Video Resources

Focusing on the Shmita of money

Rabbi Yerachmiel Meiersdorf, Rabbi of Marom on the topic of Shmita and spirituality. During the lecture Rabbi Yerach discusses how to look and Shmita as an opportunity for spiritual connection between us, the land, nature and god.

Shmita and the number 7 – What’s in a number? By: Rabbi Dalia Marx, PH.D, Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy and Midrash HUC-JIR/Jerusalem The lecture focuses on Shmita as a representation of the number 7, which is a prominent number in Judaism, and in many other cultures as well. Throughout the lecture Rabbi Marx gives an overview of the centrality of the number 7 in the cycle of time and attempts to give 7 explanations to this interesting phenomenon.

Talia Schneider is an Israeli author, lecturer and the founder of Permaculture Israel. Talia is a person who practices what she preaches, and in this lecture she tells us all about how Shmita became more than just a tradition for her, but an actual way of life. We went to visit Talia in her fascinating home, which is known as Beit Ya'ar – meaning the home of the forest, where she operates an ecological garden to grow her own food, she collect rain water, runs the only ecological printing house in Israel and teaches hundreds of students the ways of Shmita, permaculture and sustainable living, all in the context of Judaism.

Parashat Re'eh revisits the ideas of Sh'mita (Sabbatical year) and Tzedek (justice). The Torah relates to the idea of tzedek many times. This repetition speaks on the one hand of the importance of this value, but also acknowledges how difficult it can be to live up to. Dr Peri Sinclair explains how we were placed in an involuntary sh'mita year in light of the Corona crisis and offers an opportunity to engage in questions of morality, community, social justice and poverty.