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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