Tzedaqah: The Foundational Theme of Biblical Faith

 

In the teachings of Jesus, there is one underlying and overriding theme, a theme that serves as the foundation upon which biblical faith is built. If one looks at the Bible as a whole, if one includes additionally all Jewish literature that is extant, the Oral Law, the Written Law, the commentaries, and search for one, single, overriding theme, it is summed up in the Hebrew word tzedakah. Tzedakah is the outstanding, overriding, and yet simple, theme of Jesus. He taught, “let your kingdom be spread abroad over the whole earth in such a way that God may begin to rule in the lives of more and more people.” Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/ee4e20247d64/tzedaqah-the-foundational-theme-of-biblical-faith

Breaking Through Jewish and Christian Barriers to Understand the Original Jesus

Does the “original” meaning of a Bible passage, apart from Christian or later Jewish interpretation, still have anything to say to us? Those words described the obstacle I have been facing for decades. BHC’s Guidelines and Linguistic Model clearly indicate that Jesus was “Jewish,” but Jewish in the early 1st century CE does not mean the same thing as Jewish means today. So what did Jewish mean then? Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/65108941c178/breaking-through-jewish-and-christian-barriers-to-understand-the-original-jesus

 

Doing More than Repeating Meaningless Endeavors

The Bible’s Wisdom of the Beginnings, combined with its interpretations by Jesus, gave a very clear answer – humans are created to protect lives, preserve lives, make lives more functional and increase the quality of life. So why are so many people destroying lives, harming lives, making lives less functional, and decreasing the quality of life in America today? Continue readding at - https://mailchi.mp/83131fda4f97/doing-more-than-repeating-meaningless-endeavors

How Are Humans Supposed to Function?

 

Light is one of the most important words in the Hebrew Bible and the teachings of Jesus. On Day Four Elohim created the Greater Lamp, the Lesser Lamp, and the stars. Jesus used Day Four to teach his disciples a very important wisdom lesson in the Sermon on the Mount. Continue to read at - https://mailchi.mp/a50f521e5483/how-are-humans-supposed-to-function

Are You Sure You Understand What We Are Exploring?

 

This is no easy task. It involves appreciating what biblical texts meant in their earliest contexts and then explaining how over the centuries different communities with different concerns developed different interpretations. This war continues today, when a Christian tells a Jew, “You obviously don t understand your Bible because, if you did, you would see how it predicts the Messiah Jesus,” and when a Jew responds, “Not only do you Christians see things in the text that are not there; you mistranslate and you yank verses out of context.” Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/82c0541f0191/are-you-sure-you-understand-what-we-are-exploring

How Many People Did You Forgive Today?

 

In the Jewish culture before 70 CE, sacrifice or gift to Yahweh Elohim at the Temple had no atoning effect unless the person giving them has a pure heart. But in this story, at the moment this person was standing in the closest place to Yahweh Elohim on Earth, priests are waiting to do their rituals, other people are in line waiting to present their sacrifices/gifts – at that very moment this person remembered saying things Jesus warned him not to say! What should he do? Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/49b04589c491/how-many-people-did-you-forgive-today

Thinking Like a Member of the Kingdom of Elohim in 2025!

 

The teachings of Jesus are very much like the Jewish Rabbis in tractate Avot: The Sayings of the Fathers -- almost no laws, consisting instead of short statements of advice, ethics, and wisdom. One of the most important teachings of Jesus – that Americans (Christians and everyone else) urgently need to do today is found in Matthew 5:21-26 -- “how to exercise impulse control and self-discipline when they become angry!” Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/e21de67d035e/thinking-like-a-member-of-the-kingdom-of-elohim-in-2025