The Meaning of Liberty

 B’Har

Lev. 25:1 - 26:2

Précis: The parasha begins with a description of the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee (Yovel) Year. In the 50^th (Jubilee) Year, we are to “proclaim liberty throughout the land” and property is restored to its ancestral owners. The parasha continues with the prohibition against unlimited slavery, as well as the rules for the treatment of those who are slaves.

  

Lev. 25:10 “And you will hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof; it will be a jubilee to you, and you will return every man to his possession, and you will return every man to his family.”

 

            What is “liberty?” This seems to be a question of increasing controversy in the United States these days. Some posit it means “freedom to” (women’s choice, voting rights, and many others). Some believe that liberty is “freedom from” (taxes, masks, vaccinations, gun control, or government action in general).

            We are reminded in this week’s reading that Jewish tradition in effect is the “freedom to” follow the moral guidance from God as expressed through the Torah and interpreted through the ages. We are to acknowledge that every human being has value, that we are not the owners of the material world, but merely the stewards of it for future generations, and that “freedom to” also must imply that there are also certain mandates of  “freedom from” we must honor: freedom from interference with our inherent rights, freedom from fear, and freedom from totalitarianism.

            In this verse, we are also reminded that Jewish values support the notion that the accumulation of wealth is not limitless. We have seen in recent years how individuals of immense wealth can be influences for good, or can undermine trust in our institutions. We need to recall the key to liberty: it cannot endure when equality is absent.