The Light of Judaism

We are all each responsible for balancing the Middot in our own lives as part of our own personal rectification towards spiritual development. To “sow your field” indicates that labor is involved and the planting of good seed (spiritual sustenance) is a required exertion as a prelude to harvesting the fruit of our labor. The vineyard represents the garden of the Soul knows as Zeir Anpin. Z’A is the Law of constriction which defines the process of spiritual growth via the Torah and its 613 mitzvot. The 613 mitzvot are the desires which must be corrected within the levels of the Nefesh and Ruach of the Soul.

As discussed in the previous commentary of Parshat Behar, the Sabbath of the seventh refers to the completion of the rectification of the Soul wherein there is balance and harmony and no further need to labor towards the Soul’s rectification. Further, in the sense of the Tikkun Olam we will see the completion of the rectification of the World which will bring about Olam Haba (the World to Come) in the seventh Millennium wherein the world will be harmonized and at rest within the Light of the Holy One, Blessed be He. This time of complete rectification will be a time whenever we no longer labor to elevate ourselves through the 613 Mitzvot of the Torah. At that time the greater Torah will be revealed which is Kedumah Torah- the Light which was concealed at the beginning of Creation. The prophet Yirmeyahu HaNavi speaks of this time:

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

(Jer. 31:30-34)

This final Shemittah of Sabbath Rest of the seventh millennium will be the revelation of Kedumah Torah which will rectify humanity and cease the process of gilgulim (Transmigration of Souls). Human nature will be completely transformed as the observance of the 613 mitzvot (correction of desires) will no longer be necessary and humanity will come into unity and oneness in the revelation of the benevolence of the Creator. At this time there will no longer be any need for teachers, Rabbonim, etc. as there will be no one to teach anything to. All humanity from the least to the greatest will have attained a rectified state in mochin d’gadlut (higher consciousness) and will perceive Objective Reality completely. The spiritual labor as described in our pasuk (verse) as sowing your field and pruning your vineyard will no longer be a characteristic of human existence.

The next few pasukim (verses) of our parshah continue with the theme of rectification in the seventh Shemittah. The beneficence of spiritual fruit will grow on its own without human intervention and mankind will freely partake of the Divine sustenance effortlessly. It will be an era of tranquility and enlightenment not only for the greatest and least of humanity but for the entire world- including the natural world and its levels of mineral, vegetative and animal.

This state of Olam Haba (World to Come) is in contrast to Olam HaZeh (This World). In this world we are prone to suffering and the misperceptions of the ego. However it is in this world right now that the labor we sow will have a profound effect on the Olam Haba that we each individually experience.  Rabbi Chaim Volozhin speaks of this as thus:

"The actions themselves of the person constitute the reward in Olam Haba. After the soul departs from the body it rises to take pleasure and satisfaction with the light, energy, and worlds of Kedusha (Holiness) that have been added and multiplied by his good actions. This is what the Sages meant when they said that "All of Israel have a portion TO the World-to-Come [We translate it as IN the World-to-Come, but the literal translation is TO the World-to-Come] and not IN the World-to-Come. "IN"implies that Olam Haba is ready and waiting from the time of Creation, as if it where something with a separate existence, and if man warrants he will receive a portion of it for his reward [like a piece of candy waiting in G-d's pocket to be given to whoever deserves it]. In truth, Olam Haba is [made up of] the actions of the person, which he expanded and added and perfected into a place for himself [to dwell]....and so it is with the punishment of Gehenam, the sin itself is his punishment [it becomes the "space" that he will occupy during the time of his "reward"].

The reason why the prophet Yirmeyahu speaks of this great utopian ideal of the seventh Shemittah but then also specifies that there will continue to be amongst humanity a “least and a greatest” is because the quality of the experience and consciousness of Olam Haba is directly related to the spiritual labor that one accomplished in this world (Olam HaZeh). In other words, the state of rectification in Olam Haba will be directly proportional to the work of self-rectification (Tikkun HaNefesh) that one attains in his lifetimes. Therefore one must not say that they will not engage in their own spiritual process of development in this life time thinking that all will be rectified and taken care of eventually without their direct involvement. Every individual has a necessary involvement and is called to the work as a Divine Imperative.