Bridging the Spirit to the Next Generation
Rabbi Elliot Klayman is, like Noach, an ish tzadik, tamim bedorotav, “a righteous man, blameless in his generation.” All who know him will join in attesting that this righteous man is attentive to the needs and sufferings of others, and always involved in protecting, preserving, and passing on to coming generations the spiritual patrimony he…
Read MoreThe Scandal of a Divine Messiah: A Response to Maimonidean and Kabbalistic Challenges to the Incarnation. by Brian J. Crawford
Reviewed by Rich Robinson Summary Brian Crawford’s new book represents the fruit of several years of thinking about Jewish apologetics. It comes with hearty endorsements from Richard Harvey, Darrell Bock, Mitch Glaser and others who are known to many readers of Kesher, and also from an Orthodox Jew who is not a follower of…
Read MoreDeny. Distract. Deflect. Defend.
Since the beginning of human history, this has been our default reaction to truth and accountability. When confronted with evidence of our own sin, these are the strategies we reach for in our back pockets to shield ourselves from the searing light of God’s truth, from the searing shame of accountability. Deny. Distract. Deflect.…
Read MoreHumanitarian Aid: The Redemptive Power of Doing Good
When you talk about religion, for the most part, people think about it as belief. In religious circles, people discuss opinions about God, life after death, world events, and the end of time. It can be confusing and more often than not it leads to contention. Religion has become one of the topics you don’t…
Read MoreFrom the editor – Issue 38
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has chosen us from all the peoples and given us His Torah. (Koren Siddur) Scripture is a gift, perhaps the defining gift, of the Jewish people and the community of Messiah that has arisen from among them. As with many gifts, we need to…
Read MoreOral Hermeneutics: A Conversation with Bill Bjoraker
Oral Hermeneutics: A Conversation with Bill Bjoraker For most of their journey through history, the texts of Scripture have been passed on from mouth to mouth, or mouth to ear, rather than from scroll to scroll or page to page. This mode of transmission shaped the way Scripture was told, proclaimed, and interpreted through the…
Read MoreSuffering Israel: Sharing the Sufferings of God and Messiah
“In all their affliction” Marc Chagall (1887–1985) spoke of his bewilderment as a Jew being confronted with a world of pogroms, Jewish-Christian encounters, and antisemitism coming to its culmination in the Shoah. When he inserted into his paintings crucifixion scenes picturing a crucified Jewish Jesus amidst Israel’s sufferings, he wished to blend Jewish elements with…
Read MoreFor Better and For Worse: The Faithfulness of God through the Exile and Return of the Shekhinah
This article addresses the faithfulness of God (toward Israel) and thereby confronts us with our understanding of him. The extent to which we have learned to understand God’s self-revelation through Scripture enables or hinders us to understand God’s faithfulness toward his people, and consequently toward the whole of his creation. This includes “us,” believers in…
Read MoreOgrodowa Street – Based on the Life of Rachmiel Frydland
Preface Welcome to “Ogrodowa Street,” a poignant and powerful play based on the life of Rachmiel Frydland, crafted by Steffi Rubin. This narrative unfolds in the heart of the Warsaw Ghetto during the harrowing days of World War II, capturing the essence of human resilience, faith, and the struggle for survival amidst unimaginable adversity. Rachmiel…
Read MoreThe Redemptive Seed Type-scene in the Davidic Narrative Arc: Raising up Seed for David as Yibbum in 2 Samuel 7:12
The Redemptive Seed Type-scene in the Davidic Narrative Arc: Raising up Seed for David as Yibbum in 2 Samuel 7:12 Derek Chong Introduction: The Paternity of the Messiah Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The…
Read More