Parashat Re'eh / פרשת ראה
- Fri, 10 August 2018 = 29th of Av, 5778
- כ״ט בְּאָב תשע״ח
CLICK LINK ABOVE TO READ THE PESUKIM
Today the Pesukim introduces the Laws of שְׁמִטָּֽה "Shemittah". These are the rules regarding the release of debts every 7 years. Delitzsch explains and gives an overview from the viewpoint of the entirety of Torah:
"The Israelites were not only to cause those who had no possessions (Levites, strangers, widows, and orphans) to refresh themselves with the produce of their inheritance, but they were not to force and oppress the poor. Debtors especially were not to be deprived of the blessings of the sabbatical year (Deuteronomy 15:1-6). “ At the end of seven years thou shalt make a release .” The expression, “at the end of seven years,” is to be understood in the same way as the corresponding phrase, “at the end of three years,” in Deuteronomy 14:28. The end of seven years, i.e., of the seven years' cycle formed by the sabbatical year, is mentioned as the time when debts that had been contracted were usually wiped off or demanded, after the year's harvest had been gathered in (cf. Deuteronomy 31:10, according to which the feast of Tabernacles occurred at the end of the year). שׁמטּה , from שׁמט morf , , to let lie, to let go (cf. Exodus 23:11), does not signify a remission of the debt, the relinquishing of all claim for payment, as Philo and the Talmudists affirm, but simply lengthening the term, not pressing for payment. This is the explanation in Deuteronomy 15:2 : “ This is the manner of the release ” ( shemittah ): cf. Deuteronomy 19:4; 1 Kings 9:15. “ Every owner of a loan of his hand shall release (leave) what he has lent to his neighbour; he shall not press his neighbour, and indeed his brother; for they have proclaimed release for Adonai.” As שׁמוט (release) points unmistakably back to Exodus 23:11, it must be interpreted in the same manner here as there. And as it is not used there to denote the entire renunciation of a field or possession, so here it cannot mean the entire renunciation of what had been lent, but simply leaving it, i.e., not pressing for it during the seventh year. This is favoured by what follows, “ thou shalt not press thy neighbour ,” which simply forbids an unreserved demand, but does not require that the debt should be remitted or presented to the debtor (see also Bähr, Symbolik , ii. pp. 570-1). “The loan of the hand:” what the hand has lent to another. “The master of the loan of the hand:” i.e., the owner of a loan, the lender. “His brother” defines with greater precision the idea of “a neighbour.” Calling a release, presupposes that the sabbatical year was publicly proclaimed, like the year of jubilee (Leviticus 25:9). קרא is impersonal (“they call”), as in Genesis 11:9 and Genesis 16:14. “ For Adonai: ” i.e., in honour of Adonai, sanctified to Him, as in Exodus 12:42. - This law points back to the institution of the sabbatical year in Exodus 23:10; Leviticus 25:2-7, though it is not to be regarded as an appendix to the law of the sabbatical year, or an expansion of it, but simply as an exposition of what was already implied in the main provision of that law, viz., that the cultivation of the land should be suspended in the sabbatical year. If no harvest was gathered in, and even such produce as had grown without sowing was to be left to the poor and the beasts of the field, the landowner could have no income from which to pay his debts. The fact that the “ sabbatical year ” is not expressly mentioned, may be accounted for on the ground, that even in the principal law itself this name does not occur; and it is simply commanded that every seventh year there was to be a sabbath of rest to the land (Leviticus 25:4). In the subsequent passages in which it is referred to (Deuteronomy 15:9 and Deuteronomy 31:10), it is still not called a sabbatical year, but simply the “year of release,” and that not merely with reference to debtors, but also with reference to the release ( Shemittah ) to be allowed to the field (Exodus 23:11).
In a spiritual sense, the lesson of these laws teaches us that we, (like the poor man) are all poor when it comes to righteousness and purity, and complete obedience to God. "We are all found lacking"...
And like a merciful "Master" of the loan that is granted to us - "which none of us can ever repay"... We are released from our debts.
NOTE: Both the Jubilee and the Shemittah were announced with the blowing of the trumpet on Elul 29, (last day of Elul), the Eve of Rosh Hashanah, and as Delitzsch says above, the debts were wiped off and canceled 15 days later during Sukkot (Tabernacles).
WITH THIS IN MIND WE CAN NOW UNDERSTAND BETTER WHAT YESHUA SAID ABOUT THE POOR AND THEIR DEBTS...
הִשָׁמְרוּ לָכֶם מֵעֲשׂוֹת צִדְקַתְכֶם לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי אָדָם לְהֵרָאוֹת לָהֶם כִּי אִם־כֵּן אֵין־לָכֶם שָׂכָר מֵאֵת אֲבִיכֶם שֶׁבַּשָׁמָיִם׃[2] לָכֵן בַּעֲשׂוֹתְךָ צְדָקָה אַל־תָּרִיעַ לְפָנֶיךָ בַּשׂוֹפָר כַּאֲשֶׁר יַעֲשׂוֹּ הַחֲנֵפִים בְּבָתֵּי כְנֵסִיּוֹת וּבָרְחֹבוֹת לְמַעַן יְהַלֲלוּ אוֹתָם הָאֲנָשִׁים אָמֵן אֹמֵר אֲנִי לָכֶם הֵמָּה נָשְׂאוּ אֶת שְׂכָרָם׃[3] וְאַתָּה בַּעֲשׂוֹתְךָ צְדָקָה אַל־תֵּדַע שְׂמֹאלְךָ אֵת אֲשֶׁר עֹשָׂה יְמִינֶךָ׃[4] לְמַעַן תִּהְיֶה צִדְקָתְךָ בַּסָּתֶר וְאָבִיךָ הָרֹאֶה בַּמִּסְתָּרִים הוּא (בַּגָּלוּי) יִגְמְלֶךָ׃[5] וְכִי תִתְפַּלֵּל אַל־תְּהִי כַּחֲנֵפִים הָאֹהֲבִים לְהִתְפַּלֵּל בְּעָמְדָם בְּבָתֵּי כְנֵסִיּוֹת וּבְפִנּוֹת הַשְׁוָקִים לְמַעַן יֵרָאוּ לִבְנֵי אָדָם אָמֵן אֹמֵר אֲנִי לָכֶם הֵמָּה נָשְׂאוּ אֶת שְׂכָרָם׃ [6] וְאַתָּה כִּי תִתְפַּלֵּל בּוֹא בְחֶדְרְךָ וּסְגֹר דְּלָתְךָ בַּעַדְךָ וְהִתְפַּלֵּל אֶל־אָבִיךָ אֲשֶׁר בַּסָּתֶר וְאָבִיךָ הָרֹאֶה בַּמִּסְתָּרִים הוּא (בַּגָּלוּי) יִגְמְלֶךָ׃ [7] וּבְהִתְפַּלֶּלְכֶם אַל־תְּפַטְפְּטוּ כַּגּוֹיִם הָאֹמְרִים בִּלְבָבָם בְּרֹב דְּבָרֵינוּ נִשָׁמֵעַ׃ [8] וְאַתֶּם אַל־תִּדַּמּוּ לָהֶם כִּי יוֹדֵעַ אֲבִיכֶם כָּל־צָרְכְּכֶם בְּטֶרֶם תִּשְׁאֲלוּ מִמֶּנּוּ׃ [9] לָכֵן כֹּה תִתְפַּלָּלוּ אָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָׁמַיִם יִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֶךָ׃[10] תָּבֹּא מַלְכוּתֶךָ יֵעָשֶׂה רְצוֹנְךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר בַּשָׁמַיִם גַּם בָּאָרֶץ׃[11] אֶת־לֶחֶם חֻקֵּנוּ תֵּן־לָנוּ הַיּוֹם׃[12] וּמְחַל־לָנוּ עַל־חֹבוֹתֵינוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר מָחַלְנוּ גַּם־אֲנַחְנוּ לְחַיָּבֵינוּ׃[13] וְאַל־תְּבִיאֵנוּ לִידֵי נִסָּיוֹן כִּי אִם־תְּחַלְּצֵנוּ מִן־הָרָע ((כִּי לְךָ הַמַּמְלָכָה וְהַגְּבוּרָה וְהַתִּפְאֶרֶת לְעוֹלְמֵי עוֹלָמִים אָמֵן))׃[14] כִּי אִם־תִּמְחֲלוּ לִבְנֵי־אָדָם עַל־חַטֹּאתָם יִמְחַל גַּם־לָכֶם אֲבִיכֶם שֶׁבַּשָׁמָיִם׃
Matthew 6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So whenever you do tzedakah, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! 3 But when you do tzedakah, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your tzedakah may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you.
5 “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! 6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room; and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you. 7 And when you are praying, do not babble on and on like the pagans; for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
9 “Therefore, pray in this way:
‘Our Father in heaven,
sanctified be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 “For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
This Sunday (Sat. night sundown) begins the month of Elul. Elul 1, 5778. Let's take this coming month to prepare. Let's prepare to release all the debts that others owe us remembering ourselves...
Romans 13:8 Tree of Life Version (TLV)
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the Torah.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment