TORAH PORTION Machon L'Torah The Jewish Learning Network of Michigan Presents IS THE TORAH A HUMAN DOCUMENT? by Tzvi Inbal, scientist Jerusalem, Israel DISCOVER: • Current events "coded" in the Torah • Fulfilled prophecies correlated with world history • Astounding archaeological findings Wednesday May 23, 1990 7:00 p.m. Machon L'Torah The Jewish Learning Network of Michigan 15221 W. 10 Mile Road Oak Park, Michigan $5.00 Cost: Refreshments will be served For information and reservations call 967-0887 or 967-0888 Cosponsored by "Arachim" of Israel Date: Time: Location: The widely popular Arachim organization sponsors seminars throughout Israel, England, France, and the United States. They have established successful outreach centers and trained the personnel of various other outreach organizations. Amongst them are SEED of Lon- don, England and DISCOVERY of the United States. - • Kitchens Counter Tops Islands • Bathroom Vanities • Bedrooms • Dining Rooms • Wall Units • Tables • Store Fixtures *k id s Large Selection Of Prom Dresses West Bloomfield W. Bloomfield Plaza Orchard Lake Rd. Just S. of Maple 851-4410 COMMERCIAL/RESIDENTIAL - Custom - Laminated Furniture C.C.C. Cabinetry FREE Municipal Bonds Listing Receive Weekly Report WE SHIP FURNITURE MAPLE (at C RAN BROOK) BIRMINGHAM 433-3070 FRIDAY, MAY 18, 1990 Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 6453 FARMINGTON ROAD W. BLOOMFIELD 855-5822 48 JewishInformation Service 941-3050 hare SHLOMO RISKIN Special to The Jewish News W Hear from one of the originators of a modern technique that confirms the authenticity of the Torah and the beliefs Jews have adhered to for the last thirty five hundred years. Designs by Charles Gassam A Jubilee Year For The Jewish People hat does it mean to be free? Ideas abound in an at- tempt to define this most at- tractive concept. portion, Behar, begins with the laws of Shemitah, ordain- ing that every seventh year the land must rest for a com- plete year. We plant and sow and harvest the fields for six years, but during the seventh, the land must lie fallow, its fruits available to all as if the field were ownerless. For the land had returned to itself, to a kind of primordial state, similar to the seventh day of the week when man as creat- ive spirit takes a back seat to God as the creator. The Torah then tells us that at the end of seven such Sab- baths, the 50th year is de- clared a "jubilee" year. Dur- ing this time, slaves are freed even if they don't want to be freed, and property sold in the past 50 years is returned to the original owners, the descendants of those families who inherited portions when Joshua conquered and di- vided the land into tribal possessions. "And you shall hallow the 50th year, and proclaim liber- ty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee to you, and you shall return every man unto his family." (Lev. 25:10) (The founding fathers borrow- ed these words and inscribed them upon the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.) The Hebrew word used in the above cited biblical verse for "liberty" is dror, a word so rare in the Pentateuch that it appears but one other time, as the compound word mor-dror meaning "flowing or pure myrrh," an ingredient in the incense presented in the sanc- tuary (Exodus 30:23), an ob- vious reference to the sweet succulence of freedom. The Talmud, Tractate Rosh Hashana, 9b, tells us that the word dror means freedom. Rabbi Yehuda connects it linguistically with the word for a dwelling. "What is the significance of the word dror? The freedom of one who dwells where he likes and can carry on trade in the whole country." Rashi phrases it, "a We are winning. 5I ,AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY' Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is chief rabbi of Efrat, Israel, and dean of the Ohr Torah Institutions of Israel. person who can live wherever he wants to." Dror is also the Hebrew word sparrow, and according to the Torah Temimah com- pilation (Rabbi Baruch Eps- tein, 1860-1942) citing from Tractate Beza 24a, the reason why sparrow is called dror is because it accepts no authori- ty or direction. The Talmud understands that the use of the word dror in the context of proclaiming "liberty" casts light on the true nature of liberty, at least in terms of the Torah's percep- tion. In other words, a truly free person can live wherever he wants to and earn his liv- ing anywhere, as well. In assessing the different rungs of the liberty ladder, we see that a person may live in Bev- erly Hills, but if he really wants to live in Efrat, and can Shabbat Behar-Bechukotai: Leviticus 25:1-27:34, Jeremiah 16:19-17:14. not arrange to do so, then he isn't yet free. On the other hand, someone else may be hovering just above the pov- erty level in Jerusalem, but he may be freer than his friend in California since the individual in Jerusalem is precisely where he truly wishes to be. Freedom means mobility, physical as well as psycho- logical, and all the laws of the seventh year and the jubilee year are intended to give it back to people in case they had lost it in the course of the prior seven years due to migrating circumstances. At the time of the jubilee, even if the person doesn't want to leave slavery, he is obligated to. We must teach him, even impose on him if need be, the sweet joys of freedom. Debts are cancelled: "At the end of seven years you shall make a release . . . every creditor shall release that which he lent to his neighbor . . ." (Deut. 15:1-2). Just as the land returns to itself, so does a person who has fallen into debt. He, too, returns unto himself because a person in debt is not com- plete, not free. In effect, the jubilee year acknowledges that time can