Behar: The Land is Mine

But the land must not be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me. Throughout the land that you hold, you must provide for the redemption of the land. If one of your kin is in straits and has to sell part of a holding, the nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what that relative has sold. If any party has no one to be redeemer but prospers and acquires enough to redeem with, the years since its sale shall be computed and the difference shall be refunded to the party to whom it was sold, so that the person returns to that holding. If that person lacks sufficient means to recover it, what was sold shall remain with the purchaser until the jubilee; in the jubilee year it shall be released, so that the person returns to that holding. If any party sells a dwelling house in a walled city, it may be redeemed until a year has elapsed since its sale; the redemption period shall be a year. If it is not redeemed before a full year has elapsed, the house in the walled city shall pass to the purchaser beyond reclaim throughout the ages; it shall not be released in the jubilee. But houses in villages that have no encircling walls shall be classed as open country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released through the jubilee. As for the cities of Levi, the houses in the cities it holds: Levi shall forever have the right of redemption. Such property as may be redeemed from Levi—houses sold in a city it holds—shall be released through the jubilee; for the houses in the cities of Levi are its holding among the Israelites. But the unenclosed land about its cities cannot be sold, for that is its holding for all time.

(3) כי לי הארץ FOR THE LAND IS MINE — Your eye shall not be evil towards it (you shall not begrudge this) for it is not yours.

כי לי הארץ, “for the earth belongs to Me.” The message is addressed to the person who has to give back the land he has purchased. He is reminded that seeing the whole universe belongs to G’d he has no reason to feel aggrieved. G’d is at liberty to make dispositions over what is His (compare Sifra Behar 4,8). A kabbalistic approach: the words “for the earth belongs to Me,” are a reminder that in the “great” Yovel which we have discussed earlier the entire earth will revert directly to G’d. This is what David had in mind when he said in Psalms 24,1: “the earth and all that is thereon belongs to the Lord, the world and its inhabitants.” Do not ignore the letter ל the largest of the letters in the aleph bet at the beginning of that hymn, i.e. ל-י-ה-ו-ה. The experts of the Kabbalah have called this letter ל “a tower sprouting forth into space” (compare Sanhedrin 106). This is an allusion to all that we wrote earlier about the terrestrial earth reverting to Tohu Vavohu at the end of seven Yovel cycles each of seven thousand years.
Another way of approaching the subject mentioned by David in that Psalm [I suppose that the author’s difficulty is another hymn (Psalms 115,16) in which the earth is described as man’s whereas heaven is described as G’d’s. We need to reconcile the different versions. Ed.] The words לי הארץ, “the earth is Mine,” refers to the “earth’s” equivalent in the celestial spheres, a phenomenon which is inactive in the terrestrial spheres during the seventh year, the Shemittah year. This cessation of celestial “earth’s” input into terrestrial earth during that year is as if G’d had renounced ownership of it during that period. Seeing that it is no longer G’d’s, how could it be man’s i.e. “yours,” seeing that all you have you have received from Me. This may also be the meaning of the words of the Midrash (Sifra Behar 4,5) “for strangers and settlers are you to Me.” G’d is warning the Israelites not to consider themselves as the centre of the earth, its most important phenomenon. The words אתם עמדי, “you are with Me,” in that Midrash mean that a servant should never aspire to be more than his master. It is enough if he attains parity with his master. Translated into our situation it is as if G’d said to the Jewish people: “as long as the earth is Mine, i.e. when I treat it as Mine, it is also yours. When I do not relate to it as Mine, it is not yours either.” G’d said that during the Shemittah year He considers earth as if it were not His. The meaning of our verse then is simply this: “when the earth is Mine, as evident by celestial input from Me in the years other than the Shemittah year, it is also yours. When it is not Mine, seeing that I do not provide any celestial input into it, i.e. in the Shemittah year, it is also not yours. The reason that it cannot be yours during such a time is that you could not possibly have a greater claim to it than I have.”

The Gemara responds: With what are we dealing here? We are dealing with a case where he purchased the field for sixty years. As Rav Ḥisda says that Rav Ketina says: From where is it derived with regard to one who sells his field for sixty years or any fixed length of time, that it does not return to its original owner in the Jubilee Year? As it is stated: “And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity” (Leviticus 25:23). This prohibition applies to land which, if there were no Jubilee Year, would be sold in perpetuity, but as there is a Jubilee Year it is not sold in perpetuity. That excludes this case, where the field is sold for a fixed length of time, as even though there is no Jubilee Year it is not sold in perpetuity.

GEMARA: Rabba says: Even though a gentile has no capability of acquisition of land in Eretz Yisrael to cause the abrogation of the sanctity of the land, thereby removing it from the obligation to tithe its produce, as it is stated: “For the land is Mine” (Leviticus 25:23), which teaches: The sanctity of the land is Mine, and it is not abrogated when the land is sold to a gentile; a gentile does have, however, the capability of acquisition of land in Eretz Yisrael to allow him to dig pits, ditches, and caves in the land he has purchased, as it is stated: “The heavens are the heavens of the Lord; but the earth has He given to the children of men” (Psalms 115:16).

The Gemara asks: With regard to houses in open areas without walls, it is explicitly written: “Shall be reckoned with the field of the country” (Leviticus 25:31), meaning that they are like ancestral fields. If so, there is no need for another verse to teach this halakha. The Gemara answers: That verse: “And in all of your ancestral land you shall grant redemption for the land” (Leviticus 25:24), serves to establish that redemption by relatives is an obligation, and this is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer. As it is taught in a baraita, with regard to a verse that deals with one who sells ancestral land: “And he shall redeem that which his brother has sold” (Leviticus 25:25), this redemption is optional, i.e., if he wishes to do so he may redeem the land. Do you say that it is optional or is it nothing other than an obligation? The verse states concerning an ancestral field that was sold: “And if a man has no one to redeem it” (Leviticus 25:26). This verse is puzzling: But is there a man in Israel who does not have redeemers? Every Jew has a relative of some sort, even if he must trace his family tree back all the way to Jacob. Rather, this is referring to one who has a relative who does not want to purchase, i.e., redeem, the land, as he has permission to refrain from doing so, since this redemption is optional. This is the statement of Rabbi Yehoshua. Rabbi Eliezer says that when the verse states: “And he shall redeem that which his brother has sold,” this redemption is an obligation. Do you say that it is an obligation, or is it only optional? The verse states: “And in all of your ancestral land you shall grant redemption for the land” (Leviticus 25:24). Here the verse established it as obligatory. This is the interpretation of the verses according to Rabbi Eliezer.

For you are resident strangers with Me It is possible to speak about this in the manner of allusion. I will explain it according to what I have heard from a certain wise person regarding the verse "I am only a stranger in the land; do not hide Your commandments from me." (Psalms 119:19). This is known from the quality of the nature of the world; a stranger is without a people to cleave to, they are without one to be close to and to tell all their happenings and all their heart to, since they have no friend neither Jew nor Gentile. But when the stranger sees a friend, then they tell all of these to their friend, all their happenings. And know that the Holy Blessed One is Themself like a stranger in this world(!) for They have no-one with whom to imbue Their presence and Their glory, may They be blessed, and we are infinitesimally small, etc. And this is what King David, peace be upon him, prayed: "I am a stranger in this land" (ibid.) -- this is to say, I too do not want to be resident in this world(!) And I am only like a stranger in this world. And therefore, do not hide from me Your mitzvot -- like a stranger who tells all their heart to their friend. And this is that which can be said about the allusion in the verse "For [you are] resident strangers", that you are in the aspect of a stranger in this world, and in that of a resident in the world to come. Then you are with Me, for I also am a stranger in this world (as explained above) and obviously, I will not hide from them My mitzvot (as explained above, and understand).