by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 16, 2022 | Bible Study
By Rabbi Avi Baumol Psalm 12, in a word, is about words. Our greatest medium of expression is indeed King David’s most precious vehicle for connecting to his creator. However, there is a grave danger that surrounds the use, or rather abuse, of words. With...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 15, 2022 | Bible Study
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz Every Israeli schoolchild knows the name Hanna Senesh. A poet and a Special Operations Executive member, Senesh was a Zionist who moved to Palestine but later died fighting the Nazis in WWII. Though she never lived to see the State of Israel,...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 13, 2022 | Good and Evil, Justice, Psalms
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz In Hebrew, a person who returns to the faith is referred to as a baal teshuvah, literally ‘a master of repentance’. The word teshuva, however, also means ‘answer’. A secular friend once teased me, “Now that you are baal teshuva, you have all...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 10, 2022 | Bible Study
Psalm 9 opens in a perplexing manner: For the leader; ‘almuth labben. A psalm of David. Psalm 9:1 This is the only time in the entire Bible that the phrase ‘almuth labben appears. Understood literally, the phrase can mean ‘upon the death of the son.’ But it is not...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 9, 2022 | Covenant, Faith, Fear of God, Freedom, God, Hebrew Language, Humility, Psalms, Responsibility
By Rabbi Avi Baumol These two verses form the bridge between the two halves of Psalm 8. In the first verse, King David asks “what is man that you have been mindful of him?” implying that Man is nothing at all. In the second verse, David continues...
