©lulaaviniv

Shabbat is a day of Freedom -- for the world to reach the Plan of Creation. During the week people might be led astray, but Shabbat is for Restoration. So too are the Sabbatical and Jubilee years...

Shabbat and Sabbatical: "Six days shall you work and on the seventh day you shall desist; you shall desist from plowing and harvesting." (Exodus 34:21). "Six years shall you sow your Land and gather in its produce. And in the seventh, you shall leave it untended and unharvested, and the destitute of your people shall eat, and the wildlife of the field shall eat what is left; so shall you do to your vineyard and your olive grove." (Exodus 23:10-11).

Sabbatical year: "Hashem Spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, Saying: Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you come to the Land that I Give you, the Land shall observe a Sabbath rest for Hashem. For six years you may sow your field and for six years you may prune your vineyard; and you may gather in its crop. But the seventh year shall be a complete rest for the Land, a Sabbath for Hashem; your field you shall not sow and your vineyard you shall not prune. The aftergrowth of your harvest you shall not reap and the grapes you had set aside for yourself you shall not pick; it shall be a year of rest for the Land. The Sabbath produce of the Land shall be yours to eat, for you, for your slave, and for your maidservant; and for your laborer and for your resident who dwells with you. And for your animal and for the beast that is in your Land shall all its crop be to eat." (Leviticus 25:1-7). It is Forbidden to plow the field and prune the trees in the seventh year; only you can pick the fruit and harvest the crops without cutting down the plants, so that the Land can rest and the animals can eat the aftergrowth.

Blessing of seventh year: "The Land will give its fruit and you will eat your fill; you will dwell securely upon it. If you say: What will we eat in the seventh year?--behold! we will not sow and not gather in our crops! I Will Ordain My Blessing for you in the sixth year and it will yield a crop sufficient for the three-year period. You will sow in the eighth year, but you will eat from old crop; until the ninth year, until the arrival of its crop, you will eat the old." (Leviticus 25:19-22). The crops sowed in the sixth year will bear fruit for the sixth and seventh year, and through the eighth year, when the crop is harvested, the Land is plowed, and new seeds are sowed for the ninth year--the plants will last a three year period.

Jubilee year: "You shall count for yourself seven cycles of Sabbatical years, seven years seven times; the years of the seven cycles of Sabbatical years shall be for you forty-nine years. You shall sound a broken blast on the shofar, in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month; on the Day of Atonement you shall sound the shofar throughout your Land. You shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom throughout the Land for all its inhabitants; it shall be the Jubilee year for you, you shall return each man to his ancestral heritage and you shall return each man to his family. It shall be a Jubilee year for you--this fiftieth year--you shall not sow, you shall not harvest its aftergrowth and you shall not pick what was set aside of it for yourself. For it is a Jubilee year, it shall be Holy to you; from the field you may eat its crop. In this Jubilee year you shall return each man to his ancestral heritage." (Leviticus 25:8-13).

In terms of agriculture, the Jubilee year is like a Sabbatical after a Sabbatical. But families are no longer given an ancestral heritage in Israel and slavery is no longer permitted. Rather, much of the prisoners and those who flee to the cities of refuge will be freed on this Jubilee year--if they have served a sufficient term for their crime. In addition to the remission of the seventh year, in which those who have become deeply indebted will not continue to pay interest--in the Jubilee year, the destitute, who have been continually indebted beyond the means of repayment, will be cleared of their debts without having to file for bankruptcy. Like the prisoner who was enslaved for the debt of his crime, they will be freed from their debts as long as they don't take advantage of the kindness, which will fall at the hands of the creditor and the government. In addition, it will be a time of festivity and assembly--that people should gather together in happiness and with great expectation for the future.

Don't take mother with her young: "If a bird's nest happens to be before you on the road, on any tree or on the ground--young birds or eggs--and the mother is roosting on the young birds or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother on the young. You shall surely send away the mother, and the young take for yourself, so that it will be good for you and will prolong your days." (Deuteronomy 22:6-7). If you take the mother, the young will die, and you will have killed the whole family. But if you send away the mother and take only her young, then the mother can raise new young, and "it will be good for you and will prolong your days;" for you will have more to eat in the future, and will not wipe out a species indiscriminately.

Don't muzzle ox in its threshing: "You shall not muzzle an ox in its threshing." (Deuteronomy 25:4). For you would add suffering upon its burden, and shame it in its pain. Just as you would treat a person with dignity, so should you do for your animals--and people will be all the more dignified... You should the let the ox benefit from its labor, and reward it in its service; just as a laborer would be able to eat from his harvest and a worker should gain from his accomplishment.

Don't mix species in labor: "You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. You shall not wear combined fibers, wool and linen together." (Deuteronomy 22:10-11). An ox and a donkey are of a different size and strength, and should not work or be kept together; for one would pull against the other and the stronger would dominate the weaker. Even an expert shouldn't work together with an amateur, for the amateur would slow him down and the expert would make him look bad--and both of them would fight together. And a garment of combined fibers does not mix well, for each fiber rubs against the other and causes a discomfort upon the flesh.

No mixed species or mixed field: "You shall observe My Decrees: you shall not mate your animal into another species, you shall not plant your field with mixed seed; and a garment that is a mixture of combined fibers shall not come upon you." (Leviticus 19:19). "You shall not sow your vineyard with a mixture, lest the growth of the seed that you plant and the produce of the vineyard become Forbidden." (Deuteronomy 22:9).

Forbidden fruit: "When you shall come to the Land and you shall plant any food tree, you shall treat its fruit as Forbidden; for three years they shall be Forbidden to you; they shall not be eaten. In the fourth year, all its fruit shall be sanctified to laud Hashem. And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit--so that it will increase its crop for you--I Am Hashem, your G-d." (Leviticus 19:23-25). And, "The first of your Land's early produce you shall bring to the Temple of Hashem, your G-d..." (Exodus 34:26). This was brought as a tribute to Hashem, and was like a tax for the Temple, the Kohen, and the government. In most cases it will be redeemed according to its value--when the monetary value is paid in taxes. But people will still bring "bikkurim" to the Temple, as a portion of the first fruits.