The True Meaning of Shemittah: Why the Torah Commands Us to Let the Land Rest

In Parshat Behar, the people of Israel are commanded to observe the Sabbatical Year — Shemitah. During this year, it is forbidden to work the land: no plowing, no sowing, no pruning, no harvesting, and no cultivating.

However, the Torah does not command us to destroy the land — only to let it rest. Some forms of work, if neglected for an entire year, could cause irreversible damage to orchards or fields far beyond the seventh year. The Torah requires a sabbatical, not devastation.

“To Sustain, Not to Pamper”: What Work Is Allowed in the Seventh Year

For this reason, the Oral Torah established clear guidelines for which types of work are permitted during Shemitah. The key distinction is this:

• Work done to prevent the loss or death of trees or fields is permitted.

• Work done to improve or enhance the crops — to increase fruit yield — is prohibited.

In Aramaic, this principle is expressed as “to keep the tree standing,” to prevent its death. The forbidden type of work is called “to strengthen or heal” the tree, and make it thrive.

The goal of Shemitah is to keep the trees alive, but not to pamper them. The pampering can wait for the eighth year.

“Watering the Irrigated Field but Not the Rain-fed Field”

One of the Mishnah’s rules captures this balance perfectly: “One may water a field of Shelachin, but not a field of Ba’al.”

What are Shelachin and Ba’al fields? Linguistically, there are various explanations, but most commentators agree:

• Beit Ha-Shelachin (the “irrigated field”) comes from the Aramaic word shelei, meaning “weary” or “tired.” It refers to dry soil, land with no natural water source. If such a field is not watered for a full year, its trees will die.

• Beit Ha-Ba’al (the “rain-fed field”) is land that has a natural water supply. It receives enough rain, depending on its location and soil composition, or is nourished by underground springs. It can survive a year without irrigation.

A Misunderstanding of “Beit Ha-Ba’al”

About two generations ago, during the rise of biblical “criticism” and secular scholarship in Europe, a group of German academics launched a campaign claiming that Judaism had borrowed ideas from Canaanite idol worship.

Their “proof” was the use of the term “Beit Ha-Ba’al” — since Ba’al was the name of the Canaanite god of rain and fertility. According to them, when the Sages spoke of a “Ba’al field,” they were echoing pagan vocabulary.

The Response of Jewish Scholars

At that time, there were still many serious scholars in Israel who, even if not religiously observant, respected the authenticity of Jewish tradition and its language. One of them was Professor Meir Weiss, author of numerous studies on the Bible and Hebrew language.

In one of his books, he called this accusation absurd. He noted that even today, Americans call Sunday “Sun-day” — literally, “the day of the sun”, a term inherited from Roman paganism, when each day of the week was named after a celestial deity. “Does that mean,” Weiss asked ironically, “that every modern American is a sun-worshipper?”

An Anecdote About Names and Misunderstandings

Weiss recounts a humorous story from about sixty years ago: Israel’s first IDF Chief of Staff, Yigael Yadin, who later became a well-known archaeologist, once met Professor Yehuda Elitzur, a prominent religious scholar.

Yadin confidently claimed that the name Samson (Shimshon) must have originated from sun-worship — since the root shemesh means “sun.” Therefore, he argued, the biblical ancestors must have been idolaters.

Elitzur smiled and asked him: “Tell me, Professor Yadin — do you think Rabbi Sonnenfeld, the leader of Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox community, was named after sun-worship too? After all, Sonnenfeld in Yiddish literally means ‘sun-field.’”

Yadin had no answer.