Talmidi Library
Talmidi Religious Writings
The Religious Writings of the Talmidi Jewish Community: ‘The Exhortations’
The Exhortations (ההפצרות ‘Ha-Haftsarot’ in Hebrew) is a collection of the writings of both ancient and modern Followers of the Way.
The complete collection of the 14 books of The Exhortations has now been published in one volume. It is available from Amazon-UK at £18.50, and from Amazon-US at $23.19
Please use the quick-links below, or navigate through the menu on the left, to view introductory notes on the collection, as well as the complete texts of the 14 books of The Exhortations themselves.
The origin, purpose and use of Talmidi writings
The 14 Books of The Exhortations:
The Book of Yochanan the Immerser
The Book of the Prophet Yeshua (the Sefer Yeshua)
The Two Trials of Yeshua of Nazareth
The Teaching of the Emissaries
The Book of the Visions of Shimon
The Days of Shimon of Jerusalem
Selections from the Wisdom of Yeshua ben Sira
The Contemporary Writings of Modern Followers
The Exhortations is our replacement for the New Testament. While not all 14 books of The Exhortations come from the New Testament, most of the books replace certain types or genres of books in the New Testament. Apart from the very last book, the books are taken from ancient sources.
1. The Book of Yohanan the Immerser – those parts of the gospels which tell the story of John the Baptist
2. The Book of the Preaching of Yeshua – a reconstruction of the Q-gospel; a simple version of the sayings of Jesus in the gospels
3. The Book of the Prophet Yeshua (the Sefer Yeshua) – an in-depth and complete version of the Jewish sayings of Jesus in the gospels
4. The Two Trials of Yeshua – represents an alternative view of the final week and death of Jesus found in all four NT gospels
5. The Teaching of the Emissaries – no equivalent in the NT; this is a Judaised version of The Didache, thought to have been written by one of the followers of the apostles, and is similar in style to those pastoral letters in the NT which deal with custom and tradition
6. The Letter of Ya`aqov – this is a reorganised ‘Letter of James’
7. The Book of Ya`aqov the Pious – This serves the same purpose as the Book of Acts. However, the material is not found in the NT; it is taken from the Ascents of James in the Clementine Literature written by late Jewish Christians
8. The Book of the Visions of Shimon – This is material taken from the Book of Revelation. It is formed from those parts of Revelation which scholars have determined to have been the original Jewish parts of the work (the rest of Revelation was written by a Christian seer named John of Patmos)
9. The Laments for Jerusalem – no equivalent in the NT. It is a 1st century counterpart to the Book of Lamentations in the Hebrew Bible. It is a lament over the destruction of the Second Temple
10. The Days of Shimon of Jerusalem – no equivalent in the NT. It is the story of Simeon of Jerusalem, the brother of James, who took over leadership of the Talmidi Jewish community from James after his death. It is mostly taken from Eusebius‘s Historia Ecclesiae, which quotes extensively from the Jewish-Christian writer Hegesippus.
11. The Hymns of the Pious Poor – no equivalent in the NT. A collection of hymns and psalms from the Qumran literature which agree with Talmidi ethics and spirituality
12. Selections from the Wisdom of Yeshua ben Sira – no equivalent in the NT. It is a collection of selected sayings from the apocryphal Book of Yeshua ben Sirach (a selection based on those ethics which are particularly emphasised in Yeshua’s teachings)
13. The Testament of Yudah Nasi – not found in the NT. However, it takes the place of those pastoral letters in the NT which deal with ethics and the afterlife. It is a memorial to the very last Nasi (‘religious president’) of our ancient community, and is taken from an ancient Jewish-Christian work called, ‘The Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs‘
14. The Contemporary Writings of Modern Followers – this is a collection of modern prophecies and oracles, parables and guidance, sermons and sayings, written between 1987 and 2025
May YHVH, the Living God of all Truth and Faithfulness, be with you always
The complete collection of the 14 books of The Exhortations has now been published in one volume. It is available from Amazon-UK at £18.50, and from Amazon-US at $23.19
If you ever have any questions about what you read, or if you profoundly disagree with anything, please email at shmuliq.parzal@googlemail.com
The Exhortations is our equivalent of the New Testament, but does not have any scriptural authority; the only scriptural authority for Talmidis is the Galilean canon of the Hebrew Bible; you do not have to agree with The Exhortations in order to call oneself a Talmidi.