Nature of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce/2
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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.
Sources:Standard interpretation
Shemittah as a source of faith – This position would likely view the mitzvah of Shemittah less as a test of faith (since the people are given food in advance) and more as a tool to instill it. The gift of a threefold harvest teaches the nation how Hashem cares for them always. See Purpose of Shemittah for other ways that the year instills recognition of Hashem.
Purpose of blessings – 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.1
Parallel to manna – 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.
"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who will ask? According to this position, it is difficult to say that the nation living in Israel would question, "what shall we eat", since in the sixth year they would have already seen that their crops had multiplied and that they had enough to sustain them. As such, this position must posit instead that Hashem is preempting a question to be asked by the Generation of the Wilderness upon hearing the laws of Shemittah.
"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" – This position could explain why the people are concerned about the seventh rather than eighth year in either of the following ways:
- 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!?'"
Evaluating the question – This position views the question of "what shall we eat" as a legitimate and natural concern. Hashem realizes this and responds to it.
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.
Sources:Keli Yekar
Shemittah as a test of faith – According to this approach, observing Shemittah is an extremely demanding test of faith, as the nation does not receive and see a double portion beforehand, but must totally trust that Hashem will make the regular produce of the sixth year go further. See Purpose of Shemittah for other ways in which the commandment leads to recognition of and belief in Hashem.
Parallel to manna – The Keli Yekar compares the mitzvah of Shemittah to the test of the manna in which the Children of Israel could not save for the long term, but needed to have faith daily that Hashem would continue to provide for them.
Purpose of blessings – This approach could say that the blessing was limited to those who observed Shemittah. Their grains were unnaturally satisfying, while those belonging to people who did not keep the laws might not have lasted longer than normal. If so the blessing acted as a reward.
"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who will ask? The Keli Yekar assumes that Hashem is anticipating the anxieties of those living in Israel when the Shemittah year approached. Since the sixth year's harvest was not noticeably different than previous years, the people would naturally be concerned how they would survive in subsequent years.
"מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" – The Keli Yekar offers two ways to understand why the people question the lack of food in the seventh rather than eighth year:3
- 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.
Sources:Seforno
Shemittah as a measure of faith – According to this position, the people's reaction to the upcoming Shemittah year served as a measure of the people's faith. In certain cycles, they apparently had sufficient trust not to question their survival while in other years they asked, "what shall we eat?".
"וַאֲכַלְתֶּם לָשֹׂבַע" versus "וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה" – Seforno differentiates between these two blessings, the former being one of quality and the latter one of quantity. The phrase "וַאֲכַלְתֶּם לָשֹׂבַע" implies that the food eaten will be extra-nourishing, so that the same quantity of grain will be more satisfying, and thus provide for longer than normal. The blessing, "וְעָשָׂת אֶת הַתְּבוּאָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ הַשָּׁנִים", in contrast, refers to an extra large crop.
"וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who will ask? According to Seforno, this question is asked in certain generations, in the middle of the Shemittah cycle, before harvesting from the sixth year's produce. Anxiety sets in early on
