Breaking The Jewish Code Perry Stone

It’s as Sweet as Honey God called the Promised Land a land of milk and honey, which is both an allusion to the richness of the land and a Hebrew idiom for prosperity. The Mishna Rabba says that the study of Torah is compared to milk and honey, since the Word is sweeter than honey (Ps. 19:10). John the Baptist ate “wild honey” (Mark 1:6). It was an Arab custom to rub the roof of an infant’s mouth with date juice. The famous sixteenth-century Protestant reformer John Calvin mentions a custom where the Jews would take honey and smear it on the palates of newborn children.20 According to rabbinical tradition, on the first day of school a child is shown a slate containing two verses of Scripture—Leviticus 1:1 and Deuteronomy 33:4—along with letters of the alphabet and the sentence: “The Law will be my calling.” The teacher reads the words, and the child repeats them back. Afterward the slate is coated with honey, and the teacher licks the honey in front of the children (Ezek. 3:3). Following this, each child is given sweet cakes with scriptures written on them.21 There are 613 commandments in the Torah that devout Jews are to follow, and rabbis do not want children to view the law of God as filled with negative warnings and commandments. They want the children’s tender minds to perceive the law as being sweet. This illustrated “sermon” makes a lasting impression on the young minds. Jewish Methods of Teaching There are several methods developed in the Jewish teaching