Torah says that Olah was to be brought to the entrance of the tent. Why? Because not every offering is automatically accepted. The priests carefully examined offerings at the entrance, and only then were they presented to God on the altar. Today, people rarely think that their worship can be...
Earlier, in 2023 and 2024, I crafted new translations of 1 Enoch and 2 Enoch. The book's archaic English versions are broadly available across the internet for free. Yet, my goal was to create modern and easy-to-read English texts for these classics. I received largely positive feedback from...
According to researchers of antiquity driving away bad luck, the evil eye, and, in short, envious people—this was one of the purposes of mosaics in Ancient Rome. You may know of amulets, incantations, but art and specific mosaics were also used to ward off evil. Ancient literary sources and...
Are you familiar with Tisha B'Av? On the Jewish calendar, it's a day of fasting and introspection for many reasons. Throughout history, this day has been a day of calamity for Israel as a people at large and for various Jewish communities. In this 45-minute teaching,...
Sometimes we get tired of fighting for just about everything in life. Moses was at the end of his life, well over a hundred, and yet he was still in a fight. In Numbers 31, Moses was told that he must exact vengeance for what Midian did to Israel, and...
Though I am interested in other religions beyond Judaism and Christianity, I rarely talk about them because they are outside of my area of expertise. I came across a video that explains how Muslims view the Quran in a very succinct and genius way. I was impressed with how Matt...
Midrash Rabbah is a homeletic, ethical, and moral commentary on the Torah expounded by the Rabbis during Talmudic times. The Midrash represents the essence of Judaism, its ethical standards, and its insight into the human heart in a unique literary form. For centuries the Midrash Rabbah commentaries nourished the Jewish...
For some, reading Midrash is a beloved preoccupation, and others find it frustrating. Midrash can be beautiful and very inspiring, yet for those who lean toward more strict analytical thought, it seems to take way too many liberties in explaining biblical texts. This is exactly why Midrash needs to be...
In Torah, in parsha Shemot (Exodus 6), we read how a new king arose in Egypt, a king who did not know Joseph. This was not great for Jacob's family. His fear of the Unknown (in his case, foreigners living in his land) led to panic, and panic...
