03/10/2020 04:59:58 PM
In the Bible all debts were to be forgiven every 7 years and every 49 years was the year of jubilee where all property was to be returned to the original owners. What lessons are there in this for governments?
Note that most state laws prohibit a person from declaring bankruptcy more than once in seven years, supposedly taken from the Bible. Also, when the slaves were freed after the Civil war they called for a war of Jubilee, where they would be given "40 acres and a mule." In my opinion this calls for severe government restrictions on debt to poor people and redistribution of wealth by the government to the poor periodically.
Ralph Stephenson
The question of the seventh and forty-ninth (or fiftieth) year for the manumission of slaves and remissions of debts is still very relevant. (These issues will be addressed more extensively on May 16, at our Adult B’not Mitzvah Shabbat morning service!)
It should be noted that it is potentially misleading to apply biblical law to current secular situations. The philosophy behind the laws in Leviticus 25 is that God is the Owner of the world. Therefore, we are not giving up the land or not using the land out of some notion of sacrifice but rather we are acknowledging the true Owner. Likewise, we are not the Creator of the world and therefore we have a limited claim on the work that others owe us.
What does appear relevant to me is the notion that we don’t want anyone to feel as if they have no hope of finding some personal freedom from debt or from the ability to make up for past mistakes. While we do not want to reward people for abusing the system, we also hope for a society where there is compassion as well as justice.
The ancient rabbis taught that the world will not survive without a careful mixture of both. I, for one, look to our government to practice a mix of both and I also hope that as individuals we will remember that, beyond government responsibility lies our moral responsibility.
