Failure to Observe Shmitta and Exile

Then, as long as the land is desolate and you are in your enemies' land, the Land will enjoy its Sabbaths. The Land will rest and enjoy its sabbatical years.                     Leviticus 26:34

    Rabbi Yitzḥak Ya'akov Weiss explains the connection between non-observance of the sabbatical years (shmitta) and Israel's exile from its Land based upon Rashi's first comment on the Torah. Rashi, quoting Yalkut Shimoni, teaches that Israel's answer to the nations' claim "You have stolen the Land of the seven (Canaanite) nations" is "all the earth is God's, He created it and gave the lands to whom He saw fit. Of His will the Land was given to them, and of His will it was taken from them and given to us." Therefore, Israel's failure to observe shmitta demonstrates a lack of belief that the Land indeed is God's (which is the underlying concept of shmitta). That being the case, Israel has no answer to the nations' claim that they have stolen the Land, and the inevitable result is exile from her. 

    If we dwell in the Land without recognizing that our sole claim to her is that the Creator, in His great beneficence, gave us the Land, we ourselves destroy our claim to the Land.