Turning Away Anger
The story of Pinchas can be hard to take in. Pinchas intervened by taking on God’s jealousy, and that changed everything. And in verse 12, God rewards him, and he says, hineni notein lo et biriti shalom “behold I
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104 posts
Sometimes listening is preferable to reading. Listen to select teachings in audio, or explore an ever-growing list of short, inspirational messages from the Torah and the Prophets.
Around the Merkavah Audio (~1.5 hrs)
Thousands of years ago, ancient Hebrews believed that their God was not tied to a specific place. They called his throne Merkavah (chariot). A throne with wheels and floating Keruvim moved to where He needed to be. The Bible depicted
Look to Israel
Exodus 28:29 says, Venasa Aharon et shemot benei Israel “and Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel” bachoshen hamishpat, al libo - “on the breastplate of decision, over his heart.” Aaron’s vestments had a breastplate with
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
A New King
In Shemot, Exodus 1:8 says that “a new king rose over Egypt” – vayakam melekh chadash al mitzraim. As generations pass, new leaders rise all the time. New leadership often brings changes, and most of us are resilient enough to
Rest is Trust
Taking a break from cultivating the land for the whole year sounds good in theory, but it can impact people economically in a major way. Most of us are not farmers today, but it is not hard to imagine the
When Experts Disappoint
In our weekly reading, Pharaoh was not counting sheep. Instead, he saw disturbing dreams about sets of cows and stocks of grain. The dreams troubled him. He knew they were important but could not make sense of the message they
On The Other Side
Every time I go on vacation I need to go somewhere. I can't stay at home. If I stay at home, I will end up doing things around the house. It will not be a vacation. I can&
Milk and Honey
Sticky situations. Standing in front of pivotal decisions is something we all do. Many stories in the Torah inspire us about these very scenarios. This is one of those stories. Some of us face hard decisions quite often, and some
Promises We Cannot Keep
Why does Torah give fathers and husbands such power over promises their daughters and wives make? It’s unfair. Are women not capable of making good decisions or valid promises? Are they prone to overpromise? Of course, the answer to
A Wave Offering
Offerings serve a purpose, often a symbolic visual purpose, to express something that words alone cannot. Words are effective most of the time, but sometimes only the actions are adequate. The Torah describes how Levites were shaved, purified by water