Page 38 - HaMizrachi Tu BiShvat 5782 - USA

WHAT’S IN A WORD?

The Sabbatical Year

David Curwin

Shemitta of complete rest [ןֹות ָּ ב ַ ׁש] for the land” The sounding of the shofar proclaimed
(Vayikra 25:2–5). the advent of the year, and that blast
et’s start with the word ה ָטי ִמ ְ ׁש gave the name to the year: “Then you
itself, which derives from the The parallel between the weekly Shab- shall sound the horn; in the seventh
root ט ַמ ָ ׁש, meaning “to let drop, bat and the Shemitta year is clear. For month, on the tenth day of the month
Lleave out.” The Torah uses this six days we work, and on Shabbat, we – the Day of Atonement – you shall
word to refer to two different mitzvot rest. The same is true of Shemitta; for sound the horn throughout your land.
that occur during this year. six years, we work the land and on the And you shall hallow the 50th year.
seventh, we let the land lay fallow.
One is the cancellation of debts: “Every The root ת ָּ ב ַ ׁש, “to cease, desist; to rest,” You shall proclaim release throughout
seventh year you shall practice remis- applies to both mitzvot. the land for all its inhabitants. It shall
sion of debts [ה ָּ ט ִמ ְ ׁש]. This shall be the The word shabbaton is either an be a jubilee [ל ֵבֹוי] for you: each of you
nature of the remission: every credi- adjective referring to Shabbat or, shall return to his holding and each of
tor shall remit [טֹומ ָ ׁש] the due that he as translated above, an intensifier, you shall return to his family” (Vayikra
25:9–10).
claims from his fellow; he shall not meaning “complete rest.” In English,
exact it from his fellow or kinsman, it is rendered as “sabbatical.” Initially, In the description of the giving of the
for the remission proclaimed is of the that word meant either “recurring in Torah, the word Yovel is used for shofar:
ֹ
L-rd” (Devarim 15:1–2). sevens” or “suitable for the Sabbath.” “...When the ram’s horn [ל ֵבּי ַה] sounds
In the 19th century, it took on the a long blast, they may go up on the
It is also used to refer to the command- mountain” (Shemot 19:13).
ment to let the fields lay fallow every meaning “a year of paid leave granted
to professors or researchers,” often the
seventh year: “Six years you shall sow seventh year of work. That sense was In addition to meaning “ram’s horn,”
your land and gather in its yield, but in borrowed back into modern Hebrew, Yovel is also used simply for “ram”:
the seventh, you shall let it rest [הָּנ ֶט ְמ ְ ׁש ִּ ת] where ןֹות ָּ ב ַ ׁש ת ַנ ְ ׁש more often refers “Seven priests carrying seven ram’s
and lie fallow…” (Shemot 23:10–11). to the sabbatical year of a university horns [םי ִל ְבֹוּי ַה ת ֹור ְפ ֹו ׁש] preceding the
Ark” (Yehoshua 6:4).
Today, the root is most often used in the employee than to the Shemitta year.
form טי ִמ ְ ׁש ִה – “to omit, skip over.” We The Hebrew word shabbaton took on a The English word jubilee derives from
also find the reflexive form, ט ֵּ מ ַּ ת ְ ׁש ִה – “to different meaning in English-speaking the Greek rendering of the Hebrew
Yovel. But jubilee in English has a dif-
shirk, evade one’s obligations” (literally, countries. It refers to an educational ferent connotation – “a celebration of
to release oneself). retreat held on Shabbat, often for youth an anniversary.” This is due to influ-
movements or synagogue groups. In ence from a similar-sounding word,
Shabbaton Israel, however, a day of shabbaton the Latin jubilare – “to shout for joy”
refers to an official day off of work
Other verses in the Torah use a differ- for a specific occasion, like national (the source of the English “jubilant.”)
ent root when describing the seventh elections. Modern Hebrew has adopted this sense
year: ת ָּ ב ַ ׁש. of the word as well, and today a Yovel
can refer to any significant anniver-
“When you enter the land that I assign Yovel sary, not just the 50th.
to you, the land shall observe [ה ָת ְב ָ ׁש ְו] In Biblical time, the nation would mark
a sabbath [ת ָּ ב ַ ׁש] of the L-rd. Six years the Yovel (jubilee) year after seven
you may sow your field… But in the Shemitta cycles. The Sages debated if
seventh year, the land shall have a Yovel was observed in the 49th or 50th David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat,
sabbath of complete rest [ןֹות ָּ ב ַ ׁש ת ַּ ב ַ ׁש], a year. In that year, property would and the author of the Balashon blog,
sabbath of the L-rd… it shall be a year return to its original owners. balashon.com.

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