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Before we study Torah each day, we say the bracha, La’asokB’divrei Torah, blessing God for commanding us to immerse ourselves in Torah. . I’d like to thank Rabbi Greenberg for giving me some Torah that required full immersion, Torah to really struggle with.

This week’s parshiot, Behar and Bechukotai, conclude the seferVayikra .

In the first, Behar, we learn about the laws of Shmitta, the 7th, or sabbatical, year, and of Yovel, the Jubilee year which takes place after the 7thShmitta cycle, once every 50 years. As with so much in the Torah, there are obvious, and also less obvious, echoes all around. The first echo, of course, has to do with the echo of Shabbat that is so clearly heard in Shmitta,…V’shav/tahha’aretz Shabbat laShem, which, says the Torah, is a Shabbat for the land that is a Shabbat to God. In the first 6 p’sukim of the parsha, Shabbat and its derivatives are mentioned ….7 times. The land will have a Shabbat, and this Shabbat will be for God.

Already in Beresheet we learned about Shabbat. God created the world in six days, including the earth and the food plants that grow from it, Vayishbotb’yomhashvi’i– God rested – God abstained – mikolmilachtoasherasah, from all his work that he created to make.

What are some of the characteristics of the land that God made, that we are commanded to grant a Shabbat every seven years? In Bereisheet, just after we read about Shabbat, not coincidentally, we read about the land. The Torah tell us that, although God had created the land of the earth on the third day, the trees of the field were not yet on the earth, and the herb of the field had not yet sprouted. As yet there had been no rain. God had waited until there was a man who would work the soil. Next,V’eydYa’aleh Min Ha’aretz… Then a mist ascended – rose up – from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Reading this passage, we can almost feel the earth expanding, being nourished with the life-giving water, sighing with relief as it is now able to actualize the potential that lies within it. Now the earth could bloom. And from its produce, human beings would be sustained.This is the nature of the land that Shmitta is about.

As a point of interest, in this pasuk from Bereisheet, we witness the beginning of what we know as the water cycle – evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. Without its function, all that has the potential to grow from the soil cannot be realized. It’s an amazing thought, and one I love to teach students:THERE IS NO NEW WATER ON EARTH.

In addition to allowing the land to lie fallow every 7 years, God also means for us to not behave as owners of the land during Shmitta.We remove ourselves from all of the responsibilities – as well as privileges – of the landowner. We may eat what is growing from the land that did not grow because of anything we did. Seeds that have taken root, sprouted and produced on their own may be eaten, but neither the produce nor the seeds may be harvested or set aside as a landowner would usually do.All the people, including animals, may eat of what the earth gave freely, as did our very first ancestors.

What the Torah is describing is absolutely incredible.Utopian.Not only has God given us the Shabbat that comes to us every 7th day, a day that disrupts the mundane work and schedule and concerns of our week, a day to nourish our souls. God is commanding us to profoundly disrupt the flow of our lives for an entire year, every 7thyear.Imagine the natural anxiety of withdrawing our control over our food source, and leaving it to God.

I’m sure you all remember learning about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.The most basic human needs are physiological; we cannot survive without food, air and water. Yet, to observe the Shmitta year, God commands us to step back from taking charge of what we usually do to fulfill one of the most essentialof human needs, the need for food. We are to step back and trust, to have faith, that even without our toil, there will be plenty for us, and for everyone.We are to give the land a Shabbat Shabbaton, a Shabbat of complete rest.Revolutionary.

There is much discussion by the Rabbis about this. Rav Kook says that Shmitta accomplishes for the nation what Shabbat accomplishes for the individual, that Israel has a special need, the need to periodically let the Divine light within it shine, and this light must not be suppressed by daily mundane life. SeferHaChinuch, which was published in 13thcentury Spain, in one passageabout Shmitta, focused onthe idea ofequality. During the Shmitta year there is no hierarchy. All people will equally have the opportunity to take whatever the land gives.Along the lines of equity, Shabbat and Shmitta remind us that all creatures should have equal access to God’s world; equal access to food, equal access to rest, and for human beings, equal access to spiritual renewal.

What must it like during the Shmitta year? We don’t find too much about that in the text. In Israel today there are all kinds of workarounds and innovations to ensure that the commandment of Shmitta is kept AND that no one is deprived of food because of Shmitta observance. One innovative example is the aquponics gardening system at the Urban Adamah farm in Berkeley. But what else? Imagine us as farmers, people who are used to working the land from before dawn until dusk. What do we do with ourselves? How do we feel? Is it like that feeling you get when you are suddenly still after running? Do we find our balance within this alternative way of living? A year of stepping back? A year of watching things grow but not causing them to grow? What do we answer during the Shmitta year when we are asked, “So, what do you do?”

One of our Sages, the Seforno, comments on the Torah verse that states, "The land shall observe a Shabbat rest for Hashem." This teaches, he says, that the purpose of this year when the farmer is not engaged in agriculture, is not to travel or pursue other hobbies and interests, but, "la-Hashem," it is a year to be devoted to the soul, to spiritual renewal, to Torah, toGod.

A great modern thinker is Ron Heifetz, the Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership and co-founder of theCenter for Public Leadershipat Harvard’s Kennedy School. His research focuses on the challenge of building the adaptive capacity of organizations and societies.One of the practices he promotes in his Theory of Adaptive Leadership is to “get off the hardwood and onto the balcony.” He understands that, unless a person has the court-sense of a Michael Jordan, when we are in the thick of the game, we are unable to fully and deeply perceive what is going on. By removing ourselves from the frenzy of activity, we are able to take notice at a completely different level, and from there, we are able to make adjustments, adaptations.

We might say today that Shmitta provides a template that encourages us to step back, to nourish ourselves,and that which nourishes us, to see where we are in our lives,and to make adaptations that reorient us to the right course.

As I was discussing this with my son, the yeshiva bucher, he encouraged me to think about a phrase that is found at the beginning of this week’s 2ndparasha, b’chukotai. It says, “Imb’chukotaitay-lech-u. If you will walk in my chukim. , “G-d says, ‘If you walk in My laws and observe My commandments…’” The sages ask: since the latter part of the verse is clearly about observing the commandments, what is the Torah teaching us with the first part of the verse, walking in my chukim? That we should work hard (amal) with the study of Torah. This is related to the idea thatChukim, which are those commandments that are higher than intellect, and even sometimes run contrary to intellect—such as not wearing linen and wool together – and are even harder to fulfill than those we can easily understand the value of, such as leaving a tenth of our fields for the poor during the non-Shmitta years.

When we connect this back to Shmitta, we see that even though we are commanded to work hard in many aspects of our lives, God also provides a time when we, the land,and all living things, have a time to pull back. A profound disruption of our routine.On Shabbat, and during Shmitta, we are blessed with the commandment to remove ourselves from our daily toil and to change our perspective..And – when we get back to our mundane lives – to implement adaptations that enable us to better walk in, and to keep, God’s commandments.

The Jewish Community Day School has been through a Shmitta of another sort. It was, along with everyone here, and especially Beth Israel, profoundly disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. The school has worked hard to rebuild. I arrived just under 2 years ago, and during that time, we have frequently left the hardwood and gone up to the balcony to gain perspective. While on that balcony, we have been able to recommit to the core vision and essential mission of the Jewish Community Day School of Greater New Orleans. We have adapted to ensure that all of our actions and decisions are in alignment with our mission and vision. I have the incredible good fortune to be working with a smart, capable, dedicated and hard-working board, faculty and staff. I am thrilled to tell you that as of today, we are enrolling 10 new Jewish students to the school for the coming year. We have re-opened our Pre.K and Kindergarten programs, and will open a year round Young Baby Program that will care for Jewish babies aged 3 – 15 months. We have raised more funds this year than at any time in the school’s history. Our students and parents love us and are staying with us.We have been accepted to the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education’s Governance and Fundraising Academy, a prestigious 18 month program partially funded by the AVI CHAI Foundation, to help us ensure the long term financial well-being of the school. In addition to conferences, seminars and 50 hours with an individual funding coach,we also receive a $100,000 matching grant. We have enjoyed amazing community support, and at this time, especially thank you, Beth Israel, for your meaningful contributions of Rabbi Gabe, and Rabbi David, who will to teach our students Torah each week.

Shmita can be understood as that holistic, collective rest which can engender renewed creativity. It’s like the “three b’s” scientists allude to. “Where are the biggest discoveries made?” scientists ask. “In the bath, on the bus, and at the bar!” In other words, when we work in a focused way, then step back to let our attention rest completely, amazing, even heavenly things can happen.

Thank you for welcoming Jewish Community Day School to Beth Israel this Shabbat. May we all be blessed with the many blessings enumerated in this week’s parsha.

Shabbat shalom