Commento su Deuteronomio 15:1

מקץ שבע שנים AT THE END OF SEVEN YEARS [THOU SHALT MAKE A REMISSION] — One might think that this means seven years after each individual loan! Scripture, however, states, (v. 9) “[Take heed unto thyself lest there be in thy heart a word of worthlessness, saying], The seventh year … approacheth [and thine eye be evil against thy brother and thou givest him nought]”! Now, if you say that the seven years spoken of here mean seven years after each individual loan, i.e., after the granting of the loan to each individual person, how can one say, at the time the request for a loan is being made, “it (the seventh year) is coming near?” Consequently you must learn from this that Scripture means seven years according to the reckoning of the Sh’mitta-period (Sifrei Devarim 111:8).

MIKEITZ’ OF SEVEN YEARS THOU SHALT MAKE ‘SH’MITAH.’ The correct interpretation appears to me that he is warning about the seventh year itself, that we make it a Sabbatical [refraining] from plowing, [sowing] and reaping, just as He said, But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow,²⁴⁵Exodus 23:11. this being the meaning of thou shalt make ‘sh’mitah,’ that “you should rest,” similar to the expression, to keep the Sabbath-day.²⁴⁶Above, 5:15. He abridged the prohibitions of sowing and pruning because He expressly mentioned them already,²⁴⁷See Leviticus 25:4. but he supplemented [what was previously said] to explain that it is a ‘sh’mitah’ of the Eternal²⁴⁸Verse 2. also in regards to the release of moneys. This is the sense of the expression, because it is proclaimed ‘the remission’ of the Eternal,²⁴⁸Verse 2. which is similar to a Sabbath unto the Eternal,²⁴⁹Leviticus 25:2. and all works are to cease. I have already alluded to its secret.²⁴⁹Leviticus 25:2.
Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented [that the meaning of the word mikeitz is] “at the beginning of the year.” And so say all grammarians²⁵⁰Including R’dak in his Sefer Hasharashim, under the root katzeh. that the beginning and end of something are each called katzeh, since there are two extremities to each thing, similar to what is written, from ‘hakatzeh’ (end) to ‘hakatzeh’ (end);²⁵¹Exodus 26:28. of the two ends thereof;²⁵²Ibid., 25:19. in the four ends thereof.²⁵³Ibid., 27:4. But the words [of the grammarians and Ibn Ezra] do not seem correct to me. For “the beginning of seven years” denotes the first year [of the Sabbatical cycle], this being the katzeh which is called rosh (the beginning)! Now had Scripture said, “mikeitz of the seventh year” their interpretation would have been correct [for then the verse would mean “at the beginning of the seventh year you shall make sh’mitah.” Instead, however, Scripture says, “‘Mikeitz’ of seven years thou shalt make ‘sh’mitah’ which according to them means “at the beginning of seven years,” i.e., in the first year you shall make the sh’mitah, which cannot be correct]! And in the opinion of our Rabbis²⁵⁴Sifre, R’eih 111. mikeitz means “at the end of the seven years,” and Scripture speaks only of the release of money [i.e., the remission of debts], stating “at the end of all seven years counted by you [as a Sabbatical cycle] you shall make a release, that every creditor shall release that which he hath lent unto his neighbor, ”²⁴⁸Verse 2. and it is therefore that the Rabbis have said²⁵⁵Arakhin 28b. that the Seventh year cancels a loan only at the end. Similarly in their opinion²⁵⁴Sifre, R’eih 111. the verse ‘mikeitz’ seven years, at the appointed season of the year of remission, in the Festival of Tabernacles²⁵⁶Further, 31:10. means “at the end of the seventh year,” except that “the end” mentioned here [with reference to the release of debts] means immediately [i.e., in the last moment of the seventh year] and “the end” mentioned there [with reference to the Assembly at which the king was to read the Book of Deuteronomy] is “distant,” [during Tabernacles, somewhat “distant” from the end of the year], since he explained at the appointed season of the year of remission, in the Festival of Tabernacles.²⁵⁶Further, 31:10. Thus the sense [of mikeitz] in both cases is “the end,” stating here “at the end of seven years you shall make a release,” and there likewise it states “when the seven years end at the appointed season of the year of remission in the Festival of Tabernacles you shall make an Assembly.”
By way of the simple meaning of Scripture it appears to me that the language of Scripture in its plain sense is clear and correct. Keitz means “end,” and so is its translation [as rendered by Onkelos and Yonathan: “at the end”]. Numbers and every [other] thing have a beginning and an end, and their beginning and end are part of them. Thus when you speak of tens, “one” is the beginning of the number and “ten” its end. If so, “the end of seven years” is “the seventh year” which is the end of that number, and Scripture refers to the Sabbatical of the Land, as I have explained above. The meaning of the word mikeitz is then like one cherub (‘mikatzeh’) at the one ‘end’ and one cherub (‘mikatzeh’) at the other ‘end’.²⁵⁷Exodus 25:19. The purport of the verse here is thus as follows: “at the end of seven years [i.e., in the seventh year which is ‘the end’ of that period] you shall make a cessation of work on the Land.” Similarly, ‘Mikeitz’ of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew, that hath been sold unto thee and hath served thee six years²⁵⁸Jeremiah 34:13. means “in the seventh year” which is the end of that number, this being similar to the verse written in the Torah, and in the seventh year he shall go out free for nothing.²⁵⁹Exodus 21:2. Thus the point is clear: In the seventh year — i.e., from its very beginning — we are to observe an entire year’s rest for the Land. Similarly, at the beginning of the seventh year of his service, the Hebrew servant is to go free, for, as Scripture stated, he shall serve thee six years, and at [the beginning of] the seventh year he goes free for nothing. So also, and in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free;²⁶⁰Further, Verse 12. for having said, he shall serve thee six years,²⁶⁰Further, Verse 12. it was not necessary to explain [“mikeitz seven years you shall let him go”] but only to state that in the seventh year he goes free. In the same way it would appear that the meaning of the other verse — ‘mikeitz’ seven years, at the appointed season in the year of remission, in the Festival of Tabernacles²⁵⁶Further, 31:10. — would be in a similar way: “in ‘the end’ year, in the Festival of Tabernacles, in the beginning of that year in which plowing and sowing have been forbidden, this being the Sabbatical year.” But we could not say so, since our Rabbis have received by tradition²⁶¹Sotah 41a. and they provided that the Assembly [in which the king read the Book of Deuteronomy] should be held in the Festival of Tabernacles of the eighth year, this being the year after the Sabbatical year. Therefore, the commentators²⁶²Rashi (further, 31:10). said that at the appointed season in the year of remission²⁵⁶Further, 31:10. means “in the appointed season of the first year in the Sabbatical cycle.” This is not correct for the year of remission in Scripture refers only to the year of rest, to that year which is the remission of the Eternal²⁴⁸Verse 2. [and not as Rashi explained, “the first year of the Sabbatical cycle”], and so also, the year of the Jubilee²⁶³Leviticus 25:13. [means, “the year which is itself the Jubilee”]. Our Rabbis themselves made this point, for they said:²⁶⁴Arakhin 24b. “Is it written ‘in the year of the Jubilee?’ It states from the year of the Jubilee²⁶⁵Leviticus 27:17. which means ‘the year after the Jubilee.’”²⁶⁶This proves that only where Scripture uses the term “from” — “from the Jubilee” or “from the remission” — it means “the year after the Jubilee” or “after the remission,” but “the year of remission” means the year in which the rest of the Land takes place.
But I say thus: keitz and soph are used in Scripture to denote “the end” of any matter, but sometimes they are within that extremity and sometimes after it, outside of it. Thus: ‘umiktzei’ (and from among) his brethren;²⁶⁷Genesis 47:2. ‘mikatzeh’ (that is outmost) in the set;²⁶⁸Exodus 26:4. ‘umiktzatham’ (that at the end) they might stand before the king;²⁶⁹Daniel 1:5. ‘miktzoth’ (from the uttermost part) of the one wing unto ‘k’tzoth’ (the uttermost part) of the other²⁷⁰I Kings 6:24. — all these are expressions of an extremity which is attached to the thing itself and is contained within it. [But the following expressions:] ‘keitz’ (the end of) all flesh is come before Me;²⁷¹Genesis 6:13. and he shall come to ‘kitzo’ (his end), and none shall help him;²⁷²Daniel 11:45. ‘hakeitz’ (the end) is come;²⁷³Ezekiel 7:2. ‘keitz’ (an end) is come²⁷⁴Ibid., Verse 6. — all signify “the end” of the matter mentioned but it signifies a later period, for it has been severed and separated. So it is regarding the term soph (end): It is better to go to the house of mourning etc. for that is ‘soph’ (the end of) all men,²⁷⁵Ecclesiastes 7:2. which means “after him,” for he has died; they are wholly ‘sophu’ (consumed) by terrors.²⁷⁶Psalms 73:19. The work that G-d hath done from the beginning even to ‘soph’ (the end)²⁷⁷Ecclesiastes 3:11. — here the term end is within the work itself. And in the language of the Rabbis we find [with reference to the writing of a Scroll of the Law:²⁷⁸Baba Bathra 13b. “The scribe is to leave blank] about a column at the beginning [of the Torah] and about [the width of] the circumference ‘b’sopho’ (at its end).” The meaning of the verse [regarding the Assembly] will then be as follows: “From the end of the seven years in the account of the year of release, in the Festival of Tabernacles which follows after the seven years, you shall make the Assembly.” And in order it should not appear to them that “the seven years” refer to some other counting, he mentioned that the seven years be [bizman ha’sh’mitah], at “the time of” the release. Similarly, when I take ‘mo’eid’²⁷⁹Psalms 75:3. means “the [appointed] time.” So do all mo’adim (festivals) signify “the [appointed] times.” Thus this term mikeitz [stated in connection with the Assembly] means “after the period [of seven years] is finished,” as he explained, in the Festival of Tabernacles.²⁵⁶Further, 31:10. But [in the verse stated here before us] ‘mikeitz’ seven years thou shalt make a release [the seventh year is] within that number. He did not need to dwell upon and explain this since He already explained that the seventh year is the year of the release.²⁸⁰Exodus 23:11; Leviticus 25:4. And the word keitz (end) here is then extensive, applying [to the release during] the whole [seventh] year as I have explained by way of the simple meaning of Scripture.
It is possible to say that Scripture counts the beginning of the year from the Festival of Tabernacles, as He said, and the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year,²⁸¹Exodus 34:22. and He further said, and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year.²⁸²Ibid., 23:16. And if so, ‘mikeitz’ seven years [stated further on in connection with the Assembly]²⁵⁶Further, 31:10. means “at the end [of the seven years] and just beyond it.” And he states, at the appointed season of the year of remission²⁵⁶Further, 31:10. to indicate that the reckoning of seven years be according to the Sabbatical cycles, as I have explained, but not that the [legal obligations of] release extend up to this Festival [of Tabernacles].
Now, I have seen of one author²⁸³I have not identified this author. who wrote [with respect to the verse on the Assembly]: “This teaches that we are to add from the secular to the sacred, and the law of release [although officially ending at the New Year of the eighth year] still applied until the Festival of Tabernacles of the eighth year. But it is irrefutably shown in the Talmud²⁸⁴Rosh Hashanah 13a. See my Hebrew commentary p. 413. with clear proofs that it [the above interpretation] is untrue.
Now it is possible to say that what our Rabbis have said²⁵⁴Sifre, R’eih 111. with respect to ‘mikeitz’ seven years thou shalt make a release that the release of money [i.e., the remission of debts] takes effect only at the end of the year — that it is an interpretation [deduced from the text]. Because Scripture did not say “the seventh year you shall make a release” [but instead said ‘mikeitz’ seven years …], it is more suggestive that you effect the remission at the end of the seven [years] than at the beginning. And the intent of [the Rabbis in using here] this term “end” is “beyond it.” Thus a creditor can demand his debt on the last day of the year of the release, and it is not remitted until the night, for thus we find in the Tosephta²⁸⁵Tosephta Shevi’ith 8:10. On “Tosephta” see Vol. III, p. 179, Note 124. that they may write a prozbul²⁸⁶A declaration made before a court by a creditor and signed by witnesses to the effect that the loan in question would not be cancelled by the law of release of the Sabbatical year. The prozbul’s legal basis is the Torah’s prohibition that the creditor shall not exact the debt; by turning over his claims to the court, it is they, the officers of the court, who collect it and not the creditor (Rashi, Gittin 36a). It was Hillel who established this ordinance because people refused to lend money to the poor on the seventh year for fear that the debts would be remitted, thus transgressing the law of the Torah against being callous to the condition of the poor (ibid., 36a). See “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 149-150. on the day before the New Year of the outgoing seventh year.

מקץ שבע שנים תעשה שמיטה, “At the conclusion of seven years you shall institute a remission.” Nachmanides writes that in his view the Torah here refers to the whole year being made into a “remission,” i.e. no pursuit of agriculture either at planting time or at harvest time, precisely as implied by the words (Exodus 23,11)—והשביעית, תשמטנה ונטשתה “and in the seventh year, leave it untended and abandon it.” The words תעשה שמטה in our verse are a variation of the words quoted from Exodus. You are to relate to your agricultural duties in the seventh year just as you relate to your business or vocational concerns on the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath. What Moses adds here is that in addition to being a year of “vacation,” from hard labour in exchange for devoting that time to spiritual matters, i.e. devoting your time directly to matters of G’d, is that you are also to take a “vacation” from collecting bad debts, overdue loans. In Jewish law this is known as שמטת כספים, a year of remitting, i.e. forgiving, of outstanding debts. Any outstanding debts that you could not collect by the end of that year, the Torah asks you to forgive. Ibn Ezra understands the word מקץ as meaning “at the beginning.” He argues that the beginning and the end of something are called מקץ, i.e. every line has two ends, or two beginnings, both extremities at either end are called קץ. Nachmanides disagrees, seeing that the beginning of a cycle of seven years is known as השנה הראשונה, with the emphasis in the cardinal number “the first.” Had the Torah spoken of מקץ השנה השביעית , Ibn Ezra’s commentary would have been acceptable. According to the plain meaning of the text, the פשט, it seems obvious that the word מקץ here means “at the end,” as everything has a beginning and an end. Similarly, any string of numbers has a beginning and an end, Number 1 is considered the ראש, head, beginning of the sequence, and number 10 is deemed to be the end, סוף of such a sequence of 10 numbers. Seeing that, as I explained, the verse speaks about the remission of work on the land, the description מקץ clearly denotes the end of the year, harvest time. The meaning of מקץ is the same as the word בקץ, or בסוף, both meaning “at the end.” We encounter the word in connection with the lid of the Holy Ark upon which were mounted two cherubs, described as כרוב אחד מקצה מזה וכרוב אחד מקצה מזה, “one cherub at the one end, and another cherub at the other end.” (Exodus 25,22) Nachmanides continues at length, but I have decided to condense his commentary. It follows that the words מקץ שבע שנים refer to the beginning of the eighth year, seeing that the end of the seven years had just occurred.

Kap. 15. V. 1. Das vorige Kapitel schloss mit dem מעשר עני-Gesetze. Indem damit in jedem dritten Jahre dieser Zehnte der Armen an die Stelle des sonst in frohem Genusse vor Gott in der Gottesstadt zu verzehrenden Zehnten trat, war damit die Fürsorge für des unbemittelten Nächsten Wohl als eine Konsequenz der eigenen Genussesfreude vor Gott gesetzt und dem jüdischen Gemüte die Richtung anerzogen, die sich vor Gott des eigenen Glücks nicht freuen kann, ohne nach Kräften auch des ärmeren Bruders Herz durch tätige helfende Teilnahme erfreut zu haben. שָמחתי ושמחתי, ich habe Freude genossen und Freude gespendet, lautet der Schlusssatz in dem Zehntenbekenntnis bei jedem dreijährigen Turnusschluss (26, 14). Indem aber die unverzehntete Frucht, auch wenn nur מעשר עני noch nicht davon ausgeschieden, טבל, und als solches nicht zum eigenen Genuss gestattet ist, ist damit von vornherein dem für die eigene Existenz arbeitenden Menschen zum Bewusstsein gebracht, dass er mit seiner Arbeit und mit den Früchten seiner Arbeit nicht nur im Dienste der eigenen Existenz stehe, dass Gott ihn und die Früchte seiner Arbeit auch in den Dienst der Nächstenexistenz und des Nächstenheiles stelle, über die Früchte seiner Arbeit für die Existenz des Nächsten disponiere und von jedem Besitzenden die Heilespflege des Nächsten erwarte.

מקץ שבע שנים, “at the conclusion of seven years;” the rules governing the sh’mittah year do not commence until the end of the seventh year. The reason why this paragraph is appended here is that in 14,29, we have read that we have to care for the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the stranger, and this is what basically the sh’mittah legislation is also about.

Dass mit מעשר עני die jedem obliegende Sorge für die Unbemittelten und Armen nicht erschöpft sei, dass dies ebenso wie die anderen מתנות עניים nur diese Sorge in dem ganzen Ernst ihrer Verantwortlichkeit vor Gott dem Besitzenden zum Bewusstsein bringen soll — wie wir dies wiederholt zu bemerken hatten — das ist eben durch die hier folgenden שמיטת כספים- und צדקה-Gesetze vollends klar, in welchen die Pflichten gegen die unbemittelten Brüder in weiterem Umfange gezeichnet werden.

Dass diese Gesetze zunächst dem Gesetzeskompendium für die ins Land Ziehenden vorbehalten blieben, motiviert sich — abgesehen davon, dass nach dem ספרי in der Wüste שמיטת כספים nicht נוהג war (siehe auch Kiduschin 38 b) — schon durch den Umstand, dass während der Wüstenwanderung, von welcher es לא חסרת דבר heißt, wohl überhaupt kaum Gelegenheit zur Erfüllung dieser Pflichten gegeben war.

מקץ שבע שנים. Bereits Schmot 23, 10 u. 11 und ausführlich Wajikra. 25. 2 —7 ist jedem siebten Jahre als Teil der großen Jobelinstitution der Charakter eines Jahressabbat, eines Gott als wirklichen Herrn und Eigentümer des Bodens verkündenden Bekenntnisjahres erteilt, während dessen ganzer Dauer die Menschenherrschaft über den Boden sistiert, kein Acker und Feld bestellt, keine Frucht eingeheimst wird, sondern, was freiwillig der Boden trägt, allen Menschen und Tieren gemeinsam zufällt. Hier wird nun noch eine letzte Konsequenz aus dem Gotteseigentumsrecht an unserem Existenzboden gezogen. In dem Moment, in welchem das Sabbatjahr scheidet, lässt es uns Gott auch als Herrn und Disponenten über unser Vermögen überhaupt begreifen und bekennen, und verpflichtet im Namen Gottes, dessen Herrschaft ein ganzes Jahr jeder Halm im Lande verkündete, jeden Berechtigten nunmehr auch alle bis dahin fällig gewordenen und nicht eingegangenen Schuldforderungen dem Schuldner um Gottes willen zu erlassen. Die Tatsache, dass שביעית משמטת בסופה, dass diese Schulden erlassende Wirkung des Sabbatjahres erst in dessen letztem Momente eintritt (Arachin 28 b), und dass nach allgemeinster Auffassung שמיטת כספים und שמיטת קרקע an יובל geknüpft ist, so dass בזמן הזה, nach Sistierung des Jobel שביעית in beiden Beziehungen nur דרבנן-Charakter hat (siehe Moed Katon 2 b, ׳תוספו Kiduschin 38 b, Gittin 36 a, כסף משנה zu ה׳ שמיטה ויובל lässt, glauben wir (25 ,4, שמיטת כספים als Konsequenz von שמיטת קרקע begreifen.