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Though this isn’t the place to give you my testimony about how I experienced the miracle of teshuvah (a changed life), you should perhaps know that I once studied philosophy in college and graduate school (I am still recovering from that), and that I also attended theology school (from which I am also recovering). I have studied Hebrew and lived Jewish culture for many years now, both formally and informally, and it’s my hope to share some of my learning and experience with you here.
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I am not some self-styled “expert” in Biblical Hebrew, however, and I do not have a PhD in Semitic languages or earn my income teaching Hebrew at a university. No, despite taking various classes in the subject (at Talmud Torah and other places), I have worked my way through the language over the years, attempting to live out its implications (that is critical), and trusting in the Lord to reveal to me the spiritual meaning of His word. After all, language (even divinely inspired language) is ultimately a means to something else, and it is that other thing that we must seek. το γαρ γραμμα αποκτεννει, το δε πνευμα ζωοποιει: “for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor 3:6). May you find that Life that is forever speaking the word of hope!
A few other things about me might be in order here. I have been writing the monthly “Hebrew Lesson” column for the Zola Levitt Ministries newsletter for over eight years now (though this ministry is not directly associated with ZLM). In case you are interested in reading these, you click here to receive them FREE of charge.
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I have been affiliated with some Messianic congregations in the Twin Cities, but I regularly attend Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Dr. John Piper), even though I consider myself a Messianic Jewish believer rather than as a Baptist. I also play bass with the Bethlehem worship team on a regular basis.
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My wife’s name is Olga, and we had our first child, Josiah Yisroel, on October 7th, 2004, B”H. Both Olga and Josiah have been further gifts of the unsearchable chesed and love of God to me.
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So why this site?
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This web site is intended to provide a resource to the Church regarding its rich Hebraic heritage by promoting Jewish literacy among all those who claim Jesus Christ as their Lord. I believe this is important today for many reasons, but especially because many people in the church today are unaware of the inherent Jewishness of their heritage, and sadly this reflects in many misinterpretations regarding the Scriptures. Remember: Jesus was (and is) a Jew, and to be a follower of Him implies learning about the Jewish people -- their culture, their language, and their way of understanding the Scriptures. Moreover, in the olam habah, the world to come, we will all give homage to a Jewish Lord and Jewish Savior! Why not get a head start and begin learning the “language of the kingdom?”
Studying biblical Hebrew and your Jewish heritage will give you the correct context for reading the B’rit Chadashah (New Testament) by equipping you to comprehend the implications of the Tanakh (Old Testament). You will begin to better understand the Hebraic mindset that informs all the New Testament writings, avoiding exegetical errors that distort the original intent of the authors of the Holy Scriptures.
To help you get started, explore the hundreds of pages on this web site. You might also want to take a look at the book I wrote for Zola Levitt Ministries entitled, Zola’s Introduction to Hebrew (also called Ivrit Lematchilim). I have looked at dozens of Hebrew “primers,” but I earnestly believe that this resource is the best available for Christian adults to begin learning about the mystery and beauty of the Hebrew language.
Above all, my hope is that this effort of mine will bless you and help you in some way. As I alluded to at the top of this page, my life has been a difficult journey in the way of trusting in the love of G-d as revealed in the face of Jesus (2 Cor 4:6). The L-rd G-d of Israel is faithful and good, and I sincerely pray that you will find great comfort and encouragement as you attend to those things that matter most in your own sojourn here on earth.
Kol tuv, chaverim...
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, “few and evil have been the days of the years of my life,” and so it sometimes seems for me as well. Now Jacob was 130 years old when he spoke these words to Pharaoh, and my relatively short life span cannot begin to compare with his, but nonetheless the seemingly wayward “days of the years of my life” have likewise yielded a profoundly difficult lesson about an extraordinarily joyful subject -- namely, the unrelenting grace and irrepressible love of the Lord God of Israel, especially as revealed in the life of Yeshua (Jesus), the Jewish Messiah and Son of God. 
