Some assume Jesus had very little connection to the Hebrew Scriptures and think he intended to start a new religion. When you read the accounts of Jesus’s life, it becomes plain that nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus’s life was saturated in the Hebrew Scriptures. His entire message was about wholeheartedly following the […]
A Shabbat dinner in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil may be an odd place to start for this article, but that is where my wife and I recently met a new Israeli friend. Mutual friends connected us since we were both backpacking in South America and happened to be in Rio at the same time. We […]
A quick glance at the news or social media will show that humanity is devastated by the sin of racism. The Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in 2018, the El Paso Walmart shooting in 2019, and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery are all examples of racists targeting Jewish people, Hispanics, and African Americans respectively. These […]
While reading articles on this site, you most likely came across the word sin. You may be wondering what exactly this term means. It is not a pleasant word, but its impact in our world and personal lives is enormous. In a general sense, sin means “to miss the mark.” Picture someone holding a bow […]
“As the Good Book says, ‘Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed.’ In other words, send us the cure. We’ve got the sickness already… Oh, dear Lord! You made many, many poor people. I realize, of course, it’s no shame to be poor. But it’s no great honor either. So, what would have […]
What will the Messiah be like, and what will he do? Many people have asked this question throughout the centuries. The prophet Isaiah had a lot to say in response to this question. In Isaiah 52:13—53:12 (from here on, just “Isaiah 53”), the prophet Isaiah described the Messiah, whom he called the “Servant of the […]
This question could be asked in another way: what does the Old Testament say about the Messiah, and does Jesus fit that description? From the moment that we, the Jewish people, began to be a distinct nation, God planned to send the Messiah to us. In Genesis 12, God made a promise to Abraham to […]
We’re all captivated by superhero movies. We love seeing the Bat-Signal displayed in the sky as Batman speeds off to clean up crime in Gotham City. We are drawn in when Spider-Man’s spidey sense alerts him to danger, and he swings into action to stop a criminal (by the way, we are equal-opportunity DC and […]
In 2016, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series after 108 years of losses. How could anyone have known that this would be their year? Apparently, the show Parks and Recreation predicted this in its final season, which aired in 2015. How did they do that? In an episode set in 2017, Lucy explained to […]