“Time to Focus”
The commandment of the Sabbatical year has a special relationship to Har Sinai. At Har Sinai, G-d’s majesty and power were so strongly made known that it was clear that the determining factors in our physical, material successes are G-d’s will and our worthiness. The land’s rest on the seventh year teaches us that the primary force in the universe is G-d, not the forces of nature.
So too for us. We all need some time to focus only on the spiritual, to look into ourselves, temporarily forgetting work, problems, frustrations, and just see what we’re doing with our lives. How are our relationships? Do we want to change something in our lives? Do we need something changed for us? In truth, we know where to turn. It isn’t a person; it’s G-d… and ourselves. It’s important for us all to realize we can’t just live our day-to-day lives, in and out, mechanical, calculating, cold, empty. We all need to see where we’re coming from and where we’re going. Good luck getting there.
Instant Torah Messenger
In Parshat Behar, it says: “The son of an Israelite woman went out — and he was the son of an Egyptian man…and pronounced the Name of G-d and cursed….”(Vayikra 24:10)
R’ Zalman Sorotzkin, who wrote Oznaim LaTorah (a commentary book on the Torah) says something rather interesting. The “Egyptian man” above is the one Moshe struck dead by uttering G-d’s Name (in the book of Shemos). Therefore, many years later, that Egyptian man’s insolent son cursed the Name of G-d through which his father was killed.