MAY 19 • 2022 | 45

SPIRIT

Share Your Bounty
T

here is a famous story 
about two partners hav-
ing an argument regard-
ing a piece of land. Each was 
positive that the land belonged 
to him and him alone.
Finally, they pleaded their case 
in front of the rabbi. 
The rabbi tried to find 
a compromise, but they 
were each adamant.
The rabbi then said: 
“I must see the piece of 
land.
”
After a good hour 
of riding together, they 
approached the land, 
The rabbi again tried 
to bring them to a 
compromise; and when 
they finished scream-
ing, he suddenly lay 
down, shushed them 
and put his ear to the ground.
“What are you doing, Rabbi?” 
they both asked.
“I am listening to the land; be 
quiet, please,
” replied the rabbi.
After a long silence, the rabbi 
stood up and said, “The land 
said that both of you belong to 
her!”
This week’s parshah is a wake-
up call to all human beings living 
on the Earth. It reminds us that 
nothing really belongs to us. Just 
when we think that we control 
the things we own and they are 
ours forever, the shmitah — the 
seventh year — comes and com-
mands us to share with others 
because what we think is ours 
doesn’t really belong to us.
What is shmitah? It comes 
from the Hebrew word sha-
mot — to let go, release. Every 
seven years, every piece of land 
in Israel, even land that legally 
belongs to you, that you pay 
taxes on, work very hard to 
plow, seed, irrigate, harvest, etc., 
becomes public. Anyone can 
take from its fruits throughout 

that year. These laws still apply 
today, (but not to worry; the 
rabbinical institution has already 
found ways to “bypass” these 
laws due to the problems that 
have arisen from them and the 
difficulties keeping and perform-
ing them). And the message 
of sharing and taking care of 
your fellow Jew is emphasized 
in this parshah for all Jews.
We forget or don’t want to 
remember that we are here 
as temporary employees 
with 70- or 80-year contracts 
(maybe even 90 or a 100 
years if we are lucky) and 
then we are given a pink slip, 
and we depart this world 
empty-handed, no matter 
how much belonged to us 
while we were alive.
As a father and grandfa-
ther, former student, teacher 
and principal, I have seen and 
witnessed three full generations. 
I have seen brothers grow up 
eating from the same plate and 
spoon, sharing a room, towel 
and bed. They grew up thinking, 
“What is mine is yours, and what 
is yours is yours. And thank you 
for sharing it with me.
” 
But these days, there is much 
less sharing. The motto seems to 
be: “What is mine is mine, and 
what is yours is yours, but in a 
very short time it will also be 
mine.
”
I think it’s important to pause 
and rethink this whole situation. 
If this is what we see now, what 
will happen in another three 
generations? Many of us will 
probably be gone, but how will 
we have lived our lives and what 
lessons will we have left behind? 
That is the question. 

Rabbi Sasson Natan is rabbi of 

Keter Torah Synagogue in West 

Bloomfield. This article originally 

appeared in the Jewish News on May 

8, 2014.

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi 
Sasson 
Natan

Parshat 

Behar: 

Leviticus 

25:1-26:2; 

Jeremiah 

32:6-27.

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