Monday, October 12, 2015

Year of Jubilee (Part 1)



THE SABBATICAL YEAR

“You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat.  You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.” (Ex 23:10-11)

Patterned after the weekly Sabbath, the LORD commanded that the land should be given a Sabbath rest every seven years, also referred to as, “A Sabbath to the LORD,” (Lev 25:2).  The LORD promised “My blessing for you in the sixth year that it will bring forth the crop for three years” (Lev 25:21).  Crops for three years would cover the original sixth, the seventh of the Sabbath rest, and eight year while waiting for the harvest.  Observance of the Sabbatical Year brought the blessing of security in the land of Israel and bounty from the fields, (Lev 25:18-19). 

According to the Talmud, the Sabbatical Year includes three positive commandments and six prohibitions.[1]  The three positive commandments are (1) “On the seventh year you shall let it (your land) rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat,” (Ex 23:11), (2) “During the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest,” (Lev 25:4), (3) “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts.  This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor,” (Deut 15:1-2).  The six negative precepts defined by the rabbis were:

“(1) Thou shalt neither sow thy field (2) nor prune the vineyard (3) That which groweth of itself of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, (4) and the grapes of thy undressed vine thou shalt not gather’ (Lev 25:4-5). (5) ‘He shall not exact it (the loan) of his neighbor’ (Deut 15:2). (6) ‘Beware that there be not a base thought in thy heart, saying: ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand’; and thine eye be evil against thy needy brother and thou give him nought’ (Deut 15:9)[2]

The obligation to not cultivate the land is limited to the land of Israel because these laws begin with the LORD saying, “When you come into the land which I shall give you,” (Lev 25:2).  Some commentators connect the release of debt to the inability of a fellow Jew (neighbor) to farm the land during the Sabbatical Year, which was necessary to gain income to pay the debt.  The releasing of debt applied to a fellow Israelite living inside or outside of the land of Israel, but not to a foreigner, (Deut 15:3).  The rabbis also concluded that the law did not release an employer from paying a laborer, a customer from paying a shopkeeper, nor the payment requirements fixed by a court action, (Shvi’it 10:1-2).[3]  The releasing of debt was intended to free the poor restoring them to a level of financial stability.  In a debt free condition, Israelites were able to appear before their brethren as equals.

Produce that occurred naturally in the Sabbatical Year was considered holy and its use was restricted to consumption by animals and the poor.  It was not permissible to sell the produce nor remove the produce from the land of Israel.  Produce could also be utilized to produce vinegar and wine for consumption, but not for anointing.  In addition to all the commandments related to the Sabbath rest for the land, the people were commanded to assemble once every seven years, in the Sabbatical Year, to hear the Torah read,

“Then Moses commanded them, saying, ‘At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths…Assemble the people, the men and the women and children ant the alien who is in your town, in order that they may hear and learn and fear the LORD your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law.’”
(Deut 31:10&12)

In the Sabbatical Year we see a picture of the coming Kingdom of God.  The land is given a rest, the people are feed from the previous harvest, and the people assemble to hear God’s word.  What a blessing to live in these conditions.   -- Scott


[1] Enclyclopaedia Judaica, Second Edition, Volume 17, page 628
[2] Enclyclopaedia Judaica, Second Edition, Volume 17, page 628
[3] Hillel: If Not Now, When?, Joseph Telushkin, 2010 Edition, page 51

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