The number seven was a great favorite of those who shaped Judaism. The very first verse of the Torah contains seven words, followed by the division of life into the seven-day week, ending with the seventh day – the Sabbath. At the opening of the Behar Torah portion there appears the commandment of shmita, observed once every seven years; after it comes the Jubilee, counted as seven shmita cycles; a Hebrew slave is freed in the seventh year; the Counting of the Omer consists of seven weeks; Passover and Sukkot each last seven days; the seventh month, Tishrei, is packed with holidays. Then there are the seven species, the seven Noahide laws, the seven branches of the Menorah, the seven wedding blessings, the seven days of mourning, and so on.
A literary structure
Notice the stunning literary structure of the opening verses about shmita:
“And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a sabbath of the Lord. Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield. But in the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest, a sabbath of the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untrimmed vines; it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. But you may eat whatever the land during its sabbath will produce – you, your male and female slaves, the hired and bound laborers who live with you, and your cattle and the beasts in your land may eat all its yield.” (Leviticus 25:1–7)
In Hebrew, these verses about the seventh year open with a verse of seven words. All the shmita verses together number seven. And for whom is this year intended? Count with me: for you (1), your male slave (2), your female slave (3), your hired laborer (4), the bound laborer who lives with you (5), your cattle (6), and the beasts in your land (7).
The right ratio
What does Judaism’s obsession with seven mean? Those drawn to mystical thinking will argue that this number has enchanted powers. I’d like to suggest a more down-to-earth explanation: seven represents the right ratio across a wide range of human situations, and therein lies its power.
Take the world of work. To maintain healthy balance, a working day should not exceed seven net hours; organizing the year into seven-day cycles with a day of rest prevents burnout and makes room for celebration; holidays are wonderful, but after seven days the joy exhausts itself and it’s nice to return to work; imagine salary gaps within any organization never exceeding a ratio of seven to one. And how many years is it good to work in the same place, in the same role? At first, you learn and feel excitement – until erosion sets in, along with a sense of having reached your limit. Perhaps this happens around the seventh year?
Judaism identified seven as the right rhythm of life. This is a brilliant insight.
Letting go
The shmita – about which we read in the seven verses I quoted – is one of the most significant attempts ever made in this direction within the world of labor. Farmers are called upon to release their grip on the land for an entire year. No ploughing, no sowing, no harvesting. No working the soil. And this is hard – because of anxiety over livelihood, and because of the encroachment on private ownership. In that year, anyone may enter my land and eat from its produce. Why impose such hardships?
The reasons relate to the landowner himself, to society’s poor, to the land itself, and to the relationship between a person and God. Shmita creates a powerful corrective experience in each dimension, building a society with greater solidarity and truer balance.
The idea of shmita poses a fascinating challenge for our own times, when most Israelis no longer earn their living from agriculture. I suggest reflecting on this question: what is the thing that would be difficult and demanding for you to release for a year even though it would benefit you, others in society, the thing being released, and the spiritual aspects of your life?
If you managed to find an answer – what do you think about letting it go for a year?
Shmita is so demanding that the Sages called those who observe it “heroes.” Sometimes it takes real courage to do precisely what will be good, in the long run, for yourself and for others.
Lior Tal Sadeh is an educator, writer, and author of “What Is Above, What Is Below” (Carmel, 2022). He hosts the daily “Source of Inspiration” podcast, produced by Beit Avi Chai.
For more insights into Parashat Behar, listen to “Source of Inspiration”.
Translation of most Hebrew texts sourced from Sefaria.org
Main Photo: AI
