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Shmita is every 7 years and we leave the land unused. In Egypt there were 7 years of feast, then 7 years of famine. As leaving the land unused could be considered famine like conditions, are there any sources that relate these two? Shmita is often compared to creation, 7 day:7 years. If this is the case the reverse question can be asked: were the feast and famine periods related to creation? Or, neither are compared at all and seven is just a oft used number in Torah. |
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The MaHaral says that the number 7 is the number of natural occurrence, while the number 8 is for supernatural. Therefore a baby has his Bris on the 8th day to show that we are L'Maalah M'Derech Hatevah. There are many things in the Torah with the number 7. 7 days of the week, 7 years in a Shemita cycle, 7 Shemitas then a Yoveil, and many other examples of 7. I have never seen anyone connecting Shemita which is only once in 7 years to the 7 years in a row of plenty and then 7 years in a row (cut short when Yaakov arrived) of famine. |
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