Year of release?

[anotherglenda]

Part of the season of Yom Kippur & Sukkot involves release

When is the year of release please?

If it is unknown, can a Jewish panel decide when it may be so it can be practiced?
It is surely better to have an incorrect year of release, which God can correct when He chooses, rather than have no year of release?
(like if there was an extended blackout of electricity and natural light, then it would surely be better to observe a possibly incorrect seventh-day rest than work 7 days and observe zero rest? ... for our good, God demands a 7th day rest & a 7th year release and God willingly forgives us our sins of mistake when we ask Him?)

To 'love neighbour as self' it is vital to be able to practice this release.
For God to 'forgive us our debts as we forgive others' also requires us to practice this merciful release.
The joy and rest of debt relief is to be observed every 7th year. God clarifies that it is part of Yom Kippur and the joy is to be appreciated during Sukkot.
IS 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Deu 31:10 And Moses commanded them, saying: 'At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

The year of release also coincides with letting the land rest, which matters greatly to God and failing to comply has dire consequences:
LEV 26:34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

Please can you let me know when is the year of release?
Hugely appreciated
blessings

 

[Levite]

Part of the season of Yom Kippur & Sukkot involves release

When is the year of release please?

If it is unknown, can a Jewish panel decide when it may be so it can be practiced?
It is surely better to have an incorrect year of release, which God can correct when He chooses, rather than have no year of release?
(like if there was an extended blackout of electricity and natural light, then it would surely be better to observe a possibly incorrect seventh-day rest than work 7 days and observe zero rest? ... for our good, God demands a 7th day rest & a 7th year release and God willingly forgives us our sins of mistake when we ask Him?)

To 'love neighbour as self' it is vital to be able to practice this release.
For God to 'forgive us our debts as we forgive others' also requires us to practice this merciful release.
The joy and rest of debt relief is to be observed every 7th year. God clarifies that it is part of Yom Kippur and the joy is to be appreciated during Sukkot.
IS 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Deu 31:10 And Moses commanded them, saying: 'At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

The year of release also coincides with letting the land rest, which matters greatly to God and failing to comply has dire consequences:
LEV 26:34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

Please can you let me know when is the year of release?
Hugely appreciated
blessings

The year of release is sometimes called the Sabbatical year. In Hebrew it is shmitah.

The correct counting of the shmitah cycle was lost long ago, though there have been various sages who tried to calculate it and return to the proper cycle over the years, depending on how large and vibrant the Jewish populace of the Land of Israel was (shmitah is applicable only in the Land of Israel). Many if not most observant Jews living in Israel practice shmitah, and do so in accordance with the cycle as calculated by the rabbis of the Old Yishuv (the earliest modern pre-Zionist Jewish residents of the Land of Israel), adopted by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. A smaller number hold the viewpoint that shmitah has become voluntary until the coming of the messiah and the ingathering of the exiles.

Biblically, the requirements involving both hashmatat kesafim (release of debt, financial obligation, and indentured servitude) and of hashmatat karka (cessation of agriculture for the year) were quite stringent. Rabbinic law and teaching provide various legal apparatus for circumventing the more stringent practices of shmitah, which would be otherwise ruinous to any kind of stable economy on a large scale and in a modern world.

For those who accept the cycle endorsed by the Chief Rabbinate, this year (just begun) is a shmitah year.

 

[anotherglenda]

The year of release is sometimes called the Sabbatical year. In Hebrew it is shmitah.

The correct counting of the shmitah cycle was lost long ago, though there have been various sages who tried to calculate it and return to the proper cycle over the years, depending on how large and vibrant the Jewish populace of the Land of Israel was (shmitah is applicable only in the Land of Israel). Many if not most observant Jews living in Israel practice shmitah, and do so in accordance with the cycle as calculated by the rabbis of the Old Yishuv (the earliest modern pre-Zionist Jewish residents of the Land of Israel), adopted by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. A smaller number hold the viewpoint that shmitah has become voluntary until the coming of the messiah and the ingathering of the exiles.

Biblically, the requirements involving both hashmatat kesafim (release of debt, financial obligation, and indentured servitude) and of hashmatat karka (cessation of agriculture for the year) were quite stringent. Rabbinic law and teaching provide various legal apparatus for circumventing the more stringent practices of shmitah, which would be otherwise ruinous to any kind of stable economy on a large scale and in a modern world.

For those who accept the cycle endorsed by the Chief Rabbinate, this year (just begun) is a shmitah year.

Thank you for that wealth of information Levite.
It was what I needed to know & wonderfully more. Thank you
Hugely appreciated.
blessings and peace to you and yours

 

[anotherglenda]

Sorry for so many questions Levite (I'm ignorant on many issues), but what does "Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?" mean?

 

[roger1440]

Part of the season of Yom Kippur & Sukkot involves release

When is the year of release please?

If it is unknown, can a Jewish panel decide when it may be so it can be practiced?
It is surely better to have an incorrect year of release, which God can correct when He chooses, rather than have no year of release?
(like if there was an extended blackout of electricity and natural light, then it would surely be better to observe a possibly incorrect seventh-day rest than work 7 days and observe zero rest? ... for our good, God demands a 7th day rest & a 7th year release and God willingly forgives us our sins of mistake when we ask Him?)

To 'love neighbour as self' it is vital to be able to practice this release.
For God to 'forgive us our debts as we forgive others' also requires us to practice this merciful release.
The joy and rest of debt relief is to be observed every 7th year. God clarifies that it is part of Yom Kippur and the joy is to be appreciated during Sukkot.
IS 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Deu 31:10 And Moses commanded them, saying: 'At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

The year of release also coincides with letting the land rest, which matters greatly to God and failing to comply has dire consequences:
LEV 26:34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

Please can you let me know when is the year of release?
Hugely appreciated
blessings

Since we can always enter God's rest now, the counting always begins now.

 

[roger1440]

Look closely at these nunbers. What do you notice?

1/7 = 0.1428571428571428
2/7 = 0.2857142857142857
3/7 = 0.4285714285714285
4/7 = 0.5714285714285714
5/7 = 0.7142857142857142
6/7 = 0.8571428571428571

Pretty cool isn't it.

 

[Levite]

Sorry for so many questions Levite (I'm ignorant on many issues), but what does "Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?" mean?

"Who guards the guardians themselves" or "Who watches the watchers."

The phrase comes from Juvenal the playwright, but is often used in connection with Plato's "Republic," where similar ideas are expressed in terms of doubting that a set of people entrusted with guardianship of society can exist successfully without training or oversight.

In popular usage over the past couple of centuries, the quote has often been used to synthesize the idea that those in power require oversight themselves, as unchecked power can and will be manipulated and corrupted.

 

[anotherglenda]

Since we can always enter God's rest now, the counting always begins now.

Thank you roger1440 and I agree with you that we can enter some rest now ... but working on non-rest days is as much a blessing as rest is on rest days. I believe we were created for both and I appreciate the blessing of both. I now also believe that the land must also have been created for work and for rest. I like gardening and believe it must be important to allow my ground to have some rest. I appreciate rest and it must too ... but watch out weeds

We can certainly enter into the rest of personal debt forgiveness at any time ... whether personal financial or emotional debt. I value personal welfare so I forgive personal hurts as fast as possible ... for my own sake rather than for the sake of the person hurting me ... I'm quite sure they don't desire my forgiveness, but they don't have the power to force their choice onto me and I find holding a grudge makes one ill physically and spiritually and I wish to avoid that so I choose to forgive, even although my reason is unfortunately selfish for my own welfare. I'm not into demanding the debt of an apology and I'm happy to downgrade to eliminate any financial debt of family.

Impersonal financial debt release messes with my head. My new boss underpays me (and even keeps some of my fuel money etc) and it obviously doesn't bother him if I forgive that or not (I believe he'll have to answer to God if he doesn't repent so I hope he repents), but for my own sake I needed to know when I could fairly legitimately say 'ok, it's the year of release so financial debt is over' ... somehow it frees me even if it doesn't bother him. Levite did me a huge favour letting me know that is now, rather than some future year. I'm very grateful. I can celebrate current freedom from debt involvement

I think the year of release would be a wonderful joyful blessing for those who actually suffer in any way for the sake of a burden of financial debt.

 

[anotherglenda]

Look closely at these nunbers. What do you notice?

1/7 = 0.1428571428571428
2/7 = 0.2857142857142857
3/7 = 0.4285714285714285
4/7 = 0.5714285714285714
5/7 = 0.7142857142857142
6/7 = 0.8571428571428571

Pretty cool isn't it.

That took me a while! (I'm slow)
First thing I noticed was that I need new glasses lol
As I persisted I finally saw the pattern of same numbers in recurring order just shifted along .... yes, very cool

 

[anotherglenda]

"Who guards the guardians themselves" or "Who watches the watchers."

The phrase comes from Juvenal the playwright, but is often used in connection with Plato's "Republic," where similar ideas are expressed in terms of doubting that a set of people entrusted with guardianship of society can exist successfully without training or oversight.

In popular usage over the past couple of centuries, the quote has often been used to synthesize the idea that those in power require oversight themselves, as unchecked power can and will be manipulated and corrupted.

Thank you so much for that.
My first thoughts on reading your first line of translation was 'oh, that's my job' (since I'm a community carer with a major part of my task being to support primary family carers to ease their load & insulate them ... hence I thought 'guarding the guardians')
I recognised my initial errant assumption when I kept reading ... oops
Yes I'm ignorant ... never read Juvenal or Plato ... again oops
Your statement "doubting that a set of people entrusted with guardianship of society can exist successfully without training or oversight." is spot-on!
Our local council is a prime example of unchecked misuse of power of this small rural society. Larger governing bodies are sadly larger examples over larger societies
I agree those in power require oversight.

Thank you for your patience in enlightening me
peace to you and yours

 

[roger1440]

That took me a while! (I'm slow)
First thing I noticed was that I need new glasses lol
As I persisted I finally saw the pattern of same numbers in recurring order just shifted along .... yes, very cool

The number seven represents completeness and/or renewal in Jewish and Christian scripture. It is more prevalent in Jewish scripture. Example: God had renewed the world with the flood. The sign was the seven colors in the bow in the sky.

“I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” (Genesis 9:13)​

 

[Samantha Truman]

Some shemita years are

476, interesting the year the Roman Empire officially collapsed. As far as I can tell this was also a Jubilee year.

1973 was a shemita year, which is also the year the Twin Towers were completed
1980 - I believe there was a stock market collapse this year
1987 - can't remember what happened
1994 - can't remember what happened
2001, shemita year, Twin Towers collapsed
2008, shemita year, housing market collapses in USA, we go into a recession

7 years from 2008 is 2015.

This 2015 season we're letting the land rest. I'm not Jewish, but I think the pattern for shemitah years follows the the same principle a day is evening to evening/sunset-sunset. So the year of release begins in the "evening"/ "sunset" of 2014 and ends in the fall of 2015.

 

[anotherglenda]

Some shemita years are

476, interesting the year the Roman Empire officially collapsed. As far as I can tell this was also a Jubilee year.

1973 was a shemita year, which is also the year the Twin Towers were completed
1980 - I believe there was a stock market collapse this year
1987 - can't remember what happened
1994 - can't remember what happened
2001, shemita year, Twin Towers collapsed
2008, shemita year, housing market collapses in USA, we go into a recession

7 years from 2008 is 2015.

This 2015 season we're letting the land rest. I'm not Jewish, but I think the pattern for shemitah years follows the the same principle a day is evening to evening/sunset-sunset. So the year of release begins in the "evening"/ "sunset" of 2014 and ends in the fall of 2015.

Thank you for this information Samantha.

Your comment "...I think the pattern for shemitah years follows the the same principle a day is evening to evening/sunset-sunset. So the year of release begins in the "evening"/ "sunset" of 2014" was like turning on a light for me thank you!
It now makes sense to me why, in scripture, the release happens during the feast of tabernacles towards the end of the year!
Thank you thank you thank you

 

[Kolibri]

Out of curiosity, does Judaism still keep the 50th or Jubilee year after the 7 weeks of 7 years? How is it treated differently in modern times?

I think I would have liked to have experienced the 48th year myself - to see the bounty that would carry the nation thru to the harvest of the 51st. I would have liked too to have received back a family inheritance that had been sold for time between Jubilee to start anew, or better yet to be in a position to give back the land to someone else.

Then again, I might have been one who had my ear pierced with an awl - depending on my master.

 

[Levite]

Out of curiosity, does Judaism still keep the 50th or Jubilee year after the 7 weeks of 7 years? How is it treated differently in modern times?

I think I would have liked to have experienced the 48th year myself - to see the bounty that would carry the nation thru to the harvest of the 51st. I would have liked too to have received back a family inheritance that had been sold for time between Jubilee to start anew, or better yet to be in a position to give back the land to someone else.

Then again, I might have been one who had my ear pierced with an awl - depending on my master.

As far as I know, though there are those who follow the reinstituted shmitah cycle in Israel, no one has reinstituted the yovel (Jubilee). This is, in part, because there is still doubt as to the correct count of the shmitah/yovel cycle, and in part because elements of the yovel are no longer feasible. All land in the Land of Israel is supposed to return to its original tribe and clan allotments in the yovel, and not only do we not know where the precise boundaries lay, we don't know everyone's tribe and clan lineage; plus the problem of a large chunk of the Land of Israel not being "owned" by Jews currently. There are a few other issues as well, but you get the picture.

 

[Kolibri]

yes. Those were the issues I was thinking of. I just did not know if adjustments have been made to figure it in as part of the 50 year cycle of 7 weeks of years + 1 year. I could be wrong, but I thought with year 49 being shmitah, the next shmitah would not be until year 57 - if yovel was currently observed in some way. That was what prompted my question, actually. A question raised by the math.

 

[Levite]

yes. Those were the issues I was thinking of. I just did not know if adjustments have been made to figure it in as part of the 50 year cycle of 7 weeks of years + 1 year. I could be wrong, but I thought with year 49 being shmitah, the next shmitah would not be until year 57 - if yovel was currently observed in some way. That was what prompted my question, actually. A question raised by the math.

No, the yovel would be the fiftieth year. Just like one counts forty-nine days from Passover beginning, and the fiftieth day is Shavuot (Pentecost).