Essay Archives - Shmita Project

Genesis, Sinai, and the Land Ethic

The goal and purpose of the Torah covenant, for society as a whole, is that the Israelites will observe the Shmitah (Sabbatical) year, and that in doing so, they will repair the relationship with the Earth that was destroyed in the generations leading up to the flood. Essentially, the covenant with Abraham is meant to take one people and one land, and put them in a right relationship with each other, in order to create a model for how humanity should live. That model is found in the observance of Shmitah and the Jubilee.

Earth and the Jewish Festivals: In and Beyond the Shmita Year

An essay by Rabbi Arthur Waskow that contextualizes Shmita in relation to other Jewish festivals, and deepens our connection with the natural world.

Man and Nature in the Sabbatical Year

This essay was originally published in Judaism and Environmental Ethics in 1966.

The Conceptual Foundations of Shemitta

A conceptual view of shmita from Yeshivat Gush Etzion

What Is Shemitah?

The Sabbatical Year basics: absolution of loans, desisting from all field work, and the spiritual objective of all the above.

Shemittah in the Diaspora

A halachic look at shmita, kosher laws, and how it impacts the Diaspora.

Everything You Need To Know About Shemittah

A halachic look at shmita and kosher laws.

Shmita Revolution: The Reclamation and Reinvention of the Sabbatical Year

Jewish observance of shmita (alternatively spelled shemitah)—the sabbatical year, or seventh (sheviit) year—is changing. Historically rooted in agriculture, modern Jewish environmentalists are seizing upon the long-ignored environmental and social justice (tikkun olam) aspects of shmita as originally described in the five books of Moses, the Torah in the Hebrew Bible, the basis of Jewish law.

Embracing the Shmita Cycle

This is an article written by Yigal Deutscher for Tikkun magazine, visioning Shmita as a holistic cultural blueprint for creating resilient communities.

Re-Pacing and (Self) Renewal

This essay by Jeremy Benstein 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.