WHAT WAS IT LIKE ?TO LIVE IN PALESTINE AT THE TIME OF JESUS

16. AMIDAH: FOR THE ANSWERING OF PRAYER:

Hear our voice, O Lord our God; spare us and have pity on us. Accept our prayer in mercy and with favor, for you are a God who hears prayers and supplications. O our King, do not turn us away from your presence empty-handed, for you hear the prayers of your people Israel with compassion. 

Blessed are you, O Lord, who hears prayer.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE ?TO LIVE IN PALESTINE AT THE TIME OF JESUS

Last Week!Avenues of Information (3)History (Jews=Subjects)Politics (Herod’s)Religion (Sects)Places of Worship (3)3 things all Jews had in common

A

Part II The Culture

The CultureOccupations!Housing!Food and Drink!Clothing and Styles!Marriage and Family!Entertainment!

Occupations

Occupations

PoliticiansBankingReligious-PriestsTradesmanFarmersMerchants

Quiz Time !!

Name the two Highest Paid Professions!

Athletes and Musicians!

Sound Familiar?

Tax CollectorThe ShepherdThe ShopkeeperThe Donkey DriverThe Organizers of Pigeon contests? The Collector of Dog Dung?

Doctors and Butchers !!

“The better of the doctors was good for hell, and the most honest of butchers was a partner of the Amalekites” Rabbi Judah- Mishnah

School Teachers

A humble even despised occupation.

School Teachers were often former slaves!

Running after customers asking for money.

Taxation

Triple Tithe10%-Priests 10%-Temple Festivals 3%- Poor Rome 30%

Taxation Heavy Burden-50%Loan Sharks sprung up!Foreclosure=Debtor’s PrisonSlaveryTax Collectors= Hatred

Quiz Time !! “Once a slave not always a slave” You could work and buy your way out of slavery! True or False?

True

Slavery- What it Meant! Not a victim of racism but of

conquest!Often sold into slavery to pay your

debts!Roman slaves could earn money,

own property, and even buy their freedom!

Wealth Distribution 1-2% had 50% of Wealth

(Political, Military, and Social Leaders)5-7% were considered rich

(Bureaucrats)15% Middle Class (Priests,

Pharisees, and Merchants)75% Poverty (Farmers, Fisherman, and

Laborers)

The Housing

Types of Housing-Village

Square Stone Structure-one larger room- One small room for animals

Partial Cave Dwellings-Employed Hillside Strategy (Front section)

Central Open Court- Housing Built around a central open court

The Roof

Very important to everyday life.Flat roof allowed for an open second floor Tools stored! Laundry put out to dry! Place to retire and pray! Became major meeting area!!

Reconstruction of Nazarene House

How to tell a Jewish Home? The Mezuzah on the doorpost! Deuteronomy 6:6 and 6:9

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.... Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

One every doorpost Inscribed on the parchment are the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21

Mezuzah on doorpost 

Quiz Time !! What was the main source of fuel for lamps and torches ?

Olive Oil!

The Food

1.Bread Bread was often cooked on a simple metal plate which yielded a flat bread!

When eating bread was broken not cut with a knife

2.HoneyHoney was the sweetener that was used for most things. Saps from various trees and the thickened juice of grapes (jelly) were also common sweeteners.

3.Cheese Cheese was usually made from goats or sheep's milk.Soft cheese was made using cloth bags filled with soured milk. A hard cheese was made from fermented soured milkThe Mishna mentions using the sap of fruit trees, such as figs, to harden cheese 

4.Vegetables! Beans and Lentils #1 Cucumbers and Onions! Leeks and Garlic! Bitter Herbs(Chicory, Endive, and Radishes)!

5.MeatMeat was a food of luxury- Eaten mainly at feasts and banquets.Goats, and lambs provided the most common meat! On very special occasions a calf.

6.FishFish was plentiful in that area. (Mediterranean Sea-Sea of Galilee)

But merchants used to salt and dry fish so that they could be sent great distances too.

7.LocustsAn ancient Jewish document claims that there were 800 different kinds of edible locust.Locust powder which tasted rather bitter and was often mixed with flour to make a much prized bitter biscuit.

8.Olives and OilSo abundant were olives and olive oil, that some was exported. Many olives were eaten directly; others had the oil pressed from them at an oil press at home Olive oil was highly prized, and many passages in the Bible hold it up it's a symbol of strength and health.

9.FruitsThey had many melons and figs along with pomegranates, blackberries and dates. Here too fruit was an abundance, so it was often exported as well.

10. NutsNuts were in some abundance, especially walnuts, almonds, and pistachios. Like today, they were roasted.

Drinks WineWater-Spring water preferred over well water

Juice- Pomegranate or DateMilk

Quiz Time !!

True or False

Wine was three or four times more potent than what we have today?

False

Meals and Daily Schedule Romans ate 4 meals daily.Jews were limited to 2 meals.Invitation to a banquet was a very

big deal.Religious ceremonies no holds barred

Clothing and Styles

Clothing and Styles! Man- Cotton or Linen Tunic-Sash-Cloak-

Sandals- Head Covering-Bearded

Shawl with Fringes- worn at prayer time!

Woman-Simpler but more colorful Robes-Long Hair-Shawl-Jewelery if they could afford it

Jew Wearing Prayer Shawl

Some Fun Facts on Clothing! Tradesmen would be instantly

recognizable by the symbols they wore.

Carpenters stuck wood chips behind their ears!

Tailors stuck needles in their tunics!Dyers wore colored rags!

On the Sabbath, these symbols were left at home.

What is this Rabbi tying on this boys arm?

Quiz Time !!

Answer: Phylactery

They are two small black leather boxes worn on the left arm and forehead by observant adult male Jews.

The leather boxes of the phylactery contain scrolls of Torah passages, specifically Exodus 13:1-10, 11-16 and Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21.

These passages command Jews to bind the word of God on their bodies.

Man Wearing a Phylactery

Marriage and Family

Quiz Time !!

Between what age was a girl usually promised in marriage?

A. 12-13 years old! B. 13-14 years old! C. 14-15 years old! D. 15-16 years old!

A. 12-13 years old!

Betrothal Not like modern engagement.Marriage arranged by parents.Absolutely no living together!!!So binding only terminated by

divorce!Jewish men married by 18- Romans

by 25.

Marriage! Marriage took place 1 year after

promise.Marriage was celebrated for 3 Days.Jewish groom took bride to live with

his family.After 10 years of married life if no

child- husband could remarry.

Marriage Fun Facts! The husband had to buy back wife if she

were ever captured!The right of divorce was exclusively the

husbands-unless???Husband had to provide two flute

players and one who wailed for wives funeral.

Polygamy was legal but rare! Few men could afford it.

The Family Basic Social unit in Israel.Children were a blessing-Being baron

a curse!Men were the breadwinners.Women worked in the domestic

realm.Slaves would also live in the same

house with the family!

Naming Traditions!

Boys

Circumcision = Brit(covenant) took place on the 8th day of life.

Male child received his name.Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshua (Salvation).

Girls Received their name in the temple on the first

Sabbath after their birth.

Education! School at the Synagogue.Jewish boys from 5-13.Few girls had access to education!Jews studied the Bible.Greeks studied Homer.Rote memorization in both cultures.

Entertainment! Religious Days and Festivals.Hellenistic World-Sporting Events.

Olympic Games and Chariot races.Major Cities- Theaters- Off limits to

traditional Jews.All Jews enjoyed music.

Theater in Sepphoris

Science and Medicine! Roman World remarkably advanced!Physicians and Dentists had surgical

equipment.(no anesthesia)Geographers mapped known world

with considerate accuracy!Architects and Engineers planned

and erected state of the art buildings!

A 19. FOR PEACE:

Grant peace, welfare, blessing, grace, loving kindness and mercy to us and to all Israel your people.

Bless us, O our Father, one and all, with the light of your countenance; for by the light of your countenance you have given us, O Lord our God, a Torah of life, loving kindness and salvation, blessing, mercy, life and peace. May it please you to bless your people Israel at all times and in every hour with your peace.

Blessed are you, O Lord, who blesses his people Israel with peace.