The opening possuk of our parsha links the mitzvah of shmita to Har Sinai. Rashi quotes Chazal who explain that the Torah put these two concepts together to teach us that just as the mitzvah of shmita was given at Sinai together with all of her details (that are spelled out in our parsha) so it was with all of the other mitzvos. All of them were given at Sinai together with all of their fine details.
This teaching of Chazal brings two questions to mind. Why is it important to know where it was that Hashem taught Moshe Rabbeinu the details of the Torah? (In fact, in Chagiga 6a we find that Rebbe Yishmoel differs with Rebbe Akiva and holds that the details of the mitzvos were taught to Moshe in the Ohel Moed.)
Furthermore, why is shmita used as the paradigm for all of the mitzvos? It would seem that the Torah could have used any one of the 613 mitzvos to illustrate that the Torah in its entirety was presented to Moshe at Har Sinai. Why the was shmita singled out to serve as the example for this teaching?
Reb Shamshon Refael Hirsch addresses a third question. Why does the Torah teach us that all the details of the Torah were given at Sinai in this specific context? How does this idea relate to the previous parsha?
Rabbi Hirsch explains that the previous parsha ended with the incident of the megadef, the one who spoke against the name of Hashem. In that situation we find that one detail of halacha was not given to Moshe at Sinai (the particular punishment associated with that sin). It is therefore at this point that the Torah needs to teach us that the situation of the megadef, where Moshe went back to Hashem for more information, is not the rule. The Torah makes a point of telling us that in general, all the details were given at Sinai.
We see now how the Torah placed two mitzvos in juxtaposition to each other. In the case of the megadef, the Torah shows how a detail of halacha was not presented at Sinai, while in the case of shmita, the Torah emphasizes that every detail was presented at Sinai. It would then seem that the megadef serves as the polar opposite of the mitzvah of shmita.
The megadef is someone who is upset with Hashem’s hanhaga in this world. This attitude is only possible when a person sees this world as a constant, as a place where certain patterns are expected and assumed. This person also has his own ideas of what that pattern should be. And this evildoer sees Hashem’s interaction with this world as an intrusion and a disturbance in the world which he would rather see going in a different direction.
This world-view is the world-view of the nations who are described as “goyei ha’aratzos” and “mishp’chos ha’adama” – nations of the land and families of the earth. The nations see the earth as an immutable constant. In their minds, the earth is always here. The national identity is shaped around the parcel of land that they see as their own. The earth serves as the ground under their feet, not only in a physical sense, but in an emotional sense as well. The entire sense of stability upon which the nations build their foundations is the illusion that the ground under their feet is always here.
At Har Sinai, Klal Yisroel was lifted out of this darkness. Klal Yisroel was shown that there is no reality but the word of Hashem. The earth and all that is in it are just expressions of Hashem’s will. The only true constant is the will of Hashem (Devarim 4:35).
It is for this reason that it is important to know that all the mitzvos were presented at Sinai together with all of their details. Sinai taught us that the word of Hashem is the only reality that is inherently real. Har Sinai teaches us that the mitzvos are not guests in the arena of the physical world. It is the mitzvah of Hashem that is true reality and the physical world is only here for the service of Hashem. (If this thought is correct, we would then say that Rebbe Yishmoel understands that the Ohel Moed represents this same concept, that the physical world is not inherently real. After all, the Aron took up no space in the Kodesh Hakodoshim.)
The mitzvah of shmita was singled out to present this lesson because this mitzvah represents this foundational truth. The mitzvah of shmita pulls us away from the ground that we stand on. For a full year, the nation of Klal Yisroel does not interact with the earth and does not draw its sustenance from the earth. This allows us to see the earth for what it is; not an eternal constant as the nations see it, but rather as another expression of Hashem’s will. The mitzvah of shmita encourages us to build our lives on the true foundation of reality, on the will of Hashem.