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This is in response to http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/09/shemittah.shtml Rabbi Micha Berger's article on Shemittah.
Thank you for an excellent discussion of the history of halacha regarding Shemittah, Yovel and Pruzbul. As you can see from my email address I am now living in Brooklyn. Let me assure you however, that I also have an address in Israel, in Kiryat Arba and I made Aliya and I am an Israeli citizen. I am saying this not because it's very important in my opinion regarding this discussion but only to get you to read on. Otherwise I can perhaps hear you say, don't bother saying anything else unless you move to Israel first since the Mitzvoth don't Dorayta apply unless the majority of the people including the lost tribes live in Israel at least according to many opinions. So show that you are for real by making aliya before giving us your opinion.
My question to you is if Hashem doesn't require us to keep Shemittah from the Torah than why are we presently experiencing the curses regarding security etc. If we would keep shemittah properly than there is not doubt that there would be peace, prosperity and security.
Please read about my own personal experience of trying to keep shemittah w/o pruzbul. It was an eye opener. Yes it was far from perfect. In fact it was extremely crude. How can one girl (I was unmarried at the time) manage to keep shemittah by herself? How can she take a year sabbatical and not work and loan out money and not expect to get paid back? Well first read up why it even occurred to me to do this http://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com/2005/09/how-it-began-how-i-became-interested.html
Maybe my experience was amatuerish yet I believe Hashem loves me for the effort, for the yearning for the desire. Hashem knows I have limitations and there is just so much I can do as a single person. Yet Hashem promises us clearly in Devarim Perek lamed that the Torah is not too hard for us to do. Please read these Pesukim again carefully. Take them literally just as I did.
This personal experience has given me strength in conviction that is unsurpassed in the knowledge that we must proclaim Eretz Yisroel as our Bilbical Inheritance. The reason the Rabbanim are Silent regarding our rights to Eretz Yisroel come in my opinion from a failure to really desire, yearn and keep the Mitzvoth of Eretz Yisroel. They simply excuse themselves by saying it's primarily Lezecher the Mitzvoth. It's not worth getting too caught up in our day to day practice of Judaism. Is the Yom Kippur Davening regarding the Avoda relevant to today. Those that feel that it is, would not be Silent to the desecration of Har Habayis and the reality of today which includes talks between Condeleeza Rice and Olmert to give Har Habayis to the Goyim who just happen to desire to destroy all of Israel. If there was a true yearning to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash and to return the Avoda of the Kohanim at Har Habayis we would be proclaiming loud and clear that Har Habayis is only for Am Yisroel. And we are not even racists since the only person that can do the Avoda are Kohanim and the only Kohein that can do the Avoda on Yom Kippur is the Kohein Gadol. The Nation of Israel and the 12 tribes accept their role and place whether or not they are Kohanim. In fact if a member of another tribe wishes to do the Avoda they are not allowed to and face serious consequences. The Kohanim may not allow someone from another tribe to take his place or else the Kohein faces serious consequences.
Am Yisroel are the Mamlechet Kohanim Vegoy Kadosh. We are not allowed to allow the Goyim, even nice democratic ones, our Divine mandate. It would only have terrible consequences for Am Yisroel and for the Nations of the World as we are experiencing today as warnings (September 11th, Katrina, TEHRAN: Iran's conservative president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/26/news/iran.php). A kabbalist predicted global floodings and that Jews should be aware and tonight on AOL there was an article about the risk of rising sea levels on many population centers in USA http://news.aol.com/story/_a/sea-level-rise-could-flood-many-cities/20070922130009990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/26/news/iran.php). A kabbalist predicted global floodings and that Jews should be aware and tonight on AOL there was an article about the risk of rising sea levels on many population centers in USA http://news.aol.com/story/_a/sea-level-rise-could-flood-many-cities/20070922130009990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001)
What is common about all these disaster scenarios is that there is chaos followed by communal sharing. People for a short while during recovery forget about what belongs to them. Survival takes priority. Many acts of Chesed are done in these troubled times. Do we need natural and manmade disasters to bring us to the point of sharing? Perhaps the same goal can be accomplished with simply trying our hardest with our hearts and souls to keeping Shemittah D'orayta w/o Pruzbul or Heter Mechira or buying fruits and vegetables from Arabs that wish to destroy us. The Heavens and the Earth are witnesses to Hashem of our Covenant. See Parshas Haazinu. Do we really want them to testify against us? Or do we continue to enjoy a nice halachic discussion about all of this and allow more Gush Katifs expulsions, multiplied 10x in Yehuda and Shomron if the talks of Olmert and Rice succeed chas vechalila. If we continue to remain silent and turn a blind eye then why are we surprised when Hashem hides His face from us. WHERE IS THE RABBINIC OUTCRY!!!!!
This will be posted on http://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com.
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