Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Joel Stucki" <joel AT stucki.ws>]

On 7/5/06, JAMES CHRISTIAN READ <JCR128 AT student.apu.ac.uk> wrote:
> If anyone else has been offended by the suggestion of
> drinking I apologise in advance as it was not my
> intention to cause any offense. Thankfully, it appears
> that Joel (the person being addressed) has retained a
> healthy sense of humour

To all who have come to my defense I would like to say thank you. I
was taken back a bit by James' suggestion. For the record I have never
had an alcoholic drink in my life and have lived by a religious
covenant to abstain from Alcohol. But I took a breath, grew a thicker
skin and realized how silly it was. I shared it with my friends who
were over for a BBQ. James was the life of the party and we all had a
good laugh.
To James I would say I am not out to prove anything to anyone. I love
the Tanakh. I love discussing the Tanakh. I obviously do not hold your
views but I love to hear your views and how you arrive at them. I
enjoy sharing my views and how I arrive at them. I have respect for
anyone who finds value in reading the ancient text. I do believe in
linguistics, archeology, textual criticism, and science. I hold no
enmity toward anyone who rejects any or all of these. I love studying
other ancient documents from all sorts of religious traditions
including so called "pagan" documents. I believe many of these were
written by sincere people who were searching for something greater
than themselves to believe in. I think much can be learned from them
and have no problem believing that the noblest part of them could be
incorporated into the sacred text. I also love studying the traditions
and legends of the great Rabbis. These were great men who preserved
many important insights about the scriptures.
To all I feel there is a wonderful spectrum of opinions on this list
and hope that our common love of the Biblical text can build bridges
and not merely stir contention.

Joel Stucki