Yovel Count of Rebbi Yehudah

(Click here for an in depth discussion of Yovel in the online book "Yovel & Geulah".)

According to the Rambam, Yovel is counted as follows:

There are 7 Shmitah cycles, followed by a Yovel year. The year after Yovel is year 1 of the next Shmitah cycle. This is the opinion of the Chachamim brought in the Gemara. Yovel occurs every 50 years.

However, that is not the only opinion. Rebbi Yehudah says that we count this way:

There are 7 Shmitah cycles, followed by a Yovel year. Yovel counts as the 50th year of the prior cycle, and the 1st year of the next cycle. The year after Yovel is the 2nd year of the Shmitah cycle. Yovel occurs every 49 years.

Perhaps it is not that the Geonim held that we don't count Yovel when the Beit HaMikdash isn't standing, but that the halachah is to use the counting system of Rebbi Yehudah in times of Galus, when Shmitah is on a sort of autopilot, which on the outside (for halachah) seems as if we count Shmitah alone.

So while the 2nd Beit HaMikdash stood, Yovel years were:

3415 + 50n where 1 <= n <= 9 (3415 was the year before the counting of Yovel began in the time of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash)

However, when the 2nd Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, Yovel switched to:

3816 + 49n where 1 <= n <= 44 (3816 was the year after the last Yovel counted of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash)

By this, we find that the last Yovel year was 5727 (1967CE), the year of the 6-Day War. This was the 48th Yovel year starting from the time of Ezra in 3416. The Yovel year which is 49 years later is 5776. Perhaps the year following would be a fitting time for the Sanhedrin to assume/resume its role in counting of Shmitah and Yovel, to assume its role of leadership of Am Yisrael. This next Yovel would start the 49th Yovel period. Rather fitting that the Sanhedrin would count the last Yovel before the 50th Yovel, a Yovel of Yovels.

It is nearly time to take Am Yisrael off of autopilot.

Rambam - Why Don't We Count Yovel?

(For more on the subject of Yovel, click here to return to the Table of Contents.)

Am Yisrael first started counting the years of Shmitah and Yovel after the division of the land in the days of Yehoshua bin Nun. There have been since this time, as we learned from the Rambam, 2 periods wherein Am Yisrael didn't count Yovel: Galut Bavel and Galut Edom, or alternatively, when the Beit HaMikdash was not built.

If we look closely at the Rambam, we find a difference between the Rambam's relationship to Galut Bavel and Galut Edom. By Galut Bavel, he says they didn't count (both Yovel and Shmitah - but it should be noted that the Rambam says later on in the chapter that the tradition of the Geonim is that Shmitah was counted), for the land was nullified. What was nullified? Kedushah Rishonah of Kibbush Yehoshua (The Holiness of the Land which was imparted upon it by Yehoshua capturing the land) was nullified. But, as it says in the Gemara, Kedushah Shniyah, imparted by the settling and acquisition of the land in the days of Ezra, is eternal. Therefore, when the 2nd Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, the count continued. This is why the Rambam brings the entire calculation of what the year count should be, he assumes that we should still be counting the Yovel. He then nullifies his own opinion for halachah, saying we should rely on the tradition of the Geonim.

Conclusion from the Rambam is as follows:

• Yovel is a mitzvah from the Torah only in times when certain criteria are met, per the Yerushalami Shvi'it chapter 10.
• Regardless of this, counting of the Yovel is dependent on the Kedushah of Eretz Yisrael being in force. This was nullified with the destruction of the 1st Beit HaMikdash in 3339 (per Rambam), and reinstated in the days of Ezra, and the count resumed in 3416.
• Since, per the Gemara, the Kedushah imparted in the time of Ezra is eternal, the count of Shmitah including Yovel should continue regardless of whether or not the Beit HaMikdash standing. This is akin to the fixed calendar of Hillel HaKatan, which continues regardless of whether or not the Sanhedrin declares the new month. We follow for halachah, however, the tradition of the Geonim, despite the fact that it contradicts this.

The question that this raises is as follows. According to a continuing calculation from the year 3416, the year 5765 was Yovel. When the Sanhedrin begins counting the years of Yovel, will they pick up from this count or start over from year 1? Or more imminently, will they pick up on the Shmitah count, where either 5772 (instead of 5775) or 5779 (instead of 5782) is Shmitah?

The Importance Of Good Leadership

A common theme throughout Jewish history is the ability of the leadership to cause Am Yisrael to follow Torah as well as the opposite.

In the Chumash, the most glaring examples are the Sin of the Golden Calf and the Sin of the Spies.

The Zohar (2:191a) on Ki Tisa brings that the Sin of the Golden Calf was instigated by the 2 leaders of the Erev Rav, who used their avodah zarah to cause the people to stray.

In the Chumash we see that 10 leaders caused the nation to not want to enter Eretz Yisrael, causing the 40 years sentence in the desert.

Melachim II has a recurring theme: whether or not the king caused the people to sin like Yerov'am ben Navat before them, or if they did what was right and made the people do what was right.

The common theme is that one person really can make a difference, specifically a leader. Now we see the necessity in defining Moshiach as someone who causes Israel to follow the Torah (See Rambam Laws of Kings, chapter 11).

However, it is not limited to the Moshiach. This appears to be the intent of the GR"A regarding Anshei Amanah (Men of Faith/Truth). These are people for whom Truth is an ultimate value. There are two leadership roles that must be filled by Anshei Amanah in the final generation: Moshiach ben Yosef, and the Sanhedrin.

Moshiach ben Yosef because Moshiach ben Yosef is from Yesod, as is Truth. Truth will sprout forth from the ground (Tehillim 85:12), meaning that the sprouting will be dependent on human action.

However, not to dwell on what is not in our reach (Moshiach ben Yosef is not yet "here" for us to gather behind, and we cannot at this point make the appointed person in to that role), let us discuss the Sanhedrin.

There are three main aspects to the Geulah before the crowning event when Moshiach ben Dovid arrives:

• Ingathering of the Exiles
• Establishment of the Sanhedrin
• Building of the Beit HaMikdash in Yerushalayim

The Ingathering of the Exiles and the Building of Yerushalayim all began in tiny steps approximately 200 years ago. Every point is a building-block. In order to get the minimum 600,000 Jews, it took time, and indeed we are close to an absolute world majority of Jews in Eretz Yisrael. To build the Beit HaMikdash, there has to be a city around it. What was then fantasy is now reality.

People in the past looked down upon the Aliyah movement in the early 19th century, but patience and persistence have proven that it can be done. Yet people expect differently of the Sanhedrin. Historical perspective shows us patience is necessary.

There is now a stepping stone in place. The utmost was done to make this kosher, however at this stage, it was to be expected that there will be those that look down upon it.

The task of the Sanhedrin at this time is to get ready. Walk with wisdom. For one day soon, we will demand that the Sanhedrin take the lead as the sole authority of Torah for Am Yisrael. Whatever disputes we now have regarding its legitimacy will soon fade.

Truth will yet reign again.