The Bible commends the Jewish people of Berea because they tested the teachings of Paul to the scriptures. They could have accepted everything he said without question, or they could have rejected his message outright, but they chose the path of wisdom, and thus we read of them:
Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, because they received the message with goodwill, searching the Scriptures each day to see whether these things were true.
Acts 17:11
Another way to explain this is to say that these noble-minded people sought to understand Paul’s approach to the scriptures to see if there was something in it that could help them in their own walk of faith in and obedience to the God of Israel.
There is a lesson in this for all of us. Christians and Jews read the same Hebrew scriptures and pray to the same God, but still see one another as strangers rather than somehow related through the same covenant God established with Abraham. Perhaps if each tried to understand how the other approaches the scriptures, we might find common ground.
That’s the intent behind the B’ney Yosef North America Bible Reading Plan. This is not simply a tool for reading through the Bible in a year; it’s a resource for learning the Jewish approach to the scriptures based on the annual Torah reading cycle. This plan for the Hebrew year 5786 (2025-2026) incorporates readings from the rest of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and Apostolic Writings (New Testament) into a daily plan that covers the entire Bible over the course of the year. The start date is the same as the Torah cycle: the day after Simchat Torah (Celebration of the Torah) at the end of Sukkot, which this year falls on October 15.
If you are in search of an organized approach to the Word of God, maybe this can help. Whatever you do, please get into the Word so that it can get into you!
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Cover image: “The First Bible Lesson,” L. Prang & Co., 1861-1897, Boston Public Library, via Flickr.
