Reading about all these rules for the Israelites reminds me of a book I read (listened to on CD actually) that was written by a guy who was part Jewish and tried to live by all the old Jewish laws for one year. His reason for doing it was just to give him material for writing a book about, so it's not super deep or philosophical. It's an entertaining read - part funny, part serious. But it showed how odd and difficult it would be to try to live by those rules all the time in our society. It's easy, casual reading. Check it out if you get a chance:
The Year of Living Bibilically by A.J. Jacobs
When we lived in Atlanta and I worked in the Jewish Day school, I experienced Jewish rules personally. When Passover came, (Easter) the Jews had to eliminate all, and I do mean all, leavened food. So I, being non-Jewish, was the lucky recipient of some uncooked spaghetti. (Is that really leavened? Apparently that was not to be in the house during Passover.) It would be tough to live by all those rules, yet Orthodox Jews do. On Saturday they are not to use a phone. (A modern interpretation of one of the rules) And the teenagers were complaining about that one.
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