Dear Friends,

Today marks the 1st yahrzeit of our dear Rabbi Eli Baitelman, of blessed memory. We are so grateful to all who joined us in study last night and in prayers this morning. Please consider adding a mitzvah and an act of goodness and kindness dedicated to the elevation of his neshama.

In this week’s Torah portion we learn about the Yovel, the Jubilee year. The Jubilee year occurs every 50 years, during which all slaves are freed and all land reverts to its original owners. It is a great reset, when all that has been impacted by human choice and circumstance goes back to the way it was before. During the time when the Jews first settled the land of Israel, the land was divided up by tribe and family. The landowners may have been forced to sell their land because of financial or familial burdens, however, during the Jubilee year, their land was returned to them.

The number 50 in Judaism represents a spiritual upgrade, a step above the standard, a place beyond the limits of humanity. When the Jews left Egypt, they travelled through the desert for 49 days, struggling through post-traumatic stress from being enslaved. These 49 days, which are seven complete weeks, gave them time to do some inner work and to purify their characteristics in preparation for day 50, the day that Heaven came down to earth, the day that G-d gave us the Torah.

So too with the Jubilee year. The struggle and impact of day-to-day life causes people to be put in circumstances where they are forced to compromise and make hard choices. Humans are reactionary and must acclimate to whatever life brings their way. Sometimes it feels like an endless cycle of struggle and compromise. Then along comes the Jubilee. Whatever circumstance life forced upon us during the 49 years of inner work, reverts to the perfection of the Jubilee. If we were forced to concede and give up our land, our freedom, our connection to what makes us a nation, everything is returned to us in this state of perfection. The years in between are our time to prepare ourselves for this moment when Heaven meets earth, when G-d's goodness is revealed.

As we approach the anniversary of the giving of the Torah, this message is more impactful than ever. As the world demands that we give up the land that is rightfully ours. As so many stand against us, once again, and force us to sacrifice so much in a fight that we never chose. We must hold our heads high and stand strong, knowing that G-d is with us and is leading us to a place beyond the power of our enemies. A time when righteousness and goodness will overpower evil, a time when truth and justice will prevail.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Zushe Cunin