וידבר ה' אל משה בהר סיני, it is noteworthy that nowhere else when the Torah announces new legislation does it also mention where this legislation was originally issued. The only time such locations are mentioned is when a new element of that commandment is added. We have heard about the principle of the sh’mittah legislation in Exodus 23,11 where the general outline was presented, the Torah writing that the produce of the land during the seventh year should be left untouched by the farmer and is intended for the poor of the nation. Now the Torah reverts to present this legislation in greater detail. This is the reason why we are told where these details were first spelled out. What we read here is only a prototype. The principle does not apply only to the sh’mittah legislation, but wherever some legislation had been mentioned in a general manner only, when the details were filled in this took place at Mount Sinai, just as it did in the case of the sh’mittah legislation. (Torat Kohanim 1,1) The reason that Moses mentioned this particular legislation at this point is because at this time he was still under the impression that the Israelites would proceed in short order to the land of Canaan, the sin of the spies which set them back by forty years not having occurred yet. Even as late as Numbers 10,29 Moses still spoke to the people of the impending journey to the Holy Land. Speaking about the soil of the holy Land “resting,” is the subject in Leviticus 26,34 as well as in Chronicles II 36,21. This shows that the main focus of the sh’mittah legislation concerns the “Sabbatical” experienced by the farmland of the nation.

כי תבואו אל הארץ, a reference to the land west of the river Jordan (Torat Kohanim 2)

ושבתה הארץ, .a reference to the soil intended for farming.

'שבת לה, so that during this whole year the farmer instead of “serving” the soil which requires cultivation, will turn his efforts to serving G’d directly instead. Just as the weekly Sabbath is a day set aside for intensive service of the Lord, so the sh’mittah year is to serve the same purpose. (compare Exodus 20,9)

שש שנים תזרע שדך, the new revelation in this verse is that the land of Israel is so fertile that the same piece of land can remain under cultivation for six consecutive years, although in other countries the land generally is allowed to lie fallow every other year. (compare Baba Batra 36 on this subject.)

ואספת את תבואתה, as opposed to the soil in the countries adjacent to the land of Israel.

שבת שבתון יהיה לארץ. You have to refrain totally from working the land, including preparatory work mentioned in detail by our sages in Avodah Zarah 50.

'שבת לה, to seek out the Lord in some manner. [not to use the year to play golf, etc. Ed.]

'והיו לך ימי שבע שבתות השנים וגו, the count of these years is not to be based on 12 lunar months per year only, but you will count hem as if regular years, the thirteenth month occurring at the same intervals as in your normal calendar considerations. The result will be that at the end of a Jubilee cycle, 49 solar years will have been completed. The same rules which apply to the sh’mittah calculation apply to the Yovel calculation. [since the farmer bases his activities on the seasons, and the seasons are controlled by the solar calendar, any other way of counting the 49 year cycle would throw the farmer’s schedule completely out of gear. Ed.]

שופר תרועה, as an expression of joy over the liberation of the slaves and the restoration of lands whose sale had been forced by economic necessity to its original owners or their heirs.

יובל היא תהיה לכם. All of you will also be free of subservience to other nations. This is the opposite of Jeremiah 34,17 “because you have failed to proclaim freedom for your kinsmen and countrymen as I have commanded, I proclaim your release -declares the Lord- to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine; and I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”

יובל היא שנת החמישים שנה תהיה לכם, just as the soil will become free from those who have purchased it, it will not be enslaved to the owners that are returning to it; during that year they must not yet use it as if it were their own.

קדש תהיה לכם מן השדה תאכלו, even though I forbade the owners to use this land for sowing and harvesting, and not to gather the fruit of the field as in other years, as in verse 11 where all manner of harvesting is enjoined, I did not forbid the owners to eat of its produce. They are not at a disadvantage compared to the general population who do not have a claim on their fields. The legislation parallels that of the sh’mittah legislation.

תשובו איש אל אחוזתו; it is permitted for the owners to take possession of it as their ancestral heritage, and to use it to build houses thereon, construct pens for the flocks, etc., as proof that it is again theirs.

וכי תמכרו, in any sale it is forbidden to disadvantage the seller or the purchaser. For instance, the seller must not skim off any dust particles from the top of the drawer to create the impression that the purchaser receives completely refined merchandise none of which turns out to be substandard or useless. (Baba Metzia 60)

או קנה, when the purchaser is unaware of the true worth of the merchandise, even if by then it had already come into his possession and he had an opportunity to show it to a friend who is more knowledgeable.

אל תונו, even though the sages said that there is no overcharging when land is involved. (Baba Metzia 56), this applies to the price charged for the land itself. When it comes to calculating the remaining number of years before the next Jubilee year one must not mislead the purchaser [such as saying that there are 18 years left before the next Jubilee year, withholding the information that for at least 2 of those years the land may not be worked so that the purchaser should pay only for 16 anticipated harvests instead of 18. Ed.]

במספר שנים תקנה, you are to pay a price corresponding to the number of years that you will own the land. Our sages state that when it comes to matters which are subject to verification by weight, by measure, or number, even if the overcharge amounted to less than 1/6th, the usual leeway when buying things in “bundles,” etc, is refundable. (Baba Metzia 56)

אחר היובל תקנה, there is no point in purchasing a field during the actual Jubilee year, as a situation might arise in which the returning owners cannot retain possession of it for any meaningful amount of time at all, depriving them of the feeling that they had benefited from the Yovel institution.

שני תבואות, years during which a harvest is produced, not years of drought, etc. The conditions are parallel to a farmer who enters into a tenancy agreement working the field for the owner and giving him a portion of the harvest.

תרבה מקנתו, you will buy it at a higher price than would have been the case if you had only rented it. The reason why the seller is entitled to a proportionately better price is that over a period of years any investment the owner makes in building on such property will be worth his while, and will be amortized over many years, whereas a rental agreement does not permit the renter to make such changes.

תמעיט מקנתו, that you do not have to pay a price as if you had only rented it. Naturally, if the sale is for a few years only, such considerations are taken into account. כי מספר תבואות הוא מוכר לך, for when you buy the land for a few years only, the only use you can make of it is the harvests which it will yield. Shortness of tenure does not permit the owner to invest in superstructure on the field and to amortize his investment. The purchaser also cannot grow the kind of crop which weakens the soil such as flax, as by the time he has to return the field to the original owner it must be returned in a condition similar to the one when he had bought it. Baba Metzia 109 states specifically that if someone purchased a piece of land for a few years only, he is not permitted to grow flax on it.

ולא תונו, the reason this is repeated so many times is to warn you that you must not even misrepresent by words and thereby treat your customer unfairly. Even if the damage caused is not measurable in terms of money, all manner of misrepresentation is forbidden.

כי אני ה' אלוקיכם, I, G’d am both buyer and seller. This is why I am meticulous and adamant that neither practice be tolerated.

ועשיתם את חקותי, the sh’mittah and Yovel legislation. ואת משפטי תשמרו, the social laws governing the sale and purchase of property in relation to the Yovel so that no cheating of any kind takes place.

.וישבתם על הארץ לבטח. To ensure that you will not be exiled from your land. This is the opposite of the prospect discussed in 26,43, and Isaiah 56,17, both of which threaten exile for abuse of the above laws.

ואכלתם לשובע, the produce of the land will prove nutritious. An example of this is the manna when the same quantity, an omer per head, whether for a baby or a fully grown person proved adequate, showing that G’d had imbued it with the nutrients needed by the person eating it. [It was the most individualised diet ever. Ed.] Our sages describe this as an example of food adjusting to the body’s needs after it had come into a person’s entrails. (Torat Kohanim, Bechukotai 1,7) This is also how we can understand that the crops grown in the sixth year of the sh’mittah cycle were able to be sufficient for the people’s needs during the seventh year.

וישבתם לבטח עליה, you will not need to be embarrassed by having to import food because your land did not provide you with sufficient means of nutrition.

וכי תאמרו מה נאכל, when you raise doubts about this promise which I have made you, asking that you would not have enough to eat because you cannot believe that the quality of such food would compensate for its lack of quantity.

ועשת את התבואה, in a manner which will satisfy the eyes of those who see it so that the people seeing it will realise that the quantity will be sufficient.

והארץ לא תמכר לצמיתות. The legislation applies to land intended for cultivation..

כי לי הארץ, a reference that the region known as גליל, the earth is G’d’s. [specifically excluding the east bank of the Jordan, based on the letter ה in front of the word הארץ. Compare Torat Kohanim there. Ed.] כי גרים ותושבים אתם עמדי, in this very same גליל, which is not part of “He has given earth to man” (Psalms 115,16).

ובכל ארץ אחוזתכם גאולה תתנו לארץ, but outside of the boundaries of the land of Israel proper this legislation does not apply at all.

והחזקת בו, in order to keep it in good condition.

אל תקח מאתו, because this is the ethically good way to extend a loan to your financially embarrassed brother without charging him interest or something in lieu of interest.

וחי אחיך עמך, you are required to do this if the Lord has endowed you so that you are financially able to extend such loans. The word עמך, alongside you, teaches what our sages termed “your own life takes precedence over that of your fellow.” (Baba Metzia 62)

להיות לכם לאלוקים. In order for G’d’s purpose to be the G’d of all of you to be accomplished, it is necessary that you enable your fellow to live on an economically comfortable level. It is your duty to help bring this about. [this is not a recipe for a welfare state but for a state in which the dignity of recipients of economic assistance is preserved. Ed.]

כשכיר כתושב יהיה עמך. A Jewish servant whose labour has been acquired and paid for 6 years in advance by the person hiring him shall be treated as if he had been hired by the year. If someone’s labour has been contracted for by you until the advent of the next Jubilee year he is to be treated as if he had been hired with a long-term contract.

כי עבדי הם, even though this labourer had “sold” himself to you, thus meaning to acquire a new master, it might have been assumed that you might treat him like a servant instead of like a hired labourer, the fact remains that seeing he was and remains “MY” servant; this is not the way you can treat him. No Jew is legally able to sell his body, seeing that he already “belongs” to G’d.

אחרי נמכר גאולה תהיה לו; our sages (Kidushin 20) have already explained that you are not to say that seeing that this Jew has sold himself and has even become a priest to a pagan cult “I will kick away this stone which has already fallen,“ i.e. not make an effort to buy his freedom. This is why the Torah had to write: “even after he has sold himself in a most undignified manner, he is entitled to be redeemed.”

וחשב עם קונהו, even though the pagan who purchased him is legally under your authority so that you could force him to release this Jew for less than he was worth, and moreover the sale was not legal in terms of our halachah, you must compensate him fairly.

אם עוד רבות בשנים, there is no doubt that once the Jew has been in the service of his pagan master his services have become more and more valuable due to his knowing exactly what is expected of him, the compensation due to his master is based on a division of the purchase price into equal parts for every year he has not served out in his contract. The matter is described in detail in Kidushin 20

ואם מעט נשאר, so that the years of “good” labour rendered have already given the employer value for the money he had originally paid, allowance is made for the number of actual years which were not completed in the original contract. This is what our sages call: נתמעט כספו, כפי שניו, (Kidushin 20)