Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Torah

MIKEITZ’ OF SEVEN YEARS THOU SHALT MAKE ‘SH’MITAH.’ The correct interpretation appears to me that he is warning about the seventh year itself, that we make it a Sabbatical [refraining] from plowing, [sowing] and reaping, just as He said, But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow, this being the meaning of thou shalt make ‘sh’mitah,’ that “you should rest,” similar to the expression, to keep the Sabbath-day. He abridged the prohibitions of sowing and pruning because He expressly mentioned them already, but he supplemented [what was previously said] to explain that it is a ‘sh’mitah’ of the Eternal also in regards to the release of moneys. This is the sense of the expression, because it is proclaimed ‘the remission’ of the Eternal, which is similar to a Sabbath unto the Eternal, and all works are to cease. I have already alluded to its secret. Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented [that the meaning of the word mikeitz is] “at the beginning of the year.” And so say all grammarians. that the beginning and end of something are each called katzeh, since there are two extremities to each thing, similar to what is written, from ‘hakatzeh’ (end) to ‘hakatzeh’ (end); of the two ends thereof;, 25:19. in the four ends thereof., 27:4. But the words [of the grammarians and Ibn Ezra] do not seem correct to me. For “the beginning of seven years” denotes the first year [of the Sabbatical cycle], this being the katzeh which is called rosh (the beginning)! Now had Scripture said, “mikeitz of the seventh year” their interpretation would have been correct [for then the verse would mean “at the beginning of the seventh year you shall make sh’mitah.” Instead, however, Scripture says, “‘Mikeitz’ of seven years thou shalt make ‘sh’mitah’ which according to them means “at the beginning of seven years,” i.e., in the first year you shall make the sh’mitah, which cannot be correct]! And in the opinion of our Rabbis 111. mikeitz means “at the end of the seven years,” and Scripture speaks only of the release of money [i.e., the remission of debts], stating “at the end of all seven years counted by you [as a Sabbatical cycle] you shall make a release, that every creditor shall release that which he hath lent unto his neighbor, ” and it is therefore that the Rabbis have said that the Seventh year cancels a loan only at the end. Similarly in their opinion 111. the verse ‘mikeitz’ seven years, at the appointed season of the year of remission, in the Festival of Tabernacles means “at the end of the seventh year,” except that “the end” mentioned here [with reference to the release of debts] means immediately [i.e., in the last moment of the seventh year] and “the end” mentioned there [with reference to the Assembly at which the king was to read the Book of Deuteronomy] is “distant,” [during Tabernacles, somewhat “distant” from the end of the year], since he explained at the appointed season of the year of remission, in the Festival of Tabernacles. Thus the sense [of mikeitz] in both cases is “the end,” stating here “at the end of seven years you shall make a release,” and there likewise it states “when the seven years end at the appointed season of the year of remission in the Festival of Tabernacles you shall make an Assembly.” By way of the simple meaning of Scripture it appears to me that the language of Scripture in its plain sense is clear and correct. Keitz means “end,” and so is its translation [as rendered by Onkelos and Yonathan: “at the end”]. Numbers and every [other] thing have a beginning and an end, and their beginning and end are part of them. Thus when you speak of tens, “one” is the beginning of the number and “ten” its end. If so, “the end of seven years” is “the seventh year” which is the end of that number, and Scripture refers to the Sabbatical of the Land, as I have explained above. The meaning of the word mikeitz is then like one cherub (‘mikatzeh’) at the one ‘end’ and one cherub (‘mikatzeh’) at the other ‘end’. The purport of the verse here is thus as follows: “at the end of seven years [i.e., in the seventh year which is ‘the end’ of that period] you shall make a cessation of work on the Land.” Similarly, ‘Mikeitz’ of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew, that hath been sold unto thee and hath served thee six years means “in the seventh year” which is the end of that number, this being similar to the verse written in the Torah, and in the seventh year he shall go out free for nothing. [the beginning of] the seventh year he goes free for nothing. So also, and in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free; for having said, he shall serve thee six years, it was not necessary to explain [“mikeitz seven years you shall let him go”] but only to state that in the seventh year he goes free. In the same way it would appear that the meaning of the other verse — ‘mikeitz’ seven years, at the appointed season in the year of remission, in the Festival of Tabernacles — would be in a similar way: “in ‘the end’ year, in the Festival of Tabernacles, in the beginning of that year in which plowing and sowing have been forbidden, this being the Sabbatical year.” But we could not say so, since our Rabbis have received by tradition and they provided that the Assembly [in which the king read the Book of Deuteronomy] should be held in the Festival of Tabernacles of the eighth year, this being the year after the Sabbatical year. Therefore, the commentators said that at the appointed season in the year of remission means “in the appointed season of the first year in the Sabbatical cycle.” This is not correct for the year of remission in Scripture refers only to the year of rest, to that year which is the remission of the Eternal [and not as Rashi explained, “the first year of the Sabbatical cycle”], and so also, the year of the Jubilee [means, “the year which is itself the Jubilee”]. Our Rabbis themselves made this point, for they said: “Is it written ‘in the year of the Jubilee?’ It states from the year of the Jubilee which means ‘the year after the Jubilee.’” the rest of the Land takes place. But I say thus: keitz and soph are used in Scripture to denote “the end” of any matter, but sometimes they are within that extremity and sometimes after it, outside of it. Thus: ‘umiktzei’ (and from among) his brethren; ‘mikatzeh’ (that is outmost) in the set; ‘umiktzatham’ (that at the end) they might stand before the king; ‘miktzoth’ (from the uttermost part) of the one wing unto ‘k’tzoth’ (the uttermost part) of the other — all these are expressions of an extremity which is attached to the thing itself and is contained within it. [But the following expressions:] ‘keitz’ (the end of) all flesh is come before Me; and he shall come to ‘kitzo’ (his end), and none shall help him; ‘hakeitz’ (the end) is come; ‘keitz’ (an end) is come, Verse 6. — all signify “the end” of the matter mentioned but it signifies a later period, for it has been severed and separated. So it is regarding the term soph (end): It is better to go to the house of mourning etc. for that is ‘soph’ (the end of) all men, which means “after him,” for he has died; they are wholly ‘sophu’ (consumed) by terrors. The work that G-d hath done from the beginning even to ‘soph’ (the end) — here the term end is within the work itself. And in the language of the Rabbis we find [with reference to the writing of a Scroll of the Law: “The scribe is to leave blank] about a column at the beginning [of the Torah] and about [the width of] the circumference ‘b’sopho’ (at its end).” The meaning of the verse [regarding the Assembly] will then be as follows: “From the end of the seven years in the account of the year of release, in the Festival of Tabernacles which follows after the seven years, you shall make the Assembly.” And in order it should not appear to them that “the seven years” refer to some other counting, he mentioned that the seven years be [bizman ha’sh’mitah], at “the time of” the release. Similarly, when I take ‘mo’eid’ means “the [appointed] time.” So do all mo’adim (festivals) signify “the [appointed] times.” Thus this term mikeitz [stated in connection with the Assembly] means “after the period [of seven years] is finished,” as he explained, in the Festival of Tabernacles. But [in the verse stated here before us] ‘mikeitz’ seven years thou shalt make a release [the seventh year is] within that number. He did not need to dwell upon and explain this since He already explained that the seventh year is the year of the release. And the word keitz (end) here is then extensive, applying [to the release during] the whole [seventh] year as I have explained by way of the simple meaning of Scripture. It is possible to say that Scripture counts the beginning of the year from the Festival of Tabernacles, as He said, and the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year, and He further said, and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year., 23:16. And if so, ‘mikeitz’ seven years [stated further on in connection with the Assembly] means “at the end [of the seven years] and just beyond it.” And he states, at the appointed season of the year of remission to indicate that the reckoning of seven years be according to the Sabbatical cycles, as I have explained, but not that the [legal obligations of] release extend up to this Festival [of Tabernacles]. Now, I have seen of one author who wrote [with respect to the verse on the Assembly]: “This teaches that we are to add from the secular to the sacred, and the law of release [although officially ending at the New Year of the eighth year] still applied until the Festival of Tabernacles of the eighth year. But it is irrefutably shown in the Talmud with clear proofs that it [the above interpretation] is untrue. Now it is possible to say that what our Rabbis have said 111. with respect to ‘mikeitz’ seven years thou shalt make a release that the release of money [i.e., the remission of debts] takes effect only at the end of the year — that it is an interpretation [deduced from the text]. Because Scripture did not say “the seventh year you shall make a release” [but instead said ‘mikeitz’ seven years …], it is more suggestive that you effect the remission at the end of the seven [years] than at the beginning. And the intent of [the Rabbis in using here] this term “end” is “beyond it.” Thus a creditor can demand his debt on the last day of the year of the release, and it is not remitted until the night, for thus we find in the Tosephta that they may write a prozbul legal basis is the Torah’s prohibition that the creditor shall not exact the debt; by turning over his claims to the court, it is they, the officers of the court, who collect it and not the creditor (Rashi, Gittin 36a). It was Hillel who established this ordinance because people refused to lend money to the poor on the seventh year for fear that the debts would be remitted, thus transgressing the law of the Torah against being callous to the condition of the poor (ibid., 36a). See “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 149-150. on the day before the New Year of the outgoing seventh year.

OF AN ALIEN ‘TIGOS’ (THOU MAYEST EXACT IT). “This constitutes a positive commandment.” Thus is Rashi’s language quoting the Sifre. 113. The meaning thereof is that there is a positive commandment with respect to your brother [that you are not to exact the debt from him after it was cancelled by the Sabbatical year, the reasoning being as follows]: of an ‘alien’ thou mayest exact it, but not from your brother, and a negative commandment derived from a positive commandment carries the force of a positive commandment.]. Now, by Scripture stating of an alien thou shalt exact it, we infer that one may not exact it from an Israelite, and since a negative commandment that is derived by implication from a positive commandment has the force of the positive injunction from which it is derived — it follows that he, who exacts it from an Israelite, violates both an explicit negative commandment and an implied positive commandment. This is the intent of the Sifre, but not as stated by Rashi that there is a positive commandment to exact it from the heathen. See “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 150-151, where Rashi’s position coincides with that of Rambam, and Ramban differs with him. And because we have been taught there [in the Sifre]: “He shall not exact it [of his neighbor and his brother] — it is a negative commandment upon him,” therefore the Rabbis again taught: “Of an alien thou shalt exact it — this is a positive commandment,” [not to exact the debt from a brother] meaning to say that he who exacts the debt from his brother violates both a positive commandment and a negative commandment. In the same way the Rabbis have said there: 263. “Unto an alien ‘thashich’ (mayest thou lend upon interest) — it is a positive commandment. But unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest — this is a negative commandment.” This, too, is as we have explained [that the meaning of the Sifre is] that there is a positive commandment with respect to your brother not to lend him on interest, and so did Rashi explain there, but not that there is any commandment to lend an alien on interest. It is so indicated from the Gemara of the Chapter “What is usury?” Now Harav Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon made both of them actual commandments — to exact debts from an alien and to lend him upon interest., Positive Commandment 198. He erred regarding these texts taught in the Sifre. Such expressions are common there [in the Sifre] in many places, as for example; 103. “Of all clean fowls ye may eat — it is a positive commandment. And all winged swarming things are unclean; they shall not be eaten, Verse 19. — this is a negative commandment.”, implies that you may not eat unclean fowl. Similarly the Rabbis mentioned in the Sifra 3:2. and in the Sifre: 101. “These are the beasts which ye may eat — it is a positive commandment.” But the matter is clear [as I have explained it].

FOR THE POOR SHALL NEVER CEASE OUT OF THE LAND. Commentators have said that the meaning thereof is that the poor shall never cease out of the Land at any of all times, for there will always be poor in the Land, for it was apparent before Him that they will not do [to make possible] what he said to them, But there shall be no needy among you, if only thou diligently hearken unto the voice of the Eternal thy G-d to observe to do all this commandment. But it is not correct in my opinion, for the Torah may allude to what will be but it would not explicitly prophesy about them [the Israelites] that they will not fulfill the Torah, nor would he have commanded them [to observe the commandments while foretelling] that they would always transgress them. Forbid it! It is only by way of warning that he mentions [their transgressions]. The correct interpretation is that he says that it is impossible for the poor to cease so that none should ever exist. He [Moses] mentioned this because, having assured them that there would be no needy if they observe all the commandments he said: “But I know that not all generations forever will observe all the commandments in which case there would be no need to charge you concerning the poor, for perhaps, at some time, there will exist poor and so I command you about him if he will be found.” He states out of the Land [for the poor shall never cease ‘out of the Land’] in order to allude to the entire habitation [anywhere on earth], for the promise that there would not be needy among us applies in the Land which the Eternal our G-d giveth us for an inheritance if we will fulfill there all the commandments. And now he said that it is possible that, at some period or at some place where you will have settled, there be found a poor man among you. For the meaning of the expression in thy Land [If there be among you a needy man … ‘in thy Land’] is like in all your habitations — within the Land of Israel and outside of the Land.
UNTO THY BROTHER, UNTO THY POOR, AND UNTO THY NEEDY IN THY LAND. The meaning thereof is as if he said: “to your poor brother, and to all the needy in your Land.” For because the commandment is addressed to Israel he mentions thy brother, and he joins in explanation “your brother and all the needy in your Land,” to command concerning the whole of Israel. And its homiletic interpretation is as follows: 116. “This teaches that [in giving charity] precedence be given to those nearer” [to you so that the poor of your own city or land have priority over the poor of distant places]. He mentions that there is also a release for a [Hebrew] servant in his seventh year, for that release [of a servant] is also like the release [of loans in the Sabbatical year] mentioned [and hence the proximity of the subjects], all of them being to remember the days of old, as I have hinted in its place., p. 349. There it is alluded that the expression and he shall be thy bondman forever is to be taken in its plain sense. Now he repeated this commandment in order to explain in it the outfitting of the emancipated servant.