Halakhah zu Wajikra 25:5

A year of peace and quiet, where there are no tyrants or taskmasters; “he shall not oppress his fellow or kinsman, for the remission proclaimed is of the Lord”;²⁰Deut. 15:2. The verse quoted refers to the remission of debts in the shmita and prohibits creditors from exacting payment from debtors. a year of equality and relaxation in which the soul may expand toward the uprightness of God, who sustains all life with loving-kindness; a year when there is no private property and no standing on one’s rights, and a godly peace will pervade all that breathes. “It shall be a year of complete rest for the land, but you may eat whatever the land will produce during its Sabbath—you, your male and female slaves, the hired and bound laborers who live with you, and your cattle and the beasts on your land may eat all its yield.”²¹Lev. 25:5–7. Pernickety claims to private property will not profane the holiness of the produce of the land during this year, and the urge to get rich, which is stimulated by trade, will be forgotten; as it says, “for you to eat—but not for your trade.”²²Mishnah, Shevi’it 7:3. In this passage, Rav Kook draws on a series of halakhic midrashim based on a phrase from Lev. 25:6, “for you to eat,” which is inter-preted to exclude making use of food grown in the Land of Israel during the shmita for purposes other than eating. A spirit of generosity will rest on all; God will bless the fruit of the land “for you to eat and not your loss.” Human beings will return to a state of natural health, so that they will not need healing for sicknesses, which mostly befall us when the balance of life is destroyed and our lives are distanced from the rhythms of nature; “for you to eat” but not to make medicine and not to use as bandages.²³Talmud Bavli, Sukkah 40a. See the introduction to this volume for further discussion of Rav Kook’s astonishing claim that shmita will promote a natu-ral state of human health that will make medicine unnecessary. A holy spirit will be poured out upon all life; “it will be a year of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath of the Lord.”²⁴Lev. 25:4–5.

The commandment of the releasing (shmitat) of lands: To make ownerless everything that the earth put out in the seventh year, which is called the shmitta (release) year, because of this process in which we are obligated; and that all who want to [take] its fruits may do so - as it is stated (Exodus 23:11), "But the seventh you shall release it and abandon it, and the needy among your people will eat of it, and what they leave the beasts will eat; you shall do the same with your vineyards and your olive groves." And the language of Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon bar Yochai 23:11: "And were the vineyared and the olive groves not included?" [This] means to say that the beginning of the verse that stated, "release it and abandon it" includes everything that grows in the earth, whether they are fruits of the tree or fruits of the ground. And [so] why did Scripture specify these two? "To compare the other types of trees to the vineyard, to teach that like there is a positive commandment and a negative commandment with the vineyard - as behold, it is written explicitly about it (Leviticus 25:5), "and the grapes that you set aside, do not reap" - so too, is there a positive commandment and a negative commandment in all of the other trees." And hence, it specified vineyard and olive grove, to teach about this matter. As the intention of the verse was not specifically about the vineyard and olive grove alone, but rather it is the same with all the other fruits of the tree. Rather, it mentioned one of them and it teaches about all of them, as this is one of the devices through which the Torah is expounded. And this commandment to make all of the fruits ownerless and the other commandment that God commanded us to rest in it - as it is stated (Exodus 34:21), "and rest from plowing and reaping" - are [both] connected.

The commandment of the land resting on the seventh year: To cease work on the land on the seventh year, as it is stated (Exodus 34:21), "from plowing and from reaping you shall rest." And the explanation comes that it is speaking about the seventh year, that we were commanded not to be occupied with work on the land at all. And this commandment is repeated in its stating in another place (Leviticus 25:5), "it shall be a year of complete rest for the land." And so [too,] "the land shall observe a Shabbat for the Lord" (Leviticus 25:2). And above I have already written all of its content completely (Sefer HaChinukh 84) in the Order of Eem Kesef Talveh et Ami in the commandment of "But in the seventh you shall let it rest and lie fallow" (Exodus 23:11) - even though its place is here.

That is that He commanded us to render ownerless all that grows from the ground during the sabbatical year and permit the growth of all of our lands to any person. And that is His, may He be blessed, saying, "But in the seventh you shall release it and let it lie fallow." And the language of the Mekhilta (Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Bar Yochai 23:11) is, "And were the vineyard and olive tree not in the category? So why were they specified? To compare to them: Just like the vineyard is particular in that it is a positive commandment and [if we do not let it rest], we transgress it as a negative commandment; so too [with] everything that has the positive commandment, we would [also] transgress the negative commandment." And the content of this statement is what I will explain. So that which He said, "But in the seventh you shall release it and let it lie fallow," includes everything that will grow from the ground in the seventh year - figs, grapes, olives, peaches, pomegranates, wheat, barley and other things. However this command came only about the vineyard and the olive tree on account of Scripture having come to specifically prohibit gathering of the produce of the vineyard - and that is His saying, "you shall not gather the grapes of your untrimmed vines" (Leviticus 25:5). And just like the vineyard, which the positive commandment rendered ownerless, has surely been prevented with a negative commandment; so too, is the olive tree: Anything that grows in the seventh year - which it is explained that it has been rendered ownerless by the positive commandment - is [also] prevented by the negative commandment. And the law of the olive tree and the law of other produce is the same. Behold it has been made clear to you from all of the above that the release of what grows during the seventh [year] is a positive commandment. And the regulations of this commandment are already explained in Tractate Sheviit. And it too is only practiced and obligatory by Torah law exclusively with the produce of the Land of Israel. (See Parashat Mishpatim; Mishneh Torah, Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee 4.)

That we not harvest the aftergrowth on the seventh year: That we not harvest that which grows on its own from the land on the seventh year, nor the growth that occurs on this year from what was sown in the sixth year - and this is called aftergrowth - as it is stated (Leviticus 25:5), "The aftergrowth of your reaping you shall not harvest." This means to say that we not harvest it in the manner that we harvest our crops in other years (See Sefer HaMitzvot LaRambam, Mitzvot Lo Taase 222). Nevertheless, eating was permitted to us, provided that it is eaten in a way [that shows that it is] ownerless - meaning without preparation, as we will explain in the commandment after this (Sefer HaChinukh 329). As the Torah's only concern in these matters was that a person's actions during this year should indicate that he has no specific property, but that everything is the property of the Master of All - and as we said above.

That we not gather the fruit of the trees in the seventh [year] in the manner that we gather them in every year: That we not gather that which the trees produce on the seventh year in the manner that people gather the fruit of their trees in other years. Instead, we must do so differently to show that it is all as if ownerless in this year. And this is the explanation of, "and the grapes of your vines you shall not reap" (Leviticus 25:5) - meaning, you should not reap in the way of the reapers. As so did the traditional explanation come about it. And [it is as] the Sages explained, (Mishnah Sheviit 8:6) "From here they said that that figs [grown during] the seventh [year] may not be cut off with a fig-cutter, but may be cut with a knife. Grapes [grown during the sabbatical year] may not be stomped in a wine press, but may be stomped in a kneading trough. And olives may not be processed in an olive press or a small olive press, but he may crush and put them in a very small olive press."