Hearty Foods at Shavuot

Shalom my sisters and brothers, For those of us preparing to celebrate biblical Shavuot on Sunday, I just wanted to say a little about food – Jewish festivals inevitably have some food connection, because they are a celebration of the bounty that Adonai provides for...

Commentary on SY 27: Blessed those who see and hear

The twenty-seventh passage of the Sefer Yeshua is based on Mt 13:16-17 and Lk 10:23-24. The likeliest source is the Q-Gospel. 27. 1A poor man came to Yeshua and spoke to him of his new understanding of the kingdom of God.      2And Yeshua...

Commentary on SY 26: The Parable of the Sower

The twenty-sixth passage of the Sefer Yeshua is based on Mk 4:3-9, Mt 13:3-9, Lk 8:5-8, and Thomas 9:1-5. Mark and Thomas have similar versions, and Mt and Lk seemed to be based on Mark. Luke’s is the shortest. It is possible that the parable was a well-known and...

Converts and Shavuot

Following on from the central focus of biblical Shavuot as celebrating the Covenant, one of the sub-themes of Shavuot is the acceptance of converts into God’s Covenant with Israel. For this reason, the Book of Ruth is traditionally read at Shavuot. It is a short book,...

Shavuot in the time of Yeshua: the Jewish version of Thanksgiving

Shalom everyone, Shavuot is only a minor religious festival today, but in the original Israelite faith, it was a major, lavish and most moving festival. It was one of the three pilgrim-festivals that we swore to observe as Jews, as part of our Covenant-agreement with...