Positive Commandment 138 (Digest)
The Return of Hereditary Property during the Jubilee Year
"Throughout the land of your possession, you shall give redemption for the land"—Leviticus 25:24.
During the Jubilee Year, all acquired land must be returned – free of charge – to its original owner, as explained in the Torah.
This mitzvah applies only to real estate that is not within a walled city, and is only practiced in the Land of Israel, and only when all of the tribes are settled therein, each in their ancestral portion of the Land.
Unabridged English Text of this Mitzvah »
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> The 138th mitzvah is that we are commanded in this [Jubilee] Year to return all property which has been purchased to its original owners. It is released from the buyer's possession without payment.
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> The source of this mitzvah is G‑d's statement,;) "[Since the land is Mine, no land shall be sold permanently. You are foreigners and resident aliens as far as I am concerned,] and therefore, there shall be a time of redemption for all your hereditary lands." It is specifically explained for us that the redemption takes place in this particular year in G‑d's statement,;) "In this Jubilee Year, every man shall return to his hereditary property."
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> Scripture goes into the various details of this mitzvah and explains how the seller settles with the buyer if, before the Jubilee Year, he wants to repurchase the land he sold. It is also explained that this mitzvah applies only to land which is outside the wall of the city.;) Courtyards and houses built in villages are treated like fields and gardens since they were not built within walls.;) They are the batei hachatzerim referred to in the verse,;) "[Batei hachatzerim that do not have walls around them ] shall be considered the same as open land; they shall thus be redeemable, and shall be released by the Jubilee.";)
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> The details of this mitzvah are explained in tractate Erachin.;)
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> It too applies only in Eretz Yisrael and only when the Jubilee Year is in effect.
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> Footnotes
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> Lev. 25:24.
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> 2.
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> Ibid., 25:13.
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> 3.
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> Houses which are built within walled cities are governed by P139.
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> 4.
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> And they are therefore also governed by this mitzvah.
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> 5.
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> Lev. 25:31.
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> 6.
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> Since they are mentioned in a separate verse, one might think that batei hechatzerim constitute a separate mitzvah. The Rambam explains here that batei hachatzerim are included in this mitzvah, and that they are not counted separately. There are only two categories: houses within a wall and everything else.
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> 7.
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> 29b.
Negative Commandment 227 (Digest)
Selling Land in Israel for Perpetuity
"The land shall not be sold forever"—Leviticus 25:23.
It is forbidden to sell real estate in the Land of Israel for perpetuity. [Instead, land must be sold with the understanding that it will return to its original owner during the Jubilee Year.]
Unabridged English Text of this Mitzvah »
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> The 227th prohibition is that we are forbidden from permanently selling land in Eretz Canaan.;)
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> The source of this mitzvah is G‑d's statement,;) "And no land shall be sold permanently."
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> The details of this mitzvah are explained in the end of tractate Erachin.;)
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> I.e., Eretz Yisrael. In Hilchos Shemittah V'Yovel 11:1, the Rambam rules that even if one violates this prohibition and sells the land, the transaction has no legal value and the land remains in the possession of the previous owner. Both the buyer and the seller nevertheless transgress this prohibition.
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> Lev. 25:23.
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> 3.
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> 29ff.
Positive Commandment 139 (Digest)
Redeeming Property in Walled Cities
"And if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city..."—Leviticus 25:29.
Properties within a walled city in the Land of Israel [walled since the times of Joshua] can be redeemed (i.e., repurchased) by the seller for an entire year following the sale. If the seller did not redeem the property within that window of time, the sold property remains permanently in the property of the buyer—it does not revert to the seller during the Jubilee Year.
Unabridged English Text of this Mitzvah »
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> The 139th mitzvah is that we are commanded that if one has possessions;) which are located within the walls of a city and they were sold, one has the right to redeem them only for one year. After the year has passed, the buyer becomes the full owner, and remains so even after the Jubilee Year.
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> The source of this mitzvah is G‑d's statement,;) "When a man sells a residential house in a walled city [he shall be able to redeem it until the end of one year after he has sold it]."
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> This mitzvah is known as "the law of batei arei chomah."
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> The details of this mitzvah are explained in tractate Erachin.;) It applies only in Eretz Yisrael.
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> Footnotes
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> This includes houses and their adjacent land. Other fields, even if they are within the city's wall, are included in P138 above. See Rambam, ibid., 12:11.
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> Lev. 25:29.
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> 3.
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> 31a.