The Torah commands in Parashat Behar (Vayikra 25:10), “Ve’kidashtem Et Shenat Ha’hamishim Shana” – “You shall sanctify the fiftieth year.” This is understood as requiring that the fiftieth year – the Yobel (jubilee) – be observed as a sacred year. This observance includes several components. First, agricultural activity is forbidden, and the land’s produce is considered ownerless, just like during a Shemita year. Additionally, all indentured servants are released, and all lands return to their original owners. Debts are not remitted during Yobel as they are during Shemita. The Sefer Ha’hinuch writes that it stands to reason that the Sanhedrin would make a formal proclamation at the onset of Yobel declaring the year sacred, as the literal reading of this verse (“Ve’kidashtem Et Shenat Ha’hamishim Shana”) would suggest. Somebody who failed to observe any of these laws during Yobel has violated this affirmative command. The Sefer Ha’hinuch writes that such is violator is liable to severe punishment, and he is considered as though he denies G-d’s creation of the world. This concept might be based on the association between the Shemita and Yobel cycles and the story of creation. The seven years of the Shemita cycle, and the seven sets of seven years that comprise the Yobel cycle, correspond to the six days of creation that were followed by Shabbat, and thus one who fails to observe these laws is regarded as though he denies the story of the six days of creation. The Yobel year is not counted toward the next Shemita cycle. Meaning, the 49 th year of the Yobel cycle is a Shemita year, the fiftieth year is Yobel, and the next year begins the first year of the new Shemita cycle. In the next verse (25:11), the Torah introduces a prohibition forbidding agricultural work during Yobel, commanding, “Lo Tizra’u” – “Do not plant.” This applies to both working the land itself, and work involving trees. When it comes to Shemita, the Torah does not directly forbid planting trees, but rather forbids pruning vines (“Lo Tizmor” – 25:4), which enhances the vines. The Sages then deduced that if the Torah forbade on Shemita work which enhances a tree, then certainly planting a tree is forbidden. With regard to Yobel, however, the Torah directly forbids all planting, including planting trees. An additional command that appears in this verse (25:11) is harvesting produce in the usual manner. This refers to “Sefihim” – produce which was planted before Shemita, or that grew on its own during Shemita. Torah law allows harvesting and eating this produce during Yobel, but it forbids harvesting it in the normal manner in which harvesting is done in other years. This verse also issues the corresponding prohibition that applies to trees – “Ve’lo Tibseru Et Nezireha,” forbidding harvesting fruits in the unusual manner during Yobel. The fruits may be collected and eaten, but the harvesting must be done with a “Shinui” – a deviation from the normal manner of harvesting. This Misva applies mainly in the Land of Israel, though the obligation to release servants on Yobel applies even outside the land. The obligation of Yobel applies only when the majority of the Jewish Nation lives in the Land of Israel. The Sefer Ha’hinuch adds that even if the majority of the nation resides in the land, the Torah obligation does not apply unless the tribes are living in their assigned portions of the land. When the Torah obligation of Yobel does not apply in the Land of Israel, the obligation to release servants does not apply outside the land, either.