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Why is Shemitah called 'Shabbos (שבת) L'Hashem (ה׳)' if it's just agricultural rest, and why is the punishment for violating it exile rather than weakened soil? The shiur develops a yesod distinguishing Eretz Yisrael as a land where Hashem gives through nature, versus other lands where humans take from nature. Shemitah allows the land to express its true spiritual nature as a giver programmed by divine love.
The shiur begins by addressing the Ramban (רמב"ן)'s explanation that the mitzvah (מצוה) of Shemitah was given at Har Sinai during Moshe's second ascent, before the laws of Vayikra which were taught in the Ohel Moed. This raises the question of why the Torah (תורה) places Parshas Behar after Vayikra if it was chronologically given earlier. The Rambam (רמב"ם)'s agricultural explanation for Shemitah - that letting the land rest energizes it - faces several challenges from the Kli Yakar: Why is the punishment for not observing Shemitah exile from the land rather than weakened soil? Why is it called 'Shabbos (שבת) L'Hashem (ה׳)' if it's merely agricultural? How does the land rest during the 70-year exile when non-Jews continue farming it?
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Parshas Behar 25:1-2
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