The Daily Chizzuk of our Rebbe Rav Eliezer Berland shlit”a — Why is the sabbatical year the greatest “Na’aseh V’Nishma”?
Thursday, 19 Sivan 5783
These are his holy words:
The legs of Leah enter the Keter (Crown) of Rachel — Leah is above and Rachel is below. Because all the work of Yaakov was to join Rachel and Leah. Rachel gave over the signs to Leah.
Leah says to Rachel: “It is enough that you took my husband” (Bereishit 30:15). Why “my husband”? The opposite! Really Leah took from Rachel her husband [Yaakov], and not Rachel from Leah.
But the reason that Leah says to Rachel “You took my husband” is because Leah didn’t even know. Rachel didn’t reveal to Leah that she herself was the marriage match of Yaakov. Rachel never revealed to Leah that she was the first match, and that Yaakov had met her at the well and said to her, “Your father Lavan is a deceiver; he definitely will act deceitfully.” And so Yaakov passed on to her the signs to touch the ear.
Parashot Tazria-Metzora speak about the Kohen sprinkling on the ear lobe and the two thumbs. — the right and left thumb.
The Ben Ish Hai explains in Parashat Vayetzei that these were the signs. Now what relevance does the thumbs have here? What’s the relevance of the right thumb and the left thumb? So the ear is possible to understand, because the main thing is the light of the ear (Etz Chaim Shaar 8, Ch. 1). Nishma (we will hear) is from the ear — Na’aseh v’nishma (We will do and we will hear) — the true na’aseh v’nishma is the sabbatical year, that it’s necessary to prepare the place for the sabbatical year! Before the Shavuot holiday!
For not to work an entire year [of the sabbatical year] is something impossible. How is it possible not to work for an entire year? What will we eat?
The question is “what will we eat,” but this is a question of heresy! The question “what will we eat” is the greatest heresy! If Hashem says that you will have — then there will be bounty!! There will be oranges, and wheat, and barley!
