“Shmita is a social and spiritual enterprise from which our society could learn much: In releasing the crops of our field to others, it curbs materialistic tendencies." The modern state of Israel ...

Let people draw on their social benefits cyclically – to retrain, to go back to school, or to relieve debt instead of waiting for retirement and only starting to collect social benefits then. During ...

But first, I want to put these prizes in context, beginning with a word about shabbat, shmita’s temporal Jewish sibling. The world needs shabbat right now. We need boundaries. We need rest. We need ...

Nothing draws attention to the passage of time like doing the same thing every year, and nothing marks disruption like not being able to do it. So this past September, when for the second straight ...

Shmita, the Torah-mandated break that refreshes every seven years, and which is observed in the coming new year, 5775, is being reinterpreted in Los Angeles. The key concepts of shmita, which means ...

Quick, what is the first word that comes to mind when you hear the word “shmita”? Most likely it is “agriculture”. Or more specifically an entire industry of grossly overpriced, imported fruits and ...

JERUSALEM (JTA) — When the Maccabees climbed the stairs of the Temple in Jerusalem, they lit the menorah with the knowledge that there was only enough oil to last for one day. Only a miracle could ...

(JTA) — When I finished rabbinical school in 2018, I entered the “real world” with $40,000 in student loans. I acted fast, prioritizing repayment over everything else. Within six months, I paid nearly ...

More than 2,000 years ago, when ancient Israel was an agrarian society, the shmita year was a huge national happening. Commencing with Rosh Hashanah, the people of Israel would gather in the fields to ...

This story first appeared on Civil Eats. A class of schoolchildren gathers around a seemingly neglected garden bed at Urban Adamah, a Jewish farm and educational center in Berkeley, California.

A couple of weeks ago, you may recall, we did a segment on the shmita year controversy in Israel. The shmita year takes place every seventh year and, among other things, requires Jewish farmers to let ...

When 70 climate activists stood outside Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s West Los Angeles field offices 10 days ago and blew a shofar, it wasn’t their way of wishing their senator an early Happy Jewish New ...