shmita

Rosh Hashanah 13

All the measures of the sages are true.

The Seven Year Switch

Shmita, the Jewish sabbatical year, teaches that what we consider normal is just a construct -- and invites us to imagine alternatives.

Finding Meaning in an Ancient Farming Law

Why Shmita, the commandment to let Israel's farmland rest every seven years, is relevant even for today's urban Diaspora Jews.

What Is Shmita, the Sabbatical Year?

The Torah calls for Jews to work the land six years and let it rest in the seventh.

We Are All God’s Creatures

One of the Torah's central insights is its effort to minimize human ownership.

The Mitzvah of Shmita

The concept of the sabbatical year reveals the awesome splendor of God's earth.

Sabbatical and Jubilee Years as a Social and Political Vision

Behind these biblical practices is a vision of how politics, economics, and relations to the environment should be structured that makes manifest spiritual concerns as well.

The Jubilee (Yovel) Year

The jubilee year provided for a period of both social equality and ecological recovery.

Stop the Machine! — The Sabbatical Year Principle

The biblical shemitah represents an alternative to the consumer society.

Science Vs. Sabbath?

The environmental destruction intended as a punishment for failing to observe the sabbatical year raises contemporary questions of how to prevent environmental devastation.