The story of Cain and Abel in one sense is the story of unrequited love of a father towards his son and his son’s inability to deal with it to the point he kills his brother. The story is a classic example of jealousy and its destructive power. And it depicts the first sin after Eden, showing consequences and G-d's justice.   Modern Day Allegory   Nobel prize winning author John Steinbeck adapted Genesis 4 for his 1952 novel, East of Eden, where in the Old Testament, it was e

When reading Leviticus, we learn about the Old Testament offerings made by the Levitical priest to the Lord. The Leviticus priests were Aaron’s sons and were chosen to be responsible for performing the sacrifices for the offerings to the Lord. Aaron was the older brother of Moses, chosen by God to be the first High Priest of Israel. The Lord spoke to Moses, Aaron in turn spoke to the people.   The people took the animals and killed them. The priests were assigned to carry out

The book of Joshua teaches us that G-d offers second chances. The Israelites wandered the deserts of Egypt for 40 years unable to reach their homeland. G-d gave the next generation a second chance. This time the results were different. Joshua led this army to tumble the walls of Jericho and destroy the city of Ai. What was next? The day the sun stood still After Joshua destroyed Ai,   Adoni-Zedek, the king of Jerusalem was frightened as was his people. His city was larger tha

What are the Dead Sea Scrolls?   The Dead Sea Scrolls are tremendously early Jewish scripts that date back to the third century BCE to the first century CE . The significance is easy to articulate, they contain the oldest known copies of Old Testament, except for Ester , along with other writings that cover a wide range of topics, such as Jewish denominational writings, deeds of sale, marriage and divorce records.   The Dead Sea Scrolls are widely considered to be the most si

Moses had an aid by the name of Nun who had a son named Joshua. After Moses died, the Lord said to Joshua that you and your people people will cross the Jordan River into the land I will give to the Israelites. The Lord told Joshua no one will be able to conquer you all the days of your life. ‘As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.’   The Amorite and Canaanite kings heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan and they were afraid to go up against the Israelites.   At the

Three months after the Israelites left Egypt, Israel camped in the desert in front of the mountain. The LORD called Moses from the mountain and told him that Moses had seen what the LORD did to Egypt, and said if you obey the LORD fully and keep his covenant, you will be his treasured possession. He told Moses to tell this to the Israelites.   Moses returned, told the elders the words the LORD decreed him to speak. The people replied, “We will do everything the Lord has said.