Limmud NY 2015

Rabbis have made headlines in recent years with declarations that the Torah prohibits renting or selling your home in Israel to non-Jews. The mayor of Ashkelon declared that Arabs will not be employed in educational institutions. What is the Torah basis for these declarations? And is that really the Jewish way?

We are currently in a shmita (sabbatical) year. Shmita in Deuteronomy is not primarily about land but about remitting debts and liberating slaves. In this session, we'll ask: what kind of social ethic does Deuteronomy seek to instill? How does it work to ensure that there will be no permanent underclass in the land of Israel? What strategies does it use to motivate people to treat one another generously? Along the way, we'll see how Deuteronomy radicalizes the social vision of Exodus.