This mitzvah teaches a person that work has boundaries. Farming is good and necessary. Building a livelihood is important. But even good labor must stop when Hashem commands it.

For a farmer in Eretz Yisrael, this mitzvah can be a deep test of אֱמוּנָה — faith. The field is his livelihood. The soil is his work. The crop may support his family. Yet the Torah commands him not to work the land during Shemitah.

The mitzvah trains the heart not to worship productivity. A person can begin to think that constant work is the only source of security. Shemitah breaks that illusion. It teaches that blessing comes from Hashem, not from human effort alone.

Even for those who are not farmers, the mitzvah speaks strongly. A Jew learns that not everything available to him may be used. Not every opportunity may be taken. Not every field may be developed. Sometimes the greatest avodah — service of Hashem is to stop, step back, and let Hashem’s ownership become visible.

Rambam

• Source: Rambam, Sefer HaMitzvos, Negative Mitzvah 220; Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Shemitah V’Yovel 1:1–4.
• Rambam defines this mitzvah as the prohibition against working the land during the seventh year. He explains that sowing and pruning are explicit Torah prohibitions, and that other forms of agricultural work are also restricted as part of guarding the land’s rest. Rambam shows that Shemitah is not only an idea of trust. It is a legal system that changes how a Jew may treat the soil of Eretz Yisrael.

Sefer HaChinuch

• Source: Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah 326.
• Sefer HaChinuch explains that the root of Shemitah is to strengthen belief that Hashem created the world and owns the land. By not working the field in the seventh year, a person learns that his success does not come from labor alone. The mitzvah also forms humility, because the farmer must release control over the land he usually manages.

Gemara

• Source: Gemara Moed Katan 3a.
• The Gemara analyzes the categories of work forbidden during Shemitah and discusses which labors are Torah-level and which are rabbinic protections. This shows that “not working the land” has precise halachic meaning. The mitzvah is fulfilled through real restraint in the field.

Gemara

• Source: Gemara Moed Katan 4a.
• The Gemara discusses agricultural actions that may be allowed only to prevent loss, not to improve growth normally. This distinction is central to Shemitah. The goal is not to destroy the field, but to stop ordinary productive farming.

Gemara

• Source: Gemara Sanhedrin 39a.
• The Gemara teaches that Shemitah declares that the land belongs to Hashem. A person works for six years and stops in the seventh so he will know that the earth is Hashem’s. This gives the prohibition its inner meaning: not working the land is testimony to Divine ownership.

Sifra

• Source: Sifra, Behar, Parashah 1.
• Sifra expounds [שָׂדְךָ לֹא תִזְרָע — “You shall not sow your field”] and [כַּרְמְךָ לֹא תִזְמֹר — “You shall not prune your vineyard”] as the central field and tree prohibitions of Shemitah. Chazal show that the Torah names core agricultural acts because these are the main ways people develop land for growth.

Vayikra Rabbah

• Source: Vayikra Rabbah 1:1.
• The Midrash praises those who keep Shemitah as spiritually strong people. They see their fields left inactive and still accept Hashem’s command. This shows that not working the land is not weakness. It is strength rooted in faith.

Tanchuma

• Source: Midrash Tanchuma, Behar 1.
• Tanchuma teaches that Shemitah was given at Sinai with all its details. This reveals that the laws of land, farming, and rest are part of Torah from its root. The field is not outside Sinai. It is one of the places where Sinai is lived.

Rashi

• Source: Rashi on Vayikra 25:4.
• Rashi explains the pasuk as forbidding the ordinary labors of the field and vineyard in the seventh year. His reading keeps the mitzvah practical: Shemitah changes what a person may do with his own land. The field is treated as sacred time made visible in soil.

Ramban

• Source: Ramban on Vayikra 25:2–4.
• Ramban explains that Shemitah is called שַׁבָּת לַה׳ — a Shabbos for Hashem because it testifies to Hashem’s creation and ownership. The prohibition against working the land is part of that testimony. The farmer stops because the land is not his in an absolute way.

Ibn Ezra

• Source: Ibn Ezra on Vayikra 25:4.
• Ibn Ezra explains the plain meaning: the seventh year is not a year for sowing the field or working it as usual. His explanation highlights the Torah’s direct demand. The land must visibly leave its ordinary cycle of production.

Sforno

• Source: Sforno on Vayikra 25:4.
• Sforno explains that the seventh year allows Israel to turn away from agricultural pressure and toward Hashem. By not working the land, a person receives space for Torah, reflection, and spiritual focus. The field’s rest opens room for the soul.

Abarbanel

• Source: Abarbanel on Vayikra 25.
• Abarbanel explains that Shemitah interrupts the economic routine of the nation and reminds Israel that Eretz Yisrael belongs to Hashem. The prohibition against working the land prevents the farmer from treating the land as an ordinary possession. It trains the nation to live on the land under Divine authority.

Rabbeinu Bachya

• Source: Rabbeinu Bachya on Vayikra 25:4.
• Rabbeinu Bachya connects Shemitah to the deeper Torah pattern of seven. Just as the seventh day is set apart from weekly work, the seventh year is set apart from agricultural work. The land’s rest teaches that creation moves toward holiness, not endless production.

Chizkuni

• Source: Chizkuni on Vayikra 25:4.
• Chizkuni explains that the Torah forbids field-work during the seventh year because the year has a special sanctity. His reading shows that Shemitah is not only about produce. It is about changing the relationship between the Jew and the land.

Kuzari

• Source: Kuzari 2:14.
• The Kuzari teaches that Eretz Yisrael has a unique spiritual quality, and its land-based mitzvos reveal that holiness. The prohibition against working the land during Shemitah shows that the soil of Eretz Yisrael participates in avodas Hashem — service of Hashem. The land itself lives by Torah rhythm.

Maharal

• Source: Maharal, Gur Aryeh on Vayikra 25:2.
• Maharal explains that Shemitah breaks the illusion that nature runs by itself. A person might think the field produces because of his own effort and the natural order alone. By stopping work in the seventh year, he learns that nature depends on Hashem.

Ran

• Source: Derashos HaRan, Derush 6.
• Ran explains that Torah forms a nation whose land, economy, and social order are governed by Hashem. Shemitah prevents production from becoming the nation’s highest value. Not working the land teaches that livelihood must stand under faith and holiness.

Ritva

• Source: Ritva on Moed Katan 3a.
• Ritva explains the halachic categories of Shemitah labor and how Chazal define which actions are forbidden. His analysis shows that the mitzvah has a structured legal form. Spiritual rest becomes real through careful halachic boundaries.

Rashba

• Source: Rashba, Teshuvos 2:314.
• Rashba discusses the force of Shemitah in later times and how its observance depends on larger halachic conditions. His approach shows that this mitzvah remains a serious part of Jewish agricultural law, even where the exact level of obligation must be defined carefully.

Rambam

• Source: Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Shemitah V’Yovel 1:1–4.
• Rambam rules that sowing, pruning, reaping, and harvesting in the Shemitah year are forbidden, with some categories explicit in the Torah and others forbidden to preserve the land’s rest. This is the practical foundation of the mitzvah: the farmer may not treat the seventh year as a normal year of cultivation.

Shulchan Aruch

• Source: Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 331:19.
• Shulchan Aruch rules that agricultural mitzvos tied to the land apply in Eretz Yisrael. This places the mitzvah in its proper setting. The prohibition against working the land during Shemitah is bound to the sanctity of Eretz Yisrael.

Rema

• Source: Rema, Yoreh Deah 331:19.
• Rema records the practical approach to land-based mitzvos in later times and how communities relate to their observance. His comments help frame Shemitah as a mitzvah that remains central to the halachic identity of Eretz Yisrael, even for Jews living outside the land.

Chazon Ish

• Source: Chazon Ish, Shevi’is 17:25.
• Chazon Ish strongly emphasizes the practical seriousness of Shemitah observance in modern farming. His rulings helped shape careful Shemitah practice in Eretz Yisrael, especially where farmers needed guidance on what could be done to prevent loss without violating the land’s rest.

Minchas Chinuch

• Source: Minchas Chinuch, Mitzvah 326.
• Minchas Chinuch analyzes the exact scope of the prohibition and its relationship to the positive mitzvah of resting the land. His discussion shows that Mitzvah 280 is not merely a repeat of Mitzvah 279. It is a specific negative command against working the land during the seventh year.

Chasam Sofer

• Source: Chasam Sofer, Toras Moshe, Behar, s.v. “שָׂדְךָ לֹא תִזְרָע.”
• Chasam Sofer explains that the farmer’s restraint during Shemitah declares that Torah rules even the most practical parts of life. A person may need the field for livelihood, but he still stops because Hashem commands it. This turns agriculture into avodas Hashem — service of Hashem.

Netziv

• Source: Netziv, HaEmek Davar on Vayikra 25:4.
• Netziv emphasizes that the Torah speaks to the owner’s own field: [שָׂדְךָ — “your field”]. The test is strongest where a person feels ownership. The mitzvah teaches that even what feels most “mine” remains under Hashem’s authority.

Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch

• Source: Rav Hirsch on Vayikra 25:4.
• Rav Hirsch teaches that Shemitah trains a person not to define himself only by control and production. For six years, the farmer acts as worker and manager. In the seventh, he becomes a servant who steps back before Hashem’s command.

Malbim

• Source: Malbim on Vayikra 25:4.
• Malbim highlights the Torah’s specific language of field and vineyard labor. The Torah forbids the main acts that develop land and trees because Shemitah is meant to stop productive agricultural control. The details reveal the larger principle of holy restraint.

Meshech Chochmah

• Source: Meshech Chochmah on Vayikra 25:4.
• Meshech Chochmah explains that Shemitah protects the nation from becoming spiritually swallowed by land and production. The Jew lives in Eretz Yisrael, but he must not turn the land into an idol of control. The seventh year restores the land to Hashem.

Rav Kook

• Source: Rav Avraham Yitzchok HaCohen Kook, Shabbos HaAretz, Introduction.
• Rav Kook teaches that Shemitah lifts the nation and land into a higher spiritual state. When agricultural work stops, the inner holiness of Eretz Yisrael can shine more openly. The prohibition against working the land is therefore not only restraint. It opens space for national and spiritual renewal.

Baal Shem Tov

• Source: Baal Shem Tov al HaTorah, Behar.
• The Baal Shem Tov teaches that release of control can awaken deeper closeness to Hashem. Not working the land during Shemitah trains the heart to let go of the illusion that human action alone holds life together.

Tanya

• Source: Tanya, Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, Chapter 1.
• Tanya teaches that creation is constantly sustained by Hashem’s word. Shemitah makes this truth visible. When the farmer stops working the land, he remembers that the field’s life does not come from soil and effort alone, but from Hashem’s constant will.

Sfas Emes

• Source: Sfas Emes, Behar 5635.
• Sfas Emes teaches that Shemitah reveals the hidden holiness within the land. During the six years, that holiness is covered by labor and ownership. In the seventh year, stopping work allows the inner point of kedushah — holiness to be felt.

Kedushas Levi

• Source: Kedushas Levi, Behar, s.v. “וְשָׁבְתָה הָאָרֶץ.”
• Kedushas Levi presents Shemitah as loving trust in Hashem. The farmer does not work the land because he believes Hashem’s kindness can sustain him. The mitzvah turns restraint into a warm act of faith.

Shem MiShmuel

• Source: Shem MiShmuel, Behar 5672.
• Shem MiShmuel explains that Shemitah weakens the hold of material grasping. A person steps back from the field and learns that blessing is not seized by force. It is received from Hashem.

Ramchal

• Source: Ramchal, Derech Hashem 4:7:2.
• Ramchal explains that sacred times bring spiritual influence into the world. Shemitah extends sacred time into the yearly cycle of the land. By not working the soil, the person enters that influence and allows the seventh year to reshape his inner life.

Mitzvah 280 belongs to the Shemitah cluster. Mitzvah 279 is the positive command that the land rest. Mitzvah 280 is the negative command not to work the land. Mitzvah 281 forbids working trees to produce fruit. Mitzvos 282 and 283 forbid harvesting Shemitah growth in the normal owner-like way.

This mitzvah is based in Eretz Yisrael. The land is not only a place where Jews live. It is a holy land with its own Torah rhythm. During Shemitah, the soil itself is treated differently.

The prohibition also teaches the difference between ownership and stewardship. A farmer may own a field in a legal sense, but Torah teaches that his ownership is limited. Hashem is the true Master of the land. The seventh year makes that truth public.

Shemitah also connects to Shabbos. Shabbos stops weekly labor; Shemitah stops agricultural labor every seventh year. Both teach that work is holy only when it knows when to stop.