WORKSHOP
(1) How many years must a slave work before he goes free?
(2) Why does a slave who does not want to go free have his ear pierced?
(3) In the Jubilee year, God tell us tashuvu – "return" to your inheritance and birthplace. Explain the law of the Jubilee year and its ramifications for the slave.
(4) The word tashuvu is written in the Torah missing the letter vav. According to the Zohar, what does this hint to?
(5) What is the gematria of the word tashuvu as it is written in the Torah? What year does this correspond to in the secular calendar, and what is its significance?
(6) Why do the return to the Land of Israel and the return to Jerusalem appear as separate events and separate blessings in the Amidah prayer?
(7) What is our role in bringing the completion of tashuvu (return), and the coming of the Messiah?
ANSWERS
(1) Q: How many years must a slave work before he goes free?
A: A Jewish slave must work for up to six years. After six years, he may go free.
(2) Q: Why does a slave who does not want to go free have his ear pierced?
A: A Jew who chooses to remain a slave did not listen to God's words at Mount Sinai, when He proclaimed, "I am the Lord your God Who took you out of Land of Egypt, the House of Slavery." Therefore it is fitting punishment that this slave has a hole pierced through his ear.
(3) Q: In the Jubilee year, God tell us tashuvu – "return" to your inheritance and birthplace. Explain the law of the Jubilee year and its ramifications for the slave.
A: In the Jubilee year, all land and possessions are returned to their original owners. If a person sold property that belonged to his family, it is returned to him. In this year, all slaves go free.
(4) Q: The word tashuvu is written in the Torah missing the letter vav. According to the Zohar, what does this hint to?
A: The Zohar tells us that the Torah writes tashuvu without the letter vav to hint at the year when the Jewish people will return to their land from the long and bitter exile.
(5) Q: What is the gematria of the word tashuvu as it is written in the Torah? What year does this correspond to in the secular calendar, and what is its significance?
A: The gematria (numerical value) of tashuvu is 708 (tav = 400; shin = 300; bet = 2; vav = 6). The year 5708 corresponds to the year 1948 on the secular calendar. In 1948, the Jewish people were granted full access to the Promised Land when the State of Israel was born.
(6) Q: Why do the return to the Land of Israel and the return to Jerusalem appear as separate events and separate blessings in the Amidah prayer?
A: Return to the Land of Israel and return to Jerusalem were meant to be separate events in history. Our return to Jerusalem is a separate step, in order to highlight its special significance to the Jewish people. This is also the reason why the rebuilding of Jerusalem has its own blessing in the Amidah prayer.
(7) Q: What is our role in bringing the completion of tashuvu (return), and the coming of the Messiah?
A: We have a role to play in bringing the redemption and the coming of the Messiah. In the Passover Seder, in order for Elijah to come, we must get up from our Seder and open the door. This teaches that we are now close to the final messianic redemption. To hasten this era, we must "open the door," by recognizing and acting on our obligations to become the kind of Jews we can be. In our lives, we must seek to emulate the attributes of our ancestors. We need to put our belief in God into action by keeping the mitzvot that he commanded. Through our actions, we can bring the redemption.
SUMMARY
According to Jewish law, a Jewish can only be a slave for up to six years. In the seventh year he must be set free. However, the Torah is sensitive to the fact that there may be some slaves who do not want to go free after the sixth year. A Jewish slave may remain with his master, but he must have his ear pierced as a consequence of his choice. Piercing his ear serves as a reminder that he did not listen to God at Mount Sinai when He said, "I am the Lord your God who took you out of the Land of Egypt, the House of Slavery." God made us free. The slave is actively choosing to remain in servitude.
What is special about the Jubilee year? However 'mentally enslaved' a person may be, in the Jubilee year we are taught that every Jewish slave must go free. Every person and possession must be returned to their original place in the Jubilee year. When the Torah describes this return, it uses the word tashuvu, which is written missing the letter 'vav'. There is significance in this omission, says the Zohar. The omission hints to the year when the Jewish people will return from their exile to the Land of Israel.
The gematria (numerical value) of tashuvu is 708 (tav = 400; shin = 300; bet = 2; vav = 6). The year 5708 corresponds to the year 1948 on the secular calendar. In 1948, the Jewish people were granted access to return to the Promised Land when the State of Israel was born. It is clear today, says Rabbi Blech, that tashuvu – the return of the Jewish people to their land and the redemption that it brings – has already begun.
We have a role to play in bringing the redemption and the Messianic era. When the Torah writes tashuvu, it also calls for our individual return. During the Passover Seder, we get up from our Seder to open the door to Elijah the Prophet, who will announce the Messiah's arrival when the time comes. From this we learn that we must open the door in order for the redemption to come. We must each return to God in order to bring the Messiah.
Our actions make the difference. We are a privileged nation, living in special times. We have endured the horrors of the Holocaust, but we are also the closest to the redemption and the Messianic era. To bring the Messiah, we must awaken our spiritual essence by living Deed as well as Creed. We must believe in God, and say, "With my belief, I will act differently." God did not give us the Torah for His sake; He gave it to us for our sake, as a gift.
By emulating the attributes of our ancestors and putting our beliefs into action and keeping the mitzvot, we can help bring about the Redemption.
NOTE: This completes the Deed and Creed program. Please take a few moments to answer our student evaluation survey. Your feedback is important in helping us to better guide our online content and resources.
CLICK HERE