May 24, 2019 · 07:54:50
Part I.We’re TenantsEARTHQUAKE IN ERETZ YISROELAnyone who reads this week’sparshaknows that in ancient times there was a great “earthquake” that shook the land of Eretz Yisroel every fifty years. Now, the land did not actually shake but on the tenth day of the year, soon after Yovel came in, a loud shofar blast was blown in Eretz Yisroel, and it was a sound that reverberated throughout the land causing great turmoil. It was a blast that was the catalyst for such great commotion, such movement and upheaval, that it was as if an earthquake had shaken the land.What did the sound of the shofar mean? It was an announcement, a grand proclamation to all the residents of Eretz Yisroel that: וְהָאָרֶץ לֹא תִמָּכֵר לִצְמִתֻת – “The land shall not be sold forever” (Behar 25:23), and what that meant was that the fields and homes that had been purchased in the last forty-nine years were now returned to their previous owners. That’s how it was in Eretz Yisroel in the times of the first Beis Hamikdash; whenever someone sold a property, it would revert back to the previous owner when Yovel came around. And so, as the Yovel year began, many people who had purchased real estate during the last fifty years had to pack up all their worldly possessions and leave their homes. Many large families with many children were uprooted from their homes.THE REAL ESTATE TUMULTFifty years! That’s a long time! People had become accustomed to living on this property and they invested a lot of money and effort