The Blessing of "Letting Go"
When harvesting a field, the Torah commands that we share specific gifts with the poor. We are commanded to leave a corner of the field (Pe'ah), and individual stalks of wheat that fall to the ground (Leket), for the poor people. These commandments were written in the book of Leviticus and repeated in our Parsha in Deuteronomy.
Our Parsha introduces a new commandment that was not written in Leviticus, the commandment regarding the forgotten sheaf (Shi'chi'cha):
When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to take it; it shall be [left] for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord, your G-d, will bless you in all that you do. (Deuteronomy 24:19)
Leaving the forgotten bundle is more than just a way to feed the poor. It is introduced specifically in the book of Deuteronomy, as the Jewish people were about to enter the land of Israel and transition from a life of spirituality in the desert to a life dedicated to earthly matters. The life of agriculture can be all-consuming, potentially distracting the person from spiritual life.
The command to leave the forgotten sheaf frees the farmer's mind of worry. Naturally, when the farmer comes home from work, his mind drifts back to the field. He wonders, "did I leave anything behind?", "did I maximize my potential for profit?", "did I miss any opportunities to increase my income?" The Torah liberates the farmer from constant worry, allowing him to focus on the time with his family and his spiritual life. There is no point in worrying about the forgotten sheaf because even if he forgot something in the field, it is no longer his; it belongs to the poor people.
Although we are not farming the land of Israel, this message is just as relevant to each of us. We are called upon to achieve success in every realm of life: personal, spiritual, and material. We were blessed with a sense of ambition to accomplish, which propels us toward greater success. However, the danger of ambition is that after we do what we can, once we "return home", we cannot enjoy our blessings. We cannot focus on the present, our family, and our spiritual life because we are thinking about the "sheafs" and the opportunities we may have left in the "field". The commandment of the forgotten sheaf, the recognition that what we left in the field was not meant for us, allows us to receive the blessing "that the Lord, your G-d, will bless you in all that you do." It is the blessing of a mind free to focus on the deeper gifts in life.
Adapted from Rabbi S.R. Hirsh