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Yovel (Jubilee) Years

By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)

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I. What is a yovel?. 1

II. When does the yovel year begin?. 3

III. Ownership. 5

IV. Time Periods. 7

V. How do we count for the yovel year?. 10

VI. When is the next yovel year?. 12

VII. Torah requirements for the yovel year 15

VIII. Questions. 20

IX.  Selected Essays. 21

Menachem Leibtag. 21

Rav Reuven Taragin. 25

The Agricultural and Historical Significance. 27

of Sefirat Ha-Omer 27

Mashiach and Yovel 30

Yovel and Geulah. 30

Rabbi M.M. Schneerson. 31

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Every fifty years, after seven Sabbatical cycles of seven years, HaShem's people observe the yovel, or jubilee, year. At such a time, both the forty-ninth and fiftieth year are to be considered holy, and we are to abstain from working the land, free our slaves, and let the purchased properties revert back to their original tribal owners.

 

For those who would like to know when the last jubilee (yovel) year was, or when the next Jubilee year will be; please review the following chart:  yovel1. This charts shows what our sages have taught regarding the year of the jubilee.

 

Just like Shavuot comes on the fiftieth day of the Omer, and represents a departure from the natural world into the supernatural realm, so too does the yovel year signal an opportunity to rise above nature. The Encyclopedia Americana says:

 

"The [Jubilee] law as a whole was distinctly Theocratic; it vindicated the absolutism of YHVH; it meant that Hebrews were the servants of Him, and could not therefore continue to be the slaves of their fellowmen; the land belonged to Him, and was only lent to the Hebrew tribes and families, who could not therefore be driven out by any human arrangement."

 

The yovel year is dependent upon the shmita, or Sabbatical, year. As such, you will see these two mitzvot linked throughout Torah. Both of these mitzvot are related to time, just as the Sabbath and festivals are related to time. Time is important to HaShem.

 

Today, without the Temple, the mitzva of the Sabbatical year and yovel cannot be observed the same way. Many farmers do observe the Sabbatical year, and have reported miraculous bumper crops in the sixth year, as promised by the Torah. To supplement the incomes of such brave farmers, additional funds have been established to ease the financial stress of keeping the Sabbatical year even in these times.

 

Now, lets look at what the Torah says about the yovel.

 

I. What is a yovel?

 

The first mention of yovel in the Torah, and hence its creation, is in: