- It is a positive commandment to count years, 7 by 7, and to sanctify the 50th year, as it is written "And you shall count for yourselfs 7 sabbaths of years... and you shall sanctify the 50th year" (Leviticus 25:8). And these two commandments are the responsibility of the Great Court (the Sanhedrin) alone. And from when did they start to count? They started 14 years after entering the land, as it is written "For 6 years you shall plant your fields, and for 6 years you shall prune your vineyeard" (Leviticus 25:3), when every person should know their land. And they spent 7 years conquering the land, and 7 years in dividing it.
- We see from this that in the year 2503 from the Rosh HaShanah after the birth of Adam HaRishon, which is the 2nd year of creation, they began to count. And they did the year 2510 from creation, which is the 21st year from the time they entered Eretz Yisrael, Shmitah. And they counted 7 Shmitah years and sanctified the 50th year, which was the 64th year from the time they entered Eretz Yisrael.
- Am Yisrael counted 17 Yovels, from the time they entered Eretz Yisrael to the time they left, and the year they left, in which the 1st Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, was the year after Shmitah, and year 36 of the Yovel, for the 1st Beit HaMikdash stood 410 years.
- And due to the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, this count ceased, for the land was nullified. And the land remained destroyed, 70 years; and the 2nd Beit HaMikdash was built, and stood 420 years. And in the 7th year from its construction, Ezra came up to Eretz Yisrael, and that is the Bi'ah Shniyah, and from this year a new count began. And they made the 13th year of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash Shmitah, and they counted 7 Shmitah years and sanctified the 50th year, even though there was no Yovel during the time of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash, they would count it in order to sanctify the Shmitah years.
- We see from this that the year that the 2nd Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, whose start is from Tishrei after the destruction by 2 months, for it is from Tishrei that we count Shmitah and Yovel, that year was the year after Shmitah, and year 15 of the 9th Yovel.
- And according to this calculation, this year, which is 1107 of the Destruction, which is 1487 to the count of Shtarot, which is 4936 to Creation, is a Shmitah year, and it is year 21 from the Yovel.
- However, all of the Geonim said that it is a tradition in their hands, from one generation to the next, that they only counted Shmitah during the 70 years between the Destruction of the 1st Beit HaMikdash and the Building of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash, without Yovel, and thus it is since it was destroyed this last time, we don't count the 50th year, but rather just every 7 years alone, from the the beginning of the year of the Destruction. And thus is the conclusion from the Talmud Avodah Zarah, according to this calculation, which is a tradition.
- And the year of Shmitah is well known by the Geonim and the people of Eretz Yisrael, and all of them counted only from the years of the Destruction, and removing the remainders of 7. And according to this calculation, this year which is 1107 to the Destruction, is the year after Shmitah. And this is what we rely on, and according to this calculation we teach for the matter of Maaser, and Shmitah, and Shmitat Kesafim, for the tradition and the deed are great pillars for instruction, and upon them it is proper to depend.
- The Yovel year is not included in the count of the years, but rather the 49th year is Shmitah, the 50th year is Yovel, and the 51st year is the beginning of the 7 year cycle of Shmitah. And thus it is in every Yovel cycle.
- Since the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and the half tribe of Menashe were exiled, the Yovels have been cancelled, as it is said "And you shall proclaim freedom in the land, to all its inhabitants" (Vayikra 25:10), in a time that all of its inhabitants are upon it. And this is also when they are not mixed tribe amongst tribe, but rather that they are all settled properly.
- At the time that the Yovel is observed in the Land (of Israel), it is observed outside of the Land (of Israel), as it says "it is Yovel" (Vayikra 25:10, 11, 12), in every place, regardless of whether or not the Beit HaMikdash is standing. And at the time that the Yovel is observed, so too are the laws of the Hebrew slave, the laws of the houses of walled cities, the laws of sanctified fields, the laws of the the field of inheritance, and it is possible to receive a Ger Toshav, and Shmitah is observed in the Land (of Israel), and the cancellation of debts in every place, from the Torah.
- And at the time that the Yovel is not observed, the (laws of the) Hebrew slave, and not the houses of walled cities, and not the field of inheritance, and not the sanctified field, and it is not possible to accept a Ger Toshav, and Shmitah is observed from their words (i.e. from rabbinical ordinance), and thus the cancellation of debts is observed everywhere from their weirds as we have explained.
- It is a positive mitzvah to blow the shofar on the 10th of Tishrei in the Yovel year. And this mitzvah is given over to the Beit Din first, and every individual is required to blow (as well), as it is said "Pass a shofar" (Vayikra 25:9), and (we) blow the shofar 9 times, like it is blown on Rosh HaShanah, and it is passed through the entire area of Israel.
- The shofar of Yovel and of Rosh HaShanah are the same in every way, and they are the same regarding the manner of blowing, but in Yovel, it is blown in a Beit Din that sanctified the month or in a Beit Din that did not sanctify the month. And every individual is required to blow as long as the Beit Din is still sitting, and not (necessarily) in front of the Beit Din. And on Rosh HaShanah which falls on Shabbat, they would not blow except at a Beit Din that sanctified the month, and not every indivdual blows, except in front of the Beit Din.
- Three things delay in the Yovel: Blowing (of the shofar), sending (freeing) the servants, and the return of fields to their owners, which is what is called the release of lands. From Rosh HaShanah until Yom Kippur, the slaves would not go to their homes, and they would not serve their masters, and fields would not return to their owners, but rather the slaves are eating and drinking and rejoicing, and their crowns are on their heads. And when Yom Kippur arrives, the Beit Din blows the shofar, and the slaves go to their homes, and the fields return to their owners.
- The law of Yovel with the rest of the land and the law of Shmitah are equal in every way. Everything that is forbidden in Shmitah from the work of the land is forbidden in Yovel, and everything that is allowed in Shmitah is allowed in Yovel. And all the labors for which one would receive lashes during Shmitah, one receives lashes (for those offenses) in Yovel, and the law of the fruits of Yovel in eating and selling and in burning are like the fruits of Shmitah in every way.
- And in this way Shmitah is more than Yovel, in that Shmitah causes the cancellation of debts, and Yovel does not cancel debts. And Yovel is more than Shmitah in that Yovel frees slaves and releases land. And this is the law of the sale of fields spoken of in the Torah, and this is a positive mitzvah, as it is said "redemption you shall give to the land" (Vayikra 25:24). Yovel releases land at its beginning, and Shmitah doesn't cancel debts but at its end, as we have explained.
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