Congregation Shema YisraelRecommended Reading

Recommended Reading

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One of the most common questions asked by people new to Torah study and Messanic worship is what books should they read. Often, people want to know what books are good for "beginners" and then, once they've "gotten their feet wet" so to speak, what more advanced topics should they review.

This page is under construction, so I'll be adding links to the Recommended Reading list a few at a time. I also plan to write reviews of each of these books (and perhaps others) as time allows.

Restoration: Returning the Torah of God to the Disciples of Jesus

This book was written by D. Thomas Lancaster and published in June 2005 for First Fruits of Zion (FFOZ). The book describes Lancaster's journey from child being raised in a Christian home to his discovery of Hebraic teachings and learning that worshipping Jesus is understanding the Torah. Part of the Foreward states:

This book is intended for neither the iconoclast, nor the traditional Christian afraid to step outside of the box. This book is intended primarily for you...a believer who is committed to the authority of God's Word, even if it means rethinking a few deep-seated belief systems or reluctantly engaging in a little bit of iconoclasm. You are an independent thinker; a serious student of the Bible. You are not afraid to step outside of the proverbial box and be different, if that is what God calls you to do for Him.

To find out more about Restoration, go to First Fruits of Zion.

King of the Jews: Resurrecting the Jewish Jesus

This book was also authored by D. Thomas Lancaster for FFOZ and published in April 2006. Frankly, this is one of my favorite books and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about and understand "the Jewish Jesus". Lancaster takes the Gospel renditions of Jesus and merges them with other historical documentation about what was happening in Jerusalem, the Land of Israel, and to the Jewish people in the early First Century. The result is an amazing picture of the life of Jesus or Yeshua from a traditionally Jewish perspective, completely within the original context of his life and culture. I have read a chapter from this book aloud for the past two years at our community Passover Seders and the true vision of our Messiah and Savior as our "Passover Lamb" becomes absolutely crystalized for everyone listening. If you are new to Messianic study and worship, read Restoration first and then dive into King of the Jews

This book can also be found at First Fruits of Zion.

Update: I had originally intended to expand this page and add many more book reviews on topics similar to those seen here, but I decided that a blog would be a better venue for posting this kind of information to the web. Visit the new blog (new as of March 22, 2009, anyway) at Shema-Yisrael-blogspot.