Shmita: Learning Spiritually and Agriculturally from the Sabbatical Year

The shmita, or sabbatical year, is a year of rest for the land and an economic resetting for society that occurred every seven years in the ancient Jewish calendar. Join us as Grace Oedel, Executive Director of Northeast Organic Farming Association of VT, Danielle Stillman, Rabbi and Associate Chaplain at Middlebury College, and Remi Welbel ‘22, co-founder of Zumwalt Acres Farm discuss the ways that shmita can be applied today and what lessons are available from thinking about cycles of rest for the land and for ourselves. The panel will be facilitated by Rebecca Kneale Gould, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies. Following the discussion, weather permitting, we will enjoy flatbread and time to learn about about the shmita adjacent practices of the Knoll.

Rain location: MBH 104