Parashat Behar begins with the mitzvah of shemitah, which forbids a farmer from working the land for an entire year every seven years. The Torah emphasizes that Hashem taught this mitzvah to Moshe Rabbenu בהר סיני, at Mount Sinai.
Rashi, in one of the most famous passages in his Torah commentary, raises the question, מה עניין שמיטה אצל הר סיני – how is shemitah related to Mount Sinai? All the mitzvot were given to us at Mount Sinai, so why did the Torah need to tell us that the mitzvah of the shemitah was given at Mount Sinai?
Rashi answers that the Torah made this point to clarify that just as all the details of the laws of shemitah were given at Mount Sinai, the details of the other mitzvot were given at Mount Sinai, as well. We might have assumed that only the generalities of the mitzvot were given at Mount Sinai. The Torah therefore specified that the detailed laws of shemitah were given at Sinai, to make it known that the details of all the mitzvot were given at Sinai.
Still, the question remains, why was shemitah chosen to be the mitzvah that would teach us this? Of all the mitzvot, G-d chose the mitzvah of shemitah as the one about which the Torah would emphasize that even the details were given at Mount Sinai, showing us that this is true of all the mitzvot. Why?
All mitzvot require us to stop and place our trust in Hashem. On Friday afternoon, we have to stop, leave work, close our businesses, and trust that Hashem will take care of us. Every morning, no matter how busy we are, no matter how many things we have to do, we need to first pray. Every afternoon and evening, no matter what’s going on, no matter how much pressure we have, we stop and pray minhah and arvit. Every year in Nissan. we need to take the time to thoroughly clean the house and prepare for Pesach. When we buy a house, no matter how much it cost us and how big a mortgage we have to pay, we need to buy mezuzot and put them on the doorposts. Whenever our parents need our help, we are to stop what we’re doing and help them. Every mitzvah requires some kind of sacrifice, some kind of investment of time or money, and it requires us to trust that Hashem is taking care of us.
When seen from this perspective, shemitah is the quintessential mitzvah. No other mitzvah requires a greater sacrifice, and a greater amount of emunah, than shemitah. For an entire year, the farmer has to take off from work, and let anyone who wishes take produce from his fields. This is an incredible sacrifice, which is possible only if one has firm faith in Hashem.
This is why the Torah chose shemitah as the model of all other mitzvot – because it teaches us the core concept underlying all mitzvot, the notion of stopping what we’re doing, and placing our trust in Hashem.
There is a famous Mishnah in Pirkeh Avot that we all know, but very few of us are able to put into practice: איזהו עשיר, השמח בחלקו – “Who is wealthy? He who is happy with his portion” (4:1).
So many people are unhappy and dissatisfied. They have many blessings, but there is something missing that they crave, and which makes them discontented. One way we can overcome this tendency is to consider the Hatam Sofer’s comments on this Mishnah. The Hatam Sofer explains the Mishnah to mean that we should feel content by recognizing that everything a person has in his life is חלקו, just a portion of the blessings that Hashem has in store for him. We feel unhappy because we feel stuck in our current position, we assume that things will never change. The Mishnah teaches us that we can enjoy happiness if we trust that Hashem has much more to give us, that what we have now is just חלקו, a portion of what He will still give us.
This is the message of shemitah – to recognize that true happiness and serenity comes when we place our faith in Hashem, and are able to let go, to stop what we’re doing, and have faith that He is caring for us, has always been caring for us, and will continue caring for us. If we master this skill, the ability to stop and trust in Hashem, then we will truly be עשיר, living with real joy and contentment.