Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Jews, Jesus, tabernacles, myrtle.
Date: 05 October 2009 14:39:55
You learn something new every day. Friday, which was packed with far too many things including swimming, lunching with a friend, and getting my hair cut, ended after a horrendous car journey through rush hour traffic, with my accompanying a Jewish Viennese friend of my mother's to a Jews for Jesus sabbath service and meal.
Fortunately by arriving half an hour late we were spared most of the gooey 'Jesus is my boyfriend' choruses, so we just had the talk, which was about the Feast of Tabernacles which began on Saturday. It was quite interesting, but now for the thing I learned. Apparently for Succoth (Tabernacles) you have to wave a sort of bouquet of tree branches in four directions to signify that God is the God of the whole earth. The rabbis in their wisdom have decided that this tickling stick should be composed of palm, poplar and myrtle. Now here's the interesting bit. In his explanation the speaker mentioned the Hebrew name for myrtle, which is 'hadassah'. My ears pricked up at once as I happen to know that Hadassah is the Hebrew name for Esther, as in The Book of... Which in my calculations, means that the Book of Esther could equally be called the Book of Myrtle! Wouldn't that be cool?
By the way a good time was had by all and I found the Jews for Jesus were not nearly as heavily evangelistic as I expected. I shall probably go with my mum's friend again.
In other news, someone is advertising on Freecycle thus: 'WANTED: a woman bike'. Quite. I'm sure a lot of men would echo that.