Everything that occurs is by the grace of God. Nothing but nothing happens without the hand of the Creator.
This week two portions, Behar and Bechukotai, are combined. Both independently discuss the spiritual precept of shemitah, the sabbatical year which takes place in Israel and is the seventh year of a seven year agricultural cycle. Just as people rest from the toils of the work week on the seventh day, the land of Israel is also asked to disconnect from the world of Malchut for the seventh year and not be worked. It is also fascinating to note that the shemitah was the only precept given on Mount Sinai. Why is it so important that for the whole of the seventh year, Israel does not work the land? What is so crucial about the sabbatical? Most importantly, what is the lesson for us as it pertains to our lives today?
The Zohar reveals that the sabbatical is all about building certainty – a complete and total trust in the Light of the Creator. It is as though the Creator were saying, “Do not work the land in the 7th year, and I shall provide you blessings for all the years.” Are we meant to give up work entirely for a year, and merely trust that the universe will provide? No, this is not the case at all. The Bible is so beautifully precise in its poetry. Notice how it does not claim we are not to work, but rather that the land is not to be worked. This is an indication to us that what is truly being discussed is a reprieve from the world of physicality.