“Revealing Hidden Praise”[1]
Parshas Behar 5782
לרפואה שלימה אסתר תהלה בת אריאל ציפורה
Based on “Erev Shabbos Parsha Inspiration” by Rabbi Phillip Moskowitz[2]
Written by Rabbi Dani Staum
“When you will say, “What will we eat in the seventh year; behold there is no planting and no gathering of our grain. And I will command My blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it shall yield a crop sufficient for three years” (Vayikra 25:21-22)
The Torah relates that during shmittah when the farmer expresses doubt about how he can observe Shmittah, Hashem guarantees that he will have an overabundance of produce in the sixth year that will last him for three years.
The question is why the farmer is worried during shmittah at all? Didn’t he already experience the blessing of overabundance the previous year? Why should he even be concerned in the seventh year when he saw his needs provided for the year prior?
Rav Bernard Weinberger, in Shemen HaTov, explains that indeed during the sixth year the farmer experienced the blessing of unusual prosperity. During that time, he undoubtedly woke up each day and expressed his extreme gratitude to Hashem for the unusual blessings he was experiencing. But when the seventh year began, he forgets all the blessings. He looks out at his fallow fields and laments his losses and wonders how he will survive the year.
The sad reality is that human beings have a capacity to quickly forget. Even though he made triple his normal income in the sixth year, when the seventh year begins, he becomes anxious. Human nature is to remember challenges and difficulties well, but not to remember blessings as well. As soon as challenges set in, the farmer’s recognition of the miracle begins to wane. The memories of the extraordinary production of the last are quickly replaced with the angst of the present. The real test of life is not just to appreciate Hashem’s blessings, but to continue to appreciate Hashem’s blessings long after they have been granted. It’s easy to sing Hashem’s praises when we experience something extraordinary. But it’s far more challenging to do so when it’s something we have constantly and take for granted.
I have noted that I feel buying flowers is somewhat silly because the moment they are detached from their source they begin to die. Wouldn’t it be better to buy something that lasts than something which is quite temporary? But someone informed me that people, especially women, love flowers not despite the fact that they die, but because they die. It’s specifically because they don’t last forever that helps a person appreciate them that much more.
The same is true regarding time. The fact that time is finite should help us appreciate its priceless value. The problem is that because time is ubiquitous, we forget how valuable it is. If we remind ourselves how finite time is, we would appreciate our every moment and would be more hesitant to waste time.
When a baby is born, we are full of gratitude and praise Hashem for granting us a new life. But by the time the baby is a few months old, the wonder and deep appreciation for the miracle of its birth is lost. What was once miraculous now becomes commonplace.
The message of the blessing of shmittah is not only to appreciate the gift Hashem bestowed in the sixth year, but to continue to appreciate the gift even after it has ceased.
We are granted the greatest miracle and gift – that of life itself. But it takes effort to remember and to recognize the value of that gift.
The Navi (Melachim II, chapter 18) relates that when the Assyrian army of Sancheirev laid siege around Yerushalayim, the city was on the cusp of destruction and its inhabitants were terribly frightened. Then, on the night of Pesach, an angel came and wiped out Sancheirev’s entire army of 185,000 soldiers.
The gemara (Sanhedrin 94a) relates that Hashem wanted to make Chizkiyahu Hamelech the Moshiach. He did not do so because Chizkiyahu failed to sing shirah to Hashem for the extraordinary miracle he had witnessed. How could he have failed to sing shirah?
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein explained that to Chizkiyahu everything was a miracle and therefore he didn’t sing Shirah because he wasn’t filled with wonder for what occurred. It wasn’t a lack of appreciation of Hashem’s power, but because he had so much faith in Hashem that he failed to appreciate the wonder of what occurred. Despite his great righteousness it was seen as a shortcoming of the great Chizkiyahu, that he didn’t sing shira for what had occurred.
To sing shira for everyday miracles is not easy. But every day that we wake up is no less a miracle than the day we were born! We should be dancing through life. We don’t because when miracles abound, we fail to appreciate them.
On 28 Iyar, we celebrate the anniversary of the reunification of Yerushalayim during the Six Day War in 1967. When the miraculous events occurred in 1967, there was a feeling of incredible euphoria and even messianic fervor that gripped the Jewish People. We suddenly had access and authority over ancient Jewish sites for the first time in thousands of years. There was an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. There was a plethora of Jews who began to observe Torah and Shabbos after witnessing the miraculous salvation.
But since then, tragically that emotional blissful euphoria has mostly faded. We get caught up in the nitty gritty of daily bustle and politics and forget the larger picture of what we are privy to on a daily basis.
The message of shmittah is that even when blessing becomes constant in our lives, we should never lose sight of just how miraculous it is.
As we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim, the day when sovereignty was restored to Klal Yisroel, let us dance and sing and recall that it’s just as miraculous now as it was in 1967. We should never take it, or any of the other gifts or blessings of life, for granted.