“Once upon a time a Preacher, Professor &
Rabbi . . .” sounds like the beginning of a good joke, but in this case it is
the beginning of a twenty-five journey. I am the preacher, Dr. Ike Tennison is the Professor and the Rabbi is Jeffrey Leynor. Our destination was to
more accurately understand the words of our Bibles and the histories of our
religions – Christianity and Judaism.
We specifically wanted to focus on the first century CE when both of our
religions were Jewish sects and part of Second Temple Judaism and learn more
about how one of those sects – the Jesus
Movement – became a universal Gentile religion, and the other – the Pharisees – became Rabbinic Judaism.
What we discovered, however, is much more important than what we planned.
Today, the social bonds that are required to hold Americans together and make
it possible for our democracy to exist are breaking down and many of the
problems we face – political, economic
and religious – are the result. We believe that what we discovered on our
journey has the power to strengthen those bonds and bring Americans together --
especially those with Judeo-Christian values
and heritages. Click on “Once upon a
time a Preacher, Professor & Rabbi” at -- http://www.myerscommunications.us/biblical-heritage-center-resources-page.html
One of Jesus’s earliest memories was no doubt watching and listening to his family when they gathered to pray the Shema at sunrise before the day’s work began and after the working work day was over at sunset . He also heard and participated in praying the Shema at their synagogue. He was surrounded by neighbors who also prayed the same prayer in their homes every day. The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah . It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning “ to judge oneself .” This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God. [1] Most of Jewish prayers are expressed in the first person plural, "us" instead of "me," an...
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