They would continue to work on memorizing the wisdom literature, like Psalms, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Songs of Solomon, and the prophets. These teenage boys were the ones who completed their memory work and had the Torah totally memorized. Girls were usually preparing for marriage at this time and did not continue past Beth Sefer. Only the best of the best Torah students continued to this level of education- the rest went to learn the family trade. Beth Midrash (house of learning) is our version of “High school.” This level of Torah education was for the top 10% (comparatively) of boys ages 12-15.*Side note, this is just one more instance where the Jews were incredible forward-thinking in feminism.* The goal was for each child to have the entire Torah memorized-and not just rote memorization, but if someone asked them to recite all the verses from memory which mentioned a dove, these students could do it. It was for boys and girls ages 5-12 with the goal of complete Torah memorization. Beth Sefer (House of the Book) is our version of “Elementary” day school.So it’s not hard to imagine that they were extremely dedicating to teaching their children torah. Everything from their education to what they talked about at the dinner table, to the tassels God told them to sew onto their garments were geared to learning and remembering Torah. Y’all, their entire lives revolved around Torah, which are the first 5 books of the Bible- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy- customarily attributed to Mosaic authorship. In order to understand the orthodox Jewish custom-which we know Jesus was an orthodox Jew-we need to look at their education. So today, we are going to learn about the Jewish customs and try to see Jesus from a Jewish context. Listening to him has literally blown my mind- things are so much clearer and Jesus is seriously so much more incredible when you understand the context of his life. I have been listening to a guy named Ray Vander Laan who teaches the Bible from an eastern perspective-he is an evangelical Christian, but has an immense understanding of the Jewish culture, and uses that knowledge to give added understanding about Jesus and his teachings.

It is so in-depth, so detailed, so intricately designed, with so many subtle connections we miss more often than not, we are able to study it the entirety of our lives and still not know it all. This is what I know, 100% about the Bible-the more I know, the more I realize I don’t know anything. Most of you know I even went to Seminary and worked my tail off trying to learn even more about the Bible, and in tandem, about the God who wrote it. After I chose to life a Christian lifestyle, I took so many Bible studies trying to learn about God and about my Savior. I didn’t always live a Christian lifestyle, but I was in church and church activities as much as humanly possible growing up. I have been a Christian literally all my life. What do you think he was like (personality)?.So take a few minutes by yourself and answer these three questions: Therefore, today we are going to learn about who Jesus is and was, and why you should follow him. So pretty much all I talk about now-a-days is what I am learning about the Jewish culture and how it is important to our understanding into who Jesus was and how it gives a deeper, more rich understanding of him and his teaching. Today’s blog is a long one, and more of a devotional than my normal blogs- so buckle up buttercup!

Elijah and the rabbi bible study