During the punishment of their “40-year” desert sojourn, the Israelites received from their surprising God some 613 laws that bound them into a nation. Or, at least that was the story told by Priestly editors more than 600 years later, when the Law was “discovered” in the walls of the Jerusalem Temple. In this episode, Father Jayme examines the ancient Israelite berit (covenant), the categorization of laws, the supposed sexual separation at Sinai, and the sad, ensuing exclusion of “impure” women from priestly duties. He also highlights the abomination of one of the Bible's most famous “clobber passages” in Leviticus 18:22 , and he lifts up the “Jewish sense of justice” that underlies contemporary social justice efforts. Father Jayme concludes by comparing Inclusive Catholics today to our ancient ancestors who sojourned in the desert, sometimes looking back to the fleshpots of Egypt, but always trusting that God was leading them to the Promised Land!