A Family of Freedom Fighters

Jericho was a city in the way of the Israelites' mission to conquer Canaan, so it was decided that it must be destroyed. Rahab was a prostitue living in a wall in Jericho at the time that the Israelites came to conquer Canaan. She helped two Israelite spies sent out by Joshua to scout the city. The spies were being looked for by soldiers from Jericho. They stopped at Rahab's "house", and she decided to hide them under bundles of flax on her roof after she made them promise that when the Israelites destroyed Jericho, she and her family would be spared. She told them that she had heard about the Israelites' journey and wanted to help (although she did not mean it: she did it for herself). She probably heard this through the powerful men that she slept with. When the walls of Jericho fell and the Israelites stormed in and started killing, Rahab marked her "house" with a red piece of cloth, and they passed by her. After Jericho, Rahab was assimilated into the Israelite culture. She converted to Judaism and, according to the bible, married Salmon of the tribe of Judah and became the mother of Boaz. She is part of Jesus' geneaology. In Jewish tradition, however, she is said to have married Joshua and became an ancestor of 8 prophets. She made a true conversion to Judaism, with God being the only God on Heaven and Earth.

Rahab went out of her way to assist the Israelite spies, but she did it for selfish reaons. She could have let them be caught and killed by the soldiers from Jericho, which was probably the right thing to do for a Jerichan, but she decided instead to sell her own people out to save herself. She probably saved many Israelite lives by helping the spies get back to Joshua and tell him information about Jericho, but she probably gave no thought to it; as long as she was being saved, everything would be allright. The attack was probably planned out much better than it would have been without Rahab's helping the spies. Rahab is in Jesus' geneaology because she is a very important figure in the scriptures, regardless of sex. She is honored in the scriptures by being listed in Jesus' line of descendants as a token of gratitude expressed by the authors for what she did. Without Rahab's selfish act, there is a good chance that the Israelites would have lost many more people in their conquering of Jericho and Canaan. Rahab saved other people, just like Jesus would later preach, but she did not know it because she was caught up in herself. She may not have been Jesus' actual 26-greats-grandmother, but the inclusion of Rahab in the geneaology of Jesus means that she had done enough to earn the right to be listed as his 26-greats-grandmother.

Portfolio 1: What I think I can Achieve

I think that I am capable of getting an "A" in this class. I know that I can complete 100% of the assignments. I am capable of being an active participant in class. I can make my work creative and original. I think that i can learn without much teacher guidance. I can exhibit good behavior and a good attendance record. My work can be insightful and original. I can be organized and comprehensive in my tests, writing, and speaking.

Portfolio 1: Who is Jesus, Really?

I think that Jesus taught about God's love for everyone. He taught that even though we sometimes turn away from God, he still loves us because we are his children. He taught that man’s faith is constantly tested. He taught that people are free to do and believe whatever they want. He taught that the Kingdom of God is open to everyone, and that it surrounds us. Jesus taught against hypocrisy. He taught people to stop talking and take action. He taught that man should hold to the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. His main teaching was that everyone should love one another. Turn the other cheek; love your enemies; always be able to forgive.

I do not consider myself a strict follower of Jesus’ teachings. I do not think that I am very compassionate, and I have a hard time forgiving people. I do not think that I am a strict follower of what Jesus taught because I am not a religious person. Nobody in my family is very religious. In some situations I try to do what Jesus taught and I remind myself what the right thing to do is. I try not to curse anything or hurt anyone. I try, but I know that I am capable of doing a better job of following Jesus’ teachings. Jesus' teachings are not very hard to follw; i just have to try harder.

Portfolio 1: Why We Tell Stories

One story that my family tells over and over about me is about an incident that happened when my family and I were visiting some family friends in Florida. I was in third grade. It happened at my parents' friends' house. I got a full liter of soda out of the fridge to pour for myself. it slipped out of my hands and hit the floor, where the top exploded off and the bottle spun around and around, spraying soda everywhere. Soda covered almost the whole room. The bottle was empty. Everything was wet and sticky. But i didn't get any soda on me. Neither did my parents' friend Fernando, who had been walking in the kitchen at the time of that i dropped the bottle. We had nothing on us. we were both dry with no drops of soda anywhere on us, but the room was covered in soda. Fernando bust out laughing and did not make me clean the whole room; just the floor. To this day, every time my name is mentioned to Fernando, he talks about what happened.

I think that my family tells this story just to tell people a story about someone in the family. I do not see any morals to my story, except maybe not to let 9-year-olds handle full liters of soda. Other than that, I do not see any other purpose for repeating this story over and over again. My family likes to talk about it because they find it funny and humorous. Fernando still talks about it although it happened 7 years ago, probably because he finds it amusing as well.