How an intense romantic and erotic narrative between a man and a woman, where the name of God is arguably never even mentioned, got into the Hebrew Bible canon is a story unto itself. It was definitely contested, but the rabbinic powers that be strongly endorsed its addition to the Bible. The famed Rabbi Akiba […]

Today I will discuss central prophesies of the three major prophets of ancient Israel: Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. They all shared the same basic message, not just for Israel, but for humanity as such: God wants whole-hearted love and will make that possible by changing our hearts. How? Listen in.

David is, in underappreciated fact, the first “messiah”, which means anointed by God. God anointed David King over Israel, and made the only covenant in the Bible with and for one man: promising that one of his progeny would always serve as the King of Israel. And through the prophets, God also vowed that from […]

It is essential to understand the meaning of two of the major words in the Hebrew Bible. If you would better grasp what God is about and what is going on between God and Israel – make that between God and humanity – you need to grasp their significance…. Whatever else can be said about […]

Deuteronomy is a book of and for the heart. The word “heart” appears thirty-one times in its thirty-four chapters. Deuteronomy means “second law” and was most likely the book found in the temple during King Josiah’s reign (641-609 BCE). To an extraordinary extent, the heart of the king toward God, certainly after David, who loved […]