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
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
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
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?
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,
For many people, Hanukkah is the Jewish Christmas. The Western (Christian) world has Christmas, so Jews have something similar, the holiday they call Hanukkah. Simple, right? I know that many of my readers and subscribers know better. In case you
It' December... To all my subscribers who celebrate Hanukkah, may Hashem continue to do miracles as he did for our ancestors so long ago. And may your light burn ever brighter! To all my subscribers who celebrate Christmas, may
Not long ago, archaeologists in Israel might have identified Jezreel winery featured in the Bible. The ancient winery was first discovered in 2013 and then explored in several seasons of excavations in the following years. The ancient production facility consists
How many of us have a hard time saying "No"? How many of us say "No," only to hear back – "Why?" In our modern culture, saying "No" is completely out of style.
This is an amazing high-resolution video walk-through of one of the most beautiful archeological ruins in Israel. The views of the 2000-year-old Herodian aqueduct and the detail in this video are amazing. It's almost
Most of us like it when someone values us. It feels good to know when we are appreciated. And it is not because we have some exigent need to be recognized. Many gifted and talented people do amazing things and
Psalm 3 is a desperate cry for help, praise from the lips of David. God rescued him from the grip of his foes as they sought his life. This poem is full of hope and assurance in God’s miraculous
This is a fairly long but very informative lecture by Dr. Mika Ahuvia from the Jewish Studies Department of the University of Washington. It focuses on the Jewish difference and how this notion has been historically perceived and treated by
Shiloh (שִׁלֹה) is a historic town situated in the lot of Ephraim, where Israel assembled under Joshua during the war of conquest (Joshua 18:1). It served as the location for the distribution of territories among the seven
Discover the “Hebrew Insights from Revelation” with verse-by-verse explanations of Chapters 1-5 of John’s Apocalypse. This enriching study aims to reconnect readers with the Hebrew roots and Semitic essence of Revelation, bridging a significant cultural and
My friend Eli and I have just released a new and exciting book! We invite you to uncover the “Hebrew Visions in Revelation” with insightful explanations of key imagery from Revelation Chapters 6-14 of John’s Apocalypse. This book
The Apocalypse of Abraham (התגלות אברהם, Hitgalut Avraham) is an ancient Jewish apocalyptic text believed to have been written between 70 and 150 CE. While the surviving manuscripts are in Old Slavonic, it is widely accepted that the original composition
