21 May BEHAR: STOP AND TRUST IN HASHEM

Parashat Behar begins
with the mitzvah of
shemitah, which forbids a
farmer from working the
land for an entire year
every seven years. The Torah
emphasizes that Hashem
taught this mitzvah to Moshe Rabbenu at Har
Sinai.
Rashi, in one of the most famous passages
in his Torah commentary, raises the question,
how is shemitah related to Har Sinai? All the
mitzvot were given to us at Har Sinai, so why
did the Torah need to tell us that the mitzvah
of the shemitah was given at Har Sinai?
Rashi answers that the Torah made this
point to clarify that just as all the details of
the laws of shemitah were given at Har Sinai,
the details of the other mitzvot were given at
Har Sinai, as well. We might have assumed
that only the generalities of the mitzvot were
given at Har Sinai. The Torah therefore
specified that the detailed laws of shemitah
were given at Sinai, to make it known that
the details of all the mitzvot were given at
Sinai.
Still, the question remains, why was
shemitah chosen to be the mitzvah that

would teach us this? Of all the mitzvot, G-d
chose the mitzvah of shemitah as the one
about which the Torah would emphasize that
even the details were given at Har Sinai,
showing us that this is true of all the
mitzvot. Why?
All mitzvot require us to stop and place our
trust in Hashem. On Friday afternoon, we
have to stop, leave work, close our
businesses, and trust that Hashem will take
care of us. Every morning, no matter how
busy we are, no matter how many things we
have to do, we need to first pray. Every
afternoon and evening, no matter what’s
going on, no matter how much pressure we
have, we stop and pray minhah and arvit.
Every year in Nissan. we need to take the
time to thoroughly clean the house and
prepare for Pesach. When we buy a house,
no matter how much it cost us and how big a
mortgage we have to pay, we need to buy
mezuzot and put them on the
doorposts. Whenever our parents need our
help, we are to stop what we’re doing and
help them. Every mitzvah requires some
kind of sacrifice, some kind of investment of
time or money, and it requires us to trust that
Hashem is taking care of us.

When seen from this perspective,
shemitah is the quintessential
mitzvah. No other mitzvah
requires a greater sacrifice, and a
greater amount of emunah, than
shemitah. For an entire year, the
farmer has to take off from work,
and let anyone who wishes take
produce from his fields. This is an
incredible sacrifice, which is possible only if
one has firm faith in Hashem.
This is why the Torah chose shemitah as the
model of all other mitzvot – because it
teaches us the core concept underlying all
mitzvot, the notion of stopping what we’re
doing, and placing our trust in Hashem.
There is a famous Mishnah in Pirkeh Avot
that we all know, but very few of us are able
to put into practice: “Who is wealthy? He
who is happy with his portion” (4:1).
So many people are unhappy and
dissatisfied. They have many blessings, but
there is something missing that they crave,
and which makes them discontented. One
way we can overcome this tendency is to
consider the Hatam Sofer’s comments on
this Mishnah. The Hatam Sofer explains the
Mishnah to mean that we should feel content

by recognizing that everything a person has
in his life is just a portion of the blessings
that Hashem has in store for him. We feel
unhappy because we feel stuck in our current
position, we assume that things will never
change. The Mishnah teaches us that we can
enjoy happiness if we trust that Hashem has
much more to give us, that what we have
now is just a portion of what He will still
give us.
This is the message of shemitah – to
recognize that true happiness and serenity
comes when we place our faith in Hashem,
and are able to let go, to stop what we’re
doing, and have faith that He is caring for us,
has always been caring for us, and will
continue caring for us. If we master this skill,
the ability to stop and trust in Hashem, then
we will truly be wealthy, living with real joy
and contentment.