Difference between revisions of "Nature of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce/2"
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<point><b>Purpose of blessings</b> – According to this approach, unlike many other blessings in Tanakh, the blessing of increased produce serves not as a reward for observance, but as a facilitator to ensure it.<fn>Contrast this with the blessings in Vayikra 26 and Devarim 28 which are all contingent on keeping Hashem's commandments.  For several of many more examples, see also Shemot 23:25, Devarim 11:27 or Malakhi 3:10.</fn></point> | <point><b>Purpose of blessings</b> – According to this approach, unlike many other blessings in Tanakh, the blessing of increased produce serves not as a reward for observance, but as a facilitator to ensure it.<fn>Contrast this with the blessings in Vayikra 26 and Devarim 28 which are all contingent on keeping Hashem's commandments.  For several of many more examples, see also Shemot 23:25, Devarim 11:27 or Malakhi 3:10.</fn></point> | ||
<point><b>Parallel to manna</b> – This approach views the double portion of grain as similar to the double portion of manna that fell before Shabbat.  In both cases, needs are provided before the absence is felt, and a blessing is given before, rather than after, the people keep Hashem's commandment.</point> | <point><b>Parallel to manna</b> – This approach views the double portion of grain as similar to the double portion of manna that fell before Shabbat.  In both cases, needs are provided before the absence is felt, and a blessing is given before, rather than after, the people keep Hashem's commandment.</point> | ||
− | <point><b>"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who will ask?</b> According to this position, it is difficult to say that the nation living in Israel would question, "what shall we eat", since | + | <point><b>"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who will ask?</b><ul> |
+ | <li>According to this position, it is difficult to say that in the middle of the sixth year the nation living in Israel would question, "what shall we eat", since by that point they would have already seen that their crops had multiplied and that they had enough to sustain them.  As such, this position could posit instead that Hashem is preempting a question to be asked by the Generation of the Wilderness upon hearing the laws of Shemittah.</li> | ||
+ | <li>Alternatively, the people in Israel could be question at the beginning of the sixth year before they have seen the results of their sowing.</li> | ||
+ | </ul></point> | ||
<point><b>"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת"</b> – This position could explain why the people are concerned about the seventh rather than eighth year in either of the following ways:<br/> | <point><b>"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת"</b> – This position could explain why the people are concerned about the seventh rather than eighth year in either of the following ways:<br/> | ||
<ul> | <ul> |
Version as of 07:42, 9 June 2016
Nature of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce
Exegetical Approaches
Increased Production
Hashem promised that, in the sixth year, the land would bring forth more grain than usual, enough to sustain the people for thee years.
- According to this position, it is difficult to say that in the middle of the sixth year the nation living in Israel would question, "what shall we eat", since by that point they would have already seen that their crops had multiplied and that they had enough to sustain them. As such, this position could posit instead that Hashem is preempting a question to be asked by the Generation of the Wilderness upon hearing the laws of Shemittah.
- Alternatively, the people in Israel could be question at the beginning of the sixth year before they have seen the results of their sowing.
- It might say, like the Minchat Yehuda, 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.
- Alternatively, it could explain like Abarbanel who proposes to repunctuate the verse, placing a pause after the words, "מַה נֹּאכַל" rather than after "בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת".2 As such, the verse reads: "If you say: 'What shall we eat [in subsequent years]? [After all] in the seventh year we will neither sow nor harvest!?'"
Produce Goes Further
Although the amount harvested in the sixth year would be no different than in any other year, Hashem promised that it would last longer. The same amount of grain would nourish the people for three years instead of the usual one.
- Ramban suggests to understand the verse as if its order was rearranged (מקרא מסורס) so that it reads: "And if you will say in the seventh year: 'What shall we eat [in subsequent years]'." The Keli Yekar points out that Ramban's reading of the verse only works if one assumes that the blessing was hidden and related not to the quantity of the food but how long it was to last. Otherwise by the seventh year people would already know that they were cared for and never come to question.
- Alternatively, the Keli Yekar suggests that already in the sixth year, the people would be concerned about the seventh year. Knowing that they could not plant and would have nothing saved for the next year would make it difficult to be satisfied even when they had food (אינו דומה מי שיש לו פת בסלו למי שאין לו).
Dependent on Faith
The blessing differed in line with the amount of faith held by the people. Hashem promised that if the nation had enough trust, He would ensure that a regular sized harvest would be of such quality that it could nourish the nation for three years. However, if the people had doubts, He would increase the quantity of the harvest so they could see with their own eyes how it would suffice.