NAALEH.COM and YU TORAH Deception And Dependency By: Mrs. Shira Smiles

Parshat Behar includes the laws of Shemittah and Yovel, years when the land has its Sabbatical and Jubilee years and is to lie fallow and unworked. Included in this context is the reassurance that Hashem will provide food during the Shemittah year when no crops were planted, and the following year when no crops would grow, and even the year after that until such time that the newly planted crops will ripen. However, in the midst of all these laws of the land, the Torah seems to have inserted a command about business dealings that would seem more appropriate in Parshat Mishpatim which discusses the interpersonal laws that affect the relationship between man and his fellow man. The segment reads: “When you make a sale to your fellow or make a purchase from the hand of your fellow, do not aggrieve one another. … Each of you shall not aggrieve his fellow, and you shall fear your God; for I am Hashem, your God.” What is the relationship between these commands and the Shemittah laws? Click here Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein.