1 And the Rabbis [ — what do they make of these words]? — [They say]: You are to count the fiftieth year, but you are not to count the fifty-first, to exclude the view of R. Judah, who said that the fiftieth year is reckoned both ways. We are here told that this is not so. And how do we know [from the Scripture] that we add from the profane on to the holy? — As it has been taught: In plowing time and in harvest time thou shalt rest. R. Akiba, [commenting on this,] said: There was no need [for Scripture] to specify the ploughing and harvest of the Sabbatical year, since this has already been mentioned [in] thy field thou shalt not sow etc. What must be meant therefore is the ploughing of the year before the seventh which is passing into the seventh, and the harvest of the seventh year which is continuing into the period after the seventh year. R. Ishmael said: Just as ploughing is optional, so the harvest [here referred to] is an optional one, excluding the harvesting of the ‘Omer, which is a religious duty. Whence then does R. Ishmael derive the rule that an addition is to be made from the profane on to the holy? — From what has been taught: And ye shall afflict your souls on the ninth day: I might think [literally] on the ninth day. It therefore says, In the evening. if in the evening, I might think, after dark? It therefore says , ‘or, the ninth day’. What then am I to understand? That we begin fasting while it is yet day; which shows that we add from the profane on to the holy. I know this [so far] only in regard to the inception [of the holy day]; how do I know it in regard to its termination? Because it says, from evening to evening. So far I have brought only the Day of Atonement under the rule; how do I know that it applies to Sabbaths also? Because it says, ye shall rest. How do I know that it applies to festivals? Because it says, your Sabbath. How am I to understand this? That wherever there is an obligation to rest, we add from the profane on to the holy. What then does R. Akiba make of this, ‘and ye shall afflict your souls on the ninth day’? — He requires it for the lesson learnt by R. Hiyya b. Rab from Difti. For R. Hiyya b. Rab from Difti learnt: ‘And ye shall afflict your souls on the ninth day’. Do we then fast on the ninth day? Is it not on the tenth day that we fast? [We do]; but [the use of this word] indicates that if a man eats and drinks on the ninth day, the Scripture accounts it to himᵃᵇᶜᵈᵉᶠᵍʰⁱʲᵏˡᵐⁿᵒ
2 as if he fasted on both the ninth and the tenth days. Our Rabbis taught: It is a Jubilee — ‘A Jubilee’ even though they did not observe the release of fields, even though they did not observe the blowing of the trumpet. I might say [that it is still a Jubilee] even though they did not observe the dismissal of slaves. Therefore it says, ‘it is’. So R. Judah. R. Jose said: ‘It is a Jubilee’, — ‘A Jubilee’ even though they did not release fields, even though they did not dismiss slaves. I might think [that it is still a Jubilee] even if they did not blow the trumpet. It therefore says, ‘it is’. Now since one text brings some cases under the rule and another text excludes others from it, why should I expound: ‘A Jubilee’, even though they did not dismiss, but it is not a Jubilee unless they blew the trumpet’? Because it is possible that there should be no [opportunity for] dismissing slaves, but it is not possible that there should be no [opportunity for] blowing the trumpet. Another explanation is that the per formance of the latter depends on the Beth din, but the performance of the former does not depend on the Beth din. What need is there for the alternative explanation? — Because you might argue that it is impossible that there should not be someone in some part of the world who has not a slave to dismiss. Therefore I say that the one depends on the Beth din but the other does not depend on the Beth din. I understand R. Jose's point of view, his reason being as he stated. But what is R. Judah's reason? — The text says, And ye shall proclaim liberty throughout the land, and he holds that a text may be expounded in connection with the clause immediately preceding it, but not with the one before that. All authorities agree that the word deror means freedom. What does this tell us? — As it has been taught: The word deror means freedom. R. Judah said: What is the significance of the word deror? [The freedom of] one who dwells [medayyer] where he likes and can carry on trade in the whole country. R. Hiyya b. Abba said in the name of R. Johanan: The views given above are those of R. Judah and R. Jose, but the Sages say that [the neglect of] any of these three ceremonies renders the Jubilee inoperative. Their view was that a text can be expounded in connection both with the clause immediately preceding it and with the one before that and with the one that follows it. But it is written ‘Jubilee’? — This is to show that it must be kept even outside of Palestine. But it is written ‘throughout the land’? — This means that when liberation is carried out in the land it is carried out abroad, and when it is not carried out in the land it need not be carried out abroad. AND FOR PLANTATION. How do we know this [from the Scripture]? — Because it is written, Three years [it shall be] uncircumcised, and it is written, and in the fourth year, and we learn that this year commences with Tishri from the analogy of the word ‘year’ in the text from the beginning of the year. But why not conclude that it commences with Nisan from the analogy of the word ‘year’ in It is the first to you of the months of the year? — We draw an analogy to a year with which months are not mentioned from a year with which months are not mentioned, but we do not draw an analogy to a year with which months are not mentioned from a year with which months are mentioned. Our Rabbis taught: ‘If one plants or bends over or grafts a tree in the year before the Sabbatical year thirty days before New Year — in all three cases, [by New Year] a year has passed for him, and he can preserve the growth during the seventh year. [If he does so] less than thirty days before New Year, the interval [up to New Year] does not count as a year for him and he may not preserve the growth in the Sabbatical yearᵖᵠʳˢᵗᵘᵛʷˣʸᶻᵃᵃᵃᵇᵃᶜᵃᵈᵃᵉᵃᶠᵃᵍᵃʰᵃⁱᵃʲᵃᵏᵃˡ