Audio with brief annotations. Let your eyes rest as you learn by listening. Exercise, walk your dog, or just kick back in a comfy chair and listen.
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Torah describes the laws of shemitah, the laws of the sabbatical year, and also yovel - a Jubilee year. This was a time when Israel was challenged to let the land have its Shabbat, a complete rest from agriculture. And yet this rest was not going to bring economic suffering
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Has anyone ever complained to you that you are a difficult person? Have you been described as “rough around the edges”? Don’t despair. It just means you are human, and you do not hide it very well. I will tell you, though, that life may throw you around a
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In Vayikra, in Leviticus 21, verses 10-11 speak to a priest, who is the greatest among his brothers because he was anointed, should not tear his garments or bare his head. He should not defile himself even if his parents died because he was anointed to serve in the holy
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Recently, I created several videos where I offer some audio readings of segments from Jewish compositions that people might have never read, which I have translated. If you are not familiar, The Apocalypse of Abraham (התגלות אברהם, hitgalut Avraham) is an ancient Jewish apocalyptic text that scholars estimate was composed
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When this particular Hebrew poem is read in translation, its words sound very familiar to many Christian audiences. Why? Like Moses, Yeshua spoke very similar words, repeating the words preserved in Deuteronomy. Like Moshe, he criticized certain people who surrounded him, calling them “a perverse and crooked generation.” These words
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Psalms are ancient Jewish poetry, composed in classical Hebrew, yet somehow, these ancient songs, even in translation, still move people all over the world. Psalm 24 anticipates the King of Glory (mekekh hakavod, מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד), who would bring salvation to Israel. The words of this
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A remarkable Jewish book came out of Egypt in the second century BCE. It's an impressive collection of Proverbs-like teachings of a Jew named Yeshua, son of Eleazar, son of Sira. The book's prologue tells us that a grandson found his grandfather's teachings and
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Human memory can fail, but in the Torah, it’s God who renews his covenant. In Deut 29:12, Hashem speaks about the need to establish his people as a people. It says, leman haqim otkha hayom “to establish you today.” God promised the patriarchs to produce a people, a
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The purpose of the priest is to serve Hashem and stand between God and his people. His place is in the center of the camp. But some people are very far away. They need us to go to them. And that means we may have to leave our holy place
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This song is in English and Hebrew, inspired by the message of Psalm 23. Psalm 23 is one of the most favorite in the Bible. This composition is a meditative journey that prompts you to allow yourself to feel the strength of the Shepherd’s hand as you are led
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In our weekly reading, Behukotai, Vaikra ch. 27, Leviticus, we encounter arakhin - valuations related to vows made before Hashem. Torah is a very ancient document, which sometimes means it will be challenging for us to relate to the situations it describes. It speaks to a very different word. Nevertheless,
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This etiquette of shelomim offering may sound strange to us today if we do not fully grasp the symbolism and the implications of the scenario Torah presents us. Shelomim is a special offering of well-being, shalom, and wholeness. It means everything is well between you and Hashem. A worshipper is