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.