“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

“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

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

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

“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

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

 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

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

“When Moses stands in front of the tribes of Israel before they enter the holy land he gives a choice to follow the path of

Sometimes we have to tread lightly, even on holy land, so that we can recall the ultimate Source of food, wealth, and our own lives. 

That is Shmita. Stop plowing, stop planting, stop weeding, stop watering, stop harvesting in our normal ways (or the modern-day parallel to these things) and

הִנֵּ֥ה בָרֵ֖ךְ לָקָ֑חְתִּי וּבֵרֵ֖ךְ וְלֹ֥א אֲשִׁיבֶֽנָּה׃ “Behold, I’m bidden to bless:  And God has blessed; I cannot / will not reverse it.” (Numbers 23:20) What’s a