Soul over body in Shemittah rest

ענין שמיטין אצל הר סיני.

The matter of Shemittah being placed next to Har Sinai.

Rashi famously asks why the Torah juxtaposes the laws of Shemittah with Har Sinai. The Sefas Emes addresses this connection.

דכ' אדם לעמל יולד.

For it is written, "Man is born to toil" (Iyov 5:7).

Every person is created for labor; the question is what kind of toil.

אם לעמל תורה או מלאכה.

Whether for the toil of Torah or for the toil of labor (melachah).

Chazal teach that man's destined "toil" can take two forms: the labor of Torah or the labor of physical work.

וקודם החטא שם הקב"ה האדם בג"ע לעבדה ולשמרה ברמ"ח מ"ע ושס"ה מל"ת.

And before the sin, Hashem placed Adam in Gan Eden "to work it and to guard it" (Bereishis 2:15) — through the 248 positive mitzvos and 365 negative mitzvos.

In his original state, Adam's "work and guarding" was wholly spiritual: "working" through the 248 positive commandments and "guarding" through the 365 prohibitions.

ואחר החטא כ' וישלחהו כו' מג"ע לעבוד כו' האדמה.

And after the sin it is written, "And He sent him … from Gan Eden, to work … the ground" (Bereishis 3:23).

After the sin, man's "work" was lowered to physical labor of the soil — toil of melachah rather than purely of mitzvos.

א"כ בזמנים שיש שביתת מלאכה לבנ"י כמו בשבת וכן בשמיטין ושבתה הארץ.

Therefore, at times when there is a cessation of labor for Bnei Yisrael — such as on Shabbos, and likewise in the Shemittah years, "and the land shall rest" (Vayikra 25:2).

Shabbos and Shemittah are times when physical labor stops, and the land itself rests.

ובטל לעבוד האדמה.

And the working of the ground is suspended.

During these times the post-sin decree of toiling the soil is set aside.

הוא אות לבנ"י שהם במדרגה הראשונה לעסוק רק ברמ"ח ושס"ה.

It is a sign for Bnei Yisrael that they are in the original level — to occupy themselves only with the 248 and the 365.

Resting from labor returns Bnei Yisrael to Adam's pre-sin state, where their only "work" is the positive and negative mitzvos.

כי האדם כלול משמים וארץ.

For man is composed of heaven and earth.

The human being is a blend of two realms — heavenly and earthly.

נשמה משמים וגוף בארץ.

The neshamah from heaven and the body from earth.

His soul derives from heaven, his body from the earth.

ואם גוברת הנשמה על הגוף הוא בבחי' המלאכים.

And if the neshamah prevails over the body, he is in the category of the angels.

When the soul masters the body, a person rises to an angelic level.

וע"ז דרשו חז"ל גבורי כח עושי דברו בשומרי שביעית הכ' מדבר רואה חקלי' בייר כרמו בייר ושותק.

And of this Chazal expounded, "Mighty in strength, who do His word" (Tehillim 103:20) — the verse speaks of those who keep Shemittah: he sees his field lying fallow, his vineyard lying fallow, and he is silent.

Chazal apply "mighty in strength, who do His word" to the Shemittah-observers, who watch their fields and vineyards lie ownerless and untended, yet say nothing and accept it.

פי' גבורי כח שהנשמה גוברת בו שהוא עיקר הכח כמ"ש בזוה"ק אשר תמצא ידך לעשות בכוחך בכוחך זו נשמתא.

The meaning of "mighty in strength" is that the neshamah prevails in him, which is the true strength, as the Zohar HaKadosh says on "whatever your hand finds to do, do with your strength" (Koheles 9:10) — "with your strength" refers to the neshamah.

Their "might" is the dominance of the soul, which is a person's real power. The Zohar reads "with your strength" as a reference to the neshamah — the soul is one's deepest source of strength.

וכמ"ש במשנה איזה גבור הכובש את יצרו מושל ברוחו היינו שלא לפנות אחר מחשבות היצה"ר בהבלי עולם.

And as it says in the Mishnah, "Who is mighty? One who conquers his yetzer (inclination)" (Avos 4:1), "one who rules over his spirit" (Mishlei 16:32) — meaning, not to turn after the thoughts of the yetzer hara in the vanities of the world.

True might, as the Mishnah teaches, is self-mastery: not letting the mind chase the yetzer hara's pull toward worldly vanities.

זהו פי' ושותק שאינו מהרהר בעבודת האדמה כלל.

This is the meaning of "and he is silent" — that he does not even contemplate the working of the ground at all.

The Shemittah-keeper's "silence" is inner as well as outer: he does not even let his mind dwell on working his land.

וזה הרמז לא מצאתי לגוף טוב משתיקה.

And this is the hint of "I found nothing better for the body than silence" (Avos 1:17).

The Mishnah's praise of silence as best for the "body" alludes to this inner quieting of bodily, materialistic thought.

וע"ז כתי' כח מעשיו הגיד לעמו שמסר הקב"ה לבנ"י נשמתא דעלמא והפנימיות של העולם.

And of this it is written, "The strength of His deeds He told to His people" (Tehillim 111:6) — that Hashem entrusted to Bnei Yisrael the neshamah of the world and the penimiyus (inner dimension) of the world.

Hashem gave over to His people the "soul" of creation — its inner, hidden dimension — which is what the verse means by "the strength of His deeds."

והיא התורה שהיא הנשמה של מעשה בראשית כמ"ש בראשית ברא הביט בתורה וברא.

And this is the Torah, which is the neshamah of the work of Creation, as it says, "In the beginning [with the Torah] He created" — He looked into the Torah and created.

That inner soul of the world is the Torah itself. As the Midrash teaches, Hashem gazed into the Torah and used it as the blueprint to create the world.

א"כ התורה הכח והנשמה של הבריאה.

Therefore the Torah is the strength and the neshamah of creation.

The Torah is thus both the inner force and the living soul animating all of creation.

ובקבלת התורה היו בנ"י בחי' נשמה בלבד כמלאכים.

And at the receiving of the Torah, Bnei Yisrael were in the aspect of neshamah alone, like the angels.

At Matan Torah, Bnei Yisrael reached a purely soul-centered, angelic state — the body's pull silenced.

וז"ש אשר הוצאתיך מא"מ מבית עבדים כמ"ש במ"א כי עוה"ז נק' בית עבדים.

And this is the meaning of "who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves" (Shemos 20:2), as is explained elsewhere, that this world is called the "house of slaves."

The "house of slaves" alludes not only to Egypt but to this world itself, where man is enslaved to physical labor.

וכשנשתלח האדם לעבוד האדמה הוא בחי' עבד לעשות מלאכת העולם.

And when man was sent out to work the ground, he is in the aspect of a slave, to perform the labor of the world.

Being consigned to till the soil made man a "slave" — one whose task is the world's material work.

שהעבד עושה דברים לתקן צורכי מדינות המלך.

For the slave does things to tend to the needs of the king's provinces.

A servant's role is to maintain the king's domains — the external business of the kingdom.

אבל בחי' בנים הוא לעשות צורך המלך בעצמו.

But the aspect of "sons" is to tend to the need of the King Himself.

A son, by contrast, attends to the King personally — a far more intimate, elevated service.

כמו בן העובד ומשמש את אביו כמ"ש בר"מ פ' זו.

Like a son who serves and attends his father, as is brought in the Ra'aya Mehemna on this parsha.

The "son's" service is like a child personally waiting upon his own father, as the Zohar's Ra'aya Mehemna explains here.

וזה בכח הנשמה.

And this is by the power of the neshamah.

This elevated, son-like service is accomplished specifically through the power of the soul.

וכן בחי' שבת יומא דנשמתין, וניתן לבנ"י שיש להם בחי' הנשמה.

So too the aspect of Shabbos is "the day of souls" (yoma d'nishmasin), and it was given to Bnei Yisrael, who possess the aspect of neshamah.

Shabbos is the "day of souls," fittingly given to Bnei Yisrael because they carry this dimension of neshamah that Shabbos awakens.

והכל ענין א'.

And it is all one matter.

Shabbos, Shemittah, and Matan Torah all express the single theme of the soul prevailing over the body.

ובחי' עבד הוא המצות מעשיות למטה בעוה"ז.

And the aspect of "slave" is the practical mitzvos below in this world.

The "servant" dimension corresponds to mitzvos as physical acts performed here in the lower world.

ובנים הוא התיקון הנעשה למעלה בשורש המצוה: [תרס"ד]

And "sons" is the tikkun (rectification) accomplished Above, in the root of the mitzvah. [Year 5664]

The "son" dimension is the higher effect of a mitzvah — the rectification it accomplishes Above at its spiritual root, where one serves the King Himself.

Summary: Man is "born to toil" — either in Torah or in physical labor. Before Adam's sin his only "work" was the mitzvos; afterward he was consigned to till the soil like a slave. Shabbos and Shemittah suspend that labor, returning Bnei Yisrael to the original, angelic state of the soul ruling the body — the true "might" of the Shemittah-observer who watches his field lie fallow in silence. Hashem entrusted His people with the Torah, the very soul of creation. Serving through physical mitzvos is the "slave's" service of the kingdom; serving at the mitzvah's heavenly root is the "son's" intimate service of the King Himself, accomplished through the power of the neshamah.