ויקרא, פרק כ״ה, פסוק ט׳

The Jubilee year brings a profound social and spiritual reset, culminating in a dramatic moment when a national horn blast announces the liberation of slaves and the return of ancestral lands. This blast is not a physical object passed from hand to hand, but a sound that must echo and spread across all paths and borders until it envelops the entire nation [רש״י, בכור שור, ביאור יש״ר, תורה תמימה, חזקוני, אבן עזרא]. The Commandment requires a natural animal horn, blown in its standard upright position rather than using metal trumpets [תורה תמימה].

Unlike the blasts that signal war or anxiety, this sound is designed to awaken joy and declare liberty [ספורנו, מלבי״ם]. The specific terminology used for this blast carries a dual, complementary meaning. On one hand, it represents a shattering force, breaking the chains of servitude. On the other hand, it signifies fellowship and friendship. The Jubilee is a time of profound equality when social classes dissolve, allowing the rich and the poor to rejoice together in shared company [הכתב והקבלה].

The timing of this proclamation on the Day of Atonement is deeply intentional. Both the Jubilee and the Day of Atonement share a core essence in their return to an original, pure state. While the Day of Atonement purifies the individual and restores the soul to its pristine condition, the Jubilee restores people and their properties to their original, free status [גור אריה, שפתי חכמים]. The process of liberation actually begins earlier on the New Year, when slaves cease their labor and begin to celebrate. However, the final, legal emancipation is only enacted with the public horn blast on the Day of Atonement [רש״ר הירש, חתם סופר].

The sounding must occur during the daytime, excluding the night [תורה תמימה, אדרת אליהו], and specifically on the tenth of the month itself rather than during the preliminary fasting hours of the preceding day [משכיל לדוד]. The implementation unfolds in two stages. The High Court initiates the process by sounding the horn and officially declaring the release, after which the obligation extends to every individual throughout the land to sound it themselves [תורה תמימה, צפנת פענח, רד״צ הופמן, ברכת אשר].

A significant discussion arises regarding how this Commandment operates when the Day of Atonement falls on the Sabbath. The primary approach among commentators is that the Jubilee blast on the Day of Atonement overrides the Sabbath restrictions everywhere, offering a stark contrast to the New Year blast, which overrides the Sabbath only in the presence of the court [רש״י, ברטנורא, מלבי״ם]. Conversely, [רמב״ן] argues that sounding a horn is inherently a skill rather than a forbidden labor, making it biblically permitted on the Sabbath under all circumstances. In his view, the restriction on the New Year is merely a later rabbinic decree to prevent carrying the horn in public domains. Therefore, the focus here is not to teach Sabbath laws, but to emphasize that the Jubilee blast is an obligation for every individual in every location, not just the court. Bridging these concepts, another perspective suggests that because there is absolute certainty about the calendar date by the time the Day of Atonement arrives, carrying the horn is permitted even on the Sabbath, unlike the New Year when calendar doubts were prevalent [העמק דבר].