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Behar: Kli Yakar: The Years of Life



The 7th of Iyar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Shlomo Ephraim of Luntchitz, author of Kli Yakar: “You shall count for yourself seven cycles of sabbatical years, seven years seven times; the years of the seven cycles of sabbatical years shall be for you forty-nine years (Vayikra 25:8).” From the fact that the verse says, “count for yourself,” we can derive that there is a lesson and comparison between this counting of years and the counting of the years of a person’s life.

 

It is only after the age of twenty that a person is considered responsible in the Heavenly Court. Since the average lifespan is seventy years, that leaves an average of fifty years in which we are fully responsible for all that we do. It is only during these fifty years that our thoughts are examined by the Heavenly Court. It is only during these fifty years, when our intellect is considered completely formed, that we begin to count the years of our life; the years that will determine our final judgment.

It is for this reason that the verse stresses, “count for yourself,” if you count your years for yourself, to bring good and pleasure; to use every day of your life for good things, spiritual things; only then will you have the seven count things of seven years of peace and blessing.

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