Parshas Behar
Freedom, Jubilee and You
"And you will count seven Shmitah {Sabbatical} cycles -- seven years,
seven
times -- forty-nine years . . . and you will sanctify the fiftieth year
and
proclaim freedom in the land for all of its inhabitants. [25:8-10] "
The Yovel {Jubilee} year heralded the freeing of all slaves. The standard
six
year term of slavery would be prematurely terminated with the advent of
Yovel. Even those who had voluntarily committed themselves to continued
slavery
upon the conclusion of their six year term were slaves no longer once
Yovel
arrived.
Over the course of time, many family fields would be sold. Yovel would
automatically return the land to the original owners.
We see that Yovel was certainly a proclamation of freedom for many but why
is
it described as a proclamation of freedom for all of its inhabitants?
Our lines get blurred when it comes to ownership. That's mine. I've earned
it. I've got to earn more. Life gets so busy; we find that we never have a
free
moment. Time is money.
According to Rav Moshe Shternbuch, Yovel grants a person a clear
perspective.
I'm the master over no one and no thing. Hashem appoints me for a stint
and
then it passes on to someone else. I got a great deal on that field, now
it
goes back to its owner. This servant really had my home running smoothly,
he now
returns to his home. The soul had become subservient to the physical needs
being over-filled -- it is now freed.
On the fiftieth year, freedom is proclaimed in the land for all of its
inhabitants. Each and every individual prioritizes. There's a sense of
freedom.
The famed Rav Aryeh Levin lived in the Old City of Yerushalayim in a one
room
home. When asked by a journalist how he could possibly be comfortable
living
in such a way, he responded with his view of his accommodations. "The room
is
higher than I am; I do not have to bend down to move about. I never run to
a
third room to get something that I need. Everything is at hand right here
in
this room. I live like a king!"
The proverbial half-filled glass. Yovel revealing that freedom and shaping
our attitude to recognize and appreciate that reality. The ex-owners gain
a
freedom. Perhaps, a freedom even more profound than that of the ex-slaves.
Good Shabbos,
Yisroel Ciner
Text Copyright © 2005 by Rabbi Yisroel Ciner and Torah.org.
