Over the last few weeks, I have been teaching classes in Hebrew.  The participants have hung in bravely, learning a new alphabet and learning to read from right to left!  We are doing this because the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and it helps us to appreciate that scripture better.  But, also, it was the language in the Temple and in the synagogues at the time of Jesus.  Jesus often would refer to the Hebrew Scripture and would read it aloud in many of the synagogues he visited.  And…Aramaic was the language generally spoken on the streets in Galilee and Judah.  Aramaic is sort of street Hebrew.

Jesus, of course, was Himself Jewish.  The Last Supper was the Seder Meal and conducted in Hebrew.  All of this makes the recent events in Pittsburgh and the lingering anti-Jewish sentiments in society all the more disturbing.  Let us pray for our Jewish brothers and sisters—and for the shooter.  All of us are God’s children and in need of God’s grace.  This is what OUR Rabbi, Jesus, taught us.  Let us live as true disciples, students at the feet of Jesus our Lord!