My Stamp Bible

 I know it's been Two weeks since we celebrated Purim, but I was searching through my Iranian stamps for some stamps my new friend in Florida wanted, and came across this beautiful stamp of a Sassanian Courier (that's what the Catalogue says). I suspect that this is somewhat related to the Capital of King Xeroxes' which was called Shushan in the Hebrew Scripture of the Book of Esther. It was issued in 1970 to celebrate the 2,500 Anniversary of the Persian Empire, which is actually pretty accurate, corresponding to what we now know as the miracle of Purim. According to the Book of Esther, there were Three times that the official scribes were called to write letters in all 127 languages of the people who lived in the different countries & provinces of the Persian Empire. The first was concerning the decree that every man should be the "man of the house", which sounds absolutely ridiculous to me, and many of our Sages have made different comments & suggestion...

 It is very important, in my humble opinion, to recognize and appreciate the people & organizations who "have our back"! Acknowledging these people is something the Jewish People have been doing, ever since the times of our Forefather Abraham. When he was commanded to circumcise himself and the men in his household, the Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 42:8) teaches us, based on the words "the members of the Covenant (or "allies") of Abraham" (Genesis 14:13) – that they advised him to follow through with it and to circumcise. Even though they, themselves, were uncircumcised – they supported him in this extremely difficult decision! So, the stamp and the verse that I am showing here – was issued by the State of Israel in 2022 to acknowledge "Christians who stand for Israel". At the bottom of the stamp, called a SHOVAL in Hebrew, and a "collectible tab" in English, the quote is from G-d's very first (scriptural) conversation with Abraham: ...

 In a few verses in Exodus, Moses tells us what the husband's requirements & obligations are, when taking a second wife. Of  course, this is bigamy, and, therefore, forbidden by civil and Jewish Law; however, the Talmud takes these instructions very seriously - as it teaches us what the woman's rights are! The Scripture (Exodus 21:10) reads as follows: "if he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights". The Oral Law adds the following detailed list, based on the husband's occupation: "Men of leisure, who do not work, (or have an easy 9-5 office job), must engage in marital relations every day; labourers must do so twice a week; donkey drivers - once a week; camel drivers - once every thirty days; and sailors once every six months" (Babylonian Talmud Tractate Ketuboth 61b). My conclusion, and you should really advise with your local Rabbi, since this was written nearly 1,800 years ago, is that the wife h...

 In Genesis (27:1-4), Isaac asks his son to go out to the field and hunt "game" and bring to him so he may bless him, before he dies. We do not know if Isaac intended to give Esau the "Abrahamic blessing", basically he appreciated his son's qualities as a hunter, and asked him to prepare a delicious meal "as he likes it". In this Souvenir Sheet from Tajikistan, we see a hunter pursuing Two Goats, which is very unlikely, as goats are domesticated animals! In fact, this is what Rebekah prepares for her beloved husband, sending the younger son, Jacob, with the delicacies she made from goats to serve him, and receive the blessings, instead of Esau, her older son! 

One of the more difficult commandments in the Torah for me to fully understand, is the Law of an Israelite soldier who falls in love? with a girl he finds among those taken captive in war. As a former soldier in the IDF, it was made very clear to us that we are to have no interaction whatsoever with the civilian population in Lebanon & Syria when I was there on guard, protecting the Northern border of Israel. In fact, one of the more well-known protest movies at the time: SHTAY ETZBA'OT MITZIDON (literally, 2 fingers on the map from Sidon)  – showed one of the soldiers falling in love with a Lebanese girl, and how detrimental it was to his unit from an ethical & security points of view!  So, G-d commands us in Deuteronomy 21:11-14 that if we fall in love with a girl after we (most likely) killed her father & brothers   –  she must become unpretty for a month, in which she will mourn for her family. Of the following stamps, all of mourning women, it is har...

 One of my many friends sent me a box full of stamps, most still on paper, so I am enjoying removing the paper by soaking them, drying them and adding them to my different collections.  The Hawk is mentioned many times in the Bible, but the one that touches me the most is Job 39:26, as it is an important part of G-d's response to Job. Basically, G-d tells Job that he doesn't know anything about how the Creator runs the world, and is given many proofs of this sad fact. One of these is the flight of the Hawk: "does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the South?" In this passage, G-d is speaking to Job and challenging his understanding of the natural world. By using the hawk as an example, G-d emphasizes the significance of Creation, and reminds Job that it is beyond human comprehension. The hawk taking flight is a metaphor for Divine wisdom & guidance, illustrating that it is G-d ho directs & empowers His creatures! On a totally ...

 So, it's been a while since I posted last. I discovered, through my specific interest of Maps on Stamps, that Syria has more maps of Israel depicted on their stamps, than any other country in the world, including Israel !!! So, a friend from the UAE sent me stamps from Syria from 2019 & 2023, showing the Map of Israel, and in addition, what a surprise!, was a stamp that celebrates UNESCO International Year of Indigenous Languages. Syria decided that their language will be Aramaic, since there are small groups/communities who still speak Aramaic as their daily language. Even I, and thousands of others who study the Daf Yomi (a blot of Talmud a day)  – can't speak Aramaic as a colloquial language!!! As far as I know, Syria is the only country that has a stamp showing the Aramaic language. In a very tense time for the people in Judea, Ravshake (or Rabshakeh), acting as a messenger (or emissary) from the King of Aram, the original country where Aramaic was founded as a l...