Rev. Joe Weekly Blog Stuff
21st and 30th May 2026
Shavuot Stuff
Hello,
As I’ve mentioned before, part of my role is to take assemblies at Greatwood Primary School. We get a worship rota with themes, which I try to follow, although I haven’t done Chinese New Year yet. This week the themes were Pentecost and Shavuot so, as the Open The Book team had covered Pentecost on Monday, I went for Shavuot, which takes place this week.
Shavuot is a Jewish festival which celebrates the day that God gave the Hebrews the Torah (the holy book containing Jewish law), 3338 years ago. The festival covers two days (starting today this year) and has its own traditions, including eating dairy food (which can be cheesecake and ice-cream), doing all-night Torah study sessions and, perhaps most importantly, telling or listening to the story again, just as our festivals of Christmas and Easter have stories about Jesus at their heart.
Re-reading the biblical account again threw up a few surprises. For example, the actual 10 commandments don’t get put on slabs until later on and the commandment ‘do not steal’ is actually better interpreted ‘do not kidnap’. In modern terms it is a command against human trafficking.
Depending on your theology, politics or translation, commandment six can be ‘Do not murder’ or ‘Do not kill’. The first version is a legal interpretation (in most countries murder is illegal but some form of killing is legalised) whereas the second interpretation is a far broader, moral, pacifist commandment.
Is Commandment nine about perjury in court, or lying in general? If the latter, can we read into the commandment that lying is OK outside of a court setting?
The story of the 10 commandments is, of course, a huge part of Christian as well as Jewish religious heritage We may not celebrate it but as part of the ‘mythos’/history of our faith it is central. A number of local churches have slabs on their walls with the 10 Commandments written on them in good old King James English (Thou, Shalt, etc). ). If you have any Jewish friends perhaps you can ask if you can join in over the next two days?
If not, I encourage you to read Exodus 19, through to Exodus 20:1-17. The Hebrews have just escaped from Egypt and God meets Moses on Mount Sinai to offer them a deal…….
Peace and prayers, Joe
JOKE OF THE DAYHere are a few 'classic' Shavuot jokes. Bear in mind that dairy products feature heavily in Shavout ...
Q: Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?A: Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at once.
Q: What type of cheese is made backwards?A: EDAM.
Q: After Shavuot we all need to go on a diet. Why?A: To cheddar a few pounds.
30th May 2026 - Passive, Pacifism, Political Stuff
Hello,
You may have read or heard about the latest Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza, which was stopped by Israeli forces on its way to Gaza. Israel says it’s justified, other countries have described it as kidnap in international waters. What struck me was the accounts of alleged abuse by Israeli forces and the taunting of captives by Israeli National Home Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir ( Itamar Ben Gvir taunts prominent Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti - BBC News )
The response of the members of the flotilla to the abuse from Israeli forces (which allegedly include sexual assault) reminded me of Jesus’ remark during the Sermon on the Mount, that:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” (Matthew 5:38-9)
It’s a problematic passage because the usual argument against it being a call for passivism is, ‘Are you really telling me that if someone broke into your house and attacked your family you would do nothing?’ As parents, wives, husbands, etc, could we really say we would do nothing?
However, if we read Jesus as political, then we might reach a different understanding. Movements across the last 100 years have relied on a non-violent approach to protest, even when there is violence going on all around. Gandhi chose this route in the Indian subcontinent and King did the same in 1960s USA. Both made the news and eventually brought about change by bringing pacifism into their protest, but still protesting. In the same way, the Gaza Freedom Flotillas (which have been sailing in different sizes since 2008, and include Christians, Muslims, Jews and atheists in their number (Why we are sailing to Gaza on the Global Sumud Flotilla | Israel-Palestine conflict | Al Jazeera ) bring pacifism into protest, whilst still protesting. All three of these examples are by no means passive. But they are all intensely political.
Was this what Jesus meant by verse 5:39? Stand up for justice (5:6) and peace (5:9) but do it in a pacifist way.
The Global Sumud Flotillas are unarmed and make active decisions note to resist when their boats are boarded, they are assaulted (10 were killed by Israeli troops in 2010) and allegedly abused (see Dispatch from Sumud Flotilla: Sailing into ‘yellow zone’ en route to Gaza | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera ). They know that their humanitarian cargoes are going to have little or no impact (only two boats have ever made it through to Gaza) but they are far from passive.
Peace and prayers, Joe
JOKES OF THE DAY