Giving a Speech

 


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Spirituality (3)

Once a year I fast.  I go without eating at times, but the fast of Yom Kippur is set on the calendar for me.  Since the age of 13, I have observed this fast.  There are other fast days on the Jewish calendar, but they are minor fasts, and are not part of my usual observance.  Fasting is in fulfillment of the command "to inflict our souls" in Leviticus 16:19..  Of the two Hebrew words, the first, תענות, tih-ah-nu , inflict, is the same verb that describes Sarah's actions against Hagar that caused her to run away.  So the verb seems to imply a painful, physical blow.  The next work, "your souls", is ambiguous, obviously.   The word for soul, נפש, ne-fesh ,is not the same word that was used to describe the breath of life in Genesis .  That words is נשמה, nih-sha-mah m which means breathing.  As a result of God breathing a נשמה, the man became a נפש, a "souled" being.  The rabbis distinguish the two.  A נפש is shared by all a...
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Delving into Sports

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I requested a book from my library on humor in the Bible.  It is nice to know that I am not the only one who thinks that the Bible contains humor.  I am not an expert in the New Testament.  I have read it, but not recently enough to make the claim that I think Jesus had a sense of humor.  The notion that Jesus is the biological son of God could be seen in a humorous way.  Again, we must suspend our disbelief to accept this.  Having a divine parent did not start with Jesus.  One of the oldest stories in history, the Epic of Gilgamesh tells us that Gilgamesh is two-third god and one-third human.  I never quite figured out how that works mathematically. Jesus as the son of God seems to be based on the idea that David and Solomon were the sons of God.  For example, II Samuel 7:14, אֲנִי֙ אֶֽהְיֶה־לּ֣וֹ לְאָ֔ב וְה֖וּא יִֽהְיֶה־לִּ֣י לְבֵ֑ן אֲשֶׁר֙ בְּהַ֣עֲות֔וֹ וְהֹֽכַחְתִּיו֙ בְּשֵׁ֣בֶט אֲנָשִׁ֔ים וּבְנִגְעֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י אָדָֽם׃ I will be a father t...
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