Commento su Levitico 25:24

ובכל ארץ אחזתכם AND IN ALL THE LAND OF YOUR POSSESSION [YOU SHALL GRANT A REDEMPTION FOR THE LAND] — (The translation may be: And as regards everything etc.) thus including in this law houses and Hebrew servants (i. e. that to these also the right of redemption must be granted). And this matter is explained in Treatise Kiddushin 21a in the first section (cf. also Sifra, Behar, Chapter 4 9). According to the literal sense, however, it is to be connected with the section immediately following: to point out that one who sells his landed property has the right of redeeming it after two years either by himself or his relative, and that the purchaser has no right to prevent it (גאולה תתנו לארץ, you must grant redemption).

AND IN ALL THE LAND OF YOUR POSSESSION [YE SHALL GRANT A REDEMPTION FOR THE LAND]. “This [expression of ‘in all the land’] includes houses and Hebrew servants [that they too be granted the right of redemption]. This matter is explained in the first chapter of Tractate Kiddushin.¹⁹⁰Kiddushin 21 a. And according to the plain meaning thereof, it is to be connected with the section [immediately] following, [thus teaching] that he who sells [his land] has the right of redeeming it after two years, either personally or through his relative, and the purchaser cannot prevent it.” This is Rashi’s language. But it does not appear to me to be correct that Scripture should state in general terms in the section dealing with the Jubilee, [mentioned above], And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption [which according to Rashi speaks of the right of the seller to redeem the land of his possession], and then explain in the second section how this law applies: If thy brother be waxen poor etc.¹⁹¹Further, Verse 25. In other words, since this verse [25] begins a new section in the Torah, and is thereby disconnected from the preceding verse [before us], it is not likely that this new section is the explanation of the preceding verse.
The correct interpretation appears to me to be that Scripture is stating: “And in all the land of your possession, that is, the land which I give you for a possession, ye shall grant this redemption of the Jubilee.” The term “redemption” is like the Eternal hath redeemed His servant Jacob,¹⁹²Isaiah 48:20. which means that He brought out His servant from the hand of those who held him [captive]. Similarly, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm¹⁹³Exodus 6:6. [means “I will take Israel out of Egypt”]. So also [the expression before us] ye shall grant a redemption for the Land means that I wish to redeem My Land from the hand of those who hold it, as I have not given it to them as a part of their possession. It was necessary that this be stated because He had said [as a reason for this law], for ‘ha’aretz’ (the earth) is Mine,¹⁹⁴Verse 23. It is clear from the following text that Ramban understands here the word ha’aretz as referring to the entire earth, and not to any particular land. and since the whole earth is His, therefore He stated additionally that the Jubilee only applies in the Land of our possession, not outside the Land [of Israel]. He stated and in all [‘and in all’ the land of your possession …] meaning that it is to apply to all our possessions, including the other side of the Jordan and all places of [our] possession, and not only in “the Land of the Eternal” wherein the Sanctuary is located [i.e., westward of the Jordan, but the law of the Jubilee is to apply also in the land east of the Jordan where the Sanctuary of G-d may not be built — see Ramban Numbers 21:21].

ובכל ארץ אחוזתכם גאולה תתנו לארץ, but outside of the boundaries of the land of Israel proper this legislation does not apply at all.

גאולה תתנו לארץ, if the seller wishes to redeem it prior to the Jubilee year.

ובכל ארץ אחוזתכם גאולה תתנו לארץ, “In the entire land of your ancestral heritage you shall make provision for the redemption of such lands (when appropriate).” Rashi, in addressing the plain meaning of our verse, assuming that the verses immediately following deal with people that need this redemption of their ancestral land, explains that whereas the seller enjoys the right to redeem his land after two years, either himself or through the good offices of a relative, sees the principal meaning of our verse in denying the purchaser the right to interfere with such a process of redemption. Nachmanides writes that he does not agree with Rashi on this, as he sees no reason why the Torah should have written this verse as part of the Jubilee legislation. Rashi, in effect, interprets our verse which deals with a legislation in effect only when the Israelites are predominantly all living on their ancestral land, as discussing legislation applicable also under far less favourable situations, at any time when part of the people live on their land. [An impoverished Jew is to be helped to regain economic independence regardless of the political environment in which the Jewish people find themselves. Ed.] According to Nachmanides, the reason why the Torah in our verse speaks of בכל ארץ אחוזתכם, “throughout your ancestral lands,” is to drive home the point that what we consider “our” land, is really still G’d’s land, something that the Jubilee legislation comes to remind us of. The very term גאולה for the transaction restoring land to its original owner or his heir, is parallel to such expressions as גאל ה' את יעקב, “the Lord redeemed Yaakov,” i.e. when G’d took the Israelites out of Egypt, He in effect redeemed their ancestor who had entered exile when he brought his family down to Egypt where they would become enslaved. The land had originally been given (promised) by G’d to Yaakov, so that all his descendants are entitled to a share of it. The difference between the land of Israel and the Diaspora, is that the laws about redeeming land holdings does not and never did apply anywhere except in the land of Israel after the distribution of it by Joshua. The reason the Torah adds the word ובכל, is to make sure we understand that the rules of the Jubilee and the reversal of land sales in that year also applies to the lands conquered by the Israelites under Moses on the East bank of the Jordan river. Seeing that G’d had repeated כי לי כל הארץ, “for the entire globe belongs to Me,” some confusion might have arisen as to within which parameters the Jubilee laws would apply.

Houses [and] a Hebrew slave. Because if not so, why write “in all”? Thus, it comes to include [the law] that even relatives may redeem houses of a walled city or a Hebrew slave who was sold to a Jew. [See Re’m]

You shall grant redemption to the land. Even if it is already sold to non-Jews it is a mitzvah to redeem it so that it will not be worked in the Sabbatical year … Even regarding our day and age it says in Gittin (8b) that for the sake of settling Eretz Yisrael it is a mitzvah to redeem a field from a non-Jew, and so much the more so when the people of Israel are dwelling in Eretz Yisrael. It says, “In all of your ancestral lands” — there is only a mitzvah when all of Eretz Yisrael is in the possession of the people of Israel. This is not so if all of Eretz Yisrael is in the hands of non-Jews, and it is impossible to redeem it all; there is no mitzvah to redeem a certain location. This is the plain meaning of Scripture, and you may derive from it the drashot as well.

גאולה תתנו לארץ, “you shall grant redemption to the land,” so that it is clear that it had not been sold but only mortgaged as a loan. (Rash’bam)

Adjacent to the following section. Re’m writes: “I do not know what forced him to say that it is adjacent to the following section, and not [connected] to the beginning of the same section (v. 15), and that it is telling us that the buyer cannot refuse; rather, ‘you shall grant redemption to the land.’” It seems that Rashi had to explain like this as he is answering the question: why do we need the verse “In all of your ancestral lands, etc.”? In the second [following] section in v. 25 it is written that the buyer cannot refuse? Therefore, he explains that this verse too is adjacent to the following section. Analyze this.