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Monday, June 13, 2022

Summary of New Testament From a Jewish Point of View Class - June 13, 2022

It is getting to be “just plain fun” to get together every week and discuss the New Testament.  

We had a full group today!  Jo Ann, Dan, (and Jo Ann and Dan’s son Joel), David, Dave, Odette, Karen, Robin, Randy, Merill, Norky, and Jessica attended.  

After we sang our usual opening song “Give Me That Old Time Religion” we began our study.  Before the study we talked a bit about what was going on in our lives.  Odette’s father is ill and so is Dan’s mother.  

Below is a summary that Dan put together about what we studied and discussed:

We read through the final two chapters of II Corinthians 12-13. 

We read, in preparation for these chapters, of the Jewish concept of multiple heavens, including the concept of seven heavens. In chapter 12, Paul spoke  of someone who somehow went to the "third heaven", and saw and heard things which cannot be spoken of in this world. Apparently, he meant that he himself had gone on this heavenly journey. 

In this portion, Paul is comparing his personal spiritual experiences with those of others who had apparently disparaged Paul's apostolic authority and teachings. Paul sarcastically calls people "super apostles." These individuals are not named by Paul.

Several of us, including Randy and Robin,  commented on the irony of a person boasting of their humility, as Paul does in this passage. Dan mentioned that apostles such as Peter were famous as healers, yet Paul spoke of having some sort of physical disability which Paul called his "thorn in his side." Evidently Paul viewed this disability as having a spiritual purpose in his life. This may be compared with the speech impediment Moses is said to have had.

After our study, we talked about Mr. Spock from Star Trek’s “Live Long and Prosper” hand motion and how he got that from the Jewish Aaronic Blessing.  Dan and Jo Ann led the group in singing a version of that blessing.  We also sang the Misheberach healing prayer for those in the group and their loved ones who need healing.

We also got to spend some time after the study “just visiting.”  We talked about classical music and a few other subjects.  Norky is on a spiritual search and most of us agreed there are multiple ways to seek God.
Again, if there is anything else to add to this summary please comment.

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    Saturday, June 11, 2022

    Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock’s Live Long and Prosper Came From the Aaronic Priestly Blessing!


    At today’s (6/11/2022) Temple Israel Long Beach’s Torah Study I learned the Leonard Nimoy’s “Live Long And Prosper” hand sign came right out of the Jewish Aaronic Priestly Blessing!  How cool is that!

    See the the story I pasted below from Rabbi Fox’s study notes.

    By the way, I can only “do” the “Live Long and Prosper” hand thing with my right hand.  I wonder how rabbis are able to do it with both hands?

    Leonard Nimoy

    I grew up in an interesting inner-city neighborhood in Boston. The area was known as the West End and was written about in a book called the Urban Villagers. It was a desirable area since it was within walking distance of downtown Boston and the Boston Commons, as well as being situated along the banks of the Charles River.

    The population was mostly immigrants. Maybe 70% Italian and 25% Jewish. My family attended services in an Orthodox Jewish Synagogue, or “Shul.” We were especially attentive to the high holidays, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

    Since I was somewhat musical, I was hired as a young boy to sing in choirs for the holidays and I was therefore exposed to all of the rituals firsthand. I still have a vivid memory of the first time I saw the use of the split-fingered hands being extended to the congregation in blessing.

    There were a group of five or six men facing the congregation and chanting in passionate shouts of a Hebrew benediction. It would translate to “May the Lord bless you and keep you,”…etc.


    My Dad said, “Don’t look.”

    I learned later that it is believed that during this prayer, the “Shekhina,” the feminine aspect of God comes into the temple to bless the congregation. The light from this Deity could be very damaging. So we are told to protect ourselves by closing our eyes.

    I peeked.

    And when I saw the split-fingered gesture of these men... I was entranced. I learned to do it simply because it seemed so magical.

    It was probably 25 years later that I introduced that gesture as a Vulcan greeting in Star Trek and it has resonated with fans around the world ever since. It gives me great pleasure since it is, after all, a blessing.

    • What is the reason that Leonard Nimoy decided in the end to look at the gesture?
    • What allowed that moment and that gesture to stay with him so many years later?  Is there something to the hand gesture that lends itself to being remembered?
    • What rituals remain strong in your memory?  What do you think caused them to impact you in such a strong way?





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    Tuesday, June 7, 2022

    Summary of New Testament From Jewish Point of View Class - 6/6/2022


    Of course, again, our New Testament From Jewish Point of View Class was awesome!  

    We had a “full crowd!”  Jo Ann, Dan, Odette, Karen, Dave, David, Merrill, Randy, Norky, and Jessica attended.  Robin joined us for a moment when we sang the Misheberach healing prayer for her since she is recovering from Covid.  So we sang the Misheberach prayer not only for Robin but also for Dave who is recovering from a broken right arm.

    Before we began our study Odette shared a Facebook link to the Saturday 6/4/2022 Shavuot theatrical presentation.  Odette was one of the writers of one of the pieces.  Here’s the link if anyone wants to see the presentation:

    https://fb.watch/dvL1ibhHSC/

    Also, before we studied, we opened with our usual song “Give Me That Old Time Religion.”  We read Chapters 9, 10, and 11 in 2nd Corinthians.

    Before is a summary written by Dan of what we discussed and covered:

    NT from Jewish Point of View on zoom Monday, June 6, 2022

    Chapter 9 talked about an upcoming collection of money for the Christians in Jerusalem. 

    The great modern theologian, George Carlin commented that although the Almighty is almighty, the Almighty is terrible with money.

    Merrill brought up the closing of the California state mental hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s and how he was involved in building low income housing in Costa Mesa which offered space to people discharged from the Fairview state mental hospital. 

    David said that the Lanterman-Petris-Short act was signed by Governor Ronald Reagan in 1967 which made involuntary commitment to mental hospitals more difficult.

    Chapter 10 was a defense by Paul of his ministry. Randy said it sounds like it was written by Timothy Leary (!).

    Merrill recommends attending Long Beach Symphony concerts.

    From Jo Ann:  Dan stated that 2 Corinthians Chapter 9 was really a fund raising chapter.  We talked about some religious leaders of today that seem to benefit financially from their ministry.  “God loves a cheerful giver” was brought up.  Jo Ann mentioned it is hard to be a “cheerful tipper!”

    Again, please add anything that is missing to this summary.

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    Tuesday, May 31, 2022

    Summary of New Testament From a Jewish Point of View Class - 5/30/2022

    A Modern Mikveh 

    Even though it was Memorial Day, we decided to run the class as usual.  It was a bit difficult since both Jo Ann and Dan were on the road after a wedding that took place in Texas and Karen was also on the road.  It was a small (but great) group due to the holiday:  Karen, Odette, Dave, Norky and Jo Ann and Dan (sort of) attended.  

    Unfortunately, Jo Ann kept getting kicked out of the Zoom room, but because she made Karen, Odette, and Dave co-hosts, the meeting did go on!

    We read Chapters 6, 7, 8 in 2nd Corinthians.  

    I’m not sure too much of what was discussed since I couldn’t hear, but the movie and book Unorthodox came up when there was a discussion about being cleaned from sins on Yom Kippur but also orthodox Jewish women need that cleaning monthly at the Mikveh.

    We did discuss Mikvehs and I was surprised no one except me had actually visited and seen one.  I also told everyone that women go to Mikvehs discreetly and there are men’s Mikvehs too where dishes are washed.

    Here’s a link to a review Jo Ann wrote on the Netflix series Unorthodox.

    There was some discussion on who Titus was.  He was a friend of Paul’s.

    Now…please…please…add to this summary since Jo Ann really missed most of it due to a very bad cell-internet signal on the road.  I’m glad I could make everyone co-hosts so you all could study!


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    Monday, May 23, 2022

    Summary of New Testament From a Jewish Point of View Class - May 23, 2022

    It was a fun and interesting discussion and time of study as usual.  Jo Ann’s longtime friend Jessica joined us via the phone since she does not have Zoom and Norky also joined us for the full hour.  In addition to Jessica and Norky attending, Jo Ann, Dan, Odette, Karen, Dave, Robin, and Merrill attended. 

    We began with our tradition of Dan leading us in “Give Us That Old Time Religion.”

    Below is a summary Dan wrote about our time together: 

    NT from Jewish Point of View Monday May, 23, 2022

    We covered II Corinthians, chapters 4-5

    Much of the discussion today centered on the question Merrill asked: What does Judaism teach about judgement and the life to come?

    Karen spoke of the fact that life on earth is temporary, which set the tone for our following discussion. Odette said there are parallels between this passage and the current parsha in Leviticus. The parsha in Leviticus speaks about the year of jubilee with its concept of redemption. Jo Ann added that Rabbi Moskowitz has said that we do not know what is to come after death.

    In II Corinthians 5, verse 10, Paul spoke of the judgement seat of Christ, that all must be judged “for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad”. This seems to be at odds with the concept of redemption/forgiveness by grace alone found in the book of Romans. Dave shared that in Judaism there are different sorts of sins, sins against God, sins against other people, and murder. He said that we must ask God for forgiveness for sins against God, for example, eating a pork chop. For sins against other people we must first ask forgiveness from the other people. If they decline to forgive, then God can forgive. Dave understood that murder is without forgiveness because it is impossible to ask forgiveness from the dead.

    Odette spoke of the “unburdening of conscience” that asking for forgiveness brings, and of forgiveness requested on Yom Kippur. Merrill told of the AA teaching of “making amends”, which involved asking forgiveness for things done when a person was drunk or under the influence of other drugs. Jo Ann expressed hope for the future for her family’s reconciliation, and shared about the reconciliation that happened with a friend named Frank.

    Our last bit concerned the difficulty of the Christian concept of there being only one way to God’s forgiveness, especially in light of the Holocaust. Can someone like Hitler be forgiven? What of the “unbelieving” Jews slain during the Holocaust, are they doomed for eternity while the ones who killed them were eligible for forgiveness? The questions remain.

    Replies, corrections and additions are welcomed.



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    Tuesday, May 17, 2022

    Summary of New Testament From a Jewish Point of View Class - 5/15/2022

    Moses’s Shining Face

    It seems like our time together each Monday just gets more and more fun!  Jo Ann, Dan, Odette, Karen, Dave, Jenny, and Merrill attended.  At the very end of our time Norky joined us.  We missed Robin and David who both had conflicts that morning.

    We studied 2 Corinthians chapters two and three.

    Before we began when we got to visit with one another from 9:30 to 9:45 am, we learned that almost everyone in the group has a lot of “stuff” going on in their lives, so after we sang our traditional opening song at 9;45 of “Give Me That Old Time Religion,” we decided we’d sing and do the Misheberach prayer, the Jewish prayer for healing, after we studied and discussed Chapter 2.

    Somehow Chapter 2 of 2nd Corinthians brought up Facebook relationships since it seemed that Paul was writing about forgiveness and getting along.  There was perhaps some shunning going on…..Dan mentioned that Unfriending or blocking on Facebook really hurts.  Jo Ann shared about a friend that “unfriended” her on Facebook since Jo Ann did not like her posts often enough!  Karen talked about people she forgives but may not interact temporarily for her own emotional well being.

    After we took a short break and sang the Jewish prayer for healing (which Odette pointed out can not only be for physical healing but for emotional and even healing of relationships), we went on to Chapter 2.  Jo Ann shared about how she constantly played the Misheberach prayer in her husband Dan’s ICU hospital room when Dan was near death in September of 2005.  Merrill, who has had so many near death and health issues, believes our Misheberach prayers have worked!  His doctor says he is a true miracle!  Jo Ann also shared how much she likes the song from The Prince of Egypt that says “There Can Be Miracles When You Believe.”

    Merrill read the beginning of chapter 3 and then we spent quite a bit of time discussing Moses’ radiant and shining face since Paul talked about that.  Jenny read the grey box that talked about Moses’s radiant face. The word “Midrashically” came up, so we talked about what the Midrash is.  The Midrash is like additions to Torah stories that add and explain.  Jo Ann pulled out two of  her Little Midrash Says volumes and read an example of why Rebekah encouraged Jacob to pretend he was Esau to fool Isaac into blessing him instead of Isaac.  She also read the section about Moses covering his radiant face. The Midrash says Moses wore a mask for the rest of his life since the people were not supposed to see God’s radiance unless he spoke to the people, thus there was a veil-mask keeping them from totally interacting with God.



    We also learned that the Pentateuch are the five books of the Torah which are read in order each Shabbat.  Paul talked about that the reading of the “Old Covenant,” the Torah only, was like keeping this veil-mask over the eyes of those who do not accept Christ.

    At the very end of our time together, when Norky joined us, we got to visit with her and get to know her a bit.   She, like many of us in the group, agree there is one God and creator and learning about the multiple ways to follow God and learn about God is so important.  

    Below is a link to a blog post I wrote about the song “There Can Be Miracles When You Believe.”  I’ve also posted the YouTube video of the song below.

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