How Can You Even Ask?!

One of the most famous sedra openers in the Torah: "And G-d spoke to Moshe AT HAR SINAI saying...". The unusual nature of the pasuk is based on the rare additional words in the otherwise very familiar (and most common) pasuk in the Torah: “And G-d spoke to Moshe saying”. The mitzvot that follow deal with Shmita. A basic element of our belief is that the whole Torah was revealed by G-d to Moshe (and through to us) at Sinai (and not just the Ten Commandments, as many people - Jews and non-Jews - would claim). Why then mention the location of this particular set of commands? One of the principles by which the Talmud teaches us the Oral Torah is "when one issue is singled out for special treatment, the teaching not only applies to the one issue, but to the whole group from which it came". Here the teaching is this: Just as Shmita with its details was given at Sinai (it says so specifically right here), so too were all mitzvot given at Sinai with their details (and not just "Chapter- headings"). This idea is an important feature of the Chain of Tradition, and is an essential component of "Emunat Chachamim", the trust, faith, and confidence we must have in each link of the chain. 

Although any PRAT (singled out detail) would teach us about the KLAL (whole category), we can ask about the significance of the Torah’s particular choice of the model for the lesson. The “why mention Har Sinai next to...?” question could have been asked about any mitzva that would have been singled out. What else can we learn from the Torah’s choice of Sh’mita?

While the following might not be the “real” reason for the choice of Sh’mita, it will serve to make a powerful point.

Har Sinai represents Torah, Shmita represents Eretz Yisrael. It is abun- dantly clear to anyone “with eyes in his head” that there is a profound connec- tion between Torah and Eretz Yisrael. When G-d sent Moshe into Egypt, He told him at least twice that the purpose of taking the people out of Egypt, that the raison d’etre of the Nation of Israel, was/is to give them the Torah and bring them into Eretz Yisrael. In this context, the question about the connec- tion is almost ridiculous. Don’t read it as a question - read it as an emphatic exclamation. What a connection bet- ween Har Sinai and Shmita!!! In this context, the only people who see a question here are the Meraglim. They were the ones who questioned the need for Eretz Yisrael. They were the ones who felt that the Midbar was the perfect place for a Torah life. G-d says otherwise.

Yet there are Jews today who seem to think and feel the same way as the Meraglim. They fail to see the connection between Torah and Eretz Yisrael.