When is the next Jubilee year?

In short, the answer to your question is that the Jubilee year is currently not observed or commemorated. The reasons for this are complex and involve many different opinions on the matter. In the following lines I will attempt to briefly relay the relevant issues.

According to biblical law, the Jubilee is only observed when all twelve tribes of the Jewish nation are living in Israel, as is derived from the verse,1 “And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year, and proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live on it,” which implies that the Jubilee is only sanctified when “all who live on it”—meaning, all who are meant to be living there—are in the Land of Israel. Furthermore, the Jubilee is only observed when every tribe is living in the specific part of the land which was it was allotted when the Land of Israel was divided. However, some are of the opinion that the Jubilee is observed as long as there is a partial representation of each tribe, even if most of the tribe is not in Israel.

In the 6th century BCE, the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and sent the majority of its population into exile. Those who were deported are historically known as the Ten Lost Tribes.

We are certain that before that point in time the Jubilee was regularly observed. We also know that, with the destruction of the Second Temple and the disbandment of the Sanhedrin (supreme rabbinical court), we ceased to mark the Jubilee year in any form. The periods about which there is a question are the remaining years between the exile of the Ten Tribes and the destruction of the First Temple, and the Second Temple Era.

According to the opinion that partial representation of each tribe is sufficient to fulfill the scriptural requirement, biblically mandated Jubilees were fully observed throughout the periods in question, because there remained a small representation of each tribe in Israel.

However, according to the first opinion mentioned above, with the exile of the Northern Kingdom the required condition for the Jubilee to be sanctified was lost. Thus, the last time there was a biblical requirement to observe the Jubilee was about 150 years before the destruction of the First Temple.

The question remains, however, whether according to this opinion Jubilee years were designated or observed during this time by rabbinic injunction. This is the subject of debate amongst the sages.2

As mentioned above, though, today the Jubilee year is neither designated nor observed.3

And now for the answer to your question: “When is the next Jubilee year?”

We eagerly await the day when G‑d will bring our entire nation back to our homeland—including the ten “lost” tribes—and we will again resume observing the Jubilee year, as well as so many other mitzvot which we are incapable of performing until that awaited day.4

Rabbi Baruch S. Davidson

FOOTNOTES
1.	Leviticus 25:10.
2.	The reasons behind this debate: Although there was no biblical requirement to observe the Jubilee year after the Ten Tribes were exiled, the observance of the shemittah (Sabbatical year) remained a biblical obligation. The integrity of the seven-year Sabbatical cycle depended on the larger fifty-year cycle—after completing seven seven-year cycles, a one-year hiatus was taken before the new cycle began (on the 51st year). It was thus necessary to designate a (non-observed) fiftieth “Jubilee” year. Others explain that the sages also instituted the (partial) observance of the laws of Jubilee to commemorate the biblical mitzvah. However, there is also an opinion in the Talmud that the Jubilee is not an “in-between-cycles year,” but rather that it is the first of the next 49-year cycle, and thus not designating it would not impact the calculation of the Sabbatical cycles. This opinion also maintains that the Sages never instituted the Jubilee year as a commemoration.
3.	Although the laws of shemittah are observed in Israel to this very day, the Jubilee year is not designated or observed. There are many reasons for this. Some of them: a) The Jubilee only affected the shemittah cycle when the shemittah was established and declared by the Sanhedrin, as opposed to today when it is automatically programmed into the perpetual Jewish calendar. b) The observance of shemittah today is only a rabbinic decree, and therefore the Jubilee year does not affect its cycle. c) No commemoration is in order when there is no Sanhedrin, whose participation in the declaration of the Jubilee year was integral. In fact, it was the Sanhedrin’s blast of the shofar (ram's horn) on Yom Kippur which signaled the entry of the Jubilee year.
4.	The information in this response is taken from Encyclopedia Talmudit, vol. XXII, s.v. “Yovel.”

By Baruch S. Davidson

Rabbi Baruch S. Davidson is a member of the Chabad.org Ask the Rabbi team.

All names of persons and locations or other identifying features referenced in these questions have been omitted or changed to preserve the anonymity of the questioners.

More articles by Baruch S. Davidson | RSS

The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.

E-mail

Sort By:

NewestOldest

April 7, 2013

Return

Shalom, you wrote: "We eagerly await the day when G‑d will bring our entire nation back to our homeland—including the ten “lost” tribes—and we will again resume observing the Jubilee year, as well as so many other mitzvot which we are incapable of performing until that awaited day." OK so two things, does that imply you believe there are still lost israelites, like Sephardim forced to convert during the Inquisition and others that lost their identity along the way but will eventually return when the Eternal calls them? Also do the other mitzvot include returning to reckon the calendar and thus the moedim based on Torah and not the fixed Hillel calendar? I ask because it really grieves me to see how in Judaism the dating of the moedim are no longer determined as per Torah instructions. I have been told the wait is for Messiah to clear things but in the meantime we disobey and follow man's rulings instead of the instructions Elohim gave us long ago... I don't think He will be very happy.

Shoshana
GA

January 21, 2013

Fed up's comment

have never presented my self as an authority... I was referring to the Ultimate Authority... Who gave us Torah to reveal Himself to us, His creation... I am a fellow seeker of Him and His truth in Torah.

Charles Reed
Graham, WA

January 21, 2013

Re: Kens question

Charles, I suppose that the authorities that the author is quoting were as versed, and arguably more versed in the topic than you are, and that's how they earned the title. You are welcome to your opinion, and Torah study demands that we endeavor to understand with our own minds the subject matter being discussed, but unless you claim to be Divine, your opinion is not.

Fed up with he hijacking
Chicago

January 21, 2013

Ken's question, Shnas' comment

"Most authorities" are not The Authority. HaShem establishes patterns in all of His Mo'edim, that are consistent and may be known and understood. The 'type" or pattern for counting the Jubilee Year is reveal in the counting of the Omer to Shavuot.

Charles Reed
Graham

January 18, 2013

Re: Ken's question

Charles, your statement about the 50th being the first of the next 49 is only true according to one opinion mentioned in footnote 2. Most authorities, however, follow the first opinion which is that the Jubilee years is the last in the previous cycle after which another cycle begins with a Jubilee in the 50th.
The commencement of the counting began in 2503, with the first Jubilee being marked in 2552. Accordingly, had the Jubilee's not stopped the year 5802 (2042) would be the next Jubilee.

Shnas Hachamishim
Shiloh

January 17, 2013

Ken's question...

Ken, you will find the answer to your question if you look back through previous comments on this topic, but the basics are that a Jubilee year is every 49 years. The 50th year is the year of Jubilee, following seven Sabbatical years... or 7 7's. the 50th year is also the first year of the next 49 year period. 2016 is the next Sabbatical Year. It is the 3rd cycle of Sabbatical years leading to the final Year of Jubilee in the year 2045.

Charles Reed
Graham

January 16, 2013

Jubilee

If all the right events were lined up today, and based off the date of the last historically documented Jubilee, projecting out every 50 years between observances, what year would the next Jubilee be celebrated?

Ken
Enumclaw, WA

December 3, 2012

Response to Molly re: Ger Toshav

The Kesef Mishnah commentary ad loc. explains that the Rambam's directive here is directed at the courts. They cannot "formalize" a Ger Toshav's status in the present age. Thus, although the legal status of Ger Toshav does not apply in the present age, gentiles who observe the seven universal laws commanded to Noah's descendants even in the present age are called "the pious of the nations" who have a portion in the World to Come as Maimonides states in Laws of Kings 8:10

Baruch Davidson
Brooklyn

December 3, 2012

concerning noachide's redemption

Molly in San Antonio, Your question is a bit off topic for the thread, but it is certainly an important question. I would say that Halacha does preclude the need for the compliance, but I understand it is more an issue of heartfelt desire for you. This is good, but you should know that it is your choice. YHVH has made provision for us to draw near to Him, and Torah instructs us as to His charactor and His ways. May I suggest you seek your instruction from Torah, and not be as concerned for the things that are established in tradition. Tradition can be useful for revealing and living Torah, but beyond that they can confuse the heart.

Charles Reed
Graham

December 1, 2012

To Michael in NC A part of your quote contains "and ye shall return every man unto his possession." How could this happen if all 12 tribes are not at least represented? How can this happen when folks aren't sure of their tribe? And how does this apply to "Christian, Jew, and Muslim." Although the earlier verse says "all inhabitants", the later verse defines it.

Anonymous
Arkansas

Show all comments

Load next 50