In 2013 a volunteer looking through the dirt that had been excavated from Robinson’s Arch (near the Western Wall) found a 1-cm seal impression. After closer examination, some archaeologists came to believe that this was a First Temple era seal. The impression, or in Latin bulla, would have sealed...
This lesson on Hanukkah was recorded live with audience participation. Flavius Josephus describes the days before the Maccabean Revolt. His version is not that different from the book of First Maccabees, which paints those events as a story of heroic struggle for the survival of Jewish ways of life and...
his lesson on Hanukkah was recorded live with audience participation. A late first century CE Jewish writer, Josephus Flavius, describes the history of the days before the Maccabean Revolt. How and why did Antiochus IV get involved in Israel’s cultural landscape, and why did he decide to force Israelites...
This lesson on Hanukkah was recorded live with audience participation. Three ways to see the holiday: Pop-culture, Spiritual and Historical perspectives. How far back do Hanukkah traditions go?...
Hanukkah is so much more than Menorahs and Dreidels. Learn more about this celebration and its history in this three-part seminar (exclusively on pshir.com) In this hour and a half we explore what the book of Maccabees tells us about Hanukkah. We also consider how Josephus explains those events...
The Testaments of The Twelve Patriarchs is an extrabiblical Jewish book from 2 Century CE. Original English translation by Robert Henry Charles, 1917. The book reports the final words and wisdom of the twelve sons of Jacob, spoken as final charges prior to their deaths....
Jubilees is an extrabiblical Jewish book from 2 Century BCE. Original English translation by George Henry Schodde, 1988. It is an ancient retelling of well-known Genesis stories chronologically structured in multiples of seven and adding up to 49, hence the name....
Most people know that Apostle Paul was a pious Jew. Many New Testament readers would note that he was a Pharisee trained with the rabbis at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). And at the same time, most Christians would also see Apostle Paul as a radical convert to...
t is very common to think of Paul as a Christian. After all, so much of what is called Christian is based on his teachings which are a part of the Scriptures all Christians recognize. But surprisingly Paul did not actually refer to himself as a Christian. That is a...
