JOFEE Fellows: From 2016-2018, a series of JOFEE Fellows (Jewish Outdoor, Food, Farming, Environmental Education) were placed at Jewish institutions in a one-year fellowship. During that time, Fellows wrote a weekly blog post with reflections on their experiences, successful programs they planned and implemented, and connections to the weekly Torah portion. Views expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily represent Adamah.

Shmita: For two years leading up to and during the most recent Sabbatical year (2020-2022), a series of guest authors wrote pieces of Torah connecting the weekly parsha to various elements of Shmita. 

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[tab title=”Shmita Curricula & Educational Materials”]

• A Tale of Two Covenants (NeoHasid.org): Explore the connection between the covenant of Shmita and the covenant of the Rainbow, given to humanity when Noah and his family left the ark, after the flood waters receded. Both covenants frame sacred relationships between humans, animals, and earth.
• Envisioning Sabbatical Culture: A Shmita Manifesto (7Seeds): Essays, poetry, and art collected in this exploration of Shmita, weaving together Jewish spirituality and Permaculture Design. This booklet offers a narrative of awakening and reclamation; a blueprint for a more sacred, resilient, and holistic culture.
• Genesis, the Shmita Covenant, and the Land Ethic (Neohasid.org): An exploration of early biblical texts, such as the creation story, the fall from Eden, and the flood as a way to understand the deeper meaning and eternal covenant of the Shmita tradition.
• Judaism and Sustainability (Jewish Farm School): Foundational teachings of Judaism for the ethics and values of sustainability, as rooted in the creation story, the building of the Mishkan, and the paradigm of Shmita.
• Let The Land Rest: Teachings from the Sabbatical Year (Canfei Nesharim & Jewcology): A collection of sources from the Torah about the core aspects of Shmita, in relation to land and rest. This link is a portal to a sourcesheet, an article and a video.
• Move Our Money, Protect Our Planet (The Shalom Center): A call to action and resource guide to support individuals and communities moving their money away from economic institutions- banks and businesses- that do  not support the Shmita values of local, mutually-supportive, and ecologically-healthy economies.
• Shmita and Shabbat (Jewish Agency for Israel): An overview of the Shabbat/Shmita paradigm, with Biblical texts, as well as Rabbinic voices, such as Samson Raphael Hirsch, Arthur Waskow, Jeremy Benstein, and Rav Kook.
• ‘Shmita Foods Seder‘ (Shmita Project): The focus on this experiential and educational ritual/meal is on the foods of the Shmita Year. What was harvested during this year? What were the main foods that were eaten? How can we use the harvests and diets of the Shmita Year to inform a sustainable, ecological agricultural practice on all years? Main topics are perennial foods, wild foods, and preserved foods. Creatively use this seder in connection with the ‘seders’ of Tu B’Shvat & Rosh Hashana, or at any time of year.
• Shmita Rising: 100+ Ways To Renew Sabbatical Culture (7Seeds): An overview os action ideas for community resiliency, local food systems, and alternative economies based on Shmita values and principles. These ideas are based in social permaculture principles.
• Shmita Sourcebook (Shmita Project): An overview of sources and study questions tracking Shmita through biblical, rabbinic, and historic texts, as well as imagining the creative implications of working with the Shmita tradition today. [/tab]

[tab title=”Essays & Articles”]

• Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, “Shabbat as A Sanctuary in Time” An excerpt from Rabbi Heschel’s beautiful, timeless poetic exploration of the gift of Shabbat.
• Rabbi Arthur Waskow, “Toward a Jubilee Economy & Ecology in the Modern World” This is a chapter from Rabbi Waskow’s book, Godwrestling: Round 2, published by Jewish Lights in 1986.
• Rabbi Avraham Arieh Trugman, “The Sabbatical Year: From The Practical To The Mystical” This essay offers an in-depth mystical reading of the Shmita Cycle from within the spiritual Torah perspective (exerpt from Rabbi Trugman’s book on the weekly Torah readings, Orchard of Delights)
• Charlene Seidle, “Shmita: A Paradigm For Funding” Published by E-Jewish Philanthropy, this article offers seven points for funders to consider in creating philanthropic models inspired by Shmita values.
• Daniel Taub, “Scratching the Seventh Year Itch” A personal reflection on the values of the Sabbatical concept from the Israeli ambassador to the UK.
• Rabbi Dani Passow, “Shabbat, Shmita and Rest” This article offers a glimpse into the sacred practice of rest and how integral this is to a holistic relationship with Torah.
• Rabbi David Seidenberg, “Shmita: The Purpose of Sinai” This essay explores the possibility that perhaps the whole purpose of the Covenant at Sinai was to create a society that observed Shmita, and that Shmita creates the possibility to bring the world back into an Edenic harmony.
• Rabbi David Seidenberg, “Jubilee, Human Rights and Ecology” This essay, first printed in Tikkun magazine in 2008, explores how the Jubilee and our connection to land, in particular, can help to reframe our human role in the ecology of life and our relationship to earth.
• Rabbi Ebn Leader & Margie Klein, “The Land Shall Rest: Exploring Shmita Outside of the Diaspora” This essay explores the idea of holiness in space according to the Torah, and how we might bridge the holiness of Israel- and the laws applying to its soils- to whichever land we might live on.
• Rabbi Fred Dobb, “Rosh Hashana Shmita Sermon” This sermon was offered on Rosh Hashana 5774, the start of the 6th year of the Shmita Cycle, and one year before Shmita 5775.
• Rabbi Jeremy Benstein, “Stop The Machine! The Sabbatical Year Principle” This short article is a glimpse into a chapter about Shmita Rabbi Benstein has written in his book, The Way into Judaism and the Environment (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2006)
• Rabbi Jeremy Benstein, “Re-Pacing and (Self) Renewal” This essay is an exploration of the idea and concept of ‘sustainability’, deepening this worldview by linking it with cycles of time, cycles of renewal, and Shmita.
• Rabbi Micha Odenhiemer, “Indebted Countries and the Sabbatical Year” This essay offers a foundation of Jewish economic values, grounded in the Shmita vision, and explored global debt issues through these perspectives.
• Rabbi Micha Odenheimer, “Judaism’s Next Great Gift To Human Kind” This essay calls attention to the potency and profound need of Shmita, and challenges us to begin exploring this vision however we can, as an offering to the world.
• Nati Passow, “Shmita as a Foundation for Jewish Ecological Education” This essay was written by Nati Passow, Director of Jewish Farm School, for CAJE (Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education) in 2008.
• Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, “The Narrative of Shmita” If we are going to be able to share the depth of Shmita and its values, what is the core message we begin with? Perhaps at its heart, Shmita is about the deep satisfaction of ‘enoughness’.
• Yigal Deutscher, “Embracing the Shmita Cycle” This is an article written for Tikkun magazine, visioning Shmita as a holistic cultural blueprint for creating resilient communities.

For articles directly about Shmita in Israel, please visit our Israel Today page. [/tab]

[tab title=”Audio & Video”]

• Rabbi David Ingber, Parshat Behar (Audio): Sending Out An S.O.S. (Shmita Opertaing System)
• Godcast, Parshat Behar (Video): Sustainable Farming in the Torah
• Israel Shmita Project (Video): Running Towards Shmita
• Rabbi Jill Hammer, Parshat Behar (Audio): Not Dirt But Earth
• Rabbi Julian Sinclair, NPR (Audio): Shmita Year Controversy in Israel
• Stephen Sagmeister (Video): The Power of Time Off (a TED talk on the modern Sabbatical)
• Rabbi David Seidenberg (Audio and PDF): Shmita Harachaman[/tab]

[/tabs]

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We are proud to share The Sabbath of the Land, a translation of Rav Kook’s Shabbat HaAretz! Hazon published the first edition on the eve of the shmita year of 5775, in 2014–15. Since its first publication there has been a growing interest in, and awareness of, the profundity and relevance of shmita as a concept. As Nigel Savage, former Hazon CEO, notes in the foreword, “So shemitta is coming to life in new and fresh ways. And yet we have indeed barely scratched it. This is why it is important to read Rav Kook – to think anew about how great is the ideal, how great the challenge, and how very far we are from bringing any serious version of it to fruition.”

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the land of Israel in the 20th century. His essay, Shabbat HaAretz, written in 1909, is lyrical and mystical, a meditation on the big themes that underlie religious environmentalism. This compendium includes Rav Kook’s philosophical introduction to shmita (in Hebrew and English) and selections from his halakhic writings on shmita (in Hebrew and English), with English an introduction and summary essay by Rabbi Yedidya J. Sinclair, and foreword by Nigel Savage.

The work makes Shabbat HaAretz accessible to English-speaking readers. It presents an original, annotated translation of the entire introduction and includes selections from Rav Kook’s halakhic work, rendered in fluent, readable English. These are illuminated by contextualizing essays on Rav Kook’s life and thought, the historical background to Shabbat HaAretz, and the book’s enduring power relate to issues of land use, social justice, and climate-change activism in the twenty-first century.
Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair is an Oxford and Harvard-educated economist, writer, and rabbi, inspired by bringing Jewish teachings to life in new ways. He worked for five years as Vice President at Energiya Global, an Israeli solar energy company bringing renewable power to Africa, before that in a startup designing eco-cities. Energized by Israeli hi-tech ventures solving huge global problems.

The Sabbath of the Land is published in partnership with Koren and Hazon. Hazon first published this English translation as Rav Kook’s Introduction to Shabbat Ha’Aretz in 2014 with the support of Hazon’s founder Nigel Savage.

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The Shmita Sourcebook is designed to be accessible to people with little Jewish background, as well as rigorous and challenging for someone with more extensive Jewish learning. Our intention for the sourcebook is to offer an educational background so we can collectively be exploring the possibilities of Shmita together. We do hope this will serve in establishing a shared, common ground. From this place, we can continue the work, expanding upon our own curiosities and understanding of Shmita, and creatively apply the values of this tradition to our own lives in all the diverse ways that are possible. We hope you enjoy the sourcebook, and it finds good use in your hands, and in your community.

download a PDF of the shmita sourcebook

The Shmita Sourcebook can be used in a myriad of ways, across all types of educational settings:

• Shabbat dinner
• Adult education classes & seminars
• Weekend retreats & conferences
• Gathering of friends and family

Contents of the Shmita Sourcebook by Chapter – click chapter titles below for summaries

Appendix A: Shmita Foods: Perennial & Wild Harvests
Appendix B: Shmita Economics: G’machs & Interest Free Loans
Appendix C: Applied Shmita: For Communities & Organizations

Quotations from biblical sources are from “Five Books of Moses” translation by Everett Fox © 1995 by Schocken Books
Quotations from Maimonides are from ”Mishneh Torah” translation by Eliyahu Touger © 2005 by Moznaim Publishing

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Curriculum

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

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