Along with the many reasons discussed above and in Orchard of Delights for the introduction of the mitzvah of the Sabbatical year being given at Mount Sinai, we now add a mystical meaning, comparing the relationship between God and Israel to that of the people of Israel and the Holy Land.
One of the themes related to the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai is that it symbolizes a mystical wedding between God and Israel (as discussed previously). The seven-week period of counting during Sefirat HaOmer is compared to a woman counting her seven “clean days” before reuniting intimately with her husband. Further, the Giving of the Torah is likened to the ketubah, the wedding contract between husband and wife. In many synagogues a tallit is held over the bimah to represent a wedding canopy as the Torah is publicly read on Shavuot.
To understand the relationship between the people of Israel and the Land of Israel, we first need to understand the relationship between masculine and feminine energies, as taught in Kabbalah. One of the deepest and most fundamental revelations in the Zohar, the foundational text of Kabbalah, is the presence on every level of existence of a masculine “active” and feminine “receptive” energy. These energies filter down and ultimately manifest in male and female bodies in this world, but the Zohar’s usage of these concepts far transcends the relatively limited application of male and female biology.
In fact, every male contains a complementary feminine consciousness, and likewise, every female has a masculine consciousness as well. So too, the relatively “active” and “receptive” paradigms of masculine and feminine are not one-dimensional, “black and white,” or mutually exclusive, but rather meld together in a multitude of ways. This reality is rooted in primordial human consciousness from the time that God separated Adam, who was initially created as a unified male/female entity, into two separate beings. Nonetheless, each male and female contains an impression of its complementary consciousness.
Even in relationship to God, there is the concept of a masculine and feminine presence. The Arizal, the great Kabbalist of Safed, taught that before performing a mitzvah, it is beneficial to keep in mind that the
action or words one is about to speak are for the sake of uniting the masculine energy of God, the Holy One Blessed be He, and the feminine energy of God, the Shechinah. This meditative unification is a central theme in Kabbalah.
In relationship to God as Creator, all of creation is considered the receptive feminine energy. This is alluded to in the first and last letters of the first word in the Torah, Bereishit, being a beit and tav, spelling the word daughter, bat. Throughout the books of the prophets, Israel is allegorically referred to as the “wife” of God; sometimes as the wayward, disloyal wife, and other times in very intimate, loving terms.
Yet, Israel is considered the masculine in relation to Shabbat and the Land of Israel. One tradition relates that God paired together the days of creation, so that days one and two, three and four, and five and six, each had their mate. The seventh day, Shabbat, inquired of God who its mate would be. God’s answer was that the people of Israel would be Shabbat’s mate.
In the time of the Talmud, the Sages would greet Shabbat as if greeting a bride. Rabbi Chanina would say: “Come let us go and greet the Shabbat Queen. Rabbi Yannai would say: “Enter O bride, enter O bride (Shabbat 119a). The Arizal and the Kabbalists of Safed in the mid-1500s created a whole Friday evening prayer service called Kabbalat Shabbat, based on the earlier Talmudic precedent. The climax of Kabbalat Shabbat is the beloved song Lecha Dodi, whose repeated refrain is “Come my Beloved [God] to greet the bride; the Presence of Shabbat, let us welcome!” Similarly, the people of Israel relate to the Land of Israel as a beloved bride. This is especially seen in the seventh Sabbatical year, which combines the idea of Shabbat and the land together.
The Song of Songs is a potent allegory describing the passionate love between God and Israel. It is important to note that most of the graphic and highly poetic descriptions of this love was expressed through various imagery of the beauty of the Land of Israel. Just as the love between God and Israel is deeply passionate, so is the love between the people of Israel and its Promised Land. This love is not just theoretical but was the main determinant in the people of Israel never giving up hope during their 2,000 years of exile to one day return to their beloved land. Just as Israel loves and honors their Shabbat bride, so too, does Israel cherish its homeland.
One way of seeing the love of Israel as the groom and Shabbat and the Land of Israel as the bride, is based on a beautiful idea regarding God’s name and a wedding ceremony when the chatan, the groom, places a ring on his bride’s hand. One version states that the ring corresponds to the yud – י, while the chatan’s hand of five fingers corresponds to the first hei – ה. The ring is placed on the bride’s outstretched index finger which appears like the vav – ו – while the final hei – ה – corresponds to the whole hand of the bride.
Interestingly, the Tikkunei Zohar (25b) has a similar but different set of correspondences. The ring is like the yud – י – and the vav – ו – is the bride’s finger. However, the two letters hei – ה – are represented by the two witnesses to the wedding ceremony, for without two witnesses the ceremony is not legally binding.
The Zohar also points out that when the ring is placed on the bride’s finger, it forms the letter zayin – ז which is shaped like a vav – ו – a male image, with a crown on the top. The letter zayin reminds us of the teaching that “a woman of valor is the crown of her husband” (Proverbs 12:4).
The letter vav equals six and is related to the six days or six years of work, while the letter zayin represents the seventh day of Shabbat and the seventh Sabbatical year. When we observe and honor Shabbat and the Sabbatical year, we are expressing our great love for our treasured bride. Just as the relationship between God and Israel is an indissoluble covenant, so too, the people of Israel have an unbreakable covenant with the Land of Israel.
