My Stamp Bible

 This coming Sabbath, the Jewish People read the Torah Portion of Sh'lach (Numbers 13:1–15:41). The opening topic, which continues well into the  14 th  chapter of Numbers, deals with the story of the 12 men, who Moses sent to tour the Land of Canaan. He asked them to see the land which was promised to our Forefathers: Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, and report back to him. When they came back, they were carrying a cluster of grapes that was so big, that they needed Two (at least) strong, grown men, to hold it on a staff. The State of Israel chose this image to represent the Ministry of Tourism on a stamp from 1954, and it hasn't changed since! The description in the SHOVAL (tab below the stamp) is one of two ways that the men praised the land. First, they said that it is "a land which flows with milk & honey" (Numbers 14:8; first mentioned in Exodus 3:8; and, there are 13! other times this phrase is found in the Torah). The group of 10 (of 12) men actually said this ...

The traditional custom of most Jewish communities around the world is to read the Book of Ruth on the Festival of Weeks (AKA Sha'vu'ot, Pentecost & Holiday of the First Fruit). There are several reasons for this, but one of the main reasons, which I grew up with, is that Ruth was the Great-Grandmother of David, and, since he was born (and died) on this Holy Day – we honour him by reading about his ancestry – as Ruth was the first woman to convert to Judaism (as far as we know) and accept the Torah Law. In addition, this is the day that our ancestors received the Law at Mount Sinai, and this is the reading (Exodus 20:1-14) from the Chumash (Five Books of Moses) that is the traditional reading by all Jewish Congregations (as far as I know)! When I was growing up, I had very limited sources to get stamps from collectors in countries other than Israel (where I lived) & Canada (where I was born). The reason I am mentioning this, is that even though I now have access to st...