Tanach
Vayikra 25:25-28 ויקרא כ״ה:כ״ה-כ״ח
Part of: BeharBehar, Aliyah 4Chapter 25
Reading: Hebrew · Simple EnglishHebrew · Faithful translationHebrew onlyHebrew · Simple EnglishHebrew · Faithful translationHebrew onlySimple English onlyFaithful translation onlySide by sideRashi
כִּֽי־יָמוּךְ אָחִיךָ וּמָכַר מֵאֲחֻזָּתוֹ וּבָא גֹֽאֲלוֹ הַקָּרֹב אֵלָיו וְגָאַל אֵת מִמְכַּר אָחִֽיו׃
If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his ancestral land, and a close relative comes and redeems that which his brother sold.
If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his ancestral land, and a close relative comes and redeems that which his brother sold.
Rashi
מאחזתו. וְלֹא כֻּלָּהּ, לִמֵּד דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ, שֶׁיְּשַׁיֵּר שָׂדֶה לְעַצְמוֹ:
מאחזתו SOME OF HIS POSSESSION — but not the entire property. Scripture thereby teaches you a practical rule that, however needy a man is, he should always leave some immovables (lit., a field) for himself (Sifra, Behar, Chapter 5 1).
וגאל את ממכר אחיו. וְאֵין הַלּוֹקֵחַ יָכוֹל לְעַכֵּב:
וגאל את ממכר אחיו HE SHALL REDEEM THAT WHICH HIS BROTHER SOLD — and the purchaser has no right to prevent it.
וְאִישׁ כִּי לֹא יִֽהְיֶה־לּוֹ גֹּאֵל וְהִשִּׂיגָה יָדוֹ וּמָצָא כְּדֵי גְאֻלָּתֽוֹ׃
[Or] if the man has no redeemer (close relative) but has acquired sufficient means and finds [it] enough to redeem it [himself],
[Or] if the man has no redeemer (close relative) but has acquired sufficient means and finds [it] enough to redeem it [himself],
Rashi
ואיש כי לא יהיה לו גאל. וְכִי יֵשׁ לְךָ אָדָם בְּיִשְֹרָאֵל שֶׁאֵין לוֹ גּוֹאֲלִים? אֶלָּא גּוֹאֵל שֶׁיּוּכַל לִגְאֹל מִמְכָּרוֹ (קידושין כ"א):
ואיש כי לא יהיה לו גואל [AND] IF [A MAN] HAVE NONE TO REDEEM IT — But does there exist anyone in Israel who has none to redeem his property (who has no relative at all)? But the meaning is: a relative who is able (possesses the means) to redeem that which he has sold (Sifra, Behar, Chapter 5 2; cf. Kiddushin 21a).
וְחִשַּׁב אֶת־שְׁנֵי מִמְכָּרוֹ וְהֵשִׁיב אֶת־הָעֹדֵף לָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר מָֽכַר־לוֹ וְשָׁב לַאֲחֻזָּתֽוֹ׃
He shall calculate the number of years for which he sold the land and return the remainder (excess) to the man to whom he had sold it, and he shall return to his ancestral land.
He shall calculate the number of years for which he sold the land and return the remainder (excess) to the man to whom he had sold it, and he shall return to his ancestral land.
Rashi
וחשב את שני ממכרו. "כַּמָּה שָׁנִים הָיוּ עַד הַיּוֹבֵל? כָּךְ וְכָךְ, וּבְכַמָּה מְכַרְתִּיהָ לְךָ? בְּכָךְ וְכָךְ, עָתִיד הָיִיתָ לְהַחֲזִירָהּ בַּיּוֹבֵל, נִמְצֵאתָ קוֹנֶה מִסְפַּר הַתְּבוּאוֹת כְּפִי חֶשְׁבּוֹן שֶׁל כָּל שָׁנָה, אָכַלְתָּ אוֹתָהּ שָׁלוֹשׁ שָׁנִים אוֹ אַרְבַּע, הוֹצֵא אֶת דְּמֵיהֶן מִן הַחֶשְׁבוֹן וְטֹל אֶת הַשְּׁאָר"; וְזֶהוּ וְהֵשִׁיב אֶת הָעֹדֵף בִּדְמֵי הַמֶּקַח עַל הָאֲכִילָה שֶׁאֲכָלָהּ וְיִתְּנֵם לַלּוֹקֵחַ:
וחשב את שני ממכרו THEN LET HIM RECKON THE YEARS OF THE SALE THEREOF — [let him reckon thus:] How many years were there until the Jubilee? So-and-so many! At what price did I sell it to you? At such-and-such a price! Now in the Jubilee year you would have to restore it to me; it follows therefore that you have actually bought a number of crops only (and not the land itself) at a certain sum for every year. You have eaten it (used it) three or four years; deduct therefore their value from the sum total of the purchase money and you take the remainder. And this is the meaning of: “he shall restore the overplus” — viz., the excess of the purchase-money over the value of the crops which he (the purchaser) has enjoyed, and he shall restore it to the purchaser.
לאיש אשר מכר לו. הַמּוֹכֵר הַזֶּה שֶׁבָּא לְגָאֳלָהּ:
לאיש אשר מכר לו [AND HE SHALL RESTORE THE OVERPLUS] TO THE MAN TO WHOM HE HAD SOLD IT — i. e. to whom he — this seller who now comes to redeem it — had sold it (but not to any other person who is now in the possession of the field, having in his turn bought it from that man to whom he — the seller — had originally sold it) (Sifra, Behar, Chapter 5 3; Arakhin 30a).
וְאִם לֹֽא־מָצְאָה יָדוֹ דֵּי הָשִׁיב לוֹ וְהָיָה מִמְכָּרוֹ בְּיַד הַקֹּנֶה אֹתוֹ עַד שְׁנַת הַיּוֹבֵל וְיָצָא בַּיֹּבֵל וְשָׁב לַאֲחֻזָּתֽוֹ׃ {ס}
Or if he does not have within his means enough to retrieve the land to himself, then that which he sold remains in the possession of the buyer until the jubilee year. It is then released by the jubilee and he [the seller] returns to his ancestral land.
Or if he does not have within his means enough to retrieve the land to himself, then that which he sold remains in the possession of the buyer until the jubilee year. It is then released by the jubilee and he [the seller] returns to his ancestral land.
Rashi
די השיב לו. מִכָּאן שֶׁאֵינוֹ גוֹאֵל לַחֲצָאִין (ספרא; ערכין ל'):
די השיב לו [BUT IF HE IS NOT ABLE] TO RESTORE IT (lit., if his hand find not sufficient means to restore to him) — Therefore it follows that he (the vendor) has no right to redeem his property in parts (lit., by halves) (Sifra, Behar, Chapter 5 5, Arachin 30a).
עד שנת היובל. שֶׁלֹּא יִכָּנֵס לְתוֹךְ אוֹתָהּ שָׁנָה כְּלוּם, שֶׁהַיּוֹבֵל מְשַׁמֵּט בִּתְחִלָּתוֹ (ספרא; ערכין כ"ח):
עד שנת היובל UNTIL THE YEAR OF JUBILEE — “until” but not “including” the year of the Jubilee; it means that nothing of time shall have entered into that year (that not one moment of that year shall have passed), because the Jubilee effects the release of such property at its very beginning (in contrast to the cancelling of debts in the “Shemittah” which takes place only at the end of the year; cf. Deuteronomy 15:1 ff.) (Sifra, Behar, Chapter 5 6; Arakhin 28b).
כי ימוך אחיך ומכר. מְלַמֵּד שֶׁאֵין אָדָם רַשַּׁאי לִמְכֹּר שָׂדֵהוּ אֶלָּא מֵחֲמַת דֹּחַק עֹנִי (עי' ספרא):
כי ימוך אחיך ומכר AND IF THY BROTHER BE WAXEN POOR AND HAS SOLD AWAY [SOME OF HIS POSSESSION] — The introductory words teach us that one is not permitted to sell his real estate except under the pressure of poverty (cf. Sifra, Behar, Chapter 5 1).