Free Republic

The final day of the Shemitah year, Elul 29 on the Hebrew calendar, began at sundown Saturday and Rosh Hashanah, also called the Feast of Trumpets, starts Sunday at sundown. Among those who have been studying and teaching on the seven-year Shemitah cycle, the expectations have varied wildly. The Hebrew word “Shemitah” can be interpreted as “release” or “collapse,” which has led to predictions of stock market collapses and economic doom, wars, natural disasters and the period of time Jesus referred to as the “beginning of sorrows.” Jonathan Cahn, who lifted the Shemitah out of Old Testament obscurity (it is...

Is September 2015 going to be a month that changes history? For months, there has been an unprecedented amount of buzz all over the Internet about what is going to happen in September. And without a doubt, we are going to witness a convergence of events during that month that is quite remarkable. What I have attempted to do in this article is to put together a list of things that we know will happen next month. Some of the lists that I have seen contain things that cannot be proven or that are simply inaccurate. And of course it...

"G-d spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai and said ... Six years you may plant your fields... and the seventh year shall be Shabbat, you shall not plant.” Why was this Divine commandment of shmita (Sabbatical year when fields are left fallow) particularly related to Mt. Sinai? After all, the entire Torah was taught to Moses on Sinai. Shmita, perhaps to a greater degree than other commandments, tests the Jew's faith in G-d, because it explicitly calls upon him to demonstrate his confidence in G-d's bounty, his belief in G-d's power and providence. "And if you ask what will we...