In Parshat Behar we learn about the shemitah and yovel years. Shemitah is when, after six years of working the land (if you are a farmer) to grow crops and produce, you leave the land alone in the seventh year. This seventh year shows that everything we have, all our success and jobs, comes from Hashem. Shemitah is like Shabbat. After six days of work, we have a day of rest to show our covenant with Hashem and that He is the one Who does everything. If we take a day off of work for God, it’s all going to be OK because He is ultimately the one in charge. If the shemitah year is like Shabbat, what is the yovel year similar to?

Yovel is the 50th year, which signifies the end of seven shemitah years. In the year of yovel, the land will continue not being worked—although they just had the shemitah year. While this shows the power of Hashem, it also teaches us something important. The fact that yovel isn’t the 49th year, which would be like day seven, Shabbat, but rather a new cycle of the week, teaches us something. The spirit of Shabbat is something we should take into our day-to-day week. Just because Shabbat ends, it doesn’t mean we should not learn Torah and take time for Hashem. We need to bring this high level of Shabbat into the week with us, just as the yovel year elongates shemitah.

By Shira Sedek