Difference between revisions of "Nature of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce/2"
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<h2>Overview</h2> | <h2>Overview</h2> | ||
− | <p>The various approaches regarding the nature of the blessing promised by Hashem in anticipation of the Shemittah year affect not | + | <p>The various approaches regarding the nature of the blessing promised by Hashem in anticipation of the Shemittah year affect not only how one reads the relevant verses in Vayikra 25, but also how one understands the purpose of Shemittah specifically and the way that blessings work in general.</p> |
− | <p>The standard interpretation assumes that Hashem's blessing is one of quantity.  In the sixth year, the people will reap more than usual, so that one's year crop will sustain them through the following years in which there is nothing to harvest.  As such, this blessing is unique in that it comes to facilitate observance of Shemittah, rather than to reward it.  The Keli Yekar, in contrast, posits that the blessing is one of quality.  A normal sized crop will manage to nourish the people for three years.  This blessing is less obvious, and makes observance of Shemittah more difficult as it requires more trust. It comes | + | <p>The standard interpretation assumes that Hashem's blessing is one of quantity.  In the sixth year, the people will reap more than usual, so that one's year crop will sustain them through the following years in which there is nothing to harvest.  As such, this blessing is unique in that it comes to facilitate observance of Shemittah, rather than to reward it.  The Keli Yekar, in contrast, posits that the blessing is one of quality.  A normal sized crop will manage to nourish the people for three years.  This blessing is less obvious, and makes observance of Shemittah more difficult as it requires more trust. It comes simultaneous to observance, not beforehand.</p> |
− | <p>Finally, Seforno combines the two approaches, claiming that the nature of the blessing | + | <p>Finally, Seforno combines the two approaches, claiming that the nature of the blessing changes based on the amount on faith held by the people.  When they had great faith, Hashem blessed the quality of the crops, but when they were full of doubts, Hashem blessed the quantity.</p></div> |
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<p>Hashem promised that, in the sixth year, the land would bring forth more grain than usual, enough to sustain the people for thee years.</p> | <p>Hashem promised that, in the sixth year, the land would bring forth more grain than usual, enough to sustain the people for thee years.</p> | ||
<mekorot>Standard interpretation</mekorot> | <mekorot>Standard interpretation</mekorot> | ||
− | <point><b>Shemittah as a source of faith</b> – | + | <point><b>Shemittah as a source of faith</b> – Because the people are given supplies of food in advance, the mitzvah of Shemittah serves as a tool to instill faith rather than as a test of faith.  The gift of a threefold harvest<fn>The verses speak of sustaining the people for three years, even though a blessing for two years would seem to have have sufficed since by then the nation should be able to eat of the new harvest.  For a variety of approaches as to how to understand this "three year" blessing, see <a href="Duration of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce" data-aht="page">Duration of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce</a>.</fn> teaches the nation that Hashem always cares for them.  See <a href="Purpose of Shemittah" data-aht="page">Purpose of Shemittah</a> for other ways that the year instills recognition of Hashem.</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>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> – | + | <point><b>Parallel to manna</b> – The double portion of grain is 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 | + | <point><b>"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who will ask?</b> According to this position, it is difficult to imagine 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 already have seen that their crops had multiplied and that they had enough to sustain themselves.  As such, this approach could instead posit that Hashem is preempting a question that could be asked by the Generation of the Wilderness upon hearing the laws of Shemittah. Alternatively, this question might be asked by the people in Israel at the beginning of the sixth year, before the people have realized the results of their sowing.</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> | ||
− | <li>It might say, | + | <li>It might say, as the <multilink><a href="MinchatYehudaVayikra25-20" data-aht="source">Minchat Yehuda</a><a href="MinchatYehudaVayikra25-20" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:20</a><a href="R. Yehuda b. Elazar" data-aht="parshan">About R. Yehuda b. Elazar</a></multilink>, 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.</li> |
− | <li>Alternatively, it could | + | <li>Alternatively, it could follow the explanation of <multilink><a href="AbarbanelVayikra25" data-aht="source">Abarbanel</a><a href="AbarbanelVayikra25" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25</a><a href="R. Yitzchak Abarbanel" data-aht="parshan">About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel</a></multilink> who proposes to repunctuate the verse, placing a pause after the words, "מַה נֹּאכַל" rather than after "בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת".‎<fn>Abarbanel points to the pausal mark of a tipecha (טפחא) under the phrase "מַה־נֹּאכַ֖ל" as a support for this reading. However, he neglects to mention the etnachta (אתנחתא) on "הַשְּׁבִיעִ֑ת" which indicates that the words "בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" are connected to the "מַה־נֹּאכַ֖ל" which precedes them rather than to the "הֵן לֹא נִזְרָע" which follows them.</fn>  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!?'"</li> |
</ul></point> | </ul></point> | ||
<point><b>Evaluating the question</b> – This position views the question of "what shall we eat" as a legitimate and natural concern to which Hashem responds by reassuring the people.</point> | <point><b>Evaluating the question</b> – This position views the question of "what shall we eat" as a legitimate and natural concern to which Hashem responds by reassuring the people.</point> | ||
</category> | </category> | ||
<category>Produce Goes Further | <category>Produce Goes Further | ||
− | <p>Although the amount harvested in the sixth year would be no different | + | <p>Although the amount harvested in the sixth year would be no different from 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.</p> |
<mekorot><multilink><a href="KeliYekarVayikra25-2" data-aht="source">Keli Yekar</a><a href="KeliYekarVayikra25-2" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:2</a><a href="KeliYekarVayikra25-20" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:20</a><a href="R. Shelomo Ephraim Luntschitz (Keli Yekar)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shelomo Ephraim Luntschitz</a></multilink></mekorot> | <mekorot><multilink><a href="KeliYekarVayikra25-2" data-aht="source">Keli Yekar</a><a href="KeliYekarVayikra25-2" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:2</a><a href="KeliYekarVayikra25-20" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25:20</a><a href="R. Shelomo Ephraim Luntschitz (Keli Yekar)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shelomo Ephraim Luntschitz</a></multilink></mekorot> | ||
− | <point><b>Shemittah as a test of faith</b> – According to this approach, observing Shemittah is an extremely demanding test of faith, as the nation | + | <point><b>Shemittah as a test of faith</b> – According to this approach, observing Shemittah is an extremely demanding test of faith, as the nation neither receives nor sees a double portion in advance.  Rather, theyt must trust that Hashem will make the regular produce of the sixth year go further. See <a href="Purpose of Shemittah" data-aht="page">Purpose of Shemittah</a> for other ways in which the commandment leads to recognition of and belief in Hashem.</point> |
− | <point><b>Parallel to manna</b> – The Keli Yekar compares the mitzvah of Shemittah to the test of the manna in which the Children of Israel could not | + | <point><b>Parallel to manna</b> – The Keli Yekar compares the mitzvah of Shemittah to the test of the manna in which the Children of Israel could not hoard for the long term, but needed to have faith daily that Hashem would continue to provide for them.</point> |
− | <point><b>Purpose of blessings</b> – This approach could | + | <point><b>Purpose of blessings</b> – This approach could imply that the blessing was limited to those who observed Shemittah.  While their grains were supernaturally satisfying, the crops of people who did not keep the laws might not have lasted longer than normal.   If so, the blessing acted as a reward.</point> |
− | <point><b>"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who will ask?</b> The Keli Yekar assumes that Hashem is anticipating the anxieties of those living in Israel when the Shemittah year | + | <point><b>"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who will ask?</b> The Keli Yekar assumes that Hashem is anticipating the anxieties of those living in Israel when the Shemittah year approaches.  Since the sixth year's harvest was not noticeably different from previous years, the people would naturally be concerned about how they would survive in subsequent years.</point> |
<point><b>"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת"</b> – The Keli Yekar offers two ways to understand why the people question the lack of food in the seventh rather than eighth year:<fn>Since the food from the sixth year should have sufficed for the seventh, as it did every year, the people should have only been concerned about the lack of food in the year following Shemittah.</fn><br/> | <point><b>"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת"</b> – The Keli Yekar offers two ways to understand why the people question the lack of food in the seventh rather than eighth year:<fn>Since the food from the sixth year should have sufficed for the seventh, as it did every year, the people should have only been concerned about the lack of food in the year following Shemittah.</fn><br/> | ||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
− | <li>He | + | <li>He cites <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>who suggests that one understand the verse as if its order were 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 is valid only if one assumes that the blessing was hidden and related not to the quantity of the food but to how long it was to last.  Otherwise, by the seventh year people would already have known that they were cared for and would have no need to question.</li> |
− | <li>Alternatively, the Keli Yekar suggests that | + | <li>Alternatively, the Keli Yekar suggests that the people are actually concerned about the seventh year itself.  Knowing that they cannot plant, and would have nothing saved for the next year, would make it difficult to feel satisfied even while they are eating food in the seventh year (אינו דומה מי שיש לו פת בסלו למי שאין לו).<fn>Cf. <multilink><a href="BiurVayikra25" data-aht="source">R. Wessely</a><a href="BiurVayikra25" data-aht="source">Vayikra 25</a><a href="Biur (Netivot HaShalom)" data-aht="parshan">About the Biur (Netivot HaShalom)</a></multilink> who similarly posits that the people are asking: "How will we eat [with peace of mind] in the seventh year, knowing that we will neither sow nor gather [in the seventh year for subsequent years]?</fn> </li> |
</ul></point> | </ul></point> | ||
<point><b>Evaluating the question</b> – This position views the nation's questioning as an understandable and expected reaction to the daunting task of observing Shemittah.</point> | <point><b>Evaluating the question</b> – This position views the nation's questioning as an understandable and expected reaction to the daunting task of observing Shemittah.</point> |
Version as of 12:10, 15 June 2016
Nature of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce
Exegetical Approaches
Overview
The various approaches regarding the nature of the blessing promised by Hashem in anticipation of the Shemittah year affect not only how one reads the relevant verses in Vayikra 25, but also how one understands the purpose of Shemittah specifically and the way that blessings work in general.
The standard interpretation assumes that Hashem's blessing is one of quantity. In the sixth year, the people will reap more than usual, so that one's year crop will sustain them through the following years in which there is nothing to harvest. As such, this blessing is unique in that it comes to facilitate observance of Shemittah, rather than to reward it. The Keli Yekar, in contrast, posits that the blessing is one of quality. A normal sized crop will manage to nourish the people for three years. This blessing is less obvious, and makes observance of Shemittah more difficult as it requires more trust. It comes simultaneous to observance, not beforehand.
Finally, Seforno combines the two approaches, claiming that the nature of the blessing changes based on the amount on faith held by the people. When they had great faith, Hashem blessed the quality of the crops, but when they were full of doubts, Hashem blessed the quantity.
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.
- It might say, as 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 follow the explanation of Abarbanel who proposes to repunctuate the verse, placing a pause after the words, "מַה נֹּאכַל" rather than after "בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת".3 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 from 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.
- He cites Ramban who suggests that one understand the verse as if its order were 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 is valid only if one assumes that the blessing was hidden and related not to the quantity of the food but to how long it was to last. Otherwise, by the seventh year people would already have known that they were cared for and would have no need to question.
- Alternatively, the Keli Yekar suggests that the people are actually concerned about the seventh year itself. Knowing that they cannot plant, and would have nothing saved for the next year, would make it difficult to feel satisfied even while they are eating food in the seventh year (אינו דומה מי שיש לו פת בסלו למי שאין לו).5
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.