[TruthTalk] The Right Way To Get To The Truth

[Judy Taylor]

From: "ShieldsFamily" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>   On the return trip after a long night 33,000 feet in the air the Jewish men in the family across from me put on prayer shawls and phylacteries; they also wound a leather strip around the middle finger of their left hand and down their arm and came back to their seats to read the scriptures in Hebrew making different gestures all the while and at the end when they disrobed and put book and phylacteries away they kissed them over and over which I found very sad.  The husband told me about the benefits of kosher food, (which I must say it did look really good and plentiful).     Judy, Why did their devotion to the Word strike you as so sad? And what were the benefits of kosher food which the man explained to you? Isn’t “airplane” life surrealistic? I love the way you can get intimate with People quickly because everyone knows they will never see each other again. Izzy ------------------------------------------------------------------------   jt: I thought they approached the Word as a religious object rather than the breath of life. Also they shared their love of Seinfield (they have every one of the shows in this series at home) which to me conflicts with walking in the fear of a holy God.   The kosher meals came early as all special meals do and they looked good. The Lebanese man on the way over was eating Vegan and he confided to me at the end of the flight that he wasn't really vegetarian, he just liked getting his meal first. The vegan meals would not entice me but the Jewish man told me that kosher means inspected, clean, and sealed; there is also a good variety but he said kosher is better where there is a large Jewish community. You  are right about "airplane" life - it is much easier to interact with strangers but some do see each other again - in Ann Landers today there is the story of a woman considering marriage to someone she was seated next to on an airplane :).