The Gentle Waters of Shiloah
No doubt you have heard about the famed water source of ancient Jerusalem called Siloam. When someone hears Siloam, they immediately go to John’s gospel (Ch 9), and the story of Jesus healing a man born blind. Yes, that
>Books
"Hearing Distant Echoes" by Pinchas Shir
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
/Articles
You Are God's Temple: 1 Corinthians 3:16
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
/Video
A Morning Prayer: May Your Will Always Be...
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
>Seminars
The Sign of Jonah and Something Greater (~3hrs)
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?
/Articles
Study the Three Visions of Enoch!
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,
Hear the Wisdom of Ben Sira!
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
The Message of Joseph's Name
Joseph, the son of Jacob and Rachel (Gen 35:24), is a vibrant character in the Hebrew Bible. We know that God is with Joseph through the ups and downs of his life, but we do not always notice the
Meditative Journey in Israel's Wilderness
Bamidbar (במדבר) means "in the wilderness." It is not just a place but a metaphor for the inner journey, where, in the silence, you can hear the still, small voice of wisdom and discover clarity. As the golden
Covenant Relationships
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
Deeper Than Skin
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
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
Adonai Roee - a Song Inspired by Psalm 23
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
"The Book of Ben Sira: New Translation" By Pinchas Shir
This extrabiblical Jewish book was written in Hebrew around the 2nd century BCE. The book is full of proverbial wisdom teachings, peppered with pre-rabbinic spiritual and moral ideas that often resound in the gospels and in apostolic-era letters.
No Judaism in Josephus
This is a lecture by Daniel Boyarin, who taught at Hebrew University, Yale, Harvard, Yeshiva University, and now lectures at Berkley. Besides being a prolific writer, Professor Boyarin constantly challenges conventional scholarship with ideas that seem provocative but always well-
Purity Customs: Food, Hands and Beyond (~2.5hrs)
This seminar explains various Jewish purity customs, such as washing hands and avoiding certain foods, as "fences" built around commandments that direct Israelites to be pure as they approach God (like in Ex 30:17-20). If you
Price on Your Head
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