The Shmita Prizes

On September 6th, 2021 / Rosh Hashanah 5782, with the heralding of the Jewish New Year, the Jewish people entered the shmita year in our cycle of the seasons. Jewish tradition teaches about a shmita year occurring every seven years, a time of release with Biblical and contemporary applications to our relationships with land, food, debt, work/rest, equity and more.

Jewish tradition is rooted in ritual objects, texts, music and practices that facilitate both a personal and collective engagement with the Jewish cycle of the year. At Hazon and with our international partners, we harnessed the power of the arts to explore the intersection of the shmita wisdom teachings with contemporary Jewish life. The Shmita Prizes award artists and creatives – from all levels of experience and age groups – for works of art that bring into focus the relevancy and application of shmita values in our contemporary world. These art works offer creative avenues with which to prepare for, mark and engage with the shmita year.

The Shmita Prizes formally closed during Chanukah 5782. This web page houses a living archive of the creative responses submitted. This shmita creative arts library serves as a source of inspiration, while building a global network of Jewish artists committed to engaging with the teachings and values of shmita. A committee of professional artists selected one artist in each category to be awarded first place prizes.

The Shmita Prizes Invited Works in the Following Artistic Categories

Ritual Object

Works created in this category can be in any medium. We are particularly interested in ritual objects that lend themselves to the Rosh HaShana or Shabbat table and/or that could be activated in a newly imagined Shmita ritual. Artists creating works for this category should consider and indicate the capacity to reproduce this object for wide distribution
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Fine Art

2 & 3D works including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, photography, illustration, fiber arts, ceramics, book arts, comix, mixed media, installation and other applicable mediums
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Film/Video

Non-performative works that engage film and video as a contemporary art medium
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Performance Art / Music / Liturgy

Performative works that exhibit one or more of the following - new expressions of ritual, liturgy, dance, spoken word or original music
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Written Word

Including essays, ideas, scripts, prose and poetry (contemporary or liturgical)
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Congratulations to Our Winners!

Mazel Tov! Thank you to all who entered.

First Place winners are:

Ritual Object

Idelle Hammond-Sass
Renewing Shmita

Fine Art

Mira Burack
Sleeping Huts

Video

Levi Selig, Simon Zeitlin, and Eitan Marx
Shmitah Brick By Brick*

Performance Art

Jessi Roemer
Seij Años

Written Word

Benjamin Shalva
The Thistle

Honorable mentions are awarded to:

Ritual Object

Fine Art

Video

Raaya Ilovitz and Nava Elias
Shmita in a Nutshell*

Alli Fransblow
Shmita safe cake!!*

Sophia Porath
Shmita Food Rules*

Performance Art

Yael Goldfeder
Earth Needs Naps

Jordan Lowe
Shmita Prayer

Eitan Marx
Shmita: The Remedy*

Written Word

Liz P.G. Hirsch
5781: A Shmita Year

Camille Lerner
On Shmita

Nikki Skuratovsky
Shmita Within Society*

*Asterisk denotes they are youth winners (under 18)