(1) The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: (2) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a sabbath of the LORD. (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 a sabbath of complete rest, a sabbath of the LORD: 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 year of complete rest for the land. (6) But you may eat whatever the land during its sabbath 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.
(1) The Torah does not always follow chronological order. This passage was given before the parasha of Vayyiqra and the parashiyyot that follow it, since it was said on Mount Sinai . It concludes the covenant [26:45] that was mentioned in the parasha of Mishpaṭim [Exodus 24:7]. It appears here, out of order, to connect the laws of incest with the conditions under which the land was given, because incest was one of the things for which the land would vomit them out [18:28]. The sabbatical years are the first condition listed (they are also discussed in the parasha of Beḥuqqotai [26:34 ff]).
(2) שבת לה׳ [THEN SHALL THE LAND KEEP) A REST 'לה — This means a rest in honor of the Lord (not a rest for the Lord, as in v. 4: שבת שבתון יהיה לארץ, “there shall be a strict Sabbath for the land”, i. e. for the land to rest) in the same sense as these words are used in the case of the weekly Sabbath (lit., the Sabbath of Creation) (Exodus 20:10) where 'שבת לה cannot mean “a day for God to rest” (Sifra, Behar, Chapter 1 2).
(א) מצות עשה לשבות מעבודת הארץ ועבודת האילן בשנה שביעית שנאמר "ושבתה הארץ שבת לה'' ונאמר "בחריש ובקציר תשבות" וכל העושה מלאכה מעבודת הארץ או האילנות בשנה זו ביטל מצות עשה ועבר על לא תעשה שנאמר שדך לא תזרע וכרמך לא תזמור.
(1) It is a positive commandment to refrain from working the land and caring for trees in the seventh year, as it says, "and the land shall rest a Sabbath for the Lord" (Leviticus 25:2), and it says "in plowing and in harvesting you shall rest" (Exodus 34:21). Anyone who performs one of the forbidden labors from the working of the land or caring for trees in this year has abrogated a positive commandment and transgressed a negative commandment, as it says, "you shall not plant your field, nor shall you prune your vineyard" (Leviticus 25:4).
(א) מצות שמטת קרקעות - להפקיר כל מה שתוציא הארץ בשנה השביעית... ויזכה בפרותיה כל הרוצה לזכות, שנאמר (שמות כג יא) והשביעת תשמטנה ונטשתה ואכלו אביוני עמך ויתרם תאכל חית השדה כן תעשה לכרמך לזיתך.
The Mitzvah of Resting the Land- To make "ownerless" all that the land has produced in the seventh year...And all those who want to take its fruit (that have grown during the seventh year) are able to as it says (Shemot 23, 11) "but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of thy people may eat; and what they leave the beast of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard."
(תהלים קג): גבורי כח עושי דברו. במה הכתוב מדבר? אמר רבי יצחק: בשומרי שביעית הכתוב מדבר. בנוהג שבעולם, אדם עושה מצוה ליום א', לשבת אחת, לחודש א', שמא לשאר ימות השנה?! ודין חמי חקליה ביירה, כרמיה ביירה, ויהבי ארנונא ושתיק, יש לך גבור גדול מזה?!
“The mighty in strength that fulfill His word” (Psalms 103:20). To whom does
the Scripture refer? R. Isaac said, “To those who are willing to observe the
Sabbatical Year. In the way of the world, a man may be willing to observe a
commandment for a day, a week, a month, but is he likely to continue to do so
through the remaining days of the year? But throughout that year this mighty
man sees his field declared ownerless, his fences broken down, and his produce
consumed by others, yet he continues to give up his produce without saying a
word. Can you conceive a person mightier than such as he?”
(ג) כי שנת השמטה גורם ג"כ ההקהל והשלום ע"י שלא יזרע ולא יצמיח בו ואכלו אביוני עמו כי אינו רשאי להחזיק בתבואת שנת השבע כבעל הבית, וזה בלי ספק סיבת השלום כי כל דברי ריבות נמשכין ממדת שלי שלי זה אומר כולה שלי וכל זה אינו כל כך בשנה השביעית כי בקום ועשה אין הכל שוים אבל בשב ואל תעשה הכל שוין וזה באמת ענין השלום, ו
The year of Shmita...promotes a sense of fellowship and peace through the suspension of cultivation, even for the needy of your people, for one is not allowed to exercise private ownership over any of the seventh year produce. And this is undoubtedly a primary factor in promoting peace since most dissension originates from the attitudes of 'mine is mine,' one person claiming 'it is all mine' and the other also claiming 'it is all mine.' But in the seventh year all are equal, and this is the real essence of peace.
Rav Kook, Introduction to "Sabbath of the Land"
The treasure of the nation, the Divine blessing that is implanted in it, the order of the world, the righteous and good life, lived in harmony with justice and honesty, peace and tranquility, grace and courage, permeated by the all-embracing contemplation of the Divine purpose, as it exists in the national soul -- none call be activated in the day-to-day life. The very nature of this life obfuscates the spiritual majesty of the Divine soul (which dwells in the nation) and prevents its bright and shining light from penetrating the profane reality.
Life can only be perfected through the affording of a breathing space from the bustle of everyday life. The individual shakes himself free from ordinary weekday life at short and regular intervals -- every Sabbath... What the Sabbath achieves regarding the individual, the Shmita achieves with regard to the nation as a whole.
A year of solemn rest is essential for both the nation and the land, a year of peace and quiet without oppressor and tyrant...It is a year of equality and rest, in which the soul reaches out towards Divine justice, towards God who sustains the living creatures with loving kindness. There is no private property and no punctilious privilege but the peace of God reigns over all in which there is the breath of life.
Sanctity is not profaned by the exercise of private acquisitiveness over all this year's produce and the covetousness of wealth stirred up by commerse is forgotten. for food -- but not for commerce.