RAV KOOK ON PARSHAS BEHAR PART 1

Translated and abridged by Rabbi Chanan Morrison In 1751, the Pennsylvania Assembly ordered a special bell be cast, commemorating the 50th anniversary of William Penn's 'Charter of Privileges.' The Speaker of the Assembly was entrusted with finding an appropriate inscription for what later became famous as the "Liberty Bell". The best expression of freedom and equality that he could find was the Biblical verse describing the Jubilee year: "You will proclaim with shofar blasts on the tenth day of the seventh month; on Yom Kippur, you will blow the shofar throughout your land. You shall sanctify the fiftieth year, proclaiming freedom in the land to all its inhabitants." (Lev. 25:9-10). The triumphant announcement of the Jubilee year, with blasts of the shofar, takes place on the tenth of Tishrei. This date is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Yet, this is curious. The Jubilee year begins, like any other year, on the first of Tishrei, on Rosh Hashanah. Why was the formal proclamation of Jubilee postponed until Yom Kippur, ten days later?