Humanities & Culture - Spirituality and Faith (Upcoming blog)

1. What is sin?
2. What do the individual rituals, as well as the animals and food used in these rituals, represent?

Introduction:

I felt guilty not discussing more aspects of this week's portion of the Torah in my last commentary, so I have added this article as well. In addition, I would just like to mention that I made a mistake when I said we were given "new" information" about Oheliab: the second workman. Actually, we already had been told that he was from the tribe of Dan and his father was Ahisamech (apparently I was so absorbed in discussing Bezelel: the first workman, that I hadn't noticed). I do not, however, feel guilty about my comments concerning the Rashi. Most of the things he writes are simply not true and quoting another rabbi who lived 2,000 years ago doesn't make it true. For example, one of my readers commented that Josephus quoted "a well know story" that Sarai had a dream and this is the reason she and Abraham deceived Pharaoh. Really! If Sarai indeed had a dream, she had it at least 1,500 years before Josephus and the rabbis he quoted were born and several hundred years before even Moses and the first seventy rabbis were born!

This picture might be difficult to see but it's our youngest at school.  It was clown day and she's looking in the mirror and full of joy.  This picture speaks to me on so many levels.  It is the most accurate portrayal of how God made her.

My prayer when she was in the womb was that she wouldn't struggle like I did and at times still do.  The promise God gave me was that she'd be an overcomer.  I thought it meant she wouldn't have bad PMS but He's done so much more than a bad day.

This child knows who she is in Jesus.  She is a worshipper, a song constantly on her heart.  She is so sure of who she is that putting on clown make up and laughing at her reflection is a natural reaction for her.  Me?  No way.

She's so confident in Him that she has a tiara headband.  Most girls would reserve it for pretend play times.  Not this one.  She uses it as a common headband.  Why not, she wonders.  She is God's princess, after all.

I'm learning so much from her.  She has taught me not to sweat the small stuff and to laugh often.  Never let the mocking stares of someone else bring me down but make me pray for them because they are missing out, not me.

As I approach my big 4-0 later this month, carefree is a word I want to embrace. 

This princess powerhouse is an inspiration.

Picture by S.H.

Once, on a hilltop in Jerusalem, two brothers shared a field, split straight down the middle. Each brother enjoyed half of the field's yearly produce. Yet, these two brothers could not be more different.
One brother lived as a bachelor, alone but unburdened. He needed only enough sustenance for himself, and no one else.
The other brother was the head of a large family. Although his sons assisted in the work, he nevertheless found himself with the burden of providing for the many hungry mouths.
One day, the bachelor brother, evaluating the situation, said to himself: "My brother has many children. When he grows old his children will help him, provide for him and care for him. I, on the other hand, will be alone. Who will provide for me?"
So, each night, he crept to the fence dividing the shared field and stealthily "borrowed"from his brothers pile of grain, adding to his own.
That same day, his brother too thought to himself, "I have a large family and many mouths to feed. My brother, on the other hand, is alone. Why should we equally divide the yield of our field when my burden is so much greater?"