Parshat BeharGive Me a BreakWhat does it mean to take a break? As Hillel professionals we know what it means to be overworked, exhausted and in desperate need of a vacation, and in reality, many of our students feel the same way as well. However, despite all this, we do not take enough breaks, or have enough time for ourselves. Over the past two years since Hurricane Katrina, over 1,600 students and staff have gone on alternative breaks to help rebuild the devastated Gulf Coast. Throughout my two years as a Steinhardt JCSC fellow, first at the University of North Carolina and currently at the University of Maryland, I have been among the those fortunate staff members who have traveled to the Gulf Coast through Hillel’s Hurricane Katrina alternative break program.
To witness 60 Maryland students working alongside students from across the country is an amazing sight. This past spring break, we had the chance to work at The Bayou Civic Center, in the heart of Slidell, Louisiana, the town that housed Hillel’s volunteers. Sunday began an adventure in which students exhausted themselves physically and emotionally, yet they awoke each day motivated to work and meet community members. Sweeping, gutting, painting -- the students did it all. Day after day, students learned how to work more efficiently; they became a team, a community. As Friday afternoon came closer, the staff helped prepare the students to bring their work to a close. Some students were puzzled: If our work was not entirely done, why would we be finished?
In Parashat Behar, it states, “God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, telling him to speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you come to the land that I am giving you, the land must be given a rest period, a sabbath to God. For six years you may plant your fields, prune your vineyards, and harvest your crops, but the seventh year is a sabbath of sabbaths for the land. It is God's sabbath during which you may not plant your fields, nor prune your vineyards. Do not harvest crops that grow on their own and do not gather the grapes on your unpruned vines, since it is a year of rest for the land.." (Leviticus 25:1-5)
In Behar, we are taught about the sabbatical year of the fields, the people and the animals. God promises the people that if they work until the sixth year and then take a break for the
Shemitah year (seventh, sabbatical year) they will have enough produced to sustain themselves.
How does this relate to our students? On their Sabbath in the Gulf Coast, a rest, a sabbatical, a
shemitah, is mandatory. The students are not given the opportunity to work on Saturday, because of the belief that rest is valuable. Like the land, this is one of the most important things for the students throughout the week. By not working on Saturday, students have the opportunity to reflect more thoroughly, appreciate their work, and really embrace their experience.
But still, how do we respond to those students who ask why? Why take the break and leave the work unfinished in some cases?
Rashi, the 11th-century French commentator, noted the language of the verse “the
aftergrowth of your harvest.” He says: “although you did not sow it, but it grew by itself from seeds that [inadvertently] had dropped on [the ground] at the time of harvesting.” Rashi believes that growth will occur from the seeds that are inadvertently left when working the field in the first six years. In many regards, our students are in the same situation. After a week of working, the products of their efforts will ultimately give way to the opportunity of communal growth for the Gulf Coast community.
At the beginning of the week at the Bayou Civic Center, the students were welcomed by Junior, the president of the Center and a Slidell resident. Two years after the Hurricane, his center was still in ruins and the playground was a mess. However, by Friday when Junior returned, the joy in his eyes was immeasurable. While the students had not completed the Civic Center’s restoration in full, they had given Junior and his community the opportunity to return, rejoice and ultimately move forward with their enthusiasm and determination for a homecoming.
Ultimately, we can learn that while many of us do not take enough breaks, or long enough breaks, we can be confident that even while there will always be more work to be done, the ripples of the work done and the work left over will still be able to propel others forward.
Written by Dorie Ain, Senior Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow, University of Maryland Hillel
Learn More Additional commentaries and text studies on
Parshat Behar at MyJewishLearning.com.