Yeshua Centered Judaism

Parashat Vayeilech / פרשת וילך

Vayelech “He went” Deuteronomy 31: 1 – 30 Isaiah 55: 6 – 56: 8; Romans 10:14-21; 12:14-21 Moshe formally gathered the children of Israel together to ratify their covenant with Yahweh. He then pleads with the people to choose life – the path of obedience to the Torah and the commandments of Yahweh. If they…

The Emergence of Rabbinic Culture

The Emergence of Rabbinic Culture From the Perspective of Qumran Vered Noam Introduction: From Scripture to Halakhah For so said R. Aha b. Bizana in the name of R. Simeon the Pious: A harp was hanging above David’s bed. As soon as midnight arrived, a North wind came and blew upon it and it played…

Parashat Kedoshim / פרשת קדשים

LET’S STUDY ONKELOS A Guide for Rabbis, Teachers and Torah Students to Study and Teach the Parashat Hashavua through the Eyes of its Most Important Translator By Stanley M. Wagner and Israel Drazin Based on the five volume, Onkelos on the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy), Understanding the Bible Text, by Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, published…

Rosh Chodesh Iyyar / ראש חודש אייר

Beginning of new Hebrew month of Iyyar. Iyyar (somtimes transliterated Iyar) is the 2nd month of the Hebrew year. Corresponds to April or May on the Gregorian calendar. Rosh Chodesh Iyyar begins at sundown on Sat, 07 May 2016.

Aramaic Literature – Part 10 – The Mishnah

Following the “three gates” that form the first three treatises of Nezikin, the Mishnah moves on to the treatise Sanhedrin. That name is, of course, familiar from the New Testament. In the Mishnah, however, this section deals with criminal law and its related procedures. In this material, the reader often recognizes the Biblical background to…

Yom HaShoah / יום השואה

Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG’vurah (יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה; “Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day”), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah (יום השואה) and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews and five million others who perished in the…

The Mitzvah of Counting the Omer

The Torah states (Vayikra 21, 15): “And you shall count for yourselves, from the day following the Shabbat, from the day the waved Omer offering is brought, seven complete weeks shall they be.” Our Sages (Menachot 65b) have a tradition that the “day following the Shabbat” refers to the day following the first day of…

Parashat Achrei Mot / פרשת אחרי מות

Ha’aretz‘s cartoonist summarizes a substantial slice of what concerns us this week. He depicts one variety of religious Jews wanting to perform a sacrifice on the Temple Mount, and another Jew, unkempt and secular, walking his dog in the opposite direction. The Jew leading a young goat in the direction of the Temple Mount is…

Shabbat HaGadol / שבת הגדול

Shabbat HaGadol (“Great Shabbat” שבת הגדול) is the Shabbat immediately before Passover. There is a special Haftarah reading on this Shabbat of the book of Malachi. Traditionally a lengthy and expansive sermon is given to the general community in the afternoon. Shabbat HaGadol begins at sundown on Fri, 15 April 2016. Shabbat HaGadol Shabbat HaGadol…

How Will You React?

Originally posted on Emuna Daily:
It is true that we can fall to sin – and it can happen more than once. But the choice is always ours as to how to react. Either we will become depressed, which can lead us to even worse sins. Or, we can learn from our mistakes, in order…

Parashat Metzora / פרשת מצרע

LET’S STUDY ONKELOS STUDY GUIDE METZORA (CHAPTER 14:1–15:33) SUMMARY OF THE TORAH PORTION The purification process of the metzora is outlined; the indigent metzora is allowed to bring fewer sacrifices; a house afflicted with tzara’at has a special purification procedure; the Torah addresses the impurity derived from female and male bodily discharges and under what…

Parshas Tazria-HaChodesh

Parshas Tazria Note: The Shabbos Torah Reading is divided into 7 sections. Each section is called an Aliya [literally: Go up] since for each Aliya, one person “goes up” to make a bracha [blessing] on the Torah Reading. 1st, 2nd and 3rd Aliya: The laws of purity and impurity as they pertain to childbirth are…