Rabbi Reuven Semah
“The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is Mine.”
Our perashah discusses Shemitah and Yovel. Shemitah means that once every seven years, the land is left idle for one full year. After seven cycles of Shemitah. the fiftieth year of Yovel arrives. The unique requirement of the Yovel year is the return to their previous owners of all ancestral plots of land that have been sold since the last Yovel. A person should not attach too much permanency to his physical acquisitions. He may enjoy them for years and decades, but, eventually, they will be returned to their rightful ancestral owner.
A Jew Hired a Torah Teacher for His Children
Rabbi Avraham Pam z”tl would illustrate this concept with the story of a Jew living in a small community. who hired a teacher to teach Torah to his children for a year’s time. The teacher received room and board in exchange for his services. and became a part of the household. A few months went by. and the homeowner began a costly, major renovation of his house, which took a number of months to complete. When the project was finished, the homeowner made a hanukat habayit to celebrate. Neighbors and friends were given a tour of the newly remodeled home. The teacher also took part in the tours and accompanied the guests around the house, saying, “Here is where we added a wall. Over there we enlarged the bedroom. Isn’t our new kitchen now very spacious and beautiful?”
The Homeowner Becomes Upset Over the Teacher’s Words
The homeowner overheard the words of the teacher and became upset. “You are talking as if is your house,” he said to the teacher. “Don’t you realize that you are only here for a limited period?” The teacher eyed his master and softly replied, “My dear master, you too are only here on this world for a limited time.”
Even if a person owned a piece of land or an estate for close to fifty years, nevertheless, when the Yovel arrives, the land or the house must be returned to its previous ancestral owner. This teaches a person that his true task in life is to prepare for the World to Come by learning Torah and performing misvot. While a person certainly needs a place to live, that and his physical pursuits should not be the purpose of his existence. Shabbat Shalom.
