Shabbat of Blessing

From a July 19th email....

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Sabbath of Blessing~ the last Sabbath before the new mooon.

Today has been a wonderful day to rest. We traveled to a small fellowship last night and didn't get home until after 1:00 this morning so I have been happy for just a time to read and relax.

This week's parashah has been Mattot, (tribes) found in Numbers 30:1-32:42 and refers to when Moses gave the laws of vows, the revenge against the Midianites, and the tribes of Reuben and Gad asking for their inheritance to remain on the east side of the Jordan. It was very interesting to see how seemingly unrelated verses were actually all tied together with the concept of the vow. A vow is serious business and it's violation causes destruction and pain. While a promise is an agreement between two people and easily broken, a vow is a binding contract and involves diety.

Vow~ נדר Nader (Nay'-der)

Strong's number H5088 ~ A promise to God

Hebrew name meaning

נ Nun Seed, continue, heir, son

ד Dalet Door, move, hang, entrance

ר Resh Head of a Man, first, top, beginning

I just don't know enough about Ancient Hebrew culture to understand, but this is the deeper meaning of the word "Nader", or "Vow." We think it has to do with how vows were actually made, which to me is bizarre. We just need to study on it more.

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This is the middle of the Three Weeks of Sorrow, the time when historically the Jews befell calamaity. Both the first and second temples were destroyed, among five other noted tragedies. This time is also referred to as the days "within the straits" (bein hamatzarim)

Lamentations 1:3 "All her oppressors have overtaken her within the straits."

On Shabbat during the Three Weeks, the haftarah is taken from passages in Isaiah and Jeremiah dealing with the destruction of the temple and the exile of the children of Israel.

The Three Weeks will end on Tisha B'Av, the 9th of Av, which is the 5th Hebrew month and this year falls August 1 (sundown) to August 2 (sundown) and then the haftarah will return to parallels of the Parashah.

The Haftarah has been Jeremiah 1:1-2:3

The B'rit Chadashah has been Matthew 5:33-37, James 4:1-12.

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As I stated earlier, we traveled to another state for fellowship.

~My contribution to the fellowship's Shabbat meal:~

corn on the cob (we took 45 ears)

Humongous garden salad

carrots

kosher cheeses

olive oil

~Sabbath breakfast~

gluten free Rice Chex

Vanilla rice milk

~Sabbath lunch~

gluten free cheese bread

pinto beans

brown rice

tuna salad

garden salad

wraps

~supper~

leftovers

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The end of the season of family birthdays has arrived. I bought five bicycles this year and they were a real hit! Horse girl and Little Sister both learned to ride and now we're trying to convince Little Brother to take those training wheels off. Baby is happy with the trike. Junior, Tall Man, and Lady have been trail riding with our Friend's older children and have been loving it. Junior is trying to convince Husband to get a bike to ride along. I just may join them!

Shalom Aleichem

Peace and completeness be upon you!

~WOW~