In one of the homes of a special rabbi, his Rabbanit (wife) had a housekeeper from Romania. One morning, the housekeeper told the Rabbanit that she had to go back to her country, Romania, and that she would stop working the next day. When the Rabbanit heard that, she looked for something to give the housekeeper as a gift for all the work she had done. She finally found an apple on the table and wrapped it nicely before giving it to the housekeeper as a gift. In Romania, an apple is something special.
After the woman left the house, the very special rabbi came home. In casual conversation, his wife mentioned that she had given the woman an apple as a gift. All of a sudden, the rabbi got very worried. He told his wife, “How did you give her the apple? You know this year is the year of Shemitah (Sabbatical year), and it is forbidden to give a non-Jew an apple from Shemitah.” “What should I do?” asked the Rabbanit. He told her, “Go and find the woman, and get the apple back.”
The Rabbanit went out to the street to find the Romanian housekeeper. After a while, she noticed the woman waiting at the bus stop. At that moment, the bus arrived, and the Rabbanit started waving to her to wait because she had something to tell her. The housekeeper pretended not to see her and jumped onto the bus. When the Rabbanit saw that, she also got on the bus and paid the driver for the ride. As she approached the woman, the woman saw the Rabbanit, made a gesture, and said, “Don’t do anything to me. I’ll give you everything back.” As she was speaking, she put her hand into her pocketbook, and all the Rabbanit’s jewelry came out. The Rabbanit was surprised by the miracle that had happened because of keeping Shemitah, and she asked the Romanian woman to give her back the apple.
Then the Rabbanit realized that, because of the laws of Shemitah and because the rabbi had told her to go after the woman, all her jewelry had been returned. It was very precious to her and had sentimental value because it came from her grandmother and great-grandmothers.
Another story is also told about the Belzer Rebbe (Rebbe of Belz), who arrived in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) from Europe. One spring, the Rebbe wanted a garden, so he asked for a pick, a shovel, and a hose, and started taking care of the garden. All the Chasidim (Hasidic followers) were bewildered. Why was the Rebbe, who was such a holy man, worrying about a garden to grow things next to his house? He was very careful to make sure everything grew properly. He would check on the garden from time to time to make sure everything was going well. The Chasidim could not answer the question: What did he care about a garden?
When the year of Shemitah came, the reason became clear. The Rebbe commanded that the shovel and pick be gathered and closed inside the warehouse. He said, “This year, we will not take care of the garden, because of Shemitah.” Then all the Chasidim understood that the Rebbe’s whole goal in taking care of the garden was to keep the mitzvah (commandment) of Shemitah. He held that every Jew has to do his best to keep that mitzvah when Shemitah comes, which is very rare. And that’s what the Chasidim understood about the holy Rebbe.