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.


Booklet Section: Meditations