From Yeoville to Yovel – Behar Bechukotai
וְסָפַרְתָּ לְךָ שֶׁבַע שַׁבְּתֹת שָׁנִים שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים וְהָיוּ לְךָ יְמֵי שֶׁבַע שַׁבְּתֹת הַשָּׁנִים תֵּשַׁע וְאַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה. וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ שׁוֹפַר תְּרוּעָה בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִעִי בֶּעָשׂוֹר לַחֹדֶשׁ בְּיוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים תַּעֲבִירוּ שׁוֹפָר בְּכָל אַרְצְכֶם. וְקִדַּשְׁתֶּם אֵת שְׁנַת הַחֲמִשִּׁים שָׁנָה וּקְרָאתֶם דְּרוֹר בָּאָרֶץ לְכָל יֹשְׁבֶיהָ יוֹבֵל הִוא תִּהְיֶה לָכֶם וְשַׁבְתֶּם אִישׁ אֶל אֲחֻזָּתוֹ וְאִישׁ אֶל מִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ תָּשֻׁבוּ. יוֹבֵל הִוא שְׁנַת הַחֲמִשִּׁים שָׁנָה תִּהְיֶה לָכֶם לֹא תִזְרָעוּ וְלֹא תִקְצְרוּ אֶת סְפִיחֶיהָ וְלֹא תִבְצְרוּ אֶת נְזִרֶיהָ. כִּי יוֹבֵל הִוא קֹדֶשׁ תִּהְיֶה לָכֶם מִן הַשָּׂדֶה תֹּאכְלוּ אֶת תְּבוּאָתָהּ. בִּשְׁנַת הַיּוֹבֵל הַזֹּאת תָּשֻׁבוּ אִישׁ אֶל אֲחֻזָּתוֹ. (ויקרא כה, ח-יג).
Whenever I tell Israelis that I grew up in the Johannesburg suburb of Yeoville, they say "Yovel? Like the one in the Torah?"
I fondly remember the neighborhood of my youth, where I lived the first 21 years of my life. Unlike many other Johannesburg suburbs which were more upper-class, Yeoville was mostly middle-class, predominantly apartment buildings. Our apartment building, New Orleans (each building had its own unique name, not just a number) was on the corner of a busy intersection, surrounded on either side by major chain supermarkets Checkers and OK Bazaars, the local public library tucked behind and the Piccadilly movie theatre closing the circle. Our third-floor apartment overlooked the noisy main street. Youngsters in their slick sports cars and booming stereos, waiting at the red traffic light below, frequently made our apartment windows vibrate.
It was a very quaint neighborhood with a relatively large Jewish population, more than 6 shuls, two kosher bakeries, a kosher deli, the Johannesburg city Beit Din, etc., pulsating with vibrant Jewish life. Back in the days of my childhood it was a very safe neighborhood with practically no crime or antisemitism and as children, we freely roamed the streets alone, wearing kippot with nary a care in the world.
I have many wonderful memories of growing up in Yeoville, which today is no longer the same quaint neighborhood. It has become a slum, practically emptied of Jews (with the exception of a few octogenarians).
It's true that Yeoville and Yovel sound the same (to an Israeli), and although there is absolutely no connection between the two, interestingly enough there are many things one can learn about Yovel (in the Torah) from Yeoville (in Johannesburg). This shiur is all about the deeper meaning of Yovel.
However, before we get to Yovel, we first need to discuss the concept of כֹּל, which features prominently in my sefer Meir Panim.
The Ramban on the passuk וְאַבְרָהָם זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים וַה' בֵּרַךְ אֶת אַבְרָהָם בַּכֹּל (בראשית כד, א) says –
אֲחֵרִים חִדְּשׁוּ בְּפֵרוּשׁ הַכָּתוּב הַזֶּה עִנְיָן עָמֹק מְאֹד וְדָרְשׁוּ בָּזֶה סוֹד מִסּוֹדוֹת הַתּוֹרָה וְאָמְרוּ כִּי בַּכֹּל תִּרְמֹז עַל עִנְיָן גָּדוֹל וְהוּא שֶׁיֵּשׁ להקב"ה מִדָּה תִּקְרָא "כָּל" מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהִיא יְסוֹד הַכֹּל וּבָהּ נֶאֱמַר אָנֹכִי ה' עֹשֶׂה כֹּל [ישעיהו מד, כד] וְהוּא שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וְיִתְרוֹן אֶרֶץ בַּכֹּל הוּא [קהלת ה, ח] יֹאמַר כִּי יִתְרוֹן הָאָרֶץ וְטוֹבָה הַגְּדוֹלָה הַשּׁוֹפֵעַ עַל כָּל בָּאֵי עוֹלָם בַּעֲבוּר כִּי בַּכֹּל הִיא וְהִיא הַמִּדָּה הַשְּׁמִינִית מי"ג מִדּוֹת ........... וּמְבֹאָר זֶה בְּמִדְרָשׁוֹ שֶׁל ר' נְחוּנְיָא בֶּן הַקָּנֶה [סֵפֶר הַבָּהִיר כב] אָמְרוּ בַּפָּסוּק אָנֹכִי ה' עֹשֶׂה כֹּל נֹטֶה שָׁמַיִם לְבַדִּי רֹקַע הָאָרֶץ מֵאִתִּי [ישעיהו שם] אֲנִי כְּשֶׁנָּטַעְתִּי אִילַן זֶה לְהִשְׁתַּעֲשֵׁעַ בּוֹ כָּל הָעוֹלָם וְרָקַעְתִּי בּוֹ הַכֹּל וְקָרָאתִי שְׁמוֹ כָּל שֶׁהַכֹּל תָּלוּי בּוֹ וְהַכֹּל מִמֶּנּוּ יוֹצֵא וְהַכֹּל צְרִיכִין לוֹ וּבוֹ צוֹפִן וְלוֹ מְחַכִּים וּמִשָּׁם פּוֹרְחִים נְשָׁמוֹת לְבַדִּי הָיִיתִי כְּשֶׁעָשִׂיתִי אוֹתוֹ וְלֹא יִגְדַּל עָלָיו מַלְאָךְ לֵאמֹר אֲנִי קָדַמְתִּי לְךָ גַּם בְּעֵת שֶׁרָקַעְתִּי אַרְצִי שֶׁבָּהּ נָטַעְתִּי וְשֵׁרַשְׁתִּי אִילַן זֶה וּשְׂמַחְתִּים בְּיַחַד וְשָׂמַחְתִּי בָּהֶם מִי אִתִּי שֶׁגִּלִּיתִי לוֹ סוֹדִי זֶה עַד כָּאן.
After the Akeida and after Sarah dies, the Torah tells us that Avraham was old and HKB"H blessed him בַּכֹּל. What exactly is כֹּל? There are many different perushim on this. The Gemara (Bava Batra 16b) says Avraham had a daughter called בַּכֹּל. Rashi says HKB"H blessed him with a son (Yitzchak). The Ibn Ezra says with long life, wealth and nachat from his children.
The Ramban, above, takes a completely different direction. According to the Ramban, HKB"H has a מִדָּה, an attribute, called כֹּל which lies at the foundation of "everything". Everything HKB"H creates emanates from כֹּל, whether it is physical creation or even spiritual neshamot. The "wellspring" that gives rise to everything is called כֹּל. According to the Ramban, this is the 8th מִדָּה in HKB"H's י"ג מִדּוֹת, i.e the מִדָּה of אֱמֶת (according to the Ramban's numbering system).
In Meir Panim, I extensively explore the concept mentioned in the Gemara (Brachot 60b) - כָּל דְּעָבִד רַחֲמָנָא לְטָב עָבִד, everything that HKB"H does is for the good and how this manifests itself in the character trait of אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ.
The word כֹּל is a unique word in לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ because of its physical location in the alphabet. If you divide the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet into two groups of eleven letters each, the last letter of the first group is the letter כ and the first letter of the second group is the letter ל, making the word כֹּל. In other words, the word כֹּל is the pivotal, central point of the Hebrew alphabet.
Not surprisingly therefore it corresponds to the מִדָּה of אֱמֶת, since the word אמת similarly reflects the full spectrum of the alphabet, a letter from the beginning (א), a letter from the end (ת) and a letter from the middle (מ). The Maharal (נצח ישראל, לב) says that truth is not one sided, it reflects the entire spectrum, unlike the word שֶׁקֶר, which is all located only on one side of the alphabet.
Meir Panim says that since כֹּל is the central pivot point between two groups, it equally reflects both groups, like both sides of a coin, like an object and its mirror image.
There is a methodology of gematria called אתב"ש, which involves pairing a letter in the alphabet with its "mirror image" letter on the opposite side of the alphabet. For example, the mirror image of the first letter א is the last letter of the alphabet ת, making the pair א-ת. The mirror image of the second letter ב is the second last letter ש, making the pair ב-ש (hence the name אתב"ש). The mirror image of the third letter ג is the third last letter ר, making the pair ג-ר, and so on, until you get to the middle of the alphabet, the letter כ and its mirror image ל, making the pair כ-ל.
A word written in אתב"ש, is considered the "mirror image" of the word (not that the letters are simply reversed, but that it embodies the diametric opposite of the spectrum, like a magic mirror in which you see the antithesis to yourself or something). For example, the word אבא in אתב"ש is תשת, the "mirror image" of אבא is תשת. One of the only words in the Hebrew language whose mirror image consists of exactly the same letters (reversed) is the word כֹּל. The word כל in אתב"ש is לכ, the "mirror image" of כל is לכ.
The story of Avraham begins with לֶךְ (lamed kaf) - לֶךְ לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ and ends with כֹּל (kaf lamed) - וַה' בֵּרַךְ אֶת אַבְרָהָם בַּכֹּל.
In the beginning of the story Avraham left the neighborhood of his birth and childhood on a promise וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ וַאֲגַדְּלָה שְׁמֶךָ וֶהְיֵה בְּרָכָה. It began with לֶךְ. Avraham's life resembled a sine curve, blessings mixed with trials and tribulations. Avraham went down to Egypt penniless and returned with a vast fortune וּלְאַבְרָם הֵיטִיב בַּעֲבוּרָהּ וַיְהִי לוֹ צֹאן וּבָקָר וַחֲמֹרִים וַעֲבָדִים וּשְׁפָחֹת וַאֲתֹנֹת וּגְמַלִּים. Avraham had to wait until he was 100 years old before he bore a child and heir (Yitzchak) with his wife Sarah.
The end of the story, the mirror image of לֶךְ, is כֹּל. What was the "clincher", the game changer that allowed Avraham to arrive at the destination כֹּל, having "everything" - the diametric opposite of the beginning לֶךְ, when he left with nothing? The answer is the 10th and final trial, the Akeida.
In last week's shiur we touched upon the Akeida. Let us examine the story of the Akeida again briefly, with an amazing new chidush.
What does HKB"H command Avraham at the beginning of the story of the Akeida? וַיֹּאמֶר קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶת יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתָּ אֶת יִצְחָק וְלֶךְ לְךָ אֶל אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה וְהַעֲלֵהוּ שָׁם לְעֹלָה עַל אַחַד הֶהָרִים אֲשֶׁר אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ. According to the simple pshat of the passuk, HKB"H tells Avraham to take 4 things –
According to the Mefarshim, all four things are referring to Yitzchak - your son, your only son, the one you love, Yitzchak. Why not come out and say Yitzchak straight off? Many reasons are given in the Mefarshim - to not alarm him immediately, to give him extra שָׂכָר for each and every lashon, etc.
What if HKB"H was actually telling Avraham to take 4 different things? If we examine the later psukkim, we see that Avraham did in fact take four things with him – Yishmael (אֶת בִּנְךָ), Eliezer (אֶת יְחִידְךָ), the donkey (אֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתָּ), Yitzchak (אֶת יִצְחָק).
In last week's shiur we explained that the reason Yishmael and Eliezer tagged along was perhaps because Avraham was not certain who was to be sacrificed, was it Yishmael, Eliezer, Yitzchak? So, he took all three just in case. Why though, did he take the donkey along for the ride? There were four people and one donkey, so the donkey was not for riding on. Perhaps the donkey was to carry the wood. However, the donkey was a luxury, the four of them could have taken turns carrying the wood themselves. What was the purpose of the donkey?
As we said in last week's shiur, the donkey represents חָמְרִיּוּת, materialism. Avraham was exceedingly wealthy, he had צֹאן וּבָקָר וַחֲמֹרִים וַעֲבָדִים וּשְׁפָחֹת וַאֲתֹנֹת וּגְמַלִּים. Of all his possessions, the one most representative of material wealth was the חֲמֹרִים, the חָמְרִיּוּת. We know that tzaddikim value their material possessions greatly (re: Yaakov and the פַּכִים קְטַנִּים – Rashi, Breishit 32, 25, Gemara Chulin 91a). Avraham similarly greatly loved and valued his material possessions (אֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתָּ), which were given to him by HKB"H.
We mistakenly think that Avraham's final test was sacrificing only Yitzchak, but it was not like that at all. In his final trial, Avraham was called upon to sacrifice everything he had, his biological son Yishmael, his faithful servant Eliezer, all his wealth – the donkey וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָהָם אֶל נְעָרָיו שְׁבוּ לָכֶם פֹּה עִם הַחֲמוֹר וַאֲנִי וְהַנַּעַר נֵלְכָה עַד כֹּה, Yitzchak (who the Zohar HaKadosh says actually died during the Akeida and was reborn) and even his wife Sarah, who died after hearing about the Akeida. Avraham was prepared to sacrifice ALL of this, simply because HKB"H told him to.
Immediately following burying Sarah, the Torah says וַה' בֵּרַךְ אֶת אַבְרָהָם בַּכֹּל. A person can only achieve the level of כֹּל, everything – if they are prepared to give up everything, simply because HKB"H tells them to.
A person only achieves the מִדָּה of כֹּל, the מִדַּת הָאֱמֶת of HKB"H, the 8th of the י"ג מִדּוֹת - when they accept that everything that HKB"H has given them (and not given them) is all for the good. Both sides of the coin, the image and the mirror image, the sine curve, the ups and the downs – everything, the entire package, it is all for the good. This is the מִדָּה of אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ, the מִדָּה of כֹּל.
If we examine the letters in the word כֹּל, we have the כ, representative of an upturned palm of the hand (כף הַיָּד). Adjacent to this is the letter ל, the tallest letter in the alphabet, towering over the other letters, representative of HKB"H. We extend our upturned palm to HKB"H and He (only He) provides.
Now that we understand exactly what כֹּל is, we can proceed to discuss the subject of the shiur – Yovel.
Immediately preceding the subject of Yovel we have the subject of Shmita. As we all know, Shmita is a seven-year cycle – six years to work the land, in the seventh (Shmita) year we allow the land to rest. Similarly, we have six days of the week to work and the seventh (Shabbat) day we rest.
Yovel is a similar cycle based on the number seven - seven Shmita cycles (49 years), culminating in the 50th year, Yovel. The Yovel year (50th) is similar to the year preceding it (49th – Shmita) in that we are not allowed to work the land. It is like two Shmita years, one immediately after the other.
Unlike a regular Shmita year though, Yovel has an additional, unique characteristic – in the 50th year, all land purchased in the preceding 49 years, returns to its original owner. Similarly, all slaves purchased in the preceding 49 years are set free.
We have another 7X7 cycle culminating in the number 50 – Sfirat Ha'Omer. In Sfirat Ha'Omer we count seven weeks, which culminate in the 50th day, Shavuot.
The reason we have Sfirat HaOmer is because when Am Yisrael left Egypt, they were at the lowest 49th level of impurity. Before giving us the Torah, HKB"H had to raise us up to the 50th level, so that we resemble the angels. The 50th level is the highest level of purity that exists.
If we apply this same principle to Yovel, the 50th year, Yovel is the year with the highest level of purity. What facilitates this ultimate level of purity?
In the preceding (49th) Shmita year, HKB"H told us to give up working on our fields. We have to have total bitachon in HKB"H, that despite not working our lands, we will still have parnasa. HKB"H makes us a promise – "Place your full trust in Me and everything will be OK!" Does that remind you of something? Another promise … made to Avraham לֶךְ לְךָ. "Place your full trust in Me!" There are going to be two "lech's" - לֶךְ לְךָ, one at the start and one at the end. Avraham did and in the end HKB"H gave him everything!
Then comes the following (50th) year, Yovel. HKB"H says "It is not enough that you trust me by not working the land for one year. I want you to give it ALL up. I want you to give up all the land you purchased. I want you to free all your slaves. I want you to sacrifice everything!" I want you to do an Akeida, just like Avraham וְלֶךְ לְךָ אֶל אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה.
HKB"H says "Place your full trust in Me! It will all turn out well!" כָּל דְּעָבִד רַחֲמָנָא לְטָב עָבִד. Just like it turned out well for Avraham, וַה' בֵּרַךְ אֶת אַבְרָהָם בַּכֹּל, so too will it work out well for you, you will also merit the מִדָּה of כֹּל. The word כֹּל in gematria is 50, Yovel = כֹּל.
This is the essence of Yovel, the 50th year. It is the entire Am Yisrael doing an Akeida like Avraham Avinu, an act of ultimate faith.
And as it turns out, the neighborhood of my youth, Yeoville, does have something to do with Yovel after all.
The origin of the name of the town Yeoville comes from the word "yeoman". Yeoville is a village of yeomen! What is a yeoman?
There are two meanings of the word. The first is someone who owns and cultivates land. The second is a servant in a royal household. That is Yovel in a nutshell – someone who owns and cultivates land, who understands that he is but a servant in a royal household, a servant to HKB"H.
We should all be zocheh to hear the shofar of Yovel, the shofar of Mashiach בבי"א.
