As Jewish people all over the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah (The Jewish New Year), this year, they will usher in the Hebrew year 5782 and enter into a Sabbatical year. Every seven years the Bible commands the Children of Israel to celebrate the Sabbatical Year (Shmitta) by allowing their fields to lie fallow, allowing their slaves to go free and among other commands forgiving debt. Could these Biblical commands inform our environmental and social justice practices today?

RAICA (the Rochester Area Interfaith Climate Action has invited Bruce Spierer from the Jewish environmental group Hazon to lead us in discussing this question. Bruce is the Public Education Manager at Hazon, overseeing and directing the development of public education programs that challenge and support Jewish institutions to develop and integrate commitments to addressing the climate crisis. Register at https://www.raica.net/event-details/the-biblical-sabbatical-year-universal-lessons-in-environmental-and-social-justice-1