The themes of ruin and restoration are at the core of the Jewish apocalyptic genre. Even the most bitter laments are accompanied by hope when one is tethered to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That is precisely what you will find in The Books of Baruch. This edition
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,
If you like perusing Pshir.com, then what are the odds you might enjoy my books? I invite you to consider the titles I highlight below in print, in digital format, or as audiobooks. Paid Subscribers can flip through full digital versions of all these titles inside the READ section.
In the chapters we read this week, the prophet Jeremiah foretells disaster, a time of judgment upon Israel. We intentionally read this passage whenever we recall the destruction of Jerusalem and reflect on this hour of judgment. Yet even in
The Bible often speaks about salvation as something far more tangible and visible than we may imagine. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God saves Israel with an outstretched arm, through his mighty hand, and by revealing his salvation before the eyes
Like many others, Psalm 130 is full of deep emotion. What drew me to this particular psalm recently is the language of heartfelt confession and repentance, words spoken from a place of what I felt as seclusion and separation. Hebrew
Did you know that the New Testament contains the most intriguing statement that suggests the existence of multiple heavens? The reference appears in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. He writes, “I know a man in Christ who,
In our reading from Isaiah today, we encounter God’s message to a childless woman who symbolizes Israel. Israel lost much to war and exile. But now, she is promised to be blessed with many children, so she is told
A rare workshop for the production of chalkstone vessels, dated to the Roman period, is being excavated and studied at Reina in Lower Galilee. Excavations are unearthing a cave in which archaeologists have found thousands of chalkstone cores and other
Below is a lecture by Shaye J. D. Cohen, who is a Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. He is a well-known historian who also holds a
In Numbers 29, the Torah speaks of sacrifices that should be brought on a very special day, on Yom Kippur. The day is called a day of purification because that is what these sacrifices are supposed to represent. Numbers 7-
In Chapter 6, Prophet Micah asks a question… How should one come before Hashem? Should one come with an olah, a burnt offering, yearling calves? Does God really want thousands of rams or ten thousand rivers of oil? Do I
Leviticus 23:23-25 tells us that on the first day of the seventh month, Israelites are to blow trumpets. This day is called Yom Teruah, "the day of the alarming sound." Besides the proper festival sacrifices, the
The title mentions "unheard wisdom” because the spiritual texts presented in this book are not well known to the masses. Inside are modern, updated, and easy-to-read English translations of four Jewish texts: The Letter of Aristeas, The
From time to time, I hear beautiful spiritual teachings drawn from the apostolic writings that are sadly misunderstood by modern readers of the New Testament. Misunderstandings repeated often enough eventually harden into “obvious truths,” and over time, they can even
