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BITACHON LESSON FROM THE PARSHA
פרשת בְּהַ֥ר סִינַ֖י תשפ"ד
No Questions!
וְכִ֣י תֹֽאמְר֔וּ מַה נֹּאכַ֖ל בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁבִיעִ֑ת הֵ֚ן לֹ֣א נִזְרָ֔ע וְלֹ֥א נֶֽאֱסֹ֖ף אֶת תְּבֽוּאָתֵֽנוּ - And if you should say "What will we eat in the seventh year? We will not sow, and we will not gather in our produce!" (Vayikra 25:20)
Hashem's response to that is stated in the subsequent Posuk:
וְצִוִּ֤יתִי אֶת בִּרְכָתִי֙ לָכֶ֔ם בַּשָּׁנָ֖ה הַשִּׁשִּׁ֑ית וְעָשָׂת֙ אֶת הַתְּבוּאָ֔ה לִשְׁל֖שׁ הַשָּׁנִֽים
- I will command My blessing for you in the sixth year and it will yield produce for three years. (Vayikra 25:21)
From this dialogue it seems like Hashem's bracha is based on the people asking "What will we eat in the seventh year?"
What if one didn't ask, and just trusted that Hashem would take care of him, shouldn't he, too, receive the blessing? Isn't that an even greater level of Bitachon in Hashem that should surely merit Heavenly blessings?
The Sforno explains that there are two ways that Hashem sends His blessings to those who keep Shemita. He can bless the crops and allow the regular quantity for a year to provide sustenance for three years - i.e. He can satiate you to satisfaction with half a sandwich. Another way Hashem can dispatch His blessings, is by turbo-charging your crops to yield a bumper crop in one year that will last for three years - i.e. He can provide you with multiple sandwiches to satiate you to satisfaction.
This was the difference between the one whose Bitachon was shaky and the one whose Bitachon was solid.
The one with shaky Bitachon wondered "What will we eat in the seventh year?” True, he followed the Torah and didn't work his fields during Shemita, but it was with anxiety, worry and uneasiness. To him, Hashem sent the blessing via a bumper crop in the sixth year. He had his food for the next few years, but it came at a cost. It came with triple the amount of sweat, triple amount of work, triple amount of concerns, as he had to put in three years' worth of effort to harvest, store and maintain all that produce in the span of one year.
However, to the one whose reliance on Hashem was firm, and he didn't express any anxiety about what he would eat in the seventh year, Hashem simply stated וְנָֽתְנָ֤ה הָאָ֨רֶץ֙ פִּרְיָ֔הּ, his land produced the regular, manageable amount of produce as it did any other year. Yet, that regular quantity which would usually suffice for only one year, was blessed and it lasted three years - וַֽאֲכַלְתֶּ֖ם לָשׂ֑בַע וִֽישַׁבְתֶּ֥ם לָבֶ֖טַח עָלֶֽיהָ, and you will eat to satiation, and live upon it securely (Vayikra 25:19) - no extra sweat, no extra work, no extra storage. Just extra Heavenly blessings brought about by firm Bitachon.
The Torah is telling us that the one who doesn't question Hashem is the one who will receive the greater blessing, without any strings attached. ה' צִלְּךָ, Hashem is our shadow. The more Bitachon we put in, the more blessing we will yield. The abundance of our blessing is commensurate to the abundance of our Bitachon – during Shemita, and always!
The famed Magid of Yerushalaim, Rav Sholom Schwadron Zatzal, related the following fascinating story:
In 1939, there was a young Torah scholar in Lithuania who received notice that they were drafting him into the army. Try as he may to get a discharge, he was unsuccessful. His only option was to escape to Eretz Yisroel. The problem was, he did not have enough money for such a journey. After scraping together all the money that he could, he only had enough to get him passage to Egypt.
Time was of the essence, so he looked up to Heaven, threw his burden to Hashem - הַשְׁלֵךְ עַל ה' יְהָבְךָ - and headed off without questions. His first stop was in some city in Germany, where he planned to purchase a ticket for a ship headed for Egypt. He handed the clerk a 10 Mark bill - which was all the money he had - and requested a ticket. The clerk mistakenly gave him 90 Marks change, thinking that he had given him a 100 Mark bill.
The Talmid Chacham tried to point out the mistake to the clerk, and return the money that was not rightfully his, but the clerk expressed his annoyance at him and motioned for him to get away from his booth. The Yid tried again to explain the mistake to the clerk, and this time the clerk started screaming at him to "get out of here" and added some choice expletives for good measure. When he walked away, someone noticed his bewilderment, and explained to him that in Germany, such a mistake could cost him his job, so it was worth it for the clerk to replenish the cash box from his own pocket rather than admit to making such a mistake!
He now had the funds necessary to purchase passage to Eretz Yisroel. He threw his burden to Hashem. He relied on Hashem, and Hashem had his back.
Hashem has His ways. Hashem always has options. Our job is to rely on Him. Our job is not to question Him!
Good Shabbos!
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