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/Tza•diq•ūtꞋ)B.C.E. 1st century — RabꞋi Hi•leilꞋ, when asked by a gentile to be converted while the RabꞋi stood on one foot, replied: "That which you eschew, don’t inflict on your fellow! That's the entirety of Tōr•âhꞋ. What remains is pei•rush•âhꞋ. Now, go-weave
South From Rᵊphid•imꞋ To Har Sin•aiꞋ
ë''æ
Shᵊmit•âhꞋ — plowing prohibited You shall sow your land for six years, gathering the produce. But the seventh year you shall observe an absolute Shᵊmit•âhꞋ, allowing the impoverished of your am to eat it. What remains, leave to the animals. The same goes for your vineyards and olive groves.
Optional parental preparation:
What is Israel? A people? A nation? A country? A state? A landed-state nation? A race? An ethnicity? A culture (Originalist Middle-East vs Babylonian and European; and what is an originalist)? A democracy or a hierocracy (rule by priests, legitimate yō•khas•inꞋ-documented ko•han•imꞋ ruled by Ta•lᵊmudꞋ no longer extant)? How did Mōsh•ëhꞋ define and describe Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ? (Ans. both am and ërꞋëtz; i.e. a landed-state nation.) What is the implication of Mōsh•ëhꞋ paralleling observance of Sha•bâtꞋ by the nation and observance of Shᵊmit•âhꞋ by the land? What is the common theme between the two? (Each maintains a bᵊrit that joins each to é‑‑ä, One in é‑‑ä.)
Where was Mōsh•ëhꞋ and Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ when he issued the command that the land also observe a kind of Sha•bâtꞋ? (Ans. In the Sin•aiꞋ, where they would remain for the next 40 years; not in ËrꞋëtz Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ. So there cannot be any information sourced by Mōsh•ëhꞋ concerning the later implementation in practice.) In fact, nearly all of the modern observances of both Sha•bâtꞋ (e.g. electricity) and Shᵊmit•âhꞋ (e.g. prohibition against buying house plants during the year) are reforms imposed by European (not Middle-Eastern rabbis in ËrꞋëtz Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ, which didn't exist during that period) rabbis of the Dark Ages!
How does one calculate the Shᵊmit•âhꞋ year? (Ans. obtain the current Judaic year from a "Jewish" calendar. Then find Mod (i.e. modula) 7 for the current Judaic year. There is a Mod function in the Windows calculator (in scientific mode). Having set the calculator to scientific mode, enter the current Judaic year, press "Mod" and carriage return or =.
Questions you might anticipate that your child might raise and be prepared to discuss:
What is plowing, discing, manuring and furrowing? Why are these done? What is nitrogen?
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