The opening verses of this week’s parasha speaks of 2 mitzvot related solely to the Land of Israel: Shmita and Yovel. Shmita is the teaching that every 7th year the land is to lay fallow and not be sowed or harvested. Yovel, translated as Jubilee, is the concept that every 50 years the land’s ownership returns to its original holders. Whereas Shmita is still practiced in some form in modern Israel, observance of Yovel was only applicable when the tribes of Israel resided in the land. Upon entering the Land of Israel, each member of the 12 tribes was given a parcel of land to possess. Individuals were at liberty to sell the land, but only for the number of years remaining until the Jubilee year. In this way, the Torah safeguards that one born into an impoverished situation would have the chance to improve her lot. Once tribal ownership was eliminated via expulsion from the land, observance of the Yovel was no longer practical/applicable. In modern times, a properly implemented ‘estate tax’ may be seen as an attempt at the redistribution of wealth in order to assist the less fortunate both financially and psychologically in the attempt to climb the financial social ladder – and as a measure to prevent the power of affluence to remain in the hands of the same families for perpetuity.
