Be welcome to this site! If you have never heard of the Hebrew word “mishpochah”, it means “family”, though in a larger sense, it can mean the extended family, clan, tribe, even nation. By coming to this site, the first-time visitor is simply a family member that we haven’t met yet, to badly paraphrase a saying. So again, be welcome!
The purpose of this site is to share articles that I and fellow writers write and/or post that go deeper than beginner-level studies of the Tanakh and the Brit Chadassah. Tanakh is an acronym for the three Hebrew words torah, nevi’im (prophets), and ketuvim (writings), and Brit Chadassah means the Renewed Covenant, more commonly known as the New Testament. The level of study here is intended to be intermediate to scholarly/expert. Undoubtedly, as the years pass, and my knowledge increases, the level will deepen to the scholarly level. Together, we can grow in the knowledge of the Most Holy One of Israel! I recognize that I am just the latest in a large group of teachers to go online, and I hope that I can still make a contribution to my readers’ understanding! In each generation, the truths and riches of the Word must be learned, taught, and passed on to the next generation.
What we want to do is gain an understanding and appreciation of the paradigms that YHVH uses to frame His Word and His creation and then use those paradigms to dig deep and understand better what the ancient Hebrew prophets understood and taught. Building on that, we can better understand what Yeshua and the New Testament writers were trying to convey to their audience. In other words, instead of starting with the Gospels and Writings of the New Testament and looking backwards, we start with the five books of Moses and look forward to Revelation. To paraphrase Isaiah 46:10, the end was known from the beginning.
The Hebraic understanding and mindset is widely removed in time and culture from our 21st century Western understanding. We think we have advanced much further than where mankind was 3,000 years ago. In many dimensions, that is true. But in where we have departed from the ancient Hebrew wisdom and laws of the Mosaic Covenant, that is not true. That means that teachings and understandings that diverge from Moses are flawed. It doesn’t matter if such teachings are Jewish or Christian – if they don’t conform 100% to the written Word, all such teachings are flawed. This means I and my fellow writers will be equal opportunity critics of bad teachings and strive to promote sound teaching based wholly on the written Word of YHVH Tsiddeqenu (YHVH our righteousness). I have applied criticism to my own beliefs and updated them, and as I discover error in my beliefs, I will continue to update them. Sometimes, I simply don’t know what I don’t know.
In academia, the version of choice is the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). For this blog, the NRSV will be the primary version. In addition, I will use other versions, such as the NASB, NKJV, the Peshitta, Septuagint (LXX), Artscroll Stone Tanakh, the New JPS, and several others. Perhaps at some point, I’ll compare versions but that seems like a duplication of others’ efforts so for now, if you’re interested in looking up the versions I listed above, please use DuckDuckGo.com and search them out!
Let us now stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it! (Jeremiah 6:16)