Counting 50 Years: A Deep Dive into the Jubilee Year

As we meticulously count the days of the Omer, ensuring we do not forget each day and always check "what was yesterday," the challenge intensifies when considering a count extending over 50 years. Could we remember, "How many did we count ten years ago, at Yossi's bar mitzvah?"

In the Torah portion of Behar, it states: "You shall count for yourself seven Sabbaths of years, seven years seven times, and the period of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be forty-nine years." This refers to the mitzvah of the Jubilee year. The language closely resembles the Omer count, and indeed, Maimonides holds that there is a mitzvah to count; once a year, the court should bless: "Blessed are You... who commanded us concerning the counting of the Jubilee," marking each year like "this is year one of the Jubilee," or "this is year 30, four Sabbaths of years and two years of the Jubilee." This responsibility falls on the court, and if they fail to count, it could affect the Jubilee year.

However, according to other early sages, this is not clear, and perhaps the Torah does not intend for an active count, unlike the Omer. In any case, the mitzvah of the Jubilee is not practiced today, as most Jews do not reside in the land. Only the Shemitah year is observed rabbinically, in hope that B'ezrat Hashem, most Jews will soon inhabit the land, and halachic authorities will then need to resolve various disputes to properly observe the Jubilee.

The Geonim mention a tradition that during the First Temple's exile, Jubilees were not counted. Rabbi Chaim of Brisk explained that without a court responsible for counting, the Jubilee year did not exist. Conversely, during the Second Temple period, a court did count, but it was not obligatory, as the Jews were not on their land, yet the Jubilee year existed as part of the ongoing count of years for determining Shemitah, and B'ezrat Hashem, soon also the Jubilee.

Interestingly, there was a debate among the Tannaim whether the Jubilee year is part of the subsequent count of seven-year cycles or not. The Torah speaks of seven cycles of seven years, waiting for forty-nine years, and the fiftieth is the Jubilee year—but does it also count as the first year of the next Shemitah cycle? The sages say no, but Rabbi Yehuda says yes. Thus, there are two methods to calculate the Jubilee year. Nevertheless, the halacha follows the majority, the sages, and therefore the Jubilee year is not included in the seven-year cycle of the next Shemitah.