The Forgotten Count: How the Torah’s 50-Year Jubilee Cycle Mirrors the Counting of the Omer

During the days of the Omer, we carefully count each night, making sure not to miss a day, confirming, “How many did we count yesterday?” Imagine doing this not for fifty days — but for fifty years! Could we remember, “How many did we count back at Yossi’s bar mitzvah?”

In Parshat Behar, the Torah commands: “You shall count for yourself seven sabbatical years, seven years seven times; and the days of the seven sabbatical years shall be forty-nine years.” This is the commandment of the Yovel, the Jubilee year. The Torah’s wording mirrors that of the Omer count, and according to Maimonides (Rambam), there was indeed a mitzvah to count the years toward the Jubilee — once every year, the court would bless and declare:
“This is the first year of the Yovel,” or “This is the thirtieth year — four sabbatical cycles and two years toward the Yovel.”

According to Rambam, the counting was performed by the Sanhedrin (High Court), and if they failed to count, the Jubilee year itself could not be properly established.

However, other early authorities disagree. Some interpret the verse metaphorically — that the Torah does not require an actual count like the Omer. Either way, the mitzvah of Yovel does not apply in our time, as it depends on the majority of the Jewish people dwelling in the Land of Israel. Today, only Shemittah (the Sabbatical year) applies by rabbinic decree. The hope remains that soon, when the majority of Israel returns to its land, halachic authorities will need to decide how to renew the Yovel count in practice.

The Geonim wrote that during the Babylonian Exile, no Jubilees were counted, because there was no functioning Sanhedrin to perform the counting — and without the counting, the year itself did not begin. In contrast, during the Second Temple, the court did count, though the mitzvah did not apply in full, since most Jews were not in the Land. Still, those years were included in the continuous count of seven-year cycles that allows us to calculate today’s Shemittah years — and, God willing one day, the Yovel as well.

An additional debate among the Sages concerned whether the fiftieth year, the Jubilee itself, is also counted as the first year of the next cycle. The Torah instructs: “Seven years, seven times,” totaling forty-nine — and the fiftieth year is declared holy. Does that year also begin the next cycle of seven?

• According to the Sages, it does not.

• According to Rabbi Yehudah, it does.

Thus, two systems of calculation existed — one with cycles of 49 years, the other of 50. The halachah follows the majority view: the Jubilee year stands alone, not included in the next seven-year Shemittah cycle.

While we count the Omer from Pesach to Shavuot, the Torah also calls us to a higher rhythm — to keep count not only of days, but of decades and generations, preparing for that ultimate time when the Yovel will once again sound throughout the Land, “proclaiming liberty for all its inhabitants.” (Vayikra 25:10)