Rating: 8
June 18, 2007
This book is a collection of short articles designed to immerse the reader into the Jewish world of Jesus’ time. There’s little flow between the articles, and once in a while, the relevance and logic of the author’s reasoning seems shaky at best. For example, Chapter 12, on the Rich Young Ruler, seems too much like a rationalization for a Western lifestyle. The book’s best at highlighting Jewish culture, but sometimes takes missteps in applying the insights to modern times.
But on the whole, it’s a tremendous resource into the times of Jesus. For example, did you know that Jewish scholars at the time had more trust for the accuracy of oral transmission than written? It’s because in the oral tradition, one mistake would be glaringly obvious in community (just as one missing word would be obvious in the Lord’s Prayer), whereas it could be missed by a single scribe. Or, that the Lord’s prayer was probably a summary statement of larger prayers, and thus probably not meant as a model for our entire prayer life? Or that Jewish people in Jesus’ day would never have blessed the food, but bless only the Provider of the food? There are many more gems.
And if you do read this book, don’t skip over the footnotes. One footnote contains a place where a blessing was said even before going to the bathroom: “Blessed is he who formed man in wisdom and created in him numerous orifices and cavities. It is revealed and known before the throne of your glory that if even one of them should be opened or if even one of them should be obstructed, it would be impossible to exist and stand before you” (b. Berachot 60b). That’s seriously spirituality, right there.
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