"Squeeze the World"
Saturday, October 07, 2006
This week we are celebrating the festival of Succot, the feast of booths. Though it's first decreed in Leviticus, Deuteronomy 16:13-17 has a better description of the event. It's a very social time for Israelis, as people enjoy potlucks at each other's house and eat in the sukkas. Since Jews don't exactly celebrate Christmas, it's the holiday where most go all out decorating, and the day before cars were driving by with palm branches on the roofs like we do with christmas trees.
For some geographical context, this is a harvest holiday, so the whole idea of celebrating and feasting together is very welcome! It's also nearing the end of the dry season, so there are often many ties to water when it's mentioned in the Bible. It was the last day of Succot when Jesus proclaimed "if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-8) And most of Israel is gathered together in Jerusalem celebrating during that time, so it was probably quite a scene.
Enough recycling bible study material. I went to a meal last night that included a short discussion, then I visited the local messianic congregation this morning, then there was a study in Isaiah tonight, and I'll probably visit the Nazareth Nazarene church tomorrow morning. I'll probably get a lot more throughout the week as I visit other people and their sukkahs.
Other than eating, I've mostly been busy with trying to learn Hebrew (I almost have the aleph-bet down) and getting to know my way around the place. Once I'm able to hook my own computer to the internet, I'll upload some pictures to show you more. I've only ventured into Tiberias once since I moved, but I think I'm going to like the place. It's much better now that it's cooling somewhat and it isn't quite as humid. It's so strange to be so hot in October, I'm still wearing tank-tops and sweating. Also, I chopped up an Israeli salad yesterday with a dull knife and I was rather proud of myself, though I would much prefer a sharp knife because it's a lot of chopping. In all, it's been a rather pleasant time!
For some geographical context, this is a harvest holiday, so the whole idea of celebrating and feasting together is very welcome! It's also nearing the end of the dry season, so there are often many ties to water when it's mentioned in the Bible. It was the last day of Succot when Jesus proclaimed "if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-8) And most of Israel is gathered together in Jerusalem celebrating during that time, so it was probably quite a scene.
Enough recycling bible study material. I went to a meal last night that included a short discussion, then I visited the local messianic congregation this morning, then there was a study in Isaiah tonight, and I'll probably visit the Nazareth Nazarene church tomorrow morning. I'll probably get a lot more throughout the week as I visit other people and their sukkahs.
Other than eating, I've mostly been busy with trying to learn Hebrew (I almost have the aleph-bet down) and getting to know my way around the place. Once I'm able to hook my own computer to the internet, I'll upload some pictures to show you more. I've only ventured into Tiberias once since I moved, but I think I'm going to like the place. It's much better now that it's cooling somewhat and it isn't quite as humid. It's so strange to be so hot in October, I'm still wearing tank-tops and sweating. Also, I chopped up an Israeli salad yesterday with a dull knife and I was rather proud of myself, though I would much prefer a sharp knife because it's a lot of chopping. In all, it's been a rather pleasant time!
A, 12:57 PM
1 Comments:
recycled bible study has more fiber! but it still tastes like rolled up newspaper :/
