LimmudVan ’15

The sacred Jewish cycle of seven has been on many people's minds this year. We are in the heart of the shmita (sabbatical) year - the culminating seventh year of the Jewish calendar cycle in which the Torah imagines a release for the land and for all the people who live in the land. The reverberations of such a practice would be felt deeply in the self, community, ecology, economy, and spirit. How can a vision seemingly rooted in scarcity lead to abundance? What would the effects be for the individual vs the community? How is it practiced today and how might we use it as a blueprint in our own lives? We will explore this ideas through the original source texts.

Are human beings the only creatures created in God's image? If you've studied modern theology and Torah interpretations you may think the answer is yes. But in midrash and in Kabbalah, many other realms and types of creatures were seen as being in God's image. For many Kabbalists, the ultimate image of God was not the human being but the Creation itself, which we are an image of. We'll look at some of the most radical Kabbalistis, and at the roots of their ideas, to see that a new Judaism -- and a new world -- is possible.

This 90 minute session will explore how shmitta is relevant for 21st Century Canadian society. Text study and debate, a panel featuring a farmer, economist, realtor, rabbi and more, plus information on Shmitta initiatives across Israel and the United States. This fun, eduational and practical session will inspire you and give you the tools to turn this ancient practice into a modern reality.

Note that this is a 90 minute session.