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<page type="Introduction">
 
<page type="Introduction">
 
<h1>Nature of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce</h1>
 
<h1>Nature of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce</h1>
<div><b><center><span class="highlighted-notice">This topic has not yet undergone editorial review</span></center></b></div>
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<h2>What is So Difficult?</h2>
<h2>What will we eat?</h2>
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<p><a href="Vayikra25-8-22" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25</a>&#160;is devoted entirely to the laws of Shemittah and Yovel.&#160; Anticipating that a ban on all agricultural work for a full year will cause deep anxiety for the people,&#160;Hashem reassures them that the crops of the sixth year will sustain them for three years:</p>
<p>Shemot 25 is devoted entirely to the law of Shemittah and Yovel.&#160; Hashem anticipates that the prohibitions against sowing and reaping will cause anxiety among the people, so He reassures them that the crops of the sixth year will nourish them for three years:</p>
 
 
<multilang style="overflow: auto;">
 
<multilang style="overflow: auto;">
 
<q xml:lang="he" dir="rtl">(כ) וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת הֵן לֹא נִזְרָע וְלֹא נֶאֱסֹף אֶת תְּבוּאָתֵנוּ. (כא) וְצִוִּיתִי אֶת בִּרְכָתִי לָכֶם בַּשָּׁנָה הַשִּׁשִּׁית וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים.</q>
 
<q xml:lang="he" dir="rtl">(כ) וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת הֵן לֹא נִזְרָע וְלֹא נֶאֱסֹף אֶת תְּבוּאָתֵנוּ. (כא) וְצִוִּיתִי אֶת בִּרְכָתִי לָכֶם בַּשָּׁנָה הַשִּׁשִּׁית וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים.</q>
<q xml:lang="en">(20) And if ye shall say: 'What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we may not sow, nor gather in our increase'; <br/>(21) then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth produce for the three years.</q>
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<q xml:lang="en">(20) And if ye shall say: 'What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we may not sow, nor gather our crops'; <br/>(21) then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth produce for the three years.</q>
 
</multilang>
 
</multilang>
<p>These verses raise a number of questions:</p>
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<p>This blessing makes the reader wonder why Shemittah proved so difficult for the nation to observe.&#160; The blessings and curses of&#160;<a href="Vayikra26-33-35" data-aht="source">Vayikra 26</a> single out non-observance of Shemittah as the root cause of the nation's ultimate exile,<fn>In fact, according to Rashbam, all of the blessings and curses of Vayikra 26 relate to only Shemittah and Yovel!&#160; See <a href="Blessings and Curses – Over Which Commandments" data-aht="page">Blessings and Curses – Over Which Commandments</a> for elaboration on his approach.</fn> and&#160;<a href="DivreiHaYamimII36-20-21" data-aht="source">Divrei HaYamim</a> records the fulfillment of that dire prediction. Yet, if the people received a three-fold blessing of grain even before the seventh year began and their needs were already provided for, why was it so difficult for them to fulfill the mitzvah of Shemittah?</p>
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<h2>Blessings as Reward?</h2>
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Generally, when Hashem gives a blessing in Tanakh, it comes as recompense for observance.&#160; Thus, throughout Torah, formulations such as "לְמַעַן יְבָרֶכְךָ" are preceded by a demand to follow Hashem's commandments.<fn>See, for instance, <a href="Devarim14-29" data-aht="source">Devarim 14:29</a>, <a href="Devarim23-21" data-aht="source">23:21</a> and <a href="Devarim24-19" data-aht="source">24:19</a>.</fn>&#160; Similarly, rewards of rain and livelihood are promised only "if you heed my commandments".&#8206;<fn>See <a href="Devarim11-13-14" data-aht="source">Devarim 11:13-14</a>.</fn> The blessing in our verse stands in contrast to these examples, as it is given before, not after, observance.&#160; Moreover, it is a response not to a show of faith, but to a lack thereof!&#160; What makes this blessing unique?
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<h2>Additional Questions</h2>
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<p>The above verses also raise several textual questions which might bear on the above issues:</p>
 
<ul>
 
<ul>
<li><b>"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ"</b> – Who is asking "what shall we eat"?&#160; Was Hashem assuming that the Generation of the Wilderness, upon hearing the laws, was going to question them, or was Hashem speaking of what the people living In Israel were likely to say in the future, during each Shemittah cycle?</li>
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<li><b>"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ"</b> –&#160; Does the word "כִי" mean&#160; "if," lest," or "when"?&#160; Who is asking "what shall we eat"?&#160; Is Hashem preempting a question that the Generation of the Wilderness might have asked as they received the laws of Shemittah?&#160; Or, is He speaking about a real scenario that might happen in the future, as farmers worry during each Shemittah cycle?<fn>The phrase "וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" appears elsewhere in Tanakh, including in <a href="Devarim7-17-20" data-aht="source">Devarim 7:17-20</a>, <a href="Devarim18-21-22" data-aht="source">Devarim 18:21-22</a>, <a href="MelakhimII18-22" data-aht="source">Melakhim II 18:22</a>, <a href="Yirmeyahu5-19" data-aht="source">Yirmeyahu 5:19</a> and <a href="Yirmeyahu13-22" data-aht="source">Yirmeyahu 13:22</a>.&#160; In each of these cases, the verse is preempting a question that the audience hearing the words might ask.&#160; This might suggest that here, too, it is the generation in the Wilderness who will be asking, "What shall we eat".</fn></li>
<li><b>Why worry?</b> – If the latter, given Hashem's promise that the land would sustain them, why would anyone be worried once they harvested their sixth year's crops?&#160; Would they not already see an abundance of grain and know that they were provided for?</li>
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<li><b>"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת"</b> –&#160;<multilink><a href="RambanVayikra25-20" data-aht="source">Ramban</a><a href="RambanVayikra25-20" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:20</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Moshe b. Nachman</a></multilink> and others are troubled by this question, as the people should have few concerns about what they will eat in the seventh year.&#160; Like in any other year, they should be able to eat of the previous year's harvest. Should they not instead be questioning what they will eat in the eighth year?</li>
<li><b>"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת"</b> – The concern expressed here seems to be slightly imprecise. In the seventh year, the people should have few food concerns since, like every year, they can eat from the previous season's harvest. Should they not instead be questioning what to eat in the eighth year?</li>
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<li><b>Evaluating the concern</b> – Hashem simply allays the people's anxieties without passing judgement over whether they are appropriate or not. How, though, should the people's questioning be viewed?&#160; Is their concern a natural and valid one, or should it be understood negatively as a lack of faith and an unwarranted complaint?</li>
<li><b>Evaluating the concern</b> – In the verses, Hashem simply allays the people's anxieties, without passing judgement over whether they are appropriate or not. How, though, should the people's questioning be viewed?&#160; Is it a valid, natural concern, or should it be understood negatively as an expression of lack of faith, or an unwarranted complaint?</li>
 
 
</ul>
 
</ul>
These points lead commentators to question the nature of the promised blessing.&#160; When Hashem says that in the sixth year, "וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים", how was this accomplished?&#160; Did the land produce a three-fold amount of grain or did the same harvest simply last longer?
 
  
 
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Latest revision as of 03:39, 19 August 2019

Nature of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce

Introduction

What is So Difficult?

Vayikra 25 is devoted entirely to the laws of Shemittah and Yovel.  Anticipating that a ban on all agricultural work for a full year will cause deep anxiety for the people, Hashem reassures them that the crops of the sixth year will sustain them for three years:

EN/HEע/E

(כ) וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת הֵן לֹא נִזְרָע וְלֹא נֶאֱסֹף אֶת תְּבוּאָתֵנוּ. (כא) וְצִוִּיתִי אֶת בִּרְכָתִי לָכֶם בַּשָּׁנָה הַשִּׁשִּׁית וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים.

(20) And if ye shall say: 'What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we may not sow, nor gather our crops';
(21) then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth produce for the three years.

This blessing makes the reader wonder why Shemittah proved so difficult for the nation to observe.  The blessings and curses of Vayikra 26 single out non-observance of Shemittah as the root cause of the nation's ultimate exile,1 and Divrei HaYamim records the fulfillment of that dire prediction. Yet, if the people received a three-fold blessing of grain even before the seventh year began and their needs were already provided for, why was it so difficult for them to fulfill the mitzvah of Shemittah?

Blessings as Reward?

Generally, when Hashem gives a blessing in Tanakh, it comes as recompense for observance.  Thus, throughout Torah, formulations such as "לְמַעַן יְבָרֶכְךָ" are preceded by a demand to follow Hashem's commandments.2  Similarly, rewards of rain and livelihood are promised only "if you heed my commandments".‎3 The blessing in our verse stands in contrast to these examples, as it is given before, not after, observance.  Moreover, it is a response not to a show of faith, but to a lack thereof!  What makes this blessing unique?

Additional Questions

The above verses also raise several textual questions which might bear on the above issues:

  • "וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" –  Does the word "כִי" mean  "if," lest," or "when"?  Who is asking "what shall we eat"?  Is Hashem preempting a question that the Generation of the Wilderness might have asked as they received the laws of Shemittah?  Or, is He speaking about a real scenario that might happen in the future, as farmers worry during each Shemittah cycle?4
  • "מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" – RambanVayikra 25:20About R. Moshe b. Nachman and others are troubled by this question, as the people should have few concerns about what they will eat in the seventh year.  Like in any other year, they should be able to eat of the previous year's harvest. Should they not instead be questioning what they will eat in the eighth year?
  • Evaluating the concern – Hashem simply allays the people's anxieties without passing judgement over whether they are appropriate or not. How, though, should the people's questioning be viewed?  Is their concern a natural and valid one, or should it be understood negatively as a lack of faith and an unwarranted complaint?