๐พ Archived View for scholasticdiversity.us.to โบ scriptures โบ jewish โบ t โบ Or%20HaChaim%20on%20Levitiโฆ captured on 2024-05-10 at 12:54:10. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
3 โ[1] ** ืฉืฉ ืฉื ืื ืชืืจืข, "You shall plant seed for six years, etc."** The Torah wanted to phrase the procedure of the farmer seeding his land as a positive commandment, and the pruning of the vines in the seventh year as a negative commandment so that the negative commandment which is a derivative of a positive commandment is also considered as a positive commandment (compare *Pessachim* 41). Although Maimonides wrote in the first chapter of his treatise *Hilchot Shemittah* that the positive commandment is based on the words ืืฉืืชื ืืืจืฅ ืฉืืช at the end of verse 2, this would certainly not be enough to make the act of seeding and the act of pruning positive commandments. Perhaps what Maimonides had in mind was to make a person who ignores the laws of seeding and pruning guilty of violating two positive commandments instead of merely one.
โ[2] **ืืฉืฉ ืฉื ืื ืชืืืจ, "and for 6 years you shall prune your vineyard."** Why did the Torah repeat the words ืืฉืฉ ืฉื ืื when it could have written: ืฉืฉ ืฉื ืื ืชืืจืข ืฉืื ืืชืืืจ ืืจืื? Our sages explain this in chapter 5 of *Massechet Shvi-it* by reference to ืื ืืช ืฉืื ืฉืืืขืืช ืฉืืื ืฉื ืื, certain kinds of white figs which ripen only once in three years. The *shemittah* legislation applies starting only with the second year of the cycle. The Talmud explains that in the case of the fruits of that tree the cut-off date is the date they blossom which occurs in the seventh year so that these fruit are harvested in the second year after the *shemittah* year. In other words, when it comes to the trees, the time the fruit blossoms determines the calculation for when the *shemittah* year applies. In the case of grains and vegetables however, the time they are harvested determines the application of the *shemittah* prohibition as we know from *Rosh Hashanah* 13. There is a good reason then why the Torah had to write the words ืฉืฉ ืฉื ืื twice, seeing that trees and fields have different six-year cycles respectively, the former determined by the time of the harvest the latter by the time the fruit blossoms.
โ[3] **ืืืกืคืช ืืช ืชืืืืชื, "and you shall gather in its harvest."** What need was there for the Torah to write the word ืืืกืคืช? Perhaps the Torah's use of the expression ืืืกืคืช ืืช ืชืืืืชื is meant to contrast with the ืกืคืืืื, the wild growing crop of the seventh year which was not planted which must not be gathered in. The intention of the Torah then would be to add a positive commandment, i.e. the type of positive commandment which is actually a derivative of the negative commandment not to harvest the wild growing crop. This would make the negative commandment not to harvest this kind of crop into a positive commandment with the appropriate halachic consequences for people transgressing it. Possibly the Torah hints that although a piece of land which has been farmed for six years consecutively does not have the strength left to produce a crop in the seventh year, especially seeing it has not even been ploughed or seeded, in this case this is precisely what will happen. The normal procedure is to cultivate a field for a year and then to give that piece of land a year of rest (compare *Baba Batra* 29). In other words, the Torah praises the quality of the soil in the land of Israel and assures us that observance of the legislation in this chapter will enhance the value of the land. We may even interpret the opening words ืืืจ ืืืืจืช as reflecting this message. The word ืืืจ is normal, the word ืืืืจืช which tones town the harsh ืืืจ hinting at the veiled blessing that the observance of the ืฉืืื legislation will result in an improvement of the yield from the soil.
โ[4] We may also find a clue to the meaning of our verse in *Sanhedrin* 26 which reports Rabbi Yannai calling on the people to plant their fields in the seventh year as the government levied a tax on the fields and people could not have met this unless they planted a crop. *Tossaphot* comment on this: "how could Rabbi Yannai permit something which is forbidden by biblical injunction?" They answer on two levels. Rabbi Yannai spoke of a period when the *shemittah* legislation applies only because of a rabbinic decree. Alternatively, when a matter of ืคืงืื ื ืคืฉ, physical survival, is involved it is in order to temporarily cancel even a biblical injunction.
Version: Or Hachayim, trans. Eliyahu Munk
Source: http://www.urimpublications.com/or-hachayim-commentary-on-the-torah-5-vols.html
License: CC-BY