“When we release our usual patterns and tools, we open a sacred space for contemplation, and for re-imagining ourselves and our world.” Our parsha of Vayikra (“And He called”) begins…
“Like the mishkan that was built of laws and gifts, the paradoxes of the shmita system allow kindness to re-enter our economic lives.” This week’s parasha concludes the construction of…
Just as the weekly Shabbat starkly reminds us who is the Creator and who is the Creature, shmita achieves a similar goal Parashat Vayakhel, although primarily devoted to the fabrication…
“Sometimes rupture is necessary and holy. Sometimes disruption is an essential spiritual practice.” In parashat Ki Tissa, we encounter one of the pivotal moments of tension in the Torah. After…
“Holiness is inside of us, meaning we can embrace shmita, both inside and outside of the Land of Israel, inside and outside of the traditional ways of observing it.” As…
“When we are able to live generously, then we can create not only a sacred structure, but a more sacred world.” Parashat Terumah begins the final section of the book…
“Our mastery and possession of creatures and objects is always provisional and limited by the broader guidelines of our creatureliness.” This parashah is known in Hebrew as Sefer Ha-Brit (the…
“What does it take to build a society that will long endure on the land?” The highlight of this week’s parasha, the Decalogue, begins with God’s self-identification as having brought…
“This is the strongest lesson of shmita, that the non-human world around and within us is filled with its own intelligence, and its own Torah.” This week’s Torah portion kicks…
“The plague of darkness evokes imagery of desperation, fear, and of dark times. It is the plague, perhaps, that most echoes the time we live in now.” Parashat Bo occurs…
“Shmita offers a “release” from this harsh legacy, whispering to us: Aspire to this time when you no longer harden your heart.” Vaera recounts the Ten Plagues and the hardening…
Shemitah and jubilee ensure that Israeli society will be protective of the weak, combating wage gaps and building a redeemed economy. If it worked with the Exodus, it could work…
We must temper using our own resources to satisfy our individual human desires in recognition of our responsibility to preserve our Earth for the benefit of humanity. Mortality sets the…
“From both the story of Joseph and the practice of Shmita, we learn that the earth, if respected, is capable of producing adequate food. Hunger is a human-caused problem that…
“Therein lies a basic lesson of Shmita: You can’t deprive other people or the land of their freedom in order to preserve your own.” The Shabbat of Chanukah is here….
“So whether you wear a coat of many colors or a simple shift when you glean, shmita is a reminder that we are all the same: temporary tenants wholly dependent…