Posts by Julia Blum

My dear readers, you all know by now that Pentecost and Shavuot are two different names for the same Festival.  Last time, we spoke about Revelation being the main theme of Shavuot in Jewish tradition. That means that some hidden things were revealed on that Pentecost/Shavuot day in Jerusalem that Acts 2 tells us about: […]

When the Day of Pentecost had come “The voice went out and was divided into seven voices and from seven voices into seventy tongues, so that all the nations will hear. And every nation heard the voice in its own tongue and was amazed.”  Sounds familiar doesn’t it? And yet, it is not a beginning of […]

To the Ends of the Earth A few weeks ago, when I started this series and analyzed the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel, comparing it with the first chapter of Acts, I wrote: “You might be thinking that the ‘Jewishness’ of Acts 1 is less obvious than the ‘Jewishness’ of Luke 1 – if so, […]

Last time, we discussed the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. As you know, the two volumes of Luke (the Gospel and the Acts) have a lot in common. Among many other similarities, there is a peculiar resemblance in the structure, especially in the beginning: in both volumes, the main “opening” event happens only in the […]

Recalculating Today I am starting something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. For a very long time, I have wanted to go through the Book of Acts together with my readers. Too often, this particular book is perceived as a demarcation line, as a declaration of separation from anything Jewish. Something has […]

Those who have been following this blog for some time would know already that I am very attentive and sensitive to all the “coincidences”, especially when it comes to timing. That’s why the fact that this post – the final post of the Joseph series – is published just a few days before Tisha B’Av, […]

The cup in the sack Last time, we watched as Joseph was overcome with tears of love for his brother Benjamin in the inner room. Of course, the brothers knew nothing about it. Next day, “as soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys“.[1] I guess their hearts were […]

His Heart Yearned For His Brother Last time, we saw that together with Benjamin the brothers had returned to Egypt. They were apprehensive of being accused of stealing the silver they had found in their sacks; they didn’t know whether they would find Simeon alive and whether he would be returned to them; and most […]

They “trembled to one another” Last time, we were watching the brothers during their first meeting with Joseph. We saw that right away they felt the connection between this meeting and the crime that they had been hiding all these years. Somehow, they knew it was all about their long-ago sold brother, however, they still […]

The Long-Awaited Meeting    We continue our journey through this gripping and passionate Bible story: the story of Joseph and his brothers. The day has finally come, the long-awaited moment has arrived when Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt and stand before him – the ten brothers who had nearly murdered him but took enough pity […]