Behar- Bechukothai: Ownership

Behar- Bechukothai: Ownership

 שֵׁ֤שׁ שָׁנִים֙ תִּזְרַ֣ע שָׂדֶ֔ךָ וְשֵׁ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים תִּזְמֹ֣ר כַּרְמֶ֑ךָ וְאָסַפְתָּ֖ אֶת־תְּבוּאָתָֽהּ׃ Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield.

וּבַשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗ת שַׁבַּ֤ת שַׁבָּתוֹן֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָאָ֔רֶץ שַׁבָּ֖ת לַ But in the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest, a sabbath of the LORD

The field is "your" field, but you may sow it  for only 6 of each seven year cycle. There is a limit to your ownership.  The penalty is not exacted immediately, but there is an expectation of violation.  After the curses of Bechukothai are expressed, you are told:

וְהָאָרֶץ֩ תֵּעָזֵ֨ב מֵהֶ֜ם וְתִ֣רֶץ אֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתֶ֗יהָ בָּהְשַׁמָּה֙ מֵהֶ֔ם 

For the land shall be forsaken of them, making up for its sabbath years by being desolate of them, 

The curses of drought, pestilence and exile were exacted for not letting the land rest, as directed by the One who brought you into the land, the Gd to whom the land is mortgaged. 

The sabbatical year (shmitah)  has an element of good advice. The history of the Hebrews starts with a story based upon the  knowledge that  the  fields need to be left  fallow occasionally, regardless of the economic condition - the story of the Egyptian famine.  It is after the seventh consecutive  year of plenty in Egypt that the  (predicted) famine (with some plagues resembling the curses in our parsha) strikes.  Had the Egyptians introduced a fallow year, perhaps the evil  part of the Joseph's  prophecy could have been averted. (Only a guess)

In modern times, the perceived need for unrelenting production ( not limited to agriculture) is the source of calamity.  Timothy Snyder posits that the Nazi perception  of the limited fertilizer ( organic nitrogen)  resource propagated their  plans for world domination. ( They ignored the implications of their own science [see Fritz Haber]). 

Gd and the state function by limiting the options associated with ownership.  They define things that cannot be done with property, material  that has been given the status of an extension of the individual.  The fascist state includes an extreme  interpretation of  ownership.  The "owners" are granted the ultimate right - the right to make the rules.  Other systems  (communism, socialism, etc) may look more benign, but looks can be deceiving. ( I do not justify or favor  fascism) 

Now, in the COVID  pandemic, we are faced with an ownership dilemma. In the modern world, the greatest source of wealth is the ownership of ideas ( mostly apps).  Methods necessary for the production of COVID vaccines are "protected"  by patents, preventing their use without the paid permission of their "owners." The entities holding these patents ( Pfizer, Moderna, Astra Zenica, J&J) could theoretically forgo payment, but these companies are ruled by boards that are obliged to maximize the profits of the shareholders.  Should the enforcer of possession, the governments of the world, make an exception for the vaccine technology that could save millions of lives? Was Jean Valjean justified in stealing bread  to feed the starving children ( Les Miserables)? 

All (man made) systems of ownership are imperfect.  They create a way for people to produce for one another.  They are given a veneer of fairness by  arbitrary rules  that are not sensitive to situation. 

This is all an answer to Rshi's question about the relationship between the Sabbatical year and Mount Sinai. 

מָה עִנְיַן שְׁמִטָּה אֵצֶל הַר סִינַי?

 What has the matter of the Sabbatical year to do with Mount Sinai 

When Gd enters the equation, the meaning of ownership changes. You realize that the situation dominates.  Your ownership is worthless without the cooperation many things  beyond your control ( weather, war, weevils). 

 The only  thing you can do with with your possessions. is make choices ... be generous.