tehillahdreams.com

[Tallit]

FROM KITT


shalom Tallit,

I had been having a discussion with Taps about several things. One of the things concerned the Master of the Feast at a Judaen wedding feast in the time of Yehoshua. This is her question and my answer.

Shalom Taps,

You asked me about, “The Role of the Master of the Feast. How did this person get to be in this position? Is he like hired? Like he was the master of every feast or wedding celebration? or was he chosen at the time when someone was celebrating their marriage? I assume he held the responsibility over not only the drink but the food also? is this correct?”

It is very interesting that you should ask this question. The Master of the Feast was the key to a successful feast. By the time of Yehoshua, Judean marriage customs had moved from simple to quite complex. From the execution of a simple contract and exchange of dowry for bride price and a simple feast in the time of Jacob to a three to seven day extravaganza in the time of Yehoshua. (Part of this was because a 20 mile trip was a grueling 3 day journey each way for a guest or family member.)

The Master of the Feast was a professional who was given a budget to work with and perhaps the groceries and wine if those were part of the family business. He was basically the equivalent to today's wedding planner, caterer, making seating arrangements, arranging for the entertainment, transportation of the bride and her family to the various ceremonies, mikvah, betrothal dinner, night time torchlight procession and consumation ceremony. It was his job to get it done for the members of both families so they did not have to worry about anything and just enjoy and participate.

Many scholars, myself included, believe that the Miracle of the Water into Wine at Caana was the Marriage feast of Yehoshua's younger brother James which is why Mary was involved and why Yehoshua was there. What better place to begin His miracle ministry than at His brother's marriage feast?

Being involved from the beginning in planning His brother's wedding gave Yehoshua the practical insight that He used in every parable concerning a bridegroom and bride. It gave him an inside look into what for many people of the time was just an observation which he used to put the flesh and bone into his parables. When we read these parables we do so without the benefit of understanding the ways and whys of that culture. We see just the snapshot of the parable and lack the cultural understanding to see the underlying flesh and bone of it. In this regard we quite often never get the point of the parable.

This is another good reason to learn the Jewish roots of the faith.

Shalom,

Kitt Schilke