Monday, June 2, 2008

Yovel before Shmitah

Please bare with me.

  • Yovel is dependent on all Israelites being in the Eretz Yisrael.
  • The first "Jew", Avraham, arrived in Israel in the year 2023/2024, and was in Eretz Yisrael most of the rest of his life: The stay in Mitzraim, which was shortlived, is considered outside Eretz Yisrael, but not that in Eretz Plishtim.
  • Yitzhak always lived in Eretz Yisrael, for Eretz Plishtim is also counted as Eretz Yisrael.
  • Yaakov went in to exile because of Esav at age 63, in the year 2171/2172.
  • When Yaakov and his sons returned to Eretz Yisrael, the exile was over, but only for a small while, before Yosef was taken to Mitzraim.

If year 1 is year 1 of the Yovel, and we count 49 year cycles up to the time that Avraham came to Eretz Yisrael, and then switch to 50 year cycles until the time Yaakov leaves, at which time we switch back:

  • Yaakov is born on a Yovel year, 2109.
  • The Geulah from Mitzraim happened in the 50th Yovel cycle.
  • The 51st Yovel is in year 2503, which is the year before B'nei Yisrael started counting Shmitah and Yovel.

6 comments:

  1. Profound. What was will be.

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  2. Perhaps it is more natural to say that year 50 is the first Yovel. Then, the Galut ended 5 years before the 49th Yovel. There seems to be some wiggle room.

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  3. This is far easier than explaining:

    http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p_YrEhIuWkGYYpPRJVcsldw

    Does your last comment make sense in light of the spreadsheet?

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  4. It doesn't. That happens when you calculate by heart.

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  5. It would also make sense to say that year 1 is 0 on the Yovel count, since the Rambam is using shnat tohu. That would prevent the 51st Yovel from occuring. Therefore 50 before Yehoshua, 70 after. The 70th right at the beginning of the 7th millenium.

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  6. That way, we are just shy of completing the 50th Sha'ar Binah in the time of Yehoshua, what will be completed in the future.

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