Purpose Statement Institute for a Hebraic Perspective

The objective of the Institute is to creatively bring people into a life journey of a Hebraic Perspective. I frequently hear of individuals who have studied something for ‘years’ and then are putting that out there for others. I have been on this journey of a Hebraic Perspective and studying this for over 45 years. I’m still learning and still having ‘aha’ moments where everything shifts. So, I am sharing with you what I have learned in hopes that this will enrich your life as it has enriched my life. We discuss and study together; it is our hope and intention to share this journey with you. We hope that this can be done in small groups. We focus on making materials available for small groups to use.

The Institute is focused on examining the Bible within a Hebraic framework. We understand this as being different from the usual Western paradigm, which we label ‘the Other Culture’ in contrast to a Hebraic Perspective. From this standpoint, the Bible-Mikra needs to be deconstructed from the Other Culture. Abraham and Sarah are examples, symbols, and leaders for us in this cross-cultural trek, as they were the first to leave the Other culture and embrace a Hebraic Perspective. They were boundary breakers. We immerse ourselves in the Mikra—Hebrew Bible, and its message as a foundation for understanding Judaism and Christianity, from which a Hebraic Perspective emerges. We focus on the early years of Christianity, understanding it within a Jewish Matrix, as Judaism.

In our materials, we embrace Rabbinics—the Teaching of the Sages, seeking a unique, organic, and holistic approach. To enter a Hebraic Perspective is a cultural experience that moves us from static to dynamic, from linear to interconnected, from defined simplicity to complex multiplicity, from a dichotomy of upper story–heavenly and lower story–earthly to a composite unity, from an intellectual factual approach to hegeing—purposeful chanting, thus embracing a new awareness through a Hebraic Perspective.

Our objective of facilitating people’s entry into a life journey of a Hebraic Perspective is reached through many avenues, which are ever-changing and expanding. We meet in small discussion groups, draw on the canonical materials of nascent Christianity and Judaism, to sculpt more effective relationships with people and with God: encouraging the development of an Awe of God, and a higher view of people as beings created in the image of God. We foster open, trusting, and caring relationships with God and one another through discussion rather than dogma. Pursuing a dynamic Hebraic Perspective, we encourage hegeing, with a focus on the Middot—energy centers of God in Exodus 34:6-7 as an epicenter. We teach multiplicity within the Mikra, to further an understanding within both Judaism and nascent Christianity. The Institute for a Hebraic Perspective welcomes anyone who has the discipline and motivation to enter a lifestyle of worship through study and discussion.