Originally published on Times of Israel
In this brilliant translation of Rav Kook’s work and in his accompanying essays, Julian Sinclair succeeds in clarifying the paradoxes of shmita … a highly valuable and enlightening volume.
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, author of The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious
“There are few concepts as beautiful (and as radical) as the Jewish idea of a sabbath for the land every seven years. In this utterly fascinating translation, Rav Kook offers a gorgeous and profound hymn from across the decades to the concept, and the able translator provides historical context as well as powerful hope that this great rest and rejuvenation can have practical as well as spiritual meaning in the modern age.”
Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
Rarely can a one-hundred-year-old pamphlet reach across history and shake a reader’s heart and inspire an activist’s hands. Shabbat Ha’aretz, which was revolutionary in the Land of Israel in its time and is revolutionary for American Jews today, does just that. Hazon and Sinclair have done us an enormous service by bringing Rav Kook s Introduction to Shabbat Ha’aretz into the heart of 21st-century living.
Rabbi Mishael Zion, author of A Night to Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices
Rabbi Julian Sinclair’s translation and commentary of Rav Kook elevates our consciousness to a new level so that indeed we come to realize that understanding the spiritual greatness of Shmita is a prerequisite for taking the practical steps that can reverse climate change, feed the hungry and even cloth the naked. What I learned from this holy book is that the seeds of humanity’s redemption live within the radical notion of Shmita. Yosef Abramowitz, Co-Founder and CEO, Energiya Global
We are in the debt of Rabbi Julian Sinclair, among the greatest expositors of Rav Kook’s thought and writing in English, for providing us with this edition of Shabbat Ha’aretz in which we encounter a vision for revived Jewish existence and society in the Land of Israel.
Rabbi Jeffrey Saks
Editor, Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought
“I hope that anyone reading this book will realize not just how extraordinary Rav Kook was but also what a remarkable teacher Rabbi Sinclair is. One sees on every page how deeply he combines immense Jewish learning with a thoughtful and serious engagement with the larger issues raised by shmita. It is a tremendous achievement – and a great mitzva – to produce such a superb annotated translation of this rich, unique and complex work.
Nigel Savage, Founder, Hazon,
