Lives 1st

  Autonomous technologies, runaway markets, and weaponized media seem to have overturned civil society, paralyzing our ability to think constructively, connect meaningfully, or act purposefully . It feels as if civilization itself were on the brink, and that we lack the collective willpower and coordination necessary to address issues of vital importance to the very survival of our species. It doesn’t have to be this way. Everyone is asking how we got here, as if this were a random slide toward collective incoherence and disempowerment. It is s not. Continue reading at – https://mailchi.mp/a79c85d96b52/building-shared-values-based-relationships-and-identities

  Violence, Values & Trust By Rabbi Jeffrey Leynor Originally published on Monday, November 10, 2014 Doing the work that I do --  dealing with homicide, suicide, domestic violence and PTSD  -- violence is “the chosen response.” More and more American civilians are “choosing” to respond to adversity and disagreements with acts of violence. Maybe this violence is the new normal reaction to not having individual needs gratified immediately. Maybe it is because the perpetrators of violence were never taught about how to act as a mature moral adult who understands that much of this life does not give us what we want and how to cope with disappointment . . . In the Torah, the first values and standard revealed are those the Creator uses to judge His own actions – we call them TOV Values & the TOV Standard. This allows us to measure our actions, as well as the actions of others, by a common standard that holds the protection and preservation of human life as its...

  Millions of women are alive today who have given birth, and they can validate this information. Birth is the beginning of the first human relationship – the relationship of a mother and her child . Other creatures also have a similar, too. But science has discovered cross-generational transfers take place. As fetal cells cross the placenta into maternal tissues, a small number of maternal cells migrate into fetal tissues, where they can persist into adulthood . Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/7ab793cd9d0d/family-the-source-of-our-first-relationship

  We do not live in ancient kingdoms or cultures. The vocabulary of the Hebrew Scriptures and teachings of Jesus are unknown to almost all Americans in 2025. Based on research in BHC’s databases, I created a model to provide an overview and a way to apply the ancient wisdom principles and values to our lives. In my opinion, it has never been needed by more people than we need it today . Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/100b0f4c10bb/living-in-the-kingdom-of-elohim-in-2025

  When Jesus said the Kingdom of Elohim is here, he meant the Kingdom of Elohim had been here since the first Day Seven of the creation. Where is it located? What does the Kingdom of Elohim look like? This Kingdom isn’t a place on earth that has boundary lines, like cities, states, and nations. Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/ecee542ac931/changing-your-world-by-changing-the-way-you-think  

  Did you know that Jesus founded a school? How do I know that? His followers were called “ talmidim ” which means “ learners ” or “ students .” This wasn’t unusual because every parent was commanded to be a teacher! Everyday Jesus and his family prayed one of the most important and famous portions of the Torah. It is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/6c567bc86e1b/make-students-in-all-nations-of-the-earth-and-teach-them

  Our views come from the stories we were told about our conception, about our history, about who we are supposed to become, about our parents and families, about our world. We draw upon elements of all these tales to create a “ master identity narrative ” -- our version of the story we tell to explain ourselves . By the time we are young adults, we think our stories are “ the truth. ” Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/fc5556be62de/building-strong-safety-nets-to-protect-our-lives-and-our-nation

  Today I will share some very important insights I found while digging through BHC’s Databases. They are related to relationships, how to make them better, and the benefits of maintaining values-based relationships. This information is supported by BHC’s Tov Wisdom and Lives 1 st Values research. (1) People make choices about how to act , even if they do not choose the context in which they make them. Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/78790e5ac413/fundamental-truths-about-human-beings-and-trust

  I would like to share a letter from a college student to her parents: “Dear Mom and Dad, It’s been three months since I left for college. I am sorry I have not written before, and I apologize as I wish to bring you up to date now. Before you read this letter, please sit down. The skull fracture that I got when I jumped out the window of my dormitory shortly after my arrival, is pretty well healed now. https://nebula.wsimg.com/586ecb5f603772773a091043b99129ce?AccessKeyId=C0F5722F744A08CDC868&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

  Adam and Eve were doomed to fail from the beginning. Why? They had no parents to teach them who they are and what they are supposed to do. They did not have the Creator’s Tov Standard to guide them. The primary purpose of this story, and the next three stories, is the importance of parents . Continue Reading at - https://mailchi.mp/9b1ab66284db/the-lost-meanings-of-stories-in-the-bible

  Adam and Eve were both cunning, crafty, and shrewd, and they had not shamed themselves. T he serpent was more cunning, crafty, and shrewd than any wild animal of the field which Yahweh Elohim had made. Make sure to note that Adam, Eve, and the serpent were all made by Yahweh Elohim. The serpent is a wild animal, not an angel or Satan. And the serpent said to the woman. Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/be0886eb436c/what-really-happened-in-the-garden-of-eden

  “And a certain man was rich, and he was dressed in purple and fine linen, feasting every day, splendidly. And a certain poor man, named Lazarus, was lying by his gate, being covered with sores. And he desired to be satisfied from the things falling   from the rich man’s table . . . and the rich man died and went to Hades.” Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/82b842b8bb58/was-the-rich-mans-sin-being-rich

  Tov is translated “ good .” The Creator measured His acts by the Tov Standard . In other stories, He also measured acts by people that affected the lives of other people by the Tov Standard . Once you learn to recognize acts that are Tov , even though the word Tov isn’t mentioned, you will be able to recognize them in many Bible passages. Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/d618f38f77b7/jesus-taught-the-tov-standard

  Hebrew word Tov is translated “ good ” in Genesis. Humans create words which are transmittable symbols . But the meanings are bundled in life experiences . The life experiences required to understand Tov are in the first story in Genesis. Humans are the only creatures created to function by doing acts of Tov individually, collectively and in harmony. Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/ce86a134d4e1/tov-is-what-good-means-to-the-creator

  In the teachings of Jesus, there is one underlying and overriding theme, a theme that serves as the foundation upon which biblical faith is built. If one looks at the Bible as a whole, if one includes additionally all Jewish literature that is extant, the Oral Law, the Written Law, the commentaries, and search for one, single, overriding theme, it is summed up in the Hebrew word tzedakah. Tzedakah is the outstanding, overriding, and yet simple, theme of Jesus. He taught, “let your kingdom be spread abroad over the whole earth in such a way that God may begin to rule in the lives of more and more people.” Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/ee4e20247d64/tzedaqah-the-foundational-theme-of-biblical-faith

Does the “original” meaning of a Bible passage, apart from Christian or later Jewish interpretation, still have anything to say to us? Those words described the obstacle I have been facing for decades. BHC’s Guidelines and Linguistic Model clearly indicate that Jesus was “Jewish,” but Jewish in the early 1st century CE does not mean the same thing as Jewish means today . So what did Jewish mean then? Continue reading at - https://mailchi.mp/65108941c178/breaking-through-jewish-and-christian-barriers-to-understand-the-original-jesus

  The Bible’s Wisdom of the Beginnings, combined with its interpretations by Jesus , gave a very clear answer – humans are created to protect lives, preserve lives, make lives more functional and increase the quality of life . So why are so many people destroying lives, harming lives, making lives less functional, and decreasing the quality of life in America today? Continue readding at - https://mailchi.mp/83131fda4f97/doing-more-than-repeating-meaningless-endeavors

  Light is one of the most important words in the Hebrew Bible and the teachings of Jesus. On Day Four Elohim created the Greater Lamp, the Lesser Lamp, and the stars. Jesus used Day Four to teach his disciples a very important wisdom lesson in the Sermon on the Mount. Continue to read at - https://mailchi.mp/a50f521e5483/how-are-humans-supposed-to-function