Basketball for Jesus and Teva Sandals

Hey all,

Well, this weekend was great! Besides all the walking I did (Hezekiah's Tunnel just gets better and better - it's cooler [temperature-wise] in the tunnel than outside;-), I was also able to bust out some basketball, and that felt EXTREMELY good!

Some small things I learned this weekend:

1) Teva Sandals - it's not TIva. It's TAYva, and it means "nature". Why do I bring it up? Because those sandals are made in Israel;-)

2) This week's parasha reading (some of you may not know what this is; scroll down to the bottom of this entry to see) contains the most commandments in the Torah for one single section - 72 I think. One of the Rabbis (I think either Rashi or Rambam [Maiaminedes (sp?) to you and me]) said this is the most important parasha in the Torah because it has the most commandments.

3) "Honor your father and your mother" is the first commandment with a promise; sound familiar? What's the 2nd and only other one? (Answer at the bottom of the entry.)

It's hard to believe but I only have two more weeks of ulpan (language school) left. Then, all of October is open to me for volunteering at a Christian moshav (literally "settlement") where I'll be doing different things in the community. I'm excited about it.

Shalom,

Geoff

*Parasha - a small section of the Torah read each week by all observant Jews. They divided the Torah (1st 5 books of the Bible) into approx. 3-4 chapters a piece to be read throughout the year. This is actually really cool to do when you think about it, and I highly recommend it. Imagine all Christians reading the same scriptures every week and discussing them on Sundays! Powerful if you ask me!

You should know that the Torah is considered the most important part of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). The rest (Writings and Prophets) is considered somewhat as a commentary - still VERY MUCH canon, but not quite as important as Torah. Yes, some things in the Scriptures are more important than others, but it should ALL be read and studied!

*Answer: Deuteronomy 22:6-7. The Rabbis OBVIOUSLY picked up on the connection between this and Deut 5:16; why are these the only two with a promise? Does this give us any insight into what Paul was saying in Galatians 6:1-3? I don't know, but I'd love to hear your insights;-)