Commentaire sur Le Lévitique 25:8

שבתות שנים [AND THOU SHALT NUMBER] SEVEN SABBATHS OF YEARS [UNTO THEE] — seven Shemittah-periods of years (cf. Onkelos). One might think that one may keep seven successive years as “Shemittah” and keep the year immediately following them as the “Jubilee”, Scripture therefore states “seven years, seven times”, consequently you are bound to say that each of these seven years of release has to be kept in its proper time (i, e. at the end of six years of work) (Sifra, Behar, Section 1 1).

'והיו לך ימי שבע שבתות השנים וגו, the count of these years is not to be based on 12 lunar months per year only, but you will count hem as if regular years, the thirteenth month occurring at the same intervals as in your normal calendar considerations. The result will be that at the end of a Jubilee cycle, 49 solar years will have been completed. The same rules which apply to the sh’mittah calculation apply to the Yovel calculation. [since the farmer bases his activities on the seasons, and the seasons are controlled by the solar calendar, any other way of counting the 49 year cycle would throw the farmer’s schedule completely out of gear. Ed.]

Seven sabbatical years. Explanation: The sabbatical year is called Shabbos as it says (later 26:34), “The land will then be appeased for its Shabbosos.” So translates Onkelos, “Seven sabbatical years.” The proof [that “Shabbos” means “sabbatical year” and not “a period of seven years”], is because Scripture writes [afterwards], “seven years, seven times,” which indicates that [Shabbos] refers to [sabbatical] years and not to a period of seven years. [Otherwise, why should the verse repeat the same thing twice?] [Translating שבתת as “a period of seven years] would have been] similar to “Seven complete weeks (שבתות) they shall be” (earlier 23:15), which Onkelos translates as “seven complete weeks.” [See Re’m]

וספרת לך, “you shall count for yourself;” at first glance we might think that this instruction to count concerns days and weeks just like during the days between Passover and the festival of Shavuot;” if you were to say that we have Leviticus 15,28 where a similar construction is found in connection with a woman experiencing a vaginal discharge at times which do not coincide with her menses, we would have to say that the reason there is to teach us that the Torah warns her not to interrupt her counting during the days before she can regain ritual purity. If she would miss counting a single day, the blessings would have been futile.

וספרת לך שבע שבתות שנים, ”you are to count for yourself 7 seven year cycles, seven times;” seeing that the Torah speaks of counting in the singular mode, i.e. by a single person, it addresses the High Court which will proclaim the start of the Jubilee year. There is no need to recite a benediction as is the case in Leviticus 23,15 when counting the omer; there two separate counts had been mentioned, days and weeks. This had been repeated also in Deuteronomy 16,9. One was meant for the individuals and one for the High Court.

'והיו לך ימי שבע וגו‎‎ AND THE PERIOD OF SEVEN [SABBATHS OF YEARS] SHALL BE UNTO THEE [FORTY AND NINE YEARS] — This mention of the sum total tells you that even if you have not kept the years of “Shemittah” keep the “Jubilee” at the end of forty-nine years (Sifra, Behar, Section 1 2). (The translation according to this Midrashic explanation therefore is: When seven Sabbaths of years (i. e. the seven seven-year periods) will be unto thee forty-nine years, thou shalt cause the horn to be blown etc. — no matter whether you have kept the intervening שמיטות or not.) The plain sense of the verse, however, is: The sum total of the periods of which each ends in a “Shemittah” (or, the sum total of these Shemittah-periods) will give thee forty-nine years.

That even if, etc., declare the jJubilee. Explanation: Expound the verse as follows: “And it shall be for you, the days (period) of the seven sabbatical years forty-nine years,” then [even if you did not declare the sabbatical years], “you shall make a proclamation with the shofar” and declare the Jubilee.

Add up to the number forty-nine. You might ask: Does the verse need to tell us the number? The Re’m answers: This is the way of Scripture in many places. But, it seems to me [that Rashi says this] since the year of yovel counts for here and for there. I.e., during this year of yovel, one [already] begins to count [towards] the [next] sabbatical year [that is to arrive] after the yovel (Rosh Hashana 9a). If so, I might say that every the sabbatical year too also counts for here and for there, and the sum of the years would only be forty-three. Therefore, Rashi explains, forty-nine. Another answer is that Scripture writes “seven sabbatical years” and then writes “You shall make a proclamation with the shofar on the tenth day of the seventh month, on Yom Kippur.” If so, I might have said that the forty-nine years end on Yom Kippur, and there will be ten days extra. Therefore, Rashi explains “forty-nine.”