The Commandment of Jubilee in Our Time
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Question
Hello, does the commandment of Jubilee apply in our time? Is it known how many years remain until the Jubilee?
Answer
Hello,
A.
The commandment of Jubilee only applies when all of Israel is on their land, and for this reason, it does not apply in our time. It also did not apply in Israel since some of the tribes were exiled at the end of the First Temple period.
Additionally, the tribes must be distinct and residing in their places, not mixed, and this, of course, does not exist in our time.
B.
There is a debate on how to calculate the Jubilee: whether the fiftieth year is in addition to the sabbatical years, meaning the 49th year is a sabbatical, the 50th year is Jubilee, and the 51st year is the first year of the next cycle, or whether the 50th year is also the first year of the next Jubilee. There are several discussions on this matter. Therefore, we cannot know when the year that should have been a Jubilee would be.