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A collection of 113 posts

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A Newly Discovered 1,750-year-old Gospel Fragment in Aramaic

About 1,300 years ago, some unknown scribe in Roman-dominated Palestine took a book of the Gospels in Syriac, erased its original text, and reused the parchment for another purpose. The parchment was scarce in antiquity, so existing texts were sometimes erased, recicled and materials were reused for new books.

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Jewish Perspectives on the New Testament by Victor Strazhnik

In this day and age, most Christian readers are aware that the "New Testament" is a Jewish composition. Yet because these writings have been read as anything but Jewish documents for so many generations now learning how to re-read them in a more natural way is a slow process for

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Jewish Belief in Resurrection

We live in the age of science, logic, and information when many spiritual beliefs that cannot be rationally explained are questioned and dismissed. There is one particular belief that lies at the core of Jewish and Christian faiths that is often doubted by skeptics from both sides. Yes, more and

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My New Book - Missing Ingredients

Have you ever felt as you read the Bible that it makes no sense? You understand the words but not the meaning or the point the text is trying to make. The truth is - you are not alone. I have just published a new book entitled "Missing Ingredients: Your

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The Riddle of Passover Charoset

First of all, what is Charoset? It is a special Passover menu item found on every Jewish table that celebrates the exodus from Egypt. Today Charoset (חֲרֽוֹסֶת), a sweet brown mixture eaten as a part of the memorial meal that looks back to the slavery of

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The Riddle of the Unleavened Bread

One of the main features of the Jewish Passover celebration is Matzah (מַצָּה), the unleavened bread. In fact, there is no Passover without this basic ingredient. Its tale is central in the ritual of remembering the Exodus deliverance. So, each year, just prior to Passover, Jews clean out

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All, Everyone and Anything in the Bible

Everyone knows that translations from one language to another can be misleading, and sometimes important ideas and concepts get lost in translation.  When it comes to the Bible, that is true as well. As hard as translators work, the readers can still misconstrue the meaning of the text. The context

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Earliest Mention of Jerusalem Outside of the Bible

In October of 2016 Israel Antiquities Authority unveiled a papyrus that is believed to be 2,700 years old. Israeli archaeologists have discovered an ancient wine ledger that they believe contains the earliest written reference to Jerusalem outside the Bible. This makes a very short text a remarkable and rare

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Trusting in Biblical Hebrew

It is hard to speak of trust in a world filled with deception. It is very hard to trust, especially if you have been misled and taken advantage of in the past. Life experiences often drive us to put up walls and to hold back our trust. Every day we

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Reading Jesus as a Rabbi

You may have heard that Jesus was a Rabbi. So what? Knowing this fact has no value if one does not know much about ancient Rabbis. Merely stating that Jesus is Jewish or that he was a Rabbi means absolutely nothing unless one understands what stands behind such identity. What

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Binding and Loosing like Jesus

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus said to his disciple Peter, “I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt 16:19). A couple of

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A Neighbor According to Rabbi Jesus

A “Torah expert” (νομικός; nomikos) once asked Yeshua, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:25). Like a good rabbi, Jesus answered with a question: “What is written in the Torah?” (10:26). The learned man replied that, of all the Torah commands, it is most important

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Altar of Incense in the Holy of Holies?

Not long ago I received a curious question from a man who was struggling reading through the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. His question had to do with the temple and with the tabernacle arrangement, which was originally described in the book of Exodus. In Exodus the מִ

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What's so Special About the Sound of Shofar?

If you don't know what shofar is, don't feel bad. It's an obscure item, a ritual instrument, and its name comes from ancient Hebrew.  It is a special trumpet used in Jewish holiday observance, connected to the Jewish new year and Day of Atonement (Lev 23:24).  In most cases,

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Reviving the Ancient Shofar Sound in Israel

The piercing note of a shofar – a ram’s horn used in Jewish religious ceremonies – cuts through the mountain air of the Galilee. Here in northern Israel, shepherdess Jenna Lewinsky is raising a flock of “Jacob Sheep” as a religious calling. With anything up to six horns on each animal,

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A person is not what he knows... Rebbe Nachman

"A person is not what he knows, a person is not what he does. A person is what he is longing for." Rabbe Nachman of Breslov When making an acquaintance, it is common for people to ask each other what they do for a living. Occupations can somewhat define us,

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Everything is in the hands... Rabbi Chanina

"Everything is in the hands of heaven except the fear of heaven" Rabbi Chanina (Berakhot 33b) When Rabbi Chanina mentions the "fear of heaven" - he means "the fear of God". And by "fear" he does not mean fear as most people see it. This is one of those moments

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Is New Testament the same as New Covenant?

What is the difference between “Testament” and “Covenant”? In the Western world, many people are familiar with a “final will and testament” — a legal document read when someone passes away. The document expresses the deceased’s wishes, often in connection with estate and inheritance. As a unilateral declaration of one’

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God’s Name and Mount Ebal Inscription

A new exciting archeological discovery was recently announced – a small ancient tablet made of copper found on Mt Ebal, in Israel. The artifact was scientifically dated to the late Bronze age, maybe the 13th or 14th century BCE. That is quite old! The most exciting part is that the copper

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New Finds and Excavations in Caesarea

Israeli archaeologists working on a major Roman-era port city have unveiled new discoveries including an altar dedicated to Augustus Caesar and a centuries-old mother-of-pearl tablet inscribed with a menorah. The finds at Caesarea, a complex on the Mediterranean coast 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Tel Aviv, were the result

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The Direction of our Prayers

For thousands of years, Jews have been praying to God while facing Jerusalem. Muslims have a similar tradition. Only they bow toward the city of Mecca. Such cultural practice may seem a bit unusual for Christians who direct their gaze elsewhere, to the altar in front of them or to

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Hebrew Bible Translation and Commentary by Robert Alter

When I first heard that Robert Alter was working on translating the whole Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and I was thrilled that this brilliant scholar decided to undertake such a monumental task. Professor Alter is well-known for his attention to the literary features of Hebrew. When his translation came out, it

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The Star Wars Saga...

> Why did the Star Wars Saga begin with Parts IV, V, and VI? In charge of planning, Yoda was! > Simon S. Star Wars0:00/1:321×If you are a Star Wars fan, you might be chuckling, right now. And if you are not a Star Wars fan you are

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What Wine Would Jesus Drink?

What kind of wine would Jesus drink in his lifetime? Leonardo Da Vinci’s iconic painting, “The Last Supper,” missed a few marks, but it got the wine part right. Biblical historians have long pondered what dishes may have been on the table at the Last Supper. One thing that’

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The Shiloah Tunnel

Shiloah is Hebrew for Siloam, the famed water source of ancient Jerusalem. In John’s gospel, Jesus healed a man born blind at Siloam (Shiloah). But what about the tunnel? That story goes back much further. The rebellion of the king of Judah against the Assyrian Empire in 701 BCE