This ritual was inspired by the Judaism Unbound episode where they talked about doing a havdalah ritual to mark the ending of the Shmita year (5782) and the notion that we're not only ending a shmita year, but beginning a whole new shmita cycle. 

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My approach to ritual design follows four steps:

1) Kavanah: determine the ritual intent and craft a clear, concise, intention for the ritual

2) Aggadah: explore the stories, myths, and sacred inspiration that might help to inspire and root the ritual in something that is bigger than this one moment.

3) Otot: Knowing the intent and mythic frame, uncover the symbols that are meaningful and relevant

4) Peulot: determine the actions that can be performed and express the Kavanah, Aggadah, and Otot.

More on this approach to ritual design is available at devotaj.com.

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Kavanah Inspiration:

The goal and purpose of the Torah covenant, for society as a whole, is that the Israelites will observe the Shmitah 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”. (Rabbi David Seidenberg)

Statement of Intent (read aloud)

We gather together to bring to a close this shmita and initiate the next shmita cycle. We do this knowing that cycles of repair and destruction will continue until we fulfill the covenant of Shmita, which enables the reweaving of humanity’s relationship with each other, the more than human world, and the earth – that was/is destroyed in the Great Flood. We come together to embrace our roles, individually and collectively, as reweavers of creation in partnership with the Divine, helping to weave a world that can truly be free and at peace. 

We gather together in fulfillment of the mitzvah, the sacred connective action, to gather the people to hear the instruction of the Shmita.

Aggadah:
Beyond the text and teachings about the Shmita year itself, I found the following to be resonant.

• 6 days of Creation & Shabbat
• The Great Flood
• The seven years in Pharoah’s dreams (Joseph) and the many colored coat
• The covenant at Sinai
• As above, so below. As within, so without. As with us, so with all.

Otot: Symbols
The symbols that I found to align with the Aggadah and support the Kavannah

• Rainbow and 7 colors
• Shema (6 words)
• Havadalah & shabbat
• The 6 branched menorah

Peulot (Actions)
Actions that bring it all together, in this case in the form of a ritual outline with plenty of space for you to make this your own.

• Statement of Intent/Welcome

• Cleanse + Ground & Center

• Transition to Sacred Space/Time

• Invocations/Welcoming (ancestors, more than human world, land, deity)

• Telling of the story/reaffirming the covenant: What is shmita and why it matters

• Release/close/end previous Shmita: Offer 7 Year reflections

  • Suggested Song: Dor Holech (pg XX Kohenet Siddur)

  • 7 years ago I was… (Age, Life Cycle, Shmita Awareness, Quality)

  • Now I am...(Age, Life Cycle, Shmita Awareness, Quality)

• Havdalah

  • Blessings over wine, spices, and candle

• Open next shmita cycle

• • Suggested Song: In the Dark, by Kohenet Bekah Starr

  • 7 years from now I will be…(Age, Life Cycle, Shmita Awareness, Quality)

• 7 Blessings
  • Shabbat Amidah blessings - changing "Shabbat" to Shmita where appropriate

  • Light 7 Candles (preferably one of each color of the rainbow)

• Sealing the Ritual

  • Song: Olam Chesed Yibaneh, by Rabbi Menachem Creditor

  • All say: "In this world, in all the worlds we say amen"

• Gratitudes (ancestors, more than human world, land, deity)

• Transition to regular space/time

• Ground & center

• Statement of Completion

• Kiddush: Blessing  and sharing wine/grape juice and challah (or other symbolic foods)