The Shem MiShmuel relates an interesting teaching on parashah Behar in which the redemptive symbolism of Shemittah (the Sabbatical year) and Yovel (the Jubilee year) are considered. According to the Zohar the 7th year rest (Shemittah) corresponds to the “lower world” kabbalistically. It is a lower concept symbolized by the nation of Israel as a collective whole. The 50th year rest (Yovel) is a higher concept, corresponding to a higher “world”, one which relates to the individual within the nation of Israel.
From this teaching of the Zohar, the Shem MiShmuel considers two stages of the ultimate redemption. The first stage is the time of Messiah – or the Messianic Age. This is a time when Messiah will be king over Israel and the unifying force of all mankind. In this age a collective redemption will be realized. Israel will be united and expanded as the sons of the nations worship and serve HaShem along with them; “with one shoulder”. This collective redemption relates to the Shemittah year.
The second stage of the ultimate redemption is the Olama Haba (World to Come) which will follow the Messianic Age. This is a higher level of redemption in which each individual will be judged and rewarded for what they have done. Each person will experience a uniquely individual relationship with G-d in which service to Him will be based on the struggles they faced and achievements they acquired. It is one’s own “special” redemption, an individual redemption that relates to the Yovel year.
This same pattern is witnessed in the holidays of Pesach and Shavuot. Pesach is the remembrance of the redemption of the community. On that night HaShem redeemed Israel as a collective whole. However, community redemption is not sufficient, for each person also functions as an individual within the collective whole. Although Israel as a people stood at the foot of Sinai to receive the Torah, each individual heard the words of HaShem for himself. Likewise on the day of the giving of the Spirit on Shavuot, each individual displayed a tongue of fire resting upon his head. The collective whole received the Spirit, but each person praised G-d in an individualized tongue or language. The 49 days of the Omer focus on this individuality, on preparing personally day by day for the giving of the Torah and the Spirit on Shavuot. [1]
With this teaching in mind I contemplated my personal years of life, based on this mystical pattern. The baby book my mother kept for me, and gave to me as a keepsake many years ago, came to mind. This book, bound in a pink satin cover with a floral pattern, carries upon it the title; “Journey to Seven”. Being raised in a Catholic home, the age of seven had great significance. It is the year that the church defines as “the age of reason”, the time when a child matures to the point of understanding right from wrong. Traditionally, age seven is the time of one’s First Communion, the first sacrament in which the individual participates in the collective whole of the church community. Thus my baby book begins with pictures of an infant girl asleep in a bassinet and ends with pictures of a school age girl dressed in a white communion dress and veil. The journey to seven had been accomplished, the baby had grown and matured, to experience participation in the community of the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. My personal Shemittah year occurred in 1968.
Yet, the “church” does not recognize such a milestone for one’s personal Yovel year, the time when seven times seven years have been completed and the 50th year of life begins. But in Judaism, the fathers in their wisdom, declare the 50th year to be one of “counsel” (cf Pirkei Avot 5:25). At this time a person has matured to the point of giving counsel to others, now fit and experienced enough to be sought out individually from among the collective whole. It is a higher calling as well as an individualized one. Each individual’s counsel is a unique gift to others based on the life struggles and achievements they have encountered, which mold and shape their perspective. Just as with the 49 days of the Omer, in the 50th year one can consider their individual life pursuits and accomplishments as compared to the lives of others, and the outcomes that have occurred. It is a time that easily causes concern regarding the peace and prosperity that the wicked enjoy as compared to the struggles of those who seek after godliness. Enough of life has been lived to realize this painful and striking reality.
But regarding this focus on individual judgment and rewards of the World to Come, as symbolized by the Yovel year, Rabbi Chaim Volozhin relates that “everything depends on the majority of deeds”. Using an illustration from Kiddushin 60b this saying of the fathers is clarified.
The wicked man is rooted in impurity but still has a few merits to his credit. His merits are like branches reaching over to a pure place. HaShem prunes the branches of merit by rewarding him in this world with peace and prosperity, ease and lack of concern. In this way the wicked man will be judged in the Next World for what he truly is, a tree firmly rooted in impurity.
The righteous man is like a tree rooted in a pure place that still has a few demerits or faults. These faults are like branches reaching over to an impure place. HaShem prunes the branches of his few sins by punishing him in this world and allowing him to experience struggles, heartache, and difficulty. Therefore, in the Next World he can be judged for what he truly is, a tree firmly rooted in purity. [2]
With this in mind I welcome my personal Yovel year, initiated just about 6 weeks ago. How wonderful to enter this season of life in which individual service, struggles and joys play both a real and symbolic role regarding the greater redemption of the World to Come.
……………………………………
[1] Based on the teaching of Shem MiShmuel as presented in Rabbi Hershel Reichman, Parshat Behar: Personal and Communal Commitment to Torah, audio recording available here.
[2] Rabbi Chaim Volozhin, Ruach Chaim, rendered into English by Chanoch Levi, Targum Press,Southfield,MI, 2002 pp. 152-153.
