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Hebrew Grammar Project

We have begun filming for our Hebrew Grammar Project and have a goal to have the project completed by the end of the Summer. We are video taping Tim Hegg, who has taught Hebrew for many years (both at the graduate and undergraduate level), as he teaches through the First Hebrew Primer published by EKS Publishing. When the project is completed, it will provide a complete video teaching course through this beginning Hebrew grammar, perfect for use by synagogues, homeschooling families, and individuals. Have you wanted to learn basic biblical Hebrew but had no convenient way to do so? We hope that this project will afford many the opportunity to learn biblical Hebrew at their own pace, in their own location, using a well established grammar, taught by a competent teacher. We anticipate that the entire Hebrew Project will comprise 10-14 DVDs with two to three chapters per DVD. We will offer the DVDs separately or bundled with the First Hebrew Primer.

Notes on the Torah by Tim Hegg

For the past number of years, Tim Hegg has been writing notes on the Torah parashot, following a three year cycle (the so-called "triennial cycle"). These notes have been made available for free download at the TorahResource website. Some people have mentioned, however, that it would be helpful to have these notes published in hardcopy. As a result, we have been editing them this past year and have begun the process of compiling them for publication. This Summer, we hope to have the first volume, Genesis, finalized and printed (softcover) with a projected delivery date in September before Rosh HaShanah. The notes, though following the triennial cycle, will be referenced to the annual cycle of readings as well, making them easily accessible for reference regardless of which Torah reading schedule is being utilized.

On-Going Projects

We continue to work on editing and expanding several commentaries: the Commentary on Galatians and the Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, both by Tim Hegg. These are large projects but we continue to make progress. We also are continuing our work on the Daily Siddur, following the same linear format of our Shabbat Siddur.

Each evening as we count the omer, marking out the 49 days between Pesach and Shavuot, we prepare ourselves for the Festival that commemorates the giving of the Torah. It is interesting to contemplate the fact that symbolically the 49 days, followed by the Festival of Shavuot on the 50th day (thus the Greek name of the Festival is "Pentacost"), connects with the number of years in the Yovel (year of Jubilee) cycle, itself being the 50th year and thus corresponding to Shavuot. In the festival cycle, we count 49 days and celebrate Shavuot on the 50th day. In the Yovel cycle we count seven sabbatical years (thus 49 years) and celebrate the Yovel in the 50th year.

The primary characteristic of the Yovel or Year of Jubilee is the proclamation of "liberty" to all: slaves are set free, debtors are free from their debts, and the land is "at liberty" to return to its original owner. So we read in Lev 25:10, "You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release (daror) through the land to all its inhabitants." The Hebrew word daror, translated as "release" in this verse, is quite interesting. The same word, daror, means "swallow" or "dove" in Psalm 84:4[3], "The bird also has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God." A second interesting connection is the use of daror to describe the myrrh used in the making of the holy incense used in the Tabernacle and Temple: "Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels…." Here, daror is translated as "flowing." The common element to be found in these uses of daror is "unrestrained motion." Even as a swallow flies without restraint (so our expression, "free as a bird") and the myrrh (made from the sap primarily of the Commiphora tree) is refined so that it flows, in the same way, "release" is to be proclaimed throughout the Land in the Yovel year, a proclamation of genuine "freedom" or "liberty."

This symbolic connection between Shavuot as the 50th day and the Yovel as the 50th year must certainly have been divinely given to reveal an important aspect of Shavuot itself. It would seem that the lesson we are to learn from this is the true meaning of "freedom," or "liberty." Clearly the exodus itself, celebrated at Pesach, afforded to the Israelites a tangible liberty from the awful enslavement they had endured at the hands of the Egyptians. One can only imagine how the people felt as they crossed the Red Sea and were struck with the full realization that they would no longer have to answer to tyrannical slave masters—that they would awaken in the morning to a life free of the fears and anguish they and their forefathers had borne while enslaved in Egypt! One could envision people skipping about, laughing and celebrating the freedom that none in their generation had ever experienced. It probably took them some time to stop "looking over their shoulders" to see which of the slave masters was approaching them, or to realize that they no longer had constantly to be alert to yet another degrading word from Egyptian officials who had treated them as mere work animals. Yet once the reality of their freedom had set in, one could imagine how often they reveled in their new found liberty!

How then could Shavuot have offered "liberty" when they were already "free"? What more could have been added to the freedom they already possessed as the result of God's miraculous deliverance from Egypt? The answer to this question offers a profound insight into the true nature of liberty as God defines it! For true liberty comes, not by being in a position to do whatever one desires to do, but rather to know and obey what God desires one to do. True freedom is experienced when we are enabled, by God's grace and His abiding presence and power, to walk in His ways and live in accordance with His holy designs. Shavuot, therefore, which commemorates (among other things) the giving of the Torah, is a day that stands out above all others as bringing liberty, for in the Torah, the ways of God and His revelation of righteousness are more fully revealed. Thus, while some would consider the Torah to be a body of legislation that restrains us or even removes our personal "liberty," in reality, the Torah as it is written upon the heart by the Spirit is the gateway to true and lasting freedom. Shavuot, then, is a celebration of complete "liberty" or "freedom" as God defines it. Pesach freed us from enslavement to Egypt; Shavuot offers God's eternal revelation regarding how we are to serve Him and thus be truly free.

This brings into focus a number of statements found in the Apostolic Scriptures:

“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2Corinthians 3:17).

And with this in mind, we can understand and affirm the perspective of James regarding the Torah:

"But one who looks intently at the perfect Torah, the Torah of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:25).
"So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the Torah of liberty" (James 2:12).

As we count our way to Shavuot, the Festival of the Torah, we must also prepare ourselves for entering into the freedom that the Torah brings—a freedom that is energized by the Spirit Who indwells us, Who enables us to walk in righteousness and thus to be "free indeed".

I am constantly amazed at the faithfulness of HaShem! As most of you know, we have adopted the position at TorahResource that we do not solicit donations. In a time when many ministries are increasing their requests for money, we are confident that the Almighty will supply our needs in accordance with His design to further the work we are doing at TorahResource. From a purely human perspective, one would think that TorahResource would surely be forgotten in light of the many requests that fill peoples' mail and email boxes every day. Yet in spite of this, and even in our weakened economy, we have seen our needs met time and time again!

So we want those of you who do support our work to know that we are very, very grateful for your help. The projects we are working to complete would not be possible if it were not for your kind and generous financial help. May the Almighty bless you as we partner together to continue teaching and producing materials grounded in the text of the inspired Scriptures, extolling the person and work of Yeshua our Messiah, and upholding the eternal value of the Torah.