Yom ha-Kippurim is not about punishment

Shalom everyone, This year, the date God has chosen for the opening of the gates of heaven begins on Sunday evening, 13th October 2024. So I thought I would write a little about one particular aspect of the Great Day, ha-Yom ha-Gadol. Before I begin, I just want to...

Love me or else bad things will happen

I was recently posed a question about the terms and conditions of God’s Covenant with Israel, and was asked, “I don’t know what to make of the covenant that the children of Israel agreed to, because it seems to me that someone in their right mind would not have...

How to Approach the Harsh Verses in Torah

Shalom everyone If there is just one thing that we can learn from being followers of the Prophet Yeshua, it is that we should always seek to interpret the Hebrew Bible with compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and love. If we are instead tempted by our baser natures to...

Forgiveness and the Expiation Process in the Ancient Israelite Faith

Shalom everyone, In preparation for the upcoming season of repentance, I thought it would be useful to explain the theological background to the process of Expiation – and not the modern Jewish understanding of it, but rather the original, ancient, pre-Exile, Yahwist...

God’s Ultimate, Overall Plan

Shalom everyone, A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about having a mission and a purpose in life. This article here is a follow-up to it. In this blog, I want to take a look at the concept of God having a plan – the Great and Ultimate Plan. Free Will and Objections to a...

Our Purpose and Mission in Life

Shalom everyone, A friend recently asked me about the topic of, ‘Our Purpose in Life’, and specifically its negative effects on people who are unable to divine their purpose in life. I have to admit that I wasn’t previously aware of this phenomenon. Apparently, some...