For all of you who have been praying for my kid – thanks so much, I have an update on his condition at the beginning.

So, we are delving into the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, and each month I will present a week of 15-ish minute lessons on Yeshua’s/Jesus’s teachings. This last week, we explored the Beatitudes, in their first-century context.

Part one covered the Ashrei “Blessed are” teachings in the Bible, notably Psalm 1, and we talk about the theme, setting and audience – which gives us a lot more insight into their meaning:

Part two continues with the setting, which uses some hidden Temple language, and we covered the poor in spirit:

Part 3 covers the meek and the mourners:

In part 4 we explored those who hunger and thirst for righteousness in the context of the Exodus out of Egypt, and the merciful by delving into the Parable of the Ungrateful servant:

In part 5 I covered the last three, the pure of heart (as opposed to the Sadducees and Herodians), and Peacemakers (the Pharisees vs the zealots) and the persecuted for righteousness: