Shemita | Rabbi Joel Kenigsberg

And there are no saw sheets this morning. Um I have saw sheets. I had hoped to print but the technology conspired against us. So we'll make do with the we'll do this old school. There are at the back if anybody doesn't have and the rest of it will be bal which I will share with you. I wanted to talk this morning entitled to heroes of restraint. Wanted to talk a little bit about a mitzvah that we read about in this week's para which seemingly is not so relevant for most of us certainly in our day-to-day lives. But I think when we think about it and when we think a little bit deeply, we'll see that there is a very very uh deep connection between this mitzvah, between the lessons of it, what it's meant to teach us, what it's meant to bring out within us. And particularly, even though it seems that it only applies to a very small segment of the population, I think we'll see that it applies to everybody, applies particularly in our current circumstances. And I'm talking about, if you haven't guessed already, I'm talking about the mitzvah of mitzvah of opens up talking about this is one of the main, it's mentioned a number of places in the Torah, but this is one of the main sources. We have the laws, the details of mentioned yesterday between those who were here that this is one of the mitzvot where really the gap between how and what it's meant to be and the way the Torah envisions it and the way that we practice it today. There's a very very great gap between the two. But we'll talk about the vision. We'll talk about the way Shmita is meant to be in the Torah. The lessons and some of the difficulties, the challenges that raises and what the lessons are for us today in terms of that there is a puk in amazing puk and then the midrash says that this puk relates specifically to the idea of specifically to those farmers who are able to keep. It's not an easy mitzvah at all. The says as follows. It says speaks about the those heroes, those heroes of strength who are the ones who fulfill the word of Hashem who listen to his words says the midrash that this which sounds like it's talking about the malim no less it says uses that word that word malim angels can refer to what we translate as angels ang but it can mean also messengers of Hashem. In this case, the midrash has an argument. Is this puk referring specifically to the angels or is it referring to human beings that are angelike? And who are the says it says it's talking about those who keep the mitzvah of doesn't mean you walk into the supermarket and you say I don't need I'm buying this, I'm buying that. That's not what it's talking about. But it's talking about keeping. What does keeping mean? It means you have a farmer who works day and night, day in day out, week in week out. Blood, sweat, and tears and toil works in his farm for an entire year. He has to say goodbye. Say goodbye to the land. Say goodbye to the produce. Say goodbye to any produce that is made is completely healthcare. It's ownerless. Anybody can come and take it. You have to step aside. You have to leave it aside. And the question is what will be where how will we sustain what will we eat? What will we live off for an entire year of not working that out? This is not a simple feat. This is not a simple mitzvah. So says the midrash it says person can do it for one day. Okay, we know we have Shabbat six days a week. We work one day we can we have so much to do. We have so much that needs to get done. How are we going to survive if we don't work? One day a week we can we can take off. Okay, for one week for a month, but says the midrash for a year, an entire year, a person steps back, steps back from the field, says I'm not going to touch it. I'm going we all know mentioned yesterday, we've all seen the signs. You're driving on the highway, you see the fields, it says, right? Sir, so that says the midrash those people he says that that are able to do that. That is what the Torah refers to as that's what I should say refers to as it says there is no greater hero there is no greater gibbor than the person who is able to keep by the way where else do we find it's very very interesting this puk that talks about gibber refers to us for fulfilling a certain mitzvah where else do we find that this pasok of gibberak refers to am is called certain groups within Israel in what context the context is. We're coming up to Shabot the Shabbat. And if you had the S sheets in front of you, you would see it. I apologize. But the Shabbat talks about this. It says the following. It says at the time when we said before we said at that time, what happened? Aka voice from heaven came out said who revealed to my children this the secret the secret that who knows this is what the angels say and it says says the we quote the same first that we're able to say yes we will do we will accept we will accept the before we even know what is in it we are obligating ourselves before we even know what we're obligating setting ourselves for that is the same. So interesting already that the compares well we have the same referring to those who are the gibber on the one hand it's those who keep and it's for keeping the Torah why specifically of all the mitzvot what is it about this one if you open up your you'll see that this connection goes a little bit further if you open up your to the beginning of so it's a it's a perk cafe the beginning of parat And yeah, at the beginning the Torah starts off talking about the mitzvah of we move on to etc. But the first four it says now that's a very very unusual phraseology. We're used to the probably the most common in the Torah. That's by the way that's where the name of the para comes from. It's called phat bahar. Everybody thinks by the parot the names of the parot is the first word of the puk. It's not the first word of the puk. Oh yeah it's 1 2 3 4 5. Okay. And it's always there's a it could have been called but it's called we would have a lot of but it's so it says speak to the Jewish people tell them. Okay, here is the introduction. We're being taught about the mitzvah of which is called a Shabbat to Hashem. What is the basic mitzvah? Six years you'll plant in the field for six years you'll plant in your field in your vineyard. You will gather up your grain. The seventh year is a Shabbat Shabbat. That is the shabbat both to the land. Okay, lots and lots and lots we could talk about here. But the first very interesting again those words why does it say specifically why does the Torah single out? Yeah, that this is given at every mitzvah was given at harina. So rashi you see in the you have rashi underneath he says like this and this has become this is a famous famous rashi this has become sort of a colloialism in modern Hebrew right and in modern English as well right asked the question what does have to do with and again nowadays you're talking about anything somebody asks you saying it's another way of saying in modern Hebrew what's one thing got to do with the other you'll hear people saying all the time and it's not Even not just in the religious world you will say h you say something it doesn't seem to have any connection it's become a become a phrase but that just shows you what a great question it is so he says says were not all the given to us just as we have all the principles we have all the details We have all the laws of relating to were given at so too all the other so it's taught inatanim not sure how rashi really answers the question weren't some of the mitzvah given in the in the desert what was Mosha explaining so it's true it's not it's not our topic now it does say that that mara that before there were certain mitzvah that they were given a preview so to speak before but all of the mitzvah that we have we're oblig ated because we were given ultimately at hari but I think that rash's answer here it doesn't really seem at least on the surface doesn't really seem to answer the question the question was why are you telling me that why are you mentioning sai specifically in the context of answer is because everything was given just like all the other med doesn't really doesn't really seem to answer it's kind of a circular but the point is there is a deep connection there is something about shmita that is representative of all of the mitzvot or there is something about that is so central it's teaching us such an important message that that we need to look at as on the same level as harai and as we saw before we have the comparison between those who keep and those who keep the entire Torah that is why we're called so what is the message over here what is the Torah trying to teach us what is so unique what is so special what makes one a hero for keeping the shmita that makes one more than anything else and that is something that we are meant to uh take with us and maybe uh teach us about the entire entire Torah. So let's skip a few here. I think there's a section and it's very very interesting that these we would expect this to appear right now right now the very next we're going to see we're going to skip to but I would really have expected what we're about to read to have followed immediately after the description of the laws of of it doesn't we have a break we talk about your vow we talk about a few other things and then we get to there so let's look at first of all persecute persecute the near the beginning still of and after telling us the laws of the basic laws of the Torah says like this you will keep my laws my and right all these different types of laws seemingly yeah where it says you'll keep these laws it's referring to the laws of and you'll guard them and you will sit safely in the land. That word is very very interesting. What does mean forever [Music] right? Secure safely, right? So you say so so that's that is essentially that's what Rashi says over here. Look at Rashi on that. He says, we'll see this in the next par which we also read this week together in we have the part of the is the land is going to want for all the that we have not kept the land is going to throw us out as a result. So it says in the sin of not keeping we go into exile. We had 70 years of ex of 70 years of that we didn't keep. Okay. So sounds like yeah it means you'll be safe, you'll be secure, you won't be thrown out, you won't be lost, you won't be defeated, etc. could mean something else is the same root as the word of bet meaning trust. Meaning maybe the message over here is not just about external safety or maybe external safety is dependent on to an extent and our trust in Hashem as well. And that we'll see that is the going to be the central message and the central idea here of the let's see carry on in the again it's repeated the next we have that idea again. Now these are the three I really want to focus on. Let's read through and let's think about the questions that spring to mind as we see the Torah says something here very very unique. We don't find this by any other mitzvah and we could find it by many other mitzvah but we find it says like this. And if you will ask you will ask what will we eat? What will we eat in the seventh year? What are we going to eat? We cannot plant. We cannot gather up any of the any of our crops, right? What are we going to do? Says Hashem, I will command my blessing to you in the sixth year. In the sixth year, you'll have enough produce. You'll have enough blessing. It's going to last you for three years. In the eighth year, you are going to eat still. You'll still be eating from that triple crop until you get to the ninth year. Until that comes along, you'll still be eating from the old. Okay. Torah says you're going to ask what will you eat? What will you be able to have? I'm giving you the answer. The answer is you'll have a crop in six year for 3 years. Okay. I think there are a lot a lot of questions that we can ask on these. I have quite a few that I I'll raise. But before I do that, let me open it up. We read these three pukimm. What are the questions that jump out at you? What are the things that don't make sense? What are the things that you wonder? What are the what are the questions that you would ask? Not everybody at once. a question. Okay. So means that's if you go back to the be what we said at the beginning the idea was and in the seventh year you won't right. So it's the same telling us that you can't plant three years worth of of crops. If there were only for one year, right? If there's only for one year, why do we need three years of crops? You might have said that it's going to be enough time for two years, right? Why do we need for three? Okay, that's definitely a question. And what are these three years? When do they begin? How do we count them? Etc. We'll get to that. Yeah. What? Because the Jubilee can come after. Okay. There is there is such an opinion. We'll get to it. We'll get to it soon. Yeah. Only God can give a blessing like this at a human being can never right only God can say I promise you right why doesn't he give the answer before the question why there's a question what do they what are we going to eat in the seventh year why do they have to why when he's telling them the say and I'm going to give you in the sixth year totally whatever right right so I think this is this is one of this One of the questions that sticks out right we don't like I said we could have asked this by any other mitzvah in the Torah right there are many many we have mitzvah there are difficulties there are challenges we don't find by any other mitzvah you'll say it's going to be hard to keep this mitzvah so I'll tell you only by do we say it could have just said you're going to keep there's an implicit question which is what are you going to eat so I'll tell you what you're going to eat and that's fine why does the Torah go out of its way to tell us you're going to ask why you should eat I mean I would even ask more strongly. I would say do we have the right let's say in the sixth year we don't have a big harvest we have a normal harvest we have the right to say we don't have to keep didn't give us extra food we're going to have to now plant the next two years we don't have you didn't do your part we don't have to do our part okay it's quite a daring interpretation but it's yeah okay interesting it's a it's a it's a breed right you you told us straight out we're going to have three years worth of food so you're saying we have we have one year for two years. So you're saying keep planting. So you're saying by the fact that has given us a promise, it has almost made our requirement ability to give the mid condition. Okay. Okay. Interesting. All of a f no straight out. It's does the word lea refer to the year aftermita when certain things have to be kept uh sacred like you can't throw away leftover wine in the bottle till it rots till it yeah is referring to I'm not sure if I'm not sure if LA over here is referring to that but that is that is definitely something which uh which applies okay so let's all right so so let's try and dive a little bit deeper into this let's See first of all the question is let's just understand what the framework is what are we talking about when the Torah says yeah three years what are these three years and why do we need three years and when is it talking about so here we have an very interesting uh an interesting dispute between Rashi and the Ramban as to what as to when these three years are rashi says the following he says you can see Rashi at the bottom of inf says shalim it's a little bit But I'll read it out loud. He says, okay, so first of all, Rashi says when it says three years, it's not exactly 3 years, it's 2 and 1/2 years. He says it's part of the sixth year and the seventh and the eighth. Essentially, what Rash is saying is like this. You can't you'll have to pl when can you start planting again? You'll only be able to plant in the eighth year. So in the eighth year you'll plant but then it's going to take time before what you've planted in that year is going to right. So therefore he says when you get to the ninth year you get tokot remember is that's the time when we gather up everything we've planted. So you get tokot of the nth then you'll have enough you'll be able to bring it into the house and then you'll be okay. But he he so he understands that 3 years is a little bit less than 3 years. It's really 2 and a half. Um but it counts for every every uh as normal. The Ramban on the other hand says no. He says really what was suggested here for the year you're only you're only going you're losing one year. So you'll need a double crop you'll have for two years that will make up for it. When do I need a triple crop? When do I need for three years? That is not an ordinary but that is when I have the ye that also explains to us maybe why these only appear later on after we've had the discussion of the what is the yl we have the is once every seventh years we count seven cycles of shmita 7 * 7 is 49 and then we have the 50th year which is the y which has other laws as well regarding land which goes back to its original owners regarding slaves going free but also all the laws of resting the land applies in the yo as Well, so you have a situation where you have year number 49 and year number 50 where you have two years in a row where no one's working the land. Okay. So if we say that one year we can get away two years that's that that's what are we going to eat if we're not working anything for two years. So there says the Ramban that's where we need it. That's where we need the third uh the extra the extra uh crop for three years. Okay. But he says otherwise it's just going to be a blessing for two years. In other words, also what emerges is maybe it's saying you're going to say what can we eat even ordinary that we can that we can get by that we can we can survive with but when it's going to be double maybe that's a bit harder. Yeah. I'm still not clear exactly what is the exact point in other words we gain like what do we gain from So there so so so there are many things and we could look at the different we could look at the different par in the Torah that talk about and different aspects that we uh different aspects that we get from it. One is similarly to the idea of Shabbat that just like the idea of Shabbat, there are six days that I work and there is one day that I rest to remember the fact that it's not us that's in charge. It's not us that owns it's it's who is the owner of all the of all the land and the world and we cannot do anything that without without him. So too the idea by that's something the writes there are many other there are there are societal aspects as well the fact that you're not working for a year what are you going to do with that time and learning Torah etc okay there are different there are different aspects but right now let's focus a little bit more on this question of this question of this question of there is another there's another question which I'm rais very very interesting okay which we didn't address which is the following what we're saying is this we're saying that you're going to get to the you're going to according to Raan it's going to be difficult to keep because we need what are we going to eat so we need an extra that comes from and we'll have that extra with the double crop the triple crop whatever it may be when is this question asked this question when you'll come and you'll ask what are we going to eat when are we asking this question okay sorry when you're hungry when you're hungry Okay, what do I what do I mean by that? And I explain. Let me read you the way that the ask question is very interesting. He says like this says he says you're going to ask what are we going to eat on the seventh year. Okay. The way the p if you read if you read the p it says you will ask what will we eat? what will in the seventh year. So there's two ways you could read that. You could read that as we'll ask what are we going to eat in the seventh year or you could ask it in the seventh year when we get to the seventh year you ask what will we eat. Okay? So that might be right you're going to ask we're going to get to the okay now we have to put down all our tools. Now we have to put up our big signs that says that's very nice but now you're going to ask what are we going to eat? So here's the question. Here's the question. If it really is at the beginning of the seventh year that we're going to ask what are we going to eat, we really shouldn't be asking that question at all. It's the eighth year when because every year we're eating the produce from the year before. So since we're not doing any work on the seventh year, it's the eighth year when you're going to have nothing to eat because Okay, but more but more than that. more than that because you could say okay we've still got at the beginning of the seventh year we've still got the food we've still got food for the next year so it's only but you're going to say okay we're going to stop now in a year's time we're not going to have any food to eat right but so here's what the kaka says and it's so obvious when you think about it read the what did the Torah guarantee us and say what's the answer to the question of what are you going to eat what's the answer in the six year you're going to have produce you're going to have enough you're going to have enough for three years let's go with Russia for the moment. Okay. So, when is that produce going to come in? You're going to have all that produce at the end of the sixth year. So, you get to the seventh year. You get to the beginning of the schmita and then you're about to put down your tools. You say, "Wait a minute. What are we going to eat?" You go, you look in in the storehouses. You look you say, "We've got a triple crop in here. We've got enough food." Do do you see the problem? You see, if the Torah is telling us, you're going to ask the question of what will you have to eat? And my answer to you is you'll have enough to eat. I promise you. Because if you keep the shmita in the sixth year before the shmita starts, you're going to have a triple produce. You have enough food. So when shmita begins, you've already had the braha. You've already seen I've blessed you that you've got enough food to eat for the next 3 years. Okay? So at the beginning of the seventh year, you're going to look in the storehouses. You're going to see that you've got enough food. You're going to see you've got triple the amount that you normally have. And then you're going to raise up your hand and you're going to say, "Ah, what are we going to eat? We've been watching too much news, right? Jews have been complaining about something to complain about. We complain anyway. So that's what the question is when when do we keep shift on the sixth year? No, starts in the seventh year. But again, but don't we gather for the seventh year, the three years before? Correct. That's exa that's exa that's exactly the point. That's exactly what the kaka says. He says you can't read the puk in the simple way. You can't read it as saying again, look at the You can't read it as saying or you're going to ask at the beginning of the seventh year, what are we going to eat? Because already at the beginning of the seventh year, you should know you've got enough, right? You should know you've got enough. That that's the braha. It already comes before. What else is interesting about this? If this is the case, so we're saying the braha, Hashem is giving us the braha before we've even started to fulfill the mitzvah. That's very strange. That's very interesting. That was a question. Yeah. My question to you is this is not a hypothetical question. What has happened in Israel in the last 70 years? Some of the agriculture people do keep shita. So there must be some lack of products. Okay. So that's a very so that's that's a very interesting question. I don't know if we'll now go into all details exactly how we keep shmita nowadays but I I'll I'll tell you two things. One is that somebody actually mentioned to me yesterday and I saw that I saw there are there are reports there are amazing stories of you know nowadays not everybody keeps shmita there are farmers we've all se again we've all seen the signs shout out to the signs again right we've all seen there and there are those who say comes we're leaving our land for a year and that's it okay there are amazing stories of certain and certain farms and certain places where they saw they say they saw the they didn't for whatever reason the rain came and the conditions and whatever and the following year they had they had a tremendous crop which other places did not. That's number one. We've seen it and there are people who can tell you the story and that they have they have experienced. That is number one. Number two is h notwithstanding what I just said this none of this may apply today because nowadays is actually not a mitzvah on a dita level. Soon it will be but right now it's not. Why is that? Because applies when we say when what's called which means the majority of the Jewish people are living in the land of Israel. Don't get this is the it doesn't mean the state of Israel is the country in the world that has the largest Jewish population. But that's different. We're not saying country number one. We're saying the majority of the Jewish people once the majority of the Jewish people are living in the land of Israel. So then it becomes da again and then it's a whole different ball game. If nowadays we keep itan does the Torah does the braha of the Torah apply in a situation where so that's a fascinating question some say yes some say no it may not be and that is why today in the interim we have all sorts of interim solutions right which we mentioned and and other things which we do nowadays and there are ways of kind of getting around it but uh ultimately that this is the uh this is the way the Torah wants wants us to keep it so and we'll get there. We'll get there. We're not there yet, but every year there is a there is discussion and there is there there are plans in terms of gradually how to get more and more farmers to be keeping Shmita fully in this way and how we uh how we how we deal with that. So, so, so when are we asking this question? So, there are so so the the clear says it can't be that we're asking the question at the beginning of the seventh year because the braha of the triple crop must come beforehand and therefore there's no room to ask the question because you can already see it. So he says you when are you asking the question? Maybe you're asking the question earlier, maybe you asked the question a different time. Um okay, maybe at the beginning of the sixth year, whatever that that is one that is one understanding. But there are those who understand who read the literally that says that when you get to the seventh year, you're going to ask the question, what do we have to eat? So why would we be asking the question of what we have to eat at the beginning of the seventh year if we've already had the bra of the triple crop. So either we could say because we like to complain. Okay. But I'd like to suggest something different which is the following. And the says this and listen to what listen to what the says. He says you're going to come and you're going to ask what will we eat when this will be a doubt for you. you like to complain and you won't have the faith, you won't have the you won't have the trust that what that the small amount that you have will be enough. In other words, he says and we see this throughout the as well. He says the question here, the question of the it's not necessarily a qualitative question, but it's a quantitative question. It says in the that in a time of where there are such curses. You might have you could have all the bread that you need, but it won't satisfy you. It won't satiate you. There's a there's a what's called a it's not just about what you have, but it's about what you do with it and how you're able to use it. So he says says the say others the over. It's not a clearly explicit supernatural thing that we'll see three times as much. We'll have the same amount of crops, but you know what? the same amount of crops that will be enough for not that you'll go hungry, but you'll be able to you'll be able to make do with less and that will the the braha the riboy will be qualitative but it won't be quantitative and therefore you'll be okay. So you won't necessarily that can answer your question as well. You won't we won't necessarily see the difference at the beginning of the seventh year. We won't necessarily know that it's there but but but but it will be that will be the that will be the miracle and that will be that will be the braha. Yeah. The what what are the farmers going to do? You know what are how will they have an income in year? So they're all they're not working. They're not working the land. That's right. They're not working. They're not working the land. the braha there will be there will be the braha of the triple crop and they will sit in your shiva for the year. That's the that's the that will sit in your shiva for the year. Oh yeah, that's the that's the that's the idea. It's a good question because you just said that it will be uh the quality that we will be able to do with less. So the farmers did not have more produce in the six years. So they won't have money in the 70s. No. So he's saying so so what he's saying is well the truth the truth is that there are two ways under that what he's saying is that there will be the braha that there won't there won't be more and there are those who say actually if there's going to be more then it means you have to work harder and there's not going to be more qual quantitatively that you have to work harder but there will be the braha that what you have will be enough nobody's going to go hungry everybody's going to have enough the amount that normally would have lasted for one year is actually going to last going to last for three years that is one way of reading it but you could read it another way as well and this is where things get really interesting Okay. Where he says when we we ask the question as follows. We don't find this where the Torah comes along and says to us explicitly, you're going to ask how will you keep this mitzvah? We don't find that anywhere else, right? And there are other mitzvah that are that are maybe equally challenging or maybe less challenging, but Shabbat, the Torah commands about Shabbat. It's not so easy here. We're talking about an entire year, but it's not so easy to take a day off work, right? We all know the stories, particularly in America, right? That going back a couple of generations, people couldn't get a job. People get fired every week. It's not on Saturday, don't come back Monday. Exactly. It's not It's It's not so easy. So, we don't find And there are many, many other examples. Eating kosher. Whatever. The Torah doesn't say anywhere kosher, right? You can only eat A, B, and C, but you can't eat X, Y, and Zed. So, you're going to say, "What are we going to eat?" Right? Torah doesn't say that. It says, "This is what you can eat. Deal with it." Shabbat, it doesn't say you're going to you can work for six days. You can't work the seventh. If you're going to ask, "But what are we going to do on the seventh day? How are we going to get a job? Torah doesn't say that. It says just do this. It doesn't say you have to put on whatever you're going to ask how am I going to put on? How am I going to afford an airro? How am I going to do? Torah doesn't ask any of those things. It's only that it says and we ask a question why does it try to emphasize this over here. Why does it say so? There are two radically different schools of thought very very interesting on this question. One school of thought says what we probably would have thought of intuitively which is you know what is different is difficult. We saw the midrash we saw the we saw how is compared to eta the level of faith that is required to take an entire year sbatical not to work the land whether it's because of income or because of what you have to eat or this is something that's on another level. So if it's only natural here, it's much much more difficult. And therefore, you're going to say you'll ask the question. That's the most natural thing that you would ask the question. The Torah almost expects you to ask the question. And because it expects you to ask the question, it's going to preempt. It's going to tell you and it's going to give you an and it's going to give you an answer. In other words, when we talk about faith, what does faith mean? What does mean? And throughout the ages, we see different schools of thought and different ideas in this. Does faith mean that I can't have any questions? Does faith mean that I can't there are no challenges? I have to just accept that everything is fine and everything is easy and everything. No. According to this understanding, we say no. Faith means faith is real. Faith is genuine. I struggle. I wrestle. God gives me a command, a command that seems like I don't know how I'm going to be able to fulfill it. And therefore, I ask a question. And therefore, the Torah gives us the answer. That's one way of looking at it. There is another interpretation over here which looks at this and says not that that is not that that is a positive thing. There are those say the quotes this in the name of his brother and he says when the Torah says it's telling you you shouldn't have asked the question and he he connects to this for like this he says had you not he says if you're going to come and ask the question and you're going to say what are we going to eat so you know what then I'll give you a braha then I'll make a miracle for you then you'll have three times the amount of crop at the beginning of the of the seventh year whenever you'll see there's not or earlier on you'll see there's not enough you'll ask the question so then I'll make an explicit miracle for you but had you not asked the question had you just had the faith had you been the had you been able to accept that this is what the Torah said and if that's what the Torah said then obviously that's what you need to do and then it will be fine so then you would have had the you wouldn't have seen three times three times the crop but you know what everything would have been enough everything would have been enough and you would have uh and and you would managed. In other words, two complete two radically different uh ways of understanding this question that it's a legitimate question that it's something that you should be asking or that it's something that if you don't you shouldn't have asked but if you do ask so then fine says then I'll do a miracle for you but really you didn't need it you shouldn't have needed it and this brings to mind tells it tells a fascinating story if if you want to look it up it says like There was a certain individual, a tragic story, a certain person. He had a child. He had a baby and his wife died and there was no way they didn't have a materna or baby formula in those days. He needed to feed the child. He had no one who was able to feed the child. He couldn't hire a wet nurse. He didn't couldn't afford it. So what happened? A miracle was done for this person, this man. A miracle was done and this individual was able to feed his child himself. So thou says the like this listen to the the the discussion of says wow this person this is a tremendous individual he didn't have anything he asked the question what are we going to feed this miracle was done nature was changed for him that's a sign of a lofty individual what a miracle says completely the opposite He says how lowly is this person that an open miracle like this had to be done for him that you don't believe that has a way of providing you don't believe that somehow within the natural course of the world things for you are something different for you we have to change everything so uh so so and and that relates exactly to our question here of uh of of what is and what we should and how we should how we should conduct ourselves. Now the truth is I think that the these are two very very extreme approaches and for most people the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Um but thinking of all of this and thinking about this message of and what it tells us and what it challenges us and what it makes us think and question in terms of and what we face. I think something that comes out of this is that teaches us shows us a prototype for a situation that is very very uncertain and even where we have the even when the Torah tells us right you're going to go you're not the Torah is setting us up in a position where things are uncertain where we don't know what the outcome is where it's not clear and we are required at a certain level to put faith and and and to trust in to do our effort in this case what is our effort out in this what makes it so difficult is that your effort in the time of your effort is not doing anything. There is a time when you have to stop. There is a time when you have to let go and there is a time when you have to say I'm leaving it in the hands of whatever whatever that means. Again, I'm not getting into now technicalities day by day what a person has to don't don't don't understand the wrong way. But here we're following the Torah's explicit command which is saying there is an element where you have to let go of control and you have to let do do what he does. And that when you're able to do that, when you're able to reach that level, to relinquish that control and to find that faith, however you find that faith, it's an ordeal. No question that it's an ordeal, but you're able to do that. That is what's called And I thought I thought to myself that this idea, this model, this prototype of the farmer in the facing this uncertainty and being able to trust and being able to have faith that essentially that is the prototype. No one in the room is a farmer, I don't think. Right? Even if you are, as we've explained, the way that we keep the Shmita today is not the way that it was kept in the way that the that the Torah describes it. But that idea and that principle and finding that faith and living through that and living through that uncertainty, being able to manage and being able to survive and to thrive and to grow through that, that I think is what we're all going through and that I think is what we've all been going through for the last year and a half. So I thought I think this is a little bit of a preview for the Shabot year. For those of you that are going to be here for shavat don't shave I'm talking about AI. AI is very very hot topic at the moment. We're going to be talking about it from a slightly different angle from I want to talk about if you if you're here going to talk about what AI is doing to us and how it is changing us and how it's affecting us and how our norms and societal norms and hakic norms and human norms are changing because of the way that we're using AI. So that's something that's just a little bit of a preview for uh for Shabot at night. after the during the time during the tick now whatever the time that's in the middle of the night yeah I don't remember right now what what time it is but I thought so one of the things that everybody wants to know is can I get is AI going to two years ago I spoke about whether AI is going to replace rabbis and thankfully then the answer and now still now the answer is no not for the moment I'm still here as you can see but uh I can and I can tell you AI does not rhyme my sharim for me and AI does not rhyme my drshot for me I promise um at the moment. But I thought, okay, I thought about this idea and I what I did was I uploaded the the saw sheet which you haven't seen but which I've been reading off onto AI and I discussed I gave it a bit of a prompt told them what the pro what the idea was behind the shar and what the idea behind the discussion was and I said okay give me five points let's make a comparison between the ordeal that is faced by the farmer in the shita and the ordeal that faces all of us today. Okay, I could have done this myself, but I thought it would be it would be interesting to see what it came up with. And what I came up with was not bad. And I want to read this to you and I want to share this to share this with you and offer you as as you know some things to think about in terms of so this is a table which was gen again was generated by AI but with with some of my prompts and a little bit of editing called the war in Israel. So on the one hand we have the farmer's ideal and we have Isra the nation's ordeal. So what are the things that are similar? what are the things that we can learn? So number one, the first point that I came up with was letting go of control. And I think this is something that we've uh as much as we think that we understand this, we are taught again and again and again. But it said letting go of control. Says the farmer relinquishes his land, his income and his sense of security. And so too in our situation, we face national vulnerability. We surrender routine life, stability, and security in the face of war. Okay, that was one that was one uh comparison. Number two, we talk about uncertainty. It's similar but slightly different nuance. Uncertainty about the future. When the farmer asks the question what we saw says, what will we eat? Manal this a question which is not just logistical. This is existential. So too today we face uncertainty in every gener in every direction. What will be hostages, borders, international pressure, long-term recovery, etc. But that's essentially that's the question we're asking. What will what will be? And I think that in our generation certainly I think we have to go with the interpretation that this is a legitimate question. It's a question we should be asking. It's fine. It's fair. We can be asking and struggling and grappling with it. But ultimately Hashem will answer. Number three. Number three it talks about faith. It says over here that the the farmer acts before seeing results. Right? something we we mentioned how how we we get the uh we only necessarily uh feel the braha afterwards right according to one of the interpretations and so too today we talk about acts of faith of people going out sacrificing serving without knowing where where what it's going to lead okay talks there's a little bit of repetition over here it talks about sacrifice ongoing sacrifice and clear results and then it talks about kura strength kura through restraint on the one hand the farmer's strength As we said and this is maybe a again another takeaway message the strength over here normally we think that strength isn't acting by the far the lesson is the strength is in not acting not doing anything not to plant not to harvest to wait and see what happens over here so what did it come up with it said endurance the nation's strength is in holding strong not giving in to despair or division etc okay so that's what AI came up with I'm sure you could come up with more things and we could Maybe we could come up with with better. But uh anyway, those are those are some of the lessons. Those are some of the comparisons. The question of is not just something that talks to a small segment. It's not just something that talks to the farmers. But as we said, just as Shmita was given, so to the entire Torah was given at the message of Gibbor for all the Jewish people, able to keep the Torah, able to persevere through through uncertainty with faith, not always knowing the answer to the question of but nonetheless knowing that says to us, if we keep we we hold fast, we keep keep the faith and uh persevering and with resilience even though times may be tough, even though there may be questions even though there may be challenges it may not always be explicit that the answer is there but sometimes the brah's already been provided sometimes already been hit be it's there it's hidden we just have to hold hold faith and uh and know that it will come okay you know but the