Positive Commandment 138 (Digest)
The Return of Hereditary Property during the Jubilee Year
"Throughout the land of your possession, you shall give redemption for the land"—Leviticus 25:24.
During the Jubilee Year, all acquired land must be returned – free of charge – to its original owner, as explained in the Torah.
This mitzvah applies only to real estate that is not within a walled city, and is only practiced in the Land of Israel, and only when all of the tribes are settled therein, each in their ancestral portion of the Land.
The
138th mitzvah is that we are
commanded in this [Jubilee] Year to return all property which has been
purchased to its original owners. It is released from the buyer's possession
without payment.
The
source of this mitzvah is G‑d's
statement, "[Since the land is Mine, no land shall be
sold permanently. You are foreigners and resident aliens as far as I am
concerned,] and therefore, there shall be a time of redemption for all your
hereditary lands." It is specifically explained for us that the redemption
takes place in this particular year in G‑d's statement, "In this Jubilee Year, every man shall return
to his hereditary property."
Scripture
goes into the various details of this mitzvah
and explains how the seller settles with the buyer if, before the Jubilee Year,
he wants to repurchase the land he sold. It is also explained that this mitzvah applies only to land which is
outside the wall of the city. Courtyards and houses built in villages are
treated like fields and gardens since they were not built within walls. They are the batei hachatzerim referred to in the verse, "[Batei
hachatzerim that do not have walls around them] shall be considered the same as open land; they shall thus be
redeemable, and shall be released by the Jubilee."
The
details of this mitzvah are explained
in tractate Erachin.
It
too applies only in Eretz Yisrael and
only when the Jubilee Year is in effect.
Negative Commandment 227 (Digest)
Selling Land in Israel for Perpetuity
"The land shall not be sold forever"—Leviticus 25:23.
It is forbidden to sell real estate in the Land of Israel for perpetuity. [Instead, land must be sold with the understanding that it will return to its original owner during the Jubilee Year.]
The
227th prohibition is that we are forbidden from permanently selling land in Eretz Canaan.
The
source of this mitzvah is G‑d's
statement, "And no land shall be sold permanently."
The
details of this mitzvah are explained
in the end of tractate Erachin.
Positive Commandment 139 (Digest)
Redeeming Property in Walled Cities
"And if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city..."—Leviticus 25:29.
Properties within a walled city in the Land of Israel [walled since the times of Joshua] can be redeemed (i.e., repurchased) by the seller for an entire year following the sale. If the seller did not redeem the property within that window of time, the sold property remains permanently in the property of the buyer—it does not revert to the seller during the Jubilee Year.
The
139th mitzvah is that we are
commanded that if one has possessions which are located within the walls of a city
and they were sold, one has the right to redeem them only for one year. After
the year has passed, the buyer becomes the full owner, and remains so even
after the Jubilee Year.
The
source of this mitzvah is G‑d's
statement, "When a man sells a residential house in a
walled city [he shall be able to redeem it until the end of one year after he
has sold it]."
This
mitzvah is known as "the law of batei arei chomah."
The
details of this mitzvah are explained
in tractate Erachin. It applies only in Eretz Yisrael.
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