Today, we had two morning classes: one on the Gospel According to John and the other on the Prophets. In our class on the Fourth Gospel, we discussed the implications of Christ’s union with us and how faith helps us uncover deeper levels of meaning that are not apparent just on the surface of things. Christ is our model and enables believers to sharer in His mission by means of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts. We looked specifically at Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well and how He crosses social, political, and religious boundaries in order to reveal to her the dignity that is hers as a beloved daughter of God.
In our class on the Prophets, we learned that Hebrew poetry is marked by the parallelism of different concepts. We were introduced to several different ways of reading/interpreting passages from Scripture. We also discussed how themes found in the writings of the prophets first need to be situated in their respective historical and cultural contexts before they are applied to contemporary life and experience.
In the afternoon a Jewish scholar gave us a class on the Jewish Liturgical Year, the Book of Esther, and the upcoming festival of Purim. In class, we learned that Purim is a joyful celebration commemorating the deliverance of the Jewish people during the Persian exile through Esther and her uncle, Mordecai. Jews celebrate the festival as “days of drinking and rejoicing” by dressing up in costume, throwing parties, eating special foods and desserts, giving gifts to friends and to the poor.
We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s walking tour of the Old City…and, yes, to Purim next Friday (here in Jerusalem) as well…
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