EIGHT IS GREAT
How the Eighth Day Unlocks the Bible’s Supernatural Pattern This week’s Torah portion is called Shemini—“Eighth.” It opens, “And it was on the eighth day that Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel,” the day when the Mishkan finally comes alive and the glory of God appears. The sages say it […]
REMEMBERING LAUGHTER
In Jewish tradition, acknowledging God’s will is central, with phrases like Im Yirtzeh Hashem (If God wills it) or B’ezrat Hashem (With God’s help) often used to express reliance on Divine providence for future plans. This reflects the belief that while humans have free will regarding moral choices, ultimate outcomes rest in Heaven. Remembering Laughter […]
PESACH: THE HIDDEN MERCY BEHIND THE PASSOVER
Psalm 51.7—Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. An Orthodox rabbi and friend called me today to wish me a sweet Passover. We started to talk. During the conversation he asked me a question thar surprised me. He asked if I knew the meaning […]
JONAH GET’S GETHSEMANE
Jonah 4:3 NKJV —”Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!” I grew up with the book of Jonah not as a children’s story, but as a mirror. As a Jew named Jonah, I could never quite escape it. Jonah was not […]
WRESTLING WITH GOD IN THE TALMUD
Wrestling With God: Why Hating the Talmud Is Hating Israel Related Facebook Video I have not invested my life in studying Talmud the way some Jews have. I’m not pretending to be a yeshiva scholar. But I’ve read enough, listened enough, and wrestled enough to know this much: the Talmud is not the monstrous text […]
THUMBS UP
I noticed my thumb today. Weird thing to notice. But it really is an amazing creation. Medically and biomechanically, the human thumb is an outlier: it is uniquely built for powerful and precise grip, and losing it compromises an enormous share of hand function. Researchers in hand surgery and rehabilitation often estimate that the thumb […]
SAYING THE QUIET PART OUTLOUD
The mezuzah exists because of the Shema: its core Torah text is Deuteronomy 6:4–9, beginning with “Shema Yisrael,” followed by “And you shall write them on the doorposts (mezuzot) of your house and on your gates.” The object on the doorpost is therefore a physical embodiment of the Shema’s command—literally the Shema wrapped and affixed […]
BESA – THE CODE OF HONOR
Yesterday I walked into a local pizzeria to speak with the owner about buying his building. His name was Tony — I assumed he was Italian and Christian. To my surprise, he was Albanian and Muslim. I’m sure he notice my Kippah. His 30 year old son, standing protectively beside him, was named Zymer. As […]
REBUTTLE TO NEW ANTI-JEWISĤ THEOLOGY
Reclaiming God’s Faithfulness: A Biblical and Historical Rebuttal to the New Anti-Jewish Theology. Based on research & content by Jon Harris. A troubling wave of anti-Jewish theology is spreading across Catholic and Evangelical online spaces. It dismisses God’s covenant promises to ethnic Israel as obsolete, portrays Jewish people as uniquely cursed or manipulative, and brands any […]
WHEN JEW-HATERS MISREAD A JEWISH BOOK
When Jew‑Haters Misread a Jewish Book Last night I attended a lecture titled, “The New Anti-Jewish Theology – A Biblical and Historical Response. The speaker was a deacon at a Christian church and the son of the Pastor. I’d never met either of them before, but I was highly impressed and appreciative of what he […]