Mysticism and Spirituality All The Life In The World To Come Among the many brilliant statements in the work known as The Ethics of the Fathers, a beautiful and profound statement brings us very close to understanding the 'meaning of life'.
Paid-members only Mysticism and Spirituality Why Can't Christians and Jews Agree on Isaiah 53? A recurring theme throughout this website is the push for readers to become aware of the prevalence of Jewish mysticism throughout the New Testament. For many reasons, understanding the texts through this lens will unlock new insights, and correct some
Members only New Testament Insights The Pharisees Who Wash the Outside of Cups Though it can lead to flawed conclusions, reading the Gospels and Epistles without understanding the complicated and technical discussions of Jewish law behind them is simple. We should know that these knowledge gaps are not inconsequential and can result in oversimplified interpretations.
Mysticism and Spirituality Rethinking Money The wisdom of the Bible calls us to view our lives through a different logic than we may be accustomed to. Instead of viewing actions and experiences as isolated or disconnected singularities, we are challenged to hold a more holistic view. This is especially true when it comes to money.
Members only Thoughts Finding Value In Our Mistakes When you are on a spiritual journey, it is easy to look back on past memories and resurrect old feelings of guilt for decisions you made at an earlier stage of development. In this space, one might invest time, overthinking how they might have acted differently today, given the same situation.
Paid-members only Wellness Creating an Inner Space for Meditation In this article, we're going to look at a simple yet effective way to develop an 'inner space' of your own, a place you can visit mentally when meditating, praying, getting away for a quick reset, or brainstorming solutions for problems.
Mysticism and Spirituality The Scholar and the Merchants In this short story, we're given a glimpse at the multi-dimensional way one may read the Biblical texts through the system of Pardes. See how a story functions on a simple level while simultaneously concealing a higher truth.
New Testament Insights Paul's Eagerness to Celebrate Shavuot Did you know that Paul was adamant about keeping the festival of Shavuot at the Temple in Jerusalem? If not, it is likely because many English translations have obscured this account.
News Book Available on Amazon - Into the Orchard. "Into the Orchard" is a book that is designed to fast-track the learnings and correct the misunderstandings one may encounter when trying to understand the Jewish context of the New Testament.
Torah Messiah Much of the New Testament relies on a reader's pre-knowledge of the Jewish Oral Torah, often referred to as the "Mesorah". From this, we derive ubiquitous concepts like, Messiah, the World to Come, Sin, heaven and Hell.
Members only New Testament Insights A Lamp Under a Basket Understanding Biblical metaphors and multi-faceted imagery is vital to unlocking the hidden dimensions of interpretation. In this article, we will unpack a few layers to reveal a deeper message in a familiar passage from what is called, "the Sermon on the Mount".
Paid-members only Mysticism and Spirituality Confronting Our Shadow We should recognize, there is a difference between rectifying your imbalanced character traits and rectifying the cause of the imbalance. For this, we need to confront our shadow.
Members only New Testament Insights The Cursing of the Fig Tree There is a bizarre story that seems to be out of place in the hagiographical flow of the Gospels. It is the story in which Jesus takes his vengeance out upon a random fig tree on the side of the road. This story concludes with many rightfully scratching their heads,
Paid-members only Mysticism and Spirituality King Without a Crown The Creator is always sending us hints if we are open to hearing them. Listening to music last week, "King Without a Crown", by Matisyahu, cycled through my playlist. I realized the answers are hidden in these lyrics.
Members only New Testament Insights Rolling Away the Stone After the crucifixion narrative, the Gospel writers record that the large stone used to cover the tomb of Jesus was rolled away, opening the tomb. There is an idea in the Zohar that might give us insight into new meaning
Torah How We Get Faith Wrong When we try to define "faith" we find it is somewhat prone to misapprehension. You know we're off to a bad start when a popular English dictionary gives you eight different meanings¹. How can such a critical concept be so obscured?
New Testament Insights Burial Shrouds and Customs in the Gospel Accounts On Easter Sunday, it is customary to see the crosses out front of your local Churches draped in a white, or linen sash. Have you ever wondered where this idea originated? Believe it or not, it is derived from within the Jewish oral tradition of the first century.
Paid-members only New Testament Insights From Water to Wine Among the most well-known stories in the Gospels, Jesus turning 'water to wine' is arguably one of the most commonly known. While some see a story that highlights mastery over the physical elements, the Rabbinic metaphors indicate that there is more to this story than meets the eye.
Midrash The Last Seder Many in the church see the "Last Supper" as the Biblical grounds for what is called "Communion. In light of this, I explained how "The Last Supper" features many elements of an early Passover Seder. As it turned out, this was completely new to him, and we never got to discuss the original topic.
Mysticism and Spirituality Parable of the Talents In the Zohar, there is a discussion based upon the Torah commandment to 'pay a laborer his wages the same day he works for them'¹. In the Peshat/plain meaning, this is great model of mercy, ensuring a person has what they need to survive and feed their family.
Torah One Day, One-Thousand Years We should understand that time is not random, and there is a fractal pattern before us. We should recognize that as each day has a unique energy, so too does each millennium. As each day carries with it a distinct vantage point in how we live, so too does our current age.
Paid-members only New Testament Insights Decoding Golgotha Is the Gospel of John a straightforward account of events that happened, or has the author concealed a deeper message for readers? In this article, we’ll explore the fascinating and peculiar language of Jewish mysticism and the connections to the crucifixion scene.
Mysticism and Spirituality The Soul Video Series In this series of discussions, I join Rey Luque to talk about the dimensions of the soul; the various levels; the worlds of creation; and how many of these ideas are fundamental to understanding the New Testament.
