YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Behar
After describing the laws of the seventh year, the year of שמיטה, the Torah teaches about the יובל/ Jubilee, year which falls after the completion of seven cycles of שמיטה, i.e., after 49 years. The fiftieth year is sanctified, and liberty is declared for all inhabitants. Every person returns to his land and to his family.
The phrase וקראתם דרור/you shall proclaim liberty, signifies the first stage of the process of sanctification/וקדשתם, that culminates with every person recovering his land and returning to his family. In essence, the phrase announces that everyone should return home.
The word וקראתם is from the root ק-ר-א "to summon" and proclaim. The word דרור is from the root ד-ר-ר "to return." The word וקדשתם is from the root ק-ד-ש "to dedicate all resources."
What does the word דרור mean? Unusually, the Tanach does not include a single root that is a cognate of the root ד-ר-ר. So we must examine the various uses of the word to determine its meaning.
The word דרור appears in three contexts. The first refers to a swallow, an independent bird that roams freely. This usage supports the popular understanding of the word דרור as "freedom." Similarly, the Talmud uses the Aramaic phrase דררא דממונא, a legal term indicating a dispute that arises independently of the contention of either party. The third usage of ,דרור is מר דרור, generally translated as "pure myrrh," a type of spice.
All three meanings can be unified under the root ד-ר-ר by defining it as "following a natural trend." The swallow is a bird that follows its natural instinct without concern for human or other influences. The Aramaic phrase also signifies a dispute that develops on its own, not as a result of external forces. And pure myrrh is a spice is in its natural pure state, with no foreign elements mixed in.
Consistent with this definition, the דרור of the יובל freed people and property to revert to their original, natural state. People will return/ושבתם, to their families and land will revert to its original owner, אחוזתו. The word יובל, a noun (using the causative verb form) meaning "the bringer," further reinforces this idea. In the Jubilee year both individuals and land are brought back to where they began, where they belong.
The word ושבתם is from the root ש-ו-ב which means "to return." The word אחוזתו is from the root א-ח-ז "to grasp and take hold of." The basic meaning of this root translates in our verse to being tied to the land. The word יובל is from the root י-ב-ל "to bring home."
The movement of return that characterizes the יובל has a spiritual dimension as well. The Jubilee starts on Yom Kippur of the fiftieth year. Just as Yom Kippur challenges a person to cleanse himself of sin and revert to a life of purity, so too the דרור of יובל dictates that people revert to their natural environment and return to full Torah observance.
Copyright © 2014, Matityahu Clark. All Rights Reserved. This is an excerpt from the forthcoming Hirsch At Your Table, a collection of brief divrei torah based on R. Samson Raphael Hirsch’s Torah Commentary.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
