Essential Q&A

Q: Can you call upon your community or neighbors in a time of need, as we do with our community or family?
A: We should be able to call upon our community and neighbors in a time of need, no matter how big the favor is.

Parable draft #1

This parable is not a very easy one to interpret because of several reasons. First, it is not said who the main character is, and more importantly there is no lesson taught by it, at least on an obvious level. Most parables have one that is clearly stated…not just said, but the story implies it. For example, they are usually named after what they are supposed to teach. For example, “The parable of the wicked tenants” is obviously teaching about the wicked tenants. However, this one is named “Further Teachings on prayer” but also has other names, such as “a knock at midnight” or other ones.
The main characters are not very obvious in this story, as Jesus did not tell their names or their professions, only the story. This made finding out the main characters difficult due to the fact that in most parables, Jesus gives the profession of them, (ie the baker said...) and he does not in this. All he says is "imagine one of you..." implying that the story could be about them, but it can technically be about anyone, not just the ones he addressed it too. Most would assume when they read this parable that the main character could either be the travelers who are about to leave, or the neighbors who refuse bread to them. However, the main character could be the community as a whole, not just one person. The reason is that back in the days of Jesus, communities stuck together in the often dangerous Middle East areas. This shows that the community is the main character, not just one person. It was the community’s responsibility to feed the travelers, not just that particular house. Herzog points out that in this time if one house did not feed the traveler, it was also the village’s responsibility to feed them. Especially since when people asked for food in a small village, it was not a private matter, this made it impossible for any village to completely ignore their visitors, and the whole community is responsible. This would fit as the main character because this is really only present in this story. The community is supposed to take care of the oppressed and the needy that come to their village, and that is what Jesus is teaching about.

Parable Documention

1. Identify main characters / events:
The main characters are not very obvious in this story, as Jesus did not tell their names or their professions, only the story. This made finding out the main characters difficult due to the fact that in most parables, Jesus gives the profession of them, (ie the baker said...) and he does not in this. All he says is "imagine one of you..." implying that the story could be about them, but it can technically be about anyone, not just the ones he addressed it too. Most would assume when they read this parable that the main character could either be the travelers who are about to leave, or the neighbors who refuse bread to them. However, the main character could be the community as a whole, not just one person. The reason is is that back in the days of Jesus, communities stuck together in the often dangerous middle east areas. This shows that the community is the main character, not just one person. It was the communities responsibility to feed the travelers, not just that particular house. Herzog points out that in this time if one house did not feed the traveler, it was also the villages responsibility to feed them. Especially since when people asked for food in a small village, it was not a private matter, this made it impossible for any village to completely ignore their visitors, and the whole community is responsable.
2. Identify the environment the story is told in, the economic situation, setting, and who is addressed too.
The environment that the story is told in is another parable teaching. This one is different however, because this is not addressed "the parable of..." instead, it is addressed "Further teachings on prayer, which does not reveal what it is actually about. As in the usual parable his disciples are watching him and listening to his teachings. This story is told as a "village scene" and in the countries of either Jordan, Syria, or Egypt. This village could be very poor, which would make the fact that they were not able to feed the traveler excusable. Or, the village could be very rich, and that could make it not excusable at all.
3. Why? (Ie Jesus is telling the story to, the problem...etc)
The point of this story is to show the strength of community. One man has no bread to go on a journey with, and goes to his neighbor asking for some food, and his neighbor refuses to give him any. The point of this story is to show that you should be able to ask for food from your neighbor, even if they refuse. It shows that you SHOULD be able too, and that they should give you food and take care of you, because that is what a community is. That is the point of Jesus telling the story, to really describe what a community is and to "love your neighbor as yourself"
4. The question being asked and answer.
The question being asked is nothing. This is not a parable in most senses as the others have been, it is simply more teachings on something that Jesus has already talked about, loving your neighbor as yourself.
5. Ask questions to unlock the answer
Why wasn't the neighbor given bread?
6. Core values
7. Apply to current event.
It seems like the hurricane katrina arguement has been overdone, however this parable seems to fit. When HK hit, New Orleans was devastated and 80% underwater. They asked for help from the government and hoped that it would be answered, however, the government (the neighbor) turned them away. They did not turn them away completely, but instead waited 5 days to respond. This can be compared, because although they did help them in the end, they at first waited. This could be compared to "turning them away" because waiting 5 days caused so much damage that it could have just been ignoring them.

Research Article

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-9231(199723)116%3A3%3C505%3AAATFAM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V

Herzog

Herzog believes that one of the reasons the family wasn't fed by the neighbor in the parable A knock at Midnight is because of a few reasons:
1. It is considered not right for someone to give a guest rotten food, maybe the bread was old and could not be eaten.
2. There was nothing to eat it with, without anything to eat the bread with, its not worth it.
However, he believes that back then, if it wasn't the family's responsibility's to feed the traveler, it was the villages. The village was supposed to care for them as one family might, which did not happen.
3. Furthermore, in a small village, one of these midnight greetings was not a very private matter, as it was obvious visitors had come.
4. At this time, the visitor was was expected to eat a meal as the host was to serve one, there it was required by both parties that they eat and serve.
5. The host did not do any of these, therefore reflecting badly on his village as a whole. This was not good, as it risked many things happening.
It is not the particular villagers fault that he did not feed them, because technically the whole village should have risen to the occasion, but they did not. So, it is actually the villages fault for not rising to the occasion of feeding these unlucky travelers.
Another reason they didn't feed them is that in the parable, it is not really described what kind of village this is. It could have been a extremely poor village, not a huge city, therefore maybe the peasants living in the village were not able to feed them due to lack of funds! Due to the fact that there was a trial king, there were many of these poor villages around. However, this could not have been the case, and simply that the villagers were greedy. Herzog says that most, if not, all peasants were aware of "all desired things in life" Examples of these are land, wealth, health, love, or influence. Even though the peasants know what they are supposed to do and live by those values, they were in such short supply back then that they were almost completely gone.The peasants knew that their lives were horrible, and they had to deal with it their own way. Perhaps the fact that peasants could even go lower if they did not make enough money was the motivation to not feed the random strangers that showed up.
All these could be reasons why they didn't feed the stranger, and the parable doesn't go into any of them.

Final Reading Strategy

1. Identify main characters / events
2. Identify the environment the story is told in, the economic situation, setting, and who is addressed too.
3. Why? (Ie Jesus is telling the story to, the problem...etc)
4. The question being asked and answer.
5. Ask questions to unlock the answer
6. Core values
7. Apply to current event.

Interpretation Medothology

First, I will scan through the parable, this doesn't mean not read it, but just to get a feel for it. Following this I will actually read the parable in depth, not just scanning. I will interpret the parable using this method.

System examples

1. In the countrywide mortgage company, it shows that they don't really care about the circumstances of which the loan was not payed. For example, they didn't know that he spoke very limited English, so they just assumed that he didn't pay his rent because he didn't have the money, when he really did. He was just unable to understand that the "bill" they sent him was actually a bill since it did not have the Countrywide seal on it. He was outside the system and he was burned because of it, even if it wasn't his fault. If I was part of Countrywide, I would have someone explain to him that he has to pay the 20,000 dollar loan, but give him some time to do it, and I would not have foreclosed his house.
2. The Stanford experiment was a disturbing experiment that opened the psychology world's eyes to what can happen when a system is put in place. It showed the difference between the docile prisoner and the hardcore rebellious prisoner. It also showed the harsh reality between a helpful and nice prison guard and a corrupt evil one that abuses his power and makes the inmates lives living hells. This experiment shows what will happen to even nice people who are given a task. It can turn them into evil and not nice people without them even knowing it. For example, even the person who was leading the study became a prison warden and became the same as the guards.
3. These girls worked outside and challenged the systems in different ways. The first Rachael Barge started a new fund that would help the environment. This is not a huge issue for the system right now, which is why the environment is dying. She had the strength to carry on and help it, and I'm sure she faced prejudiced because of it.

Digital Portfolio: Why systems fail

Not all systems fail, but it seems like an awful lot of the ones that would usually help someone do. For example, the system that could have saved all those Katrina victims failed miserably and it took much longer for anyone to even help them. The systems that usually fail have some sort of thing that would help people, but due to other things, such as lack of funds, they do not succeed. Sadly, the ones that fail usually have huge consequences to those that they should help.
When Hurricane Katrina hit, ahead of time specialists new that it would probably be of the worst hurricanes to ever hit the gulf coast. Of course, no one knew it would be as bad as it did, they had no idea the levis might break or that by the time the hurricane ended, 80% of new orleans would be underwater. All they could do was tell the people of the city that it was coming, and hope for the best. By the end, 80% of the city was underwater and many of the people were still stuck in their houses, some of them up to their neck in water. The city was in chaos, and no one seemed to be able to do anything for them. Finally, after 5 days, the national guard was sent in to restore order.
The system that was supposed to watch over this situation was not able to do anything. The reason could be that everything that could possibly go wrong did. They system never thought that the hurricane could be as bad as it was, which is the reason it failed.
Additional Paragraph:
Everyone in our group agrees that systems are good and bad, and can be extremely unethical. They also seem to crash and burn when the real bad things begin to happen. They are unethical because it really shows prejudice on who they decide to help and who they gloss over and let the people under them help. Although the system isn't just one person or a group of people, its those people that decide what to do to help those in need most. Its interesting that the people who would benefit most from the help are usually the last to get it however.

Matthew 18-21-35

1. This story is about two servants, and a king. The main character would be the servant who the king forgave, because not only is he the main character of that story, but of the one where he forces the other servant to pay his debt. He is the objective of the whole story, while the second servant is only there for the second part of the story, and while the king is also there for the whole story, the first servant is there for all 3 parts of the parable.

2. The king decides to forgive the first servant of his debt because the first servant begged on his knees in front of the king, saying that he would pay it back. The king demands that all the servants possessions be sold, along with his wife and kids. When the servant comes to beg for forgiveness, perhaps the king felt bad and decides to forgive him.

3. The servant does not follow the example and forgive the debt because he is a servant, not a king. The king already has many possessions and although the servant owes him a lot of money, he already has a lot of it to begin with. The servant, is, after all a servant so he is already poor, so he feels the need to collect the money that the other one owes him.

4. The kingdom of God is forgiving, however if you abuse that, you could end up in a worse place after all. When you first get there, you can be forgiven of all your sins, but abuse that power and you could end up below and in more pain then you could imagine.

Digital Portfolio 1: Executive summery on US involvement in Israel

44. How does the US support Israel?
The US supports Israel through economic and military ways. For example, when Ariel Sharon punched through the villages in the Gaza strip, he did it with military weapons from the US. These included tanks, cars, armored bulldozers, and F-16 fighter jets that ruined many small villages in the Gaza strip. The Clinton administration has been much much more involved in the democracy of Israel more so then any other President in the history of the US. The US has been so involved, that in fact, over 25% of all financial aid that the US gives has gone to Israel. Although the US attempt to show that they are helping the Israel and Palestine conflict by peace, the treaties always favor Israel.
45. Why was the bush administration so much less involved then the Clinton administration in Israel - Palestine democracy? The Bush administration has been far less involved in the conflict then the Clinton administration. At the beginning of his term, Bush expressed that he may help Israel as Clinton had done. However, then the tragic events of 9/11 and the collapse of the World Trade Centers changed that. Bush concentrated more on the countries around Israel (Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran) then Israel itself. The war on terror took priority over resolving a conflict that had been going on for 50 years.
46. Whats bush's policy in the middle east been all about?
The war on terror and the oil takes priority over all. Although the Bush Administration may seem like its helping the conflict, his administration is actually doing nothing to help. He sends diplomats over there to "negotiate" with the leaders, but all they do is fly around and do nothing, then come back to tell the American people that "the goals have been met." An example of this would be the trip of former secretary of state Colon Powell. Powell left on his trip to the Mideast and again, flew all around the countries bordering Israel, meeting with leaders and talking to them. This trip around Israel took a week. Meanwhile, while Powell was flying around, Ariel Sharon smashed into the Gaza strip, destroyed villages, and took the strip for the time being. When Powell returned back from Israel, he was quoted as saying "US goals in the middle east have been met" and President Bush was also quoted as saying "I believe Ariel Sharon is a man of peace."

Digital Portfolio 1: Summery

Section 3: This section talks about the following of the holocaust. After the holocaust, the Jews had no where to go, and were very hostile to the British who may have been denying them their zone. Hostilities broke out between them.
Section 4: This is about the famous six day war, which gave Israel many parts of the land they currently occupy. This war lasted only six days and the Israeli's took many territory's which they still occupy today.
Section 5: The Yom Kippur war was launched on the jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. Although the Jew's were caught off guard by the sudden attack, they were able to rally and hold the territories they won in the 6 day war.
Section 6: The first intifada and the possible end to the violence was what this section was about. The oslo treaty however, did not stick and the Israelis had to deal with their first ever intifada.
Section 7: The end of the treaty and beyond. The Oslo treaty was over, and the israeli's had to deal with a more deadly intifada then before.

Portfolio 1: The Parable of the Tenant

In the parable of the tenant talks about forgiveness and how the fact that violence always leads to something bad. In the parable, a farmer rents out a farm to some tenants that end up betraying him. They first take the crop and when he sends messengers to collect they abuse them. The beat up the first one and the 2nd one and kill the 3rd. Finally the farmer decides that perhaps if he sends his son, they will respect him and finally give him the crops that he desires. Sadly, they kill the son and throw him out, thinking that when they kill him the farmer will give them the farm. The parable doesn't go into detail about what the owner of the farm does when they kill his only and most beloved son, but it is assumed that he goes to his farm and kills the tenets then rents the farm out to others. This parable shows that violence does not accomplish anything except bad things at the end of it. As in the Palestinian and Israel conflict, violence does not stop it, only escalates it.

Digital Portfolio 1: Letter to Senator

EDUCATION FOR ALL ACT 2007
(S. 1259 / H.R. 2092)
U.S. COMMITMENT TO GLOBAL CHILD SURVIVAL ACT
H.R. 2266
GLOBAL RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN TO THRIVE
H.R. 2965
JUBILEE ACT FOR RESPONSIBLE LENDING AND EXPANDED DEBT CANCELATION
(HR 2634)
Dear Senator
I am writing to you in the matter of these 4 bills on that are being voted on: The Education for All Act, Global Child Survival Act, Growth Act, and the Jubilee Act. These four bills are extremely important in reducing poverty in todays world. Although there are many organizations that say that they will donate money to Africa, most of these have "Phantom Aid" which does not give the money to Africa at all. But if we were to all stand up and donate, we wouldn't have poverty in the world today. If the average person gave $8 to anti poverty, we could completely annihilate it from the globe! And even though we are the richest country in the world, we give the least. This is unacceptable because many people in Africa live off less then $1 US dollar a day! Many die from lack of lack of necessities that would greatly improve their lives! For example, clean water, mosquito nets, fertilizing soil. All these contribute to the deaths of thousands of children each year. With your help, we can pass these bills and stop the endless poverty that Africa endures.

Digital Portfoilio 1: The Mustard Weed

Jesus used the mustard weed in is parable of the kingdom of God. The reason that he would use the Mustard Plant as his object to compare the kingdom of God too, is that it is very resilient and hard to deal with if it grows in your yard. When Jesus was first teaching, the Romans were very scared that he might incite rebellion in the Jews. They attempted to shut him down, and like a mustard seed, he rose above them. This is like Christianity, although the romans were attempting to stop it rising up, like the mustard seed, it was able too.

Digital Portfolio 1: What should we do?

There are many options we can do for the help of Africa. As in the ONE compaign, they say that students have already done to save Africa. However, I am not sure that joining and helping this organization would be the best thing for our class to do for several reasons. For one, it actually doesn't seem like it does that many things for Africa, and is mainly just to raise money. However, one that I do like is the millennium village campaign, this is one that Dr. Jeffery Sachs thinks is a good idea. You can do many things to help the organization, from setting up posters, sending e-cards to encourage others to join the organization, set up local meetings so that others in your area can join and talk about the organization, and finally and obviously, donate money to the village. The village is located in Tanzania and is the first of its kind. It is a beta for others to come, and they are seeing how it will work with it. The website is very informative and easy to read and learn about why we should donate to the organization. I believe that this would be the best way for 100 students in 4 parables classes to donate money too, it seems like the best choice. For example, half of the 38 million people that live in Tanzania suffer on less then 1 US Dollar a day. This is not fair to those that live there, and this organization hopes to change that.

Digital Portfolio 1: Executive Summery on Africa

Jeffery Sachs, the world renowned Economist has saved many countries from falling into complete economic turmoil, believes we can eradicate poverty from the world forever. His "shock therapy" treatment of countries emerging from communism has saved many nations, including Bolivia and Poland. He is a brilliant macro-econ mist that graduated from Harvard, with a PHD at the young age of 26, began to make a name for himself. Now, his new project is world poverty, and how to stop it. People who have met Jeffery Sachs describe him as "A squeaky wheel that roars" and "a pest", however, he takes these as compliments and takes them with stride. He visits many developing nations in an effort to see the hardships that people live in, and the amount of money that they live on. Sachs plan is if we were to spend 250 billion a year and we would eradicate poverty completely. However, it is not that easy. For example, the US spent more then 499 billion dollars on military last year, and only 22.7 billion on foreign aid. To Sachs, this is inexcusable, because we should be using that money to completely eradicate poverty from the world. According to Sachs, "Lack of five cent Immunization so that hundreds of thousands of children dying of vaccine-preventable diseases." As in the famous MTV documentary "The diary of Angelina Jolie and Jeffery Sachs in Africa" Sachs hoped the horrors that were shown in every village they visited would shock people into action. For example, 12 year old boys who are only 4 feet tall. In my opinion, if we raise any money we should send it to an organization, even the smallest contribution could help people live without poverty. For example, only 8 dollars could buy a mosquito net to help stop malaria in a small village. The US however, still spends less on poverty. According to Sachs, "The basic truth is that for less than a percent of the income of the rich world, nobody has to die of poverty on the planet." If only the rich governments of the world would listen, then maybe Sachs would be satisfied.

Portfolio 1: Singer: Moral Obligation/Extreme Poverty

1. Is our duty to give give give till it hurts?
2. People matter, suffering matters, but does everyones suffering matter?
3. If greed and ambition weren't there...everyone would suffer!
4. Why is it so difficult to put in things that would save entire villages for so little money?
5. How much are you willing to give?
6. Why should I give up my enjoyment for someone I will never see?
7. Would you save the guy down the well here? Or save the 2 people in Nigeria?
8. United States is the richest, yet gives the least.
9. But should the US be in first?
10. Is china better then US, even though the president seized power.

Portfoilio 1: Good Samaritan Interpretation

In the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus talks of one of his most famous teachings "Treat your neighbor as yourself." In the society, priests were treated as royalty and were very hypo critic. Jesus is angry at this so he uses the fact that priests are supposed to save everyone they can, but in this case, he walks past the man, who is in apparent dire need.

Portfolio 1: John the baptist

John the Baptist is a very important character in the bible and the teachings of Jesus are largely based off his original teachings. John's mother was named Elizabeth, and even though she wanted a son very badly, she was unable to have one. His father was mute and told others what he wanted from writing on a tablet of stone. However, God was merciful to her plea and gifted her a son. When he was born, they thought to name him Zacharia after his father. However, his mother proclaimed that he be named John. To confirm this they took the baby to Zacharia, who asked for his tablet. He wrote the words "John" and instantly began speaking and praising the lord.
John was a very intense speaker of God. One day, while teaching a large group of students. He called them all "Brood of Vipers" and told them they were all greedy and headed to hell. He then told them they should all share what God has given them, and give to the poor what they had. This is another fundemental teaching of Jesus. As in the famous quote "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to pass into the kingdom of God." This shows that both Jesus and John taught that even though you were rich, you still did not automatically get into heaven. Also, both believed that if you were rich, you should share the wealth that God blessed you with.

Portfolio 1: Who's chasin me?

Usually a refugee is an outcast in their new home or country. You do not know anyone else there and are probably very lonely, even more so if your family did not come with you. This relates to his teachings in several ways. First, he was always the one to approach the outcast of society, such as eating with the lepers and helping out the prostitute. This shows that when he was a refugee, he also did not know anyone at his new country or home and he shows compassion for the outsiders of the current society. Refugee's must sometimes look out for their original country trying to bring them back. Jesus also had to watch out for the Roman army trying to capture him, as they eventually did.

Portfolio 1: Who's your momma?

According to the statue in the quad of Mary, there are several aspects of Mary that stick out from it. First is the way she is dressed in a full robe, revealing almost no skin and showing her as a true saint. Also, she has long prayer beads dangling from around her. This shows she is very religious and holy. We project that she is a very holy person who is also a saint and did no wrong in her life. This stems from the bible readings and pictures of her.
In the bible stories, a very religious person would proclaim the amazing power of God at this time. This was especially dangerous back in the bible times. Mary was the lowest of the low in the class system, but was still faithful in God. Women were treated second class, married to whoever their father wanted and did not work. The community would have called her a whore because she had sex before married.
I think God chose Mary was because she was very religious and had her faith in God. She was also very strong emotionally and was able to take the criticism that would be thrown her way.

A family of freedom fighteres

Bathsheba is not a well known name in the bible, in fact, she is only known as the wife of David and the mother of Solomon. She was the wife of Uriah the Hittie and David only saw her when she was bathing on her roof. As soon as he saw her, he fell deeply in love with her. He told some of his palace guards to go and fetch her for him and to bring her to the palace. When they did, David seduces her into having sex with him. David hoped that this would go unnoticed by the people of Israel, Uriah, and most of all God. However he was wrong when Bathsheba revealed she was pregnant with Davids child. David did not want his subjects to think that he had committed adultery so he hatched a plan. He called Uriah home and told him that he should go back to his wife. Sadly for David (and Uriah!) he refused and wanted to stay in the war to serve his king. David then sent him back to the front lines with a message telling his general to send Uriah to the front lines. Uriah was killed and David and Bathsheba were married. However, their first child was killed (some say this was Gods punishment) but they had another one, Solomon.
The inclusion of Bathsheba in the genealogy of Jesus shows that Jesus came through a line of crazy women who were screwed over. For example, Bathsheba was the product of a power hungry king who decided he wanted her, killed her husband and then seduced her. He forced her to stay with him because she had his child. She also gave birth to the wisest king of Israel who is related to Jesus. She was basically screwed for life until David was dying. She was able to influence the decision of who become King after David. She was able to influence that her son, Solomon became king of Israel. All the women that were mentioned were very crazy and all screwed over by their husbands and other men in their life.

Portfolio 1: Stories people tell about you

The story that people tell about me is the fact that when I was four, I memorized a large portion of Martin Luther King's speech "I have a dream" for my preschools celebration of Martin Luther King day. Although I don't remember it, apparently it is still talked about today. I suppose people tell this story because it is obviously very amusing.

Portfolio 1: What I think I can Achieve

I think I could easily achieve an A in this class based on the fact that I am usually very good at writing and religion classes in General. I am good at writing and reading when necessary. I'm ready to achieve an A in this class and do whatever possible to.

Portfolio 1: Who is Jesus, really?

Jesus taught peace and love for his and your enemies. He talked about not resorting to violence when you have a problem, and instead using love and peace to resolve conflicts. For example, he would tell his followers not to attack the others even when he was being dragged away by the other romans who were taking him to soldiers of Rome. He also taught that the kingdom of God is open to everyone, because back then many ways to enter the kingdom of God were being thrown around. For example, only if you were rich would you get in. He also taught the concept that God's love is infinite and loves everyone. Even when he was being crucified, he told his mother to forgive the men that did it. This showed Jesus's commitment to peace and love that he was teaching to his followers. In some of the gospels, when men come to take Jesus, Peter cuts off one of the mens ear. And to show his commitment to love, Jesus heals his ear as a sign of peace and love.
Jesus's teachings were varied and when he first described them, many thought they were madness because they were so revolutionary. Although I am Jewish, I think that anyone who practices peace and love would be following Jesus's teachings. Even if they do not describe themselves as a Christian, they are still following the teaching themselves.

Portfolio 1: Introductory Notes