Let’s Talk About Shmita

According to biblical tradition, every seventh Jewish calendar year is meant to be a year of rest: the shmita year. Fields are allowed to lie fallow, debts are released, indentured servants are freed. This year, 5782, is such a year.

But how does this ancient sabbatical tradition relate to us today? Turns out, the underlying themes of shmita are deeply relevant to our present moment: ecological stewardship, food justice, debt relief, our habits of consumption and our relationship to work and to rest.

Join us for a 10-week exploration of the history and values of shmita and how they might be used in and influence our world today. We’re excited to be offering this course, called “Let’s Talk About Shmita,” in partnership with Project Zug, an organization that connects people through chavruta-style learning with curated themed sources.

Each week, you and your chavruta (study partner) will meet—in person or online, at a time that you decide—and work through a lesson, with source material in English and Hebrew and guiding questions to help you along. Four of the 10 lessons also include a short video lecture from the instructor.

In addition, we’ll come together as a group for three in-person events in Somerville:

• Kick-off on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2-4 p.m.
• Beit midrash/Torah “study hall” midway through the course
• Siyyum/celebration of completion at the end of the course, sharing what we’ve learned and how it might inspire the way we live out the rest of the shmita year

This program is designed to be accessible to all levels of Jewish learning and Hebrew language experience. You can sign up with a partner or request to be matched with someone (with the option to share some matching preferences).

Asiyah’s Programming Circle envisions this course as a launchpad for further exploration of shmita social justice themes and concrete actions we can take as a community over the course of the year. We’re excited to see where this journey takes us!

Questions? Contact info@asiyah.org.