are four different new years, might be reacting to a similar position.  Indeed, much of Karaitic law has precedents in Sadducee and Qumran laws.  Unfortunately, regarding the question of how the Shemittah year was observed in Qumran (from Tishrei or Nisan), we have little information, as surprisingly very few Qumran texts relate to the laws of Shemittah and Yovel.  See יונתן בן דב, "מחזורי השמיטה והיובל בקומראן ויחסם אל השנה בת 364 ימים", מגילות ה'-ו' (תשס"ח): 53 who attempts to prove from fragmentary texts in 1Q22 and 11Q13 that the Shemittah year began in Tishrei.  In contrast, see D. Dimant, "Between Sectarian and Non-Sectarian : the Case of the Apocryphon of Joshua", in E. G. Chazon, D. Dimant & R. A. Clements (eds.), Reworking the Bible: Apocryphal and Related Texts at Qumran (STDJ 58), Leiden 2005: who attempts to glean from 4Q379 that the Shemittah year began in Nisan.  At this point, it would appear that additional evidence is required.

¹⁰ The only place in Tanakh where the phrase "רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה" appears is Yechezkel 40:1. As it is followed by the date "on the tenth of the month", Bavli Arakhin 12a questions "when is the new year on the tenth of the month?" and concludes that the verse is referring to Jubilee year. R. Eliezer of BeaugencyYechezkel 40:1About R. Eliezer of Beaugency, however, suggests that according to the simple reading of the verse, the phrase " "רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה refers to Nisan, the month which comes at the beginning of the year, fitting the Karaite approach.

¹¹ See Shemot 23:16 and Shemot 34:22.

¹² According to all Rabbinic approaches, since the Shemittah year begins in Tishrei, almost all food planted in the sixth year can be harvested before the Shemittah year begins.  But since this Karaite approach begins the Shemittah year in Nisan (at the beginning of the harvest season), there is no opportunity to harvest the produce planted in the second half of the sixth year.

¹³ One might claim that, according to this approach, the people's question should have really been, "what will we eat in the seventh and eighth years."  The Karaites might answer that the second year is assumed, even though only the imminent worry is verbalized.

¹⁴ Ibn Ezra responds that the word "תבואה" also includes that which grows on its own in the wild (e.g. Vayikra 25:12).  Alternatively, one could explain that the term "תבואה" is used, since it refers back not just to the claim, "we will not harvest" ("לֹא נֶאֱסֹף") but also to the claim, "we will not sow" ("הֵן לֹא נִזְרָע").

¹⁵ Rashi's position is also adopted by ShadalVayikra 25:21-22About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto and the Hoil MosheVayikra 25:21About R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi.

¹⁶ Ralbag also brings the opinion that the verses might refer to a case in which Yovel follows Shemittah.

¹⁷ 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.

¹⁸ Alternatively, this approach could have explained that even though the blessing is really needed for only one extra year, Hashem is promising to bestow even greater blessings than are necessary.  Cf. the Netziv below regarding the blessing lasting until the ninth year.

¹⁹ See Abarbanel who raises this question.

²⁰ See the Hoil Moshe who points to the grape and olive crops which ripen only at the very end of the year.

²¹ That way the people can allow their grains to dry out in their granaries without the pressure to eat immediately from the harvest.

²² Cf. R"Y Bekhor Shor and R. Wessely above who similarly suggest that parts of the verses in the unit might refer to a regular Shemittah year while other parts refer to a Shemittah year which is followed by Yovel.

²³ Ralbag explains the need to tell us this, suggesting that the verse is trying to emphasize how the produce from the sixth year will suffice not just for eating but also for the next batch of planting.  Cf. Rashbam and HaKetav VeHaKabbalah below.

²⁴ This understanding of Rashbam follows the text of his commentary preserved in the original 1705 printing which followed (the now lost) MS Breslau 103.  It is supported by Rashbam's use of the introductory phrase "לפי הפשט", which comes to indicate that he is differing with Rashi's position, and it is also how Prof. Meir Lockshin interprets Rashbam in the footnotes of both his English and Hebrew editions.
For unclear reasons, D. Rosin assumed that Rashbam's position should match Rashi's (see also Moses Mendelssohn's note in the Biur).  Thus, in his edition, he incorrectly emended the text by inserting "[ובשמינית]" after the word "ושמינית".  Rosin's proposed emendation also forces a repunctuation of the sentence, effectively transforming Rashbam into Rashi.  Unfortunately, Rosin's mistaken textual emendation has been incorporated by several subsequent editions.

²⁵ In reality, this position must agree (with Rashi and others above) that the sixth year's produce would need to suffice also for the first half of the eighth year, or until its harvest in Nisan.

²⁶ Cf. Ralbag above.