Life and Blood
In Vayikra, in Leviticus 17, we encounter a number of verses about not eating blood. Some of us may cringe when we read through them. We wonder… Should it not be self-evident to most people that this is not
>Books
"Hearing Distant Echoes" by Pinchas Shir
This book captures many ancient voices, a collection of literary excerpts from ancient Jewish books: Jubilees, Josephus, 4 Ezra, Qumran Scrolls, Talmud, Enoch, Baruch, Maccabees, Mishna, Judith, Apocalypse of Moses, Philo, Mishna, Ben Sira, and many others, fifty passages to be exact. The excerpts are mostly short, sometimes even intentionally
/Articles
You Are God's Temple: 1 Corinthians 3:16
Apostle Paul was a first-century religious Jew, trained at the feet of the best rabbis of his time. Though he addresses primarily non-Jewish audiences, Shaul often writes as a rabbi, resorting to midrash and employing metaphors to illustrate his ideas. Sadly, his readers are not used to this
/Video
A Morning Prayer: May Your Will Always Be...
I wanted to share with you a Morning Prayer and, more specifically, a musical piece I created based on it. The words of this song are inspired by the words of the traditional morning blessings found in the Siddur (Jewish Prayer Book). The person who is praying in the early
>Seminars
The Sign of Jonah and Something Greater (~3hrs)
What is this Sign of Jonah? The traditional thinking is that it's Jesus' resurrection, three days and three nights... But the passage may not be so simple as it appears on the surface. Interested in taking a closer look and discovering another way to read the text?
/Articles
Study the Three Visions of Enoch!
Over the years of teaching, I have often referred my students to the books of Enoch. But most of the time, I did so with some reservations. I knew that the broadly distributed copies they would likely come across would be littered with archaic and hard-to-digest language. Finally,
Why Smile at the Future?
Some of my favorite things about the people who surround me are their warm and happy smiles. It does not take much to quickly crack a few muscles in your face, to smile, and show a positive disposition towards someone
A Name at the Bottom of the Sea
In 2016 during an underwater excavation in the Mediterranean Sea, Israeli archaeologists from Haifa University uncovered a large stone with an ancient inscription. The writing was determined to be roughly 1900 years old and bore the name of mostly unknown
Fists & Ritual Handwashing in Mark 7:3
Remember a story in the Gospel where some pious Jews asked Jesus about his disciples not washing their hands before they ate? What was the big deal with handwashing? You may not know this, but most Bible translations have struggled
Remove the Ashes
Our weekly reading begins with explanations about the burnt offerings. Offerings can teach us a lot. Vayikra, Leviticus 6:2 tells us that Aaron was to leave the Olah on the altar all night long, and the fire is to
The World of Hebrew Prophets: 06-11 Isaiah (~3 hrs)
In the first part we explore the first 40 chapters of the Book of Isaiah, delving into its historical context and symbolic language. We consider Isaiah's words in light of the Syro-Ephraimite War, crucial dates like the
Bamidbar, In the Vastness of the Wilderness
Bamidbar (במדבר) means "in the wilderness." There, ancient prophets and seers found solitude and revelation. The wilderness is not just a place but a metaphor for the inner journey, where, in the silence, you can hear the still,
The Meaning of Ba'al in Hebrew
I remember the first time I heard someone use the word "Beelzebub" in a sentence. It was a joke or pun of some sort, and everyone around me was laughing. Only I was not. I was clueless about
What's Coming Soon...
Thanks to new subscribers PSHIR.COM continues to grow! And growth is exciting because that allows me to plan for the future better and to develop new quality multi-media content. For me, healthy and steady growth translates to doing
Listen to 10 Chapters of First Enoch
The First Book of Enoch (Ethiopian Enoch), also known as "The Book of Watchers," is a well-known Jewish composition from the Second Temple era. "These are the words of Enoch, who bestowed a blessing upon the
Managing Setbacks
Everything was going well for Joseph until he deemed some amazing dreams that he unwisely shared with his brothers. He almost ended up dead because of that. Due to circumstances that were not entirely of Joseph’s own doing, the
The Jews of Cyrene and the Gospel
The New Testament records that some Jewish followers of Jesus from Cyrene were responsible for the first Gentile converts in Antioch. “So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way