Mishnah Snapshots

#25 ✡ Shabbat 1:4-6:5

• How is Torah study like dying cloth in a vat?
• Yeshua saying "the Father" sounds kind of stiff...is that how he said it?
• Do you light Shabbat candles? Here are some starter tips. 
• That "frontlets on your forehead" thing is literal, here's proof
• How did the sages feel about packing a piece?

#26 ✡ Shabbat 6:2-23:4

• The Hebrew term for "preparing the bride" will blow your mind
• Why did Jewish people carry a nail from a cross for healing?
• Flutes at funerals, and oil and wine on wounds, in the ancient Middle East
• Kids playing with grasshoppers and fighting over dessert is nothing new
• The Hebrew words for midwife, sandal, prayershawl, and pee are interesting

#27 ✡ Eruvin 1:7-5:4

• "Roll away the stone" means something that will take your breath away
• What does "Rebekah" mean? The Bible doesn't say, but Mishnah does
• How is a cistern of water like you when you're meditating on Torah?
• The way you measure people is a reflection of YOUR character, here's how
• How are evil spirits talked about in ancient Jewish writings?

#28 ✡ Eruvin 5:6-10:14

• If I'm a Messianic Jew should I leave my non-Messianic synagogue?
• "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord", is that a formula?
• What if your spirit's outside and your body's inside instead of vice versa?
• In Jewish law you become one through wine or bread, sound familiar?
• "Light and heavy" in Jewish hermeneutics and in the New Testament

#29 ✡ Pesachim 1:1-2:8 

• The Jewish euphemism for the night of Passover will chill you
• What was Israel doing during the Last Supper and Crucifixion? 
• The Jewish nickname for Yeshua means "undecided" and "suspense"...WHY? 
• What's the difference between yeast and leaven? How about symbolically? 
• What did a Passover Seder look like 2000 years ago?

#30 ✡ Pesachim 4:5-9:3

• Wasn't Passover on the 15th? What was Yeshua eating on the 14th?
• What does the relationship between a rabbi and disciple look like?
• The Passover sacrificial procedures were a graphic picture of Christ's passion
• Charming story about a Dad getting his sons to race to Jerusalem
• Why are there mysterious dots over some letters in the Torah?

#31 ✡ Pesachim 9:3-10:7

• Why are there four cups in a Passover seder, and how old is that tradition?
• Why is there a fifth cup for Elijah, and how Messianic is that?
• Jesus is coming to take us...where? (brace yourself)
• What was the hymn Yeshua and his disciples sang after their seder?
• How many of the prayers in the Siddur go back 2000 years?

#32 ✡ Pesachim 10:1-10:7

• The Hebrew word for salty parsley is so beautiful it'll bring tears to your eyes
• Here's how we know that much of the Seder is from the time of Jesus
• Passover teaches us to tell our whole stories - the good, bad, and ugly
• Do you know which of the Passover elements isn't actually commanded?
• Afikoman is so messianic it will blow your mind...and it's a tradition of men!

#33 ✡ Shekalim 1:1-5:2

• Have you seen the images on the holy half-shekel coins?
• Did they celebrate Purim in the time of Jesus?
• Why is the "two-drachma tax" story Izzy's favourite?
• Did you know having the upper hand is a Hebrew expression?
• Why are non-Greek words like "mammon" in the Greek NT?

#34 ✡ Shekalim 5:2-6:4 

• The Jerusalem Temple and Messianic Community both had seven "deacons"
• The Second Temple had a room for "giving in secret"...sound familiar?
• A Priest found the Ark and died before he could tell anyone!
• Example of how the "takanot and ma'asim of the Rabbis" aren't evil
• Holiness is all about accomplishing your mission in concrete ways

#35 ✡ Shekalim 6:6-8:8

• Why do Jews call God "Hashem"? How old is that tradition? 
• Are non-Jewish believers Gentiles, or is that a dirty word?
• The "takanot" of the Rabbis are "tikkun" olam and aren't all evil.
• Hit rock bottom? You're in the best place of your life if you do this.
• You're not going to believe what happened to the Sanhedrin in 30 A.D!
• Did they still bring stuff to Jerusalem after the Temple was destroyed?

#36 ✡ Yoma 1:1-1:3

• Count with me the many ways that a man's wife is his home
• Is Yeshua 100% spiritual or 100% physical, or both?
• Single and married are both good gifts from God and have pros and cons
• You don't have agree with the Mishnah for it to have historical value
• New to the Jewish prayerbook? Here's the best tour guide to the Siddur.

#37 ✡ Yoma 1:5-5:2

• Where did Jesus get the idea of apostles from...was that Jewish?
• Peter's nickname meant Rock in Greek and Runaway in Hebrew. Coincidence?
• What was the high priest doing on the night of Yom Kippur? 
• Three people who inspired me when I first starting teaching Hebrew
• If the ark wasn't in the Second Temple, where was the presence of God?

#38 ✡ Yoma 6:8

• Where was God during the "silent years" between Malachi and Matthew?
• Multiplication of loaves under Shimon HaTzadik's ministry, sound familiar?
• Alexander the Great shocked everyone by bowing to the Kohen Gadol, here's the story
• 3 miracles stopped happening in the Temple starting in 30 AD...why?
• Sometimes Christian evangelism of Jews comes across as an uninformed attack

#39 ✡ Yoma 3:8-8:9

• Why is God's name "ineffable" and what does that actually mean?
• The Jewish prayerbook is full of echoes from the time of Messiah
• Is God's kingdom a geographical political entity, or is it even bigger?
• Yom Kippur doesn't work in these two situations
• Beautiful midrash from a word meaning "hope" and "baptismal tank"

#40 ✡ Sukkah 1:4-3:12

• How do you know what a Sukkah is...and isn't?
• Why were the disciples sleeping under the Rabbi's bed?
• Why did Shammai the sage tear a hole in his in-law's roof?
• Was Yeshua the only Hebrew guru who told parables?
• The Jewish holiday when they shake it...like shake the lulav.

#41 ✡ Sukkah 3:13-4:7

• Why didn't Jared Kushner's romantic bouquet have any flowers?
• Dr. John Gill's Hebraic Bible commentary is gorgeous and FREE
• Why did John specify which day Yeshua said "If anyone is thirsty"?
• This "takanot of the Rabbis" literally kept people from losing an eye
• The commandments are the seeds of Kingdom culture, that's so positive!

#42 ✡ Sukkah 4:1-5:4 

• What was happening on "the last day, the great day of the feast"?
• Here's how I came to grips with commandments that aren't in the written Torah
• The Mishnah displays internal evidence of historical accuracy
• The lost meaning of "Siloam" charges the old story with new power
• They're doing the ancient Water Libation ceremony in Jerusalem again!

#43 ✡ Beitzah 1:8-4:5

• Why is Abraham's bosom the Hebrew version of "happily ever after"?
• The real Hillel sandwich was two Gamliels between three Shimons
• Sometimes the Jewish religious leaders followed Rabbi Yeshua's teachings!
• One of the 1050 NT commandments is...do everything in Yeshua's name.
• "Many bodies physically, one soul spiritually" explains God, Messiah, and us

#44 ✡ Beitzah 5:2-5:7

• What's better for relationships, you in judging mode or perceiving mode?
• The "if this, then how much more that" equation in Jewish logic
• What's pictured by snowflakes, olive oil, crystal, and frankincense resin?
• The Jewish concept of the merit of the righteous in a Messianic context
• How is "worthy" compatible with "by grace through faith"?

#45 ✡ Rosh Hashanah 1:1-2:2

• If Nisan's the first month why is the new year in Tishrei?
• The Torah calls it "Yom Teruah" so where did "Rosh Hashanah" come from?
• Upon which dates is it believed that God decides for food, water, and physical life?
• Women, gamblers, and traffickers couldn't testify, what did Yeshua think?
• Imagine carrying a staff to fight thugs en route to Jerusalem!
• How were the Lubavitch Rebbe's emissaries similar to Yeshua's apostles?

#46 ✡ Rosh Hashanah 2:2-2:4

• How did New Moon signal fires foretell the spread of Yeshua's movement?
• Why does Judaism expect two Messiahs, sons of Joseph and David?
• How does rough rope symbolize who Yeshua is and what he does?
• Did you know "serpent" and "Messiah" have the same numerical value?
• These year-long performances will inspire you to view your life as art.

#47 ✡ Rosh Hashanah 2:4-7

• The nickname for the Mount of Olives pointed to Yeshua in startling ways
• Setting the NT in its Semitic context is hard work! Here's an example.
• Which directions can you go in the fifth dimension you can't in the four?
• Here's how the title "midwife" is one of Hebrew's highest compliments.
• John the Baptist's most cryptic statement was Hebrew wordplay, that's why.
• Why is Ramadan at a different time every year but Passover isn't?

#48 ✡ Rosh Hashanah 2:8-4:9

• Fights about the calendar are nothing new, so what did the sages do?
• A beautiful story about the relationship between rabbi and disciple
• Why does the Hebrew word for Torah-observance also means Exodus?
• "Our Father who art in Heaven", is that a Christian or a Jewish prayer?
• How much of the synagogue service is from Yeshua's time and WWJD?

#49 ✡ Ta'anit 1:1-1:7

• Did you know Israel gets about as much rain as Sudan?
• When are the "early and latter rains", anyway?
• Why do Jews pray for rain in the blessing of the resurrection?
• How long did it take to hike from Babylon to Israel?
• Why did Yeshua say to anoint yourself when fasting?
• The bittersweet experience of walking the spiritual path

#50 ✡ Ta'anit 2:1-2:10 

• Why were the people of Nazareth putting ashes on their heads?
• How does the Holy Spirit feel about liturgy and orders of service?
• Is it ok to call the books of Joshua to Revelation "Torah" or not?
• Some words from the heart if you're empty or angry
• What can you learn from the Jewish practice of praying Scripture?
• What's different about Mondays and Thursdays for Jews?

#51 ✡ Ta'anit 3:3-3:9

• Why did people blow shofars in ancient times?
• Is there internal evidence the Mishnah is historically accurate?
• Here's how helpmeet means "Hero" and not "Hamburger Helper"
• What do the Hebrew letters on Izzy's fingers spell?
• The story of Choni who wouldn't leave his prayer circle until…
• If the Hallel is Psalms 113 to 118, what's the Great Hallel?

#52 ✡ Ta'anit 4:1-4:8 

• If synagogues aren't commanded in Torah, where did they come from?
• How can you prove that the Jews are really Jews?
• How old are Jewish liturgical rites like Mussaf and Neilah?
• What do the events of 4.17 and 5.9 tell you about the Hebrew calendar?
• Why is it incredible the families of David and Jonadab were still around?
• Why remember "family over beauty" when watching dancing girls?

#53 ✡ Megillah 1:8-3:3

• How are the names and themes of the Esther and Apocalypse scrolls related?
• Why is the Hebrew font called Assyrian, and how was that different from Phoenician?
• Why did the Hanukkah heroes call Greek language and culture "mud"?
• In Mishnaic Hebrew you'd say "Yeshua ha'MASHUACH" but should you?
• If the Ceremonial Law is "obsolete" why do the prophets say we'll be doing it in the future?
• Are synagogues holy places? How about the Temple Mount? Picture time!

#54 ✡ Megillah 3:4-4:1

• Why is the whole week called the Sabbath in Hebrew?
• Why is the story of Amalek read for the festival of Purim? 
• Here's why it's hard for empaths to read R-rated Bible stories
• If Decem is 10 why isn't December the 10th month anymore?
• How many people read from the Torah on Mondays and Thursdays?
• Did the authors of the New Testament do the synagogue prayers?
• How do you prove to Black Hebrew Israelites that the Jews are really Jews?

#57 ✡ Moed Katan & Chagigah 1:1

• Are the middle days of Passover and Tabernacles holy or "profane"?
• Did Paul get his analogy of irrigated versus naturally watered fields from the Mishnah?
• Are you spiritually mature? How about your congregation? Here's how to tell.
• This Greek word used in Mishnah, Peshitta, and Delitzsch NT is spelled four different ways.
• What does Jewish law do with people whose gender is both, neither, or unknown?
• See the boy riding on his Abba's shoulders and going up to the Temple? Adorbs.

#58 ✡ Chagigah 1:7-2:2

• Do you know what the Hebrew word "Pharisee" literally mean?
• Why do Jewish people say their mission is "Tikkun Olam" and where's that in Scripture?
• Are Yeshua's "greatest/least commandments" and "weighty matters of the Law" in Mishnah also?
• What did the sages do with the 'literal six days' and 'conflicting creation accounts' controversies?
• Let's get romantic and talk about hearing Yeshua's voice and seeing his face in...Rabbinic writings!
• What can the Jewish institution of discipleship teach us about our relationship with the Master?
• How did the centuries-old leadership structure in Israel change around 30 A.D., and why?
• Did you hear about the old Essene named Menachem and his prophecy to boy Herod?