DERECH ERETZ COMES BEFORE TORAH
A week ago I returned from an AMAZING trip to Jerusalem. My first time there. The flight alone is like 12 hours!! Just wanted to share some of the amazing sights that we were able to enjoy with you as well as a quick side story that impacted me:
for my pics you can visit this link www.flickr.com/photos/jayzsnaps/sets/72157623261135912/
Our fist night in Jerusalem we were privileged to arrive on the Friday (Sabbath for Jews) and were invited to participate in the celebration with a visit to the “Western Wall” (Wailing Wall) where there were well over 2000 people praying, dancing and worshipping.
In order to be allowed entry into the area we had to line up, walk through the metal detector and pass through a guard post. Our group waited patiently as several orthodox Jews seemingly walked past us and cut in line to get to the Wall without any delays. Our tour guide (a Secular Jew) spoke up – “Derech eretz…” He continue to speak the phrase and caused quite a stir with a few men who were cutting line, to the point that they waited for us to gain access so that they could clarify their reasons for cutting line.
After watching them banter about the situation, I aked our guide what it was he had said to them in Hebrew that brought about such an interesting reaction on their part? His answer was that he simply used words from their own teaching that loosely interpreted says “it is better to be polite than to go to worship”
It seems to me that Jesus often issued similar warnings to his hearers with regard to offering a gift at the altar as worship when we are aware of an odd we have against our brother or looking for the best seat at the table or even washing each others feet…
“Politeness before Worship”
Food for thought
