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Discussions Torah

Deuteronomy 15: Shmitah teaches mercy and freedom

Instructions on the shvi’it (“seventh”), the year of shmitah (“release”) or sabbatical year, are part of a larger teaching in Deuteronomy 14–16 on the Fourth Commandment, to guard the seventh day of the week as a holy memorial. But these instructions on care for the poor and releasing debts during the shmitah show us how the various Shabbat memorials remind us of all God has released us from through Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ).