Back Again

Somethings have changed with this blog, not my doing, but I am trying to figure it out.  It's really spring now, Mr. Ding-a-Ling the icecream truck was here yesterday.  The turkey is still strutting, even though turkey season started six days ago.  And my classes are still amusing and interesting me.  Last week in the heroes and villains of the Bible class we did Adam, Eve and the snake.  The Rabbi who taught it was wonderful, as was the Rabbi that taught the story of Moses.  Anyway, he put a whole new slant on the story.  Adam was created in the second chapter (even though man and woman were already created in the first chapter).  Now here's where it gets different.  Adam was both male and female, so it was more than a rib God took to form Eve, it was half his body.  Then the tree - God puts in right in the middle of the garden, but forbids the eating of the fruit.  The Rabbi stated, "God had the whole garden to play with, he could have stuck the tree in a secluded corner, but he puts it right in the middle"  Then when they eat the fruit, and see they are naked, they dress in fig leaves and hide in the trees.  God asks "Where are you?" but he knows they are - they don't look like trees just because they stuck some leaves here and there.  What God means is Where are you in your development?  So, the Rabbi sees the story as a test by God to see if they are ready to leave the garden, go out in the world.  And they do, and now they have children with painful childbirth and must work hard for a living.  "The real world," as the rabbi put it.  Now isn't that interesting?  It doesn't paint the woman as conniving, the snake as evil or the man as stupidly following the woman....they just  do what they have to to leave the garden and get on with life.  Interesting and different isn't it?

The rabbi before was also a great talker, the hour and half went by so quickly.  When somebody said the word "fornication" as an answer (it was wrong), he asked "Do you want to hear a joke about fornication?" Of course, everyone said yes.  So he started, using a heavy Jewish accent, Little Moises goes to his Mother and asks "What is fornication?" She says go ask your father.  So he asks his father and his father sends him to his Grandmother.  "What is fornication?" he asks, and she smiles and says "I will show you fornication" and takes him to the closet.  She pulls out a plain house dress and holds it up before him.  This is a simple dress, just for around the house, nothing fancy.  Then she pulls out a sparkly, brightly colored dress, covered with beads and sequins.  "Now, she says, "This is a dress for an occasion."  We all laughed.  I hope I figured out this new format all right.