{"id":83345,"date":"2020-11-12T12:12:19","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T10:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=83345"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:12:19","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T10:12:19","slug":"chayei-sarah-what-does-it-mean-to-own-land-and-why-is-it-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/chayei-sarah-what-does-it-mean-to-own-land-and-why-is-it-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Chayei Sarah: What Does It Mean To \u201cOwn\u201d Land \u2013 And Why Is It Important?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"83345","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":83348,"related_cahpter":"1122","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"In Jewish tradition, ownership is a beginning, not an end. It is relative, not absolute.","content":"
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In my twenties I bought my first apartment in London. My parents lent me \u00a35,000 for the deposit, and I got a mortgage for the rest. It was a 2-bedroom apartment in Golders Green. I do no disservice to my apartment if I say that it was\u2026. a pretty ordinary apartment.<\/p>\n

Yet I remember closing my front door, and sitting down on a box and just being\u00a0so happy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Why was that?\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was mine.<\/em><\/p>\n

But why did this make a difference? And should it<\/em>\u00a0have made a difference?<\/p>\n

One understanding is the line attributed to Larry Summers, the former Treasury Secretary:\u00a0\u201cin all of human history, no-one ever washed a rental car.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Ownership matters. We treat things differently if we feel that they are \u201cours\u201d in some sense.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And that is why, in this week\u2019s parsha, Abraham goes out of his way to buy the cave of Machepela to be the family burial place. He doesn\u2019t want it to be given to him, or for anyone else to be able to claim ownership. He wants it to be\u00a0his.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to me is so striking about Jewish tradition, and why shmita is so central to a Jewish framework for relating to the world \u2013 and thus so vital to the world today. Because much of human history has simply ended the story at this point. Ownership matters. This is mine and that is yours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But in Jewish tradition, ownership is a beginning, not an end. It is relative, not absolute. When we see Abraham care so much about buying the cave of Machpela, we see how grounded in human psychology Jewish life is. But it is because of the\u00a0challenges<\/em>\u00a0of this approach that the Torah begins with\u00a0bereishit bara Elohim<\/em>, G!d created the universe, and thus the only absolute \u201cownership\u201d is G!d\u2019s.<\/p>\n

And thus to the laws of the Torah, including also\u00a0leket, shichecha<\/a>,\u00a0orlah<\/a>, and others \u2013 all of which circumscribe ownership in different ways. Is the land mine? Well, yes. Can I do whatever I want with it? No. You must leave the corners of your field for those in need. You must leave it to lie fallow every seven years. There are offerings to be given of first fruits. You have obligations in relation to your neighbors, and to animals. And so on.<\/p>\n

Jewish tradition holds both sides of this. It circumscribes ownership, in multiple ways; and yet it still understands our need for ownership, legally and also emotionally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As we read this week\u2019s parsha, and as we move towards the coming shmita year, it is worth thinking about questions like:<\/p>\n

What do I think of as \u201cmine?\u201d How do I relate to land, to places, to homes? How do I relate to the commons? Do I treat different things differently? Which places in the world do I feel a special connection to \u2013 and why? How does my sense of connection to place manifest?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I end with one final question prompted by this week\u2019s parsha:\u00a0where would you like to be buried?<\/em>
\nFor some people it may be something you have planned. But for others \u2013 especially younger\u2013 it can be a disconcerting question, because it is, ultimately, a question about life and not about death.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At this time of insecurity and unsettledness, may we recognize and honor our own need for different sorts of security, and yet become secure not through absolute ownership, but through mutuality and responsibility and a human sense of interdependence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The next shmitah year begins next Rosh Hashanah 2021, almost a year from now. We have time to prepare. As we move through 5781 we invite you to join us in preparation for the upcoming Shmitah year \u2013 a sabbatical year for the Earth but also for ourselves, our communities, and our world. Each week we will share thoughts on how the weekly parsha can help guide our thinking around Shmitah themes of work and rest, wealth and debt, responsible land use, fair labor practices, private and public property ownership, and physical and spiritual revitalization.<\/p>\n

Join us for the journey.<\/p>\n

See here for more information on the Hazon Shmita project, and its blogs.<\/a><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":81608,"id":81608,"title":"shmita","filename":"shmita.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/bereishit-the-sabbatical-paradigm\/shmita\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"shmita","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":81605,"date":"2020-10-15 14:26:00","modified":"2021-02-01 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