Adina Roth – Head of Jewish Life

Shemita, the Women’s World Cup and fair games

I’m not a sore loser. However, my heart sat in my chest as I watched the polished Netherlands women’s soccer team dominating ball possession over their South African rivals last week. The ‘oranje leeuwinnen’ did have a stronger game. Yet, my mind couldn’t help but wonder about the different opportunities that had brought each team to this respective moment. In disadvantaged communities in South Africa, girls playing soccer received the crumbs of the crumbs, often playing on sub-standard soccer fields in worn out school shoes. There is still no professional league for women’s football in South Africa. Although I tried hard not to be a sore loser, I had to wonder how the match would have played out, had the Banyana Banyana* team received the resources, training and input to match their passion and unstoppable desire.

Jewish tradition was sensitive to the plight of disadvantaged people in society. In this week’s Parsha, Re’eh, Moshe says: “There shall be no poor among you, since your God will bless you in the land that your God is giving you to inherit”. Parshat Re’eh speaks about Shemita, an economic and spiritual reset of land and human that was to take place every seven years. At its best, Shemita sees the economically productive human as part of a wider eco-system that includes both the earth and the more vulnerable. In the Shemita year, farmers ceased production and allowed the land to rest. In addition, all produce that year could be eaten, not just by the owner of the land but by all people in the community. Beyond agriculture, in the seventh year all debt was cancelled. A poor person who was struggling to climb out of poverty due to crippling debt, was given an opportunity for a fresh start. Eleventh century philosopher Moses Maimonides elaborated on the radical potential of Shemitah: Shemitah promoted the wellbeing of the poor and enhanced the productivity of the land. 

All this was easier said than done! A scholar of the Shemita cycle, Aharon Ariel Lavi points out that Shemita was not a simple concept to practise. The prophets dreamed of a society where the most vulnerable were taken care of and the lawmakers sought to ensure that the practice of Shemita was adhered to. However, regular human beings resisted the cancellation of debt or the full sharing of their produce with the community (understandably so). Thus, the lawmakers developed loopholes over the years in order to be both pragmatic to private landowners and the reality of economics. Today, the impact of a full social justice reset has been taken away, and modern-orthodox leader, Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein bemoans this saying: “What remains today of this spectacular vision? Virtually nothing”. Nevertheless, Shemita functions as an ideal and a reminder that not everyone is born equal and that the system remains partial to the haves and disadvantages the have-nots.  

If women’s sport has its history of inequality, women’s sport in Africa faces the combined challenge of racism, patriarchy, and third world challenges. Beatrice Frey, a sports partnership manager at UN Woman says that there is no industry with as wide a pay gap as sports. 

Judaism is a religion of prophets and dreamers. It envisioned a society where all people could live their lives on an equal playing field. Shemita was one mechanism employed to address the inevitable inequities that emerge in society. If Banyana Banyana had received similar input to their Netherlands counterparts, I am not saying they would have won – but I do think it may have been a different game. Shemita reminds us to aspire to create a world where life is a fair game for all.

Shabbat Shalom

*South African women’s national soccer team