333. Extended Vacation: The prohibition against working the land during the Jubilee

As with Shemittah, the Sabbatical year, we may not work the land during Yoveil, the Jubilee year. Just as Shemittah applies to both crops in the field and fruit on the tree, so does Yoveil. (Refer back to Mitzvos #326 and #327.)

As we have said, the reason for all these mitzvos is to reinforce the idea that God is the ultimate Landlord. We work the land or don’t work the land based on His say-so.

This mitzvah only applies in Israel at a time when all the Tribes live there. It is discussed in the Midrash in the Sifre on this parsha and is codified in the Mishneh Torah in the tenth chapter of Hilchos Shemittah. This mitzvah is #224 of the 365 negative mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos.