Behar – Bechukotai
In this shiur I would like to discuss the topic of Yovel, the Jubilee year. In order to fully understand what Yovel is, a short introduction is necessary.
After the Akeidah and after Sarah dies, the Torah (Bereishit 24:1) tells us that Avraham was old and HaKadosh Baruch Hu blessed him “ba’Col.” What exactly is Col? There are many different commentaries on this. The Gemara (Bava Batra 16b) says Avraham had a daughter called Bacol. Rashi says HaKadosh Baruch Hu blessed him with a son (Yitzchak). The Ibn Ezra says with long life, wealth and “nachas” from his children.
The Ramban, above, takes a completely different direction. According to the Ramban, HaKadosh Baruch Hu has an attribute, called Col which lies at the foundation of “everything.” Everything HaKadosh Baruch Hu creates emanates from Col, whether it is physical creation or even spiritual neshamos. The “wellspring” that gives rise to everything is called Col. According to the Ramban, this is the 8th attribute in HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s 13 Attributes of Mercy.
The word Col (caf lamed) is a unique word in Hebrew because of its physical location in the alphabet. If you divide the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet into two groups of eleven letters each, the last letter of the first group is the letter caf and the first letter of the second group is the letter lamed, making the word Col. In other words, the word Col is the pivotal, central point of the Hebrew alphabet.
Meir Panim says that since Col is the central pivot point between two groups, it equally reflects both groups, like both sides of a coin, like an object and its mirror image.
There is a Hebrew cipher called Atbash, which involves pairing a letter in the alphabet with its “mirror image” letter on the opposite side of the alphabet. For example, the mirror image of the first letter “aleph” is the last letter of the alphabet “tav,” making the pair “aleph-tav.” The mirror image of the second letter “bet” is the second last letter “shin,” making the pair “bet-shin” (“aleph-tav, bet-shin” is pronounced Atbash). The mirror image of the third letter “gimel” is the third last letter “reish,” making the pair “gimel-reish,” and so on, until you get to the middle of the alphabet, the letter “caf” and its mirror image “lamed,” making the pair “caf-lamed,” or the word Col. The word Col (caf-lamed) in Atbash cipher is Lech (lamed-caf).
The story of Avraham begins with Lech (lamed-caf), i.e Lech (Lecha) (Bereishit 12:1) and ends with Col (caf-lamed) HaKadosh Baruch Hu blessed Avraham with Col (Bereishit 24:1).
What was the “clincher,” the game changer that allowed Avraham to arrive at the destination Col, literally meaning “everything” – the diametric opposite of the beginning Lech, when he left with nothing? The answer is the Akeidah.
We mistakenly think that Avraham’s final test was sacrificing only Yitzchak, but it was not like that at all. In his final trial, Avraham was called upon to sacrifice everything he had, his favorite son Yitzchak and as it turns out, also his wife Sarah, who died after hearing about the Akeidah. Avraham was prepared to sacrifice ALL of this, simply because HaKadosh Baruch Hu told him to.
Immediately following burying Sarah, the Torah says that HaKadosh Baruch Hu blessed Avraham with Col. A person can only achieve the level of Col, everything – if they are prepared to give up everything, simply because HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells them to.
Now that we understand exactly what Col is, we can proceed to discuss the subject of the shiur – Yovel.
Immediately preceding the subject of Yovel we have the subject of Shmittah. As we all know, Shmittah is a seven-year cycle – six years to work the land, in the seventh (Shmittah) year we allow the land to rest.
Yovel is a similar cycle based on the number seven – seven Shmittah cycles (49 years), culminating in the 50th year, Yovel. The Yovel year (50th) is similar to the year preceding it (49th – Shmittah) in that we are not allowed to work the land. It is like two Shmittah years, one immediately after the other.
Unlike a regular Shmittah year though, Yovel has an additional, unique characteristic – in the 50th year, all land purchased in the preceding 49 years, returns to its original owner. Similarly, all slaves purchased in the preceding 49 years are set free.
We have another 7×7 cycle culminating in the number 50 – Sefirat HaOmer. In Sefirat HaOmer we count seven weeks, which culminate in the 50th day, Shavuot. The reason we have Sefirat HaOmer is because when Am Yisrael left Egypt, they were at the lowest 49th level of impurity. Before giving us the Torah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu had to raise us up to the 50th level, so that we resemble the angels. The 50th level is the highest level of purity that exists.
If we apply this same principle to Yovel, the 50th year, Yovel is the year with the highest level of purity. What facilitates this ultimate level of purity?
In the preceding (49th) Shmittah year, HaKadosh Baruch Hu told us to give up working on our fields. We have to have total faith in HaKadosh Baruch Hu, that despite not working our lands, we will still have food to eat. HaKadosh Baruch Hu makes us a promise – “Place your full trust in Me and everything will be OK!” Does that remind you of something? Another promise … made to Avraham, Lech Lecha. “Place your full trust in Me!” Avraham did and in the end HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave him everything!
Then comes the following (50th) year, Yovel. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says “It is not enough that you trust me by not working the land for one year. I want you to give it ALL up. I want you to give up all the land you purchased. I want you to free all your slaves. I want you to sacrifice everything!” I want you to do an Akeidah, just like Avraham.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu says “Place your full trust in Me! It will all turn out well!” Just like it turned out well for Avraham, so too will it work out well for you, you will also merit the attribute of Col. The word Col in gematria is 50. The 50th year, Yovel epitomizes Col.
This is the essence of Yovel, the 50th year. It is the entire Am Yisrael doing an Akeidah like Avraham Avinu, an act of ultimate faith.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: In the blessings in Bechukotai, how many enemies will five Israelites be able to chase away?
Answer to Last Shiur’s Trivia Question: How much flour (Solet) is there in each loaf of Lechem HaPanim? Two issaron measures of semolina flour, approximately 8.6 lb.