One of the challenging yet exciting aspects of the return of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel is figuring out how to apply sections of Jewish law that have been dormant for 1,900 years. One of the most challenging is the observance of the shmittah, the sabbatical year that begins as we usher in the year 5775. The Torah says the land is to lie fallow and all produce is deemed ownerless, allowing the needy to come and take food from the various fields.
Shmittah is a “Shabbat to the Lord.” While we have a weekly acknowledgement of God’s ownership of the world once a week with 39 categories of forbidden work, once in seven years there is an entire year where farming activities are proscribed. Man has a special attachment to the land and shmittah is meant to drive home the point that all land i.e. the earth, belongs to God and we are its custodians, working it in a manner that’s pleasing to “the Boss.”
This means that during the six years that we do work the land we are to practise peah by leaving the corner of the field for the poor, and leket, where any crops dropped are to be left for the poor – clearly if you are dropping food, you are carrying plenty for yourself. And should one forget to harvest a field, one must leave it for the poor – one does not forget about a field needed for one’s sustenance.
By having a year off – the origin of the sabbatical – we can spend time renewing our spiritual batteries. This is especially important for a farmer who works long, hard hours of physical labour.
Shmittah is actually part of a larger system where, after seven shmittah cycles, the 50th year is declared a yovel, where (save for some rare exceptions) land is to revert to the original owner, effectively converting all land ownership to a maximum 50-year lease. Undoubtedly, this is very strange to those accustomed to the capitalism of the West. Whatever other objectives these laws may have, they impress upon man that God is the Master and Owner of the universe.
Interestingly these laws only have biblical force when the majority of the Jewish People are dwelling in the land of Israel – something that, for the first time in 2,600 years, will soon be upon us. These laws reflect the special relationship that exists between God, the Jewish People and the Land of Israel. And when the relationship is working well, the Torah promises that the produce of the sixth year will be more than sufficient to allow everyone to take the year off. But we are not quite there.
As Jews returned to Israel and began reclaiming the land, the question of shmittah became most pressing. Observing the laws of shmittah would have rendered the settlement of the land stillborn. The leading rabbinic authorities of the time (late 19th century) devised a legal mechanism by which the land was transferred to non-Jews, allowing work to continue. This legal loophole – similar to the selling of chametz before Pesach – balances the need to faithfully observe the laws while applying them to modern realities to ensure our Torah remains a living Torah.
In recent years, many have questioned the legitimacy of this loophole. No longer do we live in an agricultural society, and food – at least in certain quantities – is available from other sources. It is actually possible to let one’s land lie fallow and not starve. However while this works on an individual basis, it cannot work on a national basis. Letting the entire farmland of Israel lie fallow is not possible (yet). It is for this reason that many continue to support “selling the land” to a non-Jew. While this may not be ideal, it is the only solution that can work on a national scale.