The Three Days

I would like to examine the claim written in a book and taught in the highest Colleges and Seminaries. Here is their evidence:

Milestone 18: God Reveals the Tree which after Three Days Can Make Our Bitter Waters Sweet “Then Moses led Israel … and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah (bitter).

So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” Then he cried out to the Lord and he pointed out to him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet.” (Exod 15:22–25 NASB) The Creator God first brought forth the trees out of the earth on the third day. What wisdom he showed to create nature to teach us about grace! The trees become the emblems of our destiny (Matt 7:17): Adam’s tree becomes the tree of death (Gen 2:17); Christ’s tree becomes the tree of life (Rev 2:7).

The account of Israel at Marah’s waters of bitterness is full of the gospel. The people had been “baptized unto Moses” at the Red Sea according to Paul (1 Cor 10:2). “Baptism,” as we have discussed, is an emblem of death. After the deliverance at the Red Sea the people went through the wilderness and suffered a great thirst for three days (Exod 15:22). When they came to Marah, they found water, but it was bitter, and so they cried out against Moses.

Moses then cried out to God, and the Lord showed him a tree. When Moses threw the tree into the bitter waters, they were made sweet (Exod 15:25). So on the third day after Israel’s emblematic death they were delivered from their thirst by the Lord’s tree. Who is unable to foresee in Marah’s tree another tree where the Lord himself would know the bitterness of the cup of gall (Matt 27:34) and would cry out, “I thirst” (John 19:28)?

Yet after three days our Lord came forth from the earth to make all our bitter waters become sweet, for he is our Fountain of Living Waters, and his Tree of Death becomes our Tree of Life. Symbol: The Cross as the Tree of Suffering Bearing Glorious Fruit The trees in the Bible are often made symbols of Christ, particularly of the “Branch” which, when grafted into the cross, becomes the tree of cursing and yet on the third day comes forth from the earth as the tree of blessing.

Is it not evident that the Creator made the trees to teach us about the possibility of grace? The Savior himself taught that there were two kinds of tree: those bearing good fruit and those bearing evil fruit. By such an example he teaches us about the two destinies of life and death. And yet there are other symbols of salvation found in the nature of trees. What was the design of the Creator, for example, in bringing forth the myrrh tree from the earth?

The trunk of this tree, which is deeply wounded by the harvester’s knife, causes its resin to bleed beads which are called “tears” and trace the gashes made in its bark. Those resinous tears, when dried and gathered and crushed and mixed with oil, yield a magnificent fragrance to delight and refresh the heart of man. Similarly the maple tree pours forth abundant sweetness from its own piercing.

What fragrance and what sweetness come forth from the wounding of these trees! God brings forth the olive tree from the ground, the tree that when beaten yields its fruit (Deut 24:20). This fruit is then gathered up and crushed under the press to yield the precious oil that shares its light and warmth and becomes a balm to heal our wounds. Only the Redeemer-God could have conceived of a tree of healing to bring forth by such suffering so beautiful a light to the world!

In a great mystery of redemption God brings out of the earth the trees bearing bad fruit as well (Matt 7:17), all to teach us that the tree of blessing (Psa 1:3) is planted alongside the tree of cursing (Deut 21:23), just like he planted the tree of knowledge in the midst of Eden alongside the tree of life (Gen 2:9). All of this was to anticipate the tree he would one day plant on the hill called Golgotha.

This greatest of all trees was to become the tree of cursing for the Redeemer in order that it might become the tree of blessing for us. Jesus would partake of the tree of death (Gal 3:13) that we might partake of the tree of life (Rev 22:2). His tree of wounding was to bring forth a fragrant sacrifice full of sweetness and light once he, like the trees, had come forth from the earth on the third day.

Gage, W. A. (2011). Milestones to Emmaus: The Third Day Resurrection in the Old Testament (pp. 48–49). Warren A. Gage.

Warren Gage transitions in this section to “third day theophanies” — moments when God manifests in great power on the third day. He builds on previous milestones to argue that the third day is the climactic day when God acts decisively. Ultimately, this is fulfilled in Christ’s resurrection.

Response:

The Claim Being Examined

Gage asserts that the recurring “third day” pattern across the Tanakh (deliverance, decision, theophany) culminates in the resurrection of Jesus as the ultimate display of God’s power. In other words, this is the day God “comes in great power” to vindicate His Son. Furthermore, it is the day He offers life to the world.

This fits the larger Christian premise: “Jesus is on every page of the Hebrew Bible.”

Applying the Method from Adam, the Blueprint of Creation, and the Tree of Life

We begin where the Torah itself demands — with Rabbi David Fohrman’s questions from A Book Like No Other (Eden Part 1 & 2):

1. Why two special trees when God only forbids one?
2. Why command Adam to eat from all the trees (including the Tree of Life), then suddenly guard the Tree of Life?
3. Why does Eve identify the wrong tree as forbidden?

These anomalies show the blueprint was never broken. The path to the Tree of Life (Torah itself — Proverbs 3:18) was never lost. Humanity was created fundamentally good (99% good). Repair is always possible through teshuvah.

How did we get from these Garden questions to the claim that every “third day” event points to Jesus’ resurrection?

Dr. Robert Carter’s Four Questions Applied to the Claim

1. How did the claim arise? The claim arises by selecting numerical coincidences (“third day”) across unrelated narratives (Joseph, Exodus, Hosea, etc.). Scholars then read them through the lens of Luke 24 and 1 Corinthians 15. This assumes a unified “third day doctrine” that the original Hebrew text does not present.

2. What does the full picture actually show? In the Tanakh, “third day” is a common Hebrew idiom for a short period of time. It signifies travel, waiting, battle preparation, or decisive action. It is not a unified resurrection code. The theophanies (God appearing in power) on or around the third day are moments of judgment, deliverance, or covenant confirmation for Israel. However, these are not hidden predictions of a dying-and-rising individual Messiah.

3. Was there enough time and continuity for this interpretation? The typological reading developed centuries after the events, primarily in the New Testament and early Church Fathers. The Jewish people, who preserved the Hebrew text for over 3,300 years, never read these passages as pointing to a divine Son dying for original sin. Moreover, they never saw the Messiah rising on the third day.

4. Does the reading match the original blueprint? No. The Torah teaches that humanity was created in the image of Hashem according to a precise design. Nathaniel Jeanson’s work on population genetics and lineage tracing (Answers in Genesis) shows distinct family lines preserved from Noah’s sons — consistent with the Torah’s blueprint. Additionally, the Jewish people exhibit both textual and genetic continuity (as evidenced by the Kohanim marker and Abrahamic DNA). The Christian claim requires rewriting the problem (from choice/covenant to inherited total depravity). It also requires rewriting the solution (from returning to the Tree of Life to a one-time blood sacrifice).

The Parallel with Islam (Jay Smith Method)

Dr. Jay Smith’s rigorous analysis shows that Islam was created around a man (Muhammad), a book (the Quran), and a land (Mecca/Medina) that do not align with the earliest historical and archaeological evidence. Christianity followed a similar pattern: it took the Hebrew blueprint and created a new narrative with a man (Jesus), a new covenant document, and a spiritual “land” (the Church replacing Israel). In the end, both systems ultimately position themselves as the fulfillment or replacement of the original Torah blueprint.

The Original Blueprint

Adam was created in the image of Hashem according to a precise design that traces throughout the Torah. The Hebrew language and structure function as both code and chemistry. Israel and the Land of Israel are not inventions — they are part of that original design. Every other religious system that claims to supersede the Torah is, at root, humanity attempting to be God.

The world is one giant family. Our assignment is to fix our family through the Torah and the Ten Commandments. As Rabbi David Fohrman shows in his Shavuot series Chosen, the Ten Sayings are fundamentally about repairing family brokenness. For example, see especially his teaching on Genesis 27 — Isaac, Rebecca, Esau, and Jacob.

Verdict on Milestone 18

The “third day theophanies” in the Tanakh are moments when God acts powerfully in history for Israel — judgment, deliverance, covenant confirmation. Gage turns them into hidden predictions of Jesus’ resurrection. However, the raw Hebrew text and the preserved blueprint do not support this reading.

The original blueprint stands. The Tree of Life was never lost. The path of teshuvah and tzedakah u’mishpat remains open.

The silence when asked for clear, plain-text receipts from the Tanakh continues to speak.

• A Series of Lectures on Truth.
• Hashem Chose a Family: The Tree of Life Blueprint Was Given to Protect All of Humanity
• Who Rejected the Messiah? It Is Not Who You Think.
• How Can Christianity and Judaism Be “Two Sides of the Same Coin” When One Looks Nothing Like the Original Blueprint?
• The Tree Of Life: Things Are Not the Way They Should Be

Hazan Gavriel ben David

Shalom, friends.

We continue our series exploring how Christianity and Islam function as two sides of the same coin — derivative traditions that rework the original Hebrew/Torah blueprint given to Adam and clarified at Sinai. In Part 3, we applied Dr. Jay Smith’s rigorous historical-critical method to both faiths.

Today, in Part 4, we ground that analysis in Tanach prophecy, the teachings of Rabbi Tovia Singer, fresh insights from Dr. John Dominic Crossan on how Luke remade Paul for a Roman audience, and the profound perspective of anthropologist Francisco Gil-White on the pro-semitic (freedom/Torah) versus antisemitic (domination/control) ways of ordering the world.

The YouTube live stream (from History Valley, ~June 25, 2026) features Dr. John Dominic Crossan discussing his book Paul the Pharisee: A Vision Beyond the Violence of Civilization. The core thesis: Luke-Acts is not straightforward history but a carefully crafted two-volume narrative that remakes/reimagines Paul to fit Luke’s broader socio-political and theological goals.

Key points from Crossan (drawn from the transcript and related discussions):

• Luke-Acts as one unified work: Designed as a two-scroll set from the start (practical constraints of ancient scrolls + deliberate literary structure). Reading Luke or Acts in isolation misses Luke’s agenda.
• Preface signals “security” (asphaleia), not just “truth”: Luke promises an “orderly account” for “security/safety” regarding what Theophilus has been taught. Crossan sees this as socio-political reassurance: It’s safe to be a Christian in the Roman Empire. Luke portrays Romans favorably and shifts the tension toward Jewish opposition.
• Luke remakes Paul: Acts presents a smoothed-out, more “Roman-friendly” Paul that diverges from the raw, contentious Paul of the authentic letters (e.g., apostleship, conflicts, Jewish identity). Scholars often prioritize Paul’s letters when they conflict with Acts—but still sneak Luke back in. Crossan urges focusing on what Luke is doing with Paul as a character in his story.
• Broader context: This aligns with Crossan’s emphasis on Paul as a Pharisee with a vision opposed to the “normal violence” of civilization, in contrast to Luke’s narrative adjustments.
• Derivative Reworking of the Blueprint: I highlight how Christianity and Islam adapt (and sometimes sideline) the original Torah/Tree of Life framework. Crossan shows Luke reworking Paul—turning a complex, Pharisee-rooted Jewish apostle into a figure that serves Luke’s vision of a safe, orderly faith within the Empire. This is classic “two sides of the same coin”: both traditions reshape the source material.

The Tanach does not treat these later religions as random developments. It frames their ancestral lines — Ishmael (associated with Arab and Islamic peoples) and Edom/Esau (rabbinically identified with Rome and broader Christendom/Western imperial patterns) — as recurring spiritual and historical forces that test Israel’s faithfulness at the end of days.

Rome Is The Head of the Empires: The British

Map illustrating the Psalm 83 confederacy, including Edom and the Ishmaelites — a prophetic prototype of end-time opposition to Israel.

Tanach Prophecy: Ishmael and Edom as End-Time Patterns

The Hebrew Scriptures contain a consistent thread: the descendants and spiritual heirs of Ishmael and Esau/Edom appear as adversaries or confederates against Israel, especially as history moves toward redemption.

• Psalm 83 describes a coalition that includes “the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,” along with other nations, forming a pact against God’s people and inheritance. Many readers see this as a template for later end-time alliances.
• Obadiah delivers a searing oracle against Edom for violence toward “his brother Jacob,” standing aloof while enemies attacked, and prideful betrayal. The judgment is framed as ultimately eschatological.
• Daniel’s visions of successive kingdoms culminate in a fourth power, often traditionally linked to Rome/Edom (with “iron and clay” elements sometimes associated with later mixtures or alliances).
• Rabbinic literature and the Zohar describe Ishmael and Edom alternately or jointly oppressing Israel before the final redemption. The current exile is frequently called the “exile of Edom,” with Ishmael playing a parallel or complementary role in the final stages.

These are not mere ancient grudges. They form a prophetic map. The family dynamics that began with Abraham’s sons and Isaac’s twins replay on the world stage, testing who remains faithful to the original covenant and who seeks to supplant or control it.

Tovia Singer on the End of Days: Connecting the Dots

Rabbi Tovia Singer, in videos such as “How Is Christianity Connected to Ishmael and Esau?” and “Edom is Rome and Christendom,” makes these connections explicit and accessible. He traces Christianity’s historical and theological links to Edom/Rome patterns while locating Islam within the Ishmaelite line. Singer reads current events — wars, shifting alliances, attitudes toward Israel and the Jewish people — against this ancient biblical backdrop.

He emphasizes both the reality of conflict rooted in these ancestral lines and the possibility of ultimate recognition or reconciliation under divine sovereignty. The drama is not random antisemitism; it is a spiritual contest centered on the Land, the Torah, and who carries (or distorts) the covenantal light. His End of Days discussions highlight how these prophecies continue to unfold and why clarity about origins matters.

Jay Smith’s Method: The Man, the Book, and the Land — Strengthening the Case for Roman Influence

Dr. Jay Smith’s approach demands early, independent, contemporary evidence for claims about the central figure (“the man”), the scripture (“the book”), and the geographical/historical setting (“the land” or place). When we apply this consistently:

To Islam (as Smith demonstrates): The traditional 7th-century narrative of Muhammad in Mecca shows significant evidential gaps. The Quran exhibits later layers of compilation, anachronisms, and substantial borrowing from earlier Syriac Christian and Jewish sources (including embedded Aramaic hymns). Archaeology for a major 7th-century Meccan center is weaker than the narrative requires. A French revisionist school and German scholarship further illuminate Jewish-Christian influences in the Quran’s formation.

To Christianity (extending the same method):

• The Man: The historical Jesus operated in a Jewish context, yet the later theological construct — especially the portrayal of Paul — diverges. In the recent History Valley livestream, Dr. John Dominic Crossan shows how Luke systematically remakes Paul in Acts to serve a broader agenda: smoothing conflicts, emphasizing Roman order and safety, and presenting Christianity as compatible with (or non-threatening to) imperial authority. Paul’s authentic letters reveal a more raw, Pharisaic, Torah-engaged figure; Luke’s two-volume work reshapes him.
• The Book: The Gospels and Acts were composed decades after the events, with clear redactional layers and adaptation to Greco-Roman audiences. Early contemporary corroboration for the full canonical portrait is limited.
• The Land/Place (Roman imperial context): After the 70 CE destruction of the Second Temple and the suppression of Jewish revolts, a version of the messianic movement emerges that spiritualizes the Kingdom of God, discourages political resistance, and promotes themes of order and loyalty. This functional shift helped stabilize the empire by redirecting messianic energy into an otherworldly, individual-focused faith less likely to fuel further Jewish national uprising.

Dr. John Dominic Crossan – The Rewriting of The Blueprint

---

Because you can’t put Luke back in the the 80s and Acts in the 110s, 120s. Luke Acts was composed at the beginning of the second century. And by then, Rome had its own quite correct, by the way, story about who these weirdos Christians are.

They had at the end of the first century they had the summary in Josephus and good old Tacitus at the beginning of the second century said okay you want to know who Christians are over there in Judea there was a guy called Jesus or the Christ and we crucified him because he started the movement and sort of dog gone it that didn’t work it didn’t stop the movement so it spread everywhere

and Josephus said because those who were loyal to him in the beginning stayed loyal and Tacitus says well it was a disease and diseases spread everywhere but at the beginning of the first century if you were an educated Roman and you were thinking about this thing called Christianity or you were a godfearer or a god worshipper and you know you maybe have one foot in Rome and foot in Christianity and you’re thinking this is kind of a dangerous thing. I I’m the follower of a crucified leader.

I mean, all Rome have has to say to me is you’re a follower of a crucified guy. We don’t know what you’re up to, but just for safety, we think we’ll crucify you, too. So, I think the function then of Luke Acts is to write a gospel.

He he he knows the other he knows a lot of material. He really has good sources. There is absolutely no problem with his sources. It’s his interpretation that’s the problem. He He could even have read

all of Paul’s letters. I don’t know that for sure, but it wouldn’t make any difference because he’s tailoring Paul tailoring Paul for a pro- Roman audience.

So you were saying that Acts is Luke and Acts is tailoring Paul for a Roman audience.

Luke and Acts 2nd Century Scroll

In the recent History Valley livestream with Dr. John Dominic Crossan, we see a clear example of how scribes and early Christian authors rewrote history to serve theological and socio-political ends. Crossan demonstrates that Luke-Acts is not straightforward history but a deliberately crafted two-volume narrative designed as one unified work.

Luke remakes the Apostle Paul — smoothing out conflicts from the authentic letters, downplaying tensions with the Jerusalem leadership, and portraying a more Roman-friendly version of the early movement. The preface’s emphasis on “security” (asphaleia) rather than unvarnished truth signals Luke’s goal: to reassure readers (such as Theophilus) that it is safe to be a Christian within the Roman Empire.

Shifting the Blame -The Jews

By shifting blame toward Jewish opposition while depicting Romans as relatively receptive or neutral, Luke presents a narrative that helps integrate the faith into imperial structures. This is classic scribal rewriting — not outright fabrication from nothing, but selective shaping, redaction, and adaptation of sources to fit a new context after the destruction of the Temple and amid the need for stability.

When held to rigorous standards like Dr. Jay Smith’s historical-critical method, this reveals the same pattern seen in other derivative traditions: later layers reshape the original to serve the needs of the emerging system, further illustrating how Christianity and Islam function as “two sides of the same coin” diverging from the unchanging Torah blueprint.

en.wikipedia.org

Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) – Wikipedia

The destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE by Roman forces was a pivotal moment after which new religious narratives took shape in an imperial context.

This does not deny the sincerity of millions of Christians or the ethical fruits found in Christian lives. It does, however, reveal structural fingerprints of Roman-era adaptation. When held to the same historical-critical standard Smith applies to Islam, Christianity shows parallel patterns of later development and reworking of earlier Hebrew material. Both traditions become “two sides of the same coin” — systems that often sideline or redefine the original keepers of the code while claiming continuity or supersession.

Gil White’s Insight: Pro-Semitic (Freedom) vs. Antisemitic (Domination) Paradigms

Anthropologist Francisco Gil-White (Mexican-born, deeply engaged with Israel and Jewish history) offers a clarifying lens. Antisemitism, in his analysis, is frequently not mere prejudice but ideological opposition to the Jewish contribution of freedom — the Torah’s revelation of one God, moral law, human dignity, and covenantal responsibility that resists tyranny and arbitrary power. Moses and Sinai planted seeds of liberty under law that authoritarian systems throughout history have sought to uproot or co-opt.

• The pro-semitic way (aligned with Israel’s role) upholds the original Blueprint: Torah as Tree of Life, chosenness as light and responsibility, actions (“receipts”) over narrative control, and family/DNA legacy as priestly witness. This fosters genuine human flourishing and resistance to total domination.
• The antisemitic way prioritizes domination and control — whether imperial (Rome/Edom-style) or expansionist/jihadist. These systems often co-opt, redefine, or attack the source tradition to consolidate power.

Christianity’s Roman-shaped elements and certain developments within Islamic history can function within or enable such dynamics by presenting alternative “final” narratives that diminish Israel’s unique covenantal position. Defending Israel and the Jewish people, therefore, defends foundational values of freedom against authoritarian models. Gil-White’s work helps us see the larger contest of paradigms behind the religious and geopolitical surface.

Returning to the Original Tree of Life Blueprint

The Tanach, supported by archaeology, DNA studies tracing priestly and broader lineages, gematria, chiastic structures, and unfolding prophecy, consistently points back to one eternal source: the Tree of Life given to Adam, clarified at Sinai, and preserved by Israel as a light to the nations.

Ishmael and Edom/Rome appear in prophecy not as random historical accidents but as part of the drama that tests faithfulness to that original code. The “two sides of the same coin” ultimately point to the urgent need for Jews to return to deeper Torah observance and for all peoples to align with the unchanging revelation rather than later rewrites.

Signs of this return are visible: the ingathering of hidden Jews (crypto-Jewish lines awakening through DNA and family stories), growing interest in authentic Hebrew sources, and the exposure of historical layers through rigorous scholarship. As I emphasize in my book, Adam, the Blueprint of Creation and the Tree of Life and the Star of Jacob prophecy series, words create worlds, actions matter more than claims, and we are one extended family from three fathers with a shared path home.

Practical Steps and Resources

• Study the sources: Watch Tovia Singer’s teachings on Edom/Rome and Ishmael (search his channel for the titles linked above). Review Dr. Jay Smith’s historical-critical presentations and the Crossan discussion on Luke-Acts.
• Return to the Blueprint: Download the free first chapter of Adam, the Blueprint of Creation, and the Tree of Life at beithashoavah.org. Explore our weekly Torah study guides and Parsha teachings.
• Support the mission: Our POD T-shirts (GenesisFrequency on Etsy) and website resources help sustain full-time Torah teaching, prison chaplaincy, and content creation as I transition toward retirement from hospital work.
• Engage the prophecy: Follow unfolding events through the lens of Tanach rather than media narratives alone. The Tree of Life is not abstract — it is the living code for redemption.

The pattern is clear. The invitation is open. The original Blueprint still stands.

May we all merit to see the full revelation of the Tree of Life in our days, with Israel secure in her Land and all nations blessed through the eternal covenant.

Hazan Gavriel ben David Esnoga Beit HaShoavah | Amarillo, Texas beithashoavah.org

• A Jewish Perspective on the Spiritual War and Hashem’s End from the Beginning
• How Can Christianity and Judaism Be “Two Sides of the Same Coin” When One Looks Nothing Like the Original Blueprint?
• Two Sides of the Same Coin – Part 3: The French Revisionist School and the Christian Roots of the Quran
• The Two Messiahs and World War III: A Jewish Perspective on Christianity, Islam, and Biblical Prophecy
• Two Sides Of The Same Coin: Christianity and Islam (Part 2)

This Shabbat (12 Tammuz 5786 / June 27, 2026), Jews around the world read the powerful double Torah portion Parshat Chukat-Balak (Numbers 19:1–25:9). At the same moment, timely teachings from Rabbi Tovia Singer and Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson illuminate exactly what the Tanakh says about the events unfolding in our world.

From physical and spiritual enemies to Shabbat as divine protection, from purification after loss to prophetic blessings that cannot be cursed — the Torah is not ancient history. It is a living blueprint speaking directly to October 7th, ongoing conflicts, the ingathering of exiles, and the path to redemption.

As Hazan Gavriel ben David, leading a small synagogue in Amarillo, Texas, teaching Torah in prison, and writing on family history and prophecy, these messages resonate deeply. Let’s explore them together.

Rabbi Tovia Singer: The Tanakh as Our Lens for Current Events

In his recent podcast interview, Rabbi Tovia Singer — a leading voice in Jewish outreach and counter-missionary work — emphasizes that the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) provides the clearest framework for understanding our historic moment.

Singer discusses how October 7th clarified many things: the reality of existential threats, the ingathering of exiles (Aliyah), and the unfolding of prophecy. He points to passages such as Zechariah 12, where Jerusalem becomes a “burdensome stone” for the nations, and notes that Jews will return to the Land before the complete peace of Mashiach. Wars continue, yet divine protection endures. He also highlights the detailed vision of the Third Temple in Ezekiel chapters 40–48.

The core message? Return to the plain meaning of the Tanakh. Study it deeply, free from later interpretations that distort its plain sense (peshat). This call aligns with the urgent need for authentic Torah education in our generation.

Parshat Chukat: Purification, Loss, and Leadership in Crisis

Chukat opens with the mysterious statute of the Red Heifer (Parah Adumah). Its ashes purify those contaminated by contact with death (Numbers 19). Shortly after, Miriam dies; the people complain about water; Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking to it (resulting in his punishment); and Aaron passes away. Victories follow over Sihon and Og, followed by the bronze serpent (Nehushtan) that heals snakebites when the people look toward it.

These stories speak to our time. After immense loss — whether personal tragedies or the national mourning since October 7th — the Torah provides a path to purification and renewal. The red heifer reminds us that even in the shadow of death, holiness and life can be restored. Modern interest in red heifers for potential Temple use echoes this ancient statute.

Moses’ error at the rock teaches accountability in leadership and the power of speech. In an era of rapid news and emotional reactions, the lesson is clear: trust God’s precise instructions rather than reacting from frustration.

The bronze serpent offers profound hope: healing comes when we turn our gaze to Hashem’s provision amid affliction.

Parshat Balak: Bilam, Balak, and Enemies Turned to Blessings

In Balak, the Moabite king Balak fears the Israelites after their victories. He hires the renowned prophet-for-hire Bilam (Balaam) to curse them. Yet Hashem intervenes dramatically: Bilam’s donkey speaks, an angel blocks the path, and Bilam is forced to bless Israel instead of cursing them.

Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson’s lecture on Balak and Bilam clarifies the archetypes. Balak represents physical threats — military or political attempts to destroy Israel. Bilam embodies spiritual warfare — curses, sorcery, and efforts to darken the light of Torah or separate the Jewish people from their Source.

We see these patterns today. Physical enemies (rockets, terror proxies) combine with spiritual attacks (antisemitism masked as criticism, missionary efforts, cultural assimilation). Yet, just as in the Parsha, what is meant for evil becomes blessing: Israel’s resilience, technological advances, global attention on Jewish survival, and the strengthening of faith.

Bilam’s oracles contain some of the most beautiful prophecies in the Tanakh, including the iconic “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob” (Numbers 24:5) and the messianic “A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel” (24:17). This “Star of Jacob” is central to prophetic hope and ties directly into ongoing redemption processes.

Shabbat Observance as Protection for Israel: Torah Codes & October 7 Miracles

In another powerful teaching, Rabbi Glazerson explores how Shabbat observance protects and saves Israel, supported by Torah codes (equidistant letter sequences) and gematria.

He highlights statistical and mathematical patterns linking Shabbat to salvation. Post-October 7 accounts are especially moving: communities or families who kept Shabbat — closing gates, staying home for the holy day — experienced miracles. Individuals who strengthened their Shabbat observance reported divine protection.

This echoes the Sages and Midrash: by the merit of Shabbat, Israel is guarded. Historically, those who kept Shabbat endured as a people; those who abandoned it often assimilated within a few generations. Shabbat fosters family unity, communal prayer, rest, and holiness — the practical “receipts” that sustain Jewish life.

Glazerson connects this to broader messianic themes, including sparks of redemption visible even in unlikely leaders who support Israel.

Connecting the Dots: The Tanakh Blueprint for Our Generation

Parshat Chukat-Balak, read alongside these teachings, reveals recurring divine patterns:

• Impurity and Loss (Chukat) → Path to purification and healing.
• Enemy Plots (Balak) → Reversed into blessings and prophecy.
• Spiritual Safeguard (Shabbat) → Protects against both physical and spiritual threats.

The Tanakh is not silent on today’s events. It provides the map: return to Torah, observe mitzvot (especially Shabbat), study deeply, and trust in the ultimate redemption. As one who integrates Torah with archaeology, DNA evidence of our priestly and crypto-Jewish heritage, and the Tree of Life blueprint, I see these as confirmation of the same unified system.

My own work — the book Adam, the Blueprint of Creation and the Tree of Life; the “Star of Jacob” prophecy series; family history writings as Hazan Gavriel ben David; and GenesisFrequency Torah-inspired designs — flows from this understanding. The patterns are clear for those with eyes to see.

Practical Steps: Turning Tanakh Wisdom into Action

1. Study This Week’s Parsha — Read Numbers 19–25. Use Sefaria for Hebrew/English with commentaries.
2. Watch the Teachings — Rabbi Tovia Singer’s interview, Rabbi Glazerson on Balak/Bilam, and on Shabbat protection.
3. Strengthen Shabbat — Make it a day of rest, family, prayer, and joy. Its protective power is real.
4. Deepen Learning — Visit beithashoavah.org for study guides, PDFs, and mentorship opportunities.
5. Support Torah Life — Engage with prison ministry, small synagogues, and creative outreach. Wear or share reminders like Tree of Life or Psalm designs from GenesisFrequency.
6. Live the “Receipts” — Actions of observance, study, and kindness matter more than words.

Conclusion: Hope in the Pattern of Redemption

The Tanakh does not promise an easy path, but it guarantees that curses turn to blessings, death gives way to life, and Shabbat anchors us in holiness. We are living in the time of ingathering and awakening. The Star of Jacob is rising.

May we merit to see the full redemption, the rebuilding of the Temple, and peace for Israel and the world. Shabbat Shalom.

Hazan Gevriel ben David

What resonated most with you from this Parsha or the teachings? Share in the comments. Subscribe for more Torah insights, prophecy discussions, and practical guidance. Explore resources at beithashoavah.org and support the work through study, sharing, or GenesisFrequency.

Links:

• Rabbi Tovia Singer Podcast
• Rabbi Glazerson – Balak/Bilam
• Rabbi Glazerson – Shabbat Protection
• Sefaria: Parshat Chukat-Balak
• My Book & Prophecy Series

• Parashat Balak: Yeshua The Angel of the LORD
• Chapter Nine: Codes That Don’t Lie – Glazerson’s Torah Oracle
• Chapter Six: Urim and Thummim – Our Codes Speak, Yours Don’t
• From Messianic Jew to Ally: My 21-Year Journey with Tovia Singer and Tamar Yonah
• From Counter-Missionary to Ally: My 21-Year Journey with Tovia Singer and Tamar Yonah

In the Torah’s majestic blueprint of creation—where Adam stands as the archetypal vessel and the Tree of Life maps the emotional, psychological, and anatomical architecture of the soul—silence is not emptiness. It is the sacred fire that forges the kli, the holy vessel capable of receiving and transmitting divine light.

The 38 years of narrative silence in Parashat Chukat, the shared theodicy question of Moses and David, the inner battle illuminated by Pirkei Avot, the prophetic unfolding of Gog and Magog, and America’s own covenantal origins all converge on one transformative truth:

Every great soul and every great nation must pass through the midbar (wilderness) to be refined into a vessel of worship. Only then can we emerge, like the new generation at the waters of Meribah, digging our own wells and singing our own song.

As America approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, the nation stands at a Deuteronomy moment. The choice before us is the same one placed before Israel at Moab: life and blessing through obedience to the covenant, or the consequences of departure from the divine blueprint.

The United States was not founded in a vacuum of secular invention. Its laws, governmental structure, vows, and oaths to God echo the Torah’s framework for a people bound to the Creator. Yet in our day, many—including prominent voices in media and podcasts—analyze history and current events through rewritten codes that obscure the original Hebrew source.

The Torah, the Tree of Life to those who hold fast to her, remains the unaltered operating system. Returning to it—blessing Israel, upholding the Jewish people as God’s eternal bride, and recognizing the Jewish Bible as the foundation—is the only path that leads to true national blessing and the creation of vessels worthy of divine service.

The Torah Blueprint and the Inner Wilderness

Torah presents itself as the master blueprint of existence. Just as the physical body has form and function, the soul possesses emotional and psychological layers structured by the Tree of Life. Words create worlds, yet silence shapes the vessel that can receive and reveal them. Pirkei Avot serves as the practical manual for this inner refinement: “Who is wise? One who learns from every person.” “Make a fence around the Torah.” Control of speech, desire, and ego—the very impulses that doomed the desert generation—become the disciplines that carve the kli.

The 38 years of silence following the spies’ and Korach’s rebellions (Numbers 13–19, into chapter 20) illustrate the process with divine precision. The first generation’s dramatic sins and complaints filled the early narrative with rebellion at every turn. Then, the Torah falls nearly silent. No major prophecies, upheavals, or miracles are recorded in detail.

The Sages teach this was a period of divine distance and arrested development—a holding pattern in which the rebellious generation died out while the next was forged. What appeared as narrative absence was actually the hidden work of refinement. The midbar stripped away noise so the soul could be reshaped. As Rabbi Chaim Richman teaches in his Chukat shiur, the silence itself testifies: “There’s nothing to see here.” The upheavals of the first two years had done their work; now came the quiet forging of a new people.

All great people require this wilderness experience. Moses spent forty years in Midian before the burning bush. David tended sheep in silent fields, then hid in caves and deserts while fleeing Saul. These were not wasted years—they were the kiln in which the vessel was formed.

Parashat Chukat This Is Our Song

In Parashat Chukat, the turning point arrives. After 38 years of quiet, the old leadership passes—Miriam dies, and her miraculous well dries up; Aaron’s death is decreed. The new generation must now actively dig for water. They do not wait passively; they excavate. Then they sing: “Then Israel sang this song…”

(Numbers 21). Unlike the Song at the Sea led by Moses, this is their own song—proactive, mature worship. Rabbi Richman highlights this shift: the new generation seeks God’s presence in an unprecedented, proactive way. The silence prepared them. The hidden years refined the vessel. Now the kli can hold living water and pour it out in song. This is the model for our time.

Moses and David: The Question of Justice and the Refining Power of Silence

Moses voiced the same question that echoes through the ages and through our own hearts: “Master of the Universe, why do the righteous prosper, the righteous suffer, the wicked prosper, and the wicked suffer?” In Talmud Berachot 7a, this plea is expanded into a profound aggadic dialogue. God categorizes four types and reveals that justice is not always visible in this world.

The completely righteous receive reward here; the righteous with some sin suffer to atone and merit greater reward later. The wicked with some merit prosper here and receive full punishment later. The completely wicked suffer here. Full understanding belongs to the World to Come. Moses is shown aspects of divine providence, yet even he cannot fully grasp the “ways” of God in this lifetime.

A traditional Midrashic teaching, in the spirit of Berachot 7a and later aggadah on gilgul, gives a vivid illustration. Moses sees a scene of apparent injustice: a man on a horse watches as another man is robbed and killed. Distressed, Moses is shown the continuation. Earlier, a young man and his father were robbed; the father was killed. The surviving son grows up to become a robber and killer. What looked like random evil was precise rectification across lives or generations. The “wicked” man was settling an old account; the victim’s soul was balancing a prior wrong. Apparent silence or injustice hides the perfect accounting of divine justice.

The Psalms of Silence By David

David lived this truth in the wilderness. As shepherd, fugitive, and king-in-waiting, he endured long seasons of silence. In caves and wilderness strongholds, he composed psalms that wrestle honestly with the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous, yet conclude in the sanctuary of God that their end is destruction while the upright inherit the land. The inner battle—the greatest battle—is fought and won in these silent places. Pirkei Avot trains us for exactly this: the disciplines of character refinement turn suffering into service and questions into vessels of deeper faith.

America’s Covenant Foundations: Deuteronomy’s Blueprint in the New World

The parallels between Deuteronomy and America’s founding documents are neither coincidental nor superficial. Deuteronomy presents a national covenant: blessings for obedience to God’s law and curses for departure; a structure of accountable leadership; vows and oaths taken before the Creator; and a call to remember the wilderness journey so that future generations do not forget.

The Mayflower Compact of 1620 established self-government “for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith”—a covenantal document in the spirit of Deuteronomy. William Bradford, the key leader and longtime governor of Plymouth Colony, devoted significant portions of his later Biblical studies to Hebrew so he could read the Scriptures in their original tongue. His journal, Of Plimoth Plantation, records the Pilgrims’ trials with deep reliance on the Hebrew Bible.

Accounts in his writings highlight principled stands on justice, including dealings with captives and a rejection of exploitative enslavement practices—reflecting a Biblical ethic of returning the oppressed and holding wrongdoers accountable. Bradford understood that true freedom flows from alignment with the Creator’s ways.

The Signers of The Declaration of Independence

The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution carried this covenantal mindset forward. The 56 signers of the Declaration pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.” These were not abstract words. Many faced real peril: property seized, families threatened, fortunes lost. John Hancock’s bold signature symbolized defiance; as president of the Continental Congress, he risked everything. Benjamin Rush, physician and signer, drew from Biblical ethics in advocating for the poor and against slavery.

John Witherspoon, the only clergyman signer, was a Presbyterian minister whose sermons framed the Revolution in covenantal and Biblical terms. Others, like Robert Morris (key financier) and Charles Carroll (the only Catholic signer, risking unique persecution), demonstrated faith-driven sacrifice.

Their stories, preserved in original sources and highlighted through David Barton and Tim Barton’s work at WallBuilders, reveal men who believed government must rest on “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” They studied Scripture, prayed, and acted with the conviction that America’s success depended on alignment with divine order. Without their willingness to risk all, the nation might never have formed.

The Unknown Jewish Heroes In America

Unknown Jewish patriots were equally indispensable. Haym Salomon, a Polish-born Sephardic Jew, became one of the Revolution’s greatest financiers. He converted foreign loans into hard currency, personally advanced vast sums, and used his linguistic skills as a broker to keep the Continental Army funded when the treasury was empty.

Twice arrested by the British, he encouraged desertions and supported the Patriot cause at great personal cost. Without his financial genius and courage, the Revolution might have collapsed before Yorktown. Other figures—Francis Salvador (first Jewish casualty, fighting for independence), Mordecai Sheftall (commissary general supplying troops), and earlier Jewish settlers who brought skills in trade and community-building—sustained the colonies economically and militarily. These contributions remind us that America’s story includes Jewish hands from the very beginning.

Historical accounts also highlight leaders in American public life whose maternal Jewish lineage conferred halachic Jewish status and who received early Jewish schooling, weaving additional threads of covenantal ethics into the nation’s leadership fabric. These hidden contributions underscore that Jewish presence and influence extended into the highest levels of governance, reinforcing the moral and spiritual foundations drawn from the Hebrew Scriptures.

Parallels Between Ancient Israel and Modern America

History rhymes with striking clarity. The Northern Kingdom of Israel fell into idolatry, syncretism, and moral decay, ignoring prophetic warnings until exile. The Southern Kingdom of Judah witnessed this, yet often failed to fully repent, repeating cycles of compromise. In modern America, analogous patterns emerge.

Segments aligned with progressive ideologies have embraced forms of modern “idolatry”—elevating self, secular humanism, or redefined morality above the Creator—much like the Northern Kingdom’s golden calves. Meanwhile, more conservative elements, such as the Southern Kingdom, have sometimes failed to fully internalize the lessons, allowing cultural drift or political expediency to erode the foundations rather than returning wholeheartedly to the original covenant.

The prophets called both kingdoms to account. Today, the same call resounds: a nation’s decisions must be rooted in the will of Hashem as revealed in the Jewish Bible—the Tanach—not in rewritten codes that remove the Creator and diminish His creation.

The Source Code Debate and Prophecy Unfolding

Many well-meaning voices—Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, George Noory, and countless podcasters—offer insightful analysis of current events. Yet they often operate primarily through the Christian Bible as their lens, a text that contains truth but reflects layers of translation, interpretation, and historical development, removed from the original Hebrew source code.

As Rabbi Tovia Singer powerfully demonstrates in his teachings on current events and prophecy, understanding unfolding history requires the Tanach in its original context. Without it, one risks missing the full picture of divine providence.

We Are Cousins

Nathaniel Jeanson’s Traced and research methods, akin to Jay Smith’s deconstruction of later traditions, reveal how alternative systems can function as “bootlegged copies” of the original Hebrew code—man-made constructs lacking the full operating integrity of Torah. Hebrew itself functions as an operating system; the first 92 words of the Torah align with the Periodic Table of Elements, as explored in Rabbi Ephraim Palvanov’s teachings on Torah and chemistry. Science and Torah are not at odds; they reveal the same blueprint.

War Of Gog And Magog

October 7, 2023, marked a seismic shift. The Hamas attack and ensuing war align for many with the beginning of the prophesied War of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38–39, Zechariah 12). Messiah ben Yosef dynamics—suffering and preparation preceding full redemption—have played out before our eyes. Rabbi Tovia Singer’s recent teachings connect these events to the return of the Jewish people, the centrality of Jerusalem, and the role of Persia (Iran) in the prophetic drama.

The Star Of Jacob Prophecy

The Zohar and Balaam’s prophecy in Numbers (the “Star of Jacob” and scepter from Israel) have been linked in interpretive traditions to modern signs and figures in the messianic process, including developments around Donald Trump and subsequent events near September 2024. Rabbi Mendel Kessin’s teachings on Esau (Edom/Rome/Western civilization) add profound geopolitical depth. Trump embodies aspects of the “good side of Esau”—a brother who can turn toward or against Jacob/Israel.

Recent episodes from Kessin’s Torah Thinking channel explore Trump’s actions, policy tensions around Israel, and the ongoing messianic process. Britain, as the “evil side of Esau” in certain interpretations—imperial and, historically, often opposed to Jewish restoration—fits into this tapestry of Edom’s dual legacy. The interwoven threads of U.S., British, European, and Middle Eastern politics reveal the hand of providence moving nations according to the unalterable blueprint.

The Torah Codes Rabbi Glazerson

Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson’s channel and recent teachings on Torah codes (including “Shabbat Observance as Protection for Israel in Torah Codes” and matrices with skip 424 for Messiah son of David) bring powerful, gematria-driven insight to this moment. Glazerson reveals how keeping Shabbat—the ultimate expression of silence and cessation from creative work—functions as a protective code in the Torah for the Jewish people and, by extension, for nations that align with them.

He connects current events (including shifting alliances and threats) to hidden patterns in the weekly portions, showing how observance of the original commandments creates spiritual “firewalls” against Gog and Magog forces. His analysis of Numbers, Zohar, and prophetic timelines underscores that redemption accelerates when we return to the source code rather than relying on human strategies alone. Glazerson’s updates emphasize the “third day” motif and the current era as a hidden-to-revealed transition, mirroring the 38 years of silence in Chukat.

Shabbat, as the weekly midbar, refines the vessel and invites divine protection— a message that calls America to support Israel’s security while examining its own covenantal fidelity. His codes on Messiah ben David (424) and on end-of-days signs provide mathematical confirmation of the blueprint’s precision.

Jews Are Not The Problem

Dan Bongino’s recent insights highlight growing awareness among conservative voices of deeper plans and shifts affecting Israel and U.S. policy. Bongino’s analysis of political maneuvers and their implications for alliances serves as a reminder that even perceptive commentators benefit from the original Torah lens to avoid deception and align with divine will.

Shorts like “Are Jews simply better than non-Jews?” further clarify the Torah perspective on chosenness—not superiority for domination, but responsibility as a light to the nations (Isaiah 42:6, 49:6). This chosen role calls all peoples to partner in the blueprint rather than envy or reject it.

Yanuka The Messiah

Rabbi Michael Skobac’s teaching on why some Christians view respected Israeli rabbis (such as the Yanuka) as the “Anti-Christ” exposes deeper issues of rewritten codes and replacement theology. Skobac clarifies the Torah perspective on Jewish scholarship and messianic expectations, showing how misinterpretations of the original source fuel misunderstanding. This reinforces the need for the unfiltered Tanach to accurately navigate prophecy.

Videos such as “Trump, Israel, and the Truth Nobody Wants to Admit” and discussions of the Trump-Turkey deal highlight the tightrope: strong support juxtaposed with pragmatic deals that risk isolating Israel. These are not random; they reflect Esau’s role in the end times. The call is clear: prioritize the original Hebrew code over rewritten lenses.

Rav Avigdor Miller ztl’s classic teaching on “Does God Need Us?” powerfully reinforces the theme: Hashem does not “need” our mitzvot in a deficient way, but He desires our partnership so that we become active vessels through which His presence is revealed in the world. His lesson on apples (everyday objects revealing divine providence) reminds us that the blueprint is visible in the ordinary when viewed through Torah eyes. Miller’s insight calls us to proactive worship that perfects the kli and brings redemption closer.

The Call: Creating the Vessel and the Path of Blessing

Hashem declares through the prophets that nothing our hands have made endures apart from Him. “I need you,” Hashem says to Adam, His children. Without our hands, ears, and eyes as vessels of worship, how will the world know that He is Hashem? Recent Torah portions remind us: “All that your hands have done.” We are called to be active participants in the blueprint.

The unalterable blueprint—Adam as the Blueprint of Creation and the Tree of Life—cannot be altered by any man-made system. The greatest way forward for the United States is to bless Israel. As Scripture promises, those who bless Abraham’s descendants will be blessed. America, in its covenantal origins, has a role tied to Esau’s legacy, but can choose to align with the God of Israel.

The Bible is not silent about the most powerful nation on earth; it speaks through principles applicable to every empire and republic. The signers understood this; the unknown Jewish patriots lived it; figures with halachic Jewish maternal lineage and Jewish education carried covenantal ethics into leadership.

Conclusion

In this 250th year, America faces the same choice Deuteronomy placed before Israel. Will we remember the wilderness journey, return to the original Hebrew source code, and align our decisions with Hashem’s will? Or will we continue analyzing events through rewritten lenses that obscure the Creator and His creation?

The vessel is forged in silence. The question of justice deepens trust. The prophetic signs—Gog and Magog, the Star of Jacob, the role of Edom—call us to awareness. The stories of the unknown Jewish patriots and the signers’ faith-driven sacrifice remind us that this nation was built with hands guided by the blueprint. Hashem needs us—His children, Adam—to return to the original source code our forefathers read in Hebrew.

May we all merit to emerge from our midbar seasons refined, singing, and ready—blessing Israel so that America may be blessed, and become vessels through which the world comes to know that Hashem alone is God. The blueprint cannot be altered. The choice is ours. Share your thoughts in the comments and explore more Torah insights at beithashoavah.org.

Hazan Gavriel ben David

Creating a Vessel of Worship: The Midbar of Silence, the Question of Justice, and the Song of the New Generation


The Tree Of Life: Things Are Not the Way They Should Be


Parashat Chukat 5786: The 38 Years of Silence and Singing Your Own Song


Hidden Lights Returning: America’s Unique Jewish Story — From Revolutionary Heroes to Crypto-Jews in the Southwest, and My Own Journey Home


Bible Codes Revealed at Yiboneh with Rabbi Moshe Zeldman

By Hazan Gavriel ben David Esnoga Beit HaShoavah – Amarillo, Texas

The Torah is not a static book of ancient stories. It is the living blueprint of creation — the Tree of Life itself. Every word, sentence, and verse pulses with prophetic power. As our sages teach, the Torah contains everything. Recent insights from Torah scholars and numerical alignments confirm this in ways that leave us in awe. The verses of the Torah correspond to the years of history. They speak directly to the events of our time.

This is not a coincidence. It is hashgacha pratit — divine providence — revealing that we are living in the footsteps of the Messiah (Ikvot Mashiach). These are the birth pangs foretold by the prophets.

The Secret of the Sentences: 5708 / 1948

Rabbi Benjamin Blech shares a profound teaching from a kabbalist. The sentences in the Torah align numerically with years in Jewish history. Count the verses from the beginning of the Torah. With this, remarkable patterns emerge.

The 5,708th verse falls in Deuteronomy (Devarim) 30:3:

“And the Lord your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.”

This is the Hebrew year 5708 — 1948 in the Gregorian calendar, the year the modern State of Israel was reborn. After 2,000 years of exile, dispersion, and the ashes of the Holocaust, the ingathering began. The foundation of Israel as a sovereign Jewish state was not a random political event. It was prophesied in the precise verse tied to that year.

This aligns with the “Joseph” phase of redemption — Mashiach ben Yosef as the material, physical preparation. It includes building the land, defending it, and gathering exiles. As Rav Kook and others taught, this is the collective, preparatory work. It comes before the fuller spiritual redemption of Mashiach ben David.

5783–5784: The Verse of Horrors and the Call to Reflection

Extend this principle to our own days. The Hebrew year 5783 (overlapping into 5784) corresponds to verses describing unimaginable violation and suffering. This includes the rape and abuse of the elderly alongside the young. Tragically, this matches the horrors reported from the Simchat Torah massacre on October 7, 2023 (5784). On that day, Hamas terrorists unleashed barbaric sexual violence as part of the attack on Israel during a joyous festival.

In the surrounding context of Deuteronomy 32, we find calls for wisdom: “If they were wise, they would understand this; they would reflect upon their fate” (Deut 32:29, in the 5784 alignment). God speaks of provocation through “non-gods” and vanities. There is jealousy born of love, curses for straying, and the urgent need to return.

October 7 was not random. It occurred in the sacred season closing Sukkot, evoking vulnerability (the sukkah) and joy turned to mourning. It fits the classical sources on Mashiach ben Yosef—the suffering-warrior phase of redemption. The Talmud (Sukkah 52a) links Zechariah 12 — nations attacking Jerusalem, mourning for the “pierced one” — to Mashiach ben Yosef, slain in battle. This is the painful preparatory stage: collective trauma, national awakening, and the call to teshuvah.

Rabbi Tovia Singer powerfully clarifies these texts. He shows that they describe a future war and mourning process, not a first-century fulfillment. Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson’s Torah codes further reveal “Seventh of October,” Gog and Magog patterns, and redemption timelines. All these align with these years.

Miracles of Precise Timing

Rabbi Uri Pilichowski reminds us that a miracle is often defined by when it happens. The splitting of the sea was miraculous because it occurred exactly when Israel needed it most. Esther’s rise, the victories of 1948 and 1967 — all timed perfectly. We are seeing this again in Israel’s recent defensive successes amid existential threats. Yet after October 7, many remain in a daze, processing trauma while missing the broader redemptive picture.

David Ben-Gurion said, “To be a realist as a Jew, you have to believe in miracles.” The re-establishment of Israel after millennia, survival against overwhelming odds, and the ingathering despite everything — these are not natural outcomes. They are the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 30:3 in real time.

What This Means for Us: Receipts and Return

My own journey — from hidden Jewish roots revealed on 9/11, through family history as Gavriel ben David, DNA confirming priestly lines, and building this small esnoga and prison ministry — echoes these patterns. The Torah speaks to our generation’s legacy: returning the hidden sparks and preserving family through trials (as with our losses and challenges). We live with “receipts” — actions over empty words. Fidelity, Torah study, love of neighbor, and building for redemption.

The alignment of verses with years calls us to action:

• Reflect and return (teshuvah) — away from vanities toward authentic Torah living.
• See the miracles amid the birth pangs.
• Strengthen unity — as one people in the face of enemies, just as Zechariah foretells. Mourning leads to the spirit of grace.
• Teach and share — in our homes, synagogues, prisons, and online.

As Glazerson’s codes and these numerical insights show, we are in the time of preparation. The suffering of the Ben Yosef phase (the event/process of October 7 and its aftermath) paves the way for fuller redemption.

The Torah Speaks Today

Brothers and sisters, the Torah is speaking now. The same divine words that foretold 1948’s foundation describe our trials in 5783–5784 and call us forward. Study these pesukim. Count the verses. See the patterns. Let them awaken us.

May we merit to see Mashiach ben David soon, with the Temple rebuilt and universal peace. May all exiles be gathered — including the hidden ones from our families. As Deuteronomy 30 promises, God will have compassion and gather us.

Let’s strengthen one another with the teachings (reciepts) of Torah life. Share this with your circles. Comment below or reach out for the study.

Hazan Gavriel ben David Beit HaShoavah – Teaching Torah, Preserving Legacy

• From Messianic Jew to Ally: My 21-Year Journey with Tovia Singer and Tamar Yonah
• From Counter-Missionary to Ally: My 21-Year Journey with Tovia Singer and Tamar Yonah
• Daniel Prophesied Jesus of Nazareth
• Vayetze | ויצא | “He went out ” Torah: Genesis 28:10-32:2
• The Torah: A Book Like No Other – October 7 Prophecy & The Tree of Life Blueprint

The BLK SHP Bible Talk Episode: They Found It in a Cave: The Isaiah Scroll

“I’m going to tell you a story that’s as frustrating as it is heartbreaking. It’s the story of how generations of faithful YHVH-worshippers came so close to seeing the Messiah yet still missed him.

They didn’t miss him because the evidence wasn’t there. It was always there. There’s a scroll sitting in a museum in Jerusalem. It was copied before Jesus of Nazareth was born. And what it says about the Messiah is something the rabbis spent a thousand years trying not to talk about. The ancient Jewish scholars knew something their own descendants were never told.

2,000 years of Jewish scholarship contain a portrait of the Messiah so specific that it names his birthplace.

It describes his death, and it fixes the century of his arrival. I’m talking about ancient Jewish writings. Some of them you may have heard of. Maybe you’ve even read some of them. The Talmud and the Midrash, the Targams, the Zohar, the sacred libraries the rabbis themselves

built. And somewhere between 1096 AD and 1,200 AD, about a thousand years ago, what that library said about the Messiah got buried. Not out of deception, I don’t think, but out of grief”.

Hazan Gavriel ben David – Response

I watched the episode “They Found It in a Cave, and It Turned Modern Judaism Upside Down.” The host presents a long list of pre-Christian Jewish sources that he claims clearly describe a suffering, dying, and rising individual Messiah who matches Jesus. He argues that the collective reading of Isaiah 53 is a later invention forced on the Jewish people by trauma and polemic.

I would like to first ask a few questions to the viewers of BLK. Do you want to know the truth, or are you just going along like everyone else in the world, following Rome’s orders?

The Christian Bible has nothing to do with the Hebrew Bible. The Bible is a Greek word; it was originally called the Tanach and was later given its name by the Greeks. In Greek, the Bible means the Tanach/Book.

A Book Like No Other Makes A Point

Rabbi David Fohrman opens his A Book Like No Other series on the Garden of Eden with several simple but devastating questions about the scene itself:

1. Why are there two special trees in the center of the Garden — the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil — when God only mentions one in the command?
2. Why does God command Adam to eat from all the trees of the Garden (including the Tree of Life), yet after eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, He suddenly guards the Tree of Life as if it had never been available?
3. Why does Eve tell the snake that “the tree in the middle of the Garden” is forbidden, when Genesis 2:9 places the Tree of Life in the middle?
4. Why did Hashem not tell Adam about the Tree of Life?
5. Where is the Tree of Life?
6. Why did Hashem create something that has no use in the world?

These are not minor details. They are the Torah’s way of forcing us to look at the actual blueprint. The anomalies are the message.

Adam Did Not Know About The Tree of Life

Now ask yourself the same question the Torah forces us to ask:

How did we get from the Garden to questions about Jesus?

How did a story about two trees, a command to eat from all of them, a tempter who told the truth about consequences, and a path that was never lost become a story about inherited total depravity, a divine blood sacrifice, and a dying-and-rising individual Messiah?

This is the rewrite of the blueprint.

Isaiah 53 and Zephaniah 3: “No Iniquity in Their Mouth”

Christian teachers frequently isolate Isaiah 53:9 — “because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth” — as proof of a sinless individual Messiah. But the prophets themselves connect this language directly to the righteous remnant of Israel.

Look at Zephaniah 3:13 (in the same prophetic tradition):

“The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”

This is the exact same phrasing as Isaiah 53:9. The servant who has “no deceit in his mouth” is the faithful remnant of Israel that emerges purified after judgment. They are the ones who will dwell securely, feeding and lying down in peace — classic end-time restoration language for the nation and its righteous core.

Rambam (Maimonides) on Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth, who aspired to be the Mashiach and was executed by the court, was also alluded to in Daniel’s prophecies, as ibid. 11:14 states: “The vulgar among your people shall exalt themselves in an attempt to fulfill the vision, but they shall stumble.”

Can there be a greater stumbling block than Christianity? All the prophets spoke of Mashiach as the redeemer of Israel and their savior who would gather their dispersed and strengthen their observance of the mitzvot. In contrast, Christianity caused the Jews to be slain by the sword, their remnants to be scattered and humbled, the Torah to be altered, and the majority of the world to err and serve a god other than the Lord.

^{Jeremiah 19} O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.

²⁰ Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?

²¹ Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The Lord.

Nevertheless, the intent of the Creator of the world is not within the power of man to comprehend, for His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. Ultimately, all the deeds of Jesus of Nazareth and that Ishmaelite [Muhammad] who arose after him will only serve to prepare the way for Mashiach’s coming and the improvement of the entire world, motivating the nations to serve God together as Zephaniah 3:9 states: “I will transform the peoples to a purer language so that they all will call upon the name of God and serve Him with one purpose.”

How will this come about? The entire world has already become filled with the mention of Mashiach, Torah, and mitzvot… When the true Messianic king arises and proves successful, his position becomes exalted and uplifted, and they will all return and realize that their ancestors bestowed upon them a false heritage and that their prophets and ancestors caused them to err.

The Rambam Makes His Point

The Rambam, in Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Melachim u’Milchamot 11:4), addresses claims about Jesus directly and rejects them firmly. He writes that Jesus was not the Messiah, but rather one who caused Israel to go astray and the world to err by interpreting the Torah incorrectly and leading people away from the commandments.

Maimonides states that Jesus and Muhammad were not true redeemers but instruments that ultimately helped spread knowledge of the Torah to the nations — paving the way for the true Messiah — yet they themselves failed to meet the criteria for the Messiah outlined in the Torah and the Prophets.

Rambam emphasizes that the true Messiah will be a king from the house of David who compels all Israel to walk in the ways of the Torah, fights God’s wars, gathers the exiles, rebuilds the Temple, and brings universal peace and knowledge of God. Jesus did none of these things. The Rambam’s clear, systematic analysis in the Mishneh Torah shows that Christian claims about Jesus as Messiah have no foundation in the original Hebrew sources.

I will address every major claim using the method from my book, Adam, the Blueprint of Creation and the Tree of Life (Dr. Robert Carter’s four questions applied to religious claims) and Jay Smith’s historical method (earliest sources, timing, continuity, and archaeology). I will also bring the actual Talmudic and rabbinic sources that the host cited, along with the counter-tradition from our sages.

1. Claim: Isaiah 53 clearly describes an individual suffering Messiah (singular pronouns in the Dead Sea Scrolls prove it)

The host’s argument: The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a) from Qumran uses singular pronouns throughout (“he was wounded,” “he was cut off,” etc.). This proves the original Jewish understanding was individual, not collective.

Response:

Example: How Christian Interpretation Changes Isaiah 53

Here is a clear, side-by-side comparison of Isaiah 53:5–6, one of the most-quoted passages. This shows the original Hebrew, a literal translation that preserves the collective voice, and how Christian theology effectively rewrites the meaning by changing who is speaking.

1. Original Hebrew (Isaiah 53:5–6)

וְהוּא מְחֹלָל מִפְּשָׁעֵנוּ מְדֻכָּא מֵעֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ
מוּסַר שְׁלוֹמֵנוּ עָלָיו וּבַחֲבֻרָתוֹ נִרְפָּא־לָנוּ׃
כֻּלָּנוּ כַּצֹּאן תָּעִינוּ אִישׁ לְדַרְכּוֹ פָּנִינוּ
וַיהוָה הִפְגִּיעַ בּוֹ אֵת עֲוֹן כֻּלָּנוּ׃

2. Literal English Translation (Preserving the Original Voice)

But he was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him,
and by his wound we were healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray;
each one to his own way we have turned,
and the Lord has caused to fall upon him
the iniquity of all of us.

Key point: The speakers are saying “we” and “our”. They are confessing that they went astray and that the servant suffered because of their sins. In context, the speakers are the nations (or those outside Israel) speaking about Israel (the servant).

3. How Christian Interpretation Changes the Meaning

In most Christian teaching, preaching, and study Bibles, this passage is presented as if it is only about Jesus, and the “we/our” is reassigned to mean Christians or believers:

Christian Presentation (Typical Interpretation):

“Jesus was wounded for our transgressions…
by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray…”

What this does:

• It removes the original speakers (the nations confessing about Israel).
• It makes the reader assume they are the “we” who went astray and that Jesus is the individual servant who died for them.
• It turns a national, collective passage into a purely individual, personal atonement story.

This is not a small shift in emphasis. It fundamentally changes who is speaking and who the servant represents.

Summary of the Change

Element	Original Hebrew Meaning	Common Christian Interpretation	Effect of the Change
Who is speaking?	The nations (or those outside Israel)	Christians / believers	Removes the national context
Who is the servant?	Israel / the righteous remnant	Exclusively Jesus	Turns collective suffering into individual
“We / Our”	The nations confessing their own sin	Reassigned to Christians	Changes the identity of the guilty party
Overall message	Nations recognize Israel’s suffering role	Personal salvation through Jesus’ death	Replaces national restoration with individual atonement

This pronoun and contextual shift are one of the clearest examples of how the original Hebrew blueprint was rewritten. The text itself was not heavily altered in most translations, but the meaning and speakers were reassigned to fit a completely different theological story.

This is the same pronoun-shift tactic we see across Christian interpretation. The chapter is written from the perspective of the nations speaking about Israel as a collective servant. The “we” and “our” language throughout makes this clear:

• “Surely he has borne our griefs…”
• “We all like sheep have gone astray…”
• “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls Isaiah

The Dead Sea Scrolls Isaiah Scroll does contain singular forms in many places, but it is not a perfect manuscript. It has numerous scribal errors, omissions, and variants. One well-known issue is that it appears to have been buried or stored in a way consistent with damaged or erroneous scrolls containing the Divine Name (a practice reflected in later Jewish handling of sacred texts). The host presents it as pristine proof. It is not.

The passage that contains the words HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, only contains (2) HOLY, HOLY. (Isaiah 6:3)

More importantly, even if the pronouns are singular in some manuscripts, the chapter’s context (the suffering servant bringing justice to the nations, the nations confessing their error about him) has been read nationally by Jewish interpreters for centuries. Rabbi Tovia Singer and Yehuda Israel have addressed this verse by verse on their channels, showing that the national reading is the plain sense.

2. Claim: Pre-Christian sources (Talmud, Zohar, Midrash, Targum) clearly teach a suffering/dying Messiah ben Joseph who rises

The host’s argument: Sanhedrin 98b calls the Messiah a “leper scholar” from Isaiah 53. The Zohar, Midrash Rabbah, and Targum Jonathan support the idea of a suffering figure. Messiah ben Joseph is pierced, atones, and rises.

Response (using actual sources):

• Sanhedrin 98b: The passage does mention a “leper scholar” in connection with Isaiah 53:4 in one opinion. However, this is one view among many in the Talmud. The same tractate and others present multiple opinions about the Messiah. There is no consensus that Isaiah 53 refers to a dying individual Messiah who rises on the third day.
• Messiah ben Joseph: This is a real tradition in some sources (e.g., certain midrashim and later Zohar passages). However, it is not the dominant or universal view, and it is often tied to a figure who fights in the final war and dies, not necessarily the primary Davidic Messiah who brings final redemption. The host presents it as the clear pre-Christian portrait. It is one thread among several.
• Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 52:13 does say “my servant the Messiah shall prosper,” but the Targumim frequently add interpretive layers. They do not prove that the plain text of Isaiah 53 was originally understood as a dying-and-rising individual.

The host repeatedly dismisses Rashi. Yet Rashi’s reading of Isaiah 53 as Israel is consistent with earlier sources and with the national-suffering theme that runs throughout the Tanakh (e.g., the servant songs in Isaiah, the corporate nature of Israel’s covenant). Our sages did not need the Church Fathers or later trauma to read the text this way.

3. Claim: The collective reading of Isaiah 53 is a late polemic (Rashi changed after the Crusades, Maimonides disqualified a dying Messiah)

Response:

This is historically inaccurate and selective.

• The national/collective reading of the servant songs appears in sources before the major traumas the host mentions. It is consistent with the overall biblical theme of Israel suffering on behalf of the nations and being vindicated.
• Maimonides (Rambam), in the Mishneh Torah and in his Epistle to Yemen, does emphasize a victorious, non-dying Messiah in his primary portrait. However, he was responding to the specific claims of Christianity and Islam in his time. He was not “hiding” an earlier Jewish belief in a dying Messiah. Rambam also addresses claims about Jesus in his writings on Daniel and elsewhere, rejecting them on textual and historical grounds.
• The idea that the collective reading was invented as a response to Christianity ignores that Jewish interpreters were reading the text nationally long before the major debates intensified.

Rabbi Tovia Singer has documented extensively how the Church Fathers (Justin Martyr, Origen, etc.) engaged in these debates and how the Christian reading developed. The host’s timeline is selective.

4. Claim: The Dead Sea Scrolls and other pre-Christian sources prove that the portrait of Jesus was already in Judaism

Response (Jay Smith method + Dr. Carter’s questions):

Using Jay Smith’s approach (earliest sources, timing, continuity, archaeology):

• The Great Isaiah Scroll is pre-Christian. That is true. However, the existence of a scroll does not prove that the interpretation the host gives it was the dominant or only Jewish reading.
• Many of the sources the host cites (certain Zohar passages, later midrashim) are post-Temple or even medieval. The host blurs the line between pre-Christian and later Jewish mystical traditions.
• Applying Dr. Robert Carter’s four questions to this claim:
  1. How did the host arrive at this unified portrait? By selecting certain passages and downplaying the diversity of opinion in the sources.
  2. What does the full picture show? The sources show multiple, sometimes conflicting, expectations. There was no single, clear “suffering-dying-rising Messiah ben Joseph who matches Jesus” portrait universally accepted before Christianity.
  3. Was there enough time and continuity? The Christian reading develops and solidifies in the centuries after Jesus, especially as the movement separates from Judaism.
  4. Does the rewrite match the original blueprint? No. The Torah’s consistent message is national covenant, repentance, and return — not inherited total depravity requiring a divine blood sacrifice.

5. Broader Pattern: The Rewrite of the Blueprint

This episode follows the same pattern I document in Adam, the Blueprint of Creation, and the Tree of Life, and in the “Two Sides of the Same Coin” series on beithashoavah.org:

• The original Hebrew blueprint teaches that humanity is created fundamentally good (99% good).
• The path to the Tree of Life (Torah) remains open through teshuvah.
• Suffering can be redemptive on a national and personal level without requiring a one-time divine sacrifice to fix “original sin.”

Christianity (and this podcast’s presentation) rewrites that blueprint. It turns national suffering into an individual’s atoning death, changes the nature of the problem (from choice and covenant to inherited depravity), and replaces the Tree of Life with the cross.

Paul’s role in this development has been addressed in my blogs and by others (including channels like History Valley). The shift toward a more Hellenistic, individual-focused soteriology has roots in the Roman world in which early Christianity developed.

The Invitation – Bring the Receipts

I am asking you directly, as I have asked others:

Please respond. Write me or record a conversation. Bring the actual Talmudic and midrashic sources in full context. Show where the plain text of Isaiah 53, read according to the rules of Hebrew grammar and the surrounding chapters, requires an individual dying-and-rising Messiah.

Rabbi Tovia Singer, Yehuda Israel, and many others have already addressed these exact claims with the sources. The collective/national reading is not a late invention forced by trauma. It is a legitimate and ancient reading of the text.

The original blueprint preserved by the Jewish people for over 3,300 years — in the text and in our lineage (Kohanim marker, Abrahamic DNA continuity) — tells a different story.

The Tree of Life was never lost. The path of teshuvah and tzedakah u’mishpat remains open.

From the Garden to Isaiah 53 – How Did We Get Here?

Next Blog coming

I am ready when you are.

— Gavriel

(Hosea 6:1–2 – “Come, and let us return to the Lord… After two days, He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up that we may live in His sight.”)

Warren Gage presents Hosea 6:1–2 as a clear gospel prophecy. Israel, the unfaithful bride, has been torn and stricken by God’s judgment. The prophet calls for national repentance (“return to the Lord”), promising that after two days God will revive them and on the third day raise them up to live in His presence. Gage sees this as the suffering-and-glory pattern fulfilled in Christ: Jesus suffers for the adulterous generation, dies, and rises on the third day to revive His people.

The Raw, Original Hebrew Text (Plain Reading)

Hosea 6:1–2 is a corporate call to national repentance and restoration:

“Come, let us return to the Lord; for He has torn us, that He may heal us; He has struck us down, and He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him.”

• This is Israel speaking collectively about national revival after judgment and exile.
• The language is poetic and national — “us,” “we,” the people of Israel as a whole.
• “Third day” here is a Hebrew idiom for a short period of time after which restoration comes (similar to “in a little while”). It is not a literal prophecy of an individual Messiah dying, being buried, and rising bodily on the third day.
• Jewish tradition consistently reads this as hope for Israel’s return from exile or future national redemption, not a prediction of a dying-and-rising individual savior.

Applying the Method from Adam, the Blueprint of Creation, and the Tree of Life

1. What does the full picture actually say? The context of Hosea is God’s lawsuit against unfaithful Israel (the harlot bride). The people acknowledge their sin and express hope that repentance will bring healing. This fits the Torah’s consistent teaching: humans are created good, sin is a choice, and teshuvah (returning) always opens the path back to God. There is no inherited total depravity or requirement for a blood sacrifice of a divine Son.

2. Is this a clear prophecy of a dying-rising Messiah? No. The plain text is about the revival of Israel being revived. Gage’s reading inserts an individual Messiah’s death and resurrection that the original Hebrew does not contain. This is the same pattern we have seen across all the milestones: taking a numerical or poetic phrase (“third day”) and reading Christian theology into it.

3. The Rewrite of the Blueprint Just as scientists once claimed humans are “99% the same” as chimpanzees by ignoring the full genome data, Gage and many teachers (including Tony Robinson, starting from Luke 24) select “third day” verses and overlay a suffering-rising Messiah narrative. The original blueprint preserved in the Hebrew text teaches:

• Humanity is fundamentally good (created “very good”).
• The path to the Tree of Life (Torah itself — Proverbs 3:18) remains open through repentance.
• Restoration comes through returning to God, not through the death of a divine intermediary.

4. The Preserved Evidence Modern genetics (the Kohanim marker, Nathan Jensen’s research, Abrahamic DNA continuity) confirms that the Jewish people preserved both the textual and genetic blueprint from Abraham and Aaron. The same people who guarded Hosea for over 2,700 years never read Hosea 6:1–2 as a prophecy of an individual Messiah’s third-day resurrection.

Verdict on Milestone 17

Hosea 6:1–2 is a beautiful national call to repentance and hope of restoration after judgment. Gage turns it into a prophecy of Christ’s personal resurrection. The raw Hebrew text provides no such support.

This continues the consistent pattern: a poetic or chronological phrase is elevated into resurrection typology, while the original context emphasizes national repentance and God’s faithfulness to Israel.

The original blueprint stands. The Tree of Life remains accessible. The path of teshuvah was never lost.

The silence when asked for clear, plain-text receipts from the Tanakh continues to speak.

Hazan Gavriel ben David

Gage, W. A. (2011). Milestones to Emmaus: The Third Day Resurrection in the Old Testament (pp. 43–45). Warren A. Gage.

Milestone 16: The Third Day as the Day of Life and Death Decision for the United Monarchy in the Days of Rehoboam the King “the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.’ So he said to them, ‘Depart for three days, then return to me.’ And the people departed (1 Kgs 12:3–5). “So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, ‘come back to me the third day.’ Then the king answered the people roughly … ‘My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke’ ” (1 Kgs 12:12–14). “So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day” (1 Kgs 12:19). 1 Kings 12:1–19 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in Egypt, for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt), that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed. Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer these people?” And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!’ ” So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.” Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him; and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!” So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His word, which the Lord had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying: “What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David!” So Israel departed to their tents. But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah. Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. After the death of King Solomon, a delegation of Israel’s northern tribes appealed to the son of Solomon against his father’s “yoke,” for Solomon, like the Pharaoh of the oppression, built treasure cities (1 Kgs 10:19; cf. Exod 1:11). The new king asked for three days to consider their petitions. Rehoboam was advised by his elders to serve the people by granting their petition and relieving their grievances. They advised him to speak kindly to the people, securing their affections forever. The youths, however, advised the king to defy the grievances of the petitioners. “Tell this people, ‘My father gave you a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke!’ ” (1 Kgs 12:11). On the third day, the day of fateful decision, Rehoboam took the part of the younger men and defied the people, speaking harshly to them as the young men had counseled. The northern tribes, having seen that such a king ruled over them, rejected Rehoboam as king. “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse!” (1 Kgs 12:16). The kingdom was irretrievably broken by the folly of the king. The unity of God’s people died that day. The chronicler concluded his account, however, by suggesting that the revolt, although it was ordained (1 Kgs 12:24) was not approved. “So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day” (1 Kgs 12:19). In the fullness of time the Son of David came as the rightful King of Israel. Jesus came with a wisdom greater than Solomon, a grace greater than Rehoboam. No king had ever served the people as he did, suffering three days in the grave of death for them, all to rise in glory to be the Servant of the Lord on their behalf. “Take my yoke upon you,” he had said, “… for my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:29–30). And although he spoke kindly to them on the third day, Israel rejected their inheritance in the Root of Jesse, and has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Gage, W. A. (2011). Milestones to Emmaus: The Third Day Resurrection in the Old Testament (pp. 43–45). Warren A. Gage.

Luke 24 (the Road to Emmaus) is the exact passage Tony Robinson and many Messianic/Hebrew Roots teachers always started with. Jesus appears to the two disciples, rebukes them for being slow to believe, and then says:

“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

Later, he explicitly says he fulfilled what was written: “that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead” (Luke 24:46).

The Core Issue: Our Torah Is Different

This is the foundational claim Gage builds his entire book upon — that the Tanakh contains clear prophecies of a suffering, dying, buried, and third-day-rising Messiah. Tony Robinson used chiastic structures and “third day” patterns across the Hebrew Bible to try to show this.

But when we apply the method in my book, Adam, The Blueprint of Creation and the Tree of Life — going back to the raw original text, looking at the full picture, and checking for rewrites — the receipts are missing.

What the Tanakh Actually Shows (Plain Reading)

• There is no single clear verse in the Torah, Prophets, or Writings that says the Messiah must die for the sins of the world and rise on the third day.
• The “third day” passages Gage highlights (Joseph, Exodus, Benjamin, Rehoboam, etc.) are narrative timing — travel, battle, consultation, decision points — not a unified resurrection doctrine.
• The suffering servant in Isaiah 53 is best read in Jewish tradition as Israel collectively (the servant who suffers for the nations), rather than as an individual dying-and-rising Messiah.
• The Torah teaches that humanity was created “very good,” with access to the Tree of Life through teshuvah and obedience. It never teaches inherited total depravity requiring a blood sacrifice.

Jesus’ statement on the road to Emmaus is powerful rhetoric, but it assumes the very interpretation it claims to prove. When we go back to the original Hebrew documents and read them in context (peshat), the pattern Gage and Robinson see is not there in the text itself — it is read into the text through later Christian typology.

This is exactly the “rewrite of the blueprint” my book exposes: taking the original Hebrew story and overlaying a new narrative that the raw sources do not clearly support.

2. Where the “Fictional” Claim Comes From

The parts that are theological and not historically verifiable are:

• The virgin birth
• The miracles (walking on water, raising the dead, etc.)
• The bodily resurrection on the third day

These are faith claims. Historians cannot prove or disprove miracles — they lie outside the tools of historical

1 Kings 12 records one of the most tragic moments in Israel’s history. After Solomon’s death, the northern tribes asked Rehoboam to lighten the heavy yoke of taxes and forced labor. Rehoboam asked for three days to consider their petition. On the third day, he rejected the elders’ wise counsel to serve the people and instead followed the arrogant advice of the young men: “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke.” The northern tribes revolted, declaring, “What share have we in David?” The kingdom split permanently, and the chronicler concludes: “So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day” (1 Kings 12:19).

Warren Gage presents this as another “third day” life-and-death decision, foreshadowing Jesus as the greater Son of David who offers an “easy yoke” (Matt 11:29–30) and triumphs through resurrection despite rejection.

Applying the Method from Adam, the Blueprint of Creation, and the Tree of Life

We examine the raw, original Hebrew text — the full picture, not just selected parts that support a later theology.

Question 1: What does the plain text actually say? The “third day” is straightforward narrative timing. Rehoboam needed time to consult advisors. There is no death-and-resurrection sequence. No burial. No rising. The “death” is the permanent fracture of the United Kingdom. The story is about leadership failure, arrogance, and the real consequences of ignoring wise counsel. The snake (yetzer hara) is not at work here — human choices are.

Question 2: Does the full context support a resurrection type? No. This is political history. The split fulfills Ahijah’s prophecy due to Solomon’s earlier sins, but Rehoboam’s folly accelerates it. Jewish tradition (Rashi, Radak) reads it as a cautionary tale about kingship and unity — not a hidden prophecy about a future Messiah dying and rising on the third day. The text never mentions suffering-glory, a dying-rising figure, or an “easy yoke” replacing the Torah.

Question 3: Was there enough time/continuity for this interpretation? The original Hebrew blueprint preserved by the Jewish people for over 3,300 years does not contain this reading. The “third day” passages Gage highlights are consistently about travel, waiting, battle timing, or decision points — not a unified resurrection doctrine. Christianity’s typological overlay developed centuries later, much like the later doctrines of Original Sin and the full Trinity.

Question 4: Does the rewrite match the original blueprint? No. The Torah presents humanity as created “very good,” with the Tree of Life still accessible through relationship and obedience (Proverbs 3:18 calls the Torah itself a Tree of Life). The path of tzedakah u’mishpat was never lost. Gage’s reading requires inserting a death-and-resurrection pattern that the original text does not contain — a rewrite of the blueprint, just as scientists once rewrote the genome data to claim humans are “99% the same” as chimpanzees while ignoring the full picture.

The Preserved Blueprint

Modern genetics (including the Kohanim marker traceable to Aaron’s line) confirms the Jewish people preserved the original Abrahamic lineage and the textual blueprint. The same people who guarded the Hebrew Scriptures for millennia never read these “third day” passages as resurrection prophecies. The evidence — textual and genetic — matches the original story: humanity remains fundamentally good, repair is always possible, and the Tree of Life was never taken away.

Verdict on Milestone 16

Rehoboam’s third-day decision is a tragic record of human folly that split the kingdom. Gage turns it into a foreshadowing of Jesus’ resurrection and easy yoke. The raw Hebrew text provides no such support.

The pattern is consistent across Gage’s milestones: a numerical coincidence (“third day”) is elevated into typology, while the original context emphasizes human responsibility and national consequences.

The original blueprint stands. The Tree of Life remains. The path was never lost — only sometimes ignored.

The silence when asked for clear verses from the Tanakh speaks for itself.

Hazan Gavriel ben David

The Angel of the Lord and the Weight of Fabrication: Tovia Singer’s Questions, Critical Scrutiny, and the Unbroken Blueprint of Creation

2. And God’s anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the LORD placed himself in the way for an adversary against him.—Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.—

כ״ב. וַיִּחַר־אַף אֱלֹהִים כִּי־הוֹלֵךְ הוּא וַיִּתְיַצֵּב מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה בַּדֶּרֶךְ לְשָׂטָן לוֹ וְהוּא רֹכֵב עַל־אֲתֹנוֹ וּשְׁנֵי נְעָרָיו עִמּוֹ׃

In the Torah’s account of Balaam, the Malach Hashem—the Angel of the Lord—stands explicitly “as a satan” (adversary) in the road to block a perverse path (Numbers 22:22). God had already spoken directly to Balaam; now He deploys a messenger with a drawn sword. The donkey sees what the prophet cannot.

When the Lord opens Balaam’s eyes, the angel delivers the divine message without claiming independent divinity. This is the first explicit use of “satan” in the Torah, and it is an angel acting as God’s loyal agent—not a fallen being, not a co-equal person in the Godhead, and certainly not a pre-incarnate Jesus.

While this week’s parashat Korach centers on rebellion against God’s chosen agents and the priesthood’s role in halting plague (with Aaron standing between the living and the dead), the broader theme of divine messengers and their proper recognition resonates powerfully.

The Balaam narrative supplies the starkest illustration: the Malach Hashem can be called satan precisely because it is a sent adversary fulfilling the will of the One God. Later traditions that rewrite these passages to insert a second divine person must reckon with this plain text.

Where Is The Christian Bible’s Proof

Rabbi Tovia Singer has long posed the penetrating questions that expose the rewrite. If these appearances were pre-incarnate manifestations of the Son, why does the New Testament nowhere identify them as such? Why would the earliest Jewish followers of Jesus—saturated in Hebrew Scripture—fail to notice or proclaim this link?

Hebrews 1:5 explicitly distinguishes the Son from angels: “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son’?” The Greek aggelos and Hebrew malach both mean “messenger”—human or heavenly. Prophets, judges, and angels routinely speak in the first person as the Sender (“Thus says the Lord”) because they carry the authority of the One who sent them. This is the shaliach (agency) principle, not evidence of multiple persons within God.

Consider the classic passages through this lens:

In Genesis 16 and 21, the Malach Hashem finds Hagar, promises to multiply her seed, and speaks with divine authority. Hagar responds, “You are the God who sees me.” Yet the text never has the angel claim independent deity or announce a future incarnation. Singer’s question lands: If this were the pre-incarnate Christ, why the silence on identity? The encounter reveals God through the messenger.

I Will Be With You

At the burning bush (Exodus 3), the Malach Hashem appears in the flame; then “the Lord saw… God called to him from the bush.” The text itself maintains a distinction even as it shows divine presence. Fluidity between the angel and the Lord reflects theophany or representative speech, not a second person of a later Trinity.

Samson, the Judge of Israel

In Judges 6, the angel appears to Gideon, consumes the offering with fire, and departs. Gideon fears he has “seen the angel of the Lord face to face” and builds an altar to Hashem. In Judges 13, the angel announces Samson’s birth to Manoah’s wife, refuses to reveal his name (“it is wonderful”), ascends in the altar flame, and the couple realizes they have seen a divine messenger.

They fear death—not because they saw a second God, but because encountering the divine realm through its agent is overwhelming. Again, Singer asks: Where in these texts or in the New Testament does anyone declare, “This was the eternal Son planning His incarnation”?

Angels Speak as God in the Hebrew Text

Missionaries weaponize these passages by insisting that, because the angel sometimes speaks as God or is addressed with divine attributes, the angel must be Jesus. This eisegesis ignores the consistent biblical pattern of agency.

It also ignores early Jewish sources (Targumim, Talmudic references to exalted messengers such as Metatron) that treat the Malach Hashem as a created or semi-created agent of the One God, not as a member of the Godhead. The identification with Jesus emerges later in patristic writings, serving to develop Christology rather than arising from the plain Hebrew text.

Always Speak The Truth

Here, Mark Twain’s insight becomes devastatingly relevant. Twain observed that “if you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” Once a fabrication is introduced—that every Malach Hashem is secretly the pre-incarnate Christ—the interpreter is forced into an endless cycle of additional fabrications to maintain consistency. One must now “remember” and defend:

• Why does the Shema and the entire Torah insist on absolute oneness without any hint of eternal plurality within God?
• Why does no Second Temple Jewish source clearly teach that the angel appearances were a second divine person planning to become flesh?
• Why Jesus and the New Testament authors remain silent about this supposed identity, never saying “I was the angel who appeared to Hagar, Moses, Gideon, or Manoah.”
• Why does God “send” the angel in some texts if the angel is God the Son?
• Why does the Balaam story explicitly present the angel as a subordinate adversary sent by God?

Rewriting the Torah Code- Warning

Each patch requires further patches—Trinity doctrine, eternal generation, hypostatic union, distinctions between “economic” and “immanent” Trinity—until the original elegant code of the Torah is buried under a superstructure of explanations.

The liar’s burden grows heavier with every defense. Textual variants, historical development, and logical tensions must be continually managed. The simple truth—that these are instances of divine communication through agents, theophanies of the One God’s presence (kavod or Shechinah), or prophetic speech—requires no such memory work or contortions.

Jay Smith’s method of rigorous historical and textual scrutiny, honed through the examination of other traditions, applies directly here. Just as critical examination reveals anachronisms, later accretions, and source problems in claims about other scriptures, it reveals that the christophany reading of the Malach Hashem is largely absent from the earliest strata and serves later theological needs. The Hebrew text’s integrity, the archaeological record of Israel’s developing (yet fiercely guarded) monotheism, and the New Testament’s own silence all testify against the rewrite.

The Spoken Word

This brings us to the Blueprint of Creation. The Torah presents a unified divine order in which the One God creates through speech and word, establishing a patterned hierarchy—echoed in the Tree of Life as a symbol of ordered emanations, attributes, and agents under the singular Source. Messengers (malachim) fit naturally within this blueprint as extensions of divine will and presence, not as fractures in the Godhead or pre-incarnate second persons.

The “code” is elegant: One Author, direct yet mediated interaction, free will tested by adversarial agents who remain loyal servants (as in the Balaam “satan”), and a creation whose complexity reflects the unity of its Source. Rewriting the Malach Hashem passages to insert a co-equal divine person disrupts this blueprint, introducing unnecessary complexity and theological debt that must be repaid with endless additional doctrines.

The fabrication does not illuminate the text; it obscures the original code. It places the interpreter in precisely the position Twain described—burdened with remembering and reconciling contradictions that the plain reading never generates. Rabbi Tovia Singer’s questions cut through the overlay: the texts themselves, read in their Hebrew context and within Jewish interpretive tradition, present themselves as loyal messengers of the One God. The Blueprint stands intact when we refuse to rewrite it.

Malach Hashem is The Satan

Returning to the original code restores both intellectual honesty and spiritual clarity. In Korach, rebellion against God’s agents brings destruction; proper recognition of divine order brings life. In Balak, the Malach Hashem called Satan to act to prevent sin and protect blessing.

The truth does not require us to remember a web of later inventions. It simply invites us to see what the text has always shown: the One God communicates, tests, protects, and reveals—sometimes through messengers who speak with His authority but remain exactly what the Hebrew declares: malach Hashem, the Angel of the Lord.

Refined Focus on Numbers 22:22 – The Malach Hashem as “Satan” (Adversary)

In Numbers 22:22, we read: “And God’s anger was kindled because he [Balaam] went; and the angel of the LORD placed himself in the way for an adversary [לְשָׂטָן לוֹ – le-satan lo] against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.”

This is the first appearance of the root שׂטן (satan) in the Torah—not as a proper name for a cosmic rebel, but as a functional description of a loyal Malach Hashem. God, already having spoken directly to Balaam, dispatches His messenger to block the prophet’s perverse path. The donkey sees the angel with a drawn sword; Balaam does not—until the Lord opens his eyes.

The angel then speaks with divine authority, yet remains clearly sent: “I have come forth to oppose you because your way is perverse before me” (v. 32). The Malach acts as God’s agent to protect Israel’s blessing and humble the would-be curser. Far from an independent power or second divine person, this “satan” is a subordinate instrument executing the singular will of YHVH.

Rabbi Tovia Singer’s incisive questions dismantle missionary overlays here. If this Malach Hashem were the pre-incarnate Christ (as some claim for Angel of the Lord passages), why does the text distinguish God’s anger and sending action from the angel’s role?

Why no self-revelation as the coming Messiah or Son? Why does the New Testament remain silent on Jesus identifying with this (or any) Malach Hashem appearance? Hebrews 1:5 reinforces the distinction: God never said to any angel, “You are My Son.”

The Angel Of Hashem

The malach is precisely what the Hebrew declares—a messenger (malach = sent one), capable of bearing divine authority representationally without being the Sender Himself. This is the biblical principle of shaliach (agency): the ambassador speaks and acts in the name of the king, yet remains distinct.

Missionaries weaponize such texts by seizing on moments where the angel speaks in the first person or is linked to divine action, declaring, “See! This must be Jesus!” This reading rewrites the original code. It forces the insertion of later Trinitarian categories into a strictly monotheistic narrative.

The Jay Smith Historical Critical Method

Apply Jay Smith’s rigorous historical-critical method—scrutinizing sources, anachronisms, and developmental layers—and the christophany interpretation collapses. It is a post-biblical construct, unattested in the plain sense, Second Temple sources, or the New Testament itself.

The earliest Jewish interpretive tradition (Targums, Midrash, Rashi) consistently sees the Malach Hashem as the divine presence mediated through an agent or the Shechinah/kavod, never as a co-equal, eternal Son.

Mark Twain’s insight exposes the cost of this fabrication: “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” Once you rewrite the Malach Hashem as Jesus across multiple passages, you enter the liar’s maze. You must perpetually “remember” and patch:

• How does this align with the Shema’s absolute oneness?
• Why does God “send” the angel if the angel is God the Son?
• The NT’s silence on these supposed appearances.
• The Balaam story’s explicit subordination of the “satan” angel to the One who sent him.

Each patch breeds more explanations—hypostatic union, economic Trinity distinctions, claims of progressive revelation—until the elegant simplicity of Torah is obscured. Truth needs no such scaffolding.

The Tree Of Life: The Blueprint

Within the Blueprint of Creation (as developed in Adam, the Blueprint of Creation, and the Tree of Life), this verse shines. The Torah reveals a unified divine order: One God speaks creation into being through word and pattern (the Tree of Life as a fractal blueprint of emanations, hierarchies, and agents).

Malachim belong to this ordered administration—extensions of divine will, not fractures in the Godhead. The Balaam “satan” perfectly illustrates: a sent adversary maintaining the integrity of blessing and covenant against human perversity.

Rewriting this as a second divine person introduces a bug into the code, complicating what was designed as unified and coherent—much like a mutation disrupting the elegant information flow in DNA or the ordered complexity of quantum fields that mirror divine speech.

In the context of Parashat Korach (this week) and the coming Balak, the lesson is potent. Rebellion against God’s appointed agents (Moses/Aaron) leads to destruction; proper recognition of divine order—whether high priests stopping plague or a Malach blocking curses—brings life and blessing. The Malach Hashem called satan in 22:22 is no exception. It is God’s loyal servant opposing evil intent, preserving the blueprint intact.

This verse alone refutes the rewrite. The code stands: One God, faithful messengers, unbroken creation pattern. As Singer teaches, returning to the plain Hebrew frees us from the burden of fabricated memory. The truth simply is.

Shabbat Shalom

---

Hazan Gavriel ben David

The Torah’s Blueprint

In the Torah’s blueprint of creation—where Adam is the archetypal vessel, and the Tree of Life maps the emotional, psychological, and anatomical architecture of the soul—silence is not emptiness. It is the fire that forges the kli, the holy vessel capable of holding and transmitting divine light.

The 38 years of narrative silence in Parashat Chukat, the shared theodicy question of Moses and David, the inner battle mapped in Pirkei Avot, and the Midrashic visions of hidden justice all converge on one transformative truth: every great soul must pass through the midbar (wilderness) to be refined into a vessel of worship. Only then can we emerge, like the new generation, digging our own wells and singing our own song.

The Torah Blueprint and the Inner Wilderness

Torah presents itself as the master blueprint of existence. Just as the physical body has form and function, the soul has emotional and psychological layers structured by the Tree of Life. Words create worlds, yet silence shapes the vessel that can receive and reveal them.

Pirkei Avot serves as the practical manual for this inner refinement: “Who is wise? One who learns from every person.” “Make a fence around the Torah.” Control of speech, desire, and ego—the very impulses that doomed the desert generation—become the disciplines that carve the kli.

The 38 years of silence following the spies’ and Korach’s rebellions (Numbers 13–19 to 20) illustrate the process. The first generation’s dramatic sins and complaints filled the early narrative. Then Torah falls quiet. No major prophecies or upheavals are recorded.

The Sages teach this was a period of divine distance and arrested development—a holding pattern in which the rebellious generation died out. What appeared as absence was actually the hidden work of refinement. The midbar stripped away noise so the soul could be reshaped.

As Rabbi Chaim Richman teaches in his Chukat shiur, the silence itself testifies: “There’s nothing to see here.” The upheavals of the first two years had done their work; now came the quiet forging.

All great people require this wilderness experience. Moses spent forty years in Midian before the burning bush. David tended sheep in silent fields, then hid in caves and deserts while fleeing Saul. These were not wasted years—they were the kiln in which the vessel was formed.

Silence as Worship and the Inner Battle

The greatest battle is the one within. Silence is the greatest form of worship because it forces us to confront that battle without distraction. In the midbar, there are no golden calves or dramatic rebellions to blame. There is only manna, movement, and the daily choice to trust or complain. Pirkei Avot trains us for this: the inner work of refining character turns suffering into service and questions into vessels of deeper faith.

David lived this truth. As shepherd, fugitive, and king-in-waiting, he endured long seasons of silence. In caves and wilderness strongholds, he composed psalms that wrestle with the same question Moses voiced: Why do the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer? His psalms (37, 39, 49, and others) move from raw observation of injustice to sanctuary-born trust: “Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood their end.”

Moses’ Question and the Midrash of Hidden Justice

Moses asked directly (Exodus 33 and expanded in Talmud Berachot 7a): “Master of the Universe, why do the righteous prosper, the righteous suffer, the wicked prosper, and the wicked suffer?”

God’s answer categorizes four types and reveals that justice is not always visible in this world. The completely righteous receive reward here; the righteous with some sin suffer to atone and merit greater reward later. The wicked with some merit prosper here and receive full punishment later. The completely wicked suffer here. Full understanding belongs to the World to Come.

A traditional Midrashic teaching (in the spirit of Berachot 7a and later aggadah on gilgul) gives a vivid illustration. Moses sees a vision: a man on a horse watches as another man is robbed and killed—an apparent injustice. Distressed, Moses is shown the continuation. Earlier, a young man and his father were robbed; the father was killed.

The surviving son grows up to become the robber/killer in the later scene. What looked like random evil was, in fact, precise rectification across lives or generations. The “wicked” man on the horse was settling an old account; the victim’s soul was balancing a prior wrong. Apparent silence or injustice hides the perfect accounting of divine justice.

These teachings do not remove the pain of suffering or the sting of the question. They deepen the vessel. Silence before the mystery becomes worship because it acknowledges that the full blueprint is larger than our sight.

From Silence to Song: The New Generation in Chukat

Parashat Chukat marks the turning point. After 38 years of quiet, the old leadership passes—Miriam dies, her well dries up, and Aaron’s death is decreed. The new generation must now dig for water. They do not wait passively; they excavate. Then they sing: “Then Israel sang this song…” (Numbers 21). Unlike the Song at the Sea led by Moses, this is their own song—proactive, mature worship.

The silence prepared them. The hidden years refined the vessel. Now the kli can hold living water and pour it out in song. Rabbi Richman highlights this shift: the new generation proactively seeks God’s presence. They issue a challenge and a model for our time—after seasons of silence or holding patterns, we are called to dig our own wells and sing our own song.

Creating the Vessel of Worship

All these threads weave into one path:

• Silence strips away ego and noise, creating space in the vessel.
• The inner battle (Pirkei Avot) shapes and purifies it.
• The wilderness (midbar) is the fire that hardens the clay.
• The question of justice (Moses, David, the Midrash) stretches the vessel to hold mystery and trust.
• The blueprint (Torah as Tree of Life) gives the design.
• Proactive emergence (Chukat’s new generation) fills the vessel with living service—digging wells, singing songs, teaching Torah, ministering in prisons, creating content, and preparing for redemption.

Conclusion: The Call to Forge the Vessel

Every generation and every soul is invited into the midbar not as punishment but as preparation. The 38 years of Torah silence, Moses’ and David’s questions, the Midrashic visions of hidden justice, and Pirkei Avot’s disciplines are not abstract teachings—they are the blueprint for creating a vessel of worship.

Embrace your wilderness seasons. Let silence do its refining work. Wrestle honestly with the question of justice, then release it into trust. Study Pirkei Avot as daily soul-sculpting. When the time comes, dig your own well and sing your own song—proactively, maturely, as the new generation.

In doing so, you become the vessel: a kli capable of holding divine presence and pouring it into a world hungry for redemption. The old patterns fall away. The hidden years bear fruit. And the song that rises is not borrowed—it is yours, offered back to the One who formed the vessel in the first place.

May we all merit to emerge from our midbar seasons refined, singing, and ready.

Shabbat Shalom.

Hazan Gavriel ben David

38 Years of Silence in the Torah

The “38 years of silence” in the Torah refers to a notable gap in the biblical narrative of the Israelites’ 40 years in the wilderness (midbar), primarily in the Book of Numbers (Bamidbar).

• The Israelites left Egypt, received the Torah at Sinai, and spent roughly the first 1–2 years with detailed accounts of events: the Exodus, the Sinai revelation, Tabernacle construction, the organization of the camp, and initial journeys (from Exodus through early Numbers).
• The incident of the spies (meraglim) occurs in Numbers 13–14 (around the second year after the Exodus). The people’s lack of faith leads to God’s decree that the adult generation (except Joshua and Caleb) would die in the wilderness over 40 years, one year for each day the spies spent in the land (Numbers 14:33–34).
• After events around Kadesh Barnea (including Korach’s rebellion in Numbers 16–17 and the red heifer in Numbers 19), the narrative jumps forward dramatically. Numbers 20 picks up near the end of the 40 years, with Miriam’s death, the incident at Meribah, Aaron’s death, and the final journeys.
• Deuteronomy 2:14 explicitly states: From the time they left Kadesh Barnea until they crossed the Zered Valley was 38 years—marking the period in which the fighting men of that generation perished.

This creates an apparent “silence” or omission of ~37–38 years of detailed storytelling (the exact count varies slightly among commentators due to whether the first and last years are included or excluded).

Why the Silence? Traditional and Commentarial Explanations

Commentators and scholars offer several insights into this narrative gap:

• Punishment and a “New Generation”: The Torah focuses on the rebellious first generation’s dramatic sins and judgments early on. The 38 years represent the time for that generation to pass away, so the story shifts to the new generation ready to enter the Land. Rashi and others note that phrases such as “the whole congregation” in Numbers 20 refer to the renewed people. The omission underscores divine distance or disapproval during this punitive wandering.
• Relative Peace and Normality: After intense early rebellions (Golden Calf, spies, Korach—thousands died), the people may have settled into routine life: gathering manna, raising families, and moving camps. With the major upheavals over, there were fewer dramatic incidents worth recording in such detail. Numbers 33 lists the journey stops, but little narrative fills the middle.
• Lessons in Affliction and Growth: Deuteronomy 8:2–5 describes the 40 years as a time of testing, hunger (manna as daily provision), and dependence on God. The silence itself teaches: the desert forged resilience, self-governance, and covenantal identity through hardship, uncertainty, and miracles (clothes/shoes that didn’t wear out, etc.). It prepared them for conquest and nationhood. Some see Moses’ own prophetic connection as affected during this period.
• Chronological Reconciliation: The total 40 years includes the initial period before/around the spies (~1–2 years) plus the 38 years of wandering until the final push into the Land. Commentators like Rashi detail the stages of journeys: 14 in year 1, 20 during the 38 “silent” years, and 8 in the last year.

Broader Significance

This gap isn’t unique—Scripture often condenses or omits periods of “ordinary” life to highlight key theological moments. It contrasts with the detailed early wanderings and the climactic final year (battles, Balaam, etc.). For readers like you, with deep Torah focus on chiastic structures, gematria, archaeology, and hidden patterns, it invites reflection on divine pedagogy: silence can teach as much as speech, turning punishment into formation of a covenant people worthy of the Land.

Holding Patterns

The Narrative Jump: Parashat Chukat (Numbers 19–21, read this Shabbat in Israel) picks up after the rebellions of the spies and Korach. Torah leaps forward ~38 years. The first generation has largely died off in the wilderness as decreed. Now we meet the new generation poised to enter the Land. Why the Silence? Torah says almost nothing about those decades. No major incidents, prophecies, or dramas are recorded.

Rabbi Richman describes it as a “divine boycott” or holding pattern—arrested development due to the prior generation’s failings and resulting divine distance/wrath. They were in a rut of their own making, with little noteworthy spiritual progress to chronicle. The Shift in Chukat: Miriam dies → Miriam’s Well (which accompanied them miraculously) dries up. The people must now actively dig for water.

This leads to the Song of the Well (Numbers 21), sung by Israel proactively (“Then Israel sang…”), unlike the earlier Song of the Sea led by Moshe. It symbolizes the new generation stepping up, taking initiative, and seeking God’s presence actively rather than passively. Leadership Transition: Miriam, Aaron (and soon Moshe’s decree) pass or step back.

The old leadership that nurtured the Exodus generation gives way. The new one must “sing their own song”—mature, proactive service in the world. Lesson for Us: This challenges us today. After periods of silence, hardship, or “holding patterns” (personal or national), it’s time to grow up, dig our own wells, and sing our own proactive song of connection to Hashem—especially in redemption-era times.

Silence as Worship and Inner Refinement

Your reference to the idea that “Silence is the greatest form of worship” (echoing themes in Pirkei Avot and broader Mussar/Kabbalistic thought) captures the essence of that wilderness gap. The Torah’s narrative silence isn’t emptiness—it’s a forge. The first generation’s drama-filled years gave way to a quieter crucible where the real battle—the internal one—played out. No grand miracles or rebellions to distract; just daily manna, moving camps, and the slow work of refining the soul.

Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) is indeed the manual for this inner work:

• “Who is wise? One who learns from every person.” (Avot 4:1)
• “Be meticulous in judgment, raise many students, and make a fence around the Torah.” (Avot 1:1)
• Emphasis on controlling speech, anger, and desire—the very impulses that doomed the desert generation.

The midbar strips away externals. It’s where ego, doubt, and slavery-mindset die so the free soul can emerge. Every great figure—Moses (40 days on Sinai), Elijah, the prophets, and even the Avot themselves—had their wilderness. It’s the anatomical/psychological blueprint you teach so powerfully: the Tree of Life as inner architecture, where yetzer hara (inner battle) meets refinement, and silence allows the divine spark to speak.

Torah as Blueprint

The Torah, as an emotional, psychological, and anatomical blueprint, resonates deeply here. The 38 “silent” years model how creation works: words (or their absence) shape worlds. The old generation spoke of rebellion and complaint; the new one learns to sing proactively. That shift from reactive to active worship—digging the well, composing their own song—is the maturation the midbar demands. It’s gilgul on a national scale: what doesn’t kill you (or the generation) forges the vessel for redemption.

Hazan Gavriel ben David

In this follow-up to Parts 1 and 2, we continue applying Dr. Jay Smith’s rigorous historical-critical method to both Christianity and Islam. The latest video from History Valley features Dr. Jay Smith discussing the work of a French revisionist scholar. This scholar argues that a specific Jewish-Christian group played a major role in the formation of the Quran.

This strengthens the central thesis of my book, Adam, The Blueprint of Creation and The Tree of Life: there is only one original blueprint given to Adam at creation. This code was preserved through the Torah and the Jewish people as the firstborn. Both Christianity and Islam represent later human constructions built upon — or diverging from — that foundational code.

Key Points from the Video

The discussion centers on French revisionist scholarship that builds on the German Inarah School (Lüling, Luxenberg). The French scholar proposes that a particular Jewish-Christian community — likely Ebionite or similar Torah-observant groups — was instrumental in shaping the early Quranic material.

This aligns with what my good friend Avi Lipkin taught me starting in 2005. There are traditions that the Quran was influenced by a Catholic Priest and an Ebionite Rabbi (a follower of Jesus who maintained Jewish practices). The video explores how this group’s liturgical texts, hymns, and monotheistic teachings were later Arabized and reframed into the Islamic narrative.

Dr. Jay Smith connects this to his broader argument. He states the Quran shows heavy dependence on pre-Islamic Christian and Jewish-Christian sources, especially Syriac Aramaic Christian hymns and lectionaries. When read with Syriac grammar and vocabulary in mind, many passages reveal Christian liturgical origins rather than original Arabic revelation.

Applying Jay Smith’s Method Consistently

Jay Smith demands early evidence, independent corroboration, and transparency about textual layers. When we apply this standard:

• Islam: Shows clear signs of borrowing and reworking earlier Christian material (as the French and German scholars demonstrate).
• Christianity: Also shows layers of development. Paul’s letters and the Gospels reflect adaptation in a pagan Roman world. Later doctrines (e.g., at Nicaea) were formalized without the original Jewish keepers of the blueprint.

Both traditions took from the Hebrew source and created new systems. They truly are two sides of the same coin.

Return to the Original Blueprint

Rabbi David Fohrman (A Book Like No Other) shows that the Ten Commandments at Sinai revealed principles already present in Genesis. The Torah speaks to all humanity — to Adam — as in Leviticus 18:5:

“You shall therefore keep My statutes and My rules, by which a man (Adam) shall live.”

Eternal life is promised in Genesis 3:22 by reaching out to the Tree of Life — the original code — not through later intermediaries or replacement systems.

Rabbi Ephraim Palvanov rightly highlights the Noahide laws (derived from Genesis 2:24 and 9:6) as part of the shared universal foundation. However, when traditions overlay new covenants and figures, they move away from the single Tree of Life.

Conclusion

The French revisionist work discussed in the video, combined with Avi Lipkin’s teachings, Jay Smith’s analysis, and the German scholars, reveals the deep interconnections between Christianity and Islam. Both are derivative systems built on earlier material from the Hebrew root.

The call remains: return to the one original blueprint given to Adam and preserved by the Jewish people. As Isaiah 56 promises, the stranger who joins himself to the Lord can fully partake in the Tree of Life.

Rabbi David Fohrman, in his powerful series A Book Like No Other, forces us to face the elephant in the room with three simple but explosive questions that most people never dare to ask: Why are there two trees in the Garden of Eden? What is the purpose of those two trees? And why does the Torah make such a big deal about them?

These are not minor details. They strike at the very heart of the original blueprint given to Adam. If we cannot answer these questions honestly, we have no business claiming to understand the difference between the Tree of Life — the path to eternal life clearly promised in Genesis 3:22 — and the Tree of Knowledge, which led to death. The Torah is screaming at us from the very first pages of creation, yet most of the world has ignored the elephant standing right in front of them. Are you willing to look?

Recommended Resources:

• Jay Smith lectures and collaborations with French/German revisionists
• Avi Lipkin’s teachings on Islam
• Günter Lüling and Christoph Luxenberg’s works
• Rabbi Tovia Singer and Rabbi Ephraim Palvanov’s lectures
• My book, Adam, The Blueprint of Creation and The Tree of Life

This series continues to build the case for returning to the pure original code.

Hazan Gavriel ben David

In an era when seekers like Graham Hancock challenge the mainstream narrative of human history—uncovering evidence of a sophisticated lost civilization that was wiped out by a global cataclysm around 12,800 years ago during the Younger Dryas—the Torah and Jewish tradition offer a profound, unifying framework.

Hancock’s explorations, drawing on ancient myths, archaeology, and forgotten knowledge preserved in texts like Hamlet’s Mill by Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend, resonate deeply with the biblical account of humanity’s origins, decline, and ultimate redemption.

This essay bridges Hancock’s audience—those intrigued by alternative histories, ancient wisdom, psychedelics, consciousness, and lost civilizations—with the Torah’s perspective. It centers on Adam, the Blueprint of Creation, and the Tree of Life, the book by Hazan Gavriel ben David, which integrates Torah, science, archaeology, and the Tree of Life as the divine blueprint for creation, human potential, and return.

Far from conflicting with Hancock’s findings, the Torah illuminates them: we are all brothers and cousins through DNA, descending from a singular, exalted Adam whose generations have drifted farther from Hashem (God), yet the path back is encoded in the eternal Tree of Life.

National Revelation at Sinai, Torah codes, Haim Shore’s numerical research, Matthew LaCroix’s discoveries of shared ancient codes, archaeology, and the Jewish people’s unbroken oral tradition confirm this ancient wisdom.

The Fall from Adam: Greatest Human to Generational Decline

The Torah describes Adam not as a Neanderthal hunter-gatherer but as the pinnacle of creation—formed in the image of God, pure light (tzelem Elohim), infused with divine breath (nishmat chayim), and tasked with tending the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1-2).

In Adam, the Blueprint of Creation and the Tree of Life, this is understood as the ultimate human blueprint: Adam embodied perfect harmony with the Tree of Life, which represents divine knowledge, immortality, and interconnectedness. His sin—eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil—initiated separation, introducing toil, mortality, and exile.

This aligns with Hancock’s view of a golden age of advanced, non-violent civilization that devolved. Myths worldwide, as detailed in Hamlet’s Mill, encode astronomical knowledge of precession and cataclysms, suggesting survivors of an earlier epoch passed down fragmented wisdom.

The Torah specifies: post-Flood, human lifespans shortened dramatically (from Methuselah’s 969 years to modern brevity), symbolizing spiritual and perhaps cognitive decline. Each generation drifts farther from Hashem’s direct presence, mirroring Hancock’s narrative of lost knowledge after the Ice Age comet impacts.

Human DNA Proves The Torah

Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson’s groundbreaking Traced: Human DNA’s Big Surprise provides genetic confirmation. Using Y-chromosome data, Jeanson traces nearly all modern male lineages back to a recent common ancestor, consistent with a biblical timeframe dating back to Noah (and ultimately Adam).

His research reveals humanity as one extended family: “brothers and cousins” sharing deep genetic connections across continents, with migration patterns echoing post-Flood dispersals (Genesis 10, the Table of Nations). Jeanson’s work reframes race and ethnicity not as divisions but as branches of a single tree—literally fulfilling the Torah’s vision of kol Yisrael arevim zeh la-zeh (all Israel responsible for one another), extended to all humanity.

This DNA “Rosetta Stone” shows that we are not products of isolated evolution but descendants of a single point of origin, with genetic diversity arising rapidly post-cataclysm. It counters mainstream timelines, supporting the Torah’s compressed history and Hancock’s call to reconsider “Sages,” ancients who encoded sophisticated astronomy and engineering.

The Tree of Life as the Answer: Blueprint for Redemption

The Tree of Life (Etz Chaim) stands as the central answer. In the user’s book, it is the architectural and spiritual blueprint of creation—mirroring DNA’s double helix, quantum interconnectedness, and the sefirot of Kabbalah. Adam’s access to it represented unity with Hashem; exile barred it, leading to the decline Hancock describes.

Yet, the Torah promises restoration. The Messianic Age (Yemot HaMashiach) is the return to this Tree: universal knowledge of God (“the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea,” Isaiah 11:9), the ingathering of exiles, the resurrection, and the rebuilding of the Temple.

Hancock’s audience, often exploring consciousness through ayahuasca or ancient sites like Göbekli Tepe, will recognize parallels. The Tree encodes frequencies, gematria, and intertextual “hyperlinks” that modern science is only beginning to grasp. It offers what fragmented myths preserve: a path inward to heal our species’ amnesia.

Jewish Evidences: Torah Codes, DNA, Archaeology, and National Revelation

Torah Codes and Haim Shore’s Research: Equidistant letter sequences (ELS) in the Torah reveal statistically improbable patterns, including names, events, and scientific correlations. Professor Haim Shore’s work in Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew demonstrates that Hebrew word numerical values (gematria) align with physical properties—planetary masses, orbital moments, atomic weights, and more—with extraordinary statistical significance.

For instance, correlations between biblical terms and astronomical or biological constants suggest divine encoding rather than coincidence. Shore’s analyses (19+ rigorous statistical tests) affirm the Torah’s non-human origin, providing mathematical proof that complements Hancock’s encoded myths in Hamlet’s Mill.

This numeric elegance echoes the precision Hancock admires in the Great Pyramid—alignments, earth dimensions scaled 1:43,200—suggesting inherited knowledge from a pre-cataclysm source, preserved and refined in the Torah.

Tree Like Symbols 49,786 – The Tree Of Life

Matthew LaCroix’s Work and Shared Ancient Codes: Researchers like Matthew LaCroix document recurring architectural and symbolic codes across distant sites (Turkey’s Lake Van/Ararat region, Egypt, Peru, Bolivia, Cambodia). These point to the legacy of a unified lost civilization—megalithic precision, serpent motifs, and tree-like symbols.

The Jewish oral tradition (Torah she-be’al peh) and archaeological finds (e.g., Vendyl Jones’ Qumran- and Temple-related discoveries) confirm the transmission. The Land of Israel, with its continuous Jewish presence despite exiles, serves as a living witness: sites like the City of David, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Temple Mount anchor biblical history in verifiable strata, countering dismissals of “myth.”

Archaeology and National Revelation: Unlike other ancient claims, the Torah’s Sinai Revelation was a national event—witnessed by millions, transmitted unbroken through generations. This public miracle distinguishes it, as Maimonides noted. Archaeology increasingly supports: Exodus-era evidence (debated but growing via Jeanson-linked DNA and sites), chiastic structures in Tanakh mirroring advanced literary design, and gematria revealing hidden layers. Hancock’s cataclysm myths parallel Noah’s Flood, with survivors (Noah’s family) repopulating and preserving wisdom—a pattern echoed in Jewish oral traditions of pre-Flood knowledge.

The Jewish people’s endurance—returning to the Land after millennia—fulfills prophecies (Ezekiel 36-37) and embodies the oral tradition’s role in safeguarding what Hancock seeks: authentic connection to the ancients. Crypto-Jewish lineages and DNA (e.g., the Cohen Modal Haplotype J-FT235823, which traces priestly lines) further link modern Jews to ancient roots, extending brotherhood to all via Jeanson.

The Messianic Age: Awakening and Return

The Messianic Age is not utopian fantasy but the rectification (tikkun) of Adam’s fall. Prophets describe ingathering, peace (“swords into plowshares,” Isaiah 2), Temple rebuilding, and knowledge explosion. In the user’s framework, this reactivates the Tree of Life blueprint: DNA as divine code, frequencies aligning creation, science validating Torah (quantum observer effects mirroring “words create worlds”).

For Hancock’s audience: Psychedelic visions of unity, ancient site energies, and calls for a shift in consciousness align with Torah’s direct connection to God, Shabbat harmony, and ahavat Yisrael (love of neighbor extended universally). The cataclysm warning—”we brought this upon ourselves”—mirrors Torah’s moral causality; today’s AI/machine “gods,” environmental crises, and divisions signal the need for return.

Jeanson’s family tree dissolves divisions; Shore’s math reveals design; LaCroix’s codes show shared inheritance; archaeology and Revelation ground it in history. The oral tradition—passed from Sinai through sages—preserves what pyramids and myths hint at: humanity’s divine potential.

Conclusion: The Tree Awaits

As Graham Hancock urges us to rethink our amnesia, the Torah, Adam, the Blueprint of Creation, and the Tree of Life provide the map and the vehicle. We are all one family from Adam, declining yet redeemable. The Messianic Age dawns as we reclaim the Tree—through Torah study, ethical action (“receipts” over words), scientific integration, and ingathering. Jewish evidence—codes, DNA, land, tradition—confirms Graham’s intuitions while offering the complete blueprint.

Humanity stands at the threshold. Will we repeat the fall or ascend? The prophets assure us: “Return to Me, and I will return to you” (Malachi 3:7). In the Tree of Life, the lost civilization’s wisdom finds its eternal home, and the greatest of Adam’s legacies is fulfilled in us all.

1. Hancock, Graham. Interview on The Diary of a CEO, June 2026. Discusses the lost civilization and the Younger Dryas cataclysm. [Link to video].
2. Jeanson, Nathaniel T. Traced: Human DNA’s Big Surprise. Master Books, 2022. Y-chromosome evidence for recent origins and human unity.
3. Shore, Haim. Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew. Numerical correlations proving divine origin. Free samples: [haimshore.blog].
4. LaCroix, Matthew. Works on ancient codes in The Missing Key and explorations in Anatolia/Egypt. [thestageoftime.com].
5. Ben David, Gavriel. Adam, the Blueprint of Creation and the Tree of Life. Integrates Torah with science/archaeology (2nd ed. in progress). beithashoavah.org.
6. de Santillana, Giorgio & von Dechend, Hertha. Hamlet’s Mill. Mythic encoding of precision.

Additional references: Vendyl Jones archaeology, Dead Sea Scrolls, Jeanson Traced DNA studies, gematria resources. Optimize with primary keywords: “Messianic Age Torah”, “Graham Hancock Jewish perspective”, “Dr. Jeanson DNA Torah”, “Tree of Life blueprint”, “Haim Shore Torah codes”. Meta: “Essay bridging alternative history and Torah evidence for redemption.” Internal links to book chapters, website study guides.

Hazan Gavriel ben David

What if your grandparents were 49,000 years old? Then things should not be the way they are. What if the first human, Adam, received the complete blueprint of creation — the Tree of Life itself — breathed directly into him by Hashem? That same blueprint echoes across the oldest monolithic civilizations, carved into their monuments as Matthew LaCroix shows. It was passed to Noah, to Abraham, and eventually to the mixed multitude that stood at Sinai.

This is the living Torah. Not dusty rules, but the operating system of reality — the science of becoming who you were meant to be. It reveals how connection to Hashem expands your capacity to create, to function at the highest level, and to partner in fixing a broken world.

Yet things are not the way they should be.

The Cosmic Shemitah and Fresh Revelation

Each 7,000-year cycle gives a generation 6,000 years to perform its tikkun. The Torah is revealed anew, tailored to that era’s challenges and sefirot. Our generation hungers for this living blueprint — one that integrates science, DNA, frequencies, sacred geometry, and ancient evidence — rather than the rote recitation of the Talmud or Gemara, which feels disconnected from daily life.

What Does It Mean to Be Chosen?

In the conversation, Rabbi Brics and Rabbi Dubov unpacked this powerfully. It is not racism. Judaism is not a race — we span every shade, ethnicity, and background: Yemenite, Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Ethiopian, and more. Converts and the mixed multitude from Egypt became fully Yisrael at Sinai. As Rabbi Dubov emphasized, we are a family.

The Story of Chosenness begins in the book of Genesis. The story of Cain and Abel, “And He turned to Abel and to his offering.”

The church taught me that the Second Commandment was only about statues and idols. I never imagined it was first spoken by a Jewish mother fleeing her own son’s violence.

Yet in Parashat Toldot, centuries before the thunder at Sinai, Rivkah utters the Second Commandment in Toldot almost word-for-word:

“Your brother Esau is comforting himself (מִתְנַחֵם) with the thought of killing you.” (Genesis 27:42)

Rabbi David Fohrman demonstrates that this single sentence is the exact precursor. It leads to “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Esau’s rage is not just anger. It has become his god.

How Esau Became the First Worshipper of “Another God”

In Hebrew, the verb מִתְנַחֵם (mitnachem) means “to comfort oneself.” After losing the blessing, Esau does not turn to Hashem for comfort. He turns to murder.

Murderous hatred becomes his new deity—the very first “other god” in human history after Cain.

Rivkah’s urgent warning to Jacob is therefore the Second Commandment in Toldot in its embryonic form:

Do not serve the god of revenge. Do not let violence sit on the throne where only Hashem belongs.

This is why the Rebecca Jacob Sinai mirror is so devastating to replacement theology. The Second Commandment did not begin with golden calves or Baal statues. It began when a Jewish mother identified the first false god humanity ever worshipped: the god of blood-revenge.

The Chiastic Proof – Side by Side

Sinai (Exodus 20:3)	Toldot (Genesis 27:41–42)
לֹא יִהְיֶה־לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עַל־פָּנָיָ “You shall have no other gods before Me”	וַיִּתְנַחֵם הוּא לְהָרְגְּךָ “He is comforting himself by killing you” – serving the god of murderous rage

Judaism is not a religion. It’s a family.

That’s what the rabbi from Aish said, and it hit me deep.

I’m half Black. My mother is from Levi. My great-grandfather was a Cohen from Germany, whose family came through Spain, Portugal, New Mexico, and Mexico. We’re Black, we’re European, we’re everything.

Look across the Jewish world — Yemenite, Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Ethiopian — we don’t look the same. That’s because we’re not a race. We’re a family.

Deuteronomy 32

7Remember the days of old; reflect upon the years of [other] generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will inform you.		זזְכֹר֙ יְמ֣וֹת עוֹלָ֔ם בִּ֖ינוּ שְׁנ֣וֹת דֹּֽר וָדֹ֑ר שְׁאַ֤ל אָבִ֨יךָ֙ וְיַגֵּ֔דְךָ זְקֵנֶ֖יךָ וְיֹֽאמְרוּ־לָֽךְ:
8When the Most High gave nations their lot, when He separated the sons of man, He set up the boundaries of peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.		חבְּהַנְחֵ֤ל עֶלְיוֹן֙ גּוֹיִ֔ם בְּהַפְרִיד֖וֹ בְּנֵ֣י אָדָ֑ם יַצֵּב֙ גְּבֻלֹ֣ת עַמִּ֔ים לְמִסְפַּ֖ר בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל:
9Because the Lord’s portion is His people. Jacob, the lot of His inheritance.		טכִּ֛י חֵ֥לֶק יְהֹוָ֖ה עַמּ֑וֹ יַֽעֲקֹ֖ב חֶ֥בֶל נַֽחֲלָתֽוֹ:

When we left Egypt, 70 nations joined us. At Mount Sinai, they all became Yisrael. The Torah isn’t a book about perfect people — it’s a book about a broken family trying to come back together.

That’s why the idea of “chosen” matters. It’s not about being better. It’s about being part of this family that carries the original blueprint from Adam, and having the responsibility to fix what’s broken.

I am half Black. My mother is from Levi. My great-grandfather was a Cohen whose line came through Germany, Spain, Portugal, New Mexico, Mexico, and Texas. We are everything — exactly as the Torah describes a family that absorbed 70 nations.

Chosen does not mean “better.” It means carrying greater responsibility: 613 mitzvot for Adam versus the other “Rewritten-Adam”-made religions, each with its own mission. We are called to be a light unto the nations — not an exclusive club, but a model and guide. Everyone has a role. The ancestors chose God as much as He chose us. That choice echoes through generations, empowering rather than burdening.

Anti-Semitism and How We Confront It

The rabbis traced anti-Semitism back to Sinai — a subconscious recognition that Jews carry God’s message. When the world is moral, it embraces that light. When immoral, it pushes back. Anti-Semitism can even act as guardrails, preventing full assimilation and keeping identity alive (as Rabbi Dubov shared from his Soviet family experience).

But the real confrontation is internal. Strengthen Jewish identity, increase unity, and live the values proudly. Respect flows from self-respect. As one rabbi noted, we don’t need love — we need respect. The best response is to become more authentically Jewish and spread light.

The 90-99% Disconnect

Looking into the Mirror

When I first went to Israel, I expected to see a nation living by the Torah. Instead, I saw America looking back at me.

The United States is deeply woven with Jewish history. The Founders studied our Tanakh — especially the Book of Deuteronomy — and built something remarkable. They created a Constitution based on Torah principles that gave us separation of powers, something Israel still doesn’t have.

Because of this Constitution, America became a shield for the world. Without it, COVID would likely have overrun everything, and the Great Reset would have succeeded.

Just like Judaism, America isn’t about race or color. To belong here, you simply become American. The same idea lives in Israel.

These two nations are bound together by the same blueprint — the Torah that was first given to Adam. One carries it in its DNA, the other carries it in its founding documents.

Both are meant to be light, but both are struggling to remember who they truly are.

Going Home For The First Time

When I first visited Israel in late 2002 (after my mother revealed our Jewish heritage on 9/11/2001), I expected a nation immersed in Torah. Instead, I saw a mirror of America. The panel agreed: roughly 90% of Jews today lack a deep connection to Torah. From my work as a prison chaplain — surveying pastors, chaplains, and volunteers — I’d put the Christian Bible disconnect at 99%.

Whether secular, Sephardic, religious, or anywhere in between — if you carry the DNA and heritage, you are family. The Torah is a book about a broken family learning to reunite. Our job is to revive the living Torah for this generation.

One of the great issues I deal with is that most Christain and Jews do not know their Bibles. Our father Abraham went throughout the land making souls. How does one make soul? Why did Hashem choose Abraham? Why is Abraham called our father?

Hearken to Me, you pursuers of righteousness, you seekers of the Lord; look at the rock whence you were hewn and at the hole of the pit whence you were dug.		אשִׁמְע֥וּ אֵלַ֛י רֹ֥דְפֵי צֶ֖דֶק מְבַקְשֵׁ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה הַבִּ֙יטוּ֙ אֶל־צ֣וּר חֻצַּבְתֶּ֔ם וְאֶל־מַקֶּ֥בֶת בּ֖וֹר נֻקַּרְתֶּֽם:
2Look at Abraham your father and at Sarah who bore you, for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him and made him many.		בהַבִּ֙יטוּ֙ אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֣ם אֲבִיכֶ֔ם וְאֶל־שָׂרָ֖ה תְּחֽוֹלֶלְכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־אֶחָ֣ד קְרָאתִ֔יו וַֽאֲבָֽרְכֵ֖הוּ וְאַרְבֵּֽהוּ:
3For the Lord shall console Zion, He shall console all its ruins, and He shall make its desert like a paradise and its wasteland like the garden of the Lord; joy and happiness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and a voice of song.		גכִּֽי־נִחַ֨ם יְהֹוָ֜ה צִיּ֗וֹן נִחַם֙ כָּל־חָרְבֹתֶ֔יהָ וַיָּ֚שֶׂם מִדְבָּרָהּ֙ כְּעֵ֔דֶן וְעַרְבָתָ֖הּ כְּגַן־יְהֹוָ֑ה שָׂשׂ֚וֹן וְשִׂמְחָה֙ יִמָּ֣צֵא בָ֔הּ תּוֹדָ֖ה וְק֥וֹל זִמְרָֽה:

There are only two sets of people in the DNA family of Noach that have Abraham DNA. Jews and Arabs. The Bible is a blueprint for creation and the history of our family. The family of Adam and Eve.

How Do We Bring People Closer?

Young people (and most people) aren’t reached by traditional methods alone. They want the Torah as a blueprint: how it aligns with science, archaeology, DNA evidence (like Nathaniel Jeanson’s work tracing lineages), quantum ideas, and personal empowerment. They want to know how connection to Hashem makes them more effective creators in the world.

Speak their language — TED Talks, YouTube, modern examples, experiential Shabbat tables, authentic role models. Show that Torah observance isn’t a restriction; it’s liberation and enablement. As the rabbis shared, deep study reveals it empowers you to reach your highest potential.

Dual Loyalty and the Deeper Mirror

The panel wrestled honestly with questions of loyalty. Our ultimate loyalty is to God and moral integrity. For citizens, that includes honoring the laws of the land (dina d’malchuta). One powerful framing is that supporting Israel often serves America best because “those who bless Israel will be blessed.”

America’s Constitution drew deeply from Torah principles — especially Deuteronomy — creating separation of powers and a framework that has protected liberty. These two nations are bound by the same blueprint. Both are meant to shine as lights, yet both show the same symptoms of forgetting their source.

The Call to Remember

Adam’s blueprint lives in us. The Tree of Life is our inheritance. Things are not the way they should be — but they can be. Each generation gets its reset in the Cosmic Shemitah. This one is ours.

Whether Jewish by heritage or drawn to the light, the invitation is the same: reconnect to the Source. Study the blueprint. Become the person Hashem designed. Fix the family. Let the Torah live through you — with science, purpose, and power.

The young generation is ready. Let’s speak in a way they can hear.

Hazan Gavriel ben David

The Tree of Life is the Torah. It cannot be replaced, rewritten, or improved upon by any later revelation claiming superiority to Moses. As a descendant of Sephardic heritage from Spain, where Rabbi Yosef Albo (c. 1380–1444) lived, taught, and defended Judaism amid intense Christian pressure and forced disputations, I draw strength from his Sefer HaIkkarim (Book of Principles).

Albo, a philosopher, theologian, and participant in the Disputation of Tortosa (1413–1414), articulated the core principles of Judaism with clarity and rigor suited to his era’s challenges. These challenges echo today in any attempt to supplant the Mosaic Torah.

Albo reduced Judaism’s fundamentals to three ikkarim (roots): (1) the existence of God, (2) the divine origin of the Torah (revelation), and (3) reward and punishment. Under the second principle, he includes the unique greatness of Moses’ prophecy and the Torah’s eternity—it will not be changed or replaced. This stands in opposition to any claim of a “new” or “greater” revelation. Such claims come from Christianity (which Albo confronted directly) or from modern movements that treat divine law as mutable.

Who Is Qualified to Change Moses?

Albo powerfully addresses this in Sefer HaIkkarim, particularly in Maamar 3 (Treatise 3), chapters 13–20. He argues that only a revelation as public and national as the one at Sinai could supersede the Torah. No such event has occurred or will occur to abrogate it.

The Torah itself testifies to its permanence: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers… I will put My words in his mouth” (Deuteronomy 18:18), yet with the strict condition that any prophet must align with the existing Torah. In other words, a later prophet claiming to alter it fundamentally would fail the test of authenticity.

In the video lecture by Rabbi Yosef Albo (a direct descendant and namesake), this is explored in depth. Albo engages Maimonides’ 13 principles but streamlines them. He emphasizes that the Torah’s divine origin and immutability are non-negotiable.

He critiques attempts to change divine law, relevant both to historical Christian claims and contemporary movements (e.g., Reform, Reconstructionist) that treat mitzvot as adaptable. Moreover, the lecturer highlights Albo’s rationalistic yet faithful approach, stronger in some ways than even Rambam’s, on why the Torah endures.

Yosef Albo Adam to Moses

Albo felt strongly about those who abandoned the covenant in favor of “rewritten” revelations. Living in 15th-century Spain under missionary pressure and apostasy, he saw converts and Christian polemicists attacking rabbinic tradition. Furthermore, his work defends against philosophical confusion and Christian claims, rejecting any law that contradicts reason or the principles of divine Torah. He viewed such departures as severing one from the authentic divine transmission at Sinai.

Direct quote from Albo (via standard translations referenced in analyses of Sefer HaIkkarim): The belief in revelation includes “the binding force of the Mosaic law until another shall have been divulged and proclaimed in as public a manner (before six hundred thousand men). No later prophet has, consequently, the right to abrogate the Mosaic dispensation.”

This criterion of mass national revelation is key. Sinai was witnessed by the entire people—unparalleled and unrepeatable for any supplanting claim.

The Giver, the Torah, and Israel: Future Mass Revelation per the Prophets

Albo’s framework aligns seamlessly with the Prophets’ vision of redemption. The Giver (God), the Torah (His unchanging word), and Israel (the witnesses) will reunite in a renewed, mass-scale affirmation. Not a replacement, but a global ingathering and recognition of the original Sinai covenant.

The Prophets

• Jeremiah: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… I will put My Torah within them and on their heart I will write it” (Jeremiah 31:31–33). This “new” covenant renews the heart’s reception of the same Torah, not a different one. Thus, Albo’s emphasis on divine origin supports this internal renewal without abrogation.
• Isaiah: “The Torah shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3). Nations will stream to learn the Torah, affirming Israel’s role. “My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed” (Isaiah 56:1)—echoing the return of hidden ones. This includes crypto-Jewish lineages like my family’s from Spain.
• Ezekiel: The dry bones vision (Ezekiel 37) and the promise of a unified Israel under one shepherd, with God’s sanctuary in their midst forever (Ezekiel 37:26–28). The Spirit of God will cause obedience to His statutes—the eternal Torah.
• Zechariah: “In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’” (Zechariah 8:23). This mass recognition fulfills the public witness aspect Albo stresses.
• Joel: “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 3:1), leading to prophecy and return—universal yet rooted in Torah observance.
• Obadiah: Judgment on Edom and the restoration of Israel’s inheritance, with “the kingdom shall be the Lord’s” (Obadiah 1:21).
• Amos: “I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel… and I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted” (Amos 9:14–15), tied to covenant fidelity.

No Greater Prophet Than Moses

These prophecies converge on a future in which the Giver reveals Himself anew through His people and His Torah. Not by rewriting Moses, but by fulfilling the original blueprint. Albo’s descendant in the video underscores how Sefer HaIkkarim equips us to face internal and external challenges for all eternity. It makes it a living defense for our time.

Strengthening The Star of Jacob Prophecy and beithashoavah.org

In The Star of Jacob Prophecy series and on the website, we provide up-to-date Torah insights into world events as unfolding prophecy. Albo’s work bolsters this by grounding contemporary observations in immutable principles. The current stirrings among nations, the return of hidden Jews (Isaiah 56), and technological/archaeological/DNA confirmations of Torah historicity all point to the imminent revelation. No “greater than Moses” figure or rewritten scripture fits. Only the Tree of Life itself, bearing fruit in redemption, fits.

Albo teaches us to discern true divine law by its consistency with reason, public validation, and non-contradiction of principles. This analyzes what I share: authentic Torah teaching preserves the covenant against dilution, honors Sephardic resilience (from Spain’s fires to Texas plains), and calls family and prisoners alike to “receipts”—lived fidelity over claims.

As Albo wrote in the shadow of Tortosa, so we stand today: the Torah from Sinai is the eternal blueprint. The Giver calls Israel back, and the world will witness it. May we merit to see it soon, with the Star of Jacob rising.

Footnotes (key sources; full citations from Sefer HaIkkarim editions recommended):

• Primary: Sefer HaIkkarim, Maamar 3, esp. ch. 13–20 (on Torah’s eternity and Mosaic uniqueness).
• Video lecture: Rabbi Yosef Albo descendant, Sefer HaIqqarim Part 1 (The Habura, 2026).
• Prophets are integrated above.
• Historical context: Disputation of Tortosa; Albo’s anti-Christian polemic.

Parashat Shelach Lecha (Numbers 13–15) centers on the mission of the spies (meraglim), their report, the people’s response, and its consequences — a pivotal moment of doubt versus faith in entering and claiming the Land of Israel.

Rabbi David Fohrman’s “The Great Reprieve” beautifully expands this into deeper themes of belonging, ancestral connection, freedom (Yovel/Shmita), and the land as an extension of family/parental nurturing, echoing back to Sinai.

The spies saw the physical reality (strong people, fortified cities, fruitfulness) but lacked the spiritual vision to see the Land as the place where Israel truly belongs — where Torah flourishes and where the divine connection (as at Sinai) finds its full expression in everyday life. Their failure wasn’t just fear; it was a failure to recognize the profound, almost familial bond between the Jewish people and Eretz Yisrael.

The Torah teaching reframes this through Yovel: returning to ancestral land isn’t mere economics or relocation — it’s a homecoming to one’s “great existential parent,” reuniting people with the source that nourishes, shelters, and protects, mirroring the slave’s return to family.

The Tree of Life, DNA as a blueprint, and Torah-science integration. Just as Adam was formed from adamah (earth/land), with God contributing the soul (per Ramban), our genetic heritage carries echoes of that original connection.

Modern understandings of population genetics and ancestral DNA show how deeply rooted groups maintain ties to specific geographies over millennia — a scientific parallel to the Torah’s view of the Land as inherently linked to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For crypto-Jews and returnees (“the hidden ones” coming back as in Isaiah 56), this isn’t abstract: it’s a soul-level pull to reclaim that inheritance.

The Return Today (Isaiah 56)

Isaiah 56 speaks of foreigners (or those who have joined themselves to the Lord) who keep Shabbat, hold the covenant, and are brought to God’s holy mountain — a vision of inclusion and gathering in the end times.

For many with hidden Jewish heritage (like my family’s crypto-Jewish lines from Spain through Mexico/TX), this manifests as awakening to Torah, DNA evidence (e.g., Cohen Modal Haplotype or Levite markers), and the call to return.

Isaiah’s emphasis on “foreigner” (perhaps a specific family/group or reference to returnees) fits this prophetic ingathering. The spies’ sin was rejecting this belonging; today’s challenge is to embrace it despite practical obstacles.

Practical Realities of Return

How do we return? How to afford it? What about family/children here in Texas? These mirror the spies’ concerns but call for Caleb/Joshua-level faith combined with wisdom.

• Connections and Support: Organizations specialize in helping North Americans, including those from diverse backgrounds like returnees with Sephardic/crypto-Jewish roots:
  • Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN): Excellent for US/Canada Olim. They streamline aliyah, offer financial grants, employment help, ulpan (Hebrew), housing assistance, and community integration. Call 1-866-4-ALIYAH. They have programs tailored for families.
  • Jewish Agency for Israel: Broad support for absorption, including for those discovering their heritage.
  • Groups like Shavei Israel or others focus on crypto-Jews/Bnei Anusim, helping with documentation, genealogy, and connection to Israeli communities.
  • Christian allies (e.g., ICEJ) sometimes assist with practical aid for Jewish return.

Many make aliyah from places like Texas, where local Jewish infrastructure is limited. Success often involves phased steps: visits first (birthright-style or exploratory trips), building networks online/in Israel, remote income (your POD, writing, teaching), and leveraging skills (your chaplaincy/Torah teaching is highly valued in Israel).

Building Bridges: Beit Hashoavah is seeking help for the “Foreniers” returnees (beithashoavah.org). Beit Hashoavah could host resources such as aliyah guides tied to Parsha insights, DNA-Torah connections, or virtual mentorship that links Amarillo-area folks to Israeli contacts. Collaborations with rabbis or organizations for webinars could create those “connections in our homeland.”

Family Considerations: For a family with special-care children like Elishava, Israel offers strong social services, disability support, and Torah-observant communities. Medical/accessibility resources can be better in some areas. Discuss with NBN about “24-Hour Care for Children”, Aliyah.

The Chiastic Heart of Lech Lecha

Fohrman shows how the passage in Genesis 17 is structured like a mirror:

• Outer layers: Avram falling on his face → parallel at the end.
• Next: Covenant and father of nations → Sarah as mother of nations.
• Name changes (Avram → Avraham; Sarai → Sarah).
• Multiplication into nations/kings vs. excision (karet) for those who break the brit.
• Eternal covenant in the flesh → land and divine relationship.
• Mini-chiasms centering on circumcision as the sign.
• True center: “You shall keep My covenant… this is My covenant which you shall keep.”

The message is profound: Nation (children coalescing into a people) and Land are not automatic or merely ethnic—they depend on the brit. Without it, individuals are “cut off” from the collective, and the claim to the promises dissolves.

This is why Joshua circumcised the new generation before entering the Land (Joshua 5). The spies’ failure in Shelach wasn’t just fear of giants; it was a breakdown in covenantal trust—the inability to see the Land as the covenantal home where the brit flourishes fully.

Tying to Land, DNA, and Return (Shelach + Yovel)

The Covenant of the Parts (Genesis 15), the Covenant of Circumcision (Genesis 17 with its chiastic structure), and Yovel from the later Torah laws. All of them point to the same core idea — the Land is not a side blessing. It’s locked into the covenant itself.

Here’s the clean connection:

• In Genesis 15, God walks alone between the split animals. Abraham is put to sleep because this covenant is unilateral — God is binding Himself to give the Land to Abraham’s descendants. The smoking oven and flaming torch passing through the pieces is God taking an oath on His own existence, so to speak.
• In Genesis 17, we get the reciprocal side — the chiastic structure Rabbi Fohrman showed makes this very clear. The center of the chiasm is “Keep My covenant.” Land and children/nationhood are both promised, but both are conditional on keeping the Brit. The structure itself teaches that you don’t get one without the other.
• Yovel is the practical outworking of this same covenant hundreds of years later. Every 50 years, the land returns to its original owners, debts are canceled, and slaves go free. It’s the Torah enforcing the original blueprint: the Land belongs to the covenant people, but only when they live inside the covenant.

This has nothing to do with Jesus walking between the pieces. That’s a later reading imposed on the text. The plain sense and the Torah’s own later commentary (especially the chiastic structure in chapter 17) show this is about the unbreakable link between covenant, people, and Land.

Adam: The Blueprint- The Tree of Life

The Blueprint View Genesis 15 — God swears to give the Land. Genesis 17 — God tells us the condition for keeping it: the covenant must be in our flesh and in our lives. Later in the Torah, Yovel and Shmita become the mechanisms that periodically reset everything to that original design.

It’s like looking at architectural drawings, then seeing the finished building centuries later and realizing every support beam is right where the blueprint said it would be.

This is exactly the kind of “Tree of Life blueprint” pattern you’ve been exploring with DNA and Torah. The pattern is set early, then it plays out in the laws, in history, and even in our own generation as people with hidden Jewish roots feel pulled back to the Land.

The Land That Calls Us Home: Covenant, Brit Milah, and the Jewish Soul’s Unbreakable Bond with Israel

Many people today are waking up to something deep inside them. They watch videos like the one titled “7 Hidden Signs Your Family Has Ancient Jewish Blood,” take a DNA test, and suddenly everything starts to make sense. Unexpected results showing Levantine markers, haplogroups like J1 or J2, family customs they never understood — lighting candles, avoiding pork, covering mirrors after a death — all begin pointing to a hidden Jewish past.

This is not random. This is covenant calling.

In Genesis 15, God made a unilateral promise to Abraham. While Abraham slept, the Divine Presence alone walked between the split pieces of the animals, swearing to give the Land to his descendants. Then in Genesis 17, God established the Covenant of Circumcision. As Rabbi David Fohrman brilliantly shows through the chiastic structure, everything in that chapter revolves around one central command: “Keep My covenant.” Both the promise of children who become a nation and the promise of the Land are tied directly to this covenant.

The Torah later gives us Yovel — the Jubilee — as the practical expression of that same blueprint. Every fifty years, the land returns to its ancestral family, debts are erased, and slaves go free. The Land itself is treated like family. It nourishes, shelters, and protects — just like the “great existential parent” we spoke about in Parashat Shelach.

We Were Born On It-The Land Of Israel

This is exactly the feeling Tom Joad had in The Grapes of Wrath when he clutched the dirt and said, “We were born on it, worked on it, died on it. That’s what makes it ours.” The Jewish people have carried that same unbreakable attachment for thousands of years.

Even after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, we never simply left. When Rome tried to rip us completely out of the Land during the Bar Kokhba revolt, it took their entire military machine years of brutal fighting to suppress Jewish resistance. That fight is rarely talked about, but it proves how deep this connection runs.

Today, that same covenant is stirring in people across the world. Hidden Jews, crypto-Jews, and descendants of the diaspora are discovering their DNA and feeling the pull to come home.

We Died On It- The Land Of Israel

This connection is so profound that even after the Temple’s destruction in 70 CE, the Jewish people refused to let go. As investigative journalist Simcha Jacobovici explains in his recent video “Jews, Rome and the Pagan Messiah,” Rome did not view Judea as a minor backwater. They saw it as an existential ideological threat. Rome responded with overwhelming force and propaganda because Jewish monotheism challenged their entire pagan worldview.

The fight did not end in 70 CE. During the diaspora revolts of 115–117 CE under Trajan, the Romans took more than two years to suppress Jewish uprisings across multiple regions. Then came the Bar Kokhba revolt in 132 CE. It took Rome’s best legions and several years of brutal warfare to finally break Jewish resistance in the Land.

The fact that Rome had to fight that hard, for that long, to remove us from our soil proves how real this bond is.

49,000 Years Old -Cosmic Shemitot

In a recent interview conducted just before undergoing serious heart surgery, Graham Hancock laid out what he wanted to be among the last public statements of his life. Facing critics who dismiss him as a quack, he stood firmly by his life’s work: the idea that human civilization is far older than mainstream history admits, that advanced societies existed in the distant past, and that we are living at the end of a great cycle — one that previous civilizations may have failed, leading to catastrophe.

The Torah, remarkably, contains an ancient parallel.

Our sages speak of vast cycles of time known as cosmic Shemitot. Drawing from sources such as Sefer HaTemunah, Rabbeinu Bechaye’s commentary on Leviticus, and the Talmud’s mention of 974 generations that existed before Adam, Jewish tradition describes great epochs of 7,000 years each — 6,000 years of human civilization followed by a 1,000-year “Sabbatical” millennium of rest. These cycles themselves form larger cosmic Jubilees.

The Jewish National Revelation

This oral tradition, preserved for centuries, aligns with the very patterns Graham Hancock has spent decades pointing toward — the sense that we are not the first advanced civilization to walk this Earth, and that we stand at a dangerous threshold where humanity risks repeating past mistakes of self-destruction.

Yet the Torah does not leave us without hope or direction.

The answer lies in the blueprint given at Sinai — the Ten Commandments, the eternal covenant. These “Ten Sayings” were given not merely to one tribe, but to the entire human family. As Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson’s genetic research has shown, we are all far more closely related than many realize. We are literally cousins, from the same family, descended from common ancestors. The Torah’s instructions — honoring the Creator, keeping Shabbat (a concept already given to Noah), rejecting jealousy and idolatry — are the corrective code meant to heal the very flaws that lead civilizations to collapse.

This brings us full circle to our connection with the Land of Israel. Just as Yovel and Shmita periodically reset economic and social distortions, returning land to its ancestral families, the Jewish people’s return to our covenantal homeland is itself part of this greater cosmic correction. The same blueprint that ties circumcision, covenant, and Land together in Genesis 15 and 17 can guide a fractured humanity back to stability.

The awakening we see today — people discovering hidden Jewish DNA, feeling an inexplicable pull toward Torah and the Land of Israel — may be part of this reset. The covenant God swore to Abraham while he slept remains active. It calls not only to Jews, but ultimately to all who will listen.

USA -Jer-USA-lem- The Jew

We have, I don’t think there’s a state in this country where the Jewish people are not found. From New York to Texas, from Louisiana to New Mexico, from Kansas to California, our people are there. My own family has been in this land since the 1500s — long before the United States even existed.

We lost our identity. Many of us became Crypto-Jews, hiding who we were for centuries, yet we never truly left. The Jewish people have always had a presence here, just as we’ve always maintained some presence in the Land of Israel, no matter who ruled it.

And there is perhaps no other people who have contributed more to the building of this nation than the Jewish people — in medicine, science, law, business, arts, and civil rights. Yet despite all of this, something inside us has never been satisfied. There has always been a pull, a quiet longing that no amount of success in the diaspora could fill.

That pull is a covenant.

It is the same covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15, when He swore to give the Land to his descendants while Abraham himself slept. It is the same covenant sealed in Genesis 17 through brit milah, where the Torah’s chiastic structure makes clear that both nationhood and possession of the Land are inseparably tied to keeping God’s covenant.

This is why we have survived when, by every natural measure, we should not have. We are less than one percent of the world’s population. We have been scattered, persecuted, and expelled from country after country. And yet here we are — still here, still waking up, still feeling the call of the Land.

Because the God who chose us in Genesis is the same God calling us home today.

Why the Jewish People Can Never Let Go of Israel

In The Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad grabs a handful of dirt and says through tears, “We were born on it, worked on it, died on it. That’s what makes it ours.” That same deep, family-like attachment lives in the Jewish soul — only stronger. It comes from the covenant.

God’s Blueprint Begins with Abraham

In Genesis 15, God made a unilateral promise to Abraham. While Abraham slept, the Divine Presence alone walked between the split pieces of the animals, swearing to give the Land to his descendants.

Then in Genesis 17, God established the Covenant of Circumcision. As Rabbi David Fohrman shows through the remarkable chiastic structure in that chapter, everything revolves around one central command: “Keep My covenant.” Both the promise of children who become a nation and the promise of the Land are inseparably tied to keeping the brit.

The Torah later gives us Yovel — the Jubilee — as the practical expression of this blueprint. Every fifty years, the Land returns to its ancestral families. The soil itself is treated like family. It nourishes us, shelters us, and protects us.

The Land Is Family

This connection runs so deep that even after the Temple’s destruction in 70 CE, the Jewish people refused to leave. Investigative journalist Simcha Jacobovici makes a powerful case in his video “Jews, Rome and the Pagan Messiah.”

Rome was not simply fighting a small rebellious province. They were deeply afraid of the Jews, both militarily and theologically. As Simcha explains, 10 to 20 percent of the entire Roman Empire were either Jews or “God-fearers” — people who had accepted the God of Israel and monotheism but had not fully converted. Rome feared that if Judea succeeded, these people across the empire would rise up.

The Son Of God- Hannibal

Simcha traces Rome’s trauma back to Hannibal and the three Punic Wars against Carthage. Hannibal, the brilliant Carthaginian general, invaded Italy and nearly destroyed Rome. Even more threatening to the Roman mind, he presented himself as a pagan messiah — the “son of God,” a chosen figure backed by the gods. This idea of a foreign leader claiming divine backing left a deep scar on the Roman psyche.

When Rome later faced the Jews — a people speaking a similar Middle Eastern language who also claimed to be chosen by the one true God — that old trauma came roaring back. They responded with overwhelming force, propaganda like the “Judea Capta” coins, and total destruction.

And yet, in one of history’s great ironies, what Rome feared most actually came true. A Jewish sect that followed a Messiah named Jesus ultimately conquered Rome. The God of Israel triumphed over Jupiter — not through military victory, but through the spread of a message that began in Jerusalem.

We Should Not Be Here — But We Are

We Should Not Be Here — But We Are

What truly separates the Jewish people from everyone else in the world is a national revelation from God. All through the Bible, beginning in Genesis 15, God makes it clear that He has chosen a nation called Israel. He made an eternal covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — whose name became Israel.

That people, God has put His hand upon and has guided through history.

We should not be alive today. The Jewish people are less than 0.2% of the world’s population. We have been scattered to every corner of the earth, persecuted, expelled, and hunted. Yet here we are.

We lost our identity. We are in every state — Louisiana, Kansas, Philadelphia, Texas, and New Mexico. My own family has been in this land since the 1500s. There is hardly a state in America where Jewish people are not found, and perhaps no other group has contributed more to building this nation than the Jewish people.

Yet despite all our success in the diaspora, something inside us has never been satisfied. There has always been a pull — a quiet longing no amount of comfort could fill.

That pull is the covenant.

We Are Living in a Cosmic Reset-Shemitot

In a powerful interview given just before major heart surgery, Graham Hancock shared what he wanted to be one of the last messages of his life. He stood by his belief that advanced civilizations existed long before recorded history and that we are living at the end of a great cycle — one that previous societies failed to complete, leading to catastrophe.

Jewish tradition contains a striking parallel. Our sages speak of vast cosmic cycles — Shemitot of 7,000 years each. We are living near the end of one of those cycles.

The answer is not despair. The answer is the blueprint.

Harvard-trained geneticist Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson, in his peer-reviewed research and book Traced, has shown through DNA evidence that all humanity traces back to just three fathers and three mothers. Even more striking, he demonstrates that Abraham’s specific DNA signature is found only in certain population groups worldwide. Of the 70 nations, only the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, Abraham and Hagar, and Abraham and Keturah carry Abraham’s paternal DNA lineage. This genetic reality powerfully confirms the truth of the biblical account.

This is personal for my family. My grandfather, my two uncles, and all his male descendants carry the Cohen Modal Haplotype — the genetic marker strongly associated with the biblical priesthood descending from Aaron.

The Call to Return

Today, we are watching the ingathering. Hidden Jews, crypto-Jews, and those discovering their Jewish DNA are feeling the ancient pull to return to the Land and to the covenant.

The same God who swore to Abraham while he slept is still calling His children home. The Land is not just dirt. “Let us make Adam in our image,” that is, family. It is a parent. It is the physical expression of the covenant that defines us.

The blueprint is still active.

The question is — will we answer the call?

The Last Yovel

The last recorded Yovel (Jubilee year) took place in 69 CE — right before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.

After the Temple was destroyed, the full observance of Yovel became impossible because the laws of the Jubilee require the Temple, the Sanhedrin, and the ability to blow the shofar across the entire land of Israel on Yom Kippur of the 49th year. Since that time, it has not been observed in the classic biblical sense.

There’s a minority opinion that the last Yovel might have been slightly earlier, but the mainstream traditional view is that 69 CE was the final one.

Based on 69 CE as the last Yovel, here’s the calculation:

If the final observed Yovel was in 69 CE, then the next ones would fall every 50 years after that.

• Add 50 years repeatedly to 69 CE.
• The most recent Yovel year would have been in 2019 CE (69 + 39 × 50 = 69 + 1950 = 2019).

We are currently in the 7th year of the current 50-year Yovel cycle (2019 was the Yovel year, so 2020 started a new cycle, and 2026 is year 7 of that cycle).

According to the calculation based on 69 CE being the last observed Yovel, here’s the clear answer:

• Last Yovel: 2019
• Next Yovel: 2069

So the next one will be in 43 years from now (2069).

Free Bonus Hebrew Lesson

Orange – Vayipol Avram al panav (וַיִּפֹּל אַבְרָם עַל־פָּנָיו) “And Abram fell on his face” (verse 3) → Mirrors at the end: Vayipol Avraham al panav (verse 17)

Yellow – “You will be the father of many nations” (Av hamon goyim) → Mirrors with Sarah: She will become the mother of nations.

Green – Name change: “Your name will no longer be called Avram, but Avraham” → Mirrors with Sarah’s name change: “You shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.”

Blue – V’hifreiti otcha (וְהִפְרֵתִי אֹתְךָ) – “I will multiply you exceedingly” → Mirrors with hefar (הֵפַר) – “He has broken My covenant” (the one who does not circumcise is cut off).

Bonus Hebrew Lesson: The Chiastic Structure in Genesis 17

Rabbi David Fohrman teaches that the Torah sometimes uses a beautiful literary device called a chiasm (or atbash pattern). The ideas mirror each other like this: A B C — Center — C’ B’ A’.

Here’s a simplified color-coded version of the chiastic structure Rabbi Fohrman presents in Genesis 17:

Orange – Vayipol Avram al panav (וַיִּפֹּל אַבְרָם עַל־פָּנָיו) “And Abram fell on his face” (verse 3) → Mirrors at the end: Vayipol Avraham al panav (verse 17)

Yellow – “You will be the father of many nations” (Av hamon goyim) → Mirrors with Sarah: She will become the mother of nations.

Green – Name change: “Your name will no longer be called Avram, but Avraham” → Mirrors with Sarah’s name change: “You shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.”

Blue – V’hifreiti otcha (וְהִפְרֵתִי אֹתְךָ) – “I will multiply you exceedingly” → Mirrors with hefar (הֵפַר) – “He has broken My covenant” (the one who does not circumcise is cut off).

Mini-Chiasm within the Chiasm (the center section):

• “You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin”
• “It shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you”
• “At eight days old every male among you shall be circumcised”

The very center of everything is the repeated command: “You shall keep My covenant” (V’ata et briti tishmor).

This structure is the Torah’s way of telling us: Everything revolves around keeping the covenant. Both the promise of becoming a nation and the promise of the Land depend on it.

Hazan Gavriel ben David

In my book, Adam, the Blueprint of Creation and the Tree of Life, I explore how the Torah encodes the fundamental architecture of reality—a divine blueprint in which words create worlds, patterns repeat across scales, and humanity stands at the crossroads of choice. Central to this is the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, which on the surface is a tragedy of sibling rivalry and the first murder.

Yet, when read through the lens of chiastic structure, gematria, intertextuality, and modern neuroscience, it reveals profound insights into the human psyche, the divided brain, and the ongoing tension between acquisition/ domination and fleeting, relational presence.

Rabbi David Fohrman often emphasizes distinguishing “big questions” from “little questions” in Torah study—focusing not on surface details but on the deeper existential and structural patterns that illuminate God’s relationship with creation. The Cain and Abel narrative invites such big questions:

Why these two brothers, representing the farmer and the shepherd? What does their conflict teach about human nature, sacrifice, and the consequences of imbalance? And crucially, how does this ancient account align with scientific understandings of brain lateralization, particularly Iain McGilchrist’s framework in The Master and His Emissary?

Cain and Abel: Etymology and Archetypal Roles

The Hebrew word דָּבָר (davar / devar, Strong’s 1697) indeed carries the dual meaning of “word,” “speech,” “matter,” “thing,” or “affair.” In the Torah worldview, words are not abstract or separate from reality — they are substantive “things” or “matters” with creative power and ontological weight. This directly echoes (and deepens) McGilchrist’s title The Matter with Things and his critique of the modern reductionist view that treats the world as inert, meaningless material fragments.

Cain (Hebrew Qayin, קין) derives from roots implying “acquisition,” “to get,” “to possess,” or even “smith/artificer” (linked to metalworking, as seen in his descendant Tubal-Cain). Eve declares upon his birth, “I have gotten (qaniti) a man with the help of the Lord” (Genesis 4:1).

To Get To Acquire

Cain embodies the drive to get, to shape, to dominate the material world through effort and technology. He is the tiller of soil, offering produce from the cursed ground, and later builds a city—hallmarks of civilization, control, and artificial creation.

In Iain McGilchrist’s dialogue, he unpacks the etymology of apprehend (from Latin roots meaning to grasp, seize, or acquire) as the left hemisphere’s mode of manipulating isolated parts of reality, contrasted with comprehend — to take together holistically. This mirrors the biblical figure of Cain (Qayin), whose name derives from the Hebrew root for acquisition, possession, and grasping.

Yet Torah offers an even deeper layer through the word דָּבָר (davar/devar), which means both “matter” and “thing” — and fundamentally, “word.” In the Hebrew mind, words are things with substance; divine speech (davar) creates and sustains physical reality itself (Bereshit 1).

The Torah is Neuroscience

McGilchrist’s inversion of the materialist worldview — where consciousness and intrinsic meaning are primary — finds ancient resonance here: the blueprint of Adam and the Tree of Life is not a collection of dead “things” grasped acquisitively like Cain, but a living davar — spoken, relational, and holistically comprehended within the Divine flow.

Abel (Hebrew Hevel, הבל) means “breath,” “vapor,” “mist,” or “vanity/transience”—the same word used in Ecclesiastes for fleeting existence (hevel havalim). His life is ephemeral, like a puff of air. As a shepherd, Abel tends living flocks, offering the choicest portions in a relational, present act of faith. His name evokes nothingness of substance yet fullness of spirit—aligned with the “feminine” receptive quality, intuition, and the holistic embrace of what is given rather than seized.

The scientific and biblical resonance here is striking. Cain’s “acquisition” mirrors the left hemisphere’s focused, manipulative attention: grasping parts, categorizing, abstracting, and re-creating the world through tools and systems. Abel’s “vapor” suggests the right hemisphere’s broader, embodied awareness—fleeting yet connective, attuned to context, emotion, and the living whole. The murder of Abel by Cain symbolizes the left hemisphere’s usurpation of the right’s primacy, leading to exile and a world of toil.

The Master and His Emissary: Brain Hemispheres in McGilchrist’s Framework

“There is something profoundly wrong with the way popular science and much of modern education teaches us to see the world—as a machine, a mechanism composed of meaningless fragments of material stuff colliding in largely chaotic ways, lacking any intrinsic beauty, complexity, structure, meaning, or direction.

In The Matter with Things, I argue we have inverted the evidence before us. Consciousness is every bit as real as matter; indeed, matter is something we know secondarily through consciousness, not the other way around. The natural condition of things is not stasis but motion and flow; the world is not principally chaotic, nor are structures essentially simple.

Everything has intrinsic structure and has always been complex. Our way of attending to it can shear off most of the surrounding picture, making it appear simple and mechanistic—yet in reality, nothing in the cosmos behaves that way.”

The Matter “Devar” with Things “Devar”

In the opening of his dialogue series on The Matter with Things, Iain McGilchrist powerfully challenges the reductive materialist worldview that dominates our age. This resonates deeply with the core of Adam: The Blueprint of Creation—where Torah reveals Adam and the Tree of Life not as mere biological happenstance or inert matter, but as the living, conscious blueprint of a purposeful creation.

Just as McGilchrist insists we know matter through consciousness, the Torah teaches that words (divine speech) create and sustain worlds (Bereshit), embedding intrinsic meaning, relationship, and flow into every layer of reality—from DNA’s coded language to the chiastic structures of history and redemption.

Far from a chaotic collision of atoms, the cosmos unfolds as an animated, interconnected expression of the Divine blueprint, with consciousness and sacred purpose ontologically primary. This alignment of ancient wisdom and contemporary insight strengthens the evidence that Adam’s form encodes the Tree of Life as the operating manual for a living, meaning-drenched universe.

Logic vs Creativity

Iain McGilchrist’s seminal work describes the brain’s hemispheres not in the oversimplified pop-psychology terms of “logic vs. creativity,” but as having incompatible ways of attending to the world. The right hemisphere (the “Master”) provides holistic, contextual, embodied engagement—seeing the big picture, relationships, novelty, and living presence.

It is generous, integrative, and attuned to “how” things are in their uniqueness. The left hemisphere (the “Emissary”) is the specialist: detail-oriented, abstract, sequential, and manipulative—excellent for “what” and for grasping, categorizing, and re-presenting reality for utility, but prone to rigidity, self-interest, and mistaking its map for the territory.

In healthy function, the right hemisphere (Master) experiences the world directly and delegates focused tasks to the left (Emissary), which reports back to enrich the whole. Modern Western culture, however, has seen the Emissary usurp power: mechanistic thinking, bureaucracy, reductionism, and unchecked technological “acquisition” dominate, leading to fragmentation, environmental exploitation, and spiritual emptiness. This echoes Cain’s path—building cities, wielding tools, yet wandering as a fugitive from presence.

Adam is always traslated as Male and Female

Male and Female Sides: Traditional associations link the left brain (analytical, sequential, “masculine”) with active, penetrative, acquiring energy and the right brain (holistic, intuitive, “feminine”) with receptive, nurturing, contextual awareness.

This is not rigid gender essentialism but rather archetypal polarity, mirroring Torah’s male/female dynamics in creation (e.g., Adam’s initial androgyny, the rib as a complement). Kabbalistic thought aligns right-brain-like chochmah (wisdom, flash of insight) with the right side and binah (understanding, processing) with the left, but hemispheric research shows integrated flow is key.

Neuroscience supports biblical patterns: Split-brain studies (e.g., Roger Sperry’s Nobel Prize-winning work) reveal independent consciousness in the hemispheres, with the left hemisphere often verbal and confabulatory in its explanations. The right hemisphere processes emotion, face recognition, and metaphor more robustly—qualities of relational “shepherding” presence.

Scientific Connections: Torah Blueprint Meets Brain Research

The Torah’s Tree of Life blueprint integrates these. Adam (man) is formed from adamah (ground), infused with neshamah (divine breath)—echoing Abel’s vapor/breath as the living soul amid material acquisition. The two trees in Eden parallel hemispheric attention: the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (left: categorization, duality, grasping) vs. the Tree of Life (right: holistic unity, flow of blessing). Eating from the former brings exile into a world of left-dominant toil (“by the sweat of your brow”).

Modern findings align remarkably:

• Attention and Creation: McGilchrist notes the left hemisphere’s narrow focus enables tool-making and manipulation (Cain as farmer/smith), while the right sustains broad vigilance and empathy (Abel as shepherd). fMRI studies show right-hemisphere dominance in holistic processing, metaphor, and “a-ha” insights—Torah’s chiastic structures and intertextual “hyperlinks” that reveal deeper unity.
• Artificial Creation vs. Relational Being: Cain’s line advances technology (bronze, iron), cities, and polygamy—left-hemisphere abstraction and control. Abel offers “firstlings of the flock”—the best, in trust. Quantum and systems biology increasingly describe reality as relational fields and information patterns (words as code), not mere mechanisms, echoing Torah’s creation by speech and the Tree as fractal blueprint (DNA-like, per my book’s exploration of cellular research and archaeology).
• Imbalance and Violence: Left-hemisphere dominance correlates with aggression, abstraction from ethics, and environmental disconnection—mirroring Cain’s jealousy and murder. Right-hemisphere damage leads to neglect of the left visual field and emotional flatness; societal “left-capture” yields a meaning crisis. Studies on meditation, music, and exposure to nature (right-hemisphere nourishment) show that restored balance reduces anxiety and enhances compassion—Torah practices like Shabbat, prayer, and mitzvot foster this reintegration.

DNA and archaeology further bridge the gap: Y-chromosome tracing (e.g., Jeanson’s work) and ancient priestly markers align with biblical lineages, showing deep historical continuity. Gematria (e.g., values linking to natural patterns) and numeric correlations (Haim Shore) suggest that the Torah encodes scientific realities beyond literalism—Rabbi Fohrman’s “reverse engineering,” in which Torah, as wisdom literature, yields Big Bang-like insights when not forced into science textbook mode.

Implications for Humanity: Rebalancing the Blueprint

The Cain-Abel story is not just history but a diagnosis of the divided self. Every human carries both: the drive to acquire and create (essential for survival and culture) and the call to presence, breath, and relationship (essential for meaning). When the Emissary (Cain) slays the Master (Abel), we exile ourselves from Edenic flow—building towers of Babel or empires of control. Seth’s line (replacement, “appointed”) points to reintegration, the third way of balanced consciousness.

In today’s world of AI, biotech, and information overload—ultimate left-hemisphere tools—the risk of further usurpation is high. Yet, opportunities for return abound: Torah study integrates analysis (binah/left) with wisdom (chochmah/right); prison ministry and family “receipts” (actions over words) embody relational shepherding; POD designs and writings on frequencies/Tree of Life bridge ancient blueprint with modern science.

Conclusion: Toward the Tree of Life

The Torah and science converge on a profound truth: Humanity’s blueprint is not a deterministic mechanism but a dynamic choice within duality. Cain’s acquisition without presence leads to a curse; Abel’s breath-offering, though slain, testifies eternally. Reintegrating Master and Emissary—male and female, get and give, artificial and authentic—returns us to the Tree of Life. As words (Torah) create worlds, balanced attention co-creates redemption.

In Adam, the Blueprint, I detail how this fractal pattern—from cellular to cosmic—invites every soul. Download the free chapter at beithashoavah.org and join the study. The choice stands: Which brother will we empower today? Let us shepherd our inner Abel, offering the best in humble presence, so the vapor of breath becomes eternal song in the divine blueprint.

References and Further Reading: McGilchrist’s works; Aleph Beta/Fohrman resources; biblical commentaries; my book for full Tree of Life integration.

Hazan Gavriel ben David

In the video “What German Scholars Are Finding About The Origin Of Islam!” (featuring Thomas and Dr. Jay Smith), the discussion centers on groundbreaking revisionist scholarship from the German Inarah School and related researchers. These scholars apply rigorous historical-critical methods to the Quran and early Islamic traditions. Importantly, they use the same standards that can and should be applied to Christianity. One fascinating aspect of this research explores the influence of the Christian Hymn tradition in Islam.

This essay examines the video’s key claims while maintaining consistency. If the methodology dismantles traditional Islamic narratives, it must be honestly applied to Christian origins as well. This aligns with the central thesis of my book, Adam, The Blueprint of Creation and The Tree of Life: there is only one original blueprint given to Adam at creation. This blueprint was preserved through the Torah and the Jewish people as the firstborn. Everything else represents later human constructions built atop — or in place of — that blueprint.

Key Scholars and Their Works Highlighted in the Video

The video highlights several pioneering German and revisionist scholars:

• Günter Lüling (German theologian, philologist, and Arabist): His doctoral thesis revealed that large portions of the Quran consist of reworked pre-Islamic Christian hymns and liturgical material, primarily in Syriac Aramaic. Lüling argued these hymns originated from a Jewish-Christian or Hellenistic Christian community in the region. In fact, his work cost him his academic career due to its controversial nature. Key publication: A Challenge to Islam for Reformation (English translation of his earlier German thesis).
• Christoph Luxenberg (pseudonym for a German scholar of Syriac and Arabic): Building on Lüling, Luxenberg demonstrated that many Quranic passages, when read with Syriac-Aramaic grammar, vocabulary, and vocalization rather than later Arabic, yield clear Christian liturgical meanings. He showed that the Quran often reads like a lectionary or a collection of adapted Christian hymns and homilies from the 5th–7th centuries. This includes phrases and structures that originally referred to Jesus in ways later reinterpreted. His seminal work is The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran.
• Other figures mentioned include Patricia Crone and Michael Cook (Hagarism), John Wansbrough, and earlier Orientalists like Ignaz Goldziher, Theodor Nöldeke, and Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje. The Inarah School continues this critical tradition.

These scholars emphasize linguistics (especially Syriac Aramaic influence), manuscript evidence, and historical context from late antiquity.

Hidden Layers: Hymns, Aramaic, and Christian Liturgical Material

The most powerful section of the video explores how the Quran contains hidden layers of Christian hymns and Aramaic substrate. When the consonantal text (rasm) is re-vocalized according to Syriac rules rather than classical Arabic, many surahs reveal:

• Liturgical phrases and structures typical of Syriac Christian worship (hymns, lectionaries, homilies).
• References that originally pointed to Jesus (as a divine messenger, in mercy, and in paradise themes) but were later adapted.
• Strophic poetic forms common in early Christian hymns (e.g., works of St. Ephrem the Syrian).

This suggests the proto-Quran was heavily influenced by — or directly borrowed from — Christian liturgical texts circulating in the Near East before the 7th century. Later, the “Arabization” and Islamic re-interpretation happened, overlaying a new narrative on older material.

Words and phrases that shift meaning in Aramaic/Syriac readings include terms related to prayer, mercy, judgment, and prophetic figures. Often, these terms align more closely with Christian theology than with later Islamic interpretation.

Applying the Same Criteria to Christianity

The video’s methodology — late textual development, borrowing from prior traditions, lack of early independent manuscripts, and theological reworking — must be applied consistently to Christianity.

Just as the Quran shows heavy dependence on Syriac Christian hymns and Aramaic liturgical material, the New Testament and Christian doctrine show significant development over time:

• Late composition of key texts (e.g., debates over the dating of Acts and its relationship to Josephus).
• Borrowing and adaptation of Jewish (and sometimes Hellenistic) material into a new theological framework.
• Doctrinal formulations (e.g., at Nicaea in 325 CE) occurred without direct input from the original Jewish keepers of the blueprint.
• Shift from the collective covenant with Israel (Torah as blueprint for Adam/humanity) to an individualized salvation model centered on a new figure.

This mirrors the video’s critique of Islam: both traditions took from the Hebrew source but created new systems that diverge from the original Adamic blueprint.

Connection to the Original Blueprint

In Adam, The Blueprint of Creation and The Tree of Life, I demonstrate that the Torah is the Owner’s Manual of creation — given to Adam, expanded at Sinai, and preserved by the Jewish people. Key verses such as Genesis 3:22 (the Tree of Life, promising eternal life by reaching back to the original code) and Leviticus 18:5 (“by which a man [Adam] shall live”) emphasize a universality rooted in a single blueprint.

Rabbi Ephraim Palvanov’s lecture rightly highlights the Noahide laws as part of this shared foundation (derived from Genesis 2:24 and 9:6, including protections against abortion as “shedding blood of a man inside a man”). However, when later traditions overlay new covenants, new central figures, and new scriptures, they move away from the single Tree of Life.

The German scholars’ findings on Aramaic Christian hymns embedded in the Quran illustrate how both Christianity and Islam function as “two sides of the same coin.” Both are derivative systems built on earlier material. Yet, each claims finality and often sidelines the original keepers of the code (the Jewish people as firstborn).

Conclusion: Return to the One Blueprint

The video powerfully demonstrates that honest historical criticism reveals layers of borrowing and reworking in the origins of Islam. Applying the same lens to Christianity yields parallel insights. Both point back to the need to return to the original blueprint given to Adam — the Tree of Life that offers eternal life through alignment with God’s code, not through later replacements.

As Isaiah 56 promises, the stranger who joins himself to the Lord can partake fully. The code awakens in anyone willing to reach for it.

This research strengthens the call in my book: there is only one blueprint. Everything else is commentary — sometimes beautiful, sometimes transformative, but ultimately secondary to the original given at creation.

Recommended Further Reading (from the video and related scholarship):

• Günter Lüling’s works on Christian hymns in the Quran.
• Christoph Luxenberg, The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran.
• Patricia Crone & Michael Cook, Hagarism.
• Jay Smith’s ongoing lectures apply these methods.

May we all merit to see clearly the one Tree of Life standing from the beginning.

Hazan Gavriel ben David

Two Sides of the Same Coin: A Critical Analysis of Christianity and Islam (Part 2 – Paul Within Paganism)

This latest video from History Valley features Dr. Paula Fredriksen, a leading scholar of early Christianity, discussing her work (including the co-edited volume Paul Within Paganism: Restoring the Mediterranean Context to the Apostle). The conversation explores Paul as a Jewish apostle operating in a thoroughly pagan Greco-Roman world — a perspective that adds another layer to our ongoing examination of Christianity’s origins.

This fits directly into the series and reinforces the core thesis of my book, Adam, The Blueprint of Creation and The Tree of Life: there is only one original blueprint given to Adam, preserved through the Torah and the Jewish people. Later developments, including Paul’s mission and its evolution into Christianity, represent human adaptations built atop (or diverging from) that foundational code.

Key Insights from Dr. Paula Fredriksen

Dr. Fredriksen (a respected historian of ancient Christianity and Judaism) emphasizes that Paul must be understood within his dual contexts: as a Torah-observant Jew with strong apocalyptic expectations, and as someone actively engaging the pagan Mediterranean world filled with gods, spirits, and ethnic religious practices.

• Paul was not trying to create a new religion but was calling pagans to abandon their ancestral gods and worship Israel’s God exclusively, while remaining ethnically distinct (no requirement for Gentiles to become Jews via circumcision).
• He operated as an “apostle to the pagans,” navigating a world of divine powers, demons, and hierarchical gods. His message was socially disruptive because turning from native gods angered both pagan families and civic authorities.
• Fredriksen highlights how Paul remained firmly within Judaism while adapting his message for Gentiles — a nuance often lost in later Christian interpretations that recast him as the founder of a “Law-free” Gentile Christianity.

This scholarly view aligns with the revisionist approach we’ve seen in Jay Smith’s work on Islam and the German Inarah School: texts and figures are best understood by examining their historical, linguistic, and cultural layers rather than later theological overlays.

Tying It Back to the Blueprint

Paul’s mission to the pagans, as presented here, shows an attempt to bring Gentiles into a relationship with the God of Israel — echoing the universal elements of the original blueprint given to Adam (the Noahide laws). However, the way this developed into Christianity — with new doctrines, a new covenant emphasis, and eventual separation from Torah observance — moved away from the single Tree of Life.

Compare this to Rabbi David Fohrman’s teaching in A Book Like No Other: the Ten Commandments at Sinai were not new inventions but the revelation of principles already embedded in Genesis. The Torah speaks universally to Adam (humanity), as in Leviticus 18:5: “You shall therefore keep My statutes and My rules, by which a man (Adam) shall live.”

Eternal life is promised in Genesis 3:22 by reaching out to the Tree of Life — the original code — not through later systems centered on vicarious atonement or new intermediaries.

Consistency in Criticism: Christianity and Islam

Just as the video series with Jay Smith and German scholars reveals layers of Christian hymns and an Aramaic substrate in the Quran (reinterpreted through an Islamic lens), Fredriksen’s work shows how Paul’s Jewish-apocalyptic message was later reframed in ways that diverged significantly from its Torah roots. Both traditions borrowed heavily from prior material (Jewish and Christian in the case of Islam; Jewish in the case of Christianity) and created new theological structures.

My friend Avi Lipkin taught me years ago about the possible Ebionite (Torah-observant Jewish-Christian) influences on early Islamic sources — a Catholic priest and an Ebionite rabbi shaping the material. This parallels how Paul’s message, originally rooted in Judaism, was transformed by Gentile contexts into what became mainstream Christianity.

Conclusion: Return to the Original Blueprint

Scholarship from Fredriksen, Jay Smith, the German school, Rabbi Tovia Singer, and others consistently reveals layers of adaptation and reworking in both Christianity and Islam. While both contain elements of truth and have spread knowledge of the One God, they function as derivative systems that often sideline or replace the original keepers of the code — the Jewish people, who carry the full Torah as the firstborn.

The call remains: return to the one original blueprint given to Adam. As Isaiah 56 promises, the stranger who joins himself to the Lord can fully partake. The Tree of Life still stands, offering eternal life to anyone willing to reach out and live by the code given from the beginning.

Two Sides of the Same Coin: A Critical Analysis of Christianity and Islam (Part 2 – Paul as Roman Agent)

In this History Valley video, Thijs Voskuilen presents a counterintelligence analysis of the Apostle Paul (Saul of Tarsus), arguing that he was a Roman agent provocateur whose mission helped give birth to a pacified form of Christianity that served Roman imperial interests. This builds powerfully on our ongoing series examining the origins of both Christianity and Islam through rigorous historical-critical methods.

This analysis strongly supports the central thesis of my book Adam, The Blueprint of Creation and The Tree of Life: there is only one original blueprint given to Adam at creation, preserved through the Torah and the Jewish people as the firstborn. Later developments in both Christianity and Islam represent human constructions built atop — or deliberately diverging from — that foundational code.

Key Claims from Thijs Voskuilen and the Book Operation Messiah

Voskuilen, co-author with Rose Mary Sheldon of Operation Messiah: St. Paul, Roman Intelligence and the Birth of Christianity (2008), applies a military intelligence lens to Paul’s life and writings. Main points include:

• Paul/Saul never truly converted but went undercover after his “Damascus road” experience. As a Roman citizen with connections to the Temple authorities (who collaborated with Rome), he infiltrated and redirected the early Jesus movement.
• His teachings — emphasizing faith over strict Torah observance, spiritualizing the concept of the Messiah, and promoting obedience to governing authorities (Romans 13) — served as a psychological counterinsurgency operation to pacify Jewish resistance to Rome.
• Paul was treated far more leniently by Roman authorities than Jesus or other Jewish rebels, suggesting protection from higher-ups.
• His mission to the Gentiles helped create a non-political, otherworldly religion that diverted energy away from earthly Jewish national hopes.

The book and presentation draw on Paul’s own letters, Acts, and historical context to argue that Christianity’s foundational theology may have been shaped, at least in part, as a Roman intelligence operation aimed at dividing and neutralizing messianic Jewish movements.

Tying It to Previous Scholarship

This complements:

• The German Inarah School and Christoph Luxenberg’s work on Christian hymns and Syriac Aramaic layers in the Quran (showing heavy borrowing and reworking).
• Jay Smith’s consistent demand for early evidence and historical scrutiny.
• Avi Lipkin’s teachings (shared with me since 2005) about Ebionite (Torah-observant Jewish-Christian) influences on early Islamic sources, possibly involving a Catholic priest and an Ebionite rabbi.

Together, these reveal both religions as derivative systems built on earlier Jewish/Christian material but reframed for new purposes.

The Original Blueprint Remains Unchanged

Rabbi David Fohrman, in A Book Like No Other, demonstrates that the Ten Commandments at Sinai were not new laws but the revelation of principles already present in Genesis. The Torah speaks universally to Adam (all humanity).

In Leviticus 18:5, it states clearly:

“You shall therefore keep My statutes and My rules, by which a man (Adam) shall live; I am the Lord.”

This is not limited to Israelites — it is for Adam/humanity.

Eternal life is promised in Genesis 3:22 by reaching out to the Tree of Life — the original code given at creation — not through later systems centered on a new figure or vicarious atonement.

Rabbi Ephraim Palvanov rightly highlights the Noahide laws (derived from Genesis 2:24 and 9:6, including the prohibition of abortion as shedding “the blood of a man inside a man”) as part of this shared universal foundation. However, when movements overlay new covenants, new central figures, and new scriptures — whether through sincere evolution or strategic re-engineering — they move away from the single Tree of Life.

Conclusion: The True Twins and the Call to Return

The scholarship of Thijs Voskuilen, Paula Fredriksen, Jay Smith, the German revisionists, Rabbi Tovia Singer, and Avi Lipkin consistently uncovers layers of adaptation, borrowing, and reworking in both Christianity and Islam. Paul’s role as potentially a Roman agent adds a provocative dimension to how Christianity developed into a religion that ultimately distanced itself from its Jewish roots.

Christianity and Islam function as the true “two sides of the same coin” — both derivative systems that took from the Hebrew source but created new narratives that often sidelined the original keepers of the code.

The call remains clear and urgent: return to the one original blueprint given to Adam and preserved by the Jewish people. As Isaiah 56 promises, the stranger who joins himself to the Lord can fully partake in the covenant and the Tree of Life.

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Applying Jay Smith’s Criteria Consistently to Christianity (Part 2)

In the video you shared (and across his broader body of work), Dr. Jay Smith consistently contrasts the historical foundations of Islam with those of Christianity. He argues that Islam suffers from a severe lack of early, independent, eyewitness, and manuscript evidence for its core claims (Muhammad, the Quran, and Mecca), while Christianity benefits from strong early attestation. The user’s goal is to apply Smith’s own rigorous historical-critical methodology — demanding contemporary or near-contemporary evidence, independent corroboration, and avoidance of late legendary development — equally to Christianity.

This essay does exactly that, while remaining rooted in the central thesis of my book Adam, The Blueprint of Creation and The Tree of Life: there is only one original blueprint given to Adam at creation, preserved through the Torah and the Jewish people as the firstborn. Later traditions in both Christianity and Islam represent human constructions built atop (or diverging from) that foundational code.

Jay Smith’s Core Claims on Christian Evidence (Summarized from His Lectures)

Across numerous lectures (including those at Calvary Chapel venues, CrossExamined with Frank Turek, and his ongoing series), Jay Smith typically makes the following points to defend Christianity’s historical reliability against Islam:

• Eyewitness Testimony: Christianity has multiple eyewitness sources. The Gospels of Matthew and John are attributed to direct disciples (eyewitnesses). Mark and Luke are based on eyewitness accounts (Peter for Mark; investigations for Luke). Paul claims to have met the risen Jesus and interacted with the apostles.
• Early Writings: The New Testament documents were written within the lifetime of eyewitnesses (most scholars date the Gospels and Paul’s letters to 50–90 CE, within 20–60 years of the events). This is vastly earlier than Islamic sources.
• Manuscript Evidence: Christianity has an enormous number of early manuscripts (over 5,800 Greek NT manuscripts, with fragments dating to the 2nd century). Smith often cites the sheer volume and early dating as unmatched.
• Church Fathers Quotations: Early church fathers quote the New Testament extensively (tens of thousands of quotations), allowing reconstruction of nearly the entire text even without manuscripts.
• External Corroboration: Non-Christian sources (Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, etc.) mention Jesus and early Christians within decades.

Smith uses these points to argue that Christianity does not suffer from the same evidential gaps as Islam (no 7th-century Quran manuscripts, no contemporary biographies of Muhammad, late Hadith collections, etc.).

Applying Smith’s Own Criteria Honestly to Christianity

When we apply the same demanding standards Smith uses against Islam — contemporary evidence, independent non-believer corroboration, avoidance of legendary development, and linguistic/historical consistency — Christianity faces significant challenges:

• Lack of Contemporary Eyewitness Documents: No undisputed autograph or contemporary neutral document from Jesus’ lifetime exists. The earliest Gospel (Mark) is dated by most scholars to ~65–75 CE, 35+ years after the events. Paul’s letters are earlier but contain almost no details of Jesus’ earthly life or teachings.
• Late Composition and Development: Many scholars (including those on channels like History Valley) date key portions of Acts and the Gospels later than traditionally claimed. Geographical errors in Luke-Acts (e.g., the burial of the patriarchs) and parallels with Josephus suggest literary dependence on later sources rather than pure eyewitness testimony.
• Theological Evolution: Paul’s letters show development from Jewish apocalyptic expectations to a more Gentile-friendly theology. Later creeds (Nicaea, 325 CE) formalized doctrines such as the Trinity without direct input from the original Jewish community.
• Borrowing and Adaptation: As seen in videos with Paula Fredriksen and Thijs Voskuilen, Paul operated in a pagan context, and his message was shaped by that environment. Some scholars argue that elements of the Gospel narratives draw from Jewish scriptural patterns or Hellenistic influences.

This mirrors the layers uncovered by the German Inarah School (Lüling, Luxenberg) in the Quran — a heavy dependence on earlier Christian hymns and Syriac-Aramaic material that was later reframed.

Personal Context and the One Blueprint

My friend Avi Lipkin taught me these critical approaches to Islam starting in 2005. Traditions he shared about possible Ebionite (Torah-observant Jewish-Christian) influences on early Islamic sources — involving a Catholic priest and an Ebionite rabbi — parallel how Paul’s Jewish message was adapted in Gentile contexts.

Rabbi David Fohrman (A Book Like No Other) and Rabbi Ephraim Palvanov show that the Torah reveals the original blueprint already present in Genesis. Sinai did not invent new laws; it expanded what was given to Adam. The Torah speaks to Adam (all humanity), as in Leviticus 18:5: “by which a man (Adam) shall live.”

Eternal life is promised in Genesis 3:22 by reaching out to the Tree of Life — the original code — not through later systems.

Conclusion

Dr. Jay Smith’s methodology is powerful when applied consistently. While Christianity has stronger early attestation than Islam in many areas, honest application of his criteria still reveals layers of development, borrowing, and theological evolution that diverge from the single original blueprint given to Adam and preserved by the Jewish people.

Christianity and Islam remain the true “two sides of the same coin” — derivative traditions built on the Hebrew source but moving in directions that often sideline the original keepers of the code.

The call remains: return to the one Tree of Life. As Isaiah 56 promises, the stranger who joins himself to the Lord can fully partake.

Recommended Resources:

• Paula Fredriksen, Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle and contributions to Paul Within Paganism.
• Jay Smith lectures on historical criticism.
• Avi Lipkin’s teachings on Islam’s origins.
• Rabbi Ephraim Palvanov and Rabbi Tovia Singer’s lectures.
• My book Adam, The Blueprint of Creation and The Tree of Life.

Thijs Voskuilen & Rose Mary Sheldon, Operation Messiah: St. Paul, Roman Intelligence and the Birth of Christianity, Jay Smith lectures and German Inarah School works, Avi Lipkin’s teachings on Islam, Rabbi Tovia Singer and Rabbi Ephraim Palvanov’s lectures, My book Adam, The Blueprint of Creation and The Tree of Life

Hazan Gavriel ben David