Shabbat of the Land and the People of the Land

God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, telling him to speak to the Israelites and say to them: "When you come to the Land that I am giving you, the Land must be given a rest period, a Shabbat to God."                                                              Leviticus 25:1-2

            Rabbi Aharon Levin suggests an interesting parallel between “Shabbat of the Land” and the weekly Shabbat, and writes that the fate of the Land is similar to the fate of the nation of Israel. Just as the Children of Israel are spiritually elevated “from the depths of mundane life to additional sanctity” when Shabbat commences, so too the Land is elevated “to the (spiritual) aspect of Shabbat” with her sons’ entry to her. This is the meaning of the words “when you come to the Land that I am giving you:” when Israel entered its Land, replacing the nations which had defiled her, we allowed the Land to realize the unique sanctity of our Land – God’s Land.      

            Similarly, on a homiletic level, Rabbi Levin explains the verse “And in all the Land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the Land:” [25:24] when the Land became, in practice, the Land of Israel’s possession, she was redeemed by Israel elevating her from the mundane, week-day, level to the spiritual level.

            Indeed, Sefat Emet comments: “when Israel entered the Land, she was sanctified through revealing its potential sanctity, and the aspect of the heavenly Land of Israel was infused within the corporeal Land. With Israel’s entry into her, the Land was renewed through the sanctity which descended upon her.”