Showing results by author "Juan Marcos Bejarano Gutierrez" in All Categories

The year was 1391. Spring was about to turn into summer. By the end of the summer, 80 Jewish communities in Castile and Aragon were torn by violence. A third of the Jewish community had been murdered. Perhaps another third of the Jewish community had converted. Only a third of the Jewish population remained intact. While their conversions had initially been met with a grand celebration by their Christian neighbors, those Jews who had yielded to baptism to rescue their lives and those of their families eventually proved a thorn in the side of the church. Could they be trusted?

Few Biblical figures are as intriguing and mysterious as Enoch. He is mentioned only a few times in the canonical Hebrew Bible, but the impact of his story went on to affect the theology of many books written during the Second Temple Era. It also set the foundation for the development of many of the ideas found in the early Christian movement. Enoch’s importance continued beyond the destruction of the Temple and survived in a new form in later rabbinic tradition. Discover the mystery of Enoch, and the fascinating impact it had on the development of Judaism and Christianity.

In the context of Crypto-Jewish individuals and communities, both in the Iberian Peninsula and in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies of the New World, as well as in India, the knowledge of and distinction between halakhah and minhag persisted. But as contact with established Jewish communities (in particular, in Spain before the expulsion), with rabbis, and with Jewish texts lessened, the overall knowledge of Jewish practice and beliefs diminished. This short work explores the practices and beliefs that characterized the dual identity of crypto-Jews.

Is there a type of thinking that can be characterized as Jewish? If so, what is the difference between the Jewish thought and non-Jewish thinking? Does the Bible reflect a type of thinking? Is it linear? Does it correspond to Platonic or Aristotelian thought? How does rabbinic logic work? Are there polarities in the Bible? Discover this and much more in this fascinating aspect of Judaism.

Cada tradición religiosa incluye una forma de oración ó meditación. Siendo este el caso. ¿Qué es exactamente lo que caracteriza a la oración judía como Judía? La oración utiliza los modismos de la Biblia hebrea y de los sabios de Israel. La Biblia hebrea es el fundamento de la fé Judía. La meta de este libro es proporcionar al lector una introducción general a lo que es la oración judía, además de algunas de las prácticas que se llevan a cabo dentro de la misma asociadas con ciertas oraciones las cuales son fundamentales.

The history of early Christianity is shrouded in mystery. Jesus and his early followers were Jewish, but most Jews and Christians know little of the origins of either. Since the third and fourth centuries CE, Judaism and Christianity have crystallized to the point of apparent distinction so much to obscure shared history and even theology. Consequently, people legitimately ask what connections could Judaism and Christianity have. A variety of textual discoveries including the Dead Sea Scrolls, however, has brought about a renewed interest in the subject of early Christianity in its Jewish ...

In 1942, in Kaunas, Lithuania, the occupying German forces decreed that any pregnant Jewish woman would be summarily executed. On August 26, 1942, a Jewish woman realized she was pregnant and approached her rabbi, Ephraim Oshry, seeking advice. He determined that an abortion was necessary to save her life. The situation was something no woman or rabbi should have to face. But the scenario was real, and Rabbi Ephraim Oshry ruled based on Jewish law.

In traditional Judaism, the revelation of the Torah at Sinai was a miraculous event. It is the foundational event of the Jewish people as a nation. The rabbis perceived God's continued involvement in creation, but also saw limitations on how divine intervention functioned in the realm of Jewish law. Discover the fascinating manner in which Torah and prophecy were understood and how each had its proper domain.

We live in a radically different world than we did just a year and a half ago. The world has experienced unprecedented fear due to COVID-19. Consequently, most countries have undergone lockdowns, social distancing, and mandated masks because of the worldwide pandemic. The concept of community and its importance has radically changed in the minds of many people. This especially applies to religious communities, and the consequences of this are disturbing. This work discusses the importance of religious community from a Jewish perspective, but also emphasizes other religious traditions.

A great many Jewish holidays and practices, in their earliest understanding, reflect the great innovation of Biblical religion. The Bible emphasized historical events in contrast to nature. Other ancient Near Eastern religions stressed the latter. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel noted, in the Jewish tradition, faith is memory. The observances of Jewish holidays and various Jewish practices articulate theological ideas reflective of collective Jewish memory.

In 2006, I was attending several week-long classes at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago. One of the classes was titled “Who is a Jew?” and was taught by my doctoral advisor, Rabbi Dr. Byron Sherwin, of blessed memory. The course discussed biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern perspectives on the question. As Rabbi Sherwin was accustomed to doing, he typically included unusual cases for us to consider. Decades before, a student at the Spertus Institute had stirred some controversy.

Samuel Usque in The Consolations for the Tribulations of Israel examines the trials and misfortunes of the Jewish people in an effort to both comfort and encourage Anusim (forced or coerced converts to Christianity). For Usque, in the context of his audience, “history” serves to alleviate their pain, to convince them of the reasons for their current predicament, and to convince them that an immanent redemption was soon to be realized. The Consolations have often proven inaccessible to many readers. This work focuses on providing a review of the key concepts.

An Israelite father; a Canaanite mother. A young boy is caught between two worlds during the time of Samuel the Seer. Captured by the Sea Peoples during a battle, he is enslaved and taken to the Philistine stronghold of Gath where he meets two young girls who will shape his future. All the while, he remembers his friend, a beautiful Canaanite girl, and wonders whether he will ever see her or his parents again.

This story tells the tale of a boy with an Israelite father and a Canaanite mother. A young boy is caught between two worlds during the time of Samuel the Seer. In the first volume, he is captured by the Sea Peoples during a battle; he is enslaved and taken to the Philistine stronghold of Gath where he meets two young girls who will shape his future. All the while, he remembers his friend, a beautiful Canaanite girl, and wonders whether he will ever see her or his parents again. The journey continues in this volume.

In the eighth century, a debate between Sergius the Stylite and a Jew occurred. The discussion was conveniently titled Debate against a Jew. It records arguments about the relevance of biblical texts to Christians and the Jewish people. The anti-Jewish perspectives of Sergius are not surprising. The response given by his Jewish interlocutor is, however. The Jew noted that he was surprised by the number of Christians who attended his synagogue, contributed to it, and celebrated various Jewish holidays alongside Jews.

The Chronicles of Canaan continue with Eliel the young warrior serving the newly appointed King Saul in his quest to save the Kingdom of Israel by fighting Ammonites and sorcery in Endor.

The Book of Chronicles and the Book of Kings depict different versions of King's Solomon's rise to power after the death of King David. Each book emphasizes critical elements which relate the theological concerns and agenda of their authors. Discover the fascinating differences between these texts and what they convey to the listener regarding the importance of kingship, monotheism, idolatry, intermarriage, and much more.

In the year 167 BCE, a small band of Judean priests sparked a conflict against the Seleucid Empire that would last a quarter of a century. The immediate trigger had been a sacrifice to idols about to be offered by a Jew at the order of Seleucid officials. The battle was not simply a violent reaction against foreign rule, however. The violence that erupted also revealed the profound disagreements between Jews over what Jewish identity entailed and how it should be lived out. While the military battles against the Seleucid Empire that followed were momentous, the heart of the clash was ...