March 1

This the blessing before the reading of the Torah. Here is the translation:

Blessed Adonai, who is to be blessed.
Blessed Adonai, who is to be blessed forever and ever.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the universe, who chose us from all the peoples and gave to us your Torah. Blessed are you, Lord, giver of the Torah.


OT – Leviticus 24:1-25:46
Two really hard sections in this reading for me. The first one is the stoning of the son of the Israelite woman and the Egyptian father. The second is the whole section on slaves. Let’s deal with them one at time.
Per my Stone Chumash, there is more to the story than we get from the first read. His whole title “son of the Israelite woman” has implications. “Throughout the years of enslavement, this was the only such case, a remarkable testimony to Jewish family purity and morality. (Ramban).” Stone Chumash p. 693 Midrash says that this involved inheritance issues because the man wanted to dwell among the tribe of Dan. Jewishness follows the mother but tribe comes from the father. Moses ruled against the man who thus uttered the curse.
And this is why I have a problem with this story. If Moses did rule against the man living with his mother’s family, where is he supposed to live? Is he supposed to go back to Egypt? What about being kind to the aliens among us? That doesn’t extend to the mixed blooded? And this wasn’t even the man’s fault he had no kinship. It was his mother and father!
Okay, I know that he is the one who said the curse using the Lord’s name, Heaven forbid (this is how the Chumash says it). He is definitely responsible for that. But if it is the above, it really seems harsh.
The section on slaves also upsets me. There are one set of rules for Jewish slaves and another for non-Jewish slaves. You can’t keep the offspring of a Jew, you can’t work him at ‘inane’ jobs, you can’t subject him to back-breaking jobs. But an non-Jew. Well, treat him/her as you will. Doesn’t seem exactly on the up and up.

Just a note about the Sabbath years on the land. As a child, I was taught this was to ‘heal’ the land. As a gardener, I can tell you, the land doesn’t need to be healed. What it needs is to be rotated.
My Stone says that the Sabbath year is not about healing the land. It is about letting God be in charge. “The land’s rest in the seventh year teaches that the primary force in the universe is God, not the law of nature. By leaving his fields untended and unguarded for a year, the Jew demonstrates that this world is but a corridor leading to the ultimate world, that true life comes when man stops striving for material gain in favor of dedication to spiritual growth.” Stone Chumash p. 696 I emailed one of my friends who is currently working in a kibbutz in Israel to ask if they followed Sabbath year. This was Gailey’s reply:
“Not on your life! Dirt untended in Israel will blow away. Even when we pull up weeds, we lay down compost. We do, however, move the animals and crops around and around in a set pattern. “

NT – Mark 10:13-31
Verse 24 struck me when I read this story this time. ‘The Disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” ‘Do we really believe it is hard to enter the kingdom of heaven?
I can recall going to funerals of great-uncles and people that I did not like. And people were talking on and on about how they were in heaven, having a good time. Well, I knew some of the folks that were in heaven (at least in my child’s point of view) and while I thought Aunt Belle and Aunt Dovey ought to be in heaven, some of the mean ones DID NOT. It would have been impolite to say, well, I don’t think he was very ‘nice’ (code for not in heaven). “We don’t speak ill of the dead, Sylvia.”
I am not trying to judge people’s hearts. I am just pondering whether or not we really think it is hard or is it just a matter of saying you love Jesus and walking on. And if it is only possible with God, what is the point about selling all your stuff (rich young man) or being nice (10 year old know-it-all bratty girl)?

On a personal note, I went to church today to practice my sermon for Sunday. I can tell you, it is rough. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would infuse my words and give them meaningfulness. I do not want to let my fellow Presbyterian Women down with a poorly written and delivered sermon.