In 1751, the Pennsylvania Assembly ordered a special bell be cast, commemorating the 50th anniversary of William Penn's 'Charter of Privileges.' The Speaker of the Assembly was entrusted with finding an appropriate inscription for what later became famous as the "Liberty Bell". The best expression of freedom and equality that he could find was the Biblical verse describing the Jubilee year:

"You will proclaim with shofar blasts on the tenth day of the seventh month; on Yom Kippur, you will blow the shofar throughout your land. You shall sanctify the fiftieth year, proclaiming freedom in the land to all its inhabitants." (Lev. 25:9-10)

The triumphant announcement of the Jubilee year, with blasts of the shofar, takes place on the tenth of Tishrei. This date is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Yet, this is curious. The Jubilee year begins, like any other year, on the first of Tishrei, on Rosh Hashanah. Why was the formal proclamation of Jubilee postponed until Yom Kippur, ten days later?

Sabbath for the Nation

The Jubilee year is a super-Sabbatical year. Like the seventh year, agricultural labor is prohibited, and landowners forego ownership to produce grown during that year. The Jubilee also contains two additional aspects of social justice: the emancipation of slaves, and the restoration of land to its original owner.

Just as the Sabbath day allows the individual to rest, so too, the Sabbatical and Jubilee years provide rest for the nation. The entire nation is able to take a break from competition and economic struggle. The Sages noted that the phrase "Sabbath to God" appears both in the context of the weekly Sabbath and the Sabbatical year. Both are designed to free us from foundering in the rat race of economic survival, allowing us to develop our spiritual side: the Sabbath on the individual level, and the Sabbatical year on the national level.

Healing Rifts in Society

The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 8b) teaches that slaves were not sent home during the first ten days of the Jubilee year. Nor did they work. They spent these ten days feasting and drinking in their masters' homes, as they celebrated their newly-gained freedom "with crowns upon their heads." Only after the court blew the shofar on Yom Kippur, would the newly freed slaves return home.

Rav Kook noted that the freeing of slaves in the Jubilee year provides an important safeguard for social order. Societies that rely on slave labor usually suffer at some point from slave revolts and violent acts of vengeance by the underclass. In the United States, the emancipation of black slaves was only achieved after a horrific civil war.

Instead of attaining social justice through bloody revolt and violent upheaval, the Jubilee emancipation allows for a peaceful and harmonious correction of social inequality. The restoration of rights for the poor and disadvantaged becomes an inherent part of the societal and economic order. During their final days of servitude, the freed slaves celebrate together with their former masters. The Torah also obligates the master to send off his servants with generous presents (ha'anaka). These conciliatory acts help heal the social and psychological wounds caused by socio- economic divisions and class estrangement. The national reconciliation reaches its peak on Yom Kippur, when the shofar exuberantly proclaimed freedom and equality.

Atonement for the Nation

Now we can understand why the formal announcement of the Jubilee year is delayed for ten days. Jubilee is integrally connected to the atonement of Yom Kippur. On that year, the Day of Atonement becomes a time of forgiveness and absolution, not only for the sins of the individual, but also for the sins of society.

(adapted from the Forward to "Shabbat HaAretz", p. 9)

Copyright © 2006 by Chanan Morrison