Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1524210
FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | AUGUST 2024 23 By Steve Benoff I'm not what I call a religious person. I don't pray. Whether or not I believe in Him/Her/They, I don't regard God as, in the words of Dennis Prager, a "celestial butler." I am an observant person. One of the many reasons I love being an observant Jew – WAIT, HOLD IT. Observant Jew?!?!?! I must be kidding, right? You want to see observant Jews, go to Brooklyn as I do twice a year for Thanksgiving and Passover. There you'll see men in black suits and white shirts and black hats running to schul (a Yiddish word for school or synagogue) to study the Hebrew Bible and historic commentary all day long, six days a week. So, calling myself an observant Jew is a relative term. I'll just say that I have become more involved and interested in Judaism. In my role as the most active member of a local congregation, I would attend both of the monthly services we offered. When that congregation shut down, Martha and I searched for a replacement and settled on Temple Sinai in Palm Desert. Now, we regularly attend the Friday night service, Saturday morning Torah study, and the Saturday morning service. Anyway, back to what I was saying. One of the many reasons I love being an observant Jew is studying the rich history, traditions, and laws of Judaism. Laws?! If you love laws, become a Jew. Do you really think God stopped at ten commandments? Jews are precise counters, and those Brooklyn guys I mentioned can probably tell you all 613 laws God commanded in the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible called the Books of Moses. The word Pentateuch means five books in Greek.) Even if I can name only a few, I'm reminded of all of them because I now wear a tallit during the Saturday service. A tallit is a prayer shawl, and it has strings and knots on each end. Counted together they add to 613. OK. How 'bout I get to an app? Sorry, more diversion. During the Sabbath (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown for Jews), we read an assigned portion of the Torah such that the entire Torah is read each year. But that portion isn't one of 52 neatly divided throughout the year. By the way, you know those location numbers that make it so convenient when referring to a specific part of the Bible (old or new)? Well, Jews can thank Christians for creating them. And another "by the way," if Jews had created this system, weekly portions would likely start at Exodus 18:1 for example, and some do. But many are like Exodus 27:10-30:10. Jewish tradition follows the lunar Hebrew calendar which has 353, 354, or 355 days a year and keeps up with the international (Gregorian) calendar by adding a month seven times in a 19-year cycle. Look. The Hebrew calendar is currently in the year 5784, established way before telescopes, astronomy, and Einstein who wasn't born until 5639. So, unless you're a rabbi or live in Brooklyn, it helps to have something to consult to know the Torah portion for a particular week. When I started attending Torah study, I consulted several websites to be prepared for the week's portion. As you can imagine there are many of them. One from a Jewish congregation gives a very short synopsis. Another gives an exegesis of each portion; that one's actually from a Christian site. I do consult these sites, but I wanted something I could easily carry around. OK, technically a Torah is portable. It's handwritten on animal hide parchment each end attached to a wood dowel around which it is wrapped. I've carried Torahs many times, but portable they ain't. Fortunately, there's an app for that. Several really. The one I use is called HebrewCalendar. Technically this app wasn't designed for me. While it does use English in some parts, it's mostly in Hebrew. Fortunately, for my purpose, reading the weekly Torah portion, it's in English and Hebrew. If I go to the Calendar section and press Daily, nine different options are presented. One is Portion of the Week. That takes me to that section of the Torah designated for the week — in English. Furthermore, with a couple of presses, I can see what the great Jewish commentators wrote about the portion. Advancing through the calendar I can read the portion for any week of the year. I have no doubt that myriad apps exist for the Christian Bible. Next month I'll have more to say. If you use an app you'd like to share with others, let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net. THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT! Another App? Mazel Tov!