In this study

Seven degrees of separation: Shabbat, Shavuot, Shmitah, YobelSteps toward return: Shmitah and Yobel in historyStep 1: It takes two to tangoStep 2: Three years of graceStep 3: Realize Whose property we manageLessons from Shabbat, Shmitah and YobelLeviticus 26: Not all atonement is bought with blood

There are some Torah rules that absolutely can’t be performed because there is no Temple. There are also some Torah rules that can only be performed in the Holy Land, but there are many that can be performed anywhere in the world without the Temple.

All the instructions in this reading are in the context of the Shmitah and Yobel. Don’t take them out of context. They have nothing to do with penalties that one might incur for failing to keep the Shabbat or for breaking one of the Ten Commandments.

Seven degrees of separation: Shabbat, Shavuot, Shmitah, Yobel

Here are some similarities between the Shabbat, Omer, Shmitah and Yobel:

* Shabbat (Sabbath) = 7 days* Shmitah (sabbatical year) = 7th year* Omer (bushel of grain) = 7 weeks + 1 day (between Passover and Shavuot/Pentecost)* Yobel (Jubilee) = 7 shmitahs + 1 year

These festivals are all designed to be discussed and understood in parallel with each other. The Shabbat day of rest should be thought of the same way as the sabbatical year (Shmitah).

The counting of the Omer should be thought of the same way as the counting of the Yobel. There are consequences for ignoring these rules. The consequences for ignoring the Shabbath and Shmitah are the same. The consequences for ignoring the Omer and the Yobel are the same.

The holy day cycle and the Shabbat are applicable regardless of where you live. They are eternal, and not limited to a particular place or a particular era. The Shabbat is on Saturday whether we believe it or not. It is inextricably tied to the creation week, a point in history. It’s counted regardless of whether it’s observed or not.

The same is true with Shavuot. Shavuot is inextricably linked to a time in history, which is the giving of the 10 commandments. It’s counted regardless of whether it’s observed or not.

The Shmitah is also counted by God, whether the people declare it or not, whether the people obey it or not. It’s true regardless and we are to be responsible for it regardless. It’s counted regardless of whether it’s observed or not.

“Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.”2Chronicles 36:20–21 NASB

Steps toward return: Shmitah and Yobel in history

We have evidence that the Sanhedrin declared the Jubilee in A.D. 67, but the next Jubilee wasn’t declared until 1867, which was declared by the Jewish leadership in London. It was also affirmed by Queen Victoria and Charles Warren,