What the Rabbis Know That I Never Learned in Church

Chaim Bentorah teaches biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek to lay teachers and pastors in the metro Chicago area through Chaim Bentorah Ministries. He also speaks to church and parachurch groups about the nature and means of studying the Old Testament in the original Hebrew.

Chaim and his study partner, Laura Bertone, are also the copastors of a cyber Messianic church on which they conduct twelve-week classes in basic Hebrew, a weekly Monday evening Bible translation class, and a Sabbath Torah study on Saturday mornings that follows the Parshah (Weekly Torah Portion).

Chaim has a bachelor of arts degree in Jewish Studies from Moody Bible Institute, a master’s degree in Old Testament and Hebrew from Denver Seminary, and a PhD in Biblical Archaeology. In graduate school, he studied advanced Hebrew under Dr. Earl S. Kalland, who was on the executive committee for the translation work of the New International Version of the Bible. Professor Kalland encouraged him to seek out an orthodox rabbi and discuss the translation process from a Jewish perspective.

Later, from his contact with Jewish rabbis and his studies in the Talmud, the Mishnah, and other works of Jewish literature, as well as his studies in the Semitic languages, Chaim began doing Hebrew word studies as devotionals and sending them out by e-mail to former students whom he had taught in his thirteen years as an instructor in Hebrew and Old Testament at World Harvest Bible College, as well as those he taught through Chaim Bentorah Ministries. After self-publishing several books of Hebrew word studies and related topics, Chaim published Hebrew Word Study: Revealing the Heart of God with Whitaker House, followed by Journey into Silence and Hebrew Word Study: Exploring the Mind of God.

Chaim resides in a suburb of Chicago.