Can a Sabbatical Year begin at the 1st month??

[Zvi]

‎~ I hope for Your salvation, O YHWH ~

Can anyone present a solid favorable case for the Sabbatical Years
(Shemitah) beginning at the First Month (Nissan) instead of the
Seventh Month (Tishrei)?
I suspect it can start only at the Seventh Month, but I wish to
examine if this is possibly wrong. That's why I'm asking what I am.

I wish NG elaborated his case for starting them in Nissan beyond his
reference to the passage from Wayiqra/Lev on Karaite Korner.

May YHWH bless you,
Zvi

[Zvi]

Shalom folks,

I've presented this question in other fora and am dumbfounded at how
difficult or time consuming it is for those who can present this case
to put it forth.

Zvi

[Yaaqov Ben Yisrael]

 

Shalom Zvi,

 

 It is my opinion that the sabbatical year is only announced during the 7th month, but the sabbatical year does not begin until the first month. The year begins, as YHWH says, in the first month: 

הַחֹ֧דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם רֹ֣אשׁ חֳדָשִׁ֑ים רִאשֹׁ֥ון הוּא֙ לָכֶ֔ם לְחָדְשֵׁ֖י הַשָּׁנָֽה׃

 

 The statement in Devarim: וַיְצַ֥ו מֹשֶׁ֖ה אֹותָ֣ם לֵאמֹ֑ר מִקֵּ֣ץ׀ שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֗ים בְּמֹעֵ֛ד שְׁנַ֥ת הַשְּׁמִטָּ֖ה בְּחַ֥ג הַסֻּכֹּֽות׃

בְּבֹ֣וא כָל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל לֵרָאֹות֙ אֶת־פְּנֵי֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בַּמָּקֹ֖ום אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִבְחָ֑ר תִּקְרָ֞א אֶת־הַתֹּורָ֥ה הַזֹּ֛את נֶ֥גֶד כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּאָזְנֵיהֶֽם׃

 

Should not be read so as to assume the year ended in the seventh month, but only that the Torah should be read at the end of the seventh year during the seventh month when all Israel would be present during the feast of sukkoth. Which would indicate that this was the last of the seven years and also the last feast at which all Israel would be at the chosen place together during the seven years of counting.

 

We know that there are at least 11 months in a Biblical year as there are 11 months recorded in Torah:

 

וַיְהִי֙ בְּאַרְבָּעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה בְּעַשְׁתֵּֽי־עָשָׂ֥ר חֹ֖דֶשׁ בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֑דֶשׁ דִּבֶּ֤ר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל כְּ֠כֹל אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יְהוָ֛ה אֹתֹ֖ו אֲלֵהֶֽם׃

 

Therefore, the seventh month cannot be the end of a Biblical year if the year began in the month of the pesach and there are also 11 months in a Biblical year. Since the month of the aviv was the beginning of the months of our year and there are at least 11 months in a year, the only way to read the statement מִקֵּ֣ץ׀ שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֗ים  in Devarim is to read it that it was in the end of 7 years during the time of sukkoth that the Torah was read to the people. This would mean two things: 1) The phrase מִקֵּ֣ץ׀ שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֗ים indicates that the seven years had ended and it was already the year of shmitah, or 2) It could be in the end of the seventh year and the next aviv would actually begin the smitah. In either case, it would not mean the year ended in the seventh month. 

 

Yaaqov ben Yisrael

 

 

 

 

[Yaaqov Ben Yisrael]

Shalom Zvi,

 

 Just an afterthought. I was reading about the counting of the 49 years; the 50th year was kept as the Jubilee (the commemoration of it was kept in the 49th year [the end of the 7 Sabbaths of years] during the seventh month), and they were commanded to start counting the years when they entered the Land. They entered the Land in the 1st month, in the month of Aviv, and they kept the pesach at Gilgal on the 14th of the month.

 

 

Yaaqov ben Yisrael

[Zvi]

Shalom Yaaqov,

Todah for getting on to this. I appreciate your attempt to establish the correctness of beginning the Shemitah (Release) Years in the Aviv month.

The one aspect I have not seen overcome, IMO, in your 2 messages about this is the agricultural reality of Eres Yisra'el whereby the new "agricultural year" or agricultural cycle begins in the seventh month, which is why the Torah employs the term "Tequfat haShanah" (תקופת השנה) when it commands us to celebrate the Feast of Ingathering Produce, Hag ha'Asif (the other name of Hag haSukkot), which is the reason I have joined the majority persuasion that the Shemitah & Yovel (Jubilee) Years ought to begin in the seventh month. 

Nonetheless, we can definitely concur that it is an error to reckon that a Shemitah Year begins on the 1st of the seventh month as the Rabbanites, Qaraites and Samaritans do. I would begin this year on Yom haKipurim which is evidently the most correct deduction from the Wayiqra passage as regards to the Yovel Year, since a Yovel follows immediately on the heels of a Shemitah. In this I am in accord with Melech, FWIW.

As for 

וַיְצַ֥ו מֹשֶׁ֖ה אֹותָ֣ם לֵאמֹ֑ר מִקֵּ֣ץ׀ שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֗ים בְּמֹעֵ֛ד שְׁנַ֥ת הַשְּׁמִטָּ֖ה בְּחַ֥ג הַסֻּכֹּֽות׃

-- I have come to interpret it thusly:

"After ("from the end" (=מִקֵּ֣ץ׀)) of seven years", after the appointed time of the Release year, during the Feast of Booths".

This is highly confusing until people have learned that a Bet preceding a word can mean either "before", "at/in" or "after" throughout the Miqra, depending on context, at least. 

The justification for positing that it is a so-called "Bet of after" (ב' אחרי) as the traditional Qaraites dub it is to assume in advance that the Shemitah Year begins in the seventh month. (So yes... it is impossible to completely escape the impact of preconceptions upon translation.) 

IMHO, you have inadvertently provided support for my interpretation by stating, "...but only that the Torah should be read at the end of the seventh year during the seventh month when all Israel would be present during the feast of sukkoth",and "the only way to read the statement מִקֵּ֣ץ׀ שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֗ים in Devarim is to read it that it was in the end of 7 years during the time of sukkoth that the Torah was read to the people. 

How can I establish this? Let us see. If you argue there is only one "type" of years in the Torah and it begins on the 1st day of the Aviv/first month and ends on the last day of the 12th or 13th month, then the seventh month cannot be at the end of the seventh year.

All glory to YHWH,

Zvi

[Zvi]

Sorry for leaving out one an explanation of one item in my translation of the pasuq.

"After the appointed time of the Release Year" effectively means "after the Release Year has ended", since if the Shemitah and Yovel Years begin on Yom haKipurim, they also end on that same day, and the next Mo`ed (Appointed Time) right after these years end is Hag haSukkot.

Zvi

On Thursday, June 20, 2013 9:33:00 AM UTC+3, Yaaqov Ben Yisrael wrote:

[Zvi]

Shalom Yaaqov.

You are correct, of course, in stating that Benai Yisra'el were commanded to start counting the Shemitah Years when they entered Kena`an, and that they entered the Land in the 1st month/Aviv month, and kept the Pesah at Gilgal on the 14th of the month as commanded in the Torah.

However,-- and this is quite problematic -- there is no evidence in the Miqra whatsoever that they began counting the years upon entry as commanded, whereas the Miqra does attest to them keeping the Pesah and Hag haMasot on the correct dates and erecting an altar on Har `Aival as commanded in the Torah, after which the Blessings and Curses were read out to the people as commanded in the Torah as well, and peace-slaughters and offerings up (Zivhai Shelamim and `Olot) were made upon that big altar.

In YHWH we walk,

Zvi

[Yaaqov Ben Yisrael]

Shalom Zvi,

 

 I am not completely convinced that תקופת השנה meant that the year had come to an end at the hag ha'asif. Tequfah means a revolution, or a cycle and not necessarily the "end". In the corresponding verse, the phrase used is בצאת השנה where the infinitive seems to be used like a participle. To me, this seems like the way we would use the phrase "end of the year" today, which doesn't necessitate the actual ending of the year, but a nearness to this time.

 

In WayYqra 25:8 it states: וְסָפַרְתָּ֣ לְךָ֗ שֶׁ֚בַע שַׁבְּתֹ֣ת שָׁנִ֔ים שֶׁ֥בַע שָׁנִ֖ים שֶׁ֣בַע פְּעָמִ֑ים וְהָי֣וּ לְךָ֗ יְמֵי֙ שֶׁ֚בַע שַׁבְּתֹ֣ת הַשָּׁנִ֔ים תֵּ֥שַׁע וְאַרְבָּעִ֖ים שָׁנָֽה׃

 

The shofar was blown in the 49th year, on Yom HaKipporim. Clearly this shows that the 49th year had not ended yet. The mitswah stated we were to count 7 shabbatoth of years and in the 49th, or the last shabbath, which would be the end of the 7 shabbatoth of counting, but not necessarily the end of the 49th year. The 50th year, which would not have started until the first our year as it says in Shemoth 12: הַחֹ֧דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם רֹ֣אשׁ חֳדָשִׁ֑ים רִאשֹׁ֥ון הוּא֙ לָכֶ֔ם לְחָדְשֵׁ֖י הַשָּׁנָֽה׃   In no place does it ever state the year was to begin in any other month. So, to my mind, the phrase מקץ שבע שנים is not specifically the end of the seven years, but is actually the last of the seven years. Again, this would be the last time the Yisraelim would have been gathered together for the reading of the Torah as a collective. Even if all the Yisraelim were not present, there would at least be enough representatives from each of the tribes to educate those who were not present: learning the Torah was the express purpose of the reading in the 7th year at Hag HaSukkoth.

 

 The agricultural year has several stages, at least in the U.S.: I am not sure about the Yisraeli harvest cycles. There are several points in which a harvest is made and ingathering happens. There is the spring harvest and there is also the winter harvest. The Torah states the spring is the qatsir and the winter in the asif. In both cases, there is a gathering which takes place. In Shemoth it states: וְשֵׁ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים תִּזְרַ֣ע אֶת־אַרְצֶ֑ךָ וְאָסַפְתָּ֖ אֶת־תְּבוּאָתָֽהּ׃

Six years you shall sow your lands and you shall gather its produce. There seems to be a connection between sowing and gathering in this verse as in order to gather, it must first be sown. This is the same for the spring also as the seed is sown also for the spring harvest: וְחַ֤ג הַקָּצִיר֙ בִּכּוּרֵ֣י מַעֲשֶׂ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תִּזְרַ֖ע בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה

 

 In the US, the fields are sown for the spring harvest in the winter, when it is normally cold. This is especially necessary for barley. It could be the same in Yisrael. If this is the case, then the spring crops would have been sown in the winter. This means that these crops would have been sown sometime after hag hasukkoth. If so, then hag hasukkoth would naturally be the end of the sowing, as nothing was supposed to be sown for the seventh year: this had to cease in the sixth year. However, the seventh was still the shemitah and not the sixth.

 

Yaaqov ben Yisrael

[Yaaqov Ben Yisrael]

I also find it rather interesting that Tishri falls between September and October of the Gregorian calendar; the Egyptian month Thot fell between September 11 and October 10 which was when the Egyptian calendar began: it began with the inundation of the Nile. It is named after the Egyptian god Thoth: the God of Wisdom, the Divine Word of Ptah (Heaven).

 

Not that it would mean anything in the course of our discussion: just interesting.

 

Yaaqov ben Yisrael

[Tirtzah bat Yisra'el]

Shabat shalom Zvi:

 

First, todah rabah for thinking of me and adding me to this forum!  I really appreciate it as it has been too long since being a part of a forum where such discussion of topics are examined Scripturally like you always do. We don't always agree but I so appreciate and respect your knowledge of the miqra kodesh!  I have learned quite a lot over the years from points which you have learned and discussed on the various forums of which we have both been a part.

 

Having said that, I wanted to share with you my understanding on this topic and pasuq portion.  First the pasuq in question:

 

"After the appointed time of the Release Year" effectively means "after the Release Year has ended", since if the Shemitah and Yovel Years begin on Yom haKipurim, they also end on that same day, and the next Mo`ed (Appointed Time) right after these years end is Hag haSukkot".

 

Here is my take on the wording here....IMHO "the release year" is the year of Jubilee of course...and "After the appointed time" is pointing to one of those mo'edim in that 50th year of release.  As for which mo'edim, we know by the words regarding the Torah being read at this particular mo'ed, that it is specifying haSukkot, as this is what YHWH Commanded should be done on this particular mo'ed, every 7th year.  So to me it is simply signifying which mo'edim and which year.......At, during or after the mo'ed of haSukot, in the release or 50th year.

 

As for your question regarding at which particular month the release year begins, I think of it this way.......the beginning of any year is the month of haaviv, the first month of the year it is to you, (Shemoth 12:1, 2).  Therefore, I do not see any Scriptures which state that the 50th year should be any different.  Another way of viewing this would be to ask the question, if the other 49 years all begin at the month of the ha aviv, the first month of the year, then if the 7th month was the beginning of the 50th year, then, as Ya'aqov pointed out, that 49th year would only consist of 7 months before beginning the 50th year, which we already know that it must have, I say at least 12 months.  I don't find any Scriptural reference for only having 11 months to any given year, simply because the most that is found referenced  are 11 months.  I do not see this as proving an 11 month year as some do.

 

Again, todah rabah for adding me to this group.

 

Kol tov

Tirtzah

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May YHWH continually increase our understanding of His Torah
Tirtzah