Behar: Eyes of Fire

"…you shall plant your field." (Leviticus 25:4).

The Torah commands us to refrain from cultivating and planting in the holy Land of Israel during the seventh, or shemitta year. Farmers are given the opportunity to take the year off and devote it to Torah learning. This of course requires the farmer to reinforce his emuna and trust in Hashem, but once he does, the Torah promises him a bumper crop during the sixth year so that he'll have more than enough income for the entire sabbatical year, until he harvests his first crop in the eight year, the first year of the next cycle.

The Gemara tells the story of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai and his son Rebbe Elazar, who left their cave after twelve whole years of secluded Torah learning and holy endeavors. They saw farmers plowing and planting, and everywhere they cast their eyes, the fields burned to a crisp.[1] From this story, it sounds like they were cruel, as if Rebbe Shimon and his son were unfairly judging their brethren who were working in the fields rather than learning Torah…

At closer inspection, we find that the opposite is true. The holy Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai had an unsurpassable love for his fellow Jews. Among his famous quotes are, “He who helps a Jew is like one who helps the Divine Presence.”[2] How can one fathom that a holy tzaddik like Rebbe Shimon could burn the field of a fellow Jew simply because the latter was farming rather than learning Torah? It doesn't make sense, especially in light of Rebbe Shimon's additional quote, “All Jews are the sons of kings”[3] – all Jews, not just the Torah scholars.

In light of the above, how do we solve the discrepancy between Rebbe Shimon's love for every Jew and the fact that the gaze of his eyes burned the fields of Jewish farmers when he left the cave after a dozen years? If I'm not mistaken, judging by the secrets from Heaven that were revealed to Rebbe Shimon and his son during those twelve years – the same secrets that Rebbe Shimon based the holy Zohar on – they had attained the spiritual purification level of angels. Their eyes burned with the fire of Torah just as Mose's countenance was as bright as the sun when he returned from forty days and nights upon Mount Sinai. Rebbe Shimon was not merely pure, but he had the power to purify others. Most likely, the Jewish farmers were working during the shemitta year, a violation of Torah, when they should have been learning Torah and leaving the soil fallow. According to Torah law, a crop planted in violation of Torah during the shemitta year must be burned in order to prevent future and additional transgressions, such as subsequent planting with seeds that were grown during shemitta. This is a violation of the holy land's Sabbath, just as one is not allowed to work on the Sabbath. Therefore, Rebbe Shimon's motivation in burning the field with his eyes was the love of his fellow Jew, to prevent them for committing additional sins.

Even though Rebbe Shimon's motivation was positive, a voice from Heaven declared, “Who asked you to destroy My world?” The Almighty didn't like what Rebbe Shimon did, and sent him back to the cave for another year.

The Gemara tells about the holy Tannaic sage Rebbe Yonatan ben Uziel who lived four generations before Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai and says that he was so holy that any bird who flew over his head would burn immediately.[4] Rabbi Asher Weiss shlit'a told me that Rebbe Yonatan was on a lesser level than his teacher Hillel the Elder, for if a bird flew over Hillel's head it would not burn, for Hillel knew how to control the intense fire of his holiness. According to this principle, we can understand why Hashem sent Rebbe Shimon back to the cave for an additional year of purification and secluded study. Hashem wanted Rebbe Shimon to attain the spiritual level of Hillel the Elder and to be capable of controlling his holy fire.

When he emerged the second time, the first thing Rebbe Shimon did was search for what beneficial deeds he could do for his fellow Jews, for he had attained the level that Hashem wanted him to. May we too search for the beneficial deeds we can do for our fellow Jews, and may we merit in seeing the coming of Moshiach and the rebuilding of our Holy Temple in the nearest future, amen!