Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp of Temple Sholom Cincinnati is calling for a new relationship with money – a relationship defined by a spirit of abundance rather than scarcity. “Scarcity is a myth. Abundance is the natural way of our humanity,” she says in her sermon, seen in the video below.

In keeping with this new spirit and as a way of “going first,” Temple Sholom Cincinnati has taken the radical step of beginning to enact the Old Testament covenant of Jubilee. Jubilee centers on the forgiveness of debt. All debt owed to Temple Sholom is now forgiven.

Rabbi Miriam invites us to embrace a similar spirit of abundance, rather than scarcity, by forgiving those who owe us, monetarily and otherwise.

“Debt cripples the soul,” she says. “When you forgive a debt, you welcome someone in from exile. You are God’s hands, ushering in a world of wholeness.”

The essence of Rabbi Miriam’s message is a vital piece in the restoring of the commons and the transformation of our economy. Only when our relationships move from the transactional to the covenantal will we experience the genuine community we crave.