8 Iyar — In the Ghetto
It was on this day in 1516 that Jews were compelled to move into a restricted area in Venice, Italy. The area they were restricted to was, formerly, the site of a foundry where slag was stored for the manufacture of weapons. The Venetian term for a foundry is ghetto...
Daily Bread — Thursday, May 16, 2024
If a bird’s nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. (Deuteronomy 22:6) In the grand scheme of things, why did...
7 Iyar — Walls Can’t Withstand God’s Correction
It was on this day that Nehemiah dedicated the rebuilt outer wall of Jerusalem. On this same day, approximately 500 years later, the Jews surrendered that same wall to the Romans. Nehemiah had to rebuild the wall because, decades before him, the people of Judah...
Daily Bread — Wednesday, May 15, 2024
A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 22:5) Okay -- so how can we possibly find inspiration in such a commandment? I mean, to most of...
6 Iyar — With the Promise Comes the Travail
It was on this day in 1948 that the British Mandate over Palestine officially came to an end, 28 years to the day, after it had begun in 1920. And as we shared in the previous devotion, it was on this day that Israel officially became a nation. It was also on this day...
Daily Bread — Tuesday, May 14, 2024
You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray, and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother. (Deuteronomy 22:1) While the primary emphasis of this command is to point out our responsibility to restore someone’s lost...
5 Iyar — Can These Bone Live?
It was on this day in the year 1948 - May 14th, 1948 to be exact - that Israel was proclaimed to be a free and independent state. Technically, the British mandate didn’t expire until after midnight, which would have been May 15, 1948. Against all odds the nation of...
Daily Bread — Monday, May 13, 2024
If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an...
4 Iyar — It Isn’t That Hard To Grasp
In 1939, the English apologist C. S. Lewis made this statement in a letter: “The process of living seems to consist in coming to realize truths so ancient and simple that, if stated, they sound like barren platitudes.” Here’s my translation of what Mr. Lewis was...
Daily Bread — Sunday, May 12, 2024
And they shall say to the elders of his city, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.” (Deuteronomy 21:20) As I mentioned yesterday, the severity of this command has fueled objections to the usefulness...
3 Iyar — A Different Kind of Spanish Lesson
It was on this day that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued a warning to Jews that, beginning on the following day and by the end of July, all Jews must depart their country. Even as they were issuing this edit to expel all Jews from their country, they...
Daily Bread — Saturday, May 11, 2024
If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his...