Bs"d
Submitted to: United Nations Permanent Forum on Reforestation and Clean Water - April 28, 2010
Presented By: Indigenous People of Israel (IPO) and the Office for Israeli Constitutional Law (NGO/IPO)
The Shemittah Year for the Twelve Tribes of Israel in the Land of Israel
Robin Ticker representing 12 Tribes and the Jewish Tribal People
The Shemittah year is a year of rest for the Land of Israel which occurs every 7 years. . The term as we know it today, "Taking a Sabbatical" originate with this Biblical commandment to the 12 Tribes of Israel to let the Land rest. It written in the Holy Torah:
But the seventh year shall be a complete rest for the land, a Sabbath for Hashem. Your field you shall not sow and your vineyard you shall not prune. The after growth of your harvest you shall not reap and the grapes you had set aside for yourself you shall not pick. It shall be a year of rest for the land. The Sabbath produce of the land shall be yours to eat, for you, for your servants and for your laborer and for your resident who dwell with you. And for your animal and for the beast that is in your land shall all its crop be to eat." [1]
Our Commentaries explain that in this year it is forbidden to plant, sow and harvest for ones' personal economic gain. Every farmer must make their field "hefker" which means open to all, and it is forbidden to sell ones' produce as one usually does in the other six non Sabbatical years. In this year, the ownership of the Land returns to its Creator, the Master of the Universe. G-d has then commanded that the produce is free for the picking and it is a year of communal sharing.
More laws of the Sabbatical year are as follows. It is written in The Holy Torah:
"May there be no destitute among you, rather Hashem will surely bless you in the Land that Hashem, your G-d will give you as an inheritance, to possess it..... If there shall be a destitute person among you, any of your brethren in any of your cities, in your Land that Hashem your G-d gives you, you shall not harden your heart, or close your hand against your destitute brother. Rather you shall open your hand to him, you shall lend him his requirement, whatever is lacking to him." [2]
From these passages we learn that in this year there shall be no poor and there is no rich since all are equal and no one is lacking. This year has enormous environmental, political and economic ramifications. It is binding only on the members of the 12 Tribes of Israel and those that live with them, only in the Land of Israel within the specified borders delineated in the Torah. [3]
The 12 Tribes of Israel are the indigenous people of the Land of Israel whose ancestry dates back to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the Biblical, biological, historic and spiritual forefathers of the 12 Tribes of Israel.
The Twelve Tribes of Israel conquered the Land of Israel in the time of Joshua a well known Biblical narrative. With the destruction of the 1st and Second Temple, the Tribes went into exile and were dispersed throughout the world. The descendants of the Tribe of Judah, Benjamin as well as members of the Tribe of Levi, the Levites can trace their lineage back to their ancestors from the Kingdom of Judah which today is part of what is known as Judea and Samaria. For 2000 years of exile these Tribes pray daily to return to the Land of their ancestors the Land of Israel.
Our holidays express our souls' yearning and desire to be able to return to the days of old and once again be able to serve G-d as we did in the past. The other 10 Tribes are known as the 10 Lost Tribes and they are from the Israelite Kingdom, and only in recent years have these lost Tribes been re surfacing among them members of the Tribe of Menashe, the Tribe of Dan, the Tiribe of Asher and other peoples who trace their ancestry to the 10 lost Tribes.
The Commandment of The Shemittah year is one that is considered perhaps the hardest commandment in the Torah to keep because it requires unfaltering faith in the Almighty that He will sustain us when we are forbidden to profit from the Land, which for many is our only source of income.
It was only with the Tribes return to their ancestral homeland in this century, was it necessary to observe the commandment of Shemittah of the Land. Up until then, observance of Shemittah , the Sabbatical year in the Diaspora was not required. Now, after 2000 years, this commandment, once again is relevant. It is perhaps the most mysterious commandment and attempts of implementation have created revolutionary political, economic and environmental upheavals. While many Rabbi's in Israel have differences of opinion as per how this commandment should be observed in our time, the laws are still evolving and the goal of observing the Sabbatical Year in the spirit of the Sabbath, a time of economic and spiritual utopia, is still elusive and yet to be realized.
In the Torah it states that the key to Peace, Prosperity, and Security lies with this commandment. It is in this year that the ownership of the Land is very clear. By keeping Shemittah, the Israelite demonstrates quite dramatically to himself and to the entire World what G-d says "Ki Li Kol Haaretz" which means
"the entire Land belongs to Me, G-d, and it is I who determines who will inherit it."[4]
Thank you.
Robin Ticker
Posted on Shemitttahrediscovered.blogspot.com on 13 day of Iyar 5770, 28th day of the Omer Malchut Shebenetach
[1] The Delineated Boundaries are specified in the Torah in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 34. The Commandment of the Sabbatical year is in the Book of Leviticus Chapter 25 starting Verse 4.
[2] Deuteronomy Chapter 15
[3] Numbers Chapter 34
[4] First Rashi in Genesis Chapter 1
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Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
This email is L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.
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