Behar – What Is The Connection Between Shmitah and Cheating?
(Mah Inyan Shemita Eitzel Issur Ona-ah)
Parshas Behar contains the mitzvah of Shemita – the Sabbatical year. All agricultural work in the Land of Israel must stop during every seventh year in the Shemita cycle. The laws of Shemita require that the land must remain fallow. One can imagine that in an agrarian society this mitzvah has a major impact on people’s lives.
However, right in the middle of the laws of Shemita, the Torah teaches us the following halacha: “When you sell an item to your fellow man, or buy from the hand of your fellow man, one man should not cheat his brother” [Vayikra 25:14].
It seems peculiar, to say the least, that the Torah taught this particular halacha [law] of “Ona-ah” (cheating) right in the middle of the halachos of Shemita. The halachos of “Ona-ah” apply primarily to moveable property. Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as overcharging (or underpaying) for real estate. Why is “Ona-ah” located in the middle of the halachos of Shemita?
The Beis Av says that the Torah is teaching us a lesson. The fundamental concept that underlies the mitzvah of Shemita is that one’s livelihood comes from G-d. If a person works long enough and hard enough and is successful enough in his business, he usually becomes lulled into thinking, “it is ME who is making all this money”. People attribute their successes to their own wisdom, skill, acumen, diligence, etc.
There is a wonderful concept — the Mitzvah of Shemita — that unfortunately only exists in Eretz Yisroel and only applies to farmers, but G-d teaches us an important lesson through this concept: “You must remember something — I give you your livelihood.” A person’s sustenance is determined yearly on Rosh Hashannah. Of course, one must exert the appropriate amount of effort, but the amount and the success that one enjoys when it comes to Parnassah (livelihood) is provided by G-d. The proof to that is the Sabbatical year.
During the entire Shemita year, we do not do any work — and somehow or another, we have a livelihood. This Sabbatical makes us stop and think that it is not we who provide for ourselves. The Ribbono shel Olam [G-d] provides our livelihood. That being the case, it becomes eminently clear why the commandment against cheating is right in the middle of the portion of Shemitah.
As an oversimplification, if a person steals an extra $1000, he will go home and his air-conditioner will break, costing him his new $1000. It all works out in the end. If a person honestly believes that G-D is the One who ultimately writes and signs all the checks, there is absolutely no motivation for cheating — not a friend, not a business, not the Federal Government, not the State Government — no one.
If a person truly believes in what Shemitah is all about — that G-d provides us with our livelihood — then why would he cheat his fellow man? Such an attitude can only come from one who thinks that HE is making the livelihood himself. That is why “Ona-ah” is located in the middle of Shemita.
Rabbi Frand
