Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Yosef Shemtov
One of the amazing proofs that the Torah was given by the Almighty and not written by human beings is from this week’s Torah portion, Behar.
We see G-d commands all the farmers in Eretz Israel to plant their fields for six years and in the seventh year they should stop all work on their fields. They were to refrain from planting and harvesting and have faith in G-d that they will get their sustenance for that year.
No human being could make such a promise to a nation and command them to close their businesses for one year, especially during ancient times when agriculture was the main source of income for society.
We are experiencing the stay at home order. Imagine if we needed to extend that for an entire year, something that we cannot even think about it. This mitzvah represents faith and trust in Hashem. After working for six years, people might forget that all their blessings were from Hashem. They might think, I made money because I was smart or I worked hard. As a reminder Hashem tells Bnei Israel, “Don’t work for one year and see you will still have blessings.â€
Even though this mitzvah is only rabbinic today, we should always keep this lesson in our minds: there is no other power in the world except Hashem and he is the only source of our livelihood.
Shabbat Shalom