Iyar 12, 5776/May 20, 2016
"Speak to the children of Israel and you shall say to them: When you come to the land that I am giving you, the land shall rest a Sabbath to HaShem." (Leviticus 25:2) "The land that I am giving you," in other words, "the land belongs to Me," after which G-d explains that the land is a gift in perpetuity, on the condition, of course, that Israel follow the way of G-d's Torah in general, and the laws of the shemittah (seven year Sabbatical cycle) and yovel (forty nine year Jubilee cycle) that parashat Behar goes on to reveal, in great detail.
The land of Israel in its entirety belongs to G-d and G-d Himself dwells in the land. The center and focus of His abode is, of course, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, but G-d's presence reaches and fills the land everywhere.
Behind the commandments concerning the observance of the shemittah and yovel cycles, (letting the land lay fallow every seven years, the relinquishing of debts owed, the releasing of indentured servants and the return of the land itself to its tribal inheritance during the yovel year), lies the recognition and indeed, testimony, by Israel that the land of Israel is and always will be, the property of G-d .
G-d guarantees that He will provide the bounty otherwise lost during the shemittah year, and no less so during the three years of the Jubilee, which includes first a Sabbatical (shemittah) year, followed by the Jubilee year, which is itself followed by a year in which the future crops need to be planted and nurtured in the fields before they can be spread upon our tables. (see Leviticus 25:19-24) The faith required in G-d's providence, in His caring for His people, is the true litmus test of the nation of Israel and itself the guarantor of Israel's safe dwelling within the land, as Torah explains, "You shall perform My statutes, keep My ordinances and perform them then you will live on the land securely." (ibid 25:18)
Along with the bounty promised by G-d , and the security guarantee He will provide, G-d promises one more reward for the keeping of the laws of shemittah and yovel. G-d promises freedom: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof," (ibid 25:10) the very same words that are engraved upon the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, although the Torah proclamation is intended to be made by "shofar blasts, in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month; on the Day of Atonement, you shall sound the shofar throughout your land." (ibid 25:9)
There are a number of biblical Hebrew words which signify liberty, freedom and independence, but the word chosen by Torah for "proclaim[ing] liberty throughout all the land," is the rarely used dror (pronounced 'drawer'). Our sages have provided insights into why the word dror was chosen for this purpose. The word dror contains the same root letters as the word dirah which means dwelling place. In fact, the expression used by our sages to understand G-d's desire to create the world and place man at the center of that world, and to draw near to Him the nation of Israel, is so that "He can make His dwelling place (dirah) in this world." On a simple level, the use of the word dror expresses that the freedom G-d promises is the freedom to dwell anywhere within the land of Israel, a freedom that is still not manifest in our modern state of Israel. But on a far deeper level, G-d is telling His people, "My house is your house. Just as you have made for Me a dwelling place, a Sanctuary, in the land, so shall I see to it that you can dwell with Me, in My presence, anywhere throughout the land," a true realization of freedom and liberty.
Our sages also point out that dror is the name given to the small bird seen everywhere, the sparrow. The sparrow is a common bird, perhaps an insignificant bird, small and unthreatening, yet beloved by G-d no less than any other of G-d's creatures. The sparrow itself earns the name dror because it is not tied down, but can make its dwelling place anywhere. If G-d can provide safety and nourishment and freedom for the sparrow, surely He can provide all these things for His people Israel.
Ibn Ezra, the 11th century Torah sage says the following concerning the sparrow and the use of the word dror in our verse: "the dror is free to fly. It is a small bird which sings when it is free. Yet when caged by man it will refuse to eat and die." Israel, when free in its own land, (in G-d's land), will sing praises to G-d and to the wonders of His creation, her soul in flight, free to rest anywhere in the land. As Israel re-acclimates itself today in the land of Israel the time is swiftly approaching when the Jubilee year and the Sabbatical years will require proper observation, the Holy Temple will be rebuilt, the song of the Levites will be heard in the Temple courtyards and the entire nation will leave its homes three times a year to come to Jerusalem, on Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot, without fear that their homes or fields will be inhabited by thieves and hostile elements during their absence. Freedom!
-The Temple Imstitute
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