Time, Place, and Person

It is a Torah commandment that Israel enter the Land, divide the Land among the tribes, divide each tribe’s inheritance among the families and clans, work their fields for six years to grow their produce, and in the seventh year rest from working the field and release the produce and the debts. They are to do this for seven cycles, in which they observe seven Shemita years, for a total of forty-nine years. Afterward, they are to sanctify the fiftieth year and make it a Yovel (Jubilee), in which they free the slaves to their homes and return the fields to their owners. As it is stated (Vayikra 25:2-10): “When you enter the land that I give you, the land shall observe a Sabbath of the Lord. Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield. But in the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath of complete rest, a Sabbath of the Lord… You shall count off seven weeks of years – seven times seven years – so that the period of seven weeks of years gives you a total of forty-nine years… And you shall hallow the fiftieth year. You shall proclaim release throughout the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you: each of you shall return to his holding and each of you shall return to his family.”

Now, with the mitzva of separating ḥalla, Israel was commanded immediately after they crossed the Jordan and entered the main part of the Land. However, with the mitzvot of shevi’it and Yovel they were commanded only after they finished dividing the Land among all of Israel. As it is stated regarding shevi’it (ibid. 3): “Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield.” The Sages expounded (Sifra there): “‘Your field’ – that each and every one recognizes his field; ‘your vineyard’ – that each and every one recognizes his vineyard.” Similarly, it is stated regarding the Yovel (Vayikra 25:10): “You shall proclaim release throughout the land for all its inhabitants,” and the Sages expounded (Arakhin 32b): “For all its inhabitants” – “when its inhabitants are dwelling properly, and not when they are intermingled.” That is, even if all of them were dwelling in their land but the tribes were intermingled with one another, shevi’it and Yovel do not apply. Therefore, they had to wait until they finished conquering the Land and dividing it into inheritances.

In the year 2489 according to our count from the creation of the world, Israel entered the Land under the leadership of Yehoshua bin Nun. For seven years they were occupied with conquering the Land, and for seven years with dividing it among the tribes and families (Arakhin 12b). After they finished dividing the Land and every Jew knew where his inheritance was, they became obligated in the mitzvot of shevi’it and Yovel and began counting the years. It follows that in the fifteenth year after their entry into the Land, which was the year 2504, they began counting the years; in the 21st year after their entry into the Land they observed the first shevi’it; and in the 64th year after their entry into the Land they observed the first Yovel (Tosefta Menaḥot 6:20; Rambam 10:2).