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By the number of years after the jubilee
you shall buy from your fellow,
and by the number of years of yield
he shall sell to You. The larger the number of years,
the more you shall pay for its purchase
and the smaller the number of years,
the less shall you pay for its purchase.
(Vayikra 25:15-16)
By the number of years after the Jubilee shall you buy - this is the simple meaning for explaining the
text properly: It comes to warn regarding price gouging when buying or selling
land, to be aware how many years remain until the Jubilee, and according to the
number of years and crops which it should produce, let the seller sell and the
purchaser buy, for he will later have to return it during the Jubilee year, and
if there are few years [until Jubilee] and one sells it for a high price, the
purchaser will have been defrauded, and if there remain many years and he
benefits from many crops, then the seller will have been defrauded. Therefore,
one must purchase according to the amount of time, as is written "By the
number of years of yield shall he sell it to you" - according to the
number of years of yield it will remain in the buyer's control shall he sell it
to him.
(Rashi, Vayikra 25:15)
Because observance of the above [commandments] will instill honest character
and all fine traits limiting the passions and diminishing the coveting for
physical possessions, Scripture now tells us "When you sell property to
your fellow or purchase it from the hand of your fellow do not maltreat any man
his brother. By the number of years after the Jubilee, etc".
This means, that - having assimilated the above moral teachings, because of their
honesty and good will they will have no desire for corruption and deceit, and
when they sell or buy something, they will be careful to avoid fraud, buyer and
seller alike, and will take from each other only that which is proper according
to its price considering the number of remaining year, because he is selling or
buying the number of yields, nothing else. Therefore does He conclude by saying
"And you shall not defraud each other, and you shall fear your God in awe,
for I am the Lord your God" for this is the intended purpose of this and
all the commandments. And this too is the intent of "And you shall do My statutes, and My laws you shall keep and do them, and you
shall dwell on the land securely".
(Akeidat Yitzchak - Gate
69)
[Translator's note: Rabbi Yitzchak Arama has taken the verses under discussion and interpreted
them not as commandments but rather as predictions of good behavior
developing from assimilation of the Torah's moral messages].
ll gates are locked, excepting the gates of
wounded feelings.
(Bavli, Bava Metsiah 59b, Soncino ed.)
For the land is mine;
For you are sojourners and resident-settlers with me
Effie Hamiel
Having, in earlier parashiyot,
dealt with commandments regarding holydays to be observed in the future, and
having detailed the personal commitments of the Children of Israel to
fulfilling their part in the covenant and demonstrating their spiritual and moral
superiority over other nations, the Torah now proceeds to deal with issues on
the public and national level. We recall, from the exodus from Egypt and the
giving of the Torah, that the Israelite nation - a nation of God's servants - has,
as a community, additional commitments in the framework of the covenant that
are intended to demonstrate and guarantee the existence of an exemplary and
ideal nation also in areas of economics and society, deriving from the recognition
that everything - our free bodies, our land and our property - are given by Him
and we are all equal before Him. The Torah, in our parasha,
details the laws of Shemitta (the seventh year) and
Jubilee with regard to land, buildings and slaves, and laws of usury.
Our parasha
deals with the Torah's injunction to all of
It is very difficult to maintain a nation of
exemplary holiness, and the Jewish people, even when it dwells securely in its
land, its primary occupation agriculture, keeping direct contact with God in
the Temple and afterwards through the Prophets, did not face up to the great
challenge presented it. The destruction and the exile which resulted in the
cessation of direct contact with God, were caused, in
part, by neglect of the Shemittah commandments (Vayikra
25:32-35). In antiquity,
accumulated possessions consisted mainly of real estate (fields and buildings),
manpower (male and female slaves), and gold and silver. Agriculture in the
The face of the economy and society has
changed beyond recognition. Agriculture has shrunk from a dominant to a marginal
branch, and the estates and the tribes of antiquity are beyond identification.
But the messages of the Torah embedded in the mitzvoth of Shemittah, Jubilee, slaves and interest remain eternal. The
Torah calls upon us to adopt the idea of Shemitta in
new ways, to observe a year's Sabbatical for everyone every seven years, a
time-out for rejuvenation, for physical and spiritual renewal. The Torah calls
upon us to organize according the principle of the eternal Jubilee and to
devise methods of diminishing the economic gaps between the wealthy - the real
estate sharks, the tycoons, and the giant corporations - and the poor and the
temporary workers, and to provide new opportunity for those who have failed,
not only through food hand-outs but mainly by providing them with fishhooks, i.e.,
offering them training and tools to facilitate extraction from their depressed
state. The Torah, which does not determine a preferred form of government, does
promise that diligence, initiative and motivation will be rewarded, but, at the
same time, that the rights of citizens to return occasionally to reasonable starting
conditions will be protected, thus preventing excessive societal gaps.2
The Torah calls upon us to consider land as a
deposit for which we are responsible, to organize projects for protection of
the environment and save it from ecological disaster that follows the brutal
destructiveness of industrial man who ceaselessly exploits and contaminates
Nature and her treasures. The Torah calls upon us to support
those financially weak or in minority status, and "the other", be he/she
Levite, indigent, orphan, widow, or stranger and resident alien. The
land belong to the Lord and we are all but strangers and residents upon it; the
majority which rules over society and the economy must refrain from denying the
rights of the minority and the weak, and support them so that they be able to
get back on their feet and take care of themselves. If they cannot, we are
obliged to provide minimal means of livelihood and existence.
1. On
the Jewish people as an exemplary paradigm, see RaShaR
Hirsch, Vayikra 25:10, 18-19)
2. See
C. Y. Hamiel, Limmudim Beparashat Hashavua, Behar 1, pp. 218-221
Dr.
Effie Hamiel researches contemporary Jewish thought
and teaches in the
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You may prune your vineyard, and gather in its produce, but in the seventh year, the land
shall have a complete rest a sabbath
to the lord; you shall not sow your field, nor shall you prune your vineyard.
(Vayikra 25:3-4)
The
commandment of the Shemittah year is similar to the commandment of
the Sabbath, since just as the commandment of the Sabbath serves to strengthen
the belief in the peoples' heart that they are a holy nation, so too the
commandment of Shemittah instills in their heart the belief
that their land is a holy land since it rests in that year as God rested on the
seventh day. See Don Yitzhak's (Abarbanel)
pleasant words in his Nahalat Avot chapter
five s.v. galut ba la'olam. Just as God gave
them two portions of food on the sixth day while they were in the wilderness,
so too when they dwelled in their land He would command His blessing towards
them in the sixth year that there should be enough grain for the Shemittah year as well. The land's holiness was
a strong factor keeping the people from making the
land impure or desecrating it with abhorrent deeds. Necessarily, when the land
rested the slaves and animals could also rest a bit from their labors,
similarly to the way slaves and animals rest on the Sabbath. That year's grain
was considered ownerless out of compassion for the poor; thus the wealthy and
the indigent were made equal, and the wealthy man's pride was brought low,
reminding him that all human beings are equal. The cancellation of debts is
also a matter of compassion and grace towards the poor. Furthermore: just as
the people were given other holidays beyond the Sabbath in which to rest and be
joyful for God's sake, so too the Holy Land was given the Jubilee year in
addition to the Shemittah year. Like the Sabbath and the Shemittah,
the Jubilee makes the rich and the poor equal by taking a break from
agriculture, and by making the crops ownerless; in addition, tracts of land
return to their owners and slaves are set free [in the Jubilee year], and this
is a great act of compassion towards the poor and a great reinforcement of
equality among the citizens...
And for your slave and maidservant - It says in parashat Mishpatim: and the poor of your people shall
eat it, and here it adds the slaves and residents who are not Israelites.
Know that I possess a manuscript which has Rashi stating, regarding the verse and for your hired workers and your
residents: "including gentiles" (not converts), and so it is
found by R. Emmanuel Hai Ricci, and in Torat Kohanim Behar parsheta 1.
(ShaDaL Vayikra 25:2-6)
"The land shall observe a Sabbath
of the Lord." - the land shall be free of human labor during the seventh
year... "In the seventh
year the land shall have a Sabbath of complete rest"... therefore did the Torah command
this law, that all kinds of rule and mastery by man shall be free of working
the land, in order that man contemplate that there
is no complete mastery and rule, except by the Master of All, Blessed Be He.
(Rabeinu
Bechayey, Vayikra 25:2)
"At the end of seven years" - the Shmitta year brings Hakhel
and peace, for since there
will be no planting or growth, the poor of his people will eat, because he is
not permitted to hold the produce of the seventh year as a householder, and
this is without doubt the
cause of peace, because all quarrels derive from "What's mine is
mine," "this one says all
of it is mine," and all
this is not so during the seventh year, for not all are equal in matters of
"rise up and act", but in matters of "sit, and refrain from
action", all are equal, and this is indeed the meaning of peace...
(Kli Yakar, Devarim 31:12)
You shall observe my laws and faithfully keep
my rules, that you may live upon the land in security; the land shall yield its
fruits and you shall eat your fill, and you shall live upon it in security.
(Vayikra 25:18-19)
You may live upon the land in security - this refers to external political security.
You shall live upon it in security - this refers to secure internal physical
prosperity.
You shall live... in security - lavetah - it does not say betah,
but rather lavetah. Our very dwelling, the
manner in which we dwell in the land will be our security - it shall grant us
security. It will cause us not to require defense from enemies or measures
against famine. Similarly, you
shall eat your fill; your manner of eating will bring us the
blessing of satiation, That is, if we regulate our dwelling and our eating in
accordance with the laws and rules.
Upon the land - Upon it - the land shall "carry"
us - as opposed to the land
shall vomit out its inhabitants (18:24).
(Rabbi
S.R. Hirsch, ad loc)
You shall observe My laws... that you may live upon the
land in security - for there are two ways in which nations are hated: one stems from
hatred of religion, which divides peoples from each other. The second is hatred
born of jealousy of wealth and status. That is why it says You shall observe My laws.
When you observe the Torah in its entirety providence will rest upon you so
that you shall not experience hate for religious reasons.
And you shall eat your fill - for then you will not have hate stemming
from jealousy, for you shall be full of all good things but no one will covet
your land.
That is what Ezekiel said: I shall be sanctified by them in
the eyes of the nations and they shall dwell upon their land (28:25). You shall live upon it in security, i.e.,
you shall not fear religious hatred. And you shall build houses and plant
vineyards, and you shall be wealthy and full of all good things, and you shall
live in security, that you shall not fear hatred stemming from jealousy and
wealth.
(R. Meir Simkha MiDvinsk's Meshekh Hokhma, ad
loc.)
You shall not therefore wrong one another, and you shall fear your God,
for I the Lord am your
God.
(Vayikra 25:17)
Our Rabbis
taught: You shall not
therefore wrong one another; Scripture refers to verbal wrongs... e.g., if
a man is a penitent, one must not say to him, 'Remember your former deeds.' If
he is the son of proselytes he must not be taunted with, 'Remember the deeds of
your ancestors. If he is a proselyte and comes to study the Torah, one must not
say to him, 'Shall the mouth that ate unclean and forbidden food, abominable
and creeping things, come to study the Torah which was uttered by the mouth of
Omnipotence!' If he is visited by suffering, afflicted with disease, or has
buried his children, one must not speak to him as his companions spoke to Job (4), Is
not your fear [of God] your confidence, And your hope the integrity of your
ways? Remember, I pray you, who ever perished, being innocent?
R. Yohanan said on the authority of R. Shimon b. Yohai:
Verbal wrong is more heinous than monetary wrong, because of the first it is
written, and you shall fear
your God, but not of the second. R. Eleazar said: The one affects his [the victim's]
person, the other [only] his money. R. Samuel b. Nahmani said: For the former restoration is
possible, but not for the latter.
(Bava Metziya 58b, based on Soncino translation)
The admonition
addresses all members of the nation together and says: they are not to hurt one
another in any way, each
one is to fear his God, is to know that He is equally the God of each of his
brethren. Thereby is described what is to be the direct result of the
institution of Shemittah and the Jubilee for the whole social
life of the people in the land. Inasmuch as these institutions interweave the
thought "God" into all business transactions, and inasmuch as they
bring the thought continually to mind that all are living together on the same
soil of God, in the same Land of God, where He is the Master and Owner of all
possessions, and that in the exercise of this ownership He demands the tribute
of acknowledging Him in the whole of business life: these institutions
immediately beget the twin thought of these thoughts, viz., that the whole of
one's life takes place under God's Eye, that God is present not only in the
Temple but in the midst of all intercourse between people, that He only bears
and blesses this intercourse and each individual of it in His Land if the
intercourse tends to the happiness of all, where none hurts the other, no one
misuses the position he may have won, or the breath he draws, in the Land of
God, to the loss or mortification of others, and interweaves into every phase
of private and public life that fundamental truth of all truths, with all its
consequences, that I am the
Lord your God.
(Rabbi S.R. Hirsch on Vayikra 25:17, Levi translation)
For mine are the israelites as slaves
The reason that
freedom will never disappear is explained here in Scripture: "For Mine are
the Israelites as slaves, they are My slaves"; I, in all my person, God,
always willing to renew existence and grant a new future - I am the Lord your
God; I determine your fate and direct your actions, and therefore: "Do not
make for yourselves idols" whose very essence is illusion. As "My
slaves"-in every part of your being and every fragment of your strength - you
have been privileged to receive supreme freedom, and there can be no power
capable of negating your salvation; and one should not request the imagined
graciousness of an idol through imagined adoration. Make no mistake, however,
regarding your relation to me; do not be confused in requesting My blessed and protective closeness, which is the condition
for all your salvation. Do not symbolize My presence
through graven images, and do not hope to bring down My holy presence through
them; for it is not through the idol that my holy presence rests in your midst…
The symbol
bringing to mind My universal providence is "My
Sabbaths"' and the location which sanctifies all your lives, so that My
holy presence rests in your midst, is "My sanctuary" - the
(RaSHaR Hirsch, Vayikra 26:2)
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