Perashat Behar-Behukotay

Perashat Behar-Behukotay

Among the missvot found in Perashat Behar, is the missva of Shemittah, the Sabbatical year.  During the Shemittah year, the farmer has to give up ownership of his field and whatever produce grows is hefker, or free for the taking.  A number of commentators explain that the reason behind this missva is so that we will come to recognize that Boreh Olam is really the true owner of all our possessions.  

R. Moshe Feinstein, zs”l, suggests that the same reasoning applies to another missva in our perasha; re-purchasing a field that was originally a part of our (tribal) inheritance.  [Darash Moshe, Vayikra 25:15]  The Talmud [Arakhin 25b] teaches us that such a field may not be bought back during the first two years after it was sold, even if the new owner agrees to sell it.  R. Feinstein proposes that the purpose of this law is to demonstrate that neither the new owner nor the original owner owns this land, but rather it belongs to Boreh Olam.  

This rationale applies to our belongings.  We need to understand that all our possessions, are merely deposits from G-d; they are entrusted to us to use in an appropriate manner.  At the very beginning of the Torah, we are told that G-d gave Adam Ha-Rishon the land, “l’ovdah u’leshomrah” – “to work it and preserve it.”  [Ber. 2:15]  The land was not his property; rather it was his to make good use of.  Similarly we should realize that our possessions are on loan to us to be used properly.  

So too, our lives are also not entirely our own.  Although we may have free will to choose what to do,  Boreh Olam has assigned each one of us with a specific mission to accomplish in this world – and the energy with which to accomplish it.  We must ensure that we are using our energy for what is important.  If we waste our time and energy on the unimportant things, we will not have the strength to accomplish our true purpose in life.  This is one of the lessons of the sefirat ha-omer – the Omer counting period that we find ourselves in during this time of the year: that each day counts.   

It is unfortunate that we seem to need incidents such as this week’s train crash to remind us periodically that life is short and that we must learn to value our precious time in this world and to utilize our time wisely.  This is the meaning of the verse in Tehillim [90:12]:  “Teach us how to count our days, then we shall obtain a heart of wisdom.”  We must make sure that we focus on what is important in life so that we can live up to our potential and achieve what G-d wants from us – and our possessions – both on a daily basis and throughout the course of our entire lives.