Dear TBZ community:
This week, we read Parashat Behar, which focuses mostly on the laws of the Sabbatical Year- Sh’nat Hashmita.
It begins with the verse:
וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה בְּהַ֥ר סִינַ֖י לֵאמֹֽר
Adonai spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai
Rashi, the medieval commentator, wonders why Mount Sinai is specifically mentioned here:
What has the matter of the Shmita (Sabbatical year) to do with Mount Sinai that Scripture felt compelled to expressly state where it was commanded?
מָה עִנְיַן שְׁמִטָּה אֵצֶל הַר סִינַי
Rashi’s question seems to wonder what relevance the mitzvah of Shmita and all of its attendant details have for the Israelites at Sinai when the Shmita year is dependent on land of Israel, where they have not yet arrived. Why is the Torah specifically connecting Sinai and revelation to a place they have not arrived, a place that they do not yet know? Can these recently enslaved people even imagine having their own vineyards which they will not be able to prune during a Shmita year? What do they know of the meaning of “your harvest?” As slaves in Egypt and a nomadic people, they’ve never had the freedom and establishment to experience these things! But still, God gave this mitzvah and the details outside of the land, on a mountain, in the wilderness when they had no real frame of reference yet nor way of understanding what it would really mean.
Perhaps this comes to teach us that in the journeys of our lives there are moments when we find ourselves on the outside, or in a distant place, somewhere that is not yet “the land,” the place we are aspiring to be, and we receive wisdom, guidance or direction for how to get there. But we don’t yet understand, we can’t envision, and we’re full of questions. By linking Shmita, of which the Israelites had no experience or comprehension, to Sinai, the Torah teaches us that even to this most perplexing and distant mitzvah they still said, “Na’aseh ve’nishmah” (Exodus 24:7). We will do it, and then we will understand.
Perhaps this also comes to teach us about the value of hearing and learning something from a distant place, from outside of the immediacy of the matter, not while it is happening. But from looking back, or from above. As I try to practice taking and receiving wisdom that I may not immediately understand and holding onto it, I think about the need to give space and time for processing something, to allow for understanding to arise from an experience and not be tempted to think “I got it!” right away. Because the mitzvah of Shmita comes to show us that everything that we receive is not necessarily for right now. Like the Israelites did not yet have the ability to fully understand Shmita while in the wilderness, we may not be able to understand everything that we receive immediately either. So, we practice deflating the feelings of urgency around needing to know, around coming to conclusions and create the space and time to allow new teachings and understanding to flow.
Parashat Behar concludes with two other mitzvot that help us to practice patience and learning:
לֹֽא־תַעֲשׂ֨וּ לָכֶ֜ם אֱלִילִ֗ם וּפֶ֤סֶל וּמַצֵּבָה֙ לֹֽא־תָקִ֣ימוּ לָכֶ֔ם וְאֶ֣בֶן מַשְׂכִּ֗ית לֹ֤א תִתְּנוּ֙ בְּאַרְצְכֶ֔ם לְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲות עָלֶ֑יהָ כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם
You shall not make idols for yourselves, or set up for yourselves carved images or pillars, or place figured stones in your land to worship upon, for I Adonai am your God
אֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתַ֣י תִּשְׁמֹ֔רוּ וּמִקְדָּשִׁ֖י תִּירָ֑אוּ אֲנִ֖י יְהֹוָֽה
You shall keep My sabbaths and venerate My sanctuary, I am Adonai.
No to idols and yes to Shabbat!
But more than that, no graven images, no deified “things” includes our thoughts, and warns us to be open minded, lest our minds become fixed and unchanging. And we have the gift of Shabbat, the opportunity and capacity to sit, be, experience and receive beyond the limitations that we create for ourselves.
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing.
May we have a joyful, sweet, and peaceful Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom שבת שלום
