Rav Zweig explores why the Jewish people failed to keep Shemitah despite divine guarantees of sustenance, revealing that the real violation was maintaining ownership feelings rather than agricultural work, ultimately leading to exile.
Rav Zweig begins with a fundamental question: why did the Jewish people fail to observe Shemitah when Hashem (ה׳) guaranteed three years of sustenance in the sixth year? He argues that the violation wasn't agricultural work - they actually refrained from planting - but rather their inability to relinquish feelings of ownership by preventing others from freely accessing their fields during Shemitah. The shiur develops a profound marriage metaphor for understanding Yovel. Drawing on sources that identify Eretz Yisrael as the 'Beis Hashem' and entry into the land as 'chuppah' (wedding canopy), Rav Zweig explains that Shemitah is a seven-cycle process of internalizing that the land isn't ours, while Yovel represents the opposite realization - that everything is ours because we're married to Hashem and share in His possessions. This explains why land returns to original owners in Yovel despite the message that land belongs to Hashem. Once we truly understand it's His land and we're living in His house, we achieve a state of spiritual marriage where 'everything that's His is ours.' The Yovel year becomes the year of 'togetherness' - the biblical 'v'simach ishto shana achas.' Rav Zweig connects this to the requirement that Yovel needs 'kol yoshveha' - all inhabitants present. Since the spiritual marriage is between Hashem and Knesses Yisrael (not individuals), the entire nation must be present for this collective chuppah experience. The connection to 'B'har Sinai' teaches that Shemitah requires the unity consciousness of Har Sinai - 'vayichan sham Yisrael neged hahar' - where all Israel camped as one. Without this sense of unity, people maintain individual ownership feelings and exclude others. Finally, he explains why Yom Kippur of Yovel is called 'Rosh Hashanah' in Tanach - it represents the completion of Adam's creation through achieving ultimate unity with Hashem. This is the real Rosh Hashanah, with our annual observance being one-fiftieth of that ultimate spiritual achievement.
Rabbi Zweig challenges Freudian psychology by arguing that the basic human drive is not pleasure-seeking but rather the painful awareness of non-existence, and explains how only a relationship with God can provide the feeling of true existence and simcha.
An exploration of the deeper meaning of 'amirah' (saying) as empowering others by recognizing their uniqueness and building meaningful relationships through authentic, individualized communication.
Vayikra 25 (Parshas Behar)
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