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Orchard of Delights Achrei Mot

shares in its bounty. Furthermore, the threat of expulsion from the the transcendent experience every Jew had when hearing the shofar
Land for failure to observe the Shemittah reminds the Jew of the blasts are transformed into the physical space of the sukkah. For an
initial expulsion from the Garden of Eden, thus motivating strict entire week we are enveloped by the Shechinah and encouraged to
compliance with the laws so rectification can be achieved. meditate on the deepest stirrings of our hearts and souls. By shaking
the four species over the course of the holiday we symbolically
Despite the great rectification the Sabbatical year is designed to
accomplish the prophetic vision that one day humanity will rise above translate these feelings into a practical plan of action to be put into
petty jealousy, greed, and hatred, and join hands to transform this play in the new year.
world into a paradise has been historically very difficult to achieve.
The very notion of the seven year cycle can be read in the following
way: six represents the spiritual and physical work to be done, and
seven represents the Divine Providence necessary to ensure this lofty £To Live and Be Enlivened £To Live and Be Enlivened To Live and Be Enlivened
goal is reached. Without God’s constant assistance, that which He £
In and By the Mitzvot
In and By the Mitzvot
promised through the prophets would certainly remain beyond our 13 In and By the Mitzvot
grasp. Perhaps no mitzvah requires such a leap of faith and for this
reason the Jewish nation has still failed to fully observe it, yet the
very act of learning about the seventh year is valuable, for it reminds “You shall observe My decrees and my ordinances, that a man will
us of what a just and caring society should look like. With the return do and live by them; I am God” (Leviticus 18:5). This somewhat
of the Jewish people to their homeland, these laws can again be cryptic phrase “and live by them” has given rise to a number of
practiced as of old and the ancient dream of building a just society is interpretations. The straightforward meaning of the verse, the peshat,
within our grasp. is that our primary goal in life should be living a Torah lifestyle, for
More than any other mitzvah the Sabbatical year serves as a the study of Torah and performance of mitzvot give purpose and
bridge between the more individually-focused weekly Shabbat and meaning to our lives. We actually recite this belief every day in the
the global macro-cycle of human development, represented by Evening Service: “For they [studying Torah and performing the
the seven thousand year cycle. Shemittah teaches the fine balance mitzvot] are our life and the length of our days.”
between free choice and individual initiative, on the one hand, and Despite this logic, Rashi and Onkelos adopt a homiletic derash
God’s Providence on the other. The shofar of freedom blown in the approach interpreting the phrase to mean “live by them in the
Jubilee year is a sound all humanity needs to hear and experience. World to Come.” Since mortal life is finite, the Torah, according to
For Israel to be true to its calling we must hold on to the vision of this opinion, must be referring to eternal life. The Torah is teaching
a righteous and enlightened future. This vision may be the greatest us that the Torah people learn and the mitzvot they observe are
contribution we have made to humanity. May learning about the the only accomplishments that they will take to the grave. These
Sabbatical year and its profound lessons, along with the revival of earthly actions will quite literally determine their “quality of life” in
observing its laws in the Jewish homeland create a bridge between the afterlife.
Israel and the Holy Land, between Israel and the nations, and The Sages, employing another derash, infer from the phrase “and
ultimately between humanity and God. (This insight is discussed in
Seeds and Sparks, pp. 60-66.) live by them” that we are obligated to live through the fulfillment of
the mitzvot – not die because we fulfill them. From this they deduce
that other than a few exceptions, if the observance of a mitzvah

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