Rabbi's Blog

There used to be, says the Midrash, an impenetrable barrier between heaven and earth.

Prior to the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, the physical world was designated as the human’s domain and the spiritual heavens were designated as the G-dly domain (so to speak).

But with the Giving of the Torah all of that changed. For the first time, the spiritual G-dliness of the heavenly spheres would be permitted to come down and integrate into the physical world, and likewise the physical reality would be enabled to be transformed and elevated upward. 

When we use physical resources for the fulfillment of a Mitzvah, we are not only doing the right thing, but we are also generating an incredible transformation that helps to make the world a more g-dly place, one step and one deed at a time.

“When you come into the land... the land will rest a Sabbath for G-d.”

This is re referring to the Mitzvah of Shemitah – the agricultural sabbatical year in the Land of Israel – where every seventh year the fields are not worked and are allowed to rest.

But doesn’t that only happen after six years? Why does the Torah seem to describe it happening as soon as you enter the land?

Torah is indicating to us what the focus, what the goal is. Is your goal the working of the fields, or is your goal the eventual ‘Sabbath for G-d'?

Says the Torah, don't lose sight of your priorities. You should know your goal from the outset,  and your goal should be arriving at the spiritual growth and elevation of the sabbatical year.

The same is true for our lives today, that even though we must engage in a lot of mundane activity to earn a living and get ahead, we should always be mindful of the higher divine purpose in it all.