“When you finally slow down for the shmita year, don’t be surprised if there is confrontation waiting for you to wrestle with. If you see it through, you might find…
“In order to effectively combat climate change and live more sustainably, our attitude must be mutzav artza, firmly grounded in the land.” This week’s Torah portion of Vayetze offers us…
The shmita year asks us to release our attachment to the dominance of land, to live in the utter immediacy of the season, to sustain ourselves with whatever the earth…
One test of kindness is doing positive things, even if not asked, or doing more than is asked, something that Rivkah did in abundance, showing how hesed was such a…
During the Covid epidemic, hospitality has increased. There are many tales of people contacting their neighbours – and even people they didn’t know – in order to help with shopping…
Shmita is about freedom and justice for people, not just rest and regeneration for the land. One of the spookiest stories in the whole Torah is found in Lech Lecha….
“Rest is not idle, rather active and creative. I refuel myself through my meditation practice, The winter rest fuels the earth, plants and animals for spring rebirth.” “Shabbat Shabbaton” are…
“Our job in this life is, and has always been, to recognize our kinship with the world, to connect with those sparks as partners, and together with them serve God.”…
In the same vein that Moshe blessed the tribes of Israel in their own ways at the end of his journey and the next step of theirs, I bless each…
If we have the courage to open our hearts to the Mussar of Shmita we see that all lives emanate equally from the One. They have the same claim to…
“In choosing a way to mark Shmita, inspired by the Hakhel ceremony in this week’s parsha, we will be honoring our heritage and rededicating ourselves to the earth, the environment,…
Shmita is not only about the seventh year, shmita is a cycle preceded by 6 other years. It invites us to inventory ourselves, our choices and our middos, character traits,…
“This is a core principal of shmita to let the fields rest and allow the hungry to eat from them. In a country where there is gross food insecurity, in…
Friday, August 20, 2021 | 12 Elul 5781 Dear All, I admit that I am baffled by Jeopardy!, and why people care about it. (What’s wrong with University Challenge?) But…
With one hand we acquire the eggs or the fledglings (or the crops) but with the other we let the mother go (or leave something for the poor to live…
Moses appointed police officers over the tribes but did not mention any judges. One might think, if we cannot have judges, at the least our society should have police. But, actually…