(1) You must not carry false rumors; you shall not join hands with the guilty to act as a malicious witness: (2) You shall neither side with the mighty to do wrong—you shall not give perverse testimony in a dispute so as to pervert it in favor of the mighty— (3) nor shall you show deference to a poor man in his dispute. (4) When you encounter your enemy’s ox or ass wandering, you must take it back to him. (5) When you see the ass of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless raise it with him. (6) You shall not subvert the rights of your needy in their disputes. (7) Keep far from a false charge; do not bring death on those who are innocent and in the right, for I will not acquit the wrongdoer. (8) Do not take bribes, for bribes blind the clear-sighted and upset the pleas of those who are in the right. (9) You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt. (10) Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; (11) but in the seventh you shall release* it and let it lie fallow. Let the needy among your people eat of it, and what they leave let the wild beasts eat. You shall do the same with your vineyards and your olive groves.
Discussion:
- What are we asked to do or not do in verses 10 and 11? Who is impacted and how? How is this related to the rest of the passage?
- Why seven years? Where else do we see sevens in Jewish tradition? How does shmita and yovel (see bottom for explanation) impact a concept of Jewish time and cycles?
- How do cycles play a role in your own life? What is the value of using cycles to mark time?
(1) Adonai spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: (2) Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a sabbath-rest of Adonai. (3) Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield. (4) But in the seventh year the land shall have an absolute sabbath-rest (shabbat shabbaton), a sabbath-rest of Adonai: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. (5) You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untrimmed vines; it shall be a sabbath-rest year for the land. (6) But you may eat whatever the land during its sabbath-rest will produce—you, your male and female slaves, the hired and bound laborers who live with you, (7) and your cattle and the beasts in your land may eat all its yield.
לא תקצור. לִהְיוֹת מַחֲזִיק בּוֹ כִּשְׁאָר קָצִיר, אֶלָּא הֶפְקֵר יִהְיֶה לַכֹּל:
והיתה שבת הארץ וגו'. אַעַ"פִּ שֶׁאֲסַרְתִּים עָלֶיךָ, לֹא בַאֲכִילָה וְלֹא בַּהֲנָאָה אֲסַרְתִּים, אֶלָּא שֶׁלֹּא תִנְהֹג בָהֶם כְּבַעַל הַבַּיִת, אֶלָּא הַכֹּל יִהְיוּ שָׁוִים בָּהּ, אַתָּה וּשְׂכִירְךָ וְתוֹשָׁבְךָ:
לא תקצור THOU SHALT NOT REAP [IT] — to take it as your exclusive property as you do with other harvests (with the harvest in another year) but it shall be ownerless (הפקר) to all and then thou also may reap of it.
'והיתה שבת הארץ וגו AND THE SABBATH OF THE LAND SHALL BE [FOOD FOR YOU] — Although I have forbidden them (the fruits of the Shmita year) to you by stating “thou shalt not harvest etc.”, I do not mean to forbid you to eat or to derive benefit from it but what I meant was that you should not treat it as its exclusive owner. All have equal rights to it (the Shmita year’s produce) — you and your hired servant and your sojourner.
Discussion
- Why does the land need a shabbat to “rest?”
- Why call this period of a “shabbat of the land” that is also a “shabbat of Adonai?”
- Why call shmita a shabbat? How might it relate to the weekly Shabbat?
- What is “shabbat shabbaton”, translated as sabbath of Sabbaths? This term is also used in the Torah to describe Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:31).
- Rashi introduces the idea that produce in the shmita year is hefker or ownerless. How does the concept of hefker challenge our ideas of ownership? What becomes possible and what is lost when we declare things hefker?
(א) מִקֵּ֥ץ שֶֽׁבַע־שָׁנִ֖ים תַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה שְׁמִטָּֽה׃ (ב) וְזֶה֮ דְּבַ֣ר הַשְּׁמִטָּה֒ שָׁמ֗וֹט כׇּל־בַּ֙עַל֙ מַשֵּׁ֣ה יָד֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יַשֶּׁ֖ה בְּרֵעֵ֑הוּ לֹֽא־יִגֹּ֤שׂ אֶת־רֵעֵ֙הוּ֙ וְאֶת־אָחִ֔יו כִּֽי־קָרָ֥א שְׁמִטָּ֖ה לַיהֹוָֽה׃
(ז) כִּֽי־יִהְיֶה֩ בְךָ֨ אֶבְי֜וֹן מֵאַחַ֤ד אַחֶ֙יךָ֙ בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ בְּאַ֨רְצְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ֑ךְ לֹ֧א תְאַמֵּ֣ץ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ֗ וְלֹ֤א תִקְפֹּץ֙ אֶת־יָ֣דְךָ֔ מֵאָחִ֖יךָ הָאֶבְיֽוֹן׃ (ח) כִּֽי־פָתֹ֧חַ תִּפְתַּ֛ח אֶת־יָדְךָ֖ ל֑וֹ וְהַעֲבֵט֙ תַּעֲבִיטֶ֔נּוּ דֵּ֚י מַחְסֹר֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֶחְסַ֖ר לֽוֹ׃ (ט) הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֡ פֶּן־יִהְיֶ֣ה דָבָר֩ עִם־לְבָבְךָ֨ בְלִיַּ֜עַל לֵאמֹ֗ר קָֽרְבָ֣ה שְׁנַֽת־הַשֶּׁ֘בַע֮ שְׁנַ֣ת הַשְּׁמִטָּה֒ וְרָעָ֣ה עֵֽינְךָ֗ בְּאָחִ֙יךָ֙ הָֽאֶבְי֔וֹן וְלֹ֥א תִתֵּ֖ן ל֑וֹ וְקָרָ֤א עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֔ה וְהָיָ֥ה בְךָ֖ חֵֽטְא׃ (י) נָת֤וֹן תִּתֵּן֙ ל֔וֹ וְלֹא־יֵרַ֥ע לְבָבְךָ֖ בְּתִתְּךָ֣ ל֑וֹ כִּ֞י בִּגְלַ֣ל ׀ הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֗ה יְבָרֶכְךָ֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּכׇֽל־מַעֲשֶׂ֔ךָ וּבְכֹ֖ל מִשְׁלַ֥ח יָדֶֽךָ׃ (יא) כִּ֛י לֹא־יֶחְדַּ֥ל אֶבְי֖וֹן מִקֶּ֣רֶב הָאָ֑רֶץ עַל־כֵּ֞ן אָנֹכִ֤י מְצַוְּךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר פָּ֠תֹ֠חַ תִּפְתַּ֨ח אֶת־יָדְךָ֜ לְאָחִ֧יךָ לַעֲנִיֶּ֛ךָ וּלְאֶבְיֹנְךָ֖ בְּאַרְצֶֽךָ׃ {ס}
(1) At the end/onset* of every seventh year you shall practice release of debts. (2) This shall be the nature of the release: every creditor shall remit the due that he claims from his fellow; he shall not dun his fellow or kinsman, for it is proclaimed a release of Adonai.
(7) If, however, there is a needy person among you, one of your kinsmen in any of your settlements in the land that Adonai your God is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy kinsman. (8) Rather, you must open your hand and lend him sufficient for whatever he needs. (9) Beware lest you harbor the wicked thought, “The seventh year, the year of release, is approaching,” so that you are mean to your needy kinsman and give him nothing. He will cry out to Adonai against you, and you will incur guilt. (10) Give to him readily and have no regrets when you do so, for in return Adonai your God will bless you in all your efforts and in all your undertakings. (11) For there will never cease to be needy ones in your land, which is why I command you: open your hand to the poor and needy kinsman in your land.
Discussion:
- How do you think the agricultural and economic elements of Shmita relate to each other? What combined experience of the Shmita year do they create?
- Would you lend money in the 6th year? Would you ask for a loan?
- If you were preparing for the arrival of Shmita, what emotions do you think would arise for you? What role does “having faith” play into observing shmita?
- The Torah anticipates that people maybe be afraid to practice debt forgiveness. A similar message appear in relation to resting the land “And should you ask, “What are we to eat in the seventh year, if we may neither sow nor gather in our crops?” I will ordain my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it shall yield a crop sufficient for three years.” (Lev. 25:20-21) Why does the Torah provide this encouragement? What kind of experience is shmita meant to provide us as individuals and a society?
Yovel/Jubliee
In Leviticus 25:8:10, we are introduced to an additional element of the shmita cycle called Yovel or the Jubilee year. Yovel was to be celebrated during the 50th year, after completing seven Shmita cycles. Yovel has two additional practices. One is the reversion of land to its original owners. The idea stems from the division of land among the tribes and families when the Jewish people entered the land of Israel. Each family had a plot of ancestral property that they could use as a home, farm, or any other use to make a living. Over time, the fortunes of some people were better than those of others and land changed hands.
The other practice is freeing Hebrew slaves. The slavery depicted in this context is well known from the ancient world - people would enter into indentured servitude because of extreme poverty or to repay debt. The Torah specifies that in this arrangement, Hebrew slaves brought into a master’s household must be fed, clothed, given suitable living accommodations, treated decently, and given time to rest. Torah puts strict limits on the amount of time that the Hebrew slave can be indentured. The Torah tells us that the Hebrew slave must be permitted to go free after six years of slavery. And, when they are set free in the seventh year, the master must furnish them with the ability to make a living and support themselves. However, not all Hebrew slaves wanted to go free after six years and thus must be freed during Yovel.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Translation | Location |
| שְּׁבִיעִ֗ת | Shvi’it | Seventh |
Exodus 23.11, Leviticus 25.4 |
|
תִּשְׁמְטֶ֣נָּה וּנְטַשְׁתָּ֗הּ |
Tishm’tena U'nitashta | Release & Lie Fallow, Let It Go & Let It Be |
Exodus 23.11 |
| שַׁבָּ֖ת לַיהוָֽה | Shabbat Lado’nay | Shabbat for God | Leviticus 25.1 |
| שַׁבַּ֤ת שַׁבָּתוֹן֙ | Shabbat Shabbaton | Shabbat of Shabbats | Leviticus 25.4 |
| שַׁבַּ֨ת הָאָ֤רֶץ | Shabbat Ha’aretz | Shabbat of the Land | Leviticus 25.6 |
| שְׁמִטָּֽה | Shmita | Release, Remission | Deuteronomy 15.1 |
Discussion:
- How do the different words and contexts for “shmita” relate to each other? What does the tradition what us to understand about shmita?
- Outside of Israel we are not obligated to mark shmita as different, but we if we consider the tradition wise how might we mark it?
- Where were you, your family, and your community 7 years ago? What would will they be in 7 years?
- What systems, structures, and ideas might become visible through shmita practice?