Nature of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce/1/en

Nature of the Pre-Shemittah Blessing of the Produce

Introduction

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

What  Shall We Eat?

Vayikra 25 is devoted entirely to the laws of Shemittah and Yovel.  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:

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, however, makes the reader question theentire conception of Shemittah. If a farmer receives a three-fold blessing of grain before Shemittah begins, what is so daunting about the mitzvah?  Why is there any fear at all that the people would not observe it?¹  Though Shemittah is often spoken of as a big test of the people's faith, what belief is required if your sustenance is already laid out for you to see!

Blessings as Reward?

Usually, when Hashem gives a blessing in Tanakh, it comes as recompense for observance. Thus, Hashem promises that only after the people bring tithes to the Mikdash, will they receive a blessing of rain.²  Similarly, He tells the nation that if they give loans to the poor He will send a blessing on all their handiwork. The blessing in our verse stands in stark 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 about the mitzvah of Shemittah makes this blessing unique?

Additional Questions

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

• "וְכִי תֹאמְרוּ" – Who is asking "what shall we eat"?  Is this a question asked by the Generation of the Wilderness upon receiving the laws, or by the people living in Israel during each Shemittah cycle?
• "מַה נֹּאכַל בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת" – This question seems to be somewhat imprecise. In the seventh year, the people should have few concerns about food since, as every year, they could eat of the previous season's harvest. Should they not instead be questioning what to 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 an expression of lack of faith, and thus as an unwarranted complaint?

¹ There are explicit references to observing Shemittah within the rebuke of Vayikra 26, suggesting that it was a prohibition which had a high likelihood of not being observed.  In fact, according to Rashbam, all of the blessings and curses of Vayikra 26 relate to only Shemittah and Yovel!  See Blessings and Curses – Over Which Commandments? for elaboration on his approach.

² See Malakhi 3:10.