Methuselah Date Palm From the Days of Jesus
A tree grows in Israel, in Kibbutz Qetura – a Methuselah date palm tree. It is a very unusual tree, a living palm from the days of Jesus which was named Methuselah because of its origins.
>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,
"Missing Ingredients" by Pinchas Shir
This book is not intended for someone who is new to the Bible or has never seriously studied it. It is meant for those who took plenty of time but still feel like something is missing.
One God, One Faith, Three Roads (~3hrs)
These seminar videos touch on the foundations of "Distinction Theology" - a teaching that maintains the continuity of the relevance of Israel and Jews and recognizes the nations that embrace Israel's God in solidarity with Israel but
Treacherous Offers
In Bereshit, in Gen 34, Jacob and his family settled near Shechem. Dinah was socializing with the local girls when Shechem the Hivite, a town’s nobleman, took advantage of her and violated her. Torah says he was drawn to
The Visions of Pearly Gates
The first time I heard about heaven’s pearly gates, I wondered how people knew what those gates looked like. The reason why many people believe that heaven’s gates are made from pearls is a reference in the book
"Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit" by Jodi Magness
Jodi Magness is a Distinguished Professor of Early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This book is cleverly subtitled "Jewish daily life in the
The Symbolism of Doves
Few symbols have a tradition as long and as rich as the dove. A particular favorite in art and iconography, the dove often represents some aspect of the divine, and its use has been shared, adapted, and reinterpreted across cultures
Between Obedience and Blessing
If you obey my laws, says Hashem, I will maintain a covenant with you, and you will experience a life of blessing. I am sure you have heard this before. We all want a blessing. It’s the obeying part
Pentecost, King David, and Rejected Corner Stones
Pinchas Shir joins us to continue the exploration of his course, The Stories of Jewish Church. We keep in mind the conversation in the previous episode about the initial believers being Jewish. Today we talk about Peter's use
Do the Words "Jewish" and "Church" Go Together?
Professor Pinchas Shir joins me to talk about his course The Stories of Jewish Church. This is a wildly popular course at IBC because it takes familiar stories and brings to life new ideas. This week we talk about how
2 New Audiobooks!
Do you like to listen to your books? I am excited to announce that thanks to my partnership with Amazon and Audible, some of my new translations are now available as audiobooks! The Apocalypse of Abraham HERE and The Apocalypse
A Lost Jewish City Under an Army Base in Samaria
A lost Jewish city has been discovered by archaeologists hidden underneath an Israeli Defence Force training base, according to Tel Aviv daily Yedioth Aharanot. Archaeologists working for the IDF’s Civil administration were digging under the old parade grounds of