LEV1023 What Shabbat does for humans and animals, the Sabbatical and Jubilee years do for the land. The earth too is entitled to its periodic rest. The Torah warns that if the Israelites do not respect this, they will suffer exile (Leviticus 26:34). Behind this are two concerns. One is environmental. As Rambam points out, land which is overexploited eventually erodes and loses its fertility. The Israelites were therefore commanded to conserve the soil by giving it periodic fallow years, not pursuing short-term gain at the cost of long-term desolation (The Guide for the Perplexed, III: 39). The second, no less significant, is theological: "The land," says God, "is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me" (Leviticus 25:23). We are guests on earth.