Starting Over

The Torah teaches us about the laws of the “Yovel,” the jubilee year that takes place every fifty years. The verse related to Yovel, appears on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. “And you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof.”

This marked the culmination of seven Shmitta cycles. Hebrew slaves were freed during this year, and land that was purchased was returned to their original tribal owner.

Rabbi Berel Wein spoke of these laws as an indication of the beauty and compassion reflected in the Torah. There were mechanisms created so that a Jew who had fallen on hard times, would be able to gain a new start.

If he was forced to take loans that had accumulated to large amounts, they become forgiven on the Sabbatical year. If he was forced to sell ancestral land, it was returned in the Yovel.

Even the option of becoming a Hebrew slave was available for someone who simply could not pay his bills. His Jewish master was taught to be compassionate and not overwork him, beyond what was reasonable. It was another effort to help an impoverished Jew get back on his feet.

If it became known that this poor man sold himself to a non-Jew, his family was called upon to redeem him as soon as possible. They needed to save him from humiliation, and the possibility that he would not be treated so well by his master.

The laws of Shmitta and Yovel, in particular, were really meant to “proclaim liberty.” They were designed to give a man his dignity, and the ability to pick himself up with new resolve that things will now work out for him.