INNERNET MAGAZINE
http://innernet.org.ilMay 2008
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"SHMITA AND THE CYCLE OF SEVEN"
by Rabbi Menachem Genack
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This year, the Jewish year 5768, is a Shmita year, also known as the Sabbatical year. The Torah (Leviticus ch. 25) commands that the land "rest" during the Shmita year, and all that grows in the land of Israel is endowed with special holiness. Even in modern times amongst the religious community in Israel, all produce is open to the public and is to be eaten in accordance with the laws of Shmita.
The cycle of seven is deeply imbedded in the Jewish calendar. In days (Shabbat), weeks (the holiday of Shavuot), years (Shmita), and seven cycles of seven (the Jubilee year), the number seven frames our "time-consciousness," directing our thought to the fundamental principle that God is the creator of all reality and all the world is his dominion.
In each of these holidays, man relinquishes, to a degree, his control and domain over nature and the land, thereby proclaiming that the land and all creation is God's and He grants man its use. Ultimately everything is God's possession including man himself.
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PATTERN OF SEVENS
By refraining from work on Shabbat, the Jew makes the statement that creation belongs not to man but to God. He, thereby, gives up part of his dominant role which the Torah endowed him with in the commandment to conquer and subdue nature (Genesis 1:28). Yet concomitantly, he achieves a sense of freedom both for himself and his household and also the beginning of the notion of social justice: "Your male and female servants will then be able to rest just as you do" (Deut. 4:14).
In the cycle of seven weeks, which culminates with Shavuot, man subjugates his own will to that of God by accepting the Torah. Shavuot commemorates that day at Sinai when the Jewish people entered into the Covenant with God and co-extensive with accepting the yoke of Torah. Our Rabbis interpret the expression "the words of God were engraved on the tablets" (Exodus 32:16) as follows: "Do not read 'engraved' ('charut') but read 'freedom' ('cheirut')" (Talmud - Avot 6:2).
By accepting the yoke of Torah, the Jew achieves an "existential" freedom and the ability not to be crushed by the onerous forces of history and nature.
In the cycle of seven years, again, man gives up certain of his powers, rights, and prerogatives. Man acknowledges that the land belongs to God; and that God only bequeaths it to man. Here again, the notion of freedom and social justice emerges. Within the cycle of seven, though not linked to the Shmita year, Jewish bondsmen go free. Also, all that grows in the Shmita year is accessible to the poor and outstanding loans are cancelled by the Shmita year.
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THE JUBILEE YEAR
The Jubilee year is the equivalent of the laws of Shmita. In addition, all lands sold in Israel in the preceding years return to their original owners at Jubilee, emphasizing, again, that no one can acquire all the lands. This redistribution of wealth ensures that every Jew retains possession of the ultimate source of economic wealth and freedom, the land.
During the Jubilee year, all Jewish slaves are freed. The statement quoted on the Liberty Bell, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land and onto its inhabitants thereof," is the statement made in the Torah with reference to the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25:10). Jubilee is the year of freedom, and is not simply an expression of eliminating the external pressures of subjugation, but rather, additionally, establishing a positive environment of freedom, which makes life on earth worth living.
These cycles of seven culminate in the jubilee year when we return to our ultimate source. According to Nachmanides in his commentary on the Torah, the etymology of the word "yovel" (jubilee) comes from the word "yuval" -- to be brought back to the source. It is the confluence of these two seemingly diametrically opposed ideas that man is a subject and that all creation belongs to God, and the concept of freedom and social justice proclaimed during the Jubilee year that uniquely marks the Jewish concept of freedom. The irony of Jewish freedom is that it is only achieved by the recognition of our total dependence on and servitude to God.
In Western thought, freedom is defined by the ability of man to independently make his own choices. However, the Jewish concept of freedom which emerges from this progression from Shabbat to Jubilee, is that ultimate freedom is man's ability to fulfill his potential as a creation of God, by fulfilling the laws of the Torah. He, thereby, becomes a transcendent being, not chained to time and place. Freedom is an in-depth experience, not a superficial one dependent on circumstance. Therefore, by fulfilling God's will, man who is created in the image of God, acts as a free agent.
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SLAVERY VS. FREEDOM
In the introduction to the Passover Haggadah we read, "This year we are here, next year we will be in Israel. This year we are slaves, next year we will be free men."
The reason this serves as an introduction to the Haggadah is that the author of Haggadah was bothered by a fundamental problem in terms of the meaningfulness of the entire Seder night. At the Seder, we proclaim by word and deed that we are free. We recline, and drink four cups of wine like kings. Yet, the harsh reality of Jewish life for the past two millennia has been that the Jews have been subjected, enslaved and imperiled for most of that period. How, therefore, is it meaningful within that historical context to have a Seder? How was it possible to celebrate a Seder in the Warsaw Ghetto, or Treblinka or Auschwitz when the external environment cried out that we were bereft of freedom and dignity? How can we, with integrity, make the statement that we are free men?
The answer given by the Haggadah is "this year we are slaves, next year we'll be free" -- that, though because of our external circumstances we are now enslaved, ultimately we will be redeemed and in control of our own destiny. Therefore we are free men and women.
Who is the freer person, a person who finds himself incarcerated but knows that within a day he will be free, or the person who is free, soon to be imprisoned? The Jew, though externally enslaved, is existentially free. The freedom every Jew enjoys is a function of a historical time-consciousness which transcends the bitter, historical reality in which he finds himself. That is the proclamation of Shmita and Jubilee. It is this internal freedom, despite external obstacles, which is the wellspring of the Jews' eternal ability for constant renewal.
It is a sense of freedom that is deeply rooted in our vision of hope and faith. The Shmita year is the harbinger of the renewal of the land and the redemption of our people.
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Article reprinted with permission from Jewish Action (Holidays 1986), published by the Orthodox Union
http://www.ou.org~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Topic: Shemittah and The Cycle of Seven (Read 3831 times)