QUESTION: The Gemara inquires whether the upcoming Yovel year (the fiftieth year of the Yovel cycle) is included in a Neder which a person makes, during the Yovel cycle, to prohibit wine upon himself for the Yovel cycle. The Gemara concludes that whether or not the Yovel year is included in the Neder depends on the dispute between Rebbi Yehudah and the Rabanan who disagree about the status of the Yovel year in general. The Rabanan maintain that the Yovel year serves as the fiftieth and final year of the Yovel cycle, and it does not serve as the first year of the next cycle. According to the Rabanan, the Yovel year is included in the person's Neder. Rebbi Yehudah maintains that the Yovel year serves not only as the fiftieth and final year of the Yovel cycle, but it also serves as the first year of the next cycle. Since it is the first year of the next cycle, it is not included in the person's Neder.

According to Rebbi Yehudah, why should the Yovel year not be included in the Neder? Although Rebbi Yehudah maintains that the Yovel year is counted as the first year of the next cycle, it is also the fiftieth and final year of the present cycle, and hence it should be included in the Neder! (KEREN ORAH)

ANSWER: The KEREN ORAH explains that according to Rebbi Yehudah, the Yovel year is associated mainly with the following cycle.

What exactly does the Keren Orah mean? Why should the Yovel year, which counts as both the fiftieth year of the present cycle and the first year of the next cycle according to Rebbi Yehudah, not be associated with the present cycle with regard to the Neder?

Perhaps the intention of the Keren Orah is as follows. The Rabanan challenge Rebbi Yehudah and assert that one year cannot be counted towards two different counts. If it is the fiftieth year of the present cycle, it cannot be the first year of the next cycle. How does Rebbi Yehudah respond to this logical challenge?

Perhaps Rebbi Yehudah agrees with the Rabanan that one year cannot be counted as two separate numbers. Rebbi Yehudah, however, infers from the verse, "You shall sanctify the fiftieth year" (Vayikra 25:10), that the fiftieth year is to be sanctified but there is no requirement to count that year. The other forty-nine years of the cycle are required to be counted as the Torah says, "You shall count for yourself seven cycles of seven years, and they shall be for your... forty-nine years" (Vayikra 25:8). According to Rebbi Yehudah, the Mitzvah of Yovel is to count forty-nine years and then to sanctify the fiftieth year; the fiftieth year, however, is not part of the count. Consequently, the Yovel year is counted only as the first year of the next cycle, and that is why it is not included in a Neder that applies to the years of the count of the present cycle! (M. Kornfeld)