Shmita

Shmita in 2021-22 (5782)

As Adat Shalom explores the values and consciousness behind the sabbatical (shmita) year, we see just how Torah  can be ever so relevant for modern practice.  This seventh year on our religious calendar, rooted in spiritual community, speaks directly to modern necessities:  release, resilience, and readiness for anything; sustainability, in our food and energy systems, and for our planet; equity and justice, in our society, which plays out in racial, economic, social, environmental, and numerous other ways.  Our first “Shmita Sunday” of 5782 is behind us, with two more ahead – below you can view the previous event; plan to attend the coming ones; then read on for background on shmita, including a set of teachings from the last sabbatical go-around.  May ‘radical release’ be yours, and all of ours.

• Shmita, Release, and Resilience – view the slides, text, and images; or watch the recording of our 12/19/21 event – in the first half, Rabbi Fred and Mirele Goldsmith introduce shmita text and consciousness, with Debbie Siegel and Fred Pinkney; in the second half Beth Sperber Richie, David Kirsch, and Rabbi Rachel teach and model psycho-spiritual resilience.
• Shmita, Soil, Sustainability – view the slides, text and images; or watch the recording of our 03/20/2022 event – with Debbie Tropp, Cheryl Kollin, Cheryl Israel, Naomi Edelson, Seth Goldman, Stu Simon, Rabbi Fred, and more
• Shmita and Equity, Race and Reparations – Sunday May 1st, 3pm to 6pm – with Jesse Abraham, Elise Caplan, Jeff Rubin, Jackie Glass, Marilyn Kresky-Wolff, Stephanie Firestone, Mirele Goldsmith, Rabbi Fred, and more

SHMITA   שְּׁמִטָּה – Background

The sabbatical year is an ideal.  We’re not about to practice the full “radical release” outlined in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy — but beyond being biblical, “shmita-consciousness” entails a full set of urgently-needed Jewish values.    Seven years ago, Adat Shalom made “shmita” into an English word, a key piece of Jewish tradition that trips off the tongue in the 21st century.  Now in the late-pandemic times (5782 / 2021-22), shmita’s messages — including resilience, sustainability, justice, and preparedness for anything — are more timely than ever.  Here’s a quick primer on the key values behind the Seventh Year:

שְּׁמִטָּה/Shmita/Shabbaton/Sabbatical Core Values

• Resilient Micro-Community: Handling a year unlike other years (as could come any time!) at a small scale, together
• Social / Economic Justice: Special concern for vulnerable workers, servants, immigrants, “Others”; debt release
• Ecological Sustainability: Land stewardship; eating locally & seasonally; less waste; respect for all God’s creatures
• Personal Sustainability: We each rest & renew; benefits of ‘voluntary simplicity’ accrue; community strengthens
• Redistributive Justice: All agri-lands become community commons; wild and perennial produce is shared equally
• Thinking Long-Term: Living the six non-shmita years, aware of ‘scarcity’ ahead; keeping all ‘growth’ within reason

 As the current shmita cycle unfolds, we can review what we learned last time around.   For starters, see the following cycle of Rabbi Fred’s “shmita sermons” from High Holy Days 2013, 2014, and 2015, plus the related climate change message from 2019: