פרשת בהר starts with the words וידבר ה' אל משה בהר סיני לאמר, ה' spoke to Moshe on the mountain of Sinai saying. Then it says, דבר אל בני ישראל ואמרת אלהם, speak to the Bnei Yisrael and say to them, כי תבאו אל הארץ אשר אני נתן לכם, when you will come to the land that I give you, ושבתה הארץ שבת לה', so the land should rest a Shabbos, a resting to Hashem'. And then the pasuk continues, שש שנים תזרע שדך ושש שנים תזמר כרמך ואספת את תבואתה, six years you should plant your field, six years you should trim your vineyard, and you should gather the תבואה. And then the pasuk continues, ובשנה השביעת שבת שבתון יהיה לארץ שבת לה', and the seventh year there should be a resting to the land, a resting to Hashem', and the pasuk continues, you should not plant, you should not trim your trees, etc., etc. So Rashi brings down from the תורת כהנים, מה ענין שמיטה אצל הר סיני? Why is it that concerning the mitzvah of shemitah it mentions that it was said by Har Sinai? והלא כל המצות נאמרו מסיני, all the mitzvot were said from Sinai. And the answer is to teach us that מה שמיטה נאמרו כללותיה ודקדוקיה מסיני, just like by shemitah all the details were said in Sinai, so too all other mitzvot, all the details were said from Sinai. But the question is, why did the Torah choose the mitzvah of shemitah to teach us this limud? This could have been by any other mitzvah, that from whichever mitzvah would have been, we would have learned out that just like that mitzvah was said in Sinai with all its details, so too all the mitzvot. Now we could answer that maybe it is because the mitzvah of shemitah was already mentioned in Parashat Mishpatim, as the pasuk says there, ובשביעית תשמטנה ונטשתה, and here the Torah goes into details. So therefore, in this mitzvah it tells us that the details that we think that are only mentioned here and not earlier, maybe they were not said in Sinai, to teach us, no, that they were said in Sinai. And therefore we say, just like by shemitah all the details were said in Sinai, so too is it by other mitzvot. But that really is not a good enough answer, because there are many other mitzvot that are said in Parashat Mishpatim, so the Torah could have mentioned this by some of the other mitzvot which are mentioned already. And the question is even stronger: when the Torah picks a mitzvah that from there we should learn out something concerning all the mitzvot, normally we would assume that the Torah would pick a מצוה כללית, a very general mitzvah. If this is going to be a source to a certain din or a certain inyan in all other mitzvot, obviously this must be a general mitzvah. So why did the Torah choose the mitzvah of shemitah, which happens to be a very מצוה פרטית, very detailed mitzvah, as we see many restrictions in the mitzvah of shemitah? First of all, it's only נוהג בזמן שהיובל נוהג, it only applies in the time when we had the mitzvah of yovel. And even according to the opinions that applies even now, but most of the poskim hold now it's only miderabbanan. This is a restriction in time. There's also a restriction in place: it was only in Eretz Yisrael and not in חוץ לארץ. So why did the Torah choose this specific mitzvah which has so many restrictions to be the source of a certain thing concerning all the mitzvot? Obviously, there must be something very general in the mitzvah of shemitah, and that's why the Torah uses the mitzvah of shemitah as a general mitzvah to be a teacher, so to speak, to all the other mitzvot. Then there's another kashya, which is a famous kashya asked by the mefarshim: from the pasuk it seems as if the Torah is saying, when you will enter Eretz Yisrael, right away, ושבתה הארץ שבת לה', right away you should make shemittah. The din wasn't like that. The din was that after they entered Eretz Yisrael and they conquered the land, and they divided the land, then they started counting six years, and the seventh year was shemittah. But it didn't start off with a shemittah. So why does the pasuk start off by saying that you will enter the land, ושבתה הארץ שבת לה', let the land rest a Shabbos to Hashem', shemittah? Then there's another kushya: when the pasuk says, שש שנים תזרע שדך ושש שנים תזמר כרמך ואספת את תבואתה, six years you should plant your field, six years you should trim your vines, you should gather your tevuah, why does the Torah have to mention that? This is not something that we have to do. A person doesn't want to do it, he doesn't do it. This is a reshut, we call it. So if it's a reshut, why does the Torah have to mention you should do it? The Torah should just say that after six years of work, ובשנה השביעת שבת שבתון, the seventh year should be a year of rest. But why does the Torah mention six years you should plant your field, six years you should trim your vines, gather your tevuah, as if the Torah is telling us to do it? So we must say that by the Torah writing these words, the the Torah puts this in as part of the mitzvah of shemittah. As if saying that part of the mitzvah of shemittah is the six years that you will work. But what is the peshat? How are the six years of work part of the mitzvah of shemittah?

But the peshat is that we have to first understand what is the true meaning of the mitzvah of shemittah. The idea of shemittah was that just like we find by Shabbos, that it says six days a week you work, and the seventh day you rest, the idea is that A person is always supposed to remember that everything comes from Hashem. And therefore, when he works, all he is doing is making a keli in derech hateva. He's supposed to work because Hashem wants him to make a vessel in a natural way. As the pasuk says, וברכך השם אלוקיך בכל אשר תעשה, השם will bless you in everything that you do. That means that you have to do, and when you do, Hashem will give you the berachah. But we always have to remember that it's the berachah of Hashem that makes everything happen, not our work. As the pasuk also says, that it's possible for a person to forget and think that כחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה, that my koach, my own strength, my own strong hand brought me all the riches. So the Torah says you have to remember that כי הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל. Hashem gives us the koach to make the money and to get everything that we have. But the reason we have to work is because we have to make a כלי בדרך הטבע. Hashem wants us to work naturally, that that should be the vessel in which He should put in His bracha. But since when a person works he could forget on this inyan, so therefore the Torah says that once a week we have a day when you don't work at all, and that day you are completely involved in ruchniyut, so to speak, completely involved in learning Torah and doing mitzvot. You are completely beyond work, as it says in the Mekhilta, that you have to feel on שבת כאילו כל מלאכתך עשויה, as if everything that you have to do is done. There are no worries on your head. So when you get that feeling that way and you're involved completely in things which are beyond the working world, so to speak, so then, when you go out of Shabbos and you come into the weekdays, you are able to feel in the weekdays that even though you're working, it really comes from Hashem. And this is the pshat that it says on שבת, ויכל אלוקים. So it says in sefarim that this means on Shabbos, Elohim is finished. We know the difference between שם הויה and שם אלוקים. Elohim is בגימטריא הטבע. Elohim, the numerical value of אלף למד הי יוד מם is the same as הטבע, the nature, because Elohim refers to Hashem the way He is put in nature, covered by nature. That's why the word teva comes from the word טובעו בים, it's sunk in. When something is sunk into the water, you can't tell it's there even though it's there. Hashem is the one that makes the world exist. He is the whole yesod of the nature. But nevertheless, He is covered up, we don't see Him. Shabbos, when a person doesn't work, so then he realizes that everything comes from Hashem. So on Shabbos, a person is in the level, so to speak, of Havayah, which is beyond nature. As we know that Havayah is made up of three words: היה, הוה, ויהיה, past, present, and future, and they're all in one word כאחד, which means past, present, and future together. And that's not possible in nature, so that's obviously beyond nature. So Havayah is beyond nature, and Elohim is nature. Shabbos, a Yid is in the level of הויה, higher than the level of Elokim. That's why it says ויכל אלוקים, אלוקים is finished. And on Shabbos, Elokim is finished, so to speak. There is no Elokim, no העלם והסתר, no cover-up on the truth of Hashem being the one that makes everything happen, and you actually see that everything comes from Hashem, because a Yid on Shabbos is in a higher מדרגה. Similar to Shabbos and the weekdays is also the inyan of Shemitah. That, just like we have to have one day out of seven to get this feeling that everything comes from Hashem, and then we're able to continue the six days with that feeling, the same is within years, that once in seven years, a year out of the seven years, we have to stop working in the field and be involved completely in רוחניות, because it's obvious that when a Yid doesn't have to work, what does he do? He will learn Torah and daven more, etc., etc. As it says in the Sforno, that the reason Hashem gave the mitzvah of Shemitah is that the people should have time once in seven years to devote a whole year in learning. And the truth is, that in those times, most of the involvement of the people used to be in working in the field. So most of Klal Yisrael did not work for a whole year. So they were given over completely, they devoted their time to learning and to davenen and being beyond the world, so they would feel that the עיקר is of Hashem. And even more than that, this was a year that they didn't work. When you don't work, then naturally nothing grows. And if nothing grows, the question that comes up, as the pasuk says: וכי תאמרו מה נאכל? What will we eat? Nevertheless, the Yidden didn't worry, as the pasuk says: don't worry, I will provide. So when a whole year they didn't work, and nevertheless, they knew that they would be provided by Hashem, that gave them the true feeling that everything comes from Hashem. So therefore, later on in the six years when they did work, they remembered, and they had the feeling, that everything that they do is only a כלי בדרך הטבע, but essentially it all comes from Hashem. והראיה, here was a whole year they didn't work because Hashem didn't want them to work, and nevertheless Hashem provided for them. So it comes out according to this, that the purpose of the mitzvah of Shemitah was not just for the year of Shemitah, that that year they shouldn't work and realize everything comes from Hashem, but the whole goal was that later on on the six years when they will work, they should have that feeling that everything comes from Hashem even when they work. So it comes out that even though בפשטות it seems that Shemitah comes after the six years, it starts off by first counting six years, working six years, and then the seventh year is Shemitah. But in essence, Shemitah is the introduction, the preparation to the six years that come after Shemitah, because the whole idea of Shemitah is that when you have the Shemitah for a year, then you have the koach of going on for the next six years, working with this feeling that even though you're working, really everything comes from Hashem. And that's why the Torah first starts off with saying Shemitah. When you come to Eretz Yisrael, it says ושבתה הארץ שבת להשם, and then it mentions the six years, because the inyan of Shemitah is that this should be the introduction to the six years that come after the Shemitah. So that's why the Torah starts off by saying there is inyan of Shemitah, and then it says six years you will work, to tell us that the purpose of Shemitah is the six years afterwards. And this is also the reason why the Torah mentions the six years of work. As we asked before lichorah, that's not important. The main thing is that the seventh year should be Shemitah. But based on what we said before, it's understood: the six years of working is part of the mitzvah of Shemitah. The mitzvah of Shemitah is not only that on the seventh year you will rest, the field will rest and you will not work on the field, but the whole idea is that afterwards the way you work during the six years should be different. And that's why the Torah mentions שש שנים תזרע, that after it said ושבתה הארץ שבת להשם, you have the שמיטה להשם, then you could continue working six years, six years to plant your field, six years to trim your vines, to gather the תבואה, because you will do it in the proper way. And then what comes out? ובשנה השביעית שבת שבתון. If you work the six years properly, then the next Shemitah will be even a better Shemitah. You will have even a higher level of Shemitah, which means this recognition everything comes from Hashem, when you will come to the second Shemitah, will be even a higher level. And that's why the Torah mentions here שבת שבתון. Just like by Shabbos, the Torah says also שבת שבתון. And the explanation that's given is, because if a person really understands, then during the week he is similar to Shabbos, because during the week, even when he works, he recognizes that it's not his work that's happening, it's Hashem that's making everything happen. So during the week is a type of Shabbos, so the Shabbos that comes after the week is a שבת שבתון. So too by Shemitah, that if the six years are done in such a way that they come as a result of the ושבתה הארץ which was before that, which means that the six years are with the feeling that everything comes from Hashem, then the seventh year after the six is a שבת שבתון, is a double Shabbos, because during the six years really was like a שבת, so the seventh year is even a higher madregah of Shabbos.

So it comes out that shemitah is similar to שבת. But in truth, shemitah has a ma'alah even over Shabbos, because Shabbos you're not allowed to do any work. So a person feels that this is a holy day, this is a day where you're completely involved in ruchniyut. And therefore, he's not connected at all to עובדין דחול as we would call it, to work of the weekdays. Shemitah you are allowed to do work all year, except the Shabbatot obviously of shemitah, but the weekdays of shemitah you're allowed to work. You're not allowed to work on the field, but other things you're allowed to do. So generally speaking, during the year of shemitah a person is not completely away from the inyanim of the world. Nevertheless, he gets the feeling because he doesn't work on the field that everything comes from Hashem. So here we have a combination of both. Because when a person is completely away from the world, it's easier to get the feeling that everything comes from Hashem, because he's not involved in the world. And therefore there used to be some people who would divide the two: that's when you're completely involved with Hashem, then it's Hashem, when you're involved in the world, then you're in the world. So on Shabbos, a person could still get the feeling that Shabbos is Shabbos, Shabbos is a day when you have nothing to do with work, therefore that's a day that's connected to Hashem, connected to Havayah' as we said before. When it comes to the weekdays, to take along that feeling into the weekdays is hard, because the weekdays you are involved in work, so how can you connect the two? But shemitah teaches us even more than that, that during the year of shemitah when a person was involved in עובדין דחול, in secular matters, and nevertheless he had the feeling that everything comes from Hashem, here you had the combination of two, of these both, that you had the combination of while you're working you have a shaychut to עובדין דחול, and nevertheless at the same time you recognize every comes, everything comes from Hashem. So from here to get the feeling throughout the six years that everything comes from Hashem is much easier, because even during shemitah you had a connection to the worldly matters, and nevertheless you had this feeling that everything comes from Hashem. So during the six years when you mamash work on the field, you certainly could have this feeling that everything comes from Hashem. And this answers the original question we asked before in the beginning: why is it that the Torah chose the mitzvah of shemitah to tell us a general thing concerning all other mitzvot. The Torah should have chosen a more general mitzvah, not the mitzvah of shemitah. But the way we explain, the mitzvah of shemitah is very general. This is the whole yesod of a Yid. The idea of Shemitah is to teach a Yid that everything comes from Hashem, and not only when he's not involved in the world, but even when he is involved in the six years of work, he also has to feel that everything comes from Hashem. This is the general inyan that a Yid has to have in his mind. And therefore the Torah chose specifically the mitzvah of Shemitah to teach us a general inyan, because the mitzvah of Shemitah is a very general mitzvah. Based on all this, we could explain what Rashi said on the פסוק, שבת להשם, so Rashi says, לשם השם, כשם שנאמר בשבת בראשית. When the Torah says that you'd rest, the land should rest as a Shabbos to Hashem, so Rashi says, for the sake of Hashem, the same as it says by שבת בראשית, the same as it says by Shabbos of the week, that it has to be לשם השם, the same is concerning the Shemitah. What is Rashi really trying to tell us, as the מפרשים ask? But based on what we said before, we can understand. Shabbos, Shabbos of the week, we understand is LaHashem, since it's a day when a person is not connected at all to his materialistic matters, so it's a שבת להשם. And as we said before, not just שבת להשם, שבת להוי׳. It's a Shabbos when you feel הוי׳, you feel למעלה מן הטבע, you're beyond nature. It's not only Elokim, when you feel Hashem the way He is in the nature, but it's a time when you feel completely a little bit higher than the world, beyond nature. But when it comes to Shemitah, being that Shemitah is a year when you are allowed to work, as we said before, just the field rests, so here a person might feel that you are not completely a time להוי׳ when you are connected to הוי׳ beyond nature. So Rashi says that the שבת להוי׳, the שבת להשם that's mentioned by Shemitah is לשם השם כשם שנאמר בשבת בראשית. It's the same Hashem, you're connected to Havayah like it says by Shabbos of the week, that you are beyond the world. The same is here. And as we said before, not only the way it is by Shabbos, but because of that, it is more. Since you are on the year of Shemitah the same way as you are in Shabbos, that itself shows that you are higher than that, because Shabbos you are not involved in the world at all, Shemitah you are. And that's what the pasuk says, that even though you are involved in the world, nevertheless it's a שבת להוי׳, and Rashi says the same Havayah as שבת בראשית, and therefore, Shemitah is even higher to a certain degree, from one aspect, than Shabbos, because you are able to feel that even though you're involved into materialistic matters, nevertheless you are connected l'Havayah, to beyond nature.