Have you ever seen Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark? In that movie if you’re paying attention you can see a faithful reproduction of the biblical account of the Ark of the Covenant – the most sacred of all objects from the Bible. It is gilded with Gold, with fine woods and carvings – with the figures of two cherubs (keruvim – those who bring God close) on top – wings outstretched and barely touching at the point where God’s presence might one day descend and perhaps glow brightly like a metaphoric shining light of truth and knowledge.
This image, and the detail that goes into it in the Torah’s description, loom large in the Jewish imagination, and our conceptualization of our community. As the Israelites move forward into the desert, surely they can rally behind this glorious homage to God’s greatness – surely they will be proud to march to the Promised Land behind this banner for holiness, the ultimate reminder of God’s presence. And within the Ark, the tablets themselves, perhaps the broken first set alongside the second set that Moses carved himself. What could be more powerful?
And pay attention to the chronology. Moses brings the tablets down the mountain, and later provides instructions about the Ark’s construction. The people have the chance to hear the words, and then engage themselves in the creation of a beautiful home – a Temple if you will. Once the community has been involved, they have no problem investing with Gold and Silver to make the tablets majestic and regal.
So this week’s Torah portion is a bit confusing. We read from Moses’ mouth:
At that time God said to me, [Moses]: 'carve out for yourself two tablets of stone, like the first ones, and come up to me to the mountain, and make for yourself an ark o...
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...mment is that Moses, as the group’s spiritual leader, had the right idea in mind. When our leadership help us focus upwards, to the heavens, to our best selves, we succeed in our mission, whether fighting a war or building a sanctuary. When our leaders forget that mission, and our focus turns down- towards pettiness and false pride, then we are liable to build buildings without the investment of the people who fill the seats. We are liable to create beautiful and ornate houses for broken tablets, which can never lead us in our worldly mission. Our task force and building team is inspired by their commitment to the little wooden box, the Ark that reminds us of who we are on the inside that cannot be written down in stone. In addition, of course, our new space will be beautiful, but it will also shine with a light that is brighter than gold and silver can provide. Amen
Comparing The Opening Scene In Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Tomorrow Never Dies 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'Tomorrow Never Dies' are both action films with a similar theme. Both films are about good fighting evil. The heroes have many similarities and differences. ' Raiders of the Lost Ark' is targeted at any age, its certificate PG. '
They were set apart; they had no earthly king and their history was one filled with miracles and impossible victories. Yet Israel’s people were still human; their failures were nearly equal to their victories and their frequent disobedience towards God had cost them greatly. They were hardly a unified nation, and despite a history rich in God’s provision, they were rebellious.
Hindson, E. E., & Yates, G. E. (2012). The Essence of the Old Testament: A survey. Nashville, Tenn: B & H Academic.
The pristine 1933 King Kong was constructed as a movie: to convey a story to entertain an audience. Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake took the substructure for King Kong and expanded upon it in virtually every way in order to “make again” the astoundment of the original for a modern-day audience. Audiences received the first King Kong very well. The stop-motion sequences of Kong were astounding for their time and the movie grossed over $90,000 in its beginning weekend. In order to bank upon its prosperity again, sequels were made and thus in 1976 a remake was made to amend upon the original. Paramount updated the movie to color, altered the story, and cast Jeff Bridges, a widely popular actor of the time, as the lead actor. Although the movie received stirred reviews, it did exceptionally well in the box office and tripled Paramount’s initial budget for the motion picture. Even though the movie wasn’t “as good” as the original, audiences still paid money to view it because of that hope that they would feel like they once did when they visually perceived the first King Kong. The remake add...
For Jews, it is the supposed Jewish site of the near sacrifice of Isaac, which the third image aids in visualizing. The Akedah, or"Binding of Isaac", is the account in the book of Genesis (22: 1-19)of Abraham, at the command of God, taking his son, Isaac, to be offered as a sacrifice in the land of Moriah. Abraham binds his son (hence "the Binding of Isaac") to the altar and is ready to perform the dreadful deed when an angel appears to tell him to stay his hand and to promise him that his seed will increase. This story is the reason that Mount Moriah, or the location of the Dome of the Rock, has retained its Jewish spiritual magnitude through the years. There are two reasons that Jews believe the Dome of the Rock to be the location of the sacrifice of Isaac: a)The sacrifice of ...
The Sumero-Babylonian version of the epic of Gilgamesh, after two and a half millennia of dormancy, was resurrected by British archaeologists in the nineteenth century. Amid the rubble of an Assyrian palace, the twelve clay tablets inscribed the adventures of the first hero of world literature – King Gilgamesh, whose oral folk tales go back to at least 3000 years before Christ (Harris 1). Tablet XI contains the story of the Flood. In this essay let us compare this flood account to the more recent Noah’s Flood account in Genesis of the Old Testament.
The Jewish Synagogue of Bet Breira Samu-El Or Olom is composed of Reformed and Conservative Jews. They believe in only one God and their most sacred text is called the Torah. Although their most important prophet is Moses, they also have other important individuals in their religion such as the prophets Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac. Bet Breira Samu-El Or Olom is present in South Florida to invigorate its Jewish members with its spiritual needs and to support and connect its community. There was a countless number of eye popping decorations inside the Synagogue at Bet Breira Samu-El Or Olom. The glass panels were all stained with various colors and symbols; the most prominent and prevalent piece of art was the Torah itself. You could also find the Torah in these glass panels which depicted luscious meadows covered with light blue glass-like skies. When turning towards the center of the room you could see a very beautiful and fiery design on two slide-able doors which I learned was called the Ark which held the Torah. The ark itself was surrounded by two large metal candles along with a smaller, yet similar, candle suspended above the Ark. In total there were about seven different Torahs inside the Ark which varied, not only in size, but also in decorations. Some Torahs seemed to be held by large gold plated bulbs while other Torahs seemed less sophisticated with lesser designs. There were multiple Torahs because, throughout time, some were donated and others were given to the Synagogue after merging with a different group.
Few works of literature or legend are as varied as that of King Arthur and his round table, forever retold by each generation. Without question, the defining work of Arthurian Literature is Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. Morte d'Arthur is a compilation of all the King Arthur legends that existed before Malory. Malory tried to bring all the stories together into one cohesive whole. Morte d'Arthur is a trove of stories about magical encounters and various quests that is loosely centered on the rise and fall of King Arthur.
When it comes to the study of Archaeology in the media no character comes to mind like the whip-cracking, macho vigilante we all know and love. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark has inspired a whole generation of explorers, historians and archaeologists alike but how much of his adventurous tales can we take as realistic? While most archaeologists are not out fighting the Nazis and reclaiming treasures as mystical as the Ark of the Covenant, the film does demonstrate several key aspects of an archaeologist’s career and lifestyle. Relations with locals is a very important aspect to a successful excavation as they can provide a great deal of information on the site and surrounding areas.
In Genesis: 6, God chooses Noah to build an ark. He is told to take his fam...
They all contracted some kind of disease, which they associated with the Ark (1 Samuel 5:1-12). The Israelites saw this as the symbol of their faith because they brought it to their city when the Philistines were attacking them, hoping that it would protect them from losing the battle (1 Samuel 4:1-6). Then the protectors of the Ark were killed, which in a way I feel like God did purposely so that the Philistines could understand the God of the Israelites. 2. What is the difference between a..
In the Hobbit an Unexpected Journey, Bilbo Baggins is “… considered … very respectable…because [he] never had any adventures or did anything unexpected” (Tolkien 2). Bilbo was respectable until he went on an adventure with Gandalf the Grey and Dwarfs to reclaim the Lonely Mountain, the dwarves’ homeland. The book was also portrayed a series of movies. The movies and the book have many differences. One of the major differences is the addition of the orcs into the movie to add the physical action, monomyth elements that were missing in the book, and to further develop the movie characters.
Inscribed on two stone tablets, The Ten Commandments, otherwise known as the Decalogue, are many things. There are multiple interpretations of them, but whether they are rules, instructions, or principles the Ten Commandments will always be the core of God’s law. God met Moses on top of Mount Sinai to deliver what would be one of the most important “documents” of all...
YHWH gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments. These Ten Commandments “set the Israelites apart and enabled them to mold a distinctive culture” as said in the text book The Human Records sources of global history volume 1: to 1500. The Human Records mentioned that “Israelites evolved the idea that they enjoyed the special protection of god (YHWH)”. The Ten Commandments are the exact words of God which were engraved on a stone that was given to Moses by god. As mentioned in the text book The Human Records , in return for protection of the YHWH, the Israelites deity demanded their sole devotion. They were going to success in Canaan, a land the YHWH had promised them and had to maintain religious and cultural distance from all other people.