Hi,
Hope you’re having a great day.
The Torah Minute is starting its 6th year.
And how old is the Torah?
Jewish tradition says approximately 3300 years.
The Exodus took place around 1300 B.C.E. and we went on to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah.
Secular historians who don’t accept Jewish tradition?
Many have been very adamant that it couldn’t go back much further than the 6th century BCE.
One reason why?
They were convinced that Hebrew writing was not yet developed.
And we had never found Hebrew writing going back so far.
… Until last week!
There was a fascinating news report.
“Israeli Professor Deciphers Earliest Hebrew Text.”
The story starts around a year and a half ago.
Israeli Archeologists discovered an inscription written in ink on a piece of pottery.
It was dated back to the 10th century BCE. Three thousand years ago!
The days of King David!
The problem was that no one knew for sure what language it was.
Was it Hebrew or was it another local language?
Until last week.
A professor from Haifa University has proven that the inscription is Hebrew.
And it shows that Hebrew writing was alive and well even in the small town where it was found.
It caused a lot of talk about how many historians may need to rethink things.
… You know what I found most fascinating?
How Professor Gershon Galil established that it was Hebrew writing.
One thing was that it used verbs that are particular to the Hebrew language.
And not used by any other cultures in the region.
But even more amazing to me?
It was the content of the writing that clinched it for him.
That convinced him that it had to be of Jewish origin.
It was a religious message totally foreign to all the surrounding cultures.
What do you think it was?
Something like “eat Kosher” or “don’t work on Shabbat”?
No.
What was this ‘unheard of” message?
The message that no one else at the time would have even dreamt of?
Get ready for this!
You know what it said G-d wanted from us?
To care for orphans, widows and the poor!
And you know what the other cultures would have said about the person who wrote this?
In whatever language they would have spoken?
This guy is a meshugenah!
… Think of this Jew 3000 years ago.
Writing on a tiny piece of pottery.
You might say that he sent us a “Torah Minute”.
It took a while to get to us. But it finally arrived.
And we can always use a reminder to reach out to the less fortunate!