Chasidut for Leviticus 22:2
דַּבֵּ֨ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֜ן וְאֶל־בָּנָ֗יו וְיִנָּֽזְרוּ֙ מִקָּדְשֵׁ֣י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְלֹ֥א יְחַלְּל֖וּ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם קָדְשִׁ֑י אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֵ֧ם מַקְדִּשִׁ֛ים לִ֖י אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה׃
Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they hallow unto Me, and that they profane not My holy name: I am the LORD.
Kedushat Levi
Leviticus 25,2. “the land shall rest, a ‘Sabbath’ for the Lord.” In order to understand the meaning of the line “the land will rest for G’d,” we must refer to Exodus 31,13 ואתה דבר אל בני ישראל ....את שבתותי תשמורו “as for you, tell the Children of Israel to observe My Sabbath days, etc."
According to the writings of the Ari z’al, in the Tur, 242 on hilchot Shabbat we find the following: [not in my edition, Ed.] “while in Egypt, Moses argued with Pharaoh, suggesting that if he wanted to increase the productivity of the Jewish slaves he should allow them one day of rest each week, this day to be the Sabbath.” [It is not clear if Pharaoh accepted the suggestion. Ed.]
When the Torah commanded the Jewish people to rest on the Sabbath, Moses felt happy for having been the one who had already suggested this while he was in Egypt. He considered himself as having had a share in this legislation. [Probably this is meant when we say in our Sabbath prayers in the morning ישמח משה במתנת חלקו, “Moses may rejoice having received his share (of the Sabbath).”Ed.]
This is the reason why the Torah writes: אתה דבר...את שבתתתי תשמרו, “you tell the Children of Israel you are to observe My Sabbath days.” The Jewish people were to appreciate that the Sabbath rest, even though they may have enjoyed it in Egypt, was not to be a physical rest from the labours of the week, but was something decreed by G’d, to bring them closer to Him. Seeing that it had been Moses who was responsible for their relief on that day in Egypt, it had to be he who told them that the Sabbath now assumed an entirely different dimension.
A similar, non-terrestrial dimension also underlies the legislation of the sh’mittah year introduced in our chapter. The land does not have to rest for reasons of being “tired.” The land which had served man during the preceding six years, having been at man’s disposal, will take out a year and revert to being at G’d’s disposal, so to speak.
According to the writings of the Ari z’al, in the Tur, 242 on hilchot Shabbat we find the following: [not in my edition, Ed.] “while in Egypt, Moses argued with Pharaoh, suggesting that if he wanted to increase the productivity of the Jewish slaves he should allow them one day of rest each week, this day to be the Sabbath.” [It is not clear if Pharaoh accepted the suggestion. Ed.]
When the Torah commanded the Jewish people to rest on the Sabbath, Moses felt happy for having been the one who had already suggested this while he was in Egypt. He considered himself as having had a share in this legislation. [Probably this is meant when we say in our Sabbath prayers in the morning ישמח משה במתנת חלקו, “Moses may rejoice having received his share (of the Sabbath).”Ed.]
This is the reason why the Torah writes: אתה דבר...את שבתתתי תשמרו, “you tell the Children of Israel you are to observe My Sabbath days.” The Jewish people were to appreciate that the Sabbath rest, even though they may have enjoyed it in Egypt, was not to be a physical rest from the labours of the week, but was something decreed by G’d, to bring them closer to Him. Seeing that it had been Moses who was responsible for their relief on that day in Egypt, it had to be he who told them that the Sabbath now assumed an entirely different dimension.
A similar, non-terrestrial dimension also underlies the legislation of the sh’mittah year introduced in our chapter. The land does not have to rest for reasons of being “tired.” The land which had served man during the preceding six years, having been at man’s disposal, will take out a year and revert to being at G’d’s disposal, so to speak.
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