Sabbath

=== Shmita ===
''[[Shmita]]'' ({{lang-he|שמטה}}, Strong's 8059 as ''sh<sup>e</sup>mittah'', literally "release"), also called sabbatical year, is the seventh (שביעי, Strong's 7637 as ''sh<sup>e</sup>biy'iy'') year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by [[Torah]] for the [[Land of Israel]], relatively little observed in Biblical tradition, but still observed in contemporary [[Judaism]]. During ''Shmita'', the land is left to lie [[fallow]] and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by Torah and [[halakha|Jewish law]]. By tradition, other cultivation techniques (such as watering, fertilizing, weeding, spraying, trimming and mowing) may be performed as preventive measures only, not to improve the growth of trees or plants; additionally, whatever fruits grow of their own accord during that year are deemed ''hefker'' (ownerless), not for the landowner but for the poor, the stranger, and the beasts of the field; these fruits may be picked by anyone. A variety of laws also apply to the sale, consumption and disposal of ''Shmita'' produce. When the year ended, all debts, except those of foreigners, were to be remitted ({{Bibleverse||Deuteronomy|15:1–11|KJV}}); in similar fashion, Torah requires a slave who had worked for six years to go free in the seventh year. [[Leviticus]] 25 promises bountiful harvests to those who observe ''Shmita'', and describes its observance as a test of religious faith. The term ''Shmita'' is translated "release" five times in the [[Book of Deuteronomy]] (from the root שמט, ''shamat'', "''desist'', ''remit''", 8058).