Messianic Publications

Searching for Your Jewish Soul? Matisyahu, the Son of Matityahu, and the Gospel of Matthew

Rob Vanhoff5 min readAwaiting author

Nearly a year ago now, fans of the Lubavitcher rapper “Matisyahu” were shocked to see that he had shaved his beard, cut his hair, and shed his kippah. “Wait a minute! Where’s my old Matisyahu? Bait and switch!” This guy had walked and talked like the real deal. I mean, if he wasn’t an authentic expression of a true Jewish soul, who was? Even for some in the Messianic world—who

About the author

Rob graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington in 2003 with a B.A. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization and a minor in Music. In addition to concentrating on the Hebrew Bible and its interpretation in Jewish and Christian traditions, he studied Hebrew (Biblical, Rabbinic, Modern), Aramaic (Biblical, Targumic, Syriac), Greek, and Akkadian languages. In 2005 he completed a M.A. in Comparative Religion, also from the University of Washington. Rob is currently an instructor at the TorahResource Institute (http://torahresourceinstitute.com). He and his wife Jenny have two children of their own and are raising a third.

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More from Rob Vanhoff

Awaiting authorMarch 26, 2015

Assessing the “Lunar Sabbath” Theory

A quick search using Accordance Bible software shows that in the original Hebrew, the words “Sabbath” ( shabbat ) and “day” ( yom ) occur within 10 words of each other well over 100 times in the Tanakh. The same search, replacing “day” with “moon” ( yareach ), yields a big fat goose-egg (for the uninitiated that means zero). Yet there are those out there trying to defend something called

7 min read

Awaiting authorDecember 29, 2013

Yeshua: My Rav, My King!

Nathaniel’s confession parallels that of Simon Peter’s: “You are the Messiah, Son of the Living God” (Matt 16:16). Not many words uttered have carried such weight. What was it that Nathaniel and Simon Kefa saw in this man from Natzeret, that such controversial words would come off their lips? And all before He was glorified. Do you speak to Yeshua with this in mind? How often do we address Him

2 min read

Awaiting authorSeptember 27, 2013

Circumcision in the Second Temple Period

This article is based on a series of presentations that Rob gave at the August, 2012 TorahResource Institute Conference in Tacoma, WA. [I]n Acts 15:1 and 5 we are confronted by two distinct halakhot , each reflecting Jewish concern for the boundaries of the people of Israel.[1] Though the text of verse 1 was altered by later scribes who seemed to believe both statements originated from believing Pharisees, a closer

20 min read