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Why Can’t We Say What We Mean?

Behar – Rabbi Jay Weinstein

As traditional Jews, we believe that the Oral Torah helps us understand the Written Torah.
However, often it seems that the Oral Torah completely overrides and reinterprets the Written
Torah. For example, the Torah permits slaves to continue working for their master past the
seventh year by piercing their ear. The result of that process is (Shmot 21:6) “va’avado le’olam,”
i.e. they will be slaves forever. If you were to ask me, I’d think that “forever” means forever.
However, the Talmud teaches that “le’olam” must be understood differently based on this
week’s parasha. The slaves in fact do NOT stay forever but rather only until the Yovel based on
the verse (Vayikra 25:10) “You shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom throughout
the land for all of its inhabitant; it shall be the Jubilee year (Yovel) for you.”

If the Torah meant to say the slave goes free in the 50th year, why didn’t the Torah simply say
you shall work until the Yovel instead of saying you shall work forever?

Ramban (1194-1270, Spain) offers us the following insight: “The enlightened one will
understand that ‘forever’ (‘le’olam’) is literal—for one who works until Yovel has worked all the
days of the world (olam). In the words of the Mechilta: Rebbi says, Come and see that the world
is only fifty years old, as it says, ‘And he shall work forever—until the Yovel.’”

In some way, the Ramban is suggesting the whole world or an era is created in 50 years. When a
slave is let go in the 50th year, they are given a “new world.” Slavery was one time period in
their life and in fact it was le’olam (forever) because now when they are set free it’s a new start,
a new life and a new world.

For us, we are now in a period of 50 days of Sefirat Ha’omer when we count between the
holiday of Pesach and Shavuot. Although it’s only 50 days and not 50 years, it can also be
considered an olam, its own world. This unit of 50 is extremely important because we are using
it to improve ourselves in preparation to receive the Torah on Shavuot. Once these 50 days are
over and we receive the Torah on Shavuot, we are new people and we have a new world.

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